A/N Hello again. Sorry about the wait, I decided to go for a little extra length on this chapter. Now, just like before, this chapter does not have Will as the main focus. Nicholas is. So like other such chapters, this one will have no narration lines. Enjoy!
Rumbling Hearts.
It was a sunny Sunday as Nicholas was hosting his planned BBQ with his work friends. Nicholas stood tall, at the back patio before his grill, burgers, chicken, and hot dogs. Were sizzling on the bars of the grill. A nearby picnic table held condiments, a large bowl of watermelon slices, chips and eating utensils. On the end of it was a large water cooler full of cold water and on the ground next to it was a large cooler full of various canned beverages.
Will was sitting at a table with Wohali's son, Waya, and Mehdi's daughter, having a pleasant conversation. Waya is a slightly muscular young man, at sixteen years old, he has a short flat top hairstyle and wears a purple vest over a green shirt.
"Mmmmm!" a Chuck sound chuck made in delight, as he chewed on a hot dog. "Delicious! Your Q is a huge success!"
"Thanks!" Nicholas chuckled as he flipped the burgers.
Suddenly Chuck's girlfriend appeared next to him, a slender woman with straight black hair. Wearing a red shirt with tight black pants.
Nicholas eyed the two as he sighed, but still kept his smile. "How's things going since you two met?"
"Oh it's been fantastic!" She said, the new couple faced each other with deep loving eyes and kissed each other.
"Oh, that's…that's nice." Nicholas said slowly. He turned back to his grilling and stayed focused on that.
As the guest ate more and more food and Nicholas was finishing his last batch of meat, he looked around and noticed the sights of his work friends being happy with their significant others. He sighed softly as his face fell a little.
This didn't go unnoticed by Wohali's son. Who nudged Will's arm to get his attention.
"What is it?" Will asked. Waya leaned forward and spoke softly to not attract too much attention.
"Your dad seems a little bothered." He replied, Will turned his attention to his father who noticed his eyes scanning the couples before refocusing his attention to his grilling.
"You're right, I wonder why?" He asked, tilting his head.
Waya rolled his eyes. "Really Will?" He chuckled. "Tell me, when's the last time he dated?"
Will paused, giving it some thought.
"Now that I think about it. Ever since before we moved to Royal Woods…..he hasn't at all."
Waya, added more to this. "You've been here two years."
Will sat silently and gave a concerned look to his father. "It's much longer than that." He thought to himself.
A couple hours passed, and as the sun began to set, all the guests thanked Nicholas for the delightful evening. Will and Nicholas worked together to clean up everything. Nicholas's face started to relax, however Will couldn't help but look at his father still feeling concerned.
"Hey dad." Will said as he put the leftover drinks in the refrigerator. Nicholas placed the uneaten meats in a ziplock bag, he paused for a moment and looked to his son. "No matter what happens, I'm glad you're with me. I'm glad that we're in this together."
Nicholas chuckled in his throat softly and smiled slightly.
"Thanks Will." They continued to put the food away and after some time it was time for bed.
"Good night Will." Nicholas said as he exited the shower, wearing a white bathrobe.
"Good night Dad." Will said, from his bedroom. Nicholas moved downstairs to his bedroom and tucked himself in. He turned to his side, his bed was big enough for two people and saw no one was next to him, he sighed again and shut his eyes to sleep.
The next morning Will was cooking breakfast again, a hearty bowl of oatmeal and berries. As they sat at the table eating, Will noticed Nicholas was looking at a sales magazine of beds and mattresses. It was a day off for Nicholas so he was still in his robe.
"What are you looking at?" Will asked.
"I think I'm in the market for a new bed, a smaller one." Nicholas replied.
"Well, hopefully not too small that it can't handle your large body." Will joked. Nicholas smiled and the two finished eating. Since it's now Monday, Will had to go to school. Will got his bag and hopped onto his bike, he came around to the front of the house, then waved goodbye to Nicholas as he raced off to school.
Nicholas went back inside and changed into his regular clothes and sat on the couch and opened up the newspaper. He suddenly heard loud footsteps outside and the roar of a big engine racing by the house.
"Dang it!" A loud voice cried out. Nicholas lowered his newspaper and went to the front window to see what was going on.
