Chapter 2

Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter. First off, I wanna say thank you to those who are following the story, as well as those who favorited. I truly appreciate you guys showing interest in this story because there were times where I thought no one was gonna read this or care about it. So the fact that there are people interested in this, even if it's not a lot, it still means a lot to me. Now, you all may be wondering why I've taken so long to finish this, my reason will be explained at the end, but I will say one of the reasons is because of writer's block. That's pretty much one of the reasons why I struggled to get this out to you guys. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. Now let's get right into it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Loud House.

After watching their brother pack his bag and jump out his window, Luna, Luan, and Leni all watch as Lincoln hops on his bike and rides away from the house. This was the moment the girls realized how badly they treated their brother, and that he had finally reached his breaking point. After quickly snapping out of their senses, the girls immediately knew what they had to do. They had to somehow chase down Lincoln as soon as possible before he got too far away. So without wasting any time, the three girls run out of Lincoln's room, only to accidentally bump into Lynn, Lucy, and Lori on their way to the stairs.

"You!" Lori said as she growled at Leni, clearly still mad at her.

"Hey. You guys were supposed to keep Leni in Lincoln's room until we told you it was all clear." Lynn angrily said.

"That's not important right now, Lynn. We have a bigger problem." Luna yelled back at her.

"What do you mean 'a bigger problem'?" Lynn said, "What's going on?"

"Lincoln's running away from home." Said Luan. Just then, the rest of the sisters peered their heads out of their rooms.

"WHAT?" All the sisters said at once.

"Lincoln's leaving us?" Lana said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"What do you mean he's running away?" Lori said in a demanding tone.

"We were trying to tell Lincoln that he had to leave the room so we could hide Leni in there, and the next thing we knew, he started packing his bag. Then he jumped out his window, and now he's getting away." Luan said in a frantic

"Oh no." said Lucy.

"We have to stop him." said Lynn.

"Everyone to the van, now." Lori demanded. Just like that, everyone was out of the house as fast as they could and they all piled into the van. As soon as Lori started the van up, she backed out of the driveway and drove down the road, thus beginning the search for Lincoln.

Meanwhile, Lincoln continues to ride his bike down the footpath when a realization hits him: if the girls were to take the van, they'd be able to track him down easily no matter how far he got. "I'm gonna have to hide." Just then, Lincoln spots a nearby bush he could hide behind if his sisters were to pass by. He could also use that time to rest his legs (even though he didn't pedal too far) and think of a plan on where he could stay for a while. After crouching behind the bush, Lincoln made sure his bike was hidden as well. As he was sitting down, Lincoln started to think about his next move.

"First things first, finding a place to stay. Let's see, Clyde's already on vacation, and Bobby and Ronnie Anne live three hours away, so those two choices are out of the question. Hmmm, I guess I can ask one of my friends if they'd be okay with me staying in one of their houses." He then sent Liam, Rusty, Zach, and Stella a text asking if he could stay at one of their houses for a while, but they each came back almost immediately saying they were either on vacation or visiting relatives for a while. He even texted Girl Jordan the same question, but even she was busy.

"Dang it. What are the odds that all my friends just happen to be on vacation at the same time? Hmmm, there has to be another place I can go." After some thinking, Lincoln comes up with an idea, "Hmm, I could see if there's a motel nearby." Lincoln searches the map on his phone for any motels In Royal Woods, and sure enough, there happens to be one close by. Perfect. I can stay there for a few nights. Good thing I brought my wallet."

Lincoln then hears something from behind him. He peered out from the bush to find Vanzilla drive past him. Most likely his sisters were looking for him. He watches the van turn the corner.

"Now's my best chance." Lincoln hops back on his bike and rides down the sidewalk as fast as he can, hoping to get further away from his sisters.

Meanwhile, the girls drive down their neighborhood in hopes of finding their brother. They each peer their heads out the van's windows and holler his name.

"Lincoln! Lincoln, where are you? Lincoln, come back!" They all shouted, hoping to get his attention. This goes on for a few minutes as they drive around the block.

