Author Notes - Can I just mention that 'Surface Pressure' has to be one of THE most relatable songs of all time? Not just Disney songs; songs in GENERAL. I think everyone, regardless of who they are, can relate to the song on at least some level.

CHAPTER FIVE - LORI'S SURFACE PRESSURES

'I'M LITERALLY FINE, LINCOLN!' Lori yelled at the absolute top of her lungs.

Her face was red. Her breath was heavy. Her eyes were wide open. Lincoln jumped back with a quiet yelp, his own heart racing like it hadn't in years. The smile on his face was trying a little too hard to say 'please do not hit me'.

'Uh… you sure?' Lincoln asked, his voice no higher than a squeak. 'Cos I'm pretty sure that people who are fine don't need to scream about it so loudly the whole town can probably hear it.'

In an instant, Lori's face softened and she gasped. Her eyes darted around as the realisation of how stupid she looked hit just like a pillowcase full of bricks. Then, she adopted a nervous smile that managed to put Lincoln's petrified grin to shame.

'W-What are you talking about?' She said, punctuating it with the most nervous laugh you have ever heard. 'I'm literally fine! I'm just… just frustrated because you won't leave me alone.'

Lincoln gave her a look. 'Lori, you would suck at poker.'

'NO I WOULDN'T!'

The boy flinched again. Lori must've realised she was only proving herself wrong, because she immediately ignored him and picked up another log. Her grip on it shook, just a little, and she needed to hold onto it with both hands or she'd drop it. Just like the first log, she tossed it into the truck and landed it perfectly.

'See?!' She asked, her voice cracking. 'I-I'm literally fine.'

'Lori,' Lincoln said. 'I think I need to educate you on what the word 'literally' means.'

'NO YOU DON'T!'

'Are you going to disagree with everything that I say?'

'NO I WON'T! … I will? I… might?' She unleashed a loud groan of frustration. 'Why am I even having this discussion with you?! I've got work to do!'

She turned around to pick up the third of a dozen logs, only to jump when she saw Lincoln already standing right in front of her. Neither Loud realised that he could even smile that wide, and it didn't feel natural to either of them.

'UGGGHHH, LINCOLN!' Lori yelled, stretching her arms out as far as they could go. 'Do you know how much stuff I have to do? I literally have no time to talk to you!'

She shoved him aside, sending him to the ground so hard that his rear hurt (she must've been holding back), and continued her way over to the third log she had to pick up. Many might decide to give up, and figure that their family member was being too stubborn to get any information out. But, fortunately for Lincoln, stubbornness happened to run well in the Loud family. So, he got to his feet and dropped the nervous smile.

'Lori,' He said, his tone low and serious. 'Luna told me you were freaking out. If I wasn't crazy and your door really was going out, then we really need to talk.'

'I don't have time to talk.' Lori said. 'I have to-'

'You don't have time to talk to your own brother?!'

Lori stopped. Dead. Her feet ceased moving her forward, and she simply stared. Not at the log she was supposed to pick up, but instead off into the distance. She emitted a forlorn sigh, but otherwise said nothing and didn't move.

'Lori?' Lincoln asked, slowly becoming worried again.

'No.' Lori replied, sounding unusually despondent. 'No, I don't. I don't have the time to talk to my own brother. So I need you to leave.'

'But why?' Lincoln said, approaching her. 'Most of us have work to do, but you disappear all day! And when I finally decide to find out why, I see you taking request after request without even finishing the last one first! And now you sound… nervous.'

He got a good look at her face. She almost looked tired, and her eye twitched again. Then, a gasp escaped her mouth - she realised he was looking at her. In an attempt to save face, she puffed out her chest and grinned. Her twitching eye ruined all that build-up.

'Me? Nervous?' She said. 'I'm the strong one.' She flexed one of her arms for emphasis. 'I'm not nervous. I'm as tough as the earth's crust.'

