In less than ten minutes, the family was fully prepared to travel to New York and they weren't about to waste any time. They decided to take the train as Lincoln did as it was cheaper and paying for their entire family to travel by means of any other transportation would be rather expensive. Their first stop, though, was the retirement home where Albert, their Pop-Pop, resided. While he agreed to look after little Lily, unfortunately for the family, they had to lie about why they were doing so. Once the family was on board the train, they were anxiously waiting to reach their destination. No one had much to talk about, aside from Rita asking if anyone was okay and having to comfort her children. As for Lori, owing to how the rest of the family had it out for them back in Royal Woods due to Lincoln Loud declared missing being posted online, she began to have second thoughts about even going to New York at all, as there were several possible outcomes waiting to happen. And in all likelihood, each one could be pretty bad...
"Mom, is this really a great idea for all of us to be searching for Lincoln?" Lori asked quietly, attempting for the others not to hear her. "What if he's afraid of my sisters? Or even still mad at them?"
"Lori, right now it doesn't matter if he's angry or afraid," Rita responded in a quiet tone. At first, one would think Rita's motherly instincts were blinding her to what negative outcomes could come from searching, one of them being evading law enforcements, due to taking the heat of things back in Royal Woods and traveling would easily be seen as trying to make a break for it just to lay low. And even if that wasn't a problem, there was the sole reason Lincoln ran away to begin with - to get himself out of an abusive situation. So the family trying to search for the boy and finding his location correctly could also give the wrong idea, almost as much as leaving Royal Woods mere days after Lincoln was declared missing, especially with seven sisters among the family being responsible for their actions. But in spite of this, Rita did proceed to make a valid point. "He is still their brother, and my baby, and he's out there in that big city where he could get seriously hurt. Finding him is the first step. Then, we can begin to make things right." While Lori did agree with her mother that finding Lincoln was their highest priority, her mind was still bothered by what would happen should they find him.
"I know what you're saying," said Lori. "But look at them." The seven Loud sisters who had taken their rage out on Lincoln indeed looked like they had seen better days, despite trying to keep their feelings to themselves. "They're already feeling pretty awful as is, so if Lincoln still hates them, it might only add more fuel to the fire." Luna was sitting with Leni, but from the looks of things, Leni still wouldn't look at any of her sisters. Luan and Lynn sat together with Lynn asleep and Luan gazing out the train window, practically out of touch with reality. Lucy sat alone and wasn't speaking to anyone, the twins sat together, but weren't even speaking to each other, and Lisa was asleep leaning on her dad.
"What if we don't find him?" Lori asked the million-dollar question. It was fair to say that Rita was reluctant to answer, but she could not hide it from her eldest daughter.
"If we don't find Lincoln anytime soon... we may have no choice but to resort to getting the police involved," said Rita with unwillingness in her voice. Of course, it made sense that Rita was hesitant because if the police were to find Lincoln, there would be questions asked and if Lincoln so much as told even a small bit of the truth, the parents would be in trouble, as it would have been their job to keep a leash on their children and since seven of her daughters partook in beating Lincoln black and blue, it no doubt spelled out that she and her husband never exactly properly disciplined their daughters during their upbringing and poor Lincoln kept getting caught in the middle of the chaos time and time again.
"Mom, you and Dad could go to jail if Lincoln fesses up and says something," Lori said with some panic in her voice. "The police might already be involved since word spread all over Royal Woods. And it's online! You know that!"
"Lori, honey, finding my only son is more important than anything right now," Rita explained. "The least we can do in all this is just find out if he's okay." Rita then noticed her daughter's alarmed state and attempted to calm down. "Look, let's not worry about anything else right now. Let's just try to find Lincoln." Nothing was certain, but Rita had to assure Lori that nothing bad would happen right now.
As for Leni and Luna, their silence stood upon a thick tension, so much so that one would have to sharpen a knife before trying to cut it in two. Luna hadn't even dared to hum a tune to herself due to the anxious tension. She wanted to tell Leni how sorry she was, but would the once ditz even listen to her or still ignore her? But Luna had to try just this once, so she gathered up every bit of courage she had left and spoke from her heart.
"Leni, I know this is hard to believe, coming from me, but... I'm sorry," she began. "I'm so sorry for all this." Leni didn't seem to react in any way. "I... I ruined everything my baby bro and I had... including our special bond... I'm not asking you to forgive me. I just want you to know that I... I truly regret everything... right down to my core," Luna finished. "It really hurts me to remember that I... hurt him... b-but..." Before Luna could finish this time, her voice staggered and her words slipped into thin air. A cold chill went down her spine as Leni turned to look at her. She had visible tear marks from before and a blank expression that Luna couldn't read.
