Lynn runs through the front door, "Woo! That was a great run! Err– walk in your case."
Francisco slowly walks behind her; his heart is pounding after Lynn forced him to speed walk multiple times around the block, and while he doesn't mind being supportive as she exercises to cope with her sobriety after her 'relapse', he is getting annoyed with how far she is taking it. Every morning, they wake up early to go on runs, followed by afternoons at the gym, and cooling down with a walk after dinner; again, he doesn't mind, he just wants to be able to slow down for a bit after doing the regimen every day since his birthday.
He stumbles past her and crashes onto the couch. He talks into the cushions, but Lynn cannot figure out what he's trying to say.
"What was that?" she asks.
He continues to talk into the cushion, until Lynn turns him over, "I said, I'm tired and I just want to watch the game."
"You're in luck, I think it's just starting," Lynn happily tells him, as she turns on the tv to a hockey game.
She squeezes onto the couch next to him; forcing him further back into the cushions in the process, "What are you doing?" he asks.
"Watching the game," she tells him, "It looks it's gonna be a good one."
Francisco looks over Lynn, who is too busy staring at the game; he doesn't mind having her next to him, but both of them laying down leaves them with very little room on the couch.
"Do you mind moving a bit back? I'm about to fall off the couch," Lynn says.
"I don't have any room to move back," he tells her.
"Sure you do," she says, as she forces him further into the couch, "See! Now I don't have to worry about falling."
Francisco stays quiet; he tries to concentrate on the game, but having Lynn as close and she is, is making the task harder. A beer commercial comes onto the screen and he immediately changes the channel. Ever since her brief relapse, which he claims doesn't break her sobriety streak; Francisco has made attempts to keep her away from temptation.
"You know I don't mind seeing a beer commercial, right? I mean, I love sports, I'm used to seeing a commercial here and there."
"Just in case."
She turns towards him and buries herself in his chest. She mumbles something that Francisco cannot hear. Lynn is happy that he's as supportive and non-judgmental as he is, but she is a little annoyed that he believes that everything is going to get her to jump off the wagon and start drinking again.
Like he said before, 'It was just an accident; you didn't know you were drinking, so you didn't choose to. That shouldn't count, right?'
"You're getting stronger…" she says.
"What?"
"All that exercise, it's been good for you too."
He wasn't in bad shape, but they haven't been going to the gym as often since she started her job at the restaurant. However, over the last couple of weeks, she's been pushing him to get back into fighting shape, and he has been getting stronger, even if he does still move like a glacier.
Lynn wraps her arms around him as best as she can, pulls him close and listens to his heart beat as he caresses her back.
Francisco pulls up next to her, "Do you want a ride?"
Lynn looks around for Mary, "Is your date over already?"
She knows that it's not early, but she finds it difficult to believe that he's available to offer her a ride on Valentine's Day; especially since neither one is near their home.
"It's a long story. C'mon! I'll give you a ride," he offers her.
Lynn shrugs her shoulders, and places her gear in the truck bed before hopping in. The two teens are quiet, until she spots a cup of hot chocolate in the drink holder.
"Are you going to drink that?" she asks, pointing at the drink.
"Go ahead."
She takes the drink and happily sips on the once hot beverage, "So, how'd your date go?"
"Fine…"
That isn't the answer that she's expecting. She knows that Francisco isn't the type to gush over romance junk like Bobby, but after seeing some of her sister's dates, she assumed that maybe he would have more to say than just one word.
"Did she like the restaurant?"
"I think she did."
Lynn is still hoping for more information; a few days ago, he was worried since he didn't have an idea of what he was going to do for Valentine's Day, and while he didn't remember then, he looked relieved when his plans were covered.
"Did you like the Valentine's meal that my dad made?"
"It was really good," he complimented, "although I think your dad went a little overboard with the heart decorations everywhere."
Lynn laughs, "Yeah, I think that it was Lola and Lily's idea to do that."
Francisco tries to remember, "They're the twins, right?"
"You're one for two," Lynn flatly says. "How have we been friends for years, and you still don't know my sisters' names?"
He shrugs his shoulders, "I don't see them that often, cut me some slack."
"No!" she jokingly says. "I learned the names of your family members."
"That isn't the same! There are only five of us versus your thirteen; of course it's easy for you to learn my family."
Lynn taps her fingers, "I just hear excuses," she looks out the window, "Are you heading straight home?"