'Well, I know you're tough.' Lincoln said. 'You're the oldest of our family. If you weren't, you'd be dead. It's the 'not nervous' claim I'm not buying here.'

Her eye twitched again. 'W-Well, watch this!'

She picked up a fourth log and tossed it, once again nailing the shot. If doing so wouldn't have gotten her in trouble, she would've broken it clean in half to prove her point further.

Lincoln sighed. 'Yes, Lori, you're strong. What does this-?'

'I move mountains.' Lori said, her voice shaking just a little. 'I move churches. I glow because I know what my worth is.'

It was Lincoln's turn to have the awkward eye darts. 'Um… are you reciting poetry right now?'

Not turning around to look at her brother, Lori picked up another log and threw it overhead. It bashed against the top of the container though it luckily made it in, making the entire truck shake.

'I-I take what I'm handed…' She murmured. 'A-And I… I-I break what's demanded…'

Lincoln cringed. Within just one little speech, Lori's voice had shifted from the tough authoritarian tone that he and his sisters were so used to, to a voice more befitting a kicked puppy. Her voice trembled. It shook. It cracked.

'And… and… I'm taken for granted... and...'

The boy stood in place, torn between backing away in case she lashed out and getting much closer so he could properly comfort her.

'AND I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!' She screamed to the skies above.

Lincoln hardly had the time or even ability to react to this. Lori picked up the next log and chucked it at the truck, not caring at all where it went. It bounced off the walls almost hard enough to send the truck falling over the other way.

And now the log was heading straight for Lincoln.

'AHHHH!'

All he could do was scream and wait for impact.

Luckily, the impact never came.

He - slowly - opened his eyes and saw Lori standing over him. She had the log in her arms, mere inches away from her brother's face, and was breathing heavily. Instead of tossing it into the truck, she simply dropped it at her feet and allowed it to roll away.

'L-Lori?' His oldest sister's name was the only thing that he could say.

'Give it to your sister…' She murmured. 'She's older. Stronger. It doesn't hurt her. See if she can handle every family burden… watch as she b-buckles and b-bends, but… n-never breaks.'

Lori turned around and looked him in the eye. The sight made him cringe once again; he had never seen her look so close to crying before.

'I have been struggling, for literally years, ever since I got my gift.' She said, her voice cracking. 'Oh Lori, carry the church. Oh Lori, dig out a moat. Oh Lori, handle a few dozen family burdens!'

'Uh, Lori?' Lincoln asked, raising his hand just slightly. 'Are you-?'

'FINE, I'LL ADMIT IT!' Lori yelled. 'I'm not fine. I was never fine! Under the surface, it's all been building up! You know how sometimes Lisa will make something that implodes in her face? That. That's how I feel right now! It's like a row of dominos, and suddenly a light wind blows, and you try to stop it tumbling but it just goes on and on!'

Lincoln stepped back a bit, completely unsure what to do now. He opened his mouth to say something, but Lori interrupted him right away.

'But I can't afford to do that!' She ranted. 'If I suddenly have a meltdown, then I won't be able to do my work. And if I can't be of service, then… then I'm literally worthless!'

'What?!' Lincoln cried, for that one claim snapped him right out of his funk. 'Lori, that isn't true! You know that isn't true.'

'I have to help the town. I have to help my family. I have to make sure that everything goes right, because if it doesn't, it'll be all my fault, and I… I…'

She found herself unable to say much more, and simply breathed in and out far more heavily than Lincoln was used to hearing from her. Heavy breathing, typically associated with exhaustion, was unheard of from Lori thanks to her gift of endurance. So to see and hear her sounding like she was seconds away from collapsing…

Lincoln's brotherly instincts kicked in, and he wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could. Lori's heavy breathing came to a slow stop, and she glanced down at the hugging boy. It was just a strange sensation to have someone else wrap their arms around her, and especially so tight.

'Lincoln…' She said. 'What are you…?'