Nicholas saw Lincoln at the end of his walkway and turned to see the school bus driving away from the neighborhood. He stepped out and walked out of his own walkway and called out to Lincoln who was trying to catch his breath.
"Hey Lincoln!" He called. He walked over to the boy.
"Morning Mr. Clements." Lincoln answered.
"What'd you cry out for?" Nicholas asked, Lincoln looked away, a little embarrassed at what happened.
"I overslept and Lori already took the others in Vanzilla to school. Because of that I was rushing to get my stuff on and missed the bus to school."
"Can't you walk?" Nicholas asked. "I saw you do so with that other friend of yours."
Lincoln spoke nervously. "We only do that in the afternoons after school. I mean, I'm not in a rush to get home, I won't be late for anything specific. Obviously I can't be tardy in the mornings."
Nicholas, understanding the situation, smiled warmly at the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, get in my truck, I'll take you to school." He said. Lincoln's face lit up and the two went to the Clement's driveway and the two got inside the vehicle.
"Thank you so much!" Lincoln said, sighing in relief.
"Anytime." Nicholas assured. As the two moved towards Royal Woods Elementary, Nicholas struck up some conversation. "So, how's school?"
"Going well, getting good grades in every subject." He responded.
After about ten minutes they arrived, Nicholas pulled up the school's drop off zone and came out of the truck and opened the door for Lincoln.
"Thanks for getting me out of this jam Mr. Clements!" Lincoln smiled as he stepped out.
"No problem, happy to help out a friend of Will!" He responded.
Lincoln raced towards the door with the huge bunch of other kids at the front door, holding it open was Lincoln's teacher, Agnes Johnson. She's rather lovely for a teacher, wearing a green sweater, with a matching green skirt with a black zig zag line stitched into the bottom. Around her waist is a belt with gold colored plates. Her hair was Maroon colored and tied into a large bun with a pencil holding it together in the center.
"Good Morning! Good Morning! Good Morning." She said to students as she walked by her to enter the school.
"Hi Ms. Johnson!" Lincoln greeted moving up to her. Ms. Johnson looked up to see her student approaching. However Nicholas caught her attention as he started to move back into the driver's side of his truck.
"Hello Lincoln, how ar….oh." Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she eyed Nicholas, it seemed to her, he was moving slowly to get into his truck.
"Tall, strong…handsome!" Ms. Johnson thought, giving Nicholas a good strong look.
Lincoln and the other students continued to move past her into the school as she failed to acknowledge.
Nicholas got into his truck and drove away, Ms Johnson's eyes followed his movements. All the students were already packed into the building but Ms. Johnson was standing there staring at where Nicholas drove to, despite him not being visible anymore. The ringing of the school bell is what snapped her back to normal as she dashed for her class.
Hours passed until the lunch hour, before Ms. Johnson dismissed her class and she had to make an announcement.
"Lincoln, I'd like you to get your lunch, and spend the lunch time back in the class with me." Lincoln looked scared as the rest of the class had wide eyes on him.
The class all left for the cafeteria. In the line Lincoln stood between Clyde and Ronnie Anne.
"What'd you do Lincoln?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"I don't know." He replied I did my homework. "I got an A on the last spelling test."
"Maybe you did a sloppy job on the last arts and crafts project." Clyde guessed.
"I hope that's not it." Lincoln gulped.
After they got their lunch trays, Ronnie Anne and Clyde placed a hand on both his shoulders.
"Good luck Lame-o." Ronnie Anne remarked.
"Hopefully she'll go easy on you." Clyde sighed.
Lincoln gulped and marched back to the classroom. Ms. Johnson was sitting at her desk, she smiled at Lincoln once he entered.
"Hello Lincoln, have a seat." She said as she pulled up a chair to a student's desk and took out her own lunch as Lincoln hesitantly sat before his teacher.
"Am I in trouble?" Lincoln asked.
"Not at all." Ms. Johnson said with a big smile. Lincoln responded by exhaling a big breath. "I do need to ask you about someone."
Lincoln raised an eyebrow, this was even more odd to him than when he suspected that he was in trouble.
"Who?" Lincoln asked.
Ms. Johnson looked to the floor, her cheeks slightly pink.
"Who was that man that was with you this morning?" She asked. "I met your parents before, that's no one I know you're related to."
