Stella and Ronnie Anne made their way to the Mercado where the Loud Sisters had gotten off Vanzilla. Stella was the first to greet them, "Hey girls, you made it!"
"Stella!" Luan walked over to hug her best friend. "Yeah, it was a long train ride though, kind of cramped too."
"Weird, usually not cramped when I ride with Sid to school," Ronnie Anne said. "Then again there's a big concert so that might be why."
"Sure looks like it," Luan said, looking around. "Where's Lincoln?"
"He and Sid took Lily and Adelaide to the park, hopefully they'll be here soon," Stella explained.
"Aw that's nice of Lincoln," Luan said. "Lincoln makes for a great baby-sitter, more parents seem to call him than us nowadays."
"Meli likes him, that's for sure," Lola said. "She finds him easy to talk to, not as much as she talks to me but it's not a fair comparison, I mean who wouldn't like being around me?"
"You're so full of it," Lana said. "Meli's not as shy as she used to be anyway."
"Uh, thanks to me obviously," Lola said. "I'm the one who put in all the work out of the kindness of my heart."
"You only helped her out to get in on a Pageant, plus last I checked, Lincoln's the one who gave you the idea in the first place," Lana said.
"Come on, it doesn't matter how Lola got the idea, what matters is that she did something really nice," Stella said, rubbing her head. "I'm really proud of you for that Lola."
"Aw, that's why you're my favorite person dating that's dating one of my siblings Stella," Lola said, hugging the girl.
"H-Hey! What about me?" Bobby said, somewhat whining.
"Wow, must be great having the affection of Lincoln's sisters," Ronnie Anne said, then noticed Lynn standing away from the group. "Well, ninety-percent."
"Even Stella's had her struggles," Luan said. "Isn't that right Lana?"
"Hey I only got mad once," Lana said. "Plus Lola's mouthed off to her too!"
"No I haven't!" Lola shouted.
"Girls, come on, we all have had our quarrels," Stella said. "What matters is that we're all friends."
"I haven't always gotten along with Sid," Ronnie Anne said. "Hope she's not causing too much trouble for Lincoln."
"Ronnie they're fine," Stella said. "They're probably on their way over right now."
Seconds later, the group could hear some screaming, it sounded a lot like Sid. Before anyone could ponder, Sid came through the door of the bodega, panting and gasping for air. "Made it!"
"Sid?" Stella said. "Where's Lincoln?"
"Back there somewhere," Sid said, looking behind her. "Looks like I out ran him."
"Out ran him? Were you racing?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Oh no, he was chasing after me because he wanted to beat me up," Sid said, to everyone's surprise.
"That doesn't sound like Lincoln," Stella said.
"Well it's fine, I'm kind of hoping that by the time he gets here he'll stop being mad," Sid said, walking to the others girls. "So, the Louds have arrived."
"Hey Sid, good to see you," Luan said.
"Where's Adelaide?" Lana asked.
"And Lily for that matter?" Lola asked.
"Oh...I almost forgot about them," Sid said, running back to the door and looking outside. "Oh wait, here they come, they're with Lincoln. He also looks less mad, so that's a good thing." She started backing away from the door, "But I'll keep my distance, just in case."
Lana made her way through to the door, "Yo! Adelaide!"
Adelaide noticed Lana from the distance, having a wide grin on her face, "Lana!"
The two ran to each other and embraced in a quick hug, this getting an aw from the other girls, and Lincoln, who walked by them with Lily.
"How's it going Frog buddy?" Adelaide asked.
"It's all good back in the Woods," Lana said. "Kept my big brother company?"
"That was mostly my sister, I just played with Lily," Adelaide said. "She's adorable though, it's nice being the older one."
"Yeah, one of the few sisters even I have authority over," Lana said, then turned to Lincoln. "Yo Linc, how was the park? Anything interesting happen over there?"
"Too much, but don't worry about it," Lincoln said, making his way into the store. "Hey girls, you made it!"
"Hi Linky!" Leni said, walking over to hug her little brother. "Did you have fun catching up with your friends?"
"Yeah, it was the four of us for a while, then I went with Sid to the park with Lily and Adelaide," Lincoln said.
"Ronnie Anne told us that, hope Lily didn't tire out too much, we've got that big concert ahead of us," Leni said.
"Yeah," Lincoln said, then noticed Lynn standing by herself in the corner, "Oh, give me a second Leni."
Lincoln started making his way over to Lynn, Sid looking kind of relieved, "Good, I think he forgot about pounding me...actually I don't think I'd mind a certain type of pounding from Lincoln."
"Sid..." Ronnie Anne said, getting the attention of the eccentric girl. "Can it."
"Right now," Stella warned.
Sid nervously smiled at the two girls, "It's a compliment." That did not ease their scowls, "Ugh fine, I don't have the energy to endure a butt-kicking anyway."
Back with Lincoln, he and Lynn were talking in private at the corner, "Lynn, is something bothering you?"
"You know what's bothering me, I don't exactly feel welcomed here," Lynn said.
"I know you and Ronnie Anne have had your differences, and that you don't like Sid, but try to make the best of it, remember we're here for Luna," Lincoln said.
"Luna doesn't care if I'm here," Lynn said.
"Well, I want you here, I want all my sisters here," Lincoln said. "That includes you, so stop sulking so much, try to be a little happy."
"No promises," Lynn said.
