Disclaimer: I don't own The Loud House, the brand, as well as all of its characters and settings belong to Chris Savino and Nickelodeon, all rights reserved.
Chapter 44: Release.
- … This is the only reply he gave me - Lynn Sr. was now laying on his bed, holding the phone in front of his wife's face, showing her the last and only message sent by his son, after many hours of waiting for any notice of him, he was worried sick and only wanted to know if Lincoln was ok.
- Don't worry honey, for now I agree we need to just give him some space, tomorrow we'll talk to the McBrides - Rita comforted her dear husband, who was visibly looking down for his apparent failure at watching over his family - Right now, I think we need to talk about Lola - She jumped to the main point of their talk.
- Right, so what's wrong with her? - The father of 11 was now curious in regards to any info his wife could have.
To his surprise, the usually warm and confident smile that his beautiful wife would usually wear was no more, she began looking at the floor, then back at him, apparently trying to find the right words, something was clearly wrong, and that made him dread for the following words that would come out of her.
- First you have to promise me something - Rita quietly said.
- uhhh, anything? - Lynn Sr. replied, not sure of why she would start the conversation like that.
- Lola made me promise to not talk about this with anyone else, she told me that you could know, but only if you promised to not put the blame on Lincoln, can you do that? - Rita then looked at her husband straight in the eyes, expecting an honest answer.
- Well I… - The patriarch wasn't certain, but then he remembered that judging his son earlier was probably a reason for why he was gone, he then made a decision for the sake of both his only son and his future beauty queen.
- Yes, I will - He answered with no regrets.
- Thank you hun! - Rita's smile returned - Now, you know that our daughter can be very, erm, "passionate", when it comes to fairytales right? -
- Yeah? - Lynn Sr. was listening, but not quite seeing the point of Rita's words.
- Well, she seems to be writing a story with Lincoln, I don't know exactly what as she wouldn't show it to me - Rita admitted while halting her smile - But it seems that it's your typical fantasy tale of a princess and a knight - She then looked away from her husband for a moment.
- Problem is… - She hesitated to continue.
- … Lincoln is the knight and she's the princess - Lynn Sr. eloquently finished his wife's thoughts, putting an end to the awkwardness.
- Yeah - She confirmed
- But it's just a game then? - The father inquired further, he still saw no real reason for alarm.
- It should be - The mother continued - but she was pretty honest with me - she then looked at her husband, the façade of her calm demeanor was now over for good.
- Lynn, our daughter is in love with Lincoln -
- Ok buddy, I know there's some story behind that drawing, who made it? - Clyde could take it no more, his friend was already acting suspicious enough as he was, appearing out of nowhere, waiting for god knows how long on the cold entrance, refusing food, being absent-minded all thorough a set of episodes that they were waiting to see for their entire lives.
He needed answers.
- … Lily - Lincoln spoke while looking to the side, not in the mindset for any kind of confrontation.
Clyde kept going.
- How did Lily know? -
- I don't know -
- What about it bothers you? -
- I don't know -
- Is it about those dreams again? -
- I… don't know -
- Lincoln, please, I'm just trying to help you, what's going on? You don't look ok buddy - The anxious nerd put his hand on Lincoln's shoulder, he was trying his hardest to create a welcoming environment for his almost brother to express himself.
- Clyde - Lincoln answered quietly, not even bothering to look at his pal.
- Yes? - Clyde responded alarmingly.
- … Do you think my sisters would be better off without me? - Lincoln asked in a tone that gave shivers to his best friend.
Not a good sign at all.
- W-what!? Lincoln, of course not! Your sisters love you, you're an amazing brother to all of them, w-why would you think that? - Clyde was now terrified, no way could Lincoln be suffering from a self-worth issue, he knew just what a gigantic hole that was to fall in, and how hard it was to escape.
- Sorry, I guess you're right bud - Lincoln answered with low energy in his voice - it's just… - He continued looking down.
Some tears fell in the drawing that he was looking at.
He was at the verge of losing his composure.
- Buddy, let it go, you know you're holding it - Clyde's expression turned soft once again, he wanted nothing more than to alleviate the overall mood, his best friend on the whole world needed release.
And then the waterfalls broke.
Lincoln hugged his friend dearly, as he allowed himself the moment of weakness, he was absolutely soaking his friend's shirt, but he just couldn't care anymore.
