Already it was awkward between the two Loud Siblings. To be sure he was not seeing things, Lincoln rubbed his eyes twice. Both of them looked with a shock expression as their mouths went dry. They struggled with exact words as neither of them as seen or talked to each other in years. Lincoln rubbed the back of his head in a nervous sweat. Never would they ever imagine seeing each other at the police station.

Looking at his rock star sister situation, it would seem clear that Luna was not here willingly. The handcuff on her wrist was a clear indication of that situation. Seconds turned into minutes as they kept their eyes on each other. Neither did know where to start on this unexpected encounter. Lincoln rubbed his right arm and bit his upper lip feeling ashamed of his current standing.

Luna felt the same, as she could not take her eyes off Lincoln. From the look of Lincoln's dirty clothes, she knew that Lincoln was having a rough life. Luna blushed inside of her brother seeing her in this situation.

Lincoln broke the silence and asked, "Hey Luna, so what are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same question," Luna replied also at a loss for words. "I haven't seen you in years."

"It's a long difficult and sad story," Lincoln muttered sadly.

Luna was already intrigued if not conflicted with emotions. "I'd hug you as hard as I could, but given my circumstances..." Luna said, seeing the cuffs on her hands.

Lincoln rubbed his right arm and stared down at the ground. There was no need of hiding his shame much longer since he was face to face with his sister after all these years. Lincoln sat down next to his third oldest sister.

"So what brings you here bro?" Luna asked.

"Oh, just a simple misunderstanding that turned out to be a really big misunderstanding. What about you, unpaid parking tickets?" Lincoln guessed seeing the handcuffs.

"Nah bro, I got arrested for possession," Luna answered. "The guy I met was a real jerk that got what he deserved for slipping that stuff on me. I think I may have busted his nose."

"A bar fight huh, that's neat."

"You look awful bro." Luna stating as she could take her eyes off Lincoln ragged appearance. "You look like you haven't eaten, slept, or even bathed for days. What happened?"

As Luna could see, she was not far from the truth. This only made Lincoln feel more ashamed about his standing. He was just glad his closest sister and not his parents were here.

Lincoln's mouth went dry as he hesitated to answer. He gave her the short version of the story.

"I've been homeless Luna."

"You were Homeless!" Luna questioned, nearly echoing the police station. "I don't understand bro; I thought you were living on a college campus when you moved out. Moreover, if you were in this rough patch this whole time, why did you not tell any of us? We would have tried to help you." This left the rocker beyond a simple shocked expression. Dumbfounded was more like it. Now Luna was at another crossroads of emotions.

"I don't know," Lincoln said, not having many words to say. "I…"

Lincoln tried to call out to Luna, but she stopped him with a hand. Luna grasped her skull in frustration. "I'm sorry bro; I just need time to process this. Right now, bro, I don't know if I should hug you or smack the heck out of you."

Lincoln figures this was expected after this shocking encounter. For the most part, Lincoln really could not blame his sister for being like this at the moment. Heaven knows that Rita had felt the same way in stressful situations.

Before Luna could respond, an officer cleared her throat getting both Loud Siblings attention. "Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but I'm pleased to announce that your Roadie came through with your bail." The officer unlocked Luna's handcuffs.

"Thanks, was there anything else?" Luna inquired, to expecting something.

"Yeah, Mr. Chunk wanted me to inform that you're on your own from here. So this is the last time he will help you out like this." The officer reminded Luna.

"Why don't we go back to my place?" Luna got off the chair.

It was a silent ride as both of them was still grasping the situation. Neither of them has seen or talked to each other for years. In addition, police station was practically the last place they would ever see each other. Still, Lincoln and Luna being embarrassed on their mistakes were the least of their worries. Now that they reunited again, Luna and Lincoln did not know where to begin.

Making their way to the hotel entrance, Luna went to the top floor. "Excuse the mess, just had a party."

Lincoln could tell by the trash on the floor, consisting of burger wrappers and drinking cans. Lincoln took his seat on the single bed as his third oldest sister made her way to the fridge. Within the mini fridge, she pulled out the adult drink. It was a large shot of Tequila. With two cups and a couple of ice cubes, she presented the drink to Lincoln.

"Too old if not awkward reunion." Luna raises her glass. Lincoln made his cheers.

He tasted a sip of an alcoholic beverage. As expected, it still had that weird taste that adults used to, just like coffee. Seeing that his older sister was fully-grown, she was used to the taste of alcohol, yet it was not without its tingles. Lincoln, on the other hand, was not a major fan as it tickled his tongue.