Lincoln placed his hand on her shoulder, "Just remember I'm here for you Lynn, I still love you."
"Don't say that in public Stinkin!" Lynn nearly shouted, though part of that was caught by the other girls. "It's embarrassing!"
Lincoln sighed in annoyance, "Alright Lynn, if that's what you want."
Lynn started feeling a twinge of guilt, her brother was being way too nice, "Look, you know I care about you bro, I just don't want to be sappy about it."
"That's fine," Lincoln said. "I know how much your rep means to you after all."
"It, doesn't mean more than you, little bro," Lynn admitted, a blush on her face.
"Aw, see you can be a nice and sweet girl," Lincoln said.
"Don't push it!" Lynn warned, Lincoln taking a step back.
"I got you sis," Lincoln said. "Anyway, let's go group up with the others, you can stay by my side if you want."
"I don't need a babysitter," Lynn said, trying to act tough, but it began to falter. "But if me standing by you makes you feel better then I'm up for that."
Lincoln let Lynn have that and walked to the other girls. Ronnie Anne and Sid both looked very displeased when they saw Lynn, needless to say both still didn't care much for the jock.
Lynn tried playing it off by acting cool but deep down she was a little on edge near the two girls. Lincoln gently pat her on the back and started conversing with the others, "So is everyone ready for the concert tonight?"
"I'm totes ready to see Boyz will be Boyz," Leni said. "I wonder if I can get an autograph."
"I'd love an autograph from Yun Kwan," Sid said. "Maybe even a lock of his hair."
"Wow, sounds like Luna's obsession with Mick Swagger," Luan joked. "Next she'll be chasing him around stage."
"How long before Luna even gets here?" Stella asked.
"She should be here in about..." Luan checked her watch. "Half hour, probably."
"All that remains is Lori," Lincoln said.
The door chime jingled, "What about me?"
Everyone turned to see the elest Loud Sibling, needless to say everyone was excited to see her, "Lori!"
"Who missed me?" Lori asked, holding her arms out.
"Lori!" Leni shouted, running to her older sister, former roommate and best friend.
"Babe!" Bobby shouted, running to embrace his girlfriend.
As Leni ran from Lori's front, Bobby ran from the side, both coming in fast. Lori took a step back, a bit worried about the two colliding into her, but this caused them to collide into each other, both falling to the floor, seeing stars.
"Uh, I literally did not expect that to happen," Lori said.
Ronnie Anne went to check on Bobby while Lincoln and the twins went to check on Leni. Stella however, decided to seize this golden opportunity, and rushed over to Lori with a hug of her own. "I'm so happy to see you Lori!"
"Aw, same here Stella," Lori said, rubbing her head. "How are things back home? Keeping my brother under control?"
"Yeah, it'd a full time job but a labor of love," Stella said.
Lincoln looked a bit annoyed by that choice of dialogue, "Uh, what's that suppose to mean?"
"It's nothing Lincoln, don't worry too much about it," Lori said, breaking from Stella's hug to check on her boyfriend and sister. "Hey, you two doing alright?"
"Lori!" Leni said, being the first to hug her sister. "Oh I missed you so much!"
"Yeah, same here Leni," Lori said, returning the hug. "I'm happy to see you again, face to face and not through a computer or phone screen."
"Totally," Leni said, breaking from the hug and turning to Bobby. "You're turn."
Bobby wasted no time hugging his girlfriend, planting a kiss on her cheek, "Good to see you babe, I really missed you too."
"Bobby, you saw me last weekend," Lori reminded.
"Yeah but it's tougher knowing you're closer yet I don't always have time to see you, makes me miss Royal Woods where I got to see you every day," Bobby said.
"We'll be seeing each other more soon Boo Boo Bear. For now I have a family to catch up with." Lori pulled away from Bobby and brought Lincoln in for a hug. "Like my favorite and only brother."
"I missed you too Lori, it's weird not having you around, when you moved I suddenly became the sibling everyone came to for leadership," Lincoln said. "Which is weird since I'm not even the second oldest, or the third, or fourth, or fifth."
"Well duh, you think any of us are gonna take leadership advice from a Rockstar, a clown or a jock?" Lola asked.
"Hey!" Luan shouted. Lynn just shrugged the insult off, not the first time she's heard something like that.
"Linky's just really smart for his age, he makes a natural leader," Leni said.
"Of course, who do you think taught him?" Lori boasted. "Thanks to me Lincoln knows about proper leadership, and good skin care."
"I do miss our face mask sessions," Lincoln said. This got him some stares from Bobby, Ronnie Anne, Sid and Adelaide, even a couple of his sisters. "What? There's nothing wrong with skin hygiene."
"Oh don't worry about them Lincoln, at least you don't have skin problems," Lori said.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly secure enough about my masculinity that I don't mind knowing a few 'girly' things," Lincoln said, air quoting for emphasis.
"Good on you little brother, plus you still have a very cute girlfriend so it's obviously working," Lori said, gesturing to Stella.
"Lincoln sometimes helps me with my skin care, he even does manicures with me," Stella said, showing off her hands. "It's great having a boyfriend who knows about this stuff and has appreciation."
"And a brother," Lola said, showing off her nails. "The perks of growing up with sisters."
Lynn rolled her eyes, she always worried about Lincoln's image, unfortunately he seems to be embracing these talents.
"Well since we still have time before Luna gets here, this is a good chance for us to catch up with Lori," Lincoln said. "We already caught up with Leni at least."