'You need a hug.' He replied. 'A really big huuUUUUUG!'

Lincoln had all of the air squeezed right out of him when Lori picked him up and brought him into an embrace of her own, crushing him so tight that it was a miracle and a half that his spine didn't just snap immediately. Thank goodness Lori had some control how much force her arms exerted, because otherwise…

'T-Thank you, Lincoln…' She murmured, in a frightened tone Lincoln had never heard from her before.

'YOU'RE WELCOME!' He cried, a little louder than he wanted. 'Can you… OOF!... please put me down before you snap me like a twig?'

'Oh, sorry!'

She loosened her grip on him completely, and he fell to the ground. Once he managed to get oxygen back into his system, he got back to his feet and looked up at his big sister. Her eye wasn't twitching anymore, which was surely a good sign, but now she looked like she was one broken phone away from a meltdown. She sighed, trying to get her breathing under control, and sat down on a log (the same one that nearly killed her brother) like it was a bench. Lincoln stood around for a bit, until he sat down next to her.

He had never seen her so forlorn before. Or at all, for that matter.

'Lori…' He said. 'Is this really what it's like for you?'

She nodded. 'It's what I have to do. If I don't do my part, then I might as well not have this gift at all. And without my gift… what am I?'

Lincoln cringed. 'What are you? The greatest oldest sister in the world, that's who.'

She flashed him a smile, though it was only for a moment before that weakened frown returned.

With another sigh, she spoke again. 'So, Lincoln, you said you wanna know about what happened last night? Luna was right - my eye was twitching all night. I'm not sure if I fully believe your 'cracks' story, but I… you know how I was carrying that lab desk around, for the photo? Well, just after you left, for just a second, that desk felt…' She choked back a sob. 'H-Heavy.'

Lincoln's eyes and jaw went wide open. 'W-W-WHAT?! The desk felt heavy… to you?! B-But I literally just saw you carry a whole entire church about five minutes ago!'

Lori could hardly keep her eyes open. 'I know that, Lincoln! And that's how it should be. I should be able to carry something as simple as a desk like it was nothing. But, for a second, it was heavy. And… and I stumbled. I stumbled, Lincoln. I STUMBLED, under the weight of a simple desk!'

She buried her face in her hands, and her brother could only sit there in silence. He never would've thought that, through his journey to find out why Ruidosa was crumbling, he would have to play therapist for his oldest sister. Where was Clyde and his experience with Dr Lopez when you needed it?

'Uh, if it makes you feel any better,' He said, not sure what he was trying to say. 'I'm trying to figure this stuff out. Whatever's going on, it seems like it might be affecting you first.'

Lori groaned. 'Oh, great. Because that's what I need. The pressure of ten younger siblings, an entire town depending on me, and the possibility that my gift could literally disappear!'

'Don't panic!' Lincoln said, about to disobey his own orders. 'I'm going to fix this whole thing before your gift fades completely, okay? Until then, maybe you should… take a break.'

She flashed him a look of confusion. 'Take a break? How… how do I do that?'

At first, Lincoln flashed her a deadpanned look, assuming she was cracking a terrible joke to help her nerves out a bit. Then he realised that she was still looking like a poor confused kid at school, and sighed when it became clear that she really did mean that question.

'You just stop.' He replied. 'You know what you should do? Pick up all of these logs, get the truck to wherever it's supposed to be, and then just… stop. Sit under a tree and listen to the birds. Go read a book. Eat some cake. Do anything! Even just for a few minutes.'

Lori played around with her hands. 'Would it be right? Everyone depends on me.'

'You matter too, you know. … Just look at this way. How are you going to help people when you're two seconds away from a mental breakdown?'

The eldest sister was silent for a bit, like she was seriously contemplating Lincoln's offer, before she gasped. She jumped to her feet and lifted the log up, while Lincoln was still sitting on it and thus sending him face-first into the ground. With one simple toss, she landed it in the truck's back like she was supposed to.