Francisco isn't sure; there isn't anything to do at home, but he knows that as soon as he walks through the door, someone is going to ask how 'practice' went. He figures that it might be easier to just come home a little later and pretend to be out with his teammates.
"Not really. Do you have something in mind?"
Lynn notices a frozen lake and quickly turns to him, "Do you have your skates with you?"
Elena looks through her phone as she researches the restaurant that she and her friends are going for their group date next week. Unlike her mom, her dad has no idea about the group date that she and her friends agreed on for Valentine's Day. Luckily at the moment, he and Lynn are out at the gym, which she declined to go under the guise of studying; after the last couple of weekends, Elena has learned that exercising with Lynn is a hell that she doesn't plan on repeating twice in a row.
She tries to think of what she'll say to him, "Dad, I know that it's a little last minute, but my friends invited me to a sleepover this weekend. No, I probably shouldn't lie. Let's see…Dad, you know that test that I've been studying for, it's coming up and I want to use the weekend to prepare. No, that's still lying, sort of…"
Elena looks outside and notices Jackson taking a broom at the small icicles hanging from the edge of his house. She figures that maybe the older man would know the best way to talk to her dad, and she heads outside to speak with him.
"Good afternoon, Jackson," Elena greets.
The older man turns around, "Good afternoon, young De Los Reyes, how are you doing today?"
"I'm fine," she says as she approaches the gate, "Can I ask you something? Do you think that my dad would freak out if I told him that I'm going on a date?"
Jackson is a little surprised by her question; while he understands the girl's concern, he doesn't imagine Francisco to be so old-fashioned that he's against his own daughter dating.
"I don't think so, as long as you think of what could make him worry and have answers to his questions thus assuring him that you'll be safe, and I believe that he'll be okay with it."
Elena sighs in relief, "Thanks, I was sort of afraid of that he would say no without listening."
Jackson nods, "My pleasure, young neighbor."
"While I have you here, can I ask you something," she pulls out her phone, and shows her a photo of a potential date outfit, "What do you think, Jackson?" Elena asks as she presents him with photos of two different outfits. "Which is the better option?"
Jackson looks at her, "Are you sure that you want me to help? Wouldn't your mother be a bigger help for preparing for your first date?"
She takes the phone back, "I already asked her. When I started, I had seven different outfits and she helped me narrow it down to two. Now, I was hoping that you could help me narrow it down to one."
"What about Lynn?"
Elena turns to her house and sees Lynn, who is running into the kitchen, messy and covered in sweat stains, "I don't think that her sense of fashion will…match what I'm looking for."
"I understand," assures the older man, who is also looking at Lynn through the window. "Try the first outfit; it should work regardless of where you and your date go." He notices a winded Francisco, hunched over the sink, "I see your dad is home."
Elena looks over at her dad and sighs, "I guess I should probably go tell him. Thanks Jackson."
Francisco is guzzling down a sports drink, while Lynn gives him some encouraging words, "See, you were able to squeeze in a run, and don't worry; we'll get your truck later."
He nods his head, "Fine…but next time…we walk…" he says in-between breaths. "Elena!" he calls out to the house, "we're home!"
The girl opens the door, "I didn't hear you come back."
"I thought that it would be a good idea to get in a quick run after our workout," Lynn says, "when you're finished taking your test next week, you gotta join us."
Noticing her dad's tired face, Elena slowly nods her head, "Uh…sure…assuming I don't get any other assignments or projects," she says in an effort to give herself an out next weekend. "Speaking of next week, my friends are going on a group date for Valentine's Day. There's going to be six of us–"
"Six couples?" Lynn interrupts.
"No, three couples. The date is next week, but it is on Saturday, and I don't know what time we'll be back–"
"Well I doubt that it'll be that late, considering that you guys are like twelve," Lynn interrupts again.
Francisco and Elena are clearly annoyed at Lynn's interruptions and he tells her, "Let Elena finish and then you can ask what you want."
"Fine," Lynn says, annoyed at his attitude, "I was just trying to get some more info."
"Anyway, I figured since my friends live closer to my house and the group date is on Saturday, and I still have a test to study for, I might be better off staying with mom this weekend."
The only thing Francisco is able to say is, "Oh…I see…"
He stays quiet as he tries to think of what to say; he figures that he can probably pick her up regardless of the time, and studying isn't difficult, although Caroline and Andrew can provide better help than he can.