"Yeah, I got to spend the night at our house," Leni said. "Feels like forever since I did that."
"That's nice, must have been nice being back in our old room," Lori said.
"Actually I was in Linky's room, we switched for the night, I got to bunk with Lucy and he bunked with Lynn," Leni said.
"Wait, you switched?" Lori asked.
"Just for the night, yeah," Lincoln said.
Lori turned her attention to Lynn, the girl haven't hardly said anything, barely even around the others. Lori could understand why, she knows the trouble Lynn has been causing, or has caused a while back.
"Lincoln, mind coming with me for a second?" Lori asked.
"Uh sure," Lincoln said, following Lori out the Mercado. The two stood a distance from the door, "So what's up?"
"How's Lynn doing lately?" Lori asked.
"Lynn? Uh, she's fine, I guess," Lincoln said. "She's been pretty distant from everyone."
"Figures," Lori said. "Lincoln, have the girls ever talked to you about what Lynn's been doing to Stella?"
"Sort of, I mean I already knew Lynn had picked on her, but Lynn picks on everyone," Lincoln said. "I mean she even picks on my other friends or our sisters' other friends."
"Has she done that much lately?" Lori asked.
"No, over the last year she's pretty much backed off," Lincoln said. "But what's weird is that our sisters barely interact with Lynn that much, she's seemed pretty distant, I just wish I knew why."
Lori knew why, and maybe it's time Lincoln knew everything, after all, Stella is his girlfriend, and the sisters should be honest with their brother. Plus, if everyone wants to move on and reconcile, some truths must be shared.
"So, you spent last night with Lynn huh?" Lori asked. "What was that like?"
"Uh fine I guess, not a bad as the first time we shared a room," Lincoln said. "Sometimes I worry about her, she just seems so unhappy lately, I wish I could do something for her."
"You're such a good brother Lincoln," Lori said, and kissed his forehead. "I hope you never change that about yourself, even on our worst days. I know we've made you miserable but we do love you a lot Lincoln."
"I know that Lori," Lincoln reassured. "Don't worry, you'll always come first for me, you and our sisters."
"You're so sweet," Lori said, hugging her brother. "Guys like you and Bobby seem to be so rare, and I'm happy to call those guys my boyfriend and my brother."
"Lori, come on, this is getting a bit sappy," Lincoln said, blushing a bit.
"Sorry," Lori said, pulling away. "I'm just so proud of you, I really miss you Lincoln, I miss all of you."
"When you graduate, are you going to come back home, or marry Bobby?" Lincoln asked.
"Honestly, I love Bobby but I don't know if I'm ready for marriage, I might wait a few years, so you'll still get to see me," Lori said.
"Awesome, any extra time I get to have you around is time I'll gladly take," Lincoln said. "It just feels weird not having you around. Kind of need your older sister guidance."
"Lincoln, you know you're more than capable of acting independently," Lori said. "But I imagine me not being there is a lot of pressure for you. Jokes aside, Luna, Luan and Lynn should be the ones in charge, and maybe Luna does deserve a little more credit, but I can honestly understand why the little ones go to you. You're just more, open, like you really care. I mean not to say the other older sisters don't care, they love you and the younger sisters, they're just a little irresponsible and not that great at expressiveness, aside from their passions. You just give off that big brother vibe so well, there's a reason the twins always flocked to you even before I moved out, and why even the older sisters flock to you. You just have that factor, it almost can't be explained, but I know it might be a lot for you since you're young yourself, just remember though, even if I'm not there, I am a phone call away, and any excuse I get to hear your voice is one I'll take."
"Thanks Lori, I knew there was a reason I looked up to you," Lincoln said, hugging his sister once again, which she gladly accepted.
Inside the Mercado, the rest of Bobby's cousins had came down to greet the Louds, Carlotta talking to Leni about Fashion, and asking her if that school she's going to is worth it. Carol and CJ were chatting with Luan, the prank happy girl giving them some fun tips. Carlitos was playing around with Lily, Lana and Adelaide while Sid, Stella and Ronnie Anne talked
Lana was crawling around, pretending to be a dog for the amusement of her friends, and herself, even doing things that she learned from her own dog.
"Does she always do that?" Sid asked, gesturing to Lana.
"Well she does stuff similar," Stella said. "It kind of worries me."
"She's fine, just a bit overly excited," Ronnie Anne said.
"And she's great at keeping my sister entertained," Sid added.
"Still, I don't know if..." Stella saw Lana attempting to eat something covered in dirt and lint. "Lana!"
Stella was quick to grab it from her hand, much to her annoyance. "Hey! I wanted that!"
"Lana it's dirty, you shouldn't be eating this, it's bad for you," Stella said.
"I've eaten worse, stop being so lame!" Lana shouted, though one glare from Stella got her to back down, though still not without a hint of rebellion. "You used to be so much cooler."
"I just don't want you getting sick Lana," Stella said. "Plus what would Lincoln or Lori say if they saw you eating this?"
Lana turned away, "Ugh, fine, I'm off. Come on Adelaide."
"I'll show you my froggy castle," Adelaide said, leading Lana away.
"Only once huh?" Ronnie Anne said, remembering what Lana said earlier.
"It hasn't just been once, it's happened a couple of times," Stella said. "I mean, Lana does like me but she can be bothered when I meddle, and she's not the only one who's gotten annoyed by my actions."
