I had to break up a chapter. The flow just wasn't working with breaks.

The young teen with white hair shambled into the hallway. The weight of water forcing him to wake from what was a peaceful sleep. Lincoln Loud's feet dragged across the ground as he groggily walked forward. It was past midnight in the Loud home and all were asleep. Well... except him and someone in the bathroom.

Something felt oddly familiar to him.

The teenager took the spot just behind the door, waiting as usual. The hall was dim, only illuminated by the small amount of light flooding through the bottom crack of the door. His body wobbled as he rubbed his eyes, but something was weird. This felt familiar.

He felt dread.

"C- m- Lo- do it."

What was that?

His senses were returning as his heart rate increased. It was a fight or flight response but why?! One of his sisters was in the bathroom. She was whispering harshly but it sounded muffled.

"Do it!"

That was Lola's voice…

Lola!

Lincoln's eyes shoot fully open and turned to the bathroom. A flood of emotions for no reason hit him but all told him to get that damn door open. His shoulder hit the door with loud slams. Again and again, harder and harder, Lincoln crushed his shoulder against the bathroom entrance. He felt no pain. Last time, she had left the door unlocked. The door flung off its hinges as he made it inside.

Lola, his dear thirteen year old sister who had just entered middle school, stood close to the sink. Her eyes glared at herself in the mirror. A pink towel wrapped around her head, gagging herself, and a bucket of ice was at her feet. Several bandages and ointments surrounded the sink ledge, all prepared for what she was about to do.

In her grasp was a hot clothing iron inches away from her acne riddled cheek.

"Lola!"

The scarred girl turned towards her brother. He could see her crying, scared about what she was about to do. Her eyes darted from the heated implement and her savior, but she chose the searing metal.

The iron drew closer.

Lincoln moved quickly. One hand reached for the iron, the other his sister. His intention was to push them away from one another. But they were too close together.

He could hear a sizzle as his fingers got between his sister's cheek and the clothing iron.

Yet this time he didn't scream in pain.

He forced them apart. Lola's small body flew against the wall while the iron shattered to pieces as it hit tile. His hand was severely burnt but that didn't matter.

"Lola!" He ran to her side. "Are you okay?! Please tell me you're not hurt!" Her blue eyes closed as she sobbed. Tears began streaming down her rough cheeks. The pink towel she was using to prevent her from biting her tongue off, now prevented her from talking. Lincoln went to undo the gag. "Dang it, Lola! Just tell me you're okay!"

Her head shook no.

"Where are you hurt?!" His hand went to look at her face, pushing it side to side. The only burnt skin was his hand. "I don't see anything wrong! Please tell me!" Lola wouldn't stop crying and after several labored tries she managed to choke out two words.

"My face."

"What's wrong with your face?" Lincoln's concern only mounted again. Where was she hurt?!

"EVERYTHING!" The blonde girl shouted out. "All this fucking acne! All the constant bleeding! EVERYTHING!"

"W-what?" The sole Loud sone managed out.

"I wanted to wear a scarf!" Lola's words were pained as she began describing her day. "My first day of middle school! A new start! But some fucking teacher tells me to take it off!" Her fragile hand punches into the ground. "I told him I didn't want to! But he told me I had to and tore it off! And then! And then!"

Her slender fingers wrapped around Lincoln's shirt. Instinctively, he pulled his sister into a protective hug. He felt the water droplets drip onto his pajamas. And he calmly rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"He saw my face." Lola angry cried. "And handed it back to me saying: it's okay if I wear it."

"Lola." the teen tried to soothe her by calling out.

"I'm so ugly that he gave it back." Lincoln's fingers curled into a fist.

"You're not ugly, Lola."

"Yes, I am." Lincoln could feel her body shake. "Why did this happen to me? Why did I have to be the one?"

"Shh shh shh." His hand should have stung as his burnt flesh went to comb her hair. But for some reason it did not. "You're beautiful, Lola. Nothing will change that."

"R-really." Lola whimpered.

"Of course, Lola."

"..."

"..."

"Then prove it."

Lola's head darted off his chest and her brilliant blue eyes glistened at him. She was no longer the middle schooler of the past but the woman that he knew today. The bathroom crumbled away to darkness. A spotlight focused in above the pair, giving her golden hair a magnificent shine. He dared not look down as her bare shoulders probably indicated she was naked.

But he would not say he wasn't tempted.

Closing her eyes, her pink lips came in. Lincoln accepted them, and the kissing that followed. She was passionate. Her scent was intoxicating. He let his hand glide down her slender body. He was the one to start using tongue, not her.

His hand pressed on her lower back, guiding her to lie down. His breaths were heavy as he looked down at his little sister beneath him. Her eyes filled with desire and she spoke slowly.

"Take me, Lincoln."

Lincoln's eyes shot open to his bedroom ceiling. It was still dark and he was covered in sweat. He let his hand come to his chest and grip his nightshirt. His heart was pounding a mile a minute. His eyes darted around the empty room in fear.

At two in the morning, Lincoln got up and took a cold shower.

"That's all for today." The professor announced but their voice was being drowned out by students already packing up their stuff.

Lincoln was no exception.

Hell, he nodded off about ten minutes in. That's how his day went. Quick naps to make up for the lack of sleep that night. After what happened, who wouldn't feel a bit perturbed.

Lola was his sister after all.

He had promised a date with her this afternoon and he wanted to be fully awake for it. Not only did he not want to risk pitching a tent but if he fell asleep during the movie, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

Lola was taking the initiative now. Whenever the secret couple could, the brother found himself being tugged from his old freetime. The past pageant goer was always on the lookout for things they could do together. In this case, a movie that she insisted was going to get him in the romantic mood. While he contemplated it all, the college student did not notice his fellow classmate sneak up to him.