"Um…That's my neighbor." Lincoln answered feeling a little nervous. Something about this seemed off, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Really?" Ms. Johnson replied, resting her head on her hand and looking Lincoln in the eyes. "Tell me….is he married?"
Lincoln thought how odd that question was, he was hesitant to answer. "…. No he's single." Ms. Johnson's face perked up slightly hearing that.
"Any um….any chance he'll be back?" She asked, twirling her hair with one finger. "To pick you up? Or maybe drop you off for school again?"
"Um…..probably not. I got him to give me a ride here because he wasn't working today and I missed both the bus and my sister giving me a ride."
"Oh. Ms. Johnson hung her head in sadness. Let's eat." The two ate their lunches, in total silence, and Lincoln was released to go to recess with his friends.
After school Lincoln, Clyde and Ronnie Anne all walked home and talked about what took place.
"That's weird." Clyde said, raising an eyebrow. "She kept asking you about Mr. Clements?"
"Yeah." Lincoln said, still very much confused at the whole situation. "Mostly about how if he'd bring me to school again. Or take me home."
"What did you say?" Ronnie Anne asked.
Lincoln shrugged. "I told the truth. He works a lot, and doesn't get many days off, the odds of him taking me back to school are pretty much, not gonna happen. Also, she asked if he was married, which I also told the truth, he's not."
Ronnie Anne broke out laughing which only confused Clyde and Lincoln.
"What's so funny?" Lincoln asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" She laughed. "It looks like she has a crush on Mr. Clements!"
"WHAT!?" The two boys jumped in surprise.
"Oh yeah. I mean, think about it! She asked if he's married, and it's clear she wants to meet him. Hence why she asked if he'll be back again."
"Woah, that's shocking." Clyde said, baffled.
"It shouldn't be though." Lincoln added. "I mean, you know how often she goes on trips and stuff."
"Especially the last one she took." Ronnie Anne also added. "When you took Frank home? She made a remark about 'her being let out of her cage.' Clearly she's got a wild side to her."
The trio continued on and Ronnie Anne separated from Lincoln and Clyde, her home was in a different direction.
Lincoln then got an idea, one befitting the schemes of both he and Clyde.
"Hey Clyde, what if we got them together?" Lincoln smirked.
"Why would we do that?" Clyde wondered, he felt nervous, their plots don't ever seem to go well for them.
"Just think of it." Lincoln proposed. "If they get together, she'll be happy, perhaps things will get easier for us in class."
Clyde's face lit up at the idea, then sank.
"But what about Will?" He asked. "What about Mr. Clements? Would they want this?"
Lincoln paused for a moment, thinking of his friend, and his father. He sighed.
"I guess I should ask him first before trying to set up his dad." Lincoln sighed.
The two continued the walk home and Clyde separated from Lincoln as he noticed a big moving truck in front of the Clement's house. Will was standing on the lawn as he watched movers moving a new bed from the truck to the house. Lincoln approached Will as they heard the loud rustling of the bed from inside the house.
"Hey Will, what's going on?" Lincoln asked.
"Dad bought a new bed today." Will answered.
"Did he say why?" Lincoln asked looking up to his friend, but Will stayed focused on the house.
"Well, I didn't ask. I'm kind of afraid to know the answer." Will answered.
Lincoln gave Will a concerned look and then decided to start the conversation.
"Will, is your dad seeing anybody?" Lincoln asked, he felt a little scared to ask. Such sensitive questions were not easy to breach with Will. He'd usually just get angry and aggressive. Will just adjusted his look and stared forward as if his mind was thinking about something incredibly important.
"I…" He uttered, unable to get more words out. He struggled to talk more, but got some words out. "No, he isn't. Mostly his life is, work, home, work, home. Occasionally he'll do something with his work friends like the cookout we had yesterday. I'm sorry Lincoln, it's something that came up yesterday too." Will turned his attention back to Lincoln.
Lincoln was nervous but he still tried to get the words out.
"Well, here's what happened today." Lincoln began to explain to Will what happened with his teacher. Will's eyes widened in shock hearing this.
"Your teacher…..and my dad!?" Will said in a raised voice. Lincoln was nervous, not knowing how he's gonna react. Lincoln tried his old salesmen's tactic.