"Good for you, hope you and your friends have fun," Lynn says before Francisco is able to say anything.
Francisco looks over at Lynn; he doesn't appreciate her responding to something that doesn't involve her, especially, when she is giving Elena the go-ahead, "Have you asked your Mom?"
"Yeah, she said I could go if you were okay with it."
He looks at her and sighs, "Okay, you can go…I guess I'll see you in two weeks."
Elena gives him a hug. She can tell that he's upset that she isn't going to be here next week, but it's a one-time thing, and he has Lynn around to keep him company.
Francisco returns the gesture, "Go wash up, we have to pick up my truck around the corner and then we're going out for lunch."
When Elena is gone, Francisco whispers to Lynn, "What was that?"
"What?" she asks in the same whisper.
"Why did you tell her that she could go?"
"I didn't say that."
"You said, 'hope you and your friends have fun', Lynn, she didn't ask you, she asked me, so don't butt in."
Lynn scowls. He's never brought this issue up before, and while she hasn't intruded on Francisco's parenting in the past, she doesn't appreciate the tone he gave her.
"You could have said no if you really didn't want her to go," she argues back.
Francisco stays quiet as she walks away from him.
Francisco looks at the lake; ice is formed on top, but the weather today was warmer than usual and there aren't many people passing by them to notice should anything happen.
Lynn, laced up and ready to skate, gets onto the ice, "C'mon! Don't tell me you've never skated on a lake before!" she jokes.
"I have," he claims, but he hasn't in recent history.
The only times that he's able to skate on a frozen lake is when he tells his parents that he's not doing so, as both of them are afraid that he'll fall and freeze to death if no one is keeping an eye on him.
"Then hurry up," she tells him. She notices that he's careful with his footing, she skates towards him and takes his hand, "You're going to fine; it's been freezing all week."
"And I'm telling you that I'm not worried. I just don't step onto ice all willy-nilly like you."
She sticks out her tongue. She taps on the ice with the blade of her skate, "See, nothing. Now let's race before it gets too dark!"
Francisco takes a deep breath and skates past her; he calls out to her, "Hurry up, slowpoke!"
"Oh, it's on!" she declares as she heads towards him.
Unlike most of her usual competition, he's faster, but that's expected when she's usually competing against other girls. However, Lynn refuses to let him get the upper hand, she pushes herself to make sure that he doesn't get away from her grasp and before he reaches the end of the lake, she manages to catch up to him, but isn't able to slow down in time before crashing into him.
The two fall into the snow and Lynn declares, "I win!" as she looks down on him.
Francisco looks up at her and laughs, "No, I won. I'm the one touching the snow, meaning my body crossed the lake first."
Lynn looks towards where Francisco parked his truck, "First one across wins, go!" she says before letting him get to his feet.
"I swear she's stubborn," he says as he takes on a leisurely pace, knowing that she'll stop soon enough.
When Lynn turns around, she notices that he's not even trying; he's just skating in a little part of the lake like in those old-timey cartoons.
"What the…" she heads back towards him, "What are you doing? Why aren't you trying to catch up to me?"
Francisco shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know," he says feigning innocence. He knows what he's doing; without a competition, Lynn won't have fun, and thus she won't bother trying.
"So you just want to skate around like this? Do you have any more hockey gear?"
He shakes his head; he does, but he left behind most of his padding and he's sure that Lynn's won't be enough to cover his body, so he'd rather not risk it, "I'm fine just skating around like this."
Lynn sighs, "But it's boring."
He skates around her, "Only if you have that attitude."
"What? You don't think I can have fun doing…this," she says pointing to him gliding on the ice.
A light bulb goes off in Francisco's head, "I don't think you can, I mean, you are the definition of jittery–"
"Oh yeah! Well I'll show you!" she declares before beginning to elegantly skate on the ice.
Francisco is surprised, by her gentle movements that made him think that she was flying on the ice. He stops skating and just stares at her, as she seemingly performs a figure skating routine in front of him.
He seems to be in a trance until Lynn skates over to him and snaps her fingers in front of him, "Close your mouth or you're gonna add another inch of ice to the lake."
Lynn looks through the mail and smiles as she sees a certain letter that she has been waiting for, "About time!" She runs into the house and loudly calls out, "Francisco! I've got a surprise for you!"
