She trembled. She traced lines is her sister's skin as if it was her own. But it far more delicate. Her own fingertips were callous from the many hours she had spent fingering the steel strings on her Stratocaster — hers had the tender texture of sun-kissed sunflower petals in mid-July. Each caress sent floral jolts of electricity through her body and neck. The touches composed tunes in her head. If she had been a lute, her sister had expertly played her strings and produced the purest sounds from her rosette. It struck a chord in her. Both were entranced by the music that they themselves produced upon each other. Both were in tune, their dissonances dissipated. Finally, for what felt like the first time in forever, she couldn't help but smile.

And so she smiled. She smiled until her jaw was sore and her cheeks were red. The happiness came to her as an estranged friend. What exactly made her so happy she couldn't say. But she felt it strongly. Her newfound happiness overcame her and rippled through her, like a single affluent drop in a still pond. For a moment, she forgot about troubles and anxieties, and she was free.

But when she saw Luan's face contort in realisation, it started to dawn on her too.

Luan retracted her hand from where she had so intimately placed it. She grabbed the retreating hand with her other hand, and pulled it close to herself. She stopped meeting Luna's gaze. She spoke to her in silences only. There was a thin air of incomprehensible comprehension between them, and both were balancing on that tightrope to nowhere.

"I'm sorry," Luan whispered.

"Me too."

"I shouldn't..." Luan bit her lip. "I should have let you hit me. I should have kept my mouth shut. Taken my feelings with me to my grave. I — I just wanted us to be a normal, happy family. Together. I just wanted..."

Luan trailed off, her body looked pained.

Both were naked still. Luna gazed at Luan lying helplessly curled up in self-pity just inches from her own body. She could feel her shaky breaths on her breast.

"I just wanted to be loved."

"You are loved."

"Not this kind of love, Luna."

Luna gave her sister an incredulous look. Minutes ago Luan had been moaning in pleasure, screaming even. She had watched her pent up complexities escape with intensity unmatched except by her own. They were sisters after all.

"I can't help the way I love you, Luan." Luan sort of shrugged. "We don't choose love, and we don't choose families."

Luan grabbed a corner of a blanket and clumsily half-covered herself. "But we can choose our actions. Or at least, I thought you could. Until the emotions I chose to repress came pouring out. Until what I chose to leave unspoken spoke itself."

Luna heard her sisters words, and she started remembering. After her escapade with Lincoln, she too had felt sick. Sick with worry. She was afraid no one would understand. She was afraid people would blame her for her inability to ignore her feelings. Afraid to be cast out. Now she knows her fears are not hers alone. Luan understood. Perhaps she understood it a little too well, after tonight. Luna thought back of the past few days. Of what she had gone through in such a short span of time. Luan must be going through the same, with her, right now. Tears well up in the dark crescents of Luna's eyes. Days ago she wanted nothing more than to be understood, to be held, to be loved. But now she wants to undo that wish. She'd wish to never have wished it. She doesn't want anyone to go through what she has gone through, especially not her loving, caring, sweet sister.

Luna starts to feel guilty now. First she preyed on her little brother, now her little sister. There was only one way to amend her mistakes. She needed to be a big sister right now. To console Luan best she could, just like she would always do for her. She caressed Luan's hair consolingly.

"Look, sis, we can't change the way we feel. Trust me, I've tried. And I know the usual 'accept your feelings' crap isn't gonna cut it because our feelings are fucking whack. But we're close, dude, no matter how far. We're forever trusting who we are, and nothing else matters."

Luan's sadness softens with the slightest of smiles.

"Isn't that from Metallica?"

"Well, yeah..."

Luan sighed, followed by a short chuckle. Luna felt relieved to hear even the faintest facsimile of Luan's laugh. She needed it now more than ever.

"Luna, do you..." Luan turned towards Luna, but stopped speaking, hesitating.

"Do I what?"

Luan turned to face Luna with big imploring eyes — still teary. "Do you love me — I mean, care about me — as your sister?"

"Of course," Luna blurted out, feigning a lack of hesitation. It was true: Of course she cared for her sister. However, Luna did wonder. Was Luan trying to ask if she loves her as more than a sister? A friend? A lover? In the back of her head, this question remained. It burned itself into her curious mind. But she saved it to be figured out later. She knew she couldn't hesitate on a question about love, so she made sure she didn't.

