Three days had passed since Jack informed Lincoln of the police and they had been stressful for the young kid to say the least. That constant unknowing terror was growing closer, sometimes keeping him from sleeping. But he didn't face it alone. Lori and Leni were able to make just enough time to be there for him and comfort him. But there was someone else Lincoln wanted to be with him in all this - his school friend, Girl Jordan. She was a whole new case for him, as he had barely seen her since his talk with Leni three days ago. He knew something was wrong with her, but he lacked the courage to talk to her. The only times they interacted were during meals and occasionally meeting up at the bathroom, but it was nothing more than casual greetings. He never even knew Jordan to be so distant, almost like she was a ghost living in the house. While her parents were aware and had attempted to make small talk, during these past couple of days, Kate had been called upon to take care of important business, which was likely connected to the NYPD and their search for the Loud family. It was a wonder that the police hadn't found them... yet. So Jack urged Lincoln to speak with her and that's exactly what was on the agenda. Lincoln's fear for the future shouldn't deter him, not on a free day when Lori and Leni had to convince him that they couldn't always visit in order to avoid suspicion from his... family.

On this new day, the white-haired kid was in the guest room of the house, changing into his day clothes after waking up. Kate had washed them, despite Lincoln's insistence otherwise, but when she got her way, by God, Lincoln was happy for that. Wearing the same clothes for days on end couldn't be good for his personal hygiene, but with them being washed, it hopefully was no longer a problem. Leaving the guest room, Lincoln saw Jordan's room door wide open, but her room was empty and she wasn't in the bathroom either.

"Guess she's already eating breakfast," he said to himself, entering the bathroom. After brushing his teeth and cleaning his face, he looked in the ethereal mirror to see his reflection. A satisfied look appeared on his face as he noticed the wounds inflicted on him had started to heal. Once more, his mind flashed back to the night when it all happened. After his seven sisters beat him down, they left him in his room to rot - rot like an animal who couldn't survive in its food chain. But he wasn't an animal. He was a person, someone who could think for himself and make choices. That's how he got to where he was now, because of a choice he decided on. It sent his life down this path that might not be the best, but the one he wanted. Lori was right about him. Leaving his family was the bravest thing he ever did. He got himself out of a situation and as luck would have it, he had been laying low ever since. And that was why he wanted to help Jordan, for all she did for him. She found him in his weakest state and helped him get back on his feet. The time had come to return the favor, to help her with whatever she was going through.

Lincoln found Jordan in the kitchen eating by herself, her light brown hair tied in a braid leaning down on her shoulder. She gave him a quick gaze before looking down at her cereal, now barely eating. With no noise between them, Lincoln didn't know how to get his words out. He sighed in defeat and decided to try again after eating his own breakfast. So he got his own cereal and sat down next to her.

"Morning," she murmured, still looking at her cereal.

"Good morning," said Lincoln, rather amused that Jordan actually spoke to him. "Did you sleep well?"

"No, you?" While Jordan's answer was simple, it set Lincoln's mind down a road of confusion. Was her problem something so bad that it kept her from sleeping well? Nevertheless, Lincoln gave his answer.

"Sadly, no," he said, eating a spoonful of cereal.

"Is it because of what Dad told you?" Jordan wondered. Lincoln nodded to confirm her suspicions, but saw that Jordan's eyes had been pointing down all this time with no signs of shifting. Lincoln sighed from the reminder that the law was close behind, but just this once, he was throwing it behind him to focus on the girl in front of him.

"So, why have you been sleeping bad?" he asked. Jordan twitched from the question, almost seeming surprised that he asked, but she calmed down and collected herself.

"Don't know..." she lied. She knew what her problem was, but didn't feel great talking about it. She felt as if opening up to Lincoln would only overwhelm him what with everything else going on. Jordan believed that this was a tough time for him and staying out of his affairs would make the path easier for him. Lincoln couldn't exactly see any signs of deception, but that didn't mean he didn't pick up on any verbal signs. Just from the tone Jordan spoke in, Lincoln was convinced that she was in fact lying to him.

"Jordan, please, I know something is bothering you," said Lincoln straightforward. He had pushed out those words with all the courage he could have garnered and a sudden silence stretched thin between them.

"I'm fine..." Jordan said, deprived, as she finished her cereal and cleaned out her bowl in the sink.

"Well, you're obviously not," said Lincoln, starting to get angry. "I've barely seen you for three days now." Jordan gave him a quick sorrowful glance before resuming cleaning her bowl.

"..." Jordan had opened her mouth to say something to him, but closed it right before any words could come out into the open. She was about to go to her room, presumably to lock herself in for the umpteenth time, but Lincoln addressed her quickly.

"Can we at least watch T.V. or something?" he requested, hoping to get through to her. She waved her head slightly towards him.

