Hello everyone, I'm back! I read your votes regarding what you wanted to see in this chapter. Because the results were approximately 50/50, I decided to do the following.
I decided to include the dinner scene for those who requested it because several people asked for it. However, if you are not interested in reading the dinner scene, feel free to skip to a little bit of action which begins after the first horizontal line in the story. That being said, I hope you enjoy chapter 5 of "The Loud Crush!"
At the sound of Rita Loud's booming voice, Leni and Lincoln got dressed up and joined their sisters in their descend to the dinner table. The Loud parents had just returned home from the bank and they brought along with them a savory must-have treat for the kids.
"Feeling hungry Linky?" Leni asked her white-haired brother as they both headed into the dining room.
"You bet!" Lincoln replied cheerfully, his stomach rumbling in confirmation. As Lincoln entered the dining hall and took a seat in between Leni and Luan, he pondered about what his parents might have brought for dinner. He was hoping for one of his favorite meals; pizza, Mac 'n Cheese, lasagna, or even a slight chance of an American Diner Double burger from Denny's.
Lincoln smiled to each one of his sisters as they took their seats at the dining table. To his shock, all of the Loud girls gave him a romantic type of smile, with their gleaming eyes focusing on his face. Lincoln hadn't expected his sisters to give him that sort of look. He had only meant to make them feel comfortable about dining with him. But for some odd reason, the Loud girls stared at him profoundly. In fact, Lincoln noted that several of the girls stared at him dreamily, as if wanting to spend some alone time with him. In special, Lynn Jr. and Luna seemed to be the most attracted to his face. They both appreciated their brother's soft, white hair, his smooth facial skin, his gleaming blue eyes, and his cute, welcoming smile. It was too much for Lynn Jr. and Luna to handle.
"Wow, he's got such a good complexion," Luna said in her mind. "And his smile is just too cute to resist! If only I could give those lips a kiss—" Luna then gasped in shock at this thought. Sure, Lincoln was a handsome young man. But to want to kiss her brother in the lips, let alone the fact that she had only met him a few hours ago? Something wasn't quite right about that, and it made Luna a bit uncomfortable sitting in front of the 11-year old boy.
Luna wasn't alone however. Lynn Jr. was too having some complex thoughts. "He's quite the handsome guy. With that sweet smile of his and those cute eyes! Mmmmmmm! But that smile, ohhhh, I just want to taste those smooth, soft lips—errr, doh!" Lynn Jr. smacked her head upon hearing that thought. "Get it together LJ! Lincoln's your new brother! You wouldn't want to scare him away! But man, those lips…"
In the meanwhile, Lincoln had been doing his best not to portray a sense of confusion or awkwardness towards his sisters. They were creeping him out a little bit with their exaggerated smiles, but Lincoln dismissed it as his sisters trying to make him feel good about being part of their family.
"Alright kids, hope your tummies are prepared to munch because your father and I got you all a giant 32-slice pizza from La Pizza Loca!" the Loud matriarch said, snapping the Loud girls out of their focused state.
"Mmmm!" Lincoln said, licking his lips. "Dinner is served!" The Loud sisters drooled at the sight of such a large pizza. They'd always eat from only a single twelve-slice pizza. They had never seen any pizza larger than the norm until now.
"Dig in kids!" Lynn Sr. said, causing all of the Loud children to immediately swoop into the giant pizza box for two slices of pizza.
"At long last…two slices..." Lola said as she dreamily ate away her pizza.
"Hmm...still needs a bit more flavor," Lola's twin sister Lana said. She took out a small box from her overalls' pocket, opening it up to reveal five earthworms. She placed the earthworms onto each of her two pizza slices and proceeded to dig in. "Mmmmm! Now that's what I call delish!" Lana exclaimed happily, causing her princess twin to retch.
Lincoln proceeded to eat his two slices of pizza, happy to be spending his first dinner with family. He began daydreaming about how he'd spend his Saturday with the Loud sisters, about the future trips he'd go on with the girls. He also started thinking about how he would make his sisters happy and be a big help to them. But as he munched on his triangular slices of cheese and pepperoni on dough, he felt as if he was being watched. He felt that ten pairs of eyes were locking him down, watching his every move, and he didn't like the sensation very much.
