Author's Notes:

king Ks: Thanks for the follow and your kind comment, and don't worry, I'm not planning on abandoning this story anytime soon!

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 45: Coach.

Lincoln's P.O.V:

*Beep* *Beep*

Yep, it's the alarm again, marking the beginning of a brand new day, now it's the time where I would pretend to be exhausted, I would probably even procrastinate till 6:10AM, then till 6:20AM, yeah, that would sound good.

But then I remembered that I got a strict schedule to follow.

Welcome to the Loud house, the quietest house in the entirety of Royal Woods, where even the sound of a spoon falling off the table is heard quite easily from my room, where, Ironically, I can hear Mr. Grouse's snoring, and should probably file a complaint to him for being too noisy on the nights.

Today, we have a completely normal Wednesday morning, I can hear the chirping of birds outside, I can hear the sound of dishes and metallic spoons colliding.

And nothing, fucking, else.

The rules are simple, I wait 5 minutes in my bed, then get out, enter the bathroom, fix myself quickly, go downstairs, eat the breakfast that was left for me and immediately depart to Highschool.

All of that has to be done before exactly 6:30AM, then she is allowed to come out.

I don't even know what exactly happened, it all seemed like a blur, just 4 days ago, I was seeing her everywhere, interacting with her, playing with her, sleeping with her, taking her advice, helping her with coaching, just overall being happy with her presence.

Now, I can confidently say that I have seen her a grand total of zero times, and would rather have it that way.

Not like I could even if I wanted, after "careful examination of events" mom and dad decided to give one big, final order:

Till the beginning of Christmas Eve (still 7 months away), and with the exception of family gatherings where everyone is present and under supervision; I am explicitly forbidden to approach Lola at all times, and vice versa.

The lack of any real questioning from my other sisters in regards to this decision was also enough to provide me with all the context required, the why was the obvious part.

As for the how, well… that's where they came up with this schedule system, The partition applies only to Lola and me, the others are free to do their activities whenever they want, but of course.

This system meant the death of "family breakfast", now my dad would make breakfast for everyone, leave the dishes on the table, cover them up, then leave early for work at the restaurant, mom would stay on the dining room a little longer just to make sure I was out by 6:30, then she would go to inform my sister for her breakfast.

As for going to school, it seems that it was decided for Lola to take the homeschooling method for the remainder of the month as we approach summer break, with potential extensions, after that, mom herself would take her, yeah, not even the bus was considered "safe".

Sincerely, I am completely ok with all of that, I do trust my family, I believe this is for the better, Lola needs this.

… I need this.

Anyways, I'm out of my room, surprise! No line for the bathroom!

So that's what they call a pyrrhic victory…

Yeah, the others… well, you guys know Lucy and Lisa, they aren't the most "talkative" of the bunch, we'll see each other, say a quick greeting, then continue with our business.

Lynn is… Lynn, neo-Lynn, she's fine I guess, completely obsessed with her phone, but that seems to come with that age for some reason.

Lana isn't home, what a surprise.

Lily… she is apparently still angry at me, I did apologize the very next day I swear! But it seems that she is also not in the mood to talk right now, I struggle to avoid blaming myself for that, but I just can't shake the feeling that it's all thanks to me.

So now, the last lively flame of this house had been silenced, the "Loud" last name is legitimately a gigantic irony, and it's all my fault.

- Thanks for the food mom! - I reply quickly to my mom after speedrunning my morning meal.

- You're welcome sweetie, but credit goes to your dad! - My mom manages to say as I rush in quickly to the entrance.

Not even looking back, I open the door quickly to get a breath of fresh air, finally out of that oppressing environment, I close my eyes as I take a step towards freedom.

*bump*

And that's why you need to see where you're going.

I fall with my butt straight in the pavement, the pain is bearable but my surprise factor keeps me alert, I instantly open my eyes to see what kind of object had been placed in the front door of my house.

…wait, that's not an object.

- Oh I'm extremely sorry! I was distracted, please forgive me! - Now in front of me, I had a complete stranger raising his arm to help me get up.

I accept the gesture.

- Eh, don't worry, I was distracted too - I reply sheepishly - Umm, how can I help you? - I remain courteous to this man who was standing in front of my house for apparently no reason, but of course, I am unable to hide my suspicion.

- Sorry again, is this the house of ehh… miss Lola Loud? - The man replies while reading a small paper on his hand.

Now, what could this stranger want with my sister? I know that her profession can get quite intense when it comes to media attention, if he was a paparazzi he would probably try to approach her through a window or something (creeps), maybe he's a manager? He seems serious enough.

Although now that I look at him clearly, he seems to be quite young, and also, really, ughh, "conventionally attractive"… Blue-eyes, Blonde, shiny hair arranged in a classic quiff hairstyle with wide sideburns, zero facial imperfections, small, pointy nose, dressed in an very expensive-looking black tuxedo, and with "some" degree of musculature pressing said tuxedo.

It seems that prince charming is here, what a show-off.

- Uhh, yes, she lives here, what do you need from her? - I ask without moving an inch from the door, I don't really trust this guy.

- Ohhh! Fernando, thank you so much for coming here! I really feel honored~ - My stance doesn't last for long, as I immediately feel the brute force of my mom pushing me aside, greeting this guy like if a celebrity was in front of us.

- Oh! Where are my manners? You must be miss Rita Loud, very pleased to meet you! - This dude, "Fernando" then proceeds to approach my mom and kiss her on both cheeks.

The nerve of him!

- Ohh hohoho, I didn't know of that greeting!? - My mom is now visibly blushing.

If my dad was here, he would be dead!