He walks out of their bedroom, "It's not weird pills from Lisa that let you forego sleep, is it?"
She scoffs, "No! Lisa already told me that it's a terrible idea after her energy drink screwed with Lily's heart for a few weeks. No, I mean, look what I've got!" she presents him with the envelope, "Hockey tickets for Valentine's Day! What do you think? You, me, and the Red Wings giving hell to the Senators, sounds fun, right?"
It isn't how he imagines spending Valentine's Day, but it does sound nice to do something that they both enjoy, especially since they'll be alone all weekend, "Yeah, it does," he agrees.
"It's an early game, so we can still squeeze in some fun in the city," she teases him.
Francisco lets out a chuckle, "I would have been fine with just the game and some souvenirs, but why not? But no exercising that day," he tells her in a jokingly firm voice.
Lynn rolls her eyes, "Fine, but we're gonna do the night right, so don't tell me that you can't or some other excuse."
"Deal," he agrees with a kiss to her cheek.
Come Saturday, Lynn goes through her closet and grabs her lucky Red Wings sweater covered in blood and mustard stains and gets ready for their fun night out in the city.
"Are you ready to–" Francisco looks at her sweater, "Holy…Lynn, why don't you wash that sweater? It's covered in blood, and is long overdue for a trip to the washer."
"What?! No way! It's my lucky sweater! I only wear it when I go to a game, especially after I took a hockey puck to the nose, which by the way hurts like hell, but I got a souvenir game puck and the Red Wings got a W out of it," she says happily. "So it's staying," she says seriously.
"Fine," he tells her, figuring that there's no winning with her when it comes to superstitions, "let me grab my coat and my boots so we can head out."
Lynn looks at the red numbers on the alarm clock, "This early? But the game doesn't start for three more hours."
"Traffic, parking, snacks, bathroom, and maybe some souvenirs, and…" he mutters the last part, which Lynn can't hear, but he is making a good point, so she finishes getting ready.
The two head out to the truck. Francisco turns on the truck, "Do you have the game tickets?" he asks, before they head out.
"Of course!" Lynn taps her coat pocket confidently, "I have…them…right…where the hell are they?" she asks herself as she looks around her seat. She steps out of the truck and looks behind her seat to search for the envelope. "I know I had them just now!"
"We have plenty of–"
"I'll find them!" she declares as she runs back into the house.
"…time," he says to himself, before remembering what happens when Lynn loses something. He lowers the window, "Don't make a mess!" he yells, but she quickly returns to the truck with the tickets in hand.
Francisco pulls out of the driveway. Despite telling Lynn that he wants to get to the arena early, the couple has plenty of time before the game begins, and he wants to see Elena off before she goes on her date. He doesn't think of himself as overly cautious, but when the only information he has on her date is 'just a boy from school', he wants to see who said boy is.
Lynn looks back and notices that he missed the turn to head into the city, "Where are you going? You missed the turn."
"We have plenty of time before the game starts–"
"But what about parking?! I doubt you want to walk far if it snows while we we're watching the game." Francisco points to the glove compartment. Lynn looks inside and notices a handicap placard, "Are you serious?! You have one of these, why haven't we ever used it?"
"Because I don't need it as much as–"
"So all those times we could have parked closer and you never bothered to pull this out?"
"I can still walk long distances well enough; I'm not going to take the spot of someone who really needs it. Look, I just want to see who Elena is going out with and then we can go to the game."
Lynn recalls that Elena mentioned that her date is a classmate, but knowing Francisco, he probably wanted more information than just that, so she's willing to cut him a little slack.
"Fine, but we better not be late for the game," she says in a huff.
He shows her his watch, "I'll set my watch when we get to Caroline's and then we can go with plenty of time to spare, I promise."
Lynn pouts, "Fine."
When they arrive in Huntington Oaks, the couple steps out of the truck and knock on Caroline's door; when she answers, Caroline is surprised to see Francisco and Lynn, "Hello."
Lynn sets her phone's alarm, "Hey! How's it going?"
"Fine?" Caroline says, confused by the couple's appearance on her front door. She hesitantly invites them in, "Come in."
Andrew sees the couple and is surprised by their unexpected arrival, but he invites them into the living room, "Nice you see you again, Lynn, Francisco."
Lynn takes a seat on the couch, "Nice to see you too." The two watch as Francisco and Caroline walk towards the kitchen ignoring the two adults in the living room, "Where are they going?"