"I don't care for your regrets, Luna," Leni said coldly. "These are faults YOU caused, you and the other sorry so-called sisters. Now you seek someone who could tell you straight to your face that you are better than this and can do better... but you can't. Not the way things are right now." She turned back away, leaving Luna stunned that Leni was even capable of saying things that may have made her no better than her sisters that physically harmed her only brother. This was definitely not the sweetheart and airheaded sister they once knew. And the words she threw at her gave her more weight to her chest that she couldn't seem to shake off. The train bumped a little, which didn't snap Luna out of her thoughts, but it did make the sport-loving brunette stir. She opened her teary eyes and glanced at Luan and the others, confirming to her that all of this wasn't just a bad dream. But she did have one, in which Lincoln was shown dead on the ground and Lynn Jr. standing over him with bloodied fists. I killed you... Lynn Jr. wiped away her tears, letting Luan know she was awake.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Luan asked out of concern, which seemed to be her in rare form. Lynn Jr. made herself a little more comfortable before letting out a huge sigh.
"Horrible doesn't even begin to describe it," she said. "It just feels like my fault that he isn't here." Luan was disheartened.
"It wasn't just you," Luan explained. "It was... all of us. We were bad sisters and we're all to blame." Lynn Jr. just shook her head.
"It's not just that," she said. "It made me think of what happened before." To put it plainly, Lynn Jr. recalled all the times she was an annoyance to Lincoln, such as being disrespectful when visiting his room, calling him 'Stinkin', and even calling him bad luck, which was undoubtedly the worst one of all, as it was a chain of events that led to the entire family locking her only brother out of the house for more than just a single night. Somehow, the family dodged a bullet by not getting caught, but wherever Lincoln was, if he had the police on his side, he would most likely bring that up again and the Loud family would have no choice but to resign to the fate of the most savage sentence the law had to offer. Every time her brother was nice to her, she simply responded with disgrace and took his kindness for a granted.
"Lynn, you remember my pranks I had saved for April Fool's?" Luan reminded Lynn Jr., a bit angrily. "I laughed while Lincoln suffered, so don't think for a minute that you're the odd one out in this!" Lynn Jr. was taken aback by the response her sister let out, but it was understandable.
"Point taken," she said in defeat, but before she could say or do anything else, Luan wrapped her arms around her.
"Come here, you deserve a hug," Luan whispered to Lynn. The jock sister felt a bittersweet smile crawl up on her face as she returned the hug. While Lucy watched from afar, she still bore a dead expression. She chose to sit alone, which allowed her to reach the inner part of her thoughts and stay there as a safe place where she would like to believe that nothing of this mess had ever happened.
"Attention, all passengers. We will be shortly arriving at our destination. Please wait for the train to stop before getting up and we hope that you have enjoyed your journey," said the voice of a man through the train's speaker. The family was alerted and it sunk in just how far from home they were. They glanced out the window and saw the snow falling outside. There were plenty of beautiful sights, but they knew they had to concentrate on their number one goal. When the train came to a complete stop, the Loud family had to wait behind several crowds of people before finally getting off the train, feeling that cold air once more. The sign saying 'Welcome to New York!' made it obvious they were at the right place, so they put on their jackets and Lynn Sr. retrieved their luggage.
"Alright girls, first things first, we need to find a hotel," Rita said, receiving some disappointed nods from the daughters.
"Don't worry," said Lynn Sr, trying to keep things in a positive light. "The sooner we get settled, the sooner we can start searching." Rita began to pull out a map to look for a hotel that didn't cost too much.
"Don't worry, Mom, I got it," said Lori, way ahead of her mom. She had found a place using data on her phone while on the train. Rita agreed to the place. "Okay, girls, let's go catch a bus." One bus ride later, the family arrived at the selected hotel. As with having packed up to go to New York, they wasted no time checking in and dumping their stuff in the multiple rooms they had, which looked mostly the same with two or three beds each. They met in the hotel lobby afterwards and began their plan.
"Listen carefully, girls," Lynn Sr. started. "First and foremost, do not get sidetracked. We're only here to find your brother, so no shopping. And second, New York City is nothing like Royal Woods, so be careful out there."
"We'll split up in teams and work together. Lisa, Lola, Lana, and Lucy, you'll all come with me since you're all too young to be going out alone," Rita said firmly.
"Lori, Leni, and Luna, you'll be your own team to cover more ground," Lynn Sr. added. Luna gulped, knowing that Lori and Leni had given her plenty of flak over Lincoln as is and if she kept getting cheek from the oldest sisters, she'd be liable to lose confidence - not just in trying to make amends with Lincoln, but also in herself - maybe even slip into a deep depression.
"What about us?" said Luan and Lynn Jr. in unison, slightly mad.
"We're not leaving you out," said Rita. "We'll trust you to be your own team, same as the older sisters." The teens sighed with relief. "Now remember, if anything happens, keep in touch with your phones. And be sure that we all meet back here no later than 7 p.m. sharp. Understood?" Everyone agreed to the rules and with nothing else holding them back, they ventured out into the unknown that was New York City with their number one goal in mind - find Lincoln.