- Excusez-moi! It's a French greeting, although I would consider it improper etiquette for our current climate - He then bows to show his apology, my mom's blush just continues to increase.

What is wrong with this dude?

- And I'm very pleased to meet you too, may I please know your name? - Now he refers to me, he continues with the polite act, I am now extremely irritated.

- Lincoln - I answer plainly.

- Ohh! You're Lincoln Loud? Wow, what a fantastic coincidence! Miss Lola wouldn't stop talking about you, you have a bright future in the pageant business -

- You know her? - I ask confused beyond comprehension.

- Know her? Lola is the number one candidate for the Little Miss Michigan pageant, everyone in my circle is aware of her trajectory and have performed numerous interviews, she recently signed a contract with Gil DeLily for promotion of all future child cosmetics during her performances, I am just a direct representative of the brand. -

- So you're here for a commercial? - I attempt to connect the dots.

- Not exactly, as part of our deal, the company offered her access to our top consultants and trend-analysts, as a result -

- He'll be working full-time as her pageant coach, isn't that amazing sweetie? - My mom proudly announced while finishing his sentence, but, uhh…

…What?

- Uhh, can someone explain why Lincoln is acting like that? - I hear a voice calling for my name, distant, like almost in the form of a whisper, I am just now realizing that I probably didn't even sit In my usual spot near my friends, I probably just took the first seat I could find, then quickly closed my eyes.

It was probably Rusty's, or Zach's, who cares?

I don't, I just want to be left alone right now.

The first period is on, it seems that after a while, you just become desensitized of who you get to sit next to, I thought it would be an improvement to Middle School, but now it really is just a boring classroom full of unknown people, even Chandler was more amusing than this.

Lunch time, I guess now is where we see the advantages of High School, abundant, high quality food, and no resentful cafeteria employees serving you spoiled rations on purpose.

Oh yeah, my friends are also there, they seem to be waving at me to sit with them.

So I go and pick another table, I don't want to talk to anybody today.

Finally, the bell rings, I go back to the bus, sit somewhere away from them again and close my eyes.

*bzzzt*

The phone rings, it's a message, it's probably Stella or Clyde, I ignore it.

I'll talk when I feel like it, maybe tomorrow.

Finally, I'm home, I scan my surroundings to check for any leaving, breathing being.

There's only Charles, good, I proceed to go upstairs, then head straight to my room.

Or i would, but I hear the voice of that man, in my sister's room, it's 5:00PM, what is he still doing here? I thought full-time jobs were only 8 hours long?

I can't take it, I place my ear on that door, even If I have to hear her voice, I need to make sure that she's ok.

- Ok sweetie, that was an incredible performance, you look positively gorgeous in that dress, and the ribbon dance? C'était magnifique! I deeply apologize for extending our reunion, but I really needed to see you shine that dress. -

- That's no issue at all Fernie, anything for you~ -

- I know, my princess~ -

Ok, this motherfucker did not just call her, "my princess" did he?, She did not just give him a cute abbreviation like if they had know each other their entire lives, did she?

I then notice that a few footsteps are being heard going upstairs, it's probably Lynn or something, but it does make me realize that I am probably breaking the rules by standing close to this door.

For now, I retire, but my objective is clear, this dude needs to go, I will not allow my sister to expose herself to a potential pedo, I'm doing this for her own good, now I just need to gather the evidence.

I need to protect her.

8:00PM, still re-watching the lost episodes of ARGGH!, thankfully Clyde noticed that I wasn't really paying attention, now I can watch them at my own pace in my giant flat-screen.

But… yeah, "my pace" at the moment just means "watching 5 minutes of footage, getting lost in thoughts, realizing I missed the entire episode, then replaying", suffice to say, i'm not making a lot of progress.

The fucker left about 5 minutes after I entered my room, I could hear his disgusting effeminate voice saying good bye to her in the most pretentious tone of a bad actor imaginable, then I could hear her replying with "Can't wait for tomorrow dear~", I mean what the fuck?

Is she blind or something? Can't she see what this guy is trying to do? Why is she being so sweet to a stranger?

I mean, she never said that to me before, I know she looked forward to our encounters, but now she is using words like "dear"? This dude has not even been here for a day, he didn't watch her grow up, he wasn't there when she was at her worst, he knows nothing about her, he doesn't have the right to refer to her by name, no, he doesn't have any rights to even approach her!

And I'm the one who's forbidden to approach her? Was I really that bad?

… Am i really that replaceable? I WAS her coach! She won all of those pageants before thanks to ME! Thanks to MY support!

No, I AM her coach, we cannot see each other, and sure, Lisa may have IP blocked our phones from each other, but we can still interact indirectly, surely there must be a way-

*slip*

A small noise is heard right under the door, interrupting my cascade of thoughts, I take my eyes away from the screen to check for any changes in the scenery.

There is one.

I look at the floor, right below the door, I…

… No, no, no, what is this thing doing here?

I though it was gone for good, I thought it was in the trash where it belongs, no, NO! WHAT IS IT DOING HERE?

No more please, just don't look at it! No, I don't want to think about it!

The stupid notebook, with my sister's pink pen. Only she could have it.

I-is she giving it back to me? Why now? Why ever?

And why does it smell so sweet? I really don't want to pick it up, but the smell draws me.

I don't know what's coming over me, I pick it up, I follow the smell, it's inside the notebook, I open it, I check the countless lines of text, the drawings, everything, the more I turn the pages, the more intense the smell becomes.

I finally reach the source, it goes to the last page, I identify the object, a little piece of paper imbued in perfume, her perfume, like a ripped page from the notebook, with a kiss pattern and a short message:

"For Lincoln, please read the last chapter"

That's when I realize, the story was updated.