Andrew takes a seat on the seat across from her, "Caroline was helping Elena get ready for her date; I don't know what Francisco is doing though."
She sighs, "I swear he's being paranoid, she's twelve and going on a group date, it's not like she's going to join a cult." Lynn taps her feet trying to think of something to say, "Did Elena tell you much about her date?"
Andrew shakes his head, "Not much, but to be fair, when it comes to Elena, Caroline usually does most of the parenting."
"You too? I thought I was the only one," she says, somewhat relieved that someone else is going through the same thing.
"I get that it's a date, and they've mostly been going over makeup and outfits, but it's not like I can't give Elena advice," he leans in a little closer, "between you and me though, I think that Caroline was hoping that Francisco would have said no to the date; she's been stressing out all week."
Lynn nods her head, "He's been the same way. I think he's been texting Caroline trying to find out more about this date."
"Why didn't he just ask Elena?"
Lynn shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. I just think that he's being overprotective, but it's not like you guys can't do something in case she gets in trouble."
"Can't blame them, I guess."
Andrew understands their worry, but he thinks that Elena can handle herself, despite Caroline and Francisco's fears. Luckily, Lynn understands what he was trying to tell his wife for the last couple of days.
"Do you normally get left out of big things like this?" she asks, "I mean, you're her stepdad, but does Caroline go to Francisco instead of you?"
"Just the big things…"
Lynn tries to remember her preteen years, this is when things are going to start changing and chances are that both of them are going to be put to the side as Francisco and Caroline parent their daughter.
Rather than make the visit any more awkward than it already is, she asks, "Would it be weird if I get your phone number? I get the feeling that we're both gonna be stuck with some nervous wrecks, and it might help to know what's going on without trying to translate Francisco's grunts."
Andrew laughs, "Yeah, I'll probably need yours too, so I don't worry about Caroline's one word responses."
Francisco shakes his head, "Lynn, I didn't know you knew how to figure skate?"
She blushes and turns away from him, "It was a New Year's resolution, I had to do it to go to King Henry's All You Can Eat Buffet."
He stares down at the floor, "I think you did a great job."
"Shut up," she bashfully says. Lynn can feel her heart pounding after the compliment, but she tells herself to not get her hopes up, he's still with another girl and she had to remember what she told herself all those years ago.
There is an awkward silence between the two, until Francisco speaks up, "Do you want to get outta here? I was thinking that maybe you might want to get some better chocolate."
Lynn nods her head and the two skate back towards the truck. When the two get in, Francisco drives and she looks around as Francisco drives towards the city, "Where are we going?"
"There's a dollar store that my mom and I used to go to when I was a kid and I remember that they always put their holiday candy on sale the day of, so I thought that we should get some."
The sound of discounted chocolates tempts Lynn, "So why are we going into the city? There are plenty of places to go near Royal Woods."
"I know, but my mom loved going into the city instead. Honestly, I don't think that she ever loved the idea of leaving such a large city for a place as small as Royal Woods, but my dad wanted to live in a safer place and close to his job. Anyway, my mom liked coming here for the holiday stuff that she would send our cousins back in Mexico."
It isn't often that Francisco talks about his family, normally his conversations consist of school and sports, so it's a novelty to hear him speak about a childhood memory.
The two teens walk into the store, where Lynn notices few patrons perusing down the aisles and a bored cashier standing by the register. Francisco points to the holiday aisle and a variety of items that are already placed on discount.
Lynn runs ahead, and Francisco grabs a basket to give her so that she can place, what he presumes to be armfuls of chocolate. She notices him with the basket and begins dunking her favorite chocolates into the basket; imitating a crowd's roar every time she made a 'slam dunk'.
She places a large novelty hat on him and hands him a pair of goofy sunglasses, "Put these on."
"Why?"
"Because," she says, as she grabs a light-up antenna headband and a giant flower. She pulls out her camera, "Say cheese."
"No way," he says moving away from the camera's sight line.
"Oh c'mon! I promise I won't post it, it'll just be for us," she says, as she pulls out her famous puppy-dog eyes.
His cheeks turn red, knowing that he can't resist those eyes, "Fine…"
Lynn wraps her arm around his shoulder, pulling him down to her height, "C'mon! Smile! This is gonna be a fun photo one day."