Lincoln decided to stop daydreaming and lifted his head to observe his sisters. And sure enough, they were all looking at him, in the same dreamy way they had stared at him a bit earlier. They may have been chewing away, but they still had their focus on him. Lincoln was still unable to understand why the Loud girls were staring at him that way. Was there something about him that caught their attention?
"Maybe I made some funny look with my face," Lincoln thought to himself. "Or perhaps the way I eat my food is strange."
Lincoln decided that one of those assumptions was right and shrugged away the glares of his sisters. He soon finished up his pizza and was preparing to get up and go throw away his scraps when out of the corner of his eye he caught a rather disturbing sight.
He noticed Lynn Jr. and Luna were drooling saliva out of their mouths, seemingly in a trance. What made it even more awkward for him was that they both seemed to be focusing on him the most, not moving their pupils away from him for even a nanosecond. The other Loud girls had by this point stopped staring at him and were now talking amongst themselves, but Lynn Jr. and Luna were still locked onto him. "I wonder what's up with them two," Lincoln thought, "I hope they're alright."
Lincoln excused himself from the dinner table saying, "Thanks Mom and Dad for this wonderful dinner. Pizza is definitely one of my favorites. I'm just going to go throw away my trash and head up to my room to chill for a bit."
"You're very welcome son," Rita and Lynn Sr. both said together.
"Sure, go relax upstairs!" Lynn Sr. said next. "Or, if you want to, you can watch some TV right here in the living room."
"No, that's okay, thanks Dad. I just want to read some Ace Savvy comics for now."
"Okay son, sounds good! Have fun reading!" the patriarch said.
Lincoln nodded and proceeded to discard his refuse. As he headed towards his room he said to his sisters, "Thanks for giving me this great dining experience. I finally know what it feels like to eat with family." Despite the awkwardness (and rather silence) of dinner, Lincoln was still grateful for having been able to share a dining experience with a family.
"You're welcome Lincoln!" the Loud sisters replied.
Lori then said, "Remember, if you need anything, just let any of us know, okay?"
"Sure thing Lori, thanks!"
"No problem bro. Have fun reading!" Lori said smiling. Lincoln then went into his room upstairs and began reading his favorite comic.
Luna and Lynn Jr. were now facing towards the stairs, still drooling saliva onto the dining table. Lori and Leni noticed that the rocker and athlete were emitting this strange behavior and decided to ask them what was going on.
"Lynn?" Leni began. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Luna," Lori said. "Is anything wrong?"
Neither of them responded, making Lori and Leni a bit worried.
"Lynn, Luna!" Lori spoke again, this time louder. "What's wrong?"
Once again, they received no response from either the athlete or the rocker.
"Please forgive me for this," Leni said to herself, now getting a bit impatient.
"LYNN! LUNA!"
"I've got to kiss those sweet lips of Linc—" Both Lynn Jr. and Luna gasped in shock, realizing that they accidentally blurted out their thoughts. They hadn't meant to of course but Leni's yell startled them into doing so. They fortunately never finished saying their thoughts, but they still panicked at the thought of what would happen next.
"What?!" Leni said confused. "You have to kiss the sweet lips of who?"
"Uh...nothing!" Luna and Lynn Jr. said in unison, smiling nervously.
"Come on guys, don't worry about it. Remember, we're a family and we're here to listen to anything you want to tell us. We won't make fun of either of you, we promise," Lori said calmly. "Now, can you please repeat what you just said?"
Luna and Lynn Jr. began to sweat nervously. They didn't want their sisters to find out about the thoughts that were hitting their minds, let alone Lincoln.
"Umm, me and Luna were um... just reciting some uh... some lines for a play we're doing uh...together at...um…" Lynn Jr. stuttered, unable to find her words.
"...School!" Luna yelled out. "Yeah, school!"
Unaware to both Lynn Jr. and Luna, Lisa had been taking notes on both of the girls' behavior and the way they stuttered as they talked. She especially took note of that outburst they made regarding kissing the sweet lips of "Linc." Lisa was curious to see where this discussion would go next. She wanted to know why her athlete and rocker sisters were acting so strange.