"Really?" Sid said. "Here I thought you were highly revered by them."
"I'm not a Goddess, they were just really nice to the girl who choose to date their brother," Stella said. "But the more they got used to me, the more they felt comfortable speaking their mind."
"Ooh, do tell," Sid said, somewhat eagerly.
"Uh, it's not like some story, it's just a random events," Stella said. "I really can't recall all of them off the top of my head, and it's not that different than how Lana just spoke to me."
"Well who else did you annoy?" Ronnie Anne asked. "All of Lincoln's sisters or just a few?"
"Well I never got on Luna's nerves, or Luan's, though she has gotten on mine with her pranks," Stella said. "But it's nothing major, Clyde goes through the same thing too. It's flattering almost, like they see me as family."
"Well, you're luckier than I am," Ronnie Anne said. "I don't think many of the sisters like me as much as they like you, some probably still hate that I punched Lincoln on the eye."
"Come on, I don't think they do, if they did they wouldn't have been so bummed out when they thought you didn't want to ask him to that school dance."
"Oh yeah, I remember that," Ronnie Anne said. "He thought I was asking him to the dance when all I wanted was to go to the arcade, which I knew he'd rather do than go to some silly dance."
"What sort of hijinks did that lead into?" Sid asked.
"Well four of Lincoln's sisters each found a date for Lincoln, without consulting him or each other, and he ended up having to shuffle between four dates that night," Ronnie Anne explained.
"Wow really?" Sid asked. "Wow, that Lincoln sure is a wild one. How did he handle four dates?"
"He was really sneaky," Ronnie Anne said. "I'll give him some credit, juggling four dates like that was pretty impressive, fortunately Clyde and the others were there and they took the girls off Lincoln's back."
"You've met at least one of them, Polly Pain, Lynn's friend," Stella said.
"Oh yeah, the tall one," Sid said.
"She's actually really nice, helps that we have a common ground, both of us being tall for our ages, at the time at least," Stella said.
"Yeah, she turned out not so bad, good thing I didn't beat her up years ago," Sid said.
"Sid, no offense, but you're not exactly tough," Ronnie Anne said. "Or did you forget about the time we tried out the Lucha Libre club, and failed since you were a lousy partner."
"Maybe I'm not tough, but she, Lynn and that other girl was giving you trouble back at Dairy Land, if things got rough, you could be sure I would have your back," Sid said.
"Well, I won't doubt that, you're a great friend Sid," Ronnie Anne said, patting her friend on the back.
"It's nothing really," Sid said with a blush. "Anyway what happened that night? Sounds like Lincoln went home with no dates."
"The two of us went to the arcades and had fun, without the corny dance," Ronnie Anne said. "Just in time, they were gonna do a slow dance, way too awkward."
"I would love to slow dance with Lincoln," Sid said, blushing at the thought. "Being swept off my feet by such a masculine guy, every girl's dream." She turned her attention to Stella, "You're very lucky by the way."
"I know I am," Stella said.
"Hey, did those girls ever find out?" Sid asked.
"I think so, but they weren't bothered," Ronnie Anne said. "Good thing too, imagine if they got mad, they probably would have beat Lincoln up or something. Imagine how his sisters would have felt, basically leaving him on his own."
"Why would they do that in the first place?" Sid asked. "I mean if they found out about the four dates, shouldn't they have helped him?"
"Apparently Lincoln made up a story about not having seen Ronnie Anne all day, and when they found he basically lied to them, they basically left him on his own out of spite," Stella said. "I gotta say, his sisters can be a bit sensitive at times, I mean I expected that from Lucy since she was only a little girl and Lynn since she's...Lynn, but I expected better from Luna and Luan."
"Still, all I hear is that Lincoln can date more than one girl at a time and make it work," Sid said with a confident smile.
"I'm not sharing my boyfriend Sid!" Stella sternly said.
"Eh, girl can dream," Sid said.
"Wasn't Lincoln trying to beat you up a moment ago or something?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Eh, somehow I felt like he wouldn't have actually done anything," Sid said. "I mean he did give up on chasing me."
"Lincoln doesn't like fighting so that would explain it," Stella said. "Unfortunately he gets caught up in them quite a bit, luckily he's able to fend his sisters away, especially as he got older. He's still not as strong as Lynn but he's able to hold his own much better."
"Huh, wonder if he developed some muscle from that?" Ronnie Anne wondered.
"Oh he sure has," Sid said in an almost dreamy tone. She was snapped back to reality when she noticed both Ronnie Anne and Stella glaring curiously at her. "Uh, she sure has to get muscle from all that...self defense stuff."
"Uh-huh...you're absolutely positive Lincoln didn't hit you, not once?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"No? What makes you ask that?" Sid asked.
"Because you're being a bit strange," Ronnie Anne said. "I'm thinking he knocked some screws loose, not that there are that many to begin with."
The door chime rang again, now with Lincoln and Lori entering the store, getting the attention of the girls. The two made their way over to the trio, and from the look on the older girl's face, Stella could tell she had something to say. However that would have to wait.
"Hey girls, how's it going?" Lincoln asked. "Sorry I didn't have a chance to catch up with you two again after coming back from the park."
"That's fine, Ronnie Anne kept me company," Stella said. "We just had some girl talk, really passed the time."
"That's good," Lincoln said, then turned to Sid, the girl almost flinching when she saw a serious look in his eyes. Fortunately the look softened, "Hey Sid, sorry for nearly losing my temper before, but please try to mind what you say, and do."