He sighs, "Give me one minute," he tells her. Francisco grabs a long feathered pen, and hides it from her. He stands next to her, "Smile."
She complies, and he pulls out the feather to tickle her. Lynn begins laughing, accidentally knocking over items as she tries to get the pen away from him.
A loud crashing sound grabs the attention of the cashier, who immediately kicks them out before they are able to buy their candy.
Lynn is upset that they weren't able to buy the candy, but Francisco figures that there is a way to cheer her up, "Sorry about that…you know," he starts, "if we take a slightly longer route, we're near Comerica Park, do you want to go see the tiger statue?"
He didn't have to ask her twice, "Yeah! Let's go!" she says, turning on his truck for him.
As the two step out of the truck, Lynn looks over at Francisco and sees that he's checking his phone for messages from Elena; the girl promised him that she would text when she arrives at the restaurant and when she arrives at home.
"She's a smart girl; she isn't going to forget to text you," Lynn tries to assure him.
Francisco puts his phone away. He is going to be strong and not fixate on this, but soon he gets a picture message from Caroline of Elena with the boy that she's going out with. When they talked earlier today, his daughter told him some more about him, but Francisco's mind still wasn't put at ease after hearing that he is in her art class and likes reading poetry; it made him think that he was just a boy that liked to woo girls with his fancy language skills.
As the couple gets ready for the game, he goes back to staring at his phone; even placing it in his pocket did him no good as he felt phantom vibrations every few minutes.
In the mean time, this isn't how Lynn envisioned Valentine's Day playing out, but she is going to cut him some slack because Elena was on her first date. Lynn remembers what her dad was like when Lori started dating, and she can imagine that the same ideas are popping into Francisco's head.
"Are you worried about Elena?"
She knows the answer, but she wants to get a conversation started between the two. He's been nervous all day, and she understands, but he needs to chill out; if he's freaking out about his twelve-year-old daughter on her first group date, he going to go nuts as she gets older.
"A little…"
"But…?" she asks, waiting to see if there is more.
"But, what? It's the truth."
"Well good. You know, I thought that you'd be freaking out more about Elena going out on her first date."
Francisco bites the inside of his cheek, "I'm the right amount of nervous for a father who's worried about his daughter going out on her first date."
"I bet. I saw how my dad would get when any of us brought dates over. Luckily, he chilled out when he got to the younger ones, but what parent isn't naturally a little nervous to see their kids grow up."
It isn't even just seeing Elena grow up. As Francisco remembers the little girl that would draw on walls or sweetly call out for him when she was scared or create little stories with her stuffed animals on the floor, he is also reminded that he is getting older too. He wasn't a twenty-something-year-old, but a man in his mid-thirties slowly approaching forty with each passing day.
"I guess I was lucky, I didn't start dating until college and by that point my dad had some experience under his belt, although he still freaked out. I mean, I can't blame him, I was the first one to bring home an older date. Look, she's going to be fine, and if anything happens; we'll be there for her."
He cracks a smile, "Knowing you, we'll be there before she wonders where we are."
Lynn laughs in agreement. She places her hand on his knee, "Look, it's not going to get easier, trust me, I saw my dad break down with each and with every one of us whenever we crossed a major milestone, but she has you and Caroline and Andrew, you guys are going to make that she's okay."
He takes a deep breath and nods his head, "Okay…" he says; deciding that he's not going to ruin any more of their date.
Francisco pulls up in front of Lynn's house, "You know, today didn't start off so great–"
"Because you remembered that we have a project due?"
"That and my date didn't turn out so well, I was pretty crappy to Mary and I think that maybe it's a sign."
He doesn't normally believe in such things, but he's aware that he isn't as interested in her as he thought. He only agreed to go out with her because he didn't want to hurt her feelings at the time, but that doesn't do anyone any good.
Lynn places a hand on his shoulder; she figured that his date probably didn't go well, and while she does have a chance to turn the tides in her favor, she can't do that; she has to remember that she doesn't want to risk her friendship with Francisco, and convincing him to let dump Mary isn't the best karma.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
He nods his head, "I think so, what do you think I should do?"
She takes her hand off of him, "Uh…I don't know. I'm not the romance type."
"I figured that," he tells her. "I guess I'll figure it out. Who knows? By tomorrow things can either be good or bad…"
Lynn punches him in the arm, "Don't be that way! You'll be fine. The worst thing that can happen is that she destroys your gear."