"Uggh. Where the heck could he be? He can't have gone far, right?" Lynn said.

"Just calm down, Lynn. We just have to keep looking." Lori reassured. The girls continue calling Lincoln's name when Lola suddenly realizes something.

"Hey Lori, Leni, you guys never told us what you were fighting about." Lola said as she turned her attention towards them. Immediately, everyone began to realize it as well.

"Yeah, what were you guys fighting about?" Luan said. Soon enough, everyone started asking the same question simultaneously

"Okay fine, I'll tell you." Lori said, "Remember those acid-washed Bermuda shorts Bobby gave me?" The girls nodded. "Well, I keep telling Leni to give them back to me but she won't."

"Yeah, because you said I could have them a few months ago, remember? If I agreed to go to Aunt Ruth's house instead of Pop Pop's retirement castle." Leni said.

"I don't care what I said." Lori fired back, "Bobby gave me those shorts for my birthday, and I want them back."

"No. You told me I can have them." Leni said.

"Well now I'm telling you to give them back to me." Lori in an angrier tone.

"Why should I? They don't even fit you anyway." Leni fired back.

Lori gasped. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" she yelled.

"STOP IT" Lola screamed, "That's it? That's all you guys have been fighting about? Over some dumb pair of shorts?"

"They were acid-washed Bermuda shorts, Lola." Lori said.

"I don't care." Lola fired back, "I wasted SO MUCH time doing EVERYTHING I can to keep you guys separated, and it was all for a DUMB PAIR OF SHORTS?" The rest of the girls were already angry at this point.

"Yeah. I've been working my butt off trying to keep you guys from bumping into each other when I could've been practicing for my next baseball game." said Lynn.

"And I could've used my time to prepare for another birthday party I have coming up." said Luan.

"And I was supposed to rehearse with my band yesterday. We have a huge gig coming up." Luna said.

"And I'm supposed to be practicing for my pageants," Lola said, "So thanks for wasting all our precious ti…"

"QUIIIIIIEEEEET!"

Woah! Where did that come from? Everyone was startled by that sudden scream. So much so that Lori almost ran off the road. Confused, the girls all look in the direction where the scream came from, and to their surprise, they were all looking at Lucy. Despite Lucy's hair covering her eyes, it was still easy to tell that she was really angry.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Lucy said, "How do you not see that we have a bigger problem. Our only brother is out here ALL BY HIMSELF, and instead you guys are angry about your time being wasted? Are you serious right now? Do you guys even care about him?"

Everyone was shocked at Lucy's sudden outburst, as they've never heard Lucy raise her voice like that. After a few seconds of silence, Lola gathered enough courage to speak.

"'Do we even care"? OF COURSE we care, Lucy. Why do you think we're out here?" Lola snapped back at Lucy.

"Then why are you guys so worried about the littlest time you have in doing your activities, instead of focusing on finding our brother?" Lucy said back. Lola was about to say something, but she stopped herself as she realized that Lucy had a point. The rest of the girls were still startled by Lucy's outburst, but they themselves started to feel bad.

"Lucy's right, dudes." Luna said, "We were acting pretty selfish, there."

"Yeah. We shouldn't be worrying about ourselves right now. We need to focus on finding Lincoln." Luan said. The girls agreed and went back to searching.

Meanwhile, after finally making it to the motel, Lincoln leaves his bike on a nearby bike rack. He then walks up to the front desk, where he is greeted by a middle-aged man, possibly in his 40s or 50s

"Hello, kid. How may I help you?" The man said.

"Hi. I'm wondering if you might have any rooms available for me to stay in." Lincoln responded. The front desk clerk looked skeptical.

"You seem a little young to be staying here all by yourself. Where are your parents?" The man asked.

"It's just me." Lincoln answered. "Why?" The man asked

"I'd rather not talk about it right now." Lincoln said.

"Well, you do realize it's gonna cost you to stay here, right?" The man asked. "How much?" asked Lincoln.