"Sure, I'd like that," she said with a slight smile. Lincoln gave his own smile before throwing all of his cereal into his mouth, hoping not to have to make Jordan wait. After cleaning his bowl, Lincoln sat down with Jordan on the couch. It was still dark outside, but the dark blue sky gave a small amount of light through windows, making a perfect setting to just relax and watch a movie. Jordan thought back to when this all started for her, having found Lincoln out in the park all on his own with wounds ranging from physical to emotional. She had brought him home and together, they sat down and watched a movie in this exact room in the exact place on the couch.

Both children still sat on the snowy ground, neither of them talking as a result of surprise. They seemed out of reality, but they were soon snapped back when they heard Ajax bark.

"L-Lincoln, is that you?" she asked. She was certainly surprised to see the white-haired boy out here of all places and from Lincoln's perspective, it felt like everything around him stopped. The world was spinning without him and he was faced with an unavoidable question.

"Y-yeah... i-it's me," Lincoln managed to answer with an audible shaky voice that formed from his shock, but the cold was another good guess. Jordan didn't expect to meet someone from her school all the way here in New York City, but there was something off about him. The way that he talked made her think that something just wasn't right.

"So... w-what are you doing h-here?" Jordan asked. It was a simple question that anyone could answer, but to her surprise, the Loud boy seemed to hesitate to say anything. He thought about it for a couple of moments before coming up with an answer.

"J-just taking a walk... ya know?" said the white-haired boy. It wasn't the best answer, but it seemed that it was the only one that could leave his mouth.

"Oh yeah? In New York?" asked Jordan.

"I'm... a-afraid of my own shadow?" Lincoln stammered a bit with his choice of words. Jordan could sense his unwillingness to answer properly, but she knew something was wrong and pushed on.

"Lincoln, what are you really doing here?" she asked again. She looked at Lincoln and started examining his visible wounds like his black eye. Lincoln realized this, so he began to come clean.

"I-I... r-ran away," the Loud boy said with a shaky voice, trying to speak as silently as he could, but Jordan still heard him. It felt like everything disappeared around them after that. There was nothing and Lincoln awaited a response, but instead, he saw the girl looking at him in confusion and examining him further, giving extra notice to his black eye.

"What happened?" she asked in a soft voice. Lincoln opened his mouth to speak, but closed it after not finding the words to explain it. Jordan noticed that Lincoln seemed afraid, so she decided to switch the question. "Does it have to do with your family?" She anticipated an answer and the Loud boy nodded while looking down at the snow. This just raised more questions for her in her mind. What happened? Why New York? But knowing that he probably wouldn't answer right away and that this might not have been the best place for idle discussion, she instead pulled out her hand and grabbed Lincoln's hand. She was starting to feel cold from being out walking her dog anyway, so she held his leash with her free hand while she and Lincoln made their way through the park.

"Where are we going?" Lincoln asked, unsure.

"Lincoln, if you ran away, then I highly doubt you have a place to stay," replied Jordan. "And since we're both covered in snow and getting cold, I think it's best that I take you to my place. We can get ourselves warmed up in no time."

"You like Ace Savvy?" she asked with a smile.

"Who doesn't?" he asked her back with a smile. "I think that's the better question." So Jordan put on the movie and clapped her hands gently, which dimmed the lights in the room. She sat down on the couch right next to Lincoln, and even though they were friends from school, he still found it really awkward as he blushed a bit along with Jordan. Otherwise, the movie was just as great as Lincoln remembered it to be, watching his hero solve mysteries, but this time around, it felt special. And Jordan was feeling the exact same thing.

Both kids eventually started to feel tired, but Jordan was the one who managed to stay awake longer. She knew this when she felt Lincoln's head lean on her shoulder and listened to him exhaling deep breaths. Looking at his face allowed her to see just how damage his seven sisters did to him and from that alone, she felt like crying. But to her credit, it felt great for her to be helping the Loud boy in the best way she knew how. She just couldn't believe that his own family had caused him so much pain, despite what kinds of stories she might have heard that came from their household. So it was good to know that he was safe with her and far away from his family on the assumption that they would only hurt him again. The feeling of knowing she was helping her friend relaxed her enough to let her sleep and rest.

But sadly, the feeling of relaxing was cut short when she felt a gentle hand placed on her unoccupied shoulder. She looked over and saw her mom smiling at her.

"Hey," she whispered to her daughter softly. Realizing what this looked like from her mother's angle, Jordan blushed and her mom gently lifted the young boy's head and placed it down on a pillow before laying a blanket over him.

The lifestyles and jobs of Jordan's parents made it hard for her not to be alone at times, but Lincoln filled that gap. And now, with the inevitable threat of him leaving her, that is, if he wasn't able to return to Royal Woods, she felt empty. Recapping their comforting moment together, she wanted to voice her concerns and talk with him about it, but she knew Lincoln had much on his back. It was either out of love that she didn't want him to leave, or simply because she didn't want to be alone again. Whichever the case, she knew for certain that without Lincoln, everything would feel dull.