One cup became many as Lincoln and Luna of sat closely together as savoring their drink. Throughout the drinking sessions, Lincoln tried to think of something to start the conversation. He was not planning on sitting in silence. Words became my mixed up in his head as the alcohol was starting to take over.

Soon enough both Loud Siblings found themselves collapsed on the floor. Bodies felt like lead weights. Lincoln and Luna started spouting out random words. Worlds were fuzzy as the Loud Siblings was heavily hammered.

"Man, it's been over twenty years." Lincoln moaned drunkenly. "No wonder why you look so old."

"Nah I think it was fifty," Luna replied drunk. "I think you might be getting older than me." Luna ruffled Lincoln's white hair. "You almost look like Pop-Pop." Luna hiccup.

"Yeah compared to all of you, I'm always the freaking black sheep, or in this case the white sheep, haha, get it?" Lincoln crack drunk. While laughing, he started coughing. "Why wasn't I born a brunette or even a blonde? Heck, I'd even settle for being a black hair from...the creepy one."

"Life is a dream, a crazy rock and roll dream…" Luna sang weaken. Since there is still alcohol on her system, the voice would not come out. Luna picked herself off the floor. "Playing to an exotic crowd as I hear them screaming Luna Loud…"

"Where is that music coming from?"

"I don't know, maybe the voices inside my head. I don't remember." Luna stood on top of the bed. "Stage dive!" Luna leaped off the bed and fell onto her brother.

Both of them were face to face, in each other's breathing room. Lincoln rolled his sister off him. That was one of the many traits that have not changed of his third oldest sister. Lincoln grasped the large Tequila bottle. Lincoln and Luna stare that the dark ceiling inhaling. Soon after, eyes closed as they have passed out.

The Loud rockstar awoke from slumber to find out she was laying on the floor. Yet Luna's resting was not without after-effects of the strong beverage. She felt her head pounding like a drum. Luna had lost count of how many headaches she had. As she heard the door open, it was a relief to know that it was not a dream. Lincoln came in with water and some pills.

"This should help reduce the hangover." Lincoln offered.

"Thanks, bro, but what about you?" She consumes the pills and drinks.

"I sobered up two hours ago. It seems like you had more shots than I did." Lincoln took a seat next to his sister. "It sure brings back old times when we were together, a time where we were truly a family, practically inseparable."

"Yeah bro, back then we were inseparable." Luna started to reflect. "It's just such a shame that time was not at our side."

Lincoln noticed the photo of Luna and her adult friends. "Bet you must have been having a good life starting your own rock band, congrats, where are your friends?"

"They are doing their own thing, so it's just me, myself, and I," Luna said, uncertain on the topic. "Yeah, we are popular but if not popular enough to play out at sold out concerts. We are getting somewhere and that's all that matters." Luna explained to Lincoln. "But in all honest bro, my life has not been all smiles as you may think."

"You're still passionate about Rock-n-Roll. It brings me back to the time; you made my first concert something to remember, getting us on the front stage." Lincoln remembers. "Your Luna Loud, you're all about music."

Luna shook her head. "You think my life has been exciting bro? One band manager has tricked me after another, cheating us out of our profits. I made a lot of reckless decisions that landed me in the slammer more than once." Luna held her head down. "It also got me kicked out of the band and made me lose Sam. Though to be fair I did not technically lose her."

"Sam, you blond friend with the blue streak in her hair?" He inquired.

"Yep, turns out she did not like me that way and I was just in the way of her true love life."

"I'm sorry your relationship didn't work out with Sam."

"Its cool little bro. If there is one lesson that I did learn since I was a kid; you cannot always have what you want. Life can be pretty harsh sometime." Luna folded her legs. "For years I carried my share of guilt, heartbreak and loneliness being a solo act."

"You were good without your band."

"I'm not talking about my band bro. I'm talking about you." She said fiddling with her black fingernails.

Lincoln's eyes widened.

"You were always the person to inspire me and my rockin passion. I always enjoyed the days of us jamming together even if you weren't good most of the time." Luna eyes stared at the carpet.

Now Lincoln felt even guiltier than before. All the memories of the jam sessions with his sister were something he could never forget, but he did. The guilt ate away at him like a vicious parasite.

"Being a solo act may have gotten me by, but it was not the same without my band or even you since my own siblings were busy doing their thing." Luna continued to explain.

"I did not know it turned out this way." Lincoln sadly responded.

Luna glanced at Lincoln's direction. "Life has not been the same without you bro. Not to mention, I have to un-disappoint my son and…"

A record player scratched in Lincoln's head as he quickly cut off his sister. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on." Now Lincoln was confused if not surprised. "You..have a son?"

"Yeah bro, you didn't think Lori was the only one giving Mom and Dad grandchildren, did you?"

"How did this happen?"

"Years of burying myself in a pool of sorrow and constant isolation." Luna signed heavily. "It was a rock concert I went to eight years ago as I was still getting over my heartbreak with Sam. Drinking and concerts became my escape. I met a guy, even though I knew he was already spoken for on by the ring on his finger, but I didn't care as long as if help me get over Sam. And it did before I knew it, I was pregnant and he was born."

"What's your son's name?" Lincoln inquired.

"Mickey Swagger Loud."

"Is he around now?"

Luna shook her head again. "Nah, he was not exactly the committed type if you know what I mean. But it was not all bad, I get a support check from him every month, much to his wife's disapproval."

Guess Lincoln did not need to guess where did the name come from. Luna shows him a photo of her child. From his youthfulness, he looked around eight years old and had his mother's eyes and brown hair. He was adorable all right. Lincoln ought to count Luna fortunate that he was not here to see his mother now.

Luna smile for a bit, then the smile disappeared. Not that she did not mind catching up, but there was more on the mind than old memories. Getting elephant out of the room, Luna decided to ask away. "So is this what you been up? "Why didn't you ever call?" Luna inquired to Lincoln.

"Well...I did not have a phone anymore. It became inactive when I could no longer pay my phone bill."

Luna interrupted Lincoln. "You moved out at eighteen to live on the college campus, but then years later I found out you weren't there anymore. Even with Lisa's tech, we could not find you. When we did not hear from you all these years, we started to assume the worst. We even checked unidentified corpses."

Lincoln held his head down in sadness. "I guess I just felt I had to do everything on my own that I eventually lost sight of something important, living in you guys shadow and all. Aside from my graduation, I wanted to do something worth accomplishing like you guys." Lincoln clenched his fingers. "I spent the rest of my life chasing something impossible. Now here I am, just a worthless deadbeat."

Luna gritted her teeth as she tightens her fist. She stood in front of her brother and gave him a hard slap on his face. "You could have told us, bro, you could have said something, let us figure it out!" Luna's boomed clenching her head again. "God! It's like I literally don't know you anymore! Now here you are, married to the street life. Everyone worried and feared the worst of you, not knowing if you were hurt or even freaking alive!" Luna scolded Lincoln.

"Luna I…" Lincoln tried to explain, feeling the slap on his cheek.

"Do you really can't stand your family that much that you have resulted in this?" Luna continued to shout at Lincoln.

"Hey last time I checked, you're not exactly an Angel either!" Lincoln shot back. "I hear a lot of complaints about your music, but I guess you're too tone deaf to hear!"

"At least I do something creative, coming from the guy who loves to read comics in his underwear. Have some freaking decently!" Luna argued.

"It's no wonder why Sam left you; you always had poor listening skills, always thinking about your ego."

Lincoln cross the line as Luna grabbed him by the shirt. He was faced off with a very angry face. Lincoln broke away and pushed Luna, yet she was not done. She ran up for the tackle. As Luna had him face to face, she started whacking away. Like a boxer, Lincoln guarded his face, trying to preventing any attack's from reaching. While trying to reach for her neck, Luna headbutts him.

Lincoln then countered by rolling the rocker off him, causing to crash into the nightstand. Lincoln grabbed Luna by the shoulders and start slamming her head to the carpet floor. Before he could strike back, Lincoln caught sight of Luna's face of sadness. Tears rolled down Luna's eyes like a waterfall.

"Why bro?" Luna began to sob. "Why did you not bother to call me of any of us? I was not the only one thinking about your well being you know." Luna's tears rolled down her face as the make on her eyes begin to show.

When a knock came at the front door, Lincoln got off his sister. Luna went to answer it. It was the manager. "Hey is everything all right in there, I got a noise complaint from the neighbors? He said tell that heavy metal idiot to shut up in there. So I thought I'd check before thinking of calling the police."

"Yeah I'm fine, just was practicing some jams. Sorry for the noise." Luna replied.

"Look I don't mind you practicing your jams, but keep the noise to a minimum in consideration of the others staying here." The manager scolded Luna.

"Right sorry about that." Luna shut her door.

"You know this reminds me of the time we got a lot of noise complaints from Mr. Grouse," Lincoln remembered starting a new conversation.

"Yeah, always saying 'knock off that racket loud' or 'my yard, my property' or even 'turn down that loud music loud'. is what he would often shout." Luna said.