"Uh, sure, no prob," Sid said, somewhat nervously.
"What happened with Sid?" Lori asked.
"Nothing I can't handle," Lincoln said, not wanting to go into detail about Sid's antics. Annoying as she was, he knew Lori would go irate if she heard what happened and Lincoln pitied Sid too much to let that happen. "Don't worry about it right now."
"If you say so," Lori said, then turned to Stella. "Hey, can I speak to you a moment? In the back?"
"Sure," Stella said, then turned to her friends. "Be back in a second."
Stella walked off with Lori, leaving Lincoln with Sid and Ronnie Anne, the latter curious to know what's up with the two. "Looks like she's getting more girl talk."
"Lori and Stella have really gotten close over the years, I swear I once heard Stella call Lori 'big sister'," Lincoln said.
"I still can't believe Lori used to hate her," Sid said.
"She didn't hate her, Carlota just got in her head," Lincoln said, then turned to Ronnie Anne. "She's still not hoping that, you know..."
"Aside from Bobby, my whole family is still hoping," Ronnie Anne said. "I mean my parents are cooler about it, but everyone else, forget it. Bobby's the only one who knows it ain't gonna happen."
"Well it could still happen if Lincoln and Stella broke up," Sid said. "Not that I want that to happen but it can happen."
"I don't want to think about them breaking up either," Ronnie Anne said, then turned to Lincoln. "You two belong together, besides she makes a much better girlfriend than I would."
"Aw, don't say that Ronnie Anne, you could make a good girlfriend yourself," Lincoln said.
"You think so huh?" Ronnie Anne asked, kind of curious. "What about me would make for a good girlfriend?"
"Uh, for one you're very strong willed," Lincoln began. "You're also very understanding, and you really value your family. Also you're a very kindhearted girl, thankfully you've shown a bit more of that over the last few years, and not this tough girl act you like putting on."
"I still can't see Ronnie Anne as a tough girl, when she tries acting tough she come soft all dorky about it," Sid said.
Ronnie Anne glared at her friend, "Hey, I could pull it off and you know it Sid!"
"Honestly I can't see it anymore either, you've turned into such a mature young girl, it's hard to believe you used to shove sloppy joes own my pants," Lincoln said. "You've turned into quite the softie."
"Hey watch it lame-o, I can still thrash you anytime I want," Ronnie Anne warned.
"Hey I know you can, you're still tough, you're just not as on edge a you used to be, you're way more relaxed," Lincoln said. "I'm not surprised, you have such a nice family who are obviously great influences on you, and they probably helped you feel more confident about yourself."
"Yeah, I guess so," Ronnie Anne admitted. "Wow, didn't know you thought these things, if I didn't know any better, I thought you were harboring a crush on me."
"Let's not make it awkward," Lincoln said. "I'm happy with Stella, I would never consider another girl."
"That's good to know, I don't want you breaking Stella's heart, not even for me," Ronnie Anne said. "Not like I'm eager to find someone right now anyway." Ronnie Anne said, not noticing Sid's disheartened expression.
"Well what if an opportunity presented itself?" Lincoln asked. "Like, one of your friends asked you out?"
"I doubt it, Casey and Sameer don't really seem interested, even after all these years, they're fine with just being friends," Ronnie Anne said.
"Uh, just out of curiosity, what if say Nikki asked you out?" Lincoln asked.
"Nikki?" Ronnie Anne tapped her chin. "Well she does give me flirty looks sometimes, but she's usually just messing around, she's not interested in dating anyone either, except maybe you but like me, she's pretty much non-caring."
"Well, if she did, or if any of your friends did, how would you react?" Lincoln asked.
Ronnie Anne looked a bit suspicious, "Why are you so curious...is there something you're not telling me?"
Lincoln grew nervous, and from what he can see, Sid was getting a bit nervous herself. "Uh, nothing really, I just like hearing things from your perspective."
Ronnie Anne could tell Lincoln was hiding something, and she'll get him to talk sooner or later, "Well I'll leave it at this, I'm fine being single, but right now the only girl who's happiness you should be worried about right now is Stella."
"Hey I totally get that Ronnie Anne," Lincoln said. "Stella's happiness is my top priority."
"Good, I'd hate to see you do anything to upset her, don't want to cheat her out of a good relationship, do you?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Cheat? Me? No way!" Lincoln nervously insisted, Sid also somewhat sweating. "No other girl means anything to me."
"Good, and I really do hope you feel nothing for me, but just in case you get the slightest bit curious, I'll tell you right now," Ronnie Anne said. "If you think about leaving Stella for me, don't waste your time, I will not take part in hurting my friend."
"You have my word," Lincoln said, raising his hand as a sign of honor.
"Good, now let's move on from this topic," Ronnie Anne said. "For one, what do you think Lori wanted with Stella?"
"Beats me, Lori's pulled Stella aside before, usually for some girl advice," Lincoln said.
"Lori seemed pretty serious though, hope everything's alright," Sid said.
Lincoln looked in their direction, "Yeah, me too."
With Lori and Stella, the older girl had laid out her reasoning behind this sudden meeting, "Stella, you never told Lincoln about Lynn blackmailing you, correct?"
"No, I haven't," Stella said.
"He never found out what was in her phone either, did he?" Lori asked.
"Far as I know, he never did," Stella said. "Unless Lynn told him but I don't think she would."
