At last, he stood outside the front door to his house. He had left the boxes behind Gus Fring's games and grub for the night. Lincoln took a deep breath, dreading the shitstorm that was about to come his way as soon as he opened that door. With a sigh, he turned the doorknob and opened the door. Immediately and expectedly, he was bombarded by his sisters all screaming at him indecipherably. "HEY HEY, CALM DOWN I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU WHEN YOU ALL YELL AT THE SAME TIME!" Lincoln shouted, trying to calm his sisters but he could tell by the looks on their faces that he had really worried and angered them this time, more so than any other time. The first words he actually managed to understand came from Luna who shouted "WHAT IN THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG?!" Lincoln looked into her eyes, full of concern and anger. "It's... a very long story and one I don't think you're ready to hear-" Luan scoffed "Don't you dare pull that on us, Lincoln. You owe us the entire truth on what happened out there!" Lincoln took another look at the eyes of his... six sisters? "Hey.. where's Lucy and Lily?" Lisa adjusted her glasses after they had gotten accidentally knocked loose in all the commotion. "Upstairs in my room. Lucy is... most displeased with you, brother." Great. "Look, can I just... sit down? I'll tell you everything but let me sit." His sisters eyed him for a moment before stepping aside to let him sit down.
It was Leni who first began questioning him. "Lincoln, I called you like 30 times before you finally picked up! what took you so long?" Lincoln ran a hand through his hair, thinking to himself. He was torn on if he wanted to tell them the truth but his feelings didn't matter at this moment. His experiences with his own Grandfather bugging the house made him wonder if the Casagrandes had long since done the same thing. "Well... I got there expecting to meet Carl but there was nobody there. Not him, Sergio, nobody. I waited there for over an hour before I decided to call...Ronnie Anne." A silence fell over his sisters as he mentioned that name. Ronnie Anne had once been close to Lincoln and the Loud family. His sisters had once thought that she and Lincoln would one day start dating the same way Bobby and Lori had. That had changed a few months after the defeat of Luna's former master. That entire incident seemed to flip their entire lives around as their riches, eagles, pokemon, and random new friends all seemed to vanish a few weeks after Albert's crime. Not only that, but the people who didn't vanish seemed to change. Whatever control that mysterious thing had over their lives was completely gone; now the Casagrandes were the world's strongest drug family, and the Loud's lives were in tatters.
"You... spoke with Ronnie?" Lana asked to which Lincoln responded with a nod. "Yeah, she uh... came and met me. She brought Carl with her and Carlos showed up." At this, his sisters let out a gasp. The idea of an upper member of the Casagrande family being there... "I made the trade with Carlos and we went our separate ways. Carl did try to accuse me of doing something to Sergio but...Carlos wasn't listening." Leni asked the question he knew was coming the moment he had finished his sentence. "...Did you do something to Sergio?" Lincoln looked up from his feet at his sisters. "Of course, I didn't. He never showed up and after last time, Carl probably thinks I killed Sergio out of revenge or something. I can assure you that I didn't. So apart from a few old faces, everything went fine. Still, I'm sorry for being so late. I hope that... you can forgive me." Lincoln was surprised with himself. It had been years since he had apologized to anyone for anything much less asked for forgiveness. Lola spoke up again. "You had us worried to death! Lincoln, we've told you before you need to get out of this mess! this life... it's only going to lead to regrets and even more bad choices!" Lincoln couldn't help but smirk. When did the pageant brat become wise? "...I know. But as for right now, I think I need to go see Lucy." Lincoln got back up to his feet and gazed over at the stairs. "Good luck, brother." Lisa said as she went up on tip-toes to pat his back. "..Thanks."
Lincoln headed up the stairs and peered into Lisa and Lily's room where Lucy was standing watching over a sleeping Lily. "Hey... Luce." Lincoln muttered and gave a smile. No response. Not even an acknowledgment that he was there. "Look, I know that I've put you through a lot tonight and there's no excusing it-" A hard hand slapped his cheek. "I thought you were dead." Lincoln looked down at his sister, noticing tears begin to roll down her face. He felt a pang in his heart and his body fills up with guilt. He knew that despite him and his sisters growing apart in recent years, the one he hadn't was Lucy. They continued to care about and talk with each other even as their lives fell apart and he knew that he'd sent her to a dark place tonight. Darker than even she'd ever wanted to go. "..I know. And I can't just say sorry because that isn't going to fix anything. I've betrayed you tonight and I don't know how or if I can make it right but-" Lincoln was interrupted by Lucy wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his shirt. "I don't w-want to bury my brother." she sobbed out, clinging to Lincoln as if he would disappear if she let go. He stood there, unmoving and unsure of what to think, It had been a long time since he felt someone cared for him this much. A long time since he knew that someone in this world truly loved him. "...You won't. No matter what happens, whatever I do, I won't let become reality. I promise." Neither Lincoln nor Lucy knew how long they stood there nor did they care. Eventually, Lucy let go of him and the two siblings bid each other good night. As soon as he got into his room, Lincoln collapsed onto his bed, asleep.
To Be Continued