"But eventually he got used to it. That old man was the only neighbor to put up with us, can't say the same about the other neighbors." Lincoln replied.

"It wasn't always because of my music."

"Yeah, we were anything but a normal family, always fighting for the most minor, trivial and sometimes stupid reasons. We were a bunch of stupid kids back then." He replied with his eyes downcast.

"Yeh and here we are, stupider adults. Funny how times changed." Luna smile in irony. Eyes glanced at Lincoln for a couple minutes. Changing the subject and not holding anything back, Luna threw her arms around Lincoln's neck. She did not care if Lincoln smelled as bad as a skunk. "I really missed you baby bro." Luna tearfully confessed as she held him.

Within seconds, Lincoln embraced back as tears fell down his face. "I missed you too sis." Lincoln sniffled.

With everything the man with the plan been through, this was his greatest blessing. He held his sister by the waist side, as they had no intention to let go as savoring their long year reunion.

Back to present day, Rita did some late night research. Since Lincoln was depressed, her mind still debated man options around this symptom. It was not going to be easy. Depression was not something that can be cured by medicine or saying 'cheer up' many times. This sickness was something the middle-child had to work out for himself.

As she got to another internet page, there revealed about the scary sides of depression. One of the main sites was not thinking clearly through one's actions, leading to the most tragic of misfortunes. As Rita continued to read, the more it made her shake inside. She suddenly started to remember a time where she witnessed it first-hand. Just a very reminder made her shudder even more.

Making her way through the kitchen, she saw Lincoln. He held a very sharp knife as was about cut his meal. Aside from the bandaged hand, she noticed a cut on his forearm arm. Already this sent the mother to a panic as she rushed to Lincoln. She reacted immediately by grabbing the knife away from him.

"Lincoln, what did you do!" Rita shouted, making Lincoln flinch. "And how did you get this injury?"

"I was making myself a sandwich and I got a little careless, no big deal," Lincoln explained while trembling inside.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is."

"Okay for now on, there will be no more handling sharp tools for you including the butter knife, so either ask me, your father, or one of your sisters," Rita ordered, trying to calm down.

"Wait what, why?" Lincoln inquired in an attempt to question his mother.

"End of discussion Lincoln!" Rita countered back.

As he watched his mother walk away, this left Lincoln at a confused if not shocked state.

The bell chimed as it was time for everyone to leave. Lincoln glance at the looks of excitement these kids held rushing out of the classroom. Summer break was in session, too bad Lincoln could not share their happiness. Even if Lincoln knew he was not the only kid in school to take summer school, he knew he had some making up to do. As packed his bag, he walked out of the classroom.

"Oh Lincoln," Mrs. Johnson called to him.

Lincoln walked back. "So I suppose you heard the news."

"Yes, the fact that I'm going to be taking Summer school, yeah I know," Lincoln said in an emotionless tone.

"I'm sorry Lincoln, I'm sure you would rather be enjoying summer fun, but it is your only choice if you don't want to be held back a year."

"I'm just going through some things."

"Yes your mom told me, I just hope it doesn't affect your progress then it already has. Lots of people would be very unhappy if you are held back, myself included. You have always been an ideal student with a lot of spunk and dedication, but your behavior has been unlike you. Still, while working this out I want you to think about your current standing, understand."

Lincoln nodded in reply.

"Have a good summer break Lincoln."

"That's rough man, you got summer school," Clyde said after hearing the whole thing as the two boys walked home from school.

"Yeah Clyde, unfortunately, I have much-failed work to catch up on. So we won't be able to hang out often. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, my dad's and I are going out of town for a few days," Clyde said.

"Not just that Clyde, but I'm sorry for the way I acted towards you. I took my anger out on you and you did not deserve it."

Clyde tapped Lincoln's shoulder. "Lincoln, its okay I get it." Changing the subject, Clyde decided to ask. "So how are you holding up ever since your confession?"

"I'm fine I guess," Lincoln still had uncertainty in his voice. Clyde could easily read the reaction that it was a working progress.

"You know Lincoln; the best way to deal with this depression is therapy. If you want I can put a good word on you for Dr. Lopez."

"Thanks, Clyde, I appreciate that."

"It will be alright Lincoln, trust me, pal."

When the weekend arrived, it was time for Lincoln's probation at Mrs. Dimartino. When he was on his way out the door, he stopped for a second. He got the capsule pulled out a couple of pills. After a breath, he took him with a cup of water. Lincoln was all set to go as he heads out the door to prepare for whatever the day has for him

"Lincoln! Are you going back to Mrs. Dimartino?" Lori called out.

