I don't own The Loud House

Alright guys here's what you've been waiting for, another chapter of this story. I just posted chapter 15 of Too Many Dates so please go check that one out after you're done with this.

I mentioned in Too Many Dates that the next chapter of Digi-Loud Adventure is going to be delayed for a little bit. I've commissioned a drawing for the next chapter and I want to use it as the new cover for the story. So once I have that, I'll be posting the next chapter so please have a little patience. In the meantime, I will be regularly updating this story as well as 'Too Many Dates' and 'What She Didn't Know'.

Terms of A Dress

Chapter 3

It was the morning of the second day of her week-long stay at the Loud House. Last night, Nikki met Rita and Lynn, Lincoln's parents, and she felt like she made a total fool of herself! She had been so nervous about making a first good impression on them that she misspoke and said embarrassed herself. Luckily, Mr. Loud seemed like a chill guy because he played it off like a joke. And Mrs. Loud was so kind, treating her like she was already part of the family.

Then there was dinner which was amaze-balls. Mr. Loud could cook! Now her parents weren't bad cooks or anything but Nikki tended to eat more frozen dinners than was probably healthy since sometimes her parents were too tired to cook. Not that she had minded before since she the fanciest thing that she had ever had was Burpin Burger. But now that she had tasted heaven and the fact that Mr. Loud said that Lincoln was well on his way to surpassing his own cooking, Nikki was very tempted to put a ring on Lincoln then and there.

After dinner, they gathered in the living room and they got to know her a little better. She told them about life in the city and how she grew up and they in turn told her stories about Royal Woods and how they grew up. There were parts of the stories that Nikki had trouble believing like the part where Luan, the funniest sister she had met, went prank crazy once a year. Or that Lincoln had once gone out with four girls at once at a dance. But still she had lots of fun last night and they promised to hang out with her some more today.

But as she lay on Lincoln's bed, her face half buried in his pillow which sadly did not have his scent. Her thoughts centered around the last interaction that Nikki had with Mrs. Loud before she went to bed.

::Flashback::

Nikki had been pulled aside by Rita as everyone went to get ready for bed. A part of her was afraid that Mrs. Loud was going to start asking her questions about the fight that she had with her parents, something which she couldn't really give answers since Ronnie Anne hadn't called her back yet. But to her surprise, she didn't ask her about that. Nope, she wanted to talk to her about something much more horrifying.

"Now Nikki dear, I hope that you've enjoyed your stay here with us so far." Rita said once they were alone in Rita's room.

"You ain't gotta worry about that, Mrs. Loud, you guys have been awesome." Nikki said truthfully. She really did enjoy dinner and the story telling in the living room.

"Good. Good. Now, there's a reason I brought you here to talk in private, dear, and I hope that I'm not pushing too far but it has to do with you and Lincoln." Rita said.

Nikki froze. Did Lincoln's mom know?

Seeing Nikki freeze up like a deer in the headlights, Rita chuckled. "You have nothing to worry about, Nikki, I'm not gonna scold you or tell you to stay away from my son."

"Y-You're not?" Nikki asked, almost not believing the older woman.

"No, I'm not. All that I ask is that you be careful with my son." Rita said. She wore a gentle smile on her face but her eyes held sadness that only a mother could have for her son. "He's a brave boy and I know that he hides it well but despite being surrounded by his sisters, Lincoln is a very lonely boy."

"What do you mean?" Nikki asked.

"As you can imagine, being the middle child of 11 kids isn't easy and him being the only boy among ten sisters, Lincoln is often the odd man out in a very literal sense. He does his best to learn about and be involved in each of his sister's hobbies but sadly they don't do the same for him." Rita explained.

"That's fuck up, man." Nikki said without thinking. Her eyes widened as she realized what she said and she tried to apologize but Rita just shook her head.

