Author's Notes:

Sorry for the late update on this! Work was pretty rough today! Hope you guys enjoy this chap though! I'm trying to make the chapters at least 2k words, so you all have a bit to read each time. Let me know what ya think!


As soon as Vanzilla left the parking lot, Lincoln's face shifted from that of joy to indifference. There never was anything interesting for him to do at school. Sure, he always had his good buddy, Clyde, to talk to…

But there was no Leni.

And he did have his little circle of good friends to hang out with during lunch and gym…

But there was no Leni.

Also worth mentioning, that beautiful sub Mrs. DiMartino was covering for-

But she's not Leni.

Lincoln lightly shakes his head as he feels himself get into a trance. (Can't go completely brain dead today. Leni wouldn't want a man that disregards his studies!)

Lincoln continues down the hall until he reaches his locker. (First period is social studies, gotta make sure I have my book.) He opens the locker to retrieve his textbook, when something flutters out of the locker onto the floor.

(Hmm? What's this?) Lincoln bends over to examine the little slip of paper that had fallen out. (Oh…I see. I guess it makes sense. It is Valentine's Day after all.)

While checking his surroundings, Lincoln stuffs the curious letter into his shirt pocket with little care. He then proceeds to walk unenthusiastically to his first class.


At the Middle School…

Lori pulled up in front of the middle school parking lot and parked. "Okay, Lynn. Have a good one!"

"Love you Lynn!" All the other sisters shouted sans Leni, who looked like she was a bit worried.

Lynn lightly smiles and waves, "Thanks guys! Love you too!"

Before Lynn can slide out of the car, Leni grabs a hold of her shoulder, "Hey, Lori? Can you, like, wait for just a bit? I wanna check on Lynn real quick."

Hearing this, Lynn's mood immediately drops. Her eyebrows furrow as she looks at Leni with displeasure.

Lori nodding in understanding responds, "Sure, Leni. Just make it quick. We don't wanna be late."

Leni smiles and gives her a wink of affirmation.

Leni takes Lynn out of Vanzilla and walks over to one of the marble pillars near the school gate. Making sure she's out of ear shot of any wandering kids, Leni gives one more look around before bending down to meet Lynn in the face.

"How's my little sports star doing today?" Leni smiles gleefully as she takes her finger and boops Lynn's nose.

"AGH! Don't do that! And what do you care?" Lynn sneers while rubbing her arm and looking to the side.

"Awww, don't be that way! Of course I care about what's going on with my little sister!" Leni takes her hand and ruffles Lynn's hair.

Lynn snorts, "Could've fooled me. You barely talk to me unless you have to."

Leni sighs and pulls Lynn into a hug. "I know, I'm sorry, Lynn. You have to understand though. It's hard to divide your attention among 10 siblings. Especially when some siblings require more attention than others."

Lynn, looking unconvinced, closes her eyes as Leni continues.

"But you need to know that no matter what, I will always love you, and you can talk to me whenever something's bothering you." Leni slowly rubs Lynn's head as she continues her comforting words. "Honestly, I thought you had things figured out better than I do. You're always walking around the house with so much confidence that it makes me jealous sometimes. I can't even walk around and chew bubblegum at the same time!"

Lynn chuckles roughly as she feels her eyes begin to water. "Well, you are a pretty big ditz, sis."

Leni giggles and perks up after seeing her words start to take effect, "I know I know, but even your ditz of a sister knows a thing or two about when her sister's got something troubling her!"

Lynn feels her hands shake as she starts to return her sister's embrace. Feeling a little more comfortable, Lynn starts to let her feelings spill out. "I-I just…*hic*…I just wish somebody would spend time with me."

As Lynn starts to hic and sob violently, Leni rubs her cheeks against her face more to urge her to continue.

"It feels like *sniff* Everyone always ignores me!" Lynn continues while sobbing uncontrollably, "Whenever I ask anyone to hang out or play with me, they always tell me "Sorry, I'm not into sports." Or, "I don't wanna play something like football. That's for boys." Even though sports aren't even gender specific! Even my teammates don't wanna hang out with me after school because my competitiveness is too "Toxic" to be around!"

Shortly after saying this, Lynn bursts into ugly crying. "I just don't know what to do anymore! Am I that unlikeable? Should I just change who I am to please everybody? Would that make people want to spend time with me?"

Leni shakes her head as she pets Lynn, "Of course not sweetie, you're perfect just the way you are."

In another attempt to comfort her, Leni pushes her sister's bangs back and kisses Lynn on the forehead. "Tell you what, I'm gonna prioritize you from now on until you don't want me to anymore okay?"

Lynn attempts to calm down as she wipes her eyes with her sleeves, and looks up at Leni. "Do you *sniff* really mean that?"

Leni smiles brightly at her sister as she rubs her head, "Of course! I'm even gonna cancel the plans I had with my friends tonight just so I can come see your game!"

Lynn perks up slightly as she hears this, but suddenly turns her eyes down in guilt. "A-are you sure? I didn't mean to-"

Suddenly, she feels a finger pushed to her lips as Leni shushes her. "I'll hear none of it. You are number 1 today, okay?"

Lynn feels her cheeks redden at the sudden thoughtfulness of her elder sister. It's the first day in such a long time that she's been treated so gently by her family members. Quite frankly, she doesn't know how to begin to react.

"Thank you, Leni. I really appreciate what you're doing for me." Lynn suddenly looks down to the ground again in guilt.