"Come on, Will think of it this way." Lincoln spoke with confidence, with a smile on his face. "Things will get easier on you! I mean, most of your house chores will be done by someone else. I bet you'd also like to not have to prepare so many meals for yourselves."
Will only responded by facepalming out of slight irritation. Lincoln tensed up again with this reaction.
"As much as I object to your ideas Lincoln, I will admit it would be easier to not have so much 'running of the household' to do." Will grunted.
"So you're ok with it?" Lincoln asked, looking excited. Will nodded in response.
"Understand though." Will asserted. "I'm ok with this, not for my own ease. I hate to say it, but I can see dad's lack of partnership is bothering him." Lincoln only put on a serious face and nodded in agreement. "So how do you plan on doing this?"
"First, I need you to tell me how many more days off he has." Lincoln answered.
"He won't return to the rig until Monday." Will replied. He honestly couldn't believe he's doing this.
"Alright, just leave the rest to me." Lincoln smiled with confidence and gave Will a determined look. He then moved into his house as Will watched the movers move Nicholas's old bed from the house and put it on the truck and drove away.
Will walked into the house and the two had dinner. Nicholas ordered a pizza for the two. They sat and ate together, Will took notice that Nicholas seemed to be in better spirits than yesterday.
"So you bought a new bed?" Will asked.
"Yep." Nicholas answered. "A much softer mattress, which is good for the stress my body goes through the day. Also it's smaller, so it's just for me."
Will started to ask a nervous question. "That bed….is it…."
"Yes." Nicholas answered with his eyes closed. "The same one me and your mother shared." His eyes opened and he put on a smile. "It's ok though. We got to move on."
Will didn't answer, his face sunk and he took another bite of the pizza slice he was holding.
Nicholas looked at his son's sinking face and was worried.
"You ok?" He inquired.
"I'm…fine." Will answered still not looking at his father.
"You don't sound or look fine." Nicholas pushed.
Understanding that he needs to change his look in order to stop his father's questioning, Will finally decided to smile.
"It's ok dad, really." He said in a happier tone. Nicholas fell silent as the two continued eating.
With unease Will cleaned up and got ready for bed, he sat on his bed and sighed looking at the ceiling.
"I pray that I'm doing the right thing for him." He said to himself. "Getting dad involved in Lincoln's plot."
The next morning Lincoln objected to Lori driving him to school and walked to the Clement's front door after his siblings and Will himself had already left for school.
*Knock Knock Knock!*
Nicholas went to the door and answered it, Lincoln stood there with a sly smile on his face and a large baby blue duffle bag.
"What is it Lincoln?" Nicholas asked.
"Sorry to bother you Mr. Clements." Lincoln said, trying to sound innocent. "I got a, um…rather huge science project in this bag and it's too heavy for Vanzilla or even the school bus! I need you and your truck to carry it to school."
Nicholas raised an eyebrow, he's no fool. He can tell Lincoln's up to something. This is quite a story he weaved up. However the bus zoomed by the house so now Nicholas doesn't really have much of an option.
"Fine, get into the truck." Nicholas sighed exasperatedly. Once they got to the truck Nicholas lifted the duffle bag, which honestly Nicholas was amazed to see that it required quite a bit of strength to lift it into the bed of the truck. He didn't question anything about the bag, knowing it's none of his business.
Lincoln once again climbed into the front seat as Nicholas got into the driver's seat. The ride was short as this time Nicholas had to pull into a parking space. Lincoln asked that Nicholas help him get his project into the classroom.
Sighing again Nicholas picked up Lincoln's bag and walked with Lincoln towards the school.
Ms. Johnson was once again outside the front door welcoming students into the school. Only this time Lincoln had the man who got her attention with him. She ended up ignoring the students as her focus was purely on Nicholas. His large, tall body, his curly long hair that seemed to slowly sway in a breeze, or maybe just when he moved his head. His white top showing off his strong arms and much of his muscular chest. Although she seemed to ignore his pot belly. When in actuality, it seemed the duffle bag was putting a little stress on his shoulder. He was looking quite irritated.
"Hi Ms. Johnson." Lincoln greeted, this is my Neighbor, Mr. Clements. She seemed a little too lovestruck to properly answer. So Lincoln did it for him.
