Chapter Thirteen

A/N: A short chapter, but hopefully a good one.

"Lori? Can I ask you… Some personal questions?" Lucy asked. She knew that Lori could be trusted for her discretion. She liked to gossip, but the important things, she was known to keep secret.

"Oh, literally! Come on in! Is this about… You and Lincoln?" Lori asked, whispering the last part, turning on the noise cancelers. Lucy nodded anxiously. Lori nodded, patting the bed next to her.

"Is it weird that I don't really want to… How often do you and Bobby make love?" Lucy asked. She worried that Lincoln would lose interest in her if she wasn't willing to have sex with him.

It certainly wasn't uncommon for him to have sex with Jordan.

"Oh… Well… Not as often as we used to. Actually, when our relationship first started, we literally didn't have sex for almost four months afterwards. Bobby didn't feel right jumping into sex and I didn't either. For him, it was a matter of honor. He didn't want to be so intimate with someone he didn't know if he was serious with yet and he didn't want me to feel pressured to do anything I wasn't ready. So we didn't even talk about it for almost two months.

"But we knew we'd get there when we were ready." Lori said.

"If you're literally not ready to have sex with Lincoln yet, then don't do it. It won't make your relationship better to do it, especially if you're not ready."
"I already did have sex with him. It was… Amazing… But also a little scary. I need you to make a blood oath not to share this with anyone else." Lucy said, cutting her palm. Lori cringed.

"I'm literally not cutting my hand and mixing my blood with yours. But I promise I won't tell anyone." Lori said.

"It was amazing. The intimacy, the passion. He was so gentle and kind. But being so close… I wondered if I would even be a separate person from him afterwards. I wonder if I wronged him by asking him to have this relationship with me." Lucy said. Lori smiled gently, hugging Lucy.

"Listen, Luce… Your relationship is… Complicated with Lincoln. I literally won't pretend that your relationship will be easy. I won't pretend that you won't have to keep it secret. The fact that Jordan has been okay with it is… Surprising in itself. Not because I think that she wouldn't be secure with a poly relationship, but because you're Lincoln's sister. But listen, Lucy. Are you listening?" Lori asked. Lucy nodded breathlessly.

"You're in charge of your own body. If you aren't ready to have sex again. If you had sex with him and regret it now, you need to be honest with him. You need to be honest with him because strong relationships are literally built on honesty between partners. He may feel guilty about it. Did you feel like you didn't have a choice in having sex with him?" Lori asked. Lucy noticed that she didn't ask if Lincoln had coerced her. Only whether she felt she didn't have a choice. She was asking how Lucy felt, not what Lincoln thought or did.

"No! I-I… It was Lincoln who was unsure of whether having sex was okay. I convinced him that I wanted it." Lucy said urgently. Lori smiled at Lucy. She was sure that Lucy believed that.

"But now you're questioning whether it was a good idea." Lori said.
"No. It was amazing. He was kind and gentle and he went slow with me. And I'm glad that I could give that to him. But I'm not sure I was ready. I wanted to do it at the time. But maybe I should have waited." Lucy said. Lori hugged Lucy.

"It's okay. You need to tell Lincoln how you feel. But you can also tell him that he didn't do anything wrong. It sounds like you wanted to do what you did, but you're thinking afterwards that you may have rushed into it." Lori said.

"He didn't do anything wrong." Lucy said, still thinking she needed to convince Lori.

"I know he didn't. Would you like me to come with you when you talk to him about this?" Lori asked. Lucy shook her head.

"How are you so cool with me being with my own brother?" Lucy asked. This had been a point of anxiety for her. She knew that Lori knew about their relationship. But she was worried that Lori was secretly judging her. Lori shrugged.

"I literally have known that you and Lincoln were close for a long time, and I could tell that you were starting to develop feelings for him. I didn't know how strong they were until just recently. But I figure that as long as you and he are careful and don't do anything crazy like having unprotected sex, there's literally not any problem with it." Lori said.

"Though you also shouldn't advertise it. I strongly recommend that you choose very careful who you let know about your relationship with Lincoln.

"Now, I recommend that you go talk to Lincoln about this. I have stuff I need to do." Lori said. Lucy hugged Lori tightly, leaving her room.

-0-

She went to Lincoln's room, knocking softly on the door.

Lincoln wouldn't have been able to hear her knock before. But his bionic ear implants were working extremely well. He was studying at the moment for his SATs. He was doing well and Lisa said that he was learning fast. He was still behind in Math and Science. But he was catching up fast.

"Yes?" Lincoln asked.
"It's Lucy." Lucy said shyly.

"Come on in." Lincoln said, putting his work aside and sitting on the bed, patting the spot next to him. She hurried and sat down next to him.

"What's up, Luce? You seem upset about something." He said.

"I… I'm worried that maybe we had sex too soon. It's not your fault. I seduced you! But I worry that maybe we… Jumped the coffin in that regard." Lucy said nervously, afraid he would be angry.

Instead, he seemed nervous.
"I'm sorry… Lucy, of course you didn't seduce me. I should have taken it slower with you. You're only thirteen. I had no right to have sex with you when you were so young." Lincoln said, trying to stay calm. Lucy could tell that he was upset though. She hugged him tightly.

"It's okay, Lincoln. I could never be angry at you." Lucy said.

"But you're right. I'm not really ready for sex yet." Lucy said. Lincoln hugged Lucy close to him, cuddling with her.

"Maybe we could just stay here like this for a while. This is nice." Lincoln said. Lucy nodded, kissing him just as Lynn burst in. Unfortunately, it wasn't a light kiss on the cheek. Lincoln leaned in, kissing Lucy lovingly.

"Whoa! Stinkin! Holy Shit!" Lynn said urgently, her eyes wide as she soaked in what was happening between Lincoln and Lucy.