The pair remained unmoving as the minutes passed, nothing could be heard other than the heavy breathing and gasps of the albino as the tears just kept rolling, his nerdy friend remaining still the whole time.
After some more minutes, Lincoln finally had some energy to break the hug, looking at his friend with red, swollen eyes.
- S-sorry about that bud, I guess you were right, I really needed it - The white haired teenager recovered the energy to talk as well.
- Anytime pal, remember to never hold things for too long - The nerdy friend proceeded to repeat words of wisdom from Dr. López.
- Yeah hehe, I guess I shouldn't - Lincoln began scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment over his outburst, but he was happy to have such a good friend to rely on.
- Now, I'm not trying to pressure you or anything, but I still think it could be good to let someone know about your insecurities, holding things for too long can have an impact on your mental health dude - Having solved the emotional crisis, Clyde was still in his search for the truth behind said reaction.
- Maybe you're right bud, but I think I'm keeping this one to myself, sorry - Lincoln removed eye contact at his admission of resistance.
- mmm, ok, I'll respect that buddy, but please, I don't want to hear it from someone else or a weird rumor, or from Stella again, if you ever tell someone about it, let me be the first one - Clyde warned Lincoln with a serious demeanor.
- Gotcha, Clincoln McLoud promise? - Lincoln raised his pinky for the oath.
- Clincoln McLoud promise! - Clyde connected his pinky with Lincoln's, sealing the deal.
- Honey please, don't hit yourself so badly, you couldn't have known, nobody could! - Rita was now holding her husband, not caring about the stains in her pajama as the aging man kept pouring his feelings unto her.
- I'm s-sorry sweetheart *sniff*, I just feel so bad, I feel responsible! - The father just kept pouring tears after tears.
- Come on hun, I know it's hard, but nobody could have predicted this, we are a big family, but that doesn't mean this is common at all! - Rita was trying her hardest to apply logic, her husband needed some ground to contain his emotions.
- … *sniff* that's not entirely true - Lynn Sr. eventually found the strength to control his crying, taking a moment to look at his loving wife.
- What do you mean? - The mother of 11 was now giving a puzzled expression.
- L.J. - The man said plainly.
A door's creak is heard, someone was trying her hardest to enter her room without making a noise.
Too bad, Lynn Jr. does not like intruders in her room.
- I'm gonna give you 5 seconds to leave, or you get a suplex - Lynn said aggressively, before even identifying the subject.
Though she had a pretty good idea who it was.
- Wait Lynn, I was not trying to come uninvited - The somber, monotone voice of her former roommate is heard, to Lynn's dismay.
- Ughh, what do you want now Luz? - The sporty sister was now sitting on her bed while watching with great annoyance at the quite goth.
- I need to talk to you about something important - Used to the rashness of her sister, Lucy decided to cut to the chase.
- No, I did not tell Lana shit - As if reading her mind, Lynn confirmed her innocence to last night's debacle - Honestly, I don't care anymore, if he wants to fuck the little brat he can go right ahead - she added with zero filters.
- Lynn, I'm sure you kno-
- That I was right? Yeah, no wonder, you freakos just kept playing along her little circus of madness, as always, you loved getting played by the brat's finger, even though it was obvious to anyone with half a brain - The noisy sister continued her rant.
- That's n-
- Now what? Am I still the bad one Luz? Ehh? Hey, it's ok, you all got what you wanted, enjoy your freak show! -
- … -
- Fangs bit your tongue sis? no wait , he died! Hahahahaha! - Lynn began laughing sadistically, hoping to elicit a reaction of her reserved sister.
- … -
- Awww, Did I hurt your feelings? Don't worry, I'm sure the sisterfucker will take you on as soon as he's here, just make sure to share with the brat hahahaha! - She continued with her hysterical laughter.
- … -
- This family is a joke, thankfully I'm almost out of this dump - Returning to her frown, Lynn Jr. suddenly turned around and covered herself with her mattress, with clear intentions of ending the conversation right there and then.
Lucy took the not-so-indirect and approached the exit door, without even looking back, she said one last thing.
- There were many ways to go about this, Lynn, Lola did not make a wise decision, and payed the price accordingly, she lost a sibling, but you… -
- You made the worst decision, and lost an entire family for that -