"She wouldn't risk it, she's afraid of him hating her, like a lot of my sisters seem to," Lori said.
"I hate to think of any of you hating each other," Stella said. "Lynn may be annoying but she's still family to you girls."
"She is, and...well it's complicated, I mean Lynn is my sister and I love all my sisters, but what she did to you was completely unacceptable," Lori said.
"She never made me do anything that bad, she just made me do stuff for her," Stella said. "Worst she probably did was make me do her laundry...after she had the runs."
"You're positive that's all she did though right?" Lori asked. "Never anything uncomfortable?"
"Aside from a few teases of the idea, no nothing uncomfortable," Stella said. "Honestly she mostly resorted to using it as a repellent, like if I don't bother her she won't show or tell anyone, like say if she's bugging Lincoln or her sisters."
"I still can't believe that even happened, I'm amazed at how oblivious Luna and Luan were," Lori said. "I hate knowing your privacy was violated like that."
"I should be the one who's sorry, I did pretty much cheat on Lincoln, with his sister," Stella said.
"We've already talked about this Stella, let's try to move on from that," Lori said. Not a fond memory for her, or any of the sisters who found out. "Point is, Lynn should not have blackmailed you like that. But I will agree that this resentment has gone on long enough, and I can't sit back and let Lynn lose her relationship with her other sisters. Plus I know Lincoln is bothered by it too, he hates seeing us fight after all."
"What are you planning?" Stella asked.
"I think it's time we help Lynn come clean with the sisters, to do that Lincoln needs to forgive her," Lori said.
"But Lincoln is already nice to her," Stella said. "Why would he need to forgive her?"
"Because he needs to know Stella," Lori said. "The others believe Lincoln's only nice because he doesn't know, and they won't tell him, but for the sake of our family, we're going to have to tell him."
"But if you tell him, he'll know about Luan," Stella said, getting worried. "What if he breaks up with me?"
"That's the other thing too," Lori said. "Suppose he finds out about it anyway? I really don't think we should have hid that from him, especially for the amount of time we did."
"Maybe not, but it's better than losing him," Stella said. "I do love Lincoln, I don't want to give that up."
"I know you don't Stella, hopefully you won't have to, but if you really do love him, then you owe him the truth," Lori said, rubbing her head. "We'll be there with you when it happens, and Lincoln might be angry but he'll be happy he heard the truth from you and not from say Lynn, if she ever decided to get spiteful again."
Stella grew concerned, she never wanted to tell Lincoln about that, she's hidden it well the last few years, but she had to agree with Lori, Lincoln did deserve the truth, and the sisters needed to put their differences behind them.
Plus, it would help if Stella had a good relationship with Lynn as well, this could be her chance to start over.
"Alright, we'll tell him," Stella said. "Uh, but can I have Ronnie Anne with me too? She know as well, it kind of came out while we were talking."
"Ronnie Anne knows?" Lori asked. "Wait, about the kiss or the pictures?"
"Both, she knew I kissed Luan and she knew Lynn took pictures," Stella explained.
"How did she react?" Lori asked.
"Well, she really hates Lynn now," Stella said. "Sorry if that poses a problem."
"It doesn't, I'm just happy she didn't negatively judge you," Lori said. "It really was an honest mistake, I mean I almost cheated on Bobby once."
"With that Hugh guy right?" Stella asked. "I mean, what did you even see in him? I mean he looked handsome but I don't get why all of you got that interested in him."
"It was his British Accent," Lori said. "Girls do have a weakness for guys with accents. Bobby liked the substitute French teacher after all, as did Lincoln."
"You mean Miss DiMartino right?" Stella said, having not so fond memories of her. "Lincoln better be over her by now."
"Aw, you're cute when you're jealous," Lori said, rubbing Stella's head. "Don't worry, I know Lincoln only has feelings for you, when you're not home he would always talk about how amazing you are, and when I talk to him on the phone from school, he loved to tell me about you, like how pretty you looked, or some cool things you did, even bragging on how smart you are because of all the tech you work on."
"Aw, I am special to Lincoln. That's good, because he's special to me," Stella said, blushing a lot. She then started to panic, "That's why I can't tell him about the Luan thing! I don't want to lose his love! Please can't we reconsider this Lori!?"
"Stella, stay calm," Lori said, placing her arms on Stella's shoulders, "I promise this won't result in your break-up, I won't let Lincoln do that! You're special to me as well and I'm not gonna let Lincoln lose you because he might be too thick-headed to understand the situation! I'm still the older sister, I can make him forgive you!"
"Normally, I'm not one to condone some of your family's wild antics," Stella said. "But I really couldn't care less about that right now, you do what you gotta do."
"That's my girl, if you want something in life, you make it happen," Lori said. "Now I'll let you get back to Lincoln while we wait for Luna."
"Alright Lori," Stella said, making her way back to her friends. Meanwhile Lori had to gather all her sisters, they had a plan to prepare for.
It wasn't long before Luna finally arrived, coming through the door of the Mercado in style, "What's up Louds!? Casagrandes!? Who's ready to Rock and Roll all night!?"
"Luna!" Everyone was quick to greet her, all hugging her, patting her back and wishing her luck before the concert.
"You're gonna rock it tonight Luna!" Lincoln said.
"We'll be cheering you on," Stella said.
"We're so proud of you honey!" Lynn Sr said.
