Lincoln II
Lincoln threw himself on his bed, face-down, his hair still wet, and let out a deep sigh. Immediately, as if his agonising sigh had summoned it, there was a knock on his bedroom door. Lincoln opened up and saw Lucy, standing there. Lucy, who had just seen them in the bathroom. Ack, what did she want?
Lucy looked up at Lincoln. "I need to talk to you about something," Lucy said.
Here we go, Lincoln thought.
Lincoln closed the door and sat down on the bed. Lucy sat down next to him. Both sat quietly for a while — awkwardly, too. Lincoln had a feeling he knew what this was about.
"What happened earlier, in the bathroom, between you and Luna..." Lucy said.
Lincoln looked at the ground, flustered. He didn't want to give Lucy any ideas, on the off chance she had misinterpreted the situation. "I- it's complicated."
"It is." Lucy turned towards Lincoln. It was hard to read her expression, as always. "I never imagined that you two were doing such things."
Lucy didn't sound disapproving. She spoke matter-of-factly. If Lincoln didn't know any better, he would think she even sounded excited. Lincoln looked at his sister. Her gaze — even though he couldn't see her eyes directly — was intense.
"Look, Lincoln..." Lucy said, pressing her palms firmly into her thighs. "I want to confess something. Something I've been struggling with."
Lincoln stared.
"I know I don't usually talk about my feelings, and that I seclude myself a lot, but... it's just because of how I feel about our family. Because how what I want."
Lincoln kept gawking at her. Where was she going with this?
"This... excitement. The one you seem to share with Lucy... I think I feel it too." Lucy looked down now. She started fumbling the ruffles of her skirt. "I feel it a lot, actually. It's the only feeling I truly feel — the only thing I know I want."
Lincoln remained quiet, trying to process what she is telling him. Had she really figured out what had gone down just from that quick look in the bathroom? And now she's saying she... feels the same way? Oh no. The lustful haze that had corrupted him in the shower had well subsided by now — it had fled from his body the second Lucy entered the bathroom. He had scarcely thought of Luna in an indecent way, but Lucy? She was even younger than he was. She was small, not as round-figured as her older sisters. Besides, Lincoln had already made a mistake with Luna. He wasn't going to let it happen with any of his other sisters — especially his younger sisters, which he felt protective of. Lincoln had to talk Lucy out of this. And fast.
"Lucy... I'm sorry but, I — I'm not into that."
Lucy paused before responding. She seemed to be processing something. "You're not?" There was a subtle sadness in her voice.
Lincoln shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lucy."
"Sigh. It's okay, Lincoln. I shouldn't have come to you about this. I should've known you wouldn't understand." The last word broke off as her throat swelled. Lucy stood up, and walked out the door. She closed the door behind her.
Lincoln remained on the bed, thinking about what Lucy had said. He was relieved that Lucy wasn't freaking out about what she saw, but he didn't expect this. He did feel something for her, a sort of tender care. He felt it for all of his sisters. He didn't know what it was, but... It was definitely different from what he felt for Luna. And different still from what he felt for Leni.
Lincoln had to get this entire morning out of his mind. Lincoln couldn't focus on Ace Savvy, however. His mind kept wandering to what he had shared with Luna that morning. The images kept flashing by. It all went so fast. Had it even really happened? The images of Luna's beautiful body had been burned into his retina, but it seemed so unreal. It was his first time, and it was with one of his sisters. Lincoln had always imagined his first time to be with Ronnie Anne, but he isn't close with her in the way that he is Luna, especially now that she's living so far away. He decided that he had to get his mind off of things.
Lincoln left his room. He couldn't be around Luna right now, so he had to get out of the house. As he walked out the house, Lincoln saw some of his sisters already playing outside in the yard. Lincoln stepped down the steps. Suddenly —
"Dodge!"
Lincoln looked up, but was too late to react. Lynn swiftly tackled him to the ground.
"Ah, Lynn!"