"Yeah, I am." He answered.

"Come on, I'll drive you." Lori insisted.

"It's alright Lori, I know the way there."

"Come on Lincoln, I'm on my way out anyway."

Already this struck the boy as strange. Usually, the eldest sister would not offer rides unless a favor was done. Lincoln took a glance at the eldest. "No strings attached?" He asked her with suspicion.

Lori shook her head. "Nope."

Once again, Lincoln sat looking out the window. While Lori was driving, Lori could not take her eyes off Lincoln, but at the same time focused on the road. As the eldest can tell, much was on the middle child's thoughts and curing his depression was still long ways away. As told by their mother, they were going to have to be patient.

"Lincoln…" Lori called, getting his attention. "Do you think you're the first loud to have fears on the future?" Lori started the conversation.

"What do you mean?" He inquired.

"You think I'm not nervous of growing up and going into the real world. I am literally going to be an adult soon. You think I do not know how scary that is. Soon I'm going to be going to college where all the great opportunities happen and I intend to explore them all the way." Lori talked to Lincoln. Lincoln glanced at Lori. "Look I don't know what the future holds for Bobby and me, though honestly, I do see him as a business owner, yet I am willing to push on to find out."

Lincoln still held his head down.

Soon as they made it to the house, Lincoln was already on his way out. Lori grabbed Lincoln by the arm. "Lincoln even if it takes all my efforts, I will never ever let you end in such a harsh predicament," Lori promised. "I'm sure it will come to you, try not to let it get to you, okay," Lori said with a cheerful grin.

"Okay," Lincoln replied with a fake smile, that even Lori could tell that it was not genuine. Not one inch of optimism showed on his face.

As Lincoln made it to the door, Mrs. Dimartino led him in with a list of chores. The boy was Lincoln in for a long day as Lori thought. Still concerned for her brother, Lori could not take her eyes off Lincoln, wondering how far his depression will go. Interrupting her thoughts, she got a text from Bobby. It was already time as Lori drove off.

Making it to the destination, Lori sat quietly as thoughts of her brother still clouded her mind. For all the years, she has looked after her siblings like a second mother; she never thought one of them would have an emotional problem like this, especially not Lincoln. Repeatedly, Lincoln had proven to be more level-headed than any of the siblings.

"Hey there Babe," Bobby greeted his loving girlfriend with a peck on the cheek. "Sorry I'm late; my shift ran late than expected."

"It's alright Boo-boo-bear, I'm used to it," Lori replied with mid-happiness.

Bobby sensed the tone in Lori, indicating something not good. "Whoa babe, what happens, you're usually not this mopey like Lucy?"

"Sorry Bobby, it's just Lincoln, he's been feeling under the weather lately."

"Huh, is he sick?" Bobby asked, already concerned.

"No; it's not like that. He's been going through…" Lori paused for a moment. "He's been going through depression lately."

"What!"

"Yeah, Lincoln's depression stems from me and my sister's accomplishments, basically of what we have and what he doesn't," Lori told Bobby.

"Babe, I'm sure you and the others don't view him that way do you?"

"Off course not!" Lori beamed, slamming her fist on the table, therefore getting the attention of most of the customers. Seeing all the attention, Lori calmed down. "No; I never saw Lincoln as inferior, but these things never bothered him before, so why now?"

"I think I have an idea." Bobby speculated, getting Lori's eyes. "With all the success of your sisters, it makes him look like he hasn't achieved much. You and your sisters have so much that might get far in life and yet with what Lincoln has, he fears he might get left behind."

"I guess that makes sense."

Lori continued to listen to Bobby. "I'm familiar with the effect; my dad had it before his passing. He would not eat, would not interact with his family or would not get out of the house. He felt like all hope was lost for him. Soon mom had reached her limit in taking care of him, made her very stressed. After he was gone, she took it upon herself taking care of me and Ronnie Anne, while I aided her as well. It was hard at first, but she was able to maintain."

"Even if he says he's fine, I'm really worried about Lincoln." Lori cried as tears started to roll down her eyes.

Bobby covered Lori's hands. "Babe listen to me, I know it won't be easy but he will make it through this. Lincoln is a strong kid. If you want, maybe I can take him out again on our bro time to try lifting his spirits. I'll try and help as best as I could babe."

"Thanks, Bobby; I hope so. Lincoln is a strong guy after all." Lori smiled as she wiped her tears.

"We'll help him see this through babe, I promise." Bobby rubbed the back of head ensuring her that everything would be all right. As Lori still thought about Lincoln's situation, she could only hope that Bobby was right.