"Mr. Clements, this is my teacher Ms. Johnson." Lincoln stood next to his teacher spreading his hands, as if presenting her to Nicholas.
"Hey." Nicholas grunted. He didn't look Ms. Johnson in the eye but slightly waved his hand to her. It appears that he's more focused on getting the project to Lincoln's classroom and off his shoulder.
Lincoln noticed this and knew the best thing to do right now is get Nicholas to the classroom. He led Nicholas to the classroom and Ms. Johnson watched Nicholas move down the hallway. She quickly snapped out of it and decided to rush the students through the door. Many of the kids were kind of put off by how aggressive she was doing it.
One the kids were inside Ms. Johnson rushed to her classroom, sure enough Lincoln and Nicholas were there along with a few other classmates, notably Ronnie Anne and Clyde. The former were talking with Lincoln, as Nicholas was setting the duffle bag down in the corner of the room.
"I've never seen him before!" Ronnie Anne whispered, staring at Nicholas. "I knew he was a giant but I had no idea! Bobby showed me a photo of him but seeing him in person…my god!"
"You should have been there when we first met Will!" Lincoln laughed silently.
Clyde approached Lincoln and also began to whisper with him.
"Lincoln, what's in the bag?" He asked.
He whispered back. "I told him I needed a lift to school to get my heavy project here."
"What project?" Ronnie Anne asked. "We didn't have any big projects due."
Lincoln answered further. The bag only has three slim cinder blocks in it.
"Clever, but not cool Lincoln. Lying to Mr. Clements like that." Ronnie Anne said. Giving him a look.
Ms. Johnson sucked in her gut to feel brave. She adjusted her hair and exhaled as she approached Nicholas.
Clyde and a few other students noticed this, Clyde moved to Lincoln and Ronnie Anne feeling excited. The trio leaned in with great anticipation.
"Hi." Ms. Johnson said to Nicholas. "Adjusting her eyes in a charming way. I'm Agnes, I teach this class."
"Yep. Lincoln here already introduced you." Nicholas answered. Setting the duffle bag on the floor, finally feeling relief from holding the heavy bag. He finally looked at her and paused as he noticed the look she was giving him.
"Yes." Ms. Johnson laughed. "Lincoln says you're Mr. Clements."
"You can call me Nicholas." He replied.
"Hehe, that's a nice name." Ms. Johnson giggled, blushing. Suddenly the bell rang as her entire class was piling into the room the few students who were witnessing what was already happening.
"Well, that's my cue to exit." Nicholas noted. He began to leave, Ms. Johnson was getting nervous that this chance was slipping away.
"Hey!" She called, in an almost frantic manner. "Will you be by again?" Nicholas paused as he was in the doorway about to exit.
"Why? what's it to ya?" He asked without turning around.
"Well….." Ms. Johnson's mind was racing for an excuse to get Nicholas back. "Um…I need to ask you questions about… a speech to the class later this week!" The students all had their jaws fall in shock.
"That's the best she's got?" Ronnie Anne asked Lincoln. He and Clyde shrugged.
Nicholas shook his head and turned his head back at Ms. Johnson and winked. "I suppose I gotta bring Lincoln home after class too, won't I? I can't give you a speech though. I'm no good at public speaking." Chuckling softly as Nicholas walked away, Ms. Johnson sighed happily.
"OOOOooo!" The class cooed teasing their teacher.
"Enough! Settle down kids!" She called, as she had to start today's lessons.
Later at recess Lincoln was talking with Clyde. The two were standing in the jungle gym as other kids played around them.
"So Will's ok with this?" Clyde asked.
Lincoln explained what happened the night before. "I think he is, he said I can get them set up. Although he did seem hesitant about it."
"Ok Lincoln what're you doing now!?" Ronnie Anne scolded approaching from behind giving Lincoln a stern look. The two boys looked down at her and climbed off the jungle gym and sighed.
Lincoln sighed and explained. "Maybe things can get a little easier for us here in school. Ms. Johnson is clearly in love and all that. Think of it, easier quizzes, lighter homework nights. You know?" Ronnie Anne facepalmed hearing that.
"You really think playing matchmaker is a good idea?" She asked. "This is our teacher and Will's dad you're talking about here!"