Noticing this, Leni does a play pout. "What's bothering my little sister now? Get out of her bad thoughts!"

As Leni does some playful shoo shoos, Lynn giggles, "I-It's not that I just…..sorry for blowing up at you on the van. I just…Lincoln spends so much time with you, and barely looks my direction."

Leni's face droops as Lynn continues. "I guess…I guess I just got irritated when it looked like you were trying to separate us when he finally noticed me… I'm sorry."

Leni puts her hands on Lynn's shoulders to stop her worries, "It's okay, Lynn. I forgive you. Also…I know what you mean about Lincoln and… it kind of worries me…"

Lynn looks up curiously as Leni sighs.

"I think I might have coddled him too much, and now he can't go without thinking about me. I might be overthinking it, but it just makes me anxious to think that he might not connect much with others because he's too attached to me."

Leni gathers her breath before continuing, "But! I think today might have just proved me wrong."

Lynn tilts her head at Leni's words, "What makes you say that?"

Leni smiles as she looks into Lynn's eyes, "Did he hesitate to comfort you when you came forward to him?"

Lynn thought about it, and Leni was right. The second Lynn showed Lincoln how she truly felt, he made no effort to ignore her or push her aside. He went and hugged her without a moment's notice. "I think he might've just had the same misunderstanding I did. He probably thought that you were comfortable just the way you were."

Lynn nods in understanding. "Yeah, I guess I gotta get better at expressing myself."

Leni pulls her sister in for another hug. "It's, totes, okay! There's a lot of things all of us could work on."

The two stay huddled together for a moment until a car horn suddenly breaks them up.

"Leni! Hurry it up! We gotta go soon!"

Leni stands up at Lori's words, and puts a hand on Lynn's shoulders.

"Call me if something goes wrong, or if you need anything okay? I'll, totes, answer!"

Lynn gives Leni a genuine smile in response. "Thanks, Leni. I should be okay now. I love you!"

"Love you too, sis!" Leni gives Lynn a quick peck on the forehead before waking daintily back to the van.

As Leni slides back into the passenger seat, Lori immediately looks at her and cuts to the chase.

"Is she okay?"

Leni smiles and puts a hand on Lori's shoulder, "She is now."

Lori smiles and turns back to the wheel.


At Lynn's Locker…

As Lynn works the combination on her locker, she opens it up to find…nothing. Besides her usual books and sports gear…nothing.

Sigh* "Figures." Lynn picks up the supplies she needs for first class, and closes her locker back.

(Well, it's not like I have much to be bummed out about. Both Lincoln and Leni went out of their way to check on me today. I should be happy with even that much.)

As Lynn thinks to herself, her game face slowly returns. (Yeah…today's gonna be a good day! I'm gonna whoop those Hazeltucky dorks, and I'm gonna have two awesome siblings watch me play like a champ!)

Lynn starts to practice her victory dance in anticipation of her upcoming victory tonight. Little to her knowledge a young boy decked out with a biker jacket, with a purple mohawk, ripped blue jeans, and a gold nose ring walks up behind her.

"Well, well well! What's our little wannabe-boy getting all excited about."

Lynn stops her practice dance as she hears a loud bang on her locker door. "Ugh, what do you want Kyle?

Kyle snickers as Lynn throws her book bag back on and tries to walk away.

"Awww, don't be like that! You know I'm just curious about why the hulkster's acting like she just got proposed to."

Lynn rolls her eyes at the sad attempt at an insult, "Just so you know, I take being compared to the hulk as a compliment."

Kyle cackles at Lynn's response, "And you wonder why no one wants to ask the Juggernaut out on a date!"

Feeling a vein run down her forehead, Lynn turns around furiously.

"I don't care about that stupid stuff! If I really wanted to, I could get a boyfriend anytime I want!"

Kyle fails to keep a straight face as he bursts into laughter.

"Whatever Wolverine, just know that at the end of the day, if a real girl wants your man, she'll steal him anytime she wants."

Kyle continues to cackle while walking down the hall past Lynn. Lynn, with intense rage, stomps to her next class.


At the Highschool…

As Vanzilla pulls into a parking space near the entrance of the highschool, the four oldest louds all slide out of the car.

"Okay guys, as usual, we'll all meet up back here after the day's over." Lori picks up her book bag and slings it over shoulder as she explains.

Luna fingerbangs towards Lori before walking off, "You got it bro!"

"Don't worry! I'll try not to clown around after school! Hahahaha, get it?" Luan jokes.

Lori, looking unamused, points towards the high school, "Just go."

Luan shrugs before she starts to make her way to the school. "Everyone's a critic."

Lori sighs before glancing at Leni, "Well, ready to get going?"

"Like, of course! I'm so excited for today!" Leni beams as she thinks of the day ahead of her.

"I know what you mean! I can't wait to see what boo-boo bear has planned for me today!" Lori looks dreamily as she thinks of her precious boyfriend.

"Ooooooh! You have to let me know all the deets!" Leni requests.

"Oh trust me, you won't miss a thing!"

Leni claps in excitement for the romantic day waiting for her older sister.

Before they can reach the highschool, a boy taps on Leni's shoulder.

Looking behind her, Leni's eyes sparkle like the moonlight. Her vision catches a glimpse of a certain boy with a backwards, aqua blue cap, a gold Tshirt with horizontal cream stripes, and dark grey jeans.

"Hey Leni! I was wanting to ask you something if that's okay…"

To be continued…