"There's no need to apologize, my dear, you're right. I wish my daughters were more like Lincoln but I'm afraid that there's not much I can do in that regard. That's not to say that they don't pull through for him when he needs them, they do. It's just not nearly as often as they should for all that he does for them every single day." Rita sighed. "Even I'm guilty of taking him for granted sometimes. Which is why I'm asking you to be careful. If you plan to pursue my son, I ask that you make sure that what you feel is real. Because he's had his heart broken before and I don't like seeing my son hurt."

Nikki was struck silent as she listened to Rita's words. She had a hard time believing that Lincoln was lonely. He seemed to exude happiness and good will wherever he went. And she even told Rita as much, which made her smile sadly.

"Lincoln is a very strong boy and as much as I would like to take credit for that, I'm afraid it's the hardships that he's faced that have made him strong. The loneliest people are often the kindest and the saddest people smile the brightest."

"Look Mrs. L, I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. Are you saying that I shouldn't date your son because you're scared I might hurt him?" Nikki asked. A part of her was starting to get annoyed with the conversation. It almost sounded like Lincoln's family neglected him but that couldn't possibly be right. Could it?

"No, dear, I'm just asking that you be careful with him. I'm scared that the next scar to his heart might be the one that breaks him." Rita said but she was surprised when she saw Nikki stare up at her almost defiantly.

"That's bullshit. Lincoln is strong, a lot stronger than you give him credit for." Nikki said, unconsciously clenching her fists. "Just because I like him that doesn't mean that he's gonna get hurt. Because I would never hurt him, I lo-"

Nikki barely managed to stop herself by covering her mouth with her hands but it was already too late. Not only had she cussed at Lincoln's mother, she also told Rita to her face that she didn't think that Rita even believed in her son. And to make matters worse, she practically confessed her feelings right in front of his mother of all people! God, could it get any worse?

But instead of angry, Rita looked pleased. Her eyes had gotten a little teary but she looked happy nonetheless. "Thank you..."

Nikki then found herself getting hugged by the older woman and she was left wondering what the hell was going on.

::End of flashback::

Nikki still wasn't sure what had happened last night but she figured that she'd at least gotten Rita's blessing to date her son. But now there was something that was on her mind ever since her conversation with Mrs. Loud. Just what the hell had they done to Lincoln? It almost sounded like they were the ones who hurt him by the way that Rita was talking. But that couldn't be right, could it?

She kept asking herself that same question but something just didn't seem to add up. In the end, the only way that she would be able to figure the mystery out is by talking to Lincoln himself. Which shouldn't be that hard considering that he was pretty open about his life. Hell, he showed her that embarrassing video about himself. She never would've done that, hell no.

But that's also what she liked about him, he really did seem too good to be true and a part of her wanted to forget what his mom had said. There was no way that anyone could do anything messed up to him unless he allowed it.

There was a knock on the door and one of his sisters called out to. "Hey Nikki, you up yet? We're gonna have breakfast in about ten minutes." Lynn Jr. said through the door.

"I'm coming." She shouted back, loud enough for Lynn to hear her.

"Oh I bet you are." Luan's voice called out followed by a laugh and then a smack. "Ow!"

"Will you cut it out, she's Linc's friend, dude." Luna's voice came through.

"You were doing the same thing yesterday!" Luan protested.

"That was yesterday. It's old now so cut it out." Luna said, her voice sounding farther away.

Nikki just shook her head. She could see why they called this the Loud house since even in the morning there was noise. Besides, Nikki would be a filthy liar if she said that she didn't wank off last night. Because she had, several times. But it wasn't because she was in Lincoln's room, no, it was just to help her sleep. Yeah, that was it. Totally.

After looking through her bag and cursing Ronnie and Sid to kingdom come, Nikki found that she had a dilemma. She honestly had no idea what would look good on her. Like she said before, she didn't dress in girly clothes and only wore jeans and hoodies. And sadly, her soon to be dead friends had packed none of that.