"$30 a night?" The front desk clerk answered. Lincoln then pulled his wallet out of his pocket and checked to see if he had enough. Due to the last few months of allowances from doing chores, Lincoln saved over $100 in his wallet, which was enough to stay for only a few nights. "Yeah, let's do it." He said.

"Alright. Sign here." The front desk clerk presented Lincoln the sign-in sheet, to which Lincoln signs his full name, as well as the check-in date. "You'll be staying in room 12." The man said as he handed Lincoln his room key. "Thanks." Lincoln said.

After receiving his room key, Lincoln made his way to his motel room. Once there, he unlocks the door and steps inside. The room wasn't anything too special. It was just an average size room with a bed, a TV, and a bathroom; but it was good enough. After dropping his suitcase on the ground, Lincoln laid down on the bed and turned on the TV.

"(sigh) I can get used to this."

Meanwhile, the girls have spent almost the entire day searching high and low throughout Royal Woods, trying to find their missing brother. They tried checking The McBride's house, only to find no one was home. They then tried checking his other friends's houses, only to get no answer. They tried searching all of Lincoln's favorite places, such as Gus's Games & Grub, Burpin Burger, the comic book store, etc, all to no avail. At this point, the sun was starting to set and the girls were getting tired.

"Ugggh, we've been out here all day. Where could he be?" Lynn said.

"I don't know, but I'm getting worried!" Lola said.

"It seems that our only male sibling really thought far ahead on where he was gonna go, considering that we're having a really hard time looking for him." Lisa pointed out.

"Maybe, but he still can't have gone far." Lucy said, "We should keep looking."

Lori approaches a red light and stops the van. Just then, she became curious about how late it was getting. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and after nearly a minute of holding down the power button, the phone turned on. Almost immediately, her phone blew up with missed phone calls and text messages from her parents asking where she and the girls are. At the same time, she noticed that it was almost 9 o'clock, which meant it was getting pretty late. That, along with her parents texting her, was when Lori knew searching for their missing brother was now gonna have to wait.

"Guys, I think we 'oughta call it a night." she said.

"WHAT!" the girls all said. "But Lori, Lincoln is still missing." said Lynn.

"Yeah. We can't give up just yet." said Luan.

"We're not giving up," said Lori, "we're just going home for the night."

"But I don't wanna go home." Lana complained, "I wanna find Lincoln."

"Yeah. Please don't take us home, Lori." Lola said. The girls tried begging Lori to not take them back home, but it was to no avail.

"Guys, it's getting late and mom and dad are wondering where we are. Look, we can continue our search tomorrow, but for now, we need to go home." Lori said sternly. The girls groaned simultaneously as they were reluctant, but they had no other choice.

After making it back home, the girls open the front door, only to be greeted by their angry parents.

"There you guys are!" Rita said, "Where have you been? We've been trying to get a hold of you guys all day!"

"Sorry, mom and dad. We were uhh… umm..." Lori struggled to find the right words.

"And another thing; where's Lincoln?" Lynn Sr. asked. That was the question the girls were dreading, even though they knew it was unavoidable.

"Mom, dad, Lincoln… he, uhhh… umm…" Lori stuttered. "What?" Rita said with a stern tone.

"(sigh)You guys may want to sit down for this." Lori said. The parents became increasingly worried as they both sat down on the couch. Lori took a seat next to the two and soon after, the rest followed.

"This is not easy for me to say this, but Lincoln, uhhh…" Lori struggled to find the right words, so Luna stepped up.

"He ran away from home." she said. Rita and Lynn Sr. both let out a gasp.

"What?" Lynn Sr. said as he started panicking. "Why? What happened?" Rita frantically asked. The girls explained to their parents everything that happened the previous day, beginning with Lori and Leni getting into a heated argument, that of course got to the point where the Sister Fight Protocol needed to be issued. Then of course, the girls went on to explain everything they did to Lincoln that resulted in him running away. While Rita and Lynn Sr. were aware of the Sister Fight Protocol that was taking place, they weren't aware of what was happening to Lincoln, since most of that stuff took place while they were at work. So the two parents were noticeably shocked by what they heard. But it didn't take long for Rita and Lynn Sr. to transition over to anger.