Speaking of, back at Jordan's place, the two kids were playing video games with big smiles each.
"Come on!" groaned Lincoln, losing another match to Jordan, while she just chuckled at his annoyance.
"You know I can't just go easy on you because I'm a girl!" exclaimed Jordan as she playfully punched his shoulder, which was almost a nostalgic feeling to the boy.
"Ah. You... made me think of an old friend," he said, almost to himself. The two of them had been at it for about two hours before Jordan's mom knocked on the door.
"Jordan, honey, your dad and I are heading out for our weekly dinner. You two will be okay on your own?" asked Kate.
"We'll manage!" called Jordan, still glued to the screen, determined not to lose to the white-haired boy.
"Alright then, we should be back in about an hour. Good luck on your little play date!" teased Jordan's mom. Jordan's eyes bulged and a blush spread almost instantly on her face. Lincoln gained the upper hand thanks to Jordan's distraction.
"Lincoln WINS!" announced the game, as Lincoln let out a victory cheer and Jordan tried to cover her blushing face.
"Yeah! Finally!" he shouted. Jordan noticed that Lincoln didn't flinch or falter when her mom made that teasing comment. A small worry boiled up in her stomach that maybe Lincoln was still friend-zoning her. "Hey, are you okay, Jordan?" said Lincoln, noticing her expression switch. "It's only a game... right?"
"Ah... I-I know," she stuttered slightly. "It's not that, it's just... I thought you would have at least reacted to what my mom said," she finished sheepishly. Lincoln chuckled.
"Did I ever tell you about the time my sisters tried to set me up with Ronnie Anne Santiago once?" he said. "All that stuff about bullying as signs of affection and all that other junk. But seriously, living in a house with ten sisters will make you a target of comments like that. I guess I'm just used to it." Jordan still flinched hearing Lincoln mention his sisters and so a question formed in her mind that she was unsure to ask. "Hey... everything okay?" Lincoln asked kindly, noticing her face shifting tones. After a bit of hesitation, Jordan decided to ask the question she had.
"Lincoln, I want your honest opinion of something," she started. Lincoln's head perked up in confusion, but he nodded. "Do you... hate your sisters?" Jordan hoped she had kept it down, but Lincoln heard it and froze, making Jordan instantly regret that she asked. "I'm sorry, Lincoln," she apologized profusely. "I shouldn't have asked you that."
"No, it's fine, Jordan. Don't worry," Lincoln said as he put his hand on Jordan's shoulder to assure her. Yet he felt that Jordan asked a valid question. Did he hate his sisters for everything? If not this one time, then what about everything else? "I... I don't know. One part of me... wants me to just hate them until the day I die. But the other part of me just wants things to go back to normal. The way things were, before... this... Before... Lori moved away..." Lincoln sounded so unsure and Jordan was wordless as to what to say, but she knew Lincoln wanted her to respond. But he spoke again first. "Jordan... am I a bad person for wanting to hate them? I know what they did to me was wrong, but... I can't imagine what they must have suffered from by now. It's like... I should love them even more now..." Jordan couldn't believe what she was hearing from him and instantly got irate.
"Are you kidding me, Lincoln?! They dared to lay a finger on you because of SOME ROOM!" she shouted angrily. "If there's any truth to whatever love you still have for them, then why would they hurt you in the first place?!" Without saying it directly, Jordan clearly despised Lincoln's sisters and hoped that Lincoln wouldn't ever have to meet up with them again. But what was also a possibility, something that Jordan herself might not be aware of, was that her newfound feelings for Lincoln were driving her to either protect Lincoln from his own sisters or selfishly claim him as hers and hers alone. Inadvertently, these feelings may have been getting in the way, as no matter how many times Lincoln's sisters would say sorry, it might be Jordan who hates them until the day she dies. "You listen to me and listen closely. You are anything and everything except a bad person," Jordan assured Lincoln. "You have made my days here in New York City so much better that I can't express it enough." Tears began to form in her eyes. "You're kind, gentle, and considering, and I'm glad we met." Jordan hugged Lincoln as tears flowed down her eyes and the boy didn't hesitate to embrace her back. They held each other, not saying a word and not wanting to let go. It wasn't until the game screen dimmed from the amount of time that passed that snapped them out of their tender moment. When they released each other, they both blushed. "Thanks, Lincoln. I guess I needed that more than I thought."
"You were certainly outspoken, that's for sure," Lincoln replied, as Jordan wiped a tear away from her slightly red eyes. "I guess maybe you have a point, though. I should start thinking more about myself."
"Mm. You've done so much for others already. You care about others. But please... you also need to take care of yourself."
"Yeah." Lincoln took a deep breath. "My sisters hurt me. They caused all this. Maybe it's time that I start thinking and speaking for myself," he announced, earning yet another smile from Jordan.