He feigns pain, "Ouch! That's the worst."
"I don't know," she shrugs her shoulders, "I'm just guessing, all I know about romance comes from my parents and the Dream Boat."
He sticks his tongue out, "How can you watch that scripted junk?"
She scowls, "This coming from the guy who likes watching Transport Titans?"
The two laugh, and Lynn get out of the truck, "Thanks for the ride, I appreciate it, buddy."
"You're welcome," Francisco says.
As he watches Lynn walk back to her house, Francisco can't help but stare at her; his night with her was far more enjoyable than it was when he worried about accidentally making Mary jealous. He can feel his heart pounding, but he shakes his head; knowing full well that Lynn would never want a relationship with him.
As the two walk out of the arena, they notice the large crowd of people walking towards their vehicles; they know that they might be stuck waiting to get out of the parking lot for a long time, before Lynn remembers how close they are to the baseball stadium.
She begins to walk towards the exit, when Francisco calls it to her, "Lynn! Where are you going?"
"To the ball park! We're right here, and it beats sitting around waiting for the crowd to die down," she reasons.
Francisco looks around, the vehicles are being to line up around the exit and he knows that neither one is looking forward to waiting around, so if a quick trip across the street is all it takes to make her happy, he'll go along with it.
"Wait for me!" he tells her, as he walks to catch up her.
Lynn runs towards him and takes his hand as they walk to the baseball stadium. When they arrive at the stadium, she leads him towards the fifteen foot tiger statue, "Remember when we were kids?"
He smiles, "Alright, let me get my camera out," he tells her.
The two pose with the statue and Francisco snaps the photo. He can't recall if it's the same pose that they made nearly twenty years ago, but he can probably look for it on his computer later.
He puts his phone away and looks for Lynn, who is walking around the statue, "Are you trying to climb it?"
"I think I can do it, and think of the photo!" she says looking at the tiger's head.
"I'm thinking of the fall," he says looking down at the ground.
"You're such a downer," she complains.
"How about we do something else? The RiverWalk is pretty close, do you want to see that?" he knows that it's going to probably have a crowd, but it seems like a nice place to spend their night, "There's a carousel and who knows, there might be some live music going on."
It beats her idea of walking to the nearby football stadium, "Okay, let's go."
"Not on foot," he clearly tells her.
"Fine, to the People Mover!"
"To my truck," he corrects.
She groans, "Okay, okay, I get it – no exercise today."
It isn't Lynn's ideal situation to be stuck in traffic, especially after a game, but luckily Francisco has made a habit of carrying a charger and a deck of playing cards so that she can at least entertain herself while they are able to get to the RiverWalk.
When they arrive, there is a crowd of people hanging around the plaza enjoying the night as they take strolls down the walkways, look out towards Windsor, or even enjoy the public art; Lynn, however, is interested in the carousel that Francisco tempted her with, as well as a bike ride and maybe a game of volleyball.
Unlike Lynn, Francisco prefers to slow down and enjoy some of the activities without worrying about what to do next; to him the RiverWalk isn't going anywhere and they can always come back whenever they want to do the next time.
For the next few hours, Lynn drags him around to whatever activity grabs her attention, and Francisco follows along until Lynn suddenly stops. She sniffs around and smells coney sauce and sausages in the air. She walks in the direction of a nearby restaurant, almost ignoring Francisco, "Hurry up! We could use something to warm us up."
Francisco tries to catch up, but his knee begins to shoot pain through his leg. He quietly pops a pill, and tries to catch up to Lynn, who is waiting for him by his truck.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he says as he limps towards her, he grabs her hand and leads her to the order window. "How can you still be hungry? You ate two hotdogs and funnel cake at the game."
"Then we went to the baseball stadium, then ran around the Riverwalk, that's plenty of time for the food to have digested." She notices that he isn't too thrilled on the idea, "C'mon! We get some coney dogs and then we go home. Deal?"
He sighs, "Alright, but only two, I don't want you complaining all night and I doubt you want the stomachache."
"Geez, why don't I just not eat then?"
"That works for me," he says; having something else in mind for when they get home.
Surprised that he actually suggested not eating, Lynn walks in regardless, "Nice try, but you aren't winning this round."
"What round?" he asks himself, as he follows her inside.
After finishing their meals, they walk towards the truck, and Lynn brings up a proposition, "I'll race you to the truck."