"Are you KIDDING me right now?" Lynn Sr. yelled.

"Why?" Rita said in anger, "Why would you guys do those things to your own brother? What made you guys think that was okay?"

"I don't know." Lori said in a panic, "Leni and I… we were mad at each other, and… we both needed some space to cool off."

"We just wanted to help." Luan said, "We were afraid that these two would be screaming at each other all day. Plus, we know how hard it is for these two to get some space without bumping into each other . So we thought it was for the best."

"First of all, it wasn't any of your guys's business to get involved in whatever Lori and Leni were fighting about, you should know this. I don't care if you were trying to help or not. It wasn't any of your guys's business, so you shouldn't have gotten involved." Rita said, "Second of all, you all thought it was for the best to torture your own brother just to keep Lori and Leni away from each other?" Rita asked, slightly raising her voice. Luan immediately realized her sentence wasn't worded the way she thought it was.

"No no no. I meant we… um….." Luan stuttered as she struggled to find the right words. "Well, what is it?" Rita asked.

"(sigh)I don't know. Maybe we went a little too far trying to keep Lori and Leni separated." she said with a hint of shame.

"A LITTLE?" Lynn Sr. yelled, "Your brother, whose an 11 year old little boy, is out there all alone in a place that's populated with over 50,000 people because you two *points at Lori and Leni* had to fight over a pair of shorts instead of learning to share. And you guys *points at the rest of the sisters* were so desperate to keep Lori and Leni from screaming at each other, that you had to stoop to torturing your own brother, just to keep them apart. And you're telling me that you went A LITTLE TOO FAR?" The girls were all shaking by their father's outburst. Just then, something clicked in Rita's mind.

"Do I need to remind you that this isn't the first time you guys did something like this?" she said.

"Wait, you guys remember the last incident?" Lori asked. Both Rita and Lynn Sr. nodded their heads.

"But you guys were in your rooms the whole time. How did you guys know what happened?" Luan asked. "Because your brother told us everything when he came to hide with us in our room." Lynn Sr. replied.

"And you're right, your father and I were in our rooms during most of that time. Which is why we weren't aware of everything that was happening outside our door. Well, besides Lisa telling us that the threat level was at "erupting volcano". So when Lincoln told us everything you guys did to him, we were very shocked to say the least." Rita explained.

"We wanted to punish you guys right then and there, or at least when things quieted down once again, but that took longer than we expected and I guess it somehow slipped our minds." Lynn Sr. said.

"Well, the reason we were fighting was because Lincoln spilled all our secrets in front of us." Lola said.

"Yeah. and he also kept getting involved in all our fights instead of staying out of them. That's why the threat level was at "erupting volcano" in the first place. " Lynn stated.

"It doesn't matter what Lincoln did. That still doesn't give you guys the ding dang right to do those things to him." Lynn Sr. scolded, "And you sure as heck didn't have the right to do those things to Lincoln again this time." The girls lowered their heads in shame.

"Your father and I are gonna have a long discussion about your punishment later tonight. You guys need to learn that it's never okay to treat your brother that way no matter what he's done. Do you understand? " Rita asked. The girls all nodded their heads. "Good. Now back to more important matters: you said you guys were out looking for Lincoln all day, correct?

"Indeed, mother. But we couldn't find a single trace of him." said Lisa.

"Then tomorrow, we'll all go back out and look for him. And if we can't find him, then we'll call the police and report him missing. Got it?" The girls nodded their heads again. "Good. Now, it's getting late. You girls should get ready for bed."