"What? I said dodge." Lynn spoke indignantly and looked at him with a playful smile. She had pinned him down on the grass. The bright sun made it difficult to look her in the eyes.
"Get off of me!"
Lynn stood up, and helped her brother up. Als Lincoln got up, he noticed Lucy staring from behind the kitchen window. When she noticed he was looking at her, she stooped away. What is that girl up to?
"I'm going to the park, I'll be back late." Lincoln dusted himself off. "Could you tell mom?"
"Roger, Linc." Lynn saluted her brother, then sprinted off. Off to tackle some other unsuspecting Loud, no doubt.
Once at the park, Lincoln sat down on the swings. Walking hadn't distracted him at all. He thought Luna, and then about what Lucy had said.
"Hey Lincoln." It was the voice of his best friend Clyde. "Is this swing taken?" Clyde sat down on the swing next to him, then noticed Lincoln's puzzled expression. "Whoa Lincoln, everything alright?"
"Not really, Clyde." Lincoln said in a sigh. "I may have done something very stupid."
"Well, don't worry Lincoln," Clyde puts up both of his thumbs to point at himself. "Because Clyde McBride is an expert in being stupid. And I can make it un-stupid. Tell me, what did you do?"
"It's not that kind of stupid, Clyde. I don't know if I can tell you."
"Hey, Lincoln." Clyde struck a serious tone. "I'm your best friend, and you can tell me everything. I promise I won't judge. You already know all my deepest secrets, like my love for the beautiful and sweet Lori." Clyde's eyes turn to heart at the thought of her, but he then snaps out of it. "Oh, sorry Lincoln, you probably don't want me gawking over your sister right now."
Lincoln shifted awkwardly in his swing. He slacked a sigh. Bottling up his thoughts was getting him nowhere, maybe speaking it out to his best friend was a good idea. But not here.
"Okay, Clyde, I'll tell you. But not here, somewhere more private. Can I have dinner at your house tonight? I need to be far away from my family right now."
"Oh, that does sound serious. Sure thing Linc, I'll ask my dads."
Clyde took Lincoln to his house. Clyde's dads let him have dinner there. Clyde's dads are concerned for Lincoln and offer to help, but ultimately they respect his privacy. After dinner, Clyde and Lincoln are hanging out in Clyde's room.
"So, what's been going on with you Lincoln?" Clyde is sitting upright on his bed, his legs crossed and tucked underneath him. Lincoln is lying down on a pillow, with his head opposite to the headboard, looking up at the ceiling. He had drawn his hands over his stomach and looked pensive.
"Well..." Lincoln started, but then hesitated. "I did... Something... To Luna. It was a mistake, I didn't mean for it to happen. But I did. And now I'm afraid to even look at her. What if she hates me for it?"
Clyde looked at Lincoln with a mix friendly concern and confusion.
"Lincoln, I'm sure it's not that bad. Whatever you did, I'm sure she'll forgive you for it. You and Luna are like two peas in a pod. She won't hate you over a single mistake." Lincoln felt like Clyde didn't get the severity of the situation. "But if you want me to help you, you have to tell me what it is."
"Look Clyde..." Lincoln paused. He searched desperately for a way to ease Clyde into the topic. "Remember when we secretly looked at porn on my dad's computer?"
"Yeah."
"And remember how we joked about how much step-sister stuff was on there?"
"Yeah I remember." Clyde responds, still clueless at where the conversation is headed.
"Well..."
Lincoln looks at Clyde and motions with his arms. He gestures and gesticulates at him so that he doesn't have to speak it out loud. Clyde stares at Lincoln's legerdemain for some time, and then suddenly understands what Lincoln is getting at.
"Wait, hold on. You..." Clyde is now making a gesture of his own.
Lincoln nods meekly.
"With Luna?"
Lincoln nods again.
"Woah. I uh, didn't see that one coming." Clyde spoke matter-of-factly, but looked more impressed than shocked with the news. Clyde didn't have brothers and sisters of his own, so he couldn't really place the dynamic. All he was processing is that his friend lost his V-card.