"I guess I'll just go naked then." Nikki said to herself with a sigh.

"You'd give my brother a heart attack if you did that." A voice said from behind her.

Nikki screamed as she jumped ten feet into the air, at least in her mind she did. She spun around and was about to clock whoever had snuck in on her in the face when she noticed that it was just one of Lincoln's sisters.

"What the fuck, Lucy? You almost made me shit myself!" Nikki said as she tried to calm her racing heart. And as she did, Nikki noticed that Lucy almost seemed pleased about scaring her.

"I apologize." Lucy said.

It was then that Nikki noticed that Lucy was inside of the room but the door was still locked. "How did you get in here, spooky?" Nikki asked.

"Through arcane means." Lucy said cryptically.
"Bullshit." Nikki said but she didn't push it. She learned enough about Lucy last night to know that somethings were best left unsaid. "But now that I have you here, I could use a little help." Nikki had turned her back on the gothic Loud and began to rummage through her bag. "What do you think would look good on me? I suck at being a girly girl so I would appreciate it if you could help me pick out some clothes, Luce." When Lucy didn't respond, Nikki glanced over her shoulder. "Lucy?"

Standing by the edge of the bed, Lucy was staring (at least she assumed that Lucy was staring) at the middle of the bed. And once Nikki followed her line of sight and saw where she was looking at, her blood turned to ice. Lucy must've felt her gaze on her because the spooky 8 year old turned to look at her.

The worst part was that Lucy said nothing, she simply stared as Nikki started to sweat bullets. This went on for almost a solid minute before Lucy turned back towards the bed and began to remove the bedsheets.

Nikki tried to speak but she honestly didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say that could explain what had happened in that bed last night? Nothing she said would change the fact that she rubbed one out several times last night so she stayed quiet until Lucy folded the sheets and held them in her arms.

"L-Lucy, dude, y-you don't have to-" She began but stopped when Lucy raised her hand.

"Worry not. This is a common occurrence in this house. I will take this to the hamper and bring you a fresh set." Lucy said. She opened the door and glanced over her shoulder. "I will also send someone to assist you with your attire."

Nikki was left speechless as she watched Lucy leave the room. She felt really guilty about what she did the night before since it meant that Lucy had to clean up after her. But before she could give it anymore thought, Lola, the princess looking twin, walked in.

The pageant princess took one look at her and practically squealed with glee. "Lucy wasn't kidding, you do need help." Lola said.

This made Nikki frown. She didn't look that bad, did she? There was a mirror hanging behind Lincoln's door and once Lola closed the door she took her appearance in. Her long blonde hair looked like a tornado had gone through it, probably due to all of the tossing and turning she normally did. She was dressed in her usual sleep wear, which was the only thing that Ronnie and Sid left her that was her own. A blue flannel button up top with matching shorts. But the top three buttons were undone thanks to her activity from last night. And her shorts also hung loosely on her hips for the same reason. Taking her appearance in, yea, she could see why Lola said that she needed help getting ready. She just didn't think it was that bad.

It only took the younger girl about ten minutes to get her ready, and that was with a quick five minutes shower to remove the 'weird' smell. Lola knew her stuff and Nikki had to admit that she could look pretty from time to time.

And she was almost as giddy as Lola was to go downstairs and 'knock Lincy's socks off' as Lola had put it. Even Lucy gave her a fraction of a smile. Trying her best not to rush, she followed Lucy and Lola downstairs and they made their way towards the dining room. And as soon as she stepped inside, all conversations stopped for a moment.

"H-Hey guys...what's up?" She greeted nervously. Sadly, Lincoln wasn't there but all of the other Loud sisters were including Rita.

Just then Lynn Sr. came walking in carrying a tray with pancakes, eggs, and bacon as he whistled a little happy tune to himself. But he stopped in his tracks when he spotted Nikki, his eyes wide with surprise. Admittedly, she was starting to worry that maybe she didn't look pretty. That despite Lola's best efforts, that she was too plain looking to ever be considered beautiful. And just before she could turn around and run away upstairs to change, Lincoln came in carrying a tray with several cups with drinks for everyone.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" Lincoln asked as he set the tray down on the table.