"You're kidding, right? We still have a bit of a walk ahead of us–"
"I know, but I figured that we need to work off the food," Francisco is shaking his head, "Fine, we can walk, but as soon as I see the truck I'm running."
"Alright then," he says, knowing that regardless of what he says she's going to run anyway.
As he predicted, Lynn does run as soon as she sees the truck; it doesn't make Francisco walk faster, but he lets her go on ahead. He notices her running in place as she waits for him to open the truck, which he does when he gets close to her.
"About time!" she jokingly complains, "I thought that I was going to turn into summer when you got here."
The two get in the truck, "Well excuse me for not running around like a madman, we don't all have your energy."
She rolls her eyes, "Tell me about it," she says before taking off her sweater, "I'm getting hot in that thing."
Francisco turns to her and notices her in a tank top. He quickly turns his head and looks out at the road. He doesn't want to turn away, but he can silently curse cars for their inability to fully drive themselves. He can feel his heart pumping rapidly in his chest; Lynn made the evening fun despite the rocky start, and right now he has one thing is on his mind to thank her.
He takes a deep breath and clenches his calves as he drives them home.
The couple walks inside of the house and Lynn sheds the layers of warm clothing. Francisco heads straight to the kitchen with his bag in tow and pulls out some ice cream for the two to enjoy.
She opens the curtains and watches as the snow fall, "Good thing we got home when we did."
Francisco silently agrees, and gets a fire going to warm up the house, "I got some ice cream do you want some?"
Lynn is surprised considering that he was complaining about her being a glutton earlier, but a simple dessert does sound nice, "Sure," she says as she continues to watch the snow, "You know, this is one of those nights where you sort of wish that there was a full moon to shine on the freshly fallen snow."
Francisco brings over a bowl of vanilla ice cream for them to share and he rests his head on her shoulder as they look outside, "Will you settle for a new one instead?"
"No."
"Will some chocolate syrup make things better?"
When she hears the words 'chocolate syrup', she perks up and takes the bottle to pour over their ice cream.
"Do you mind if I close the blinds?"
"But I wanted to see the snow falling."
"And I'm hoping for a little bit of privacy."
Lynn scoffs, "Who's going to see us eating ice cream while watching snow next to a fireplace?"
"Jackson – now can you please close the curtains?"
"No."
"Jeez Lynn, can you take a hint? I'm trying to make this evening up to you by giving you a good night" he tells her, as he takes her hand in his and give her a chaste kiss.
She finally takes the hint and closes the curtains.
In case you're curious, and to prove my eccentricity, I actually looked up the moon phases and weather to make things accurate. The weather was getting a little warmer after a few days below freezing in the Detroit area, and there is going to be new moon on Valentine's Day in 2037. I also looked at maps of the Detroit area, the stadiums really are that close to each other and so is their RiverWalk, and the Detroit People Mover is a thing
(I'm pretty sure Google thinks I'm going on a trip to Michigan after the research I do for the story)
Anyway, to answer the review question, I believe that there are a few reasons why the story isn't read more
1. The first chapter isn't very strong. When I heard that 'Singled Out' was a Lynn romance episode, I wanted to beat the episode in case Francisco and Lynn did end up together in the end, so I rushed it. While, it did give me the kick in the pants to seriously write the story, it can be better, and I think that I got into the groove around chapter 5 or 7, and I am currently rewriting it to more modern standards
2. Original characters aren't for everyone. I've been reading fanfiction since I was 14, and I've run into some bad OCs and some good ones, but it can be tough to want to give it a chance, especially since this story has a lot of OCs; most of the canon characters don't appear and I'm sure my OCs need work to be better characters
3. The characters I chose to focus on and even the pairing may not be too popular. I looked through all the fanfiction on this site for the Loud House, and most focuses on Lincoln, Lori, and Luna; Lynn is in fourth place, which isn't bad, but the pairing, and especially Francisco, hasn't been touched on much in canon, so a character taking center stage that hasn't shown up since season 2 may not draw too many people. I started tinkering with this fanfiction when season 2 ended, and after working on creating conflicts and decent enough story, I might have come a bit too late
While, I know that my story isn't drawing a large crowd, I do have a consistent crowd that clicks on my story every week, and I thank them for doing so; I may not have the same amount of reviews or favorites or follows as other stories do, but I'm happy to have someone out there that cares to read my work, so again, thank you, everybody