"Was it nice?"
"Clyde!" Lincoln bemoaned. He felt like Clyde should be more weirded out by this. "Brothers and sisters aren't supposed to have sex. It's immoral, and their children could be inbred —" Lincoln abruptly broke off his sentence to place his hands to his face, and contorted it into a McCallisteresque scream. "Oh no, what if I impregnated Luna!?"
"Relax, Lincoln. I'm sure she's on birth control." Clyde shrugged off his friends worries. Lincoln's face remained contorted in horror. "Lincoln, you're fine. I'm sure you're not the first brother and sister to have sex. At least, not if that porn site is to be believed. Besides, if you were really having sex, that also meant she didn't stop you. I think. You didn't force her, right?"
Lincoln shook his head to say "no".
"In that case, it was just a one time slip-up for the both of you. I'm sure you can overcome it, you just have to talk to her. If you can both forgive each other for what happened, you can work this out."
Lincoln looked up at Clyde, this time with a glimmer of hope in his face. "You think so?"
"I know so."
Tears of relief started streaming from Lincoln's eyes. "Clyde, you're the best."
Clyde cheekily nodded in agreement.
Lincoln wiped his tears from his cheekbones. "Thanks for your support Clyde. It means a lot." Lincoln smiled now.
"Anytime, Lincoln." The two boys shook hands. "I've never been more proud of you. Both for opening up, and for having sex." A genuine admiration coloured his voice.
Lincoln's smile now stood crooked. One side of his mouth was turned up in pride, the other side was turned down in realisation that siblings shouldn't be having sex with each other. "Thanks Clyde."
"But I would like to ask you one thing."
"What is it?"
"Was it hot?"
Clyde's positivity and acceptance towards his situation had Lincoln off-guard. Was it hot? The question lingered in Lincoln's mind. He thought back of this morning as he had been doing at home, but this time in a new light. With less of the shame now having a stranglehold of his thoughts, Lincoln remembered how good he had felt in the shower. How beautiful Luna was to behold. How nice it felt to be so close to her. And especially: the faces Luna had made for him, and the indecent things she had screamed.
"Oh yes, Clyde, it was hot," Lincoln concluded confidently.
"Was it, like, at least a 7 out of 10 hotness?"
"Oh Clyde, Luna is an 11 out of 10. She was so beautiful that I completely lost my mind. That's the whole reason it happened, I couldn't think straight anymore. You should've seen the faces she made, and hear the way she said my name." Lincoln drifted off as he replayed the visuals from his memory.
Clyde looked bewildered. "Uh, Lincoln, I don't think Luna hates you. It sounds more like the opposite."
Clyde's words made Lincoln feel further relief. Lincoln realised that Clyde had made a good point, but it still felt taboo to him. He felt like he had used his sister because he couldn't curb his own urges. That's not something a good brother would do. Perhaps Luna could forgive him, but could he forgive himself? At least his best friend didn't look down on him for it.
"Besides, Lincoln, I would kill to have sex with one of your sisters. Especially with Lori." Clyde's eyes turned to hearts again. "You're... Not going to fuck Lori, right?"
"No Clyde, I'm not sleeping with any more of my sisters." Lincoln spoke resolutely. "It's bad enough that I let myself have sex with Luna. I don't need any more tensions in the house."
Lincoln then remembered what Lucy had said. Fuck, why did Lucy have to see them? Did Lucy... Do any of his other sisters...? Lincoln didn't allow himself to finish those thoughts, and shook his head. He had already made up his mind. Lincoln sat up, and then launched himself off of Clyde's bed, and assumed a confident pose.
"I'm headed home Clyde, I need to talk this out with Luna. Thanks for the talk, buddy."
"Anytime, Lincoln. Clincoln McLoud forever!"
Lincoln went home, determined to save his relationship with his sister, and to ensure that what happened between him and Luna wouldn't happen again.