"Um, hello Lincoln." A long haired brunette girl came up from the side. With a penchant to purple and bakery, Cookie was always a nice reminder of the good old days. He had seen her in the halls previous years but this time they finally had a class together.

"Hey, how's it going?" Lincoln greeted his childhood friend.

"Nothing much, I saw you close your eyes during the lecture." She gave a small smile at the amusing act. "I-if you want I could share my notes with you."

"That would be great!" Lincoln smiled back causing a blush to form on the girl's cheeks.

"I-i'll send it to you." Cookie frantically reached into her coat for her phone. "Um, what's your number?" She pushed her brown hair behind her ear.

"Oh, here I'll put it in." The white haired man held out his hand. Nodding, the brunette handed it over quickly. With little effort, Lincoln put his cell into his friend's phone. "And there. Thanks, Cookie, you're the best."

She looked at her phone screen and cheered internally. "No problem." While she cheered, her male friend finished packing up.

"Well I gotta get going." His backpack flung over his right shoulder and he spun his keys on his pointer.

"O-oh, guess I'll see you around." Cookie hesitantly raised a hand to wave goodbye. The man had already begun walking to the door.

"Yeah I gu-" Lincoln stopped his spinning. "Don't you take the bus?"

"Huh?" The brunette looked back at her old classmate. Confusion painted her face.

"Is this your last class?"

"Oh, yes!" She spoke excitedly. "No more today, hehe." Cookie gave her best smile.

"Well, if you're heading out, how about I give you a lift?" Lincoln offered.

Dang it, she thought. At least it's a start. "That would be wonderful. Thank you, Lincoln."

"No problem, Cookie. My car's just in lot J." He moved to lead the way. "C'mon." His head jerked in a way that told her to follow. With a nod she happily accepted.

In the halls of the community college, they walked single file down a crowded hall. This allowed Lincoln to push through and Cookie to wonder if it would be okay to tug at his sleeve. Knowing that this was his last class, the sole male of the Loud family had parked in the nearest lot. Soon they had pushed out the busy hallway and into a smoking area. Accustomed to the smell, they pressed on but now with enough room to walk side by side.

"So," Cookie started as she caught up to his side. "We're getting closer to our final year… any thoughts of what you might do?"

"Well, um… not really." Lincoln dreaded this kind of topic but allowed it. "I'm going for a general business management degree but I'm not sure what I'll do with it."

"Oh, what ab-" The Loud cut her off.

"What about you?" Lincoln decided that was enough of the usual explanation. He amused the notion but he really wasn't up for continuing it.

"Well, I'm getting a business degree too but only because my parents insisted." Cookie eyes faced forward with determination. "Once I'm out they said I can start working full time at our bakery."

"A bakery? That's nice." It was nice to have your life figured out and he envied Cookie for it.

"You should come and see it sometime." She insisted. Her eyes sparkled as she implied it.

"Heh, maybe I should." Without her knowing, they had arrived at Lincoln's Vista Cruiser. His body slid past hers as he went to the passenger door. Unlocking it with his key, he opened it for her. "Here we are."

"Huh," Cookie looked at him, an odd alien sense to his action. "Oh, you're opening the door for me. Wow. Um, no one's ever done that for me."

"Well," Lincoln shrugged. "Some of my sisters are a bit spoiled."

"Thank you, Lincoln." The brunette girl nodded and took off her bag to place in her lap as she slid in. The door closed behind her as her heart fluttered.

Jumping to the other side, Lincoln threw his backpack in the back before starting the car. Cookie stayed silent trying to think of a new topic to talk about in the confines of his car. Luckily, she was given a reprieve as the most obvious one came about. It took a bit to get to the school's exit but as he did, Lincoln finally asked the most important question.

"By the way, where are we going?" All that talk about the future had really distracted him from what was in front of him. Caught off guard, Cookie nearly jumped at his words.

"My house is fine!" She shouted out. "I mean, erm, my home is good. You know where the old library is? If you go that way, I'll direct you the rest of the way."

"Sounds good." With the bearings set, he signalled left.

Feeling a bit stupid about her mess up, Cookie innerly beraded herself. Lincoln must have thought of her as being some idiot for not speaking up.

On the other hand, Lincoln wasn't too concerned about it. Cookie was a blast from the past that he was surprised to meet at community college some time ago. They had only one class together but it was nice to see someone you knew and could chat with from time to time. Admittedly, those time to times had increased quite a bit recently. He had even started feeling comfortable around her. She was shy but she was cool. A good school friend.

"Hey, have you seen that movie: In the Stars?" Lincoln broke the silence of the ride.

What was that?! Cookie began imagining. That's the newest romance movie, right? "No, why~?"

"I'm seeing it later."

"Oh…" The driver did not notice the drop in her voice. "W-with your girlfriend then?"

"..." Lincoln paused for a second. "No with my sister."

"Oh!" Cookie shouted out. "I mean, that's nice of you. Y-you do that often?"

"... not really, but she's been bugging me lately."

"You sound like a great brother." the brunette smiled at him. "She's lucky to have you."

His grip tightened around the steering wheel.

"Thanks!" He feigned a smile. The library came into view.

"I'm just up here." Cookie pointed out. "Turn right at the second stop sign." With a quick confirmation, the driver safely delivered his cheerful passenger home.

Now he had to go to take his sister to the movies.