Luan cusped her sister's hand between hers. "Then, will you do something for me?"

"Anything. Anything, you just name it."

"Will you come out of our room today?"

Luna drew a face that betrayed that she regretted saying 'anything'.

"Please, Luna. You've been in here with the curtains closed all week. But it's summer. The sun is out. You've only come out of the house for the beach, and only because I begged you to. And you spent the whole day alone on your inflatable guitar. Your brother and sisters want to see you, you know. Have fun with you. Talk to you. Please. Please, just, come down and have dinner with us this evening."

"Luan..." Luna averted her gaze.

"It would mean everything to me."

She felt awful, but she knew Luan was right. But she did not feel strong enough to face anyone right now, much less Lincoln. What would she say to him? Pretend that they weren't messed up incestuous lovers for an hour? Could they? What about Leni, for that matter. Could she keep a straight face in front of her? In her head, she produces the echoes of Leni's name, just as she heard them screamed by Lincoln as she listened at his door that fateful night. The echoes come involuntarily. Why did she have to hear it? She had wanted to be in his room that night, having her name screemad out by her bro. The thought of it all made her feel... something. Angry? Sad? Ugh, she's starting to choke up just thinking about it. The confrontation would be too much. They will know. They will find out if she joins them.

"I can't."

"Please."

"I can't!" Luna had wanted to shout it angrily, but fumbled through her tears and defeatedness. She roared it like a lion's cub, with unpractised ferocity. It made her more angry. More angry and sad and defeated. She felt Luan place a soothing hand on her shoulder, but it didn't soothe. The echoes replayed in her head, like everything always did. Again, again, again. She felt crushed by her own emotions as if they were a heavy rock that she couldn't carry. She needed to drone out her thoughts — quick.

Luan had started to say something, but Luna had silenced her with desperate lips. For a few seconds, Luna had been allowed her intoxicating respite. But before long, Luan pushed her away.

"Luna!"

The firm push had immediately snapped her back to reality. There goes the gravity of the situation. Anger, sadness, jealousy, having fucked up more times than she can count. It rushed to her. Her arms went limp and her knees weak. All Luna could do was cry.

And so she cried. She cried and cried and cried, in her room, in her bed, again. Again and again and again. But these cries were different. This time, she wasn't crying alone. Luan was there. Just — there. Right where she needed her. Holding her, rubbing her back in some sort of consolation. Again, and again. Even after she rejected her one request. Even when she couldn't show her how much she meant to her. She was still there. Each second that Luan held her told her I'm here. I'm here even when you're sad, or angry, or jealous. Even when you fuck up. And every second, her crying eased an infinitesimal amount. But it did ease. And once her sobbing was eased, it became easier to handle. It no longer felt impossible to overcome. She didn't realise it then, but would realise it later: Luan had a very special power. She made everything bearable just by being there.

"I can't, Luan. I heard it." Luna spoke muffled. Somehow, Luna's head had ended up quietly sobbing cushioned on Luan's breast. It had comforted her enough to speak. Enough to open up to her.

"Heard what?"

"The sounds. The... Leni and Lincoln. I heard them."

"Did... Were they—" Luan stammered.

They were both avoiding the real point now. Luna resolved to be the responsible older sister for a fucking change, and just say it.

"I heard them fucking, Luan."

Luna was quiet a moment. From where Luna was cradled with her eyes closed, she couldn't gauge her reaction. But after a while, she felt herself being hugged tighter.

"And now you can't get it out of your head, huh?"

"It's... I wish I could turn it off."

"I wish I could too. I wish I could. I also heard, Luna. I heard."

"You.. you heard Leni and Lincoln?"

"No." Luan's voice quivered. "You. You and Lincoln. I saw it, too. But the sounds were the worst. They're the kind of memory you cannot repress, they sneak up on you endlessly. Sights fade, words echo."

Echo.

Silence. Remembering. Pain. From the street, the rattling sounds of someone riding an old bike past the Loud House could be heard. Neither sister heard it, however. Their heads were not silent, but locked in a cacophony of sounds that were never meant for them to hear. Echo.

"I'll do it, Luan."

Luan slowly awoke from the silence, and looked ever so slightly up. Away from nothing, and towards her sister.

"Do what, Luna?"

She trembled.

"I'll - I'll have dinner with you."