Later that night, the girls, who were now in their PJ's, were all crowded in the bathroom at once. They were either brushing their teeth, washing their faces, or in Leni's case; brushing her hair 50 times. Lori was the first to finish brushing her teeth. After rinsing out her toothbrush, she exits the bathroom and goes into her room. Once there, the first thing she noticed were the blanket and bedsheets still hanging between her and Leni's beds. A sudden twinge of pain erupted in her heart when she remembered that they were Lincoln's blanket and bed sheets. "We have spares in the basement, don't we?" Lori thought to herself. "Why did the girls have to use Lincoln's blanket and bed sheets? Poor Lincoln must've been really cold last night."

After letting out a brief sigh, Lori sat down on her bed, facing the window. She then pulled out her phone and noticed that aside from her parents, her boyfriend Bobby also sent her a few texts asking her where she's been and that she missed their daily 4 o'clock phone chat. Lori took the time to apologize to Bobby and tell him that she had a family emergency to take care of. After that, she turned off her phone as for once in what felt like forever, she didn't feel like using it.

After plugging her phone to her charger, Lori sat back down on her bed and stared out her window. There was no doubt that she had one thing on her mind; and that was her brother. Lori felt sick to her stomach just thinking about all the potential things that could happen with Lincoln being all by himself, especially late at night. He could get snatched out on the street, or get hit by a car, or God knows what else. Heck, with none of his friends home, Lincoln might not have been able to find a place to stay. It's possible he could be sleeping in some alleyway or something. Lori didn't want to think about those things, but she couldn't help it; she was extremely worried.

Soon enough, Lori started to think about everything that happened the previous day, beginning with her fight with Leni over a pair of acid-washed Bermuda shorts. It didn't take long for her to start thinking about all the bad things the girls did to Lincoln because of it. They kicked him out of his own room, refused to let him get something to eat, stole his blanket and bedsheets, and what she could've sworn heard Lola attack Lincoln just for wanting to watch TV. Lori had a sympathetic look on her face just thinking about everything Lincoln went through.

"I don't understand. Why did the girls have to put Lincoln through all that mess?" Lori thought to herself, "I mean, all he was doing was reading his comic book. They didn't have to kick Lincoln out of his own room just to hide me in there. And Lola didn't have to beat him up just for wanting to watch TV." Lori had an annoyed expression on her face just thinking about the previous night. Soon after it went away, she expressed a look of sadness. "We had no right to put Lincoln through all that. He wasn't bothering anybody. He wasn't hurting anybody. If anything, we were hurting him. He didn't even bother to get involved in our argument. He just wanted to… wait a minute, what?" Lori stopped herself to think about what she just said. She took a moment to look back on her argument with Leni from the previous day. And after a few minutes of thinking, she came to a shocking realization.

"OMG, Lincoln never got himself involved. He actually tried to stay out of it this time. And yet, the girls still did all those horrible things to him." Lori was shocked. She didn't know what to say about all that. "I... I don't get it. Why did the girls continue to punish Lincoln like that? He literally wasn't doing anything wrong. He was completely innocent. There has to be a reason, right?" Lori sat there and tried to uncover the reason why the girls treated their brother like the black sheep, even though he didn't do anything wrong that day. She just kept thinking about everything that happened the previous day, trying to figure something out. But she just couldn't. Nothing was making any sense. Just then, the memory from almost an hour ago appeared in her mind. She started to think about the conversation she and her other sisters had with their parents. At this point, Lori thought about what her father said:

"Your brother is out there all alone in a place that's populated with over 50,000 people because you two had to fight over a pair of shorts instead of learning to share. And you guys were so desperate to keep Lori and Leni from screaming at each other, that you had to stoop to torturing your own brother just to keep them apart."

Lori couldn't deny that what Lynn Sr. said sounded a little harsh. But at the same time, she was afraid that what he said may be true. Were all of those bad things completely out of desperation? Did the girls really think it was for the best to torture their own brother to keep Lori and Leni separated? Was it really that hard for the girls to just stay out of it? Lori had so many questions running through her mind. Soon enough, the harsh reality began to close in on her. Lori felt her lips starting to quiver. Her stomach felt even more nauseous as the guilt within her increased. She felt warm, fresh tears roll out of her eyes. Lori was starting to believe that this whole thing was her fault.