"But you guys don't go to school together!" Leni said. "Lynn goes to Royal Woods Middle while Luna goes to Royal Woods High with me."
"Well, um, you see...my drama teacher asked me to have Lynn participate in the play since he needed, um, a sports girl and there was uh no one else willing to take that role," Luna replied, sweating heavily.
"Um, yep, that's it!" Lynn Jr. said in agreement.
"Oh, okay," Lori said. "So I guess that thing you both said about needing to kiss the lips of 'Linc' is just a line from that play?"
"Exactly!" Lynn Jr. and Luna said.
"Well that's great!" Lori said. "I mean, that wasn't so bad was it? There's nothing wrong with you guys participating in a play. We're glad you're branching out from your typical interests and are exploring different things."
"We're so proud of you two!" Leni said. Lynn Jr. and Luna were starting to calm down, confident that they had successfully fooled their two eldest sisters. Lisa continued taking notes, unconvinced of Lynn Jr. and Luna's responses.
"Hmm...something's fishy about their answers. A play? Since when have Luna and Lynn ever been interested in live theater? I've got to get to the bottom of this." Lisa then excused herself from the dining room and went upstairs to her room and laboratory to continue working on her investigation.
"We literally are proud of you," Lori continued. "So, when's the play taking place?"
Lynn Jr. and Luna froze after hearing that question. What could they say? They needed to come up with a clever way to prevent the truth from seeping out. They got themselves into this problem, and now they needed to go along with their white lie if they were to prevent themselves from being humiliated. Worse, they could ruin their chance of getting to bond well their brother if he ever found out.
"Umm, my drama teacher hasn't yet told us when we are going to perform the play, but once we find out, we'll let you know," Luna said.
"Oh alright. No problem. Just let us know as you find out when the play will be performed. We'd love to go watch you guys perform!" Lori smiled.
"Okay, sounds good!" Luna said.
"Alright, thanks for clearing everything up with me, and next time you guys have something pestering your mind, just talk to me, okay? There's literally no reason for you guys to be scared of me," Lori said.
"Okay, sure thing!" Lynn Jr. and Luna responded. They both then left the dining hall and scurried up to their respective rooms to reflect on what just occurred, their faces red and sweaty.
After the Louds held their dinner, they went on about themselves, doing their favorite activities to kill time. Lincoln was currently reading some of his favorite issues of Ace Savvy in his bedroom. He was quite comfortable on his memory foam mattress, enjoying his stay at Casa Loud.
"Ah, this is life. All thanks to my new Mom, Dad, and sisters!" Lincoln said to himself, sighing happily. He continued reading his comic for another twenty minutes until he got bored. He decided that he wanted to watch some TV and headed downstairs into the living room.
In the sofa, he spotted Lynn Jr. watching a baseball match. Lincoln was quite intrigued by the sport, and while he didn't quite understand all the perks of baseball, he still liked watching some baseball games from time to time. Plus, since Lynn Jr. was a distinguished athlete, he was confident that she could help him understand all the rules and mechanics of baseball.
"Hey Lynn!" Lincoln said. "Mind if I watch the baseball match with you?"
Lynn Jr. immediately blushed red and began to tremble. Lincoln's appearance made her recall the terrible incident she had during dinner earlier that day, an incident she didn't want to think about for the time being.
*Flashback*
Lynn Jr. was facing towards the stairs, drooling saliva onto the dining table. Leni had noticed that she was emitting this strange behavior and decided to ask her what was going on.
"Lynn?" Leni began. "Are you feeling okay?"
She didn't respond, making Leni a bit worried. She was busy away, staring at the staircase.
"Lynn! What's wrong?"
She still paid no attention to the concerned voice calling her.
"Please forgive me for this," Leni said to herself, now getting a bit impatient.
"LYNN!"
"I've got to kiss those sweet lips of Linc—" Lynn Jr. gasped in shock, realizing that she had accidentally blurted out her thoughts. She hadn't meant to of course but Leni's yell startled her into doing so.
"What?!" Leni said confused. "You have to kiss the sweet lips of who?"
"Uh...nothing!" Lynn Jr. said, smiling nervously.