"It's ok, I asked Will." Lincoln assured. "He's ok with it."
"Is he really?" Ronnie Anne asked in disbelief, putting her hands on her hips.
"Apparently he said so himself." Clyde added.
"Yeah, Will said he thinks his dad needs to get back out there." Lincoln explained.
Ronnie Anne squinted her eyes. "Why do I have a feeling this will blow up like all your other schemes?" She asked. Lincoln and Clyde both gulped, they didn't have an answer.
Lincoln finally answered after the short silence. "Hey maybe it will all work out, perhaps they're great for each other."
The day ended and Nicholas returned to the classroom to get Lincoln's duffle bag, he had to maneuver around the students, however Ms. Johnson was excited to see him back and moved to him quickly.
"Why hello Nicholas." She said in a flirting voice.
"Hi Agnes." Nicholas said, grunting as he lifted Lincoln's heavy bag onto his shoulder. "Let's go home, Lincoln."
Lincoln stood at Nicholas's side as the two began to move out of the classroom. However Ms. Johnson wasn't gonna let him get away. She moved rather aggressively in front of Nicholas
"Listen um…. If you're not doing anything, would you like to go out sometime?" She worked up some courage to ask.
"He'd love to!" Lincoln enthusiastically answered for Nicholas. However Nicholas simply glared at Lincoln who backed down.
"I don't know." Nicholas responded. Ms. Johnson was getting worried, but knows she can't come on too strong.
"Well…give me a call sometime if you change your mind." Ms. Johnson said as she gave Nicholas a teacher rubric with Ms. Johnson's phone number on it.
"Um…thanks." Nicholas said, staring at the paper. He and Lincoln moved back to the truck as Ms. Johnson sat at her desk and sighed. Wondering if she struck out or not.
That evening Will cooked chicken breast with peas and rice. As they sat at the table to eat Nicholas had his fork in his right hand, and Ms. Johnson's rubric in his left. Will placed some chicken into his mouth as he noticed his father barely eating and staring at the paper.
"Dad…are you ok?" Will asked after swallowing his food.
Nicholas looked to his son and sighed. "Lincoln's teacher seems to want to date me." Will was able to act perfectly fine, as if he knew nothing.
"Really?" He said surprised, supposedly.
"Son, what do you think I should do?" Nicholas asked, looking genuinely confused.
Will sighed and looked away. His mind was going through things until he smiled at his father.
"Well, if you want to. I mean do you like her?" Will asked.
"I don't know her, like at all." Nicholas answered, although he paused for a moment. "Now that I think about it though, I suppose she is pretty cute. However, How do you feel about me seeing someone?"
Will paused and put on a rather fake looking smile. "Well, be happy, that's all I want for you!"
Nicholas knew better. "You're not telling me the whole truth son."
Will sighed, he knows his father's too smart for insincerity so he had to tell how he really feels about this.
"Dad, I really do want you to be happy but, I like that you and I are in this together. It was you and I who rebuilt ourselves after coming to Royal Woods. You and I pushed through the dark times that occurred after we left home. Not you, me and someone else." Will then hung his head, his eyes looking sad as he stared at his plate of half eaten food.
Nicholas stood up and walked to Will and gave his son a hug. Will picked his head up and slowly returned the hug. After they separated, Nicholas knelt down to his son's eye level.
"We will continue to do this adventure called 'life' together. You'll still be the most important thing in my life." Will shed a single tear and hugged his father again. When they separated, Nicholas had to add something important. "However you're wrong about it being just us who rebuilt everything after we moved."
Will tilted his head not understanding.
"The Louds were certainly a part of it." Nicholas added. "I mean without them, you'd probably still be a rude, bad tempered animal." Will blushed in embarrassment, he knows father knows best, as well as the truth.
Later that night Will laid in bed awake as he received a phone call from Lincoln.
"What is it?" Will asked in a soft tone to not wake his father.
"How is it?" Lincoln asked. "I got the two to meet today."
Will sighed. "I don't know. However I suggest you stay back and just wait to see what happens. Ok? Do nothing."
"Got it just wait." Lincoln agreed. The two hung up and Will turned over in his bed to try to sleep.