Just then, Leni stepped into the room. After putting her hairbrush on her makeup desk, she goes to get herself ready for bed, when she suddenly hears a sniff coming from the bed next to her, as well as some quiet sobs. Leni looks over and sees Lori's head hanging down. With a concerned look, Leni walked over to Lori's bed and sat down next to her.

"Lori?" Leni said. Lori didn't respond to her. She just continued crying.

"Lori, are you okay?" Leni said with a concerning tone. Once again, Lori didn't say anything. Leni looked down in worryness, then suddenly;

"It's all our fault." Lori said, quietly

"Huh?" Leni questioned as she looked back at Lori.

"It's all our fault, Leni." Lori said louder, "If we hadn't fought over those acid-washed Bermuda shorts in the first place, none of this would've happened. Lincoln… he would've never had to go through that mess with our sisters. A-And most importantly, h-he never would've ran away from home. He would still be here, s-safe and sound, the way he should be." Lori started to cry a little harder now. Leni wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulder as an attempt to comfort her. "Lincoln… h-he never… he never even g-got involved in our argument."

"Wait, he didn't?" Leni asked.

"N-No, he didn't." said Lori, "He never did. The w-whole time, Lincoln actually tried to stay out of it, and y-yet, the other girls s-still t-tormented him so much. A-All because we had to fight over a dumb pair of shorts. All because we couldn't learn to share. We drove him away." Lori cried even harder.

Leni was doing her best to comfort her sister, but hearing every word Lori said gave her something to think about. Looking back, Leni started to feel bad for arguing with Lori over those acid-washed Bermuda shorts, and she felt even worse just thinking about how selfish she was being. Yeah Lori said that Leni could keep those shorts in exchange for going to Aunt Ruth's house instead of Pop Pop's retirement home, but they were a gift from Bobby, and Leni knows how cherishable gifts from a loved one are; and those acid-washed Bermuda shorts were ones Lori cherished the most. Leni started to think that it may have been for the best if she just gave those shorts back to Lori, instead of arguing with her.

And on top of that, now knowing that Lincoln never got himself involved once in her argument, and that the girls still tortured him just to keep the two girls apart, just made Leni feel even more guilty about the whole thing. After thinking it over, she knows Lori was right when she said that if the two hadn't fought over those acid-washed Bermuda shorts, Lincoln would've never ran away. Leni had so many negative emotions running inside, that it made her want to cry. She wanted to let her emotions out. But she decided not to, as there was already one too many sisters crying in that room.

Leni went back to comforting her crying older sister as best as she could, all while trying to think of something to make Lori feel better. Eventually, Lori managed to cry out all of the guilt and shame that was bubbling inside her. The only thing that was still on her mind was how worried she was for her little brother.

"If it makes you feel any better, Lori, you can have those acid-washed Bermuda shorts back." Leni said.

"I don't care about those anymore," Lori tearfully said, "I just want Lincoln back." Lori rested her head on Leni's shoulder as the two continued staring out the window and into the night sky.

A/N: Alright, the second chapter is finally done. Now, I wanna say I'm really sorry for taking such a long time for me to finish this chapter. Just like I said at the top, I have a few reasons why it took me so long to finish this. The biggest reason why I took so long is because for the past few months, I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety and depression, which pretty much killed my motivation to write. On top of that, I was focused on finding another job, since I lost my old one due to the pandemic, as well as moving to another house. And about a month ago, my mom had COVID-19, and her symptoms were so bad that I was pretty sure she was going to die. And that was both physically and emotionally draining for me. Again, I'm so sorry that so much of my time and energy was taken away from working on this. I'm gonna try and work on some side projects while working on the next chapter so I can be active on this site more often. Also, if there is anything I did wrong or anything you don't like about this chapter or just the story in general, I am open to any sort of feedback, so please feel free.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time.