*End of flashback*
Since that incident, Lynn Jr. had trouble staying calm. Deep down inside her heart were mixed feelings about Lincoln. She felt this weird attraction towards him, and she didn't know why. During dinner, she had focused heavily on Lincoln's face, and she had been thinking about how handsome his white hair was, how smooth his facial skin looked, and especially, how sweet and cute his smile beamed. Sure, Lincoln was her brother, but boy, was he quite the handsome guy! Almost to the point where she wanted to grab Lincoln and give him a long, tender ki—
"Um, Lynn? Why aren't you answering me?"
Lynn Jr. snapped out of her thoughts. "Uh, uh, sorry Linc. I was just distracted thinking about a project I have to finish for, uh, school. How can I, uh, help you?"
"I just wanted to see if it was okay if I watched the baseball game with you. And I was kinda hoping you could explain the game to me so I can understand it fully. I sort of have an idea of how the game works but I'm still confused about certain things. And since you are a very talented, young athlete, I was hoping you could help me understand the game."
Lynn Jr. once again started to shake upon hearing her brother's complement that she was a very talented, young athlete. It only reinforced her thoughts and feelings towards Lincoln. He was a very nice and polite guy, thus lovable, but she didn't want to spill the beans to him and potentially ruin her chance to build a bond with him. Out of panic, she punched Lincoln in the face, causing him to fall onto the floor. She then raced into her room, locked her door and began trying to relax.
Lincoln laid on the floor, both confused and hurt by what Lynn Jr. did. "What the heck? I only asked if I could watch the baseball game with her and if she could explain baseball to me so I could understand it well. I don't understand, why did she just punch me like that? She could've simply said no."
Lincoln got up and sat on the couch. He decided to let the incident go, thinking that Lynn Jr. perhaps just wanted to mess with him. She was an athlete after all, and he reasoned that based on the way some athletes behaved on TV, that Lynn Jr. just wanted to show him her tough nature. Lincoln decided to watch the baseball match, hoping to get a better grasp of how the game worked by listening closely to the announcers' commentary.
It was now 10:00 PM in the Loud house. Lynn Sr. and Rita instructed the Loud children to head up to their rooms and get ready for bed.
As the Loud girls headed towards their rooms, Lynn Sr. approached Lincoln who had just finished watching the baseball match. "Hey son, I see you like watching baseball."
"Hey Dad. Yeah, baseball is quite an interesting sport. I just wish I could understand it."
"Oh, you mean that there's certain things you don't get about baseball?"
"Yes Dad. Like for instance, I'm confused as to how strikes are given. I thought that for every ball a batter missed, a strike was assigned. I know that three strikes means one out, but I've noticed that even after three failed attempts, the batter still wasn't out. I don't know why that happens!"
"Ah, I see what you mean. Well, I myself am not too good at explaining baseball even though I understand how the game works. But you do have a sister who's an expert in sports, and that sister is Lynn Jr. Have you tried asking her to explain the striking system to you?"
"Yes Dad, she was watching the baseball match when I came into the living room."
"Great! And did she help you understand the way strikes work?"
Lincoln didn't know what to say. On the one hand he wanted to tell his dad the truth about how Lynn Jr. had punched him in the face and ran up to her room. But on the other hand, he didn't want to get his athlete sister in trouble, especially because he thought she was only messing around with him as part of her sporty nature.
"Yes, she did help me understand the way strikes work. She is quite the pro when it comes to sports!" Lincoln decided to say.
"Excellent! I'm glad she helped you out. Alright son, it's ten o'clock and it's time for bed. I want you to get a good night's rest for tomorrow. Me and your mother have an exciting trip planned and I wouldn't want you to oversleep."
"Oh sweet! That's so awesome!" Lincoln said jumping excitedly.
"I'm glad you're excited about the trip. Now go on and wash up for bed alright?"
"Sure thing Dad!" Lincoln said, giving his father a tight hug before rushing into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
A few minutes later, Lincoln came out of the bathroom ready for bed. Before he went into his room though, he wanted to be polite and wish his sisters a good night's rest.
"Good night guys! Hope you all have sweet dreams!" he yelled into the hall. Lincoln only expected his sisters to yell out "good night" from their rooms, but he was touched when instead, he saw his sisters come out from their rooms, and one-by-one, give him a hug and a tender kiss on his forehead or cheeks.