Lori, who was closest to him, raised her hand and pointed towards the entrance from the living room. Lincoln turned to see what had their attention and he stopped for a moment to take in what he saw. Nikki was standing in the entrance of the dining room wearing a simple white sundress that had a blue floral pattern. The straps left her shoulders bare and the top was designed with a v neck in mind. Dress hugged her developing curves rather well and the hem of the dress stopped part way down her thighs, stopping just a few inches above her knees allowing her to show up her long legs. This time she didn't wear heels, instead Ronnie had packed her a pair of white sandals that had a blue rose perched on top, matching her dress perfectly. And instead of a blue hairband, Lola had brushed her hair so that it could cover part of her face like she was used to but still used a blue butterfly hair clip to keep the rest of it out. And Lincoln honestly thought she looked stunning.

Seeing his reaction, Nikki knew that whatever Lola had done had worked. She favored him with a smile and made her way towards the end of the table, taking a seat between Lola and Lucy.

"Ahem!" Lola cleared her throat loudly. Giving her brother a look, she added. "Don't you think that she looks pretty, Lincoln?"

As one, all eyes turned towards Lincoln. Not taking his eyes off of her, he gave Lola a nod. "Of course she does. But she doesn't need me to tell her that, she already knows it."

Inwardly, everyone, including Lily, inwardly groaned at the white haired Loud. Didn't he realize that Nikki was trying to be pretty for him?

But Nikki didn't let that get her down, she started speaking with Lana, who was sitting across from her about her pet frog, Hops. And everyone else continued their conversations, stealing quick glances at Nikki and Lincoln. It was clear that Nikki had a thing for Lincoln but it was hard to read if Lincoln was interested or not.

The Loud girls wanted to meddle so badly but they promised that they wouldn't anymore after they ruined his chances with Stella, after she had decided to give him a chance.

Breakfast had been a pleasant affair, Nicky still couldn't believe how delicious breakfast could be when you made something other than oatmeal or cereal. And the fact that Lincoln cooked most of it made it taste even better to Nikki. According to Lynn Sr. Lincoln had woken up early to cook breakfast for everyone. Either he was really trying to impress her or he was just that nice. Nikki liked to believe that it was the first one.

And after breakfast, everyone went about their day except for Lincoln who stayed behind with her. She hadn't actually given it any thought to what she would do the whole week but now it seemed like she would most likely spend the whole week with him. Maybe she wouldn't hurt Ronnie Anne and Sid too badly when she went back home.

"So, you have anything that you want to do?" Lincoln asked her.

'You mean aside from you?' Her mind suggestively supplied to her. But she shook her head, just because those eggs were the best she ever had that didn't mean that she also wanted him to scramble her eggs too. 'At least not yet anyways.'

"Well, how about we go to the mall? There's a comic book store that I go to every Tuesday and there's a bunch of other stores that we can go see." Lincoln suggested.

"The mall? Just you and me?" Nikki tried her best not to smile too widely. It almost sounded like a date!

"Yup. Just you and me." Lincoln nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nikki and Lincoln took the bus to the Mall with a promise from Lori to pick them up later. The journey to the mall had been uneventful and they mostly talked about things they liked. Nikki learned just how big of a comic book nerd he was and Lincoln learned that Nikki really didn't have a filter. Her cursing earned them a few frowns from the older ladies on the bus but Nikki didn't care. He also learned that Nikki didn't play many video games, something which he would correct today at the arcade.

And as they entered the comic book store, Lincoln came to a complete stop when he came face to face with the girl that he was hoping to avoid.

With an awkward wave, Stella gave him a weak smile. "H-Hey, Lincoln..."

End of chapter.