"Can you get Yun Kwan's autograph for me!?" Sid asked.
"Sid!" Ronnie Anne scolded. "But if you're able to, make that two."
"Don't worry, I got you all covered," Luna said, pulling out some passes. "Because I have a few backstage passes for all of you!" That got a round of cheers before Luna spoke up again, "But it's not enough for everyone, I only got five, you're all gonna have to decide."
"Only five!?" Lola asked. "You did tell them how many sisters you have right?"
"Brother too!" Lincoln reminded.
"Yeah, yeah, point is you told them right!?" Lola asked.
"It was the best I could do, sorry everyone, maybe next time I can get more but I only have five," Luna said.
"That's fine, I can take mine and everyone else can fight for there's," Sid said.
"Oh heck no!" Ronnie Anne shouted. "You're not getting one so easily!"
"Hey, relatives first!" Lola said.
"Guys! Chill!" Luna shouted. "Look I don't want any of you fighting, so I'm gonna pick who gets the passes, whoever doesn't get picked, well you're gonna have to buck up and deal with it."
"That's fine, but I will fight for those passes," Lola said.
"Wow, you're a total badass Lola!" Adelaide said.
"Oh, thank you Adelaide," Lola said, doing a slight courtesy.
"Sis! where'd you hear that type of word!?" Sid asked.
"From you, remember when Ronnie Anne did that skateboard trick?" Adelaide said.
"Oh...right, well hopefully that's all the negativity I've taught you," Sid said.
Lincoln's eye twitched but he took a breath, doing his best not to hurt the moronic girl.
"I know you all want a pass, but I gotta think about this rationally," Luna said. "I figured I could give it to Lincoln, Stella, Ronnie Anne and Sid at the very least."
"Boo!" Lola shouted.
"That still leaves you with one extra," Luna said in a deadpanned tone.
"Oh, right," Lola said, somewhat embarrassed. "My mistake!"
"Might have hurt your chances there sis," Lana said, getting a glare from Lola.
"Oh can it," the sassy pageant girl said.
"I think that's fair," Lori said. "It would mean a lot to them to have that memory."
"That still leaves the fifth pass," Luna said. "I could give it to Lori to chaperone the four, and I know she'd love to meet her favorite band."
"That would be nice," Lori said. "But it would be weird if I didn't have Bobby, he is my date."
"I can give up my pass for you," Stella suggested.
"You're too sweet," Lori said, patting Stella's head. "That's fine, I'll be happy with Bobby backstage or the crowd, plus you should be with your date."
"I guess I can give the extra ticket to Leni, or maybe Carlotta, even Luan," Luna suggested.
"Isn't Clyde coming too?" Stella said. "Maybe we should wait for him."
"Clyde won't be here until just before the show," Lincoln said. "I just texted him not too long ago, there's a lot of traffic, they might just barely arrive."
"Oh, what a shame then," Stella said.
"But I know who we can bring," Lincoln said, then gestured to his jock sister. "How about Lynn?"
"Me!?" Lynn asked.
"Lynn!?" Stella, Ronnie and Sid stated, not too thrilled with the choice.
"Uh, you sure about that little bro?" Luna asked.
"Yeah Linc, that's really not necessary," Lynn insisted.
"It'll be fun, you, me an the girls, plus it's been a while since you really had a chance to enjoy yourself, and I hate seeing you so bummed out," Lincoln said.
"That's nice Linc, but you really don't have to, I'm fine, see?" Lynn put on a smile that to Lincoln was so obvously fake, which it was.
"At least think about it Lynn," Lincoln said, then turned to Luna. "Is that alright?"
"She's got an hour, otherwise I'll pick the fifth pass holder myself," Luna said.
Lincoln nodded to his sister, "Thanks Lunes. I better tell Clyde this, be right back." Lincoln grabbed his phone, calling his best friend.
"Speaking of friends, anyone else got friends on the way over?" Luna asked.
"The only other person coming is Benny, no one else was able to get tickets," Lori said.
"Not even your friends?" Luna asked.
"Well, Dana got a ticket, the others couldn't," Lori said. "Dana's already on her way to the conert, I'm meeting her there."
"Alright cool, so everyone's pretty much ready? Concert's in a couple of hours, but we should be leaving sooner to beat the traffic," Luna said.
"Yeah, we'll be ready," Lori said, then approached Luna, speaking in a hushed tone, "Come with me a moment."
"Uh, sure," Luna said, following Lori outside the store, staying to the side."
"We need to talk soon, all the sisters, it's about Lynn, Stella and those pictures," Lori said.
"Is Lynn pulling that crap again?" Luna asked, ready to go inside and pounce on the jock sister.
"No, but I think it's time we told Lincoln," Lori said.
"Tonight?" Luna asked. "Uh, maybe not the best idea since, you know, big concert and we don't want Lincoln breaking up with Stella before they attend, otherwise it'll be a total bust!"
"They won't, but this is the first time in a while all of us were together, that means we all need to put this behind us together," Lori said. "I know this doesn't seem like the best time but take my word for it, this is a perfect opportunity. All our sisters are here, so are Bobby and Ronnie Anne, and you know how much they both care about Lincoln, and you know Ronnie Anne cares about Stella too, they'll want to help and they'll be able to help."
"I still think this isn't the best time though," Luna said. "Suppose Lincoln gets mad! It's been like three years since then, kind of a long time to keep a secret!"