"Eh... Jordan, are you okay?" Lincoln asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She had been changing the channels constantly, faster and faster as she went deeper into her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she blurted out. But she felt a pit in her stomach as she said that. Her whole body disagreed with her sentence. She looked at Lincoln, who looked back at her in doubt. She let out a deep sigh and with one swift stroke, she turned off the T.V. and turned to Lincoln. She curled her knees up to her chest and looked into the eyes of the white-haired boy she loved. "Wanna know what's wrong?" she asked him. Lincoln stayed silent and nodded his head slowly, keeping his eyes on her. "I'm worried, Lincoln, worried that when your stay here eventually runs out... I-I don't know where you might go, but we may end up being complete strangers to each other," Jordan summarized. "Almost every vacation trip my family has taken ended up with me being alone for some of it. But then you showed up and I've never had so much fun in so long. You made it fun and the thought of it all coming to an end made me even more worried." It all came to light for Lincoln, how Jordan truly felt about him and her thoughts on the situation they were in.

"But why did you stay away from me?" asked Lincoln. "I missed you so much." Hearing this, Jordan felt saddened. His voice truly showed how much they had taken apart from each other.

"I didn't want to be taken by surprise. I thought that if I could get used to you not being here with me, the punch would be softer. But... I was only fooling myself. It just made it more painful." She clutched herself harder as more truths left her mouth and let out a sad chuckle. "I'm being selfish, aren't I? Wanting you by my side forever..." She looked away, not wanting to see whatever expression was on Lincoln's face.

"No, Jordan." It was his turn to speak. "You're not. We can still be friends. Nothing will ever keep us apart. If we ever get back to Royal Woods, we can see each other as often as we like, right?" His voice felt smooth and soothing to her. Her muscles relaxed and she slowly calmed down hearing his words.

"Yeah... you're right. We are friends. But it just won't feel the same! We won't be able to hang out every day, watch movies, or play games! At least not the way we've been doing things here and now." Jordan retracted her statement. "I'm so needy!" she said angrily to herself, placing her head down on her knees.

"Don't you think I won't miss any of that? I love hanging out with you and I've enjoyed our time together! You're energetic, carefree, lovable, and cute! Everything about you is something I like! And that's why you won't lose me... because I don't want to lose you," Lincoln mumbled aggressively. His words flattered Jordan, but her mind picked up on something. He really cared for her, perhaps more than friends normally would. She gave him another glance and found his eyes pointing anywhere but her.

"'Energetic, carefree, lovable, and cute'..." she repeated to him. He slunk down on the couch, mentally punching himself for saying a bit too much, but he stood by his point.

"Well, I'm not wrong," he said. Jordan smiled as a light blush on his face.

"Thanks," she responded. "You're really cute too, by the way." It was Lincoln's turn to blush as they sat in a bit more silence, taking in everything so far. "Look, Lincoln, I'm sorry for all of this," Jordan apologized, knowing she was at fault and in the wrong for not being there for her friend when he needed her. "I should have stayed by your side while you were going through those hard times, but I... I chickened out."

"It's fine, really. I'm just glad that you're okay," Lincoln said, relieved. Another smile plastered onto Jordan's face as she saw just how much Lincoln cared for her. Her stomach twisted in apprehension when her mind suggested telling him her true feelings for him. Nothing was getting in the way and the two children were already beginning to come forward about their feelings for one another.

"Hey, Lincoln."

"Yeah, Jordan?"

"We are friends, right?" Jordan asked cautiously. Lincoln's face scrunched up in confusion before nodding yes.

"We are. Why are you asking?" he wondered, although his heart gave him an idea of what was coming next. Jordan's gut was telling her to back off, but she instead opted to try and push her feelings out for him to hear.

"Do you think... maybe... i-is it possible that we could be more than great friends?" Jordan forced these words out of her mouth like bad food at a restaurant. They had joked about that kebab special being disgusting that one time, but she couldn't believe that she actually said it. Yet she was anxious for a response coming from Lincoln. His face was blank and expression were unreadable to her. Lincoln had been caught off guard by Jordan's question and his mind was trying to tell him what to do.

"I... I guess," he stuttered. "I mean... yes... It would be... Maybe..." He was still shocked, so it wasn't his best answer, but his mind was still in the process of digesting what he heard and trying to perceive it.

"But do you want to?" Jordan answered back. It was a question from the heart - she wouldn't hate him if he turned her down, but she'd still be disappointed. Still, her eyes remained fixated on the boy before he opened his mouth to speak again. He shifted into a pose similar to hers on the couch, gazed back into her eyes, and answered truthfully with all the emotions he could.

"Yes... I'd like that." His expression didn't change as he waited for Jordan's response, a brief pause between them. Then suddenly, the girl threw her arms around him, encasing him in a tight hug, giving him multiple kisses on his cheek. Lincoln grew warm and toasty inside.

"I love you, Lincoln," Jordan said in the heat of moment with a smile infectious to Lincoln. Then he caught a quick feeling of something lightly brushing his lips, yet it was so amazing to him. He gazed into her eyes once more like a kid who just got a Christmas present.

"I love you too, Jordan," Lincoln announced to her. Young and in love, the two children finally realized what they meant for each other.