'Oh, sorry.' She said, lifting him up to his feet. 'Listen, since you bothered to chase after me for this, maybe I should give you a little help too. You know what happened to Lucy?'

Lincoln remained silent for a bit, waiting for the rest of the family to yell out the usual response to hearing his older sister's name. Of course, it never came, because it was just him and Lori. Call it a force of habit.

'Uh, we're not supposed to talk about her,' Lincoln replied. 'But from what little I've been told, she could see the future. And one day she just… disappeared. I don't know why though.'

Lori knelt down, and lowered her voice to a whisper. 'Well, I remember when she disappeared, even though I was only about twelve. Apparently, she saw a nasty vision that scared her so much that she left. Or something like that. That vision should still be in her room. I'm a little busy right now, but I bet if you go looking through her room… you oughta find that vision.'

'Her vision? Wait, how on earth do you find a vision? That's an abstract noun, isn't it?'

'If I remember correctly, Lucy's visions were literally written in stone. In tombstones or something. Find something like that, and maybe we'll get an answer to whatever's going on.'

A chill shot right down Lincoln's spine, and he shivered. He was only five-years-old when his big sister Lucy left, and after so long he could hardly remember anything about her. Aside from occasionally having the daylights scared out of him when she popped out from thin air, with her raven black hair covering up the more expression parts of her face. Any vague memory he had of her reminded him more of a vampire than his own big sister.

'I'd love to talk more,' Lori said, picking up the second-to-last log. 'But I've got work to do. Just find Lucy's vision, and hopefully you'll know what to do.'

While Lori threw that log back into place, Lincoln began his trek back to Ruidosa. Did he want to go inside Lucy's room? To tell the truth, not at all. The very thought of what could lie behind that scary girl's door frightened just about everyone in town, not helped by how Lucy hardly let anyone in even back before she seemingly disappeared. He shuddered just thinking about the horrors that awaited him on the other side of that dim door.

Before he left completely, however, he came to a stop. A question that had lay dormant in the back of his mind had suddenly resurfaced, and he turned around to look at Lori again. She had just thrown the final log back into the truck, and was getting herself pumped to deliver the logs wherever they needed to be.

'Hey, Lori,' He said, catching her attention. 'I've been wondering about this for years now, but… there's one thing I don't understand about your gift.'

She groaned. 'What, the fact that it almost disappeared last night?'

'No no, not that. I get that the gifts are supposed to connect to your personality and desires, but if that's the case… why did you get the gift of super strength, instead of someone like Lynn? It seems to fit her a lot more, and super strength isn't really something most people think of what they think of you. Well, until you got your gift, obviously.'

Her shoulders slumped, just a little. 'You see Lincoln, when I got my gift, I had four little sisters. As the oldest, I knew that I had to protect them, and keep them safe. Ruidosa knew what I wanted, and so it gave me the gift of strength. That way, I really could protect my family from whatever tried to hurt them.' She sighed. 'Unfortunately, the townspeople love my gift so much that I've had literally no time to use it for what I wanted to use it for in the first place…'

The conversation ended there, for Lori had picked up the truck and carried it further down the highway as though it didn't even have the logs in it to begin with. To think that, just last night, a simple desk felt heavy for her. As Lincoln watched her carry that truck away, he knew there were two important operations that he had to enact.

First was 'Operation: Go Into Lucy's Room and Find That Vision So I Know How to Save the Miracle and Also Think of How to Shorten This Operation's Name'.

The second was, simply, 'Operation: Help Out Lori'.

Author Notes - Like I said, no songs but I referenced the lyrics about a dozen times. Hence Lincoln's 'reciting poetry' line, because I like having a bit of self-awareness in my stories. Whether or not I actually am self-aware...

OH, for legality's sake, the song I referenced was 'Surface Pressure', written by the lyrical genius Lin-Manuel Miranda. HE IS A MUSICAL GOD!