The next morning was Friday. Monday morning Nicholas has to return to the rig. Will was already off to school as well as the Louds. Nicholas was sitting on the couch scrolling through the TV not actually paying attention to what he's doing. His mind was more focused on the opportunity presented to him. His eyes kept wandering to the coffee table which had the
After grumbling in slight annoyance as well as Will's encouraging words. He went to the table and picked up the paper and moved to sit in front of the house phone.
Later at the Elementary School that afternoon, Lincoln's class was going ahead. Everything seemed to be going normal, although at times Ms. Johnson seemed to be a little distracted. While writing on the board, there are times where she made mistakes, almost frequently. Also she would take strange pauses. As her face seems to show that her mind is wandering.
Later the bell rang and class was dismissed, however immediately after the bell silenced. Ms. Johnson's phone on her desk rang. She went over to it and answered. Lincoln told Ronnie Anne and Clyde to go on head without him as Lincoln hid around the corner of the doorway and eavesdropped on what was going on.
"Hello, Agnes Johnson!" She answered. Her face lit up with extreme happiness as she heard the name of the person calling her. "Oh Hi Nicholas!" She began to play with the phone cord with her finger. She honestly looks like a teenager talking to her boyfriend.
"You really want to? Really? Great so you want me to come to you? You want me to meet your son? Great! See you tomorrow at six thirty!" She hung up the phone and threw up her hands in great excitement and joy. "YES!"
Lincoln, with a big smile on his face, gestured by pulling a fist inward for the victory of his plan.
A short time later at the Clement's house, Will returned home from school. Nicholas was sitting on the couch as he awaited to tell his son the news. Once Will opened the door Nicholas called to him.
"Hey Will, come sit with me." He said with his head stretched over the couch. "I gotta tell you something." Will sat on the couch next to Nicholas. He remained silent with his eyes fixated on his dad. "I gave Lincoln's teacher a call, I'm going on a date tomorrow night."
Will raised an eyebrow. "This is news indeed. Are you excited?"
Nicholas sighed. "I honestly don't know."
Will simply shrugged. "Well as you said, maybe it'll work out."
The evening came with much anticipation from the both of them. Nicholas had to go with Will to get a dress suit to look sharp.
Back at the house Will eyed his father up and down after getting spiffed up for this little event.
Nicholas had on a black suit and matching black bow tie on the white shirt underneath. He looked decent enough but it seemed to clash with the fact that his chest and arms were physically strong, yet his fat looking belly. He had polished black dress shoes that perfectly went with everything else. Almost as if his belly would pop the suit. His hair was straightened and had a little shine to it and aside from his mustache, he's perfectly clean shaven.
"So?" Nicholas asked Will. He spread his arms out as Will carefully inspected him.
Will sighed. "To be honest I don't know. I've never been on a date. I wished you took my suggestion about getting help from the Louds."
Nicholas rolled his eyes. "I told you, this is none of their concern. You know them, if they hear this, they'll have a circus."
Will didn't respond, Nicholas was right. He remembered the day Lincoln got close to Ronnie Anne, the day Will first met her. Will stepped back and gave his dad one final look.
"I gotta admit though." Will said, putting a finger to his chin. "I don't think I can ever get used to seeing you look this way."
Nicholas chuckled. "I haven't dressed like this since…. Well you know."
Will sighed again. "Yeah I know, when you and mom started dating. I think you look ready enough, what do you have in your pocket?"
Nicholas reached into his left pocket and took out breath mints and a pocket sized cologne spray.
"Mmmm. I supposed that's good too." Will thought out loud.
"Ok I got the most important things with me." Nicholas said, patting his other pocket. "Call me if you need something." Will responded with a thumbs up.
*Ding Dong!*
That must be her! Nicholas gulped. He stepped forward and opened the door. Nicholas's eyes bugged out. Ms. Johnson wore a slim, sparkly red dress with a matching handbag over her left shoulder. Her dress had a single slit on her right leg and the dress itself held around the arms of her shoulders and came up to just a couple inches below the neck. Her eyes were enhanced with lavender mascara, glossy red lipstick and soft blush on her cheeks. Her hair was completely straight down and looked soft and clean.
Will was also impressed with her beauty.
"Hello Nicholas." Ms. Johnson said, she fluttered her pretty eyelashes at Nicholas as she appeared to greatly approve of his appearance. Her eyes scanned the home. "My my, what a nice place you have here!"
"Thanks." He turned to Will and presented him to her. "This is my son Will." Ms. Johnson looked at the young man and giggled.
He waved a hand at her. "How ya doing?" A much better greeting than when he first met the Louds.
"So you're Lincoln's other best friend?" She asked. "My, aren't you a handsome young guy!"
Will smiled but rolled his eyes. Compliments like that from women were a weakness of his, however Will knew that she's trying to 'butter his bread.' So it didn't mean much to him, compared to if Leni, or Lori said that to him.
Nicholas moved to Ms. Johnson, and took her arm into his and started to move toward Nicholas's truck.
"Have fun you two!" Will called to the two as he stood in the doorway waving to them.
Lincoln was outside taking out the garbage, as usual. He paused and blushed as he caught a glimpse of his teacher looking positively gorgeous.
She took notice of him. "Hello Lincoln!" She waved to him, but Lincoln was too stunned to respond. Seriously, is this woman his teacher?
Nicholas opened the passenger side of his truck and helped her inside and he climbed into the driver's seat and the two drove off to enjoy each other.
Lincoln went over to Will and the two stared at the road where they drove down.
"Well, what do you think?" Lincoln asked. "Not so bad if I say so myself."
"What are you talking about?" Will asked with a raised eyebrow.
"My handiwork, it's not so bad. Sometimes things work out." Lincoln said with a sly smile.
"It's not over yet. After all, we don't know how this night will go." Will said. Lincoln's smile faded. However Will turned his attention to the Loud's home and in the living room window, Will could see Lola practicing her ribbon dance. Will's mind began to think about what Lori said, what Lola really wants from Will.
"Hey Lincoln I gotta talk to Lori and Leni." Will said.
"What for?" Lincoln asked as the two began to walk to the Loud's.
"Let's just say all this talk of love and dates has got me thinking about something." Will answered. Lincoln didn't push the issue, although he didn't know what he's talking about.
Hours later Will sat on the couch playing his Super Nintendo. He was awaiting his father's return and give him the news of his date. Will checked the clock hanging in the living room wall. Ten P.M.
Will's head perked up as he heard the door open. He shut off his game, and dashed to the door as Nicholas stepped through. He was by himself and his face couldn't seem to indicate whether or not the date went well or bad.
"So how'd it go?" Will inquired. Nicholas put his hand on Will's shoulder and the two went to the kitchen.
Some time has passed as Nichlas gave Will the details.
"Hmmmm." Will pondered. "Sounds as if things could have been better, but they weren't bad."
Nicholas kept going. "She thought it was interesting the kind of work I do. She didn't seem too keen on my rather busy schedule though. She appears to be pretty adventurous. She's done a lot of traveling and all sorts of wild activities, outdoor and indoor ones."
"I mean, she sounds like an interesting woman." Will said in a light tone.
Nicholas's face hung. "Things got kind of dicy when she started asking about us. Where we're from and…where you came from."
Will hung his head as he knew all too well what Nicholas was talking about.
"I guess it's not time for either of us to fully push forward yet." Will said.
"However, that time needs to come soon." Nicholas said sternly. "It's not healthy for either of us to hold on to the pain of the past."
Will's eyes fell to the floor, he knows that his father speaks the truth.
"You think you'll see her again?" Will asked.
"Maybe." Nicholas answered. "She said she had a good time. She gave me a peck on the cheek when I took her to the front door of her home."
"So I guess it's up in the air?" Will asked, Nicholas nodded in response.
"Hey, it's almost eleven!" Will said, looking at the clock again.
"Yeah, I gotta get ready for work tomorrow, and you gotta go to school!" Nicholas pushed. Will nodded and went to the stairs and started to climb up to his room.
"One more thing though." Nicholas called, which halted his son. "Tell Lincoln that this experience was nice. However, tell him I do not appreciate being deceived by tales of phony school. projects, and deliberate attempts to miss the ride to school just to get me to give him rides to school."
Will looked at his father surprised. My god, how does he know this stuff?
A/N Well here's this chapter, I hope you enjoyed this one. Please let me know how you felt about it in a Review or a PM. Thanks and see you next time!