"Good night Lincoln, see you tomorrow," Lori said, hugging him tight and placing a wet kiss on his forehead.
"Nighty night Linky," Leni said, giving Lincoln a tight hug and a soft kiss on his forehead.
"Sweet dreams Lincoln. Gotta get those Z's going!" Luan said, hugging him and kissing him on his left cheek.
"Good night Lincoln," Lucy said in monotone. She gave him a hug and a kiss on his right cheek.
"Good night Linc," Lana said, jumping into Lincoln's arms for a tight embrace. Although not a fan herself of kisses, she made an exception with Lincoln and gave him a long wet kiss on his left cheek.
"Good night Linky!" Lola said, jumping into Lincoln's arms and giving him a "princess" kiss on both of his cheeks.
"Good night male sibling. Make sure you get your required REM sleep for tomorrow," Lisa said in a serious tone. She wasn't sure about whether or not to display the same affection her older sisters were showing towards Lincoln. She wasn't the type of person to show affection for her siblings through hugs and kisses, but she caved in this time, only because this was about her new brother.
"Okay Lincoln. I'm normally not one to display affection or to give hugs and kisses, but because you are my new male unit, I shall consent to do what your other sisters have done." She then gave Lincoln a warm hug and a kiss on his left cheek. "Rest well Lincoln."
And finally, Lily crawled up to Lincoln, allowing him to pick her up for an embrace.
"Goo nigh Yincoln," Lily babbled as best as she could, kissing him in the forehead.
"Good night to you too Lily, see you tomorrow!" Lincoln then went to place Lily in her crib inside Lisa's room. As he headed off into his room, he realized that there were two of his sisters who he didn't see in the hallway: Lynn Jr. and Luna. While upset about not hearing from them when he called out "good night" he decided not to give much thought to them.
"They probably just fell asleep. No big deal!" Lincoln said to himself, going into his room. Just as he was about to close his door though, he noticed a hand pop out through the small gap left.
"Uh uh uh, not without us giving you our good night!" Rita said, pushing Lincoln's door open.
"Oh right! Sorry Mom," Lincoln said, allowing his mom to embrace him in a tight hug.
"Sweet dreams my little guy. I hope you rest well," she said, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"Thanks Mom! Have a great night too!"
Lynn Sr. then came inside to give his good night to his new son. "May you have a great night Lincoln. Hope you have a nice dream!" he said, giving Lincoln a hug and a kiss on his forehead.
"Thanks Dad. I hope you rest well!" Lynn Sr. and Rita then exited Lincoln's room, waving him goodbye as they closed his door.
"Ah, thank God for this family. I'm so happy to be part of a family that actually loves me," Lincoln said, closing his eyes shut, drifting into a sweet slumber.
Not long after, every Loud too fell into a deep sleep. Except for Lynn Jr. and Luna. Both had their eyes wide open, still thinking about the incident that occurred not too long ago. Fortunately for Luna, she was able to eventually drift herself into slumber after an hour and a half of twisting and turning in her bed by listening to some classical guitar music through her headphones. As she fell asleep, she thought about how she had avoided Lincoln's "good night." She felt bad for not having given Lincoln a goodnight hug and kiss, but she also hadn't wanted to risk going berserk in front of him. She didn't want Lincoln to think of her as a weird person or find out about her secret.
As for Lynn Jr., things were really stiffening up for her. After having panicked in front of Lincoln and having punched him in the face out of fear, all that she could say to herself while staring at her ceiling hoping to fall asleep was
"What have I done?"
Alright everyone, this is chapter 5 for you all. Things will begin to ramp up from here. How will Lincoln manage with what is about to come? Stay tuned for chapter 6 and find out for yourself!
On a side note, I want to let you all know that for the time being, I'll only be able to update this story about once every two weeks as my college workload is increasing. With two big midterms coming up, I'll need to spend some time studying for the exams. If I can update this story more frequently, I will have more chapters published in a shorter time. But for now, I hope it's okay with you all if I update once every two weeks.
Alright, that's it for now. This is Erik from EAP715, signing off. God bless. :)