"Well what if it's ten years, imagine how much it'll sting then," Lori said. "What happened was an honest accident, at least to me. Lincoln should be able to understand that, we'll make him understand."
"But I don't want to chance Stella getting hurt," Luna said. "I don't want to hurt my brother either."
"Lincoln needs to know, it's not just Stella's relationship he needs honesty with, it's also Lynn," Lori said. "You girls haven't fully forgiven her, have you?"
"Of course not, that was a bullshit thing for her to do!" Luna shouted.
"You're upset because you think Lincoln would be upset," Lori said.
"Well duh, I'd be upset if one of you kissed Sam," Luna said.
"Would you hold it against us forever?" Lori asked. "Even if you and Sam still loved each other?"
"Well...probably not," Luna admitted.
"Lincoln cares about Lynn, but he can tell you're all avoiding him, he deserves to know why and he should know what Stella did so she doesn't have to carry the guilt, same with Luan, who might need to come clean to Benny as well," Lori said. "If we don't fix this, Lynn's just gonna feel more isolated, and soon it might start to upset Lincoln, he doesn't like seeing us fight or avoid each other. If he sees you all avoiding Lynn, he's gonna think it's something petty and it might cause him to feel some dislike toward all of you. Lynn might annoy Lincoln but he still loves her a lot and he'll be upset if she's treated like this, because for all we know, it reminds Lincoln of how we treated him during that bad luck thing."
"Which was Lynn's fault by the way," Luna said.
"It doesn't matter, Lincoln isn't one to wish his misfortunes on others, no matter what we do he'll always see the best in us and his top priority is seeing us happy, even if it takes him a while to realize that," Lori said. "If Lynn is continuously treated like this, he's just going to empathize with her more."
"But if he finds out, he'll hate her too, so what's the point in telling him?" Luna asked.
"He won't, he'll just be mad, but he'll forgive her," Lori said. "If the sisters can see that he's capable of forgiving her, no matter how mad he gets, it'll improve your relationship with Lynn and maybe it'll lift her spirits and give her a second chance. Plus again, suppose Lincoln finds out about this on his own, he'll be even angrier, not just because of what she did, but that everyone tried hiding it from him. So in a way, this can prevent Lincoln from being mad at all of us."
"Uh, I guess so," Luna said, still somewhat reluctant. "This better work Lori."
"It will, have faith Luna," Lori said. "Lincoln has always been honest with us, even when it wasn't easy, so let's be the ones trying to do right by him for a change, it happens so rarely after all."
In the Mercado, Lincoln is still explaining everything to Clyde, unaware that he was being joined by Lynn. "It's so amazing, getting to see some awesome musicians up close. I'll get an autograph for you too buddy. Anyway, see you later pal."
As he hung up, he turned around and saw Lynn, the jock just waving, "Hey, finished talking to Clyde?"
"Yeah, he's excited for me, he can't wait to get here," Lincoln said.
"That's cool, I like Clyde, he's a good friend for you," Lynn said. "Anyway, mind telling me why you offered me the last pass?"
"To make you happy, just like I said," Lincoln explained.
"Alright, but why though?" Lynn asked. "Why are you so concerned about making me happy? I haven't been the best sister to you."
"Well, yeah I wouldn't call you the best, but you're still my sister and I want to do something nice for you," Lincoln said. "You've been in a rut lately, so I want to pull you out. The other girls really aren't treating you nicely and I know you've kind of distanced yourself from your friends lately."
"Ugh, fine so I haven't been in the best mood, I'll bounce back, I just need a little me time," Lynn said.
"You have way too much of it, since no one really bothers you and you went back to bunking alone after Leni left," Lincoln said. "Lynn, I really want you to bunk with me and Lucy."
"Are you kidding? She'll never go for that, the little brat's been holding a grudge against me since I spilt the beans about her secret obsession," Lynn said.
"Well, did you say 'sorry'?" Lincoln asked.
"Um, well...honestly do I really need to?" Lynn asked.
"Lynn, you're the older sister, you have to take some responsibility," Lincoln said. "Don't you love Lucy?"
"Of course, I love all my sisters," Lynn said.
"Then prove it, you two were roommates for a while, Lucy even told me she used to look up to you because of how confident you were, and honestly I did too," Lincoln said. "You're an awesome older sister, how many other girls can juggle as many sports as you? You're so close to being the perfect role model, you just need to be a little more empathetic."
Lynn started feeling weird, and flattered, "I'm...you both looked up to me? For real?"
"Yeah, of course," Lincoln said. "That's why it bugged me for a while when you would say some of those mean things about me, or how you told me I was bad luck, or all the times you picked on me," Lincoln said. "I did value your opinion Lynn, so it did make me feel like trash when you did and said that stuff."
"Oh, wow Lincoln, I'm really sorry," Lynn said. "I wasn't trying to make you feel like trash, I just wanted to motivate you."
"Yeah, I figured that, I just felt so much pressure to meet your standards," Lincoln said.
"Hey, don't worry about that anymore, alright?" Lynn said. "I should have appreciated you more, I honestly do though, I mean, I used to think your video games were lame, then I saw Lana play yours, I had no idea how tough they were, takes a lot of mental toughness to endure that, plus you need hand-eye coordination, and they way you play those games, it's like you're on auto-pilot, you figure things out so quickly, even I don't think I could do any of that."
"I can teach you, if you ever want to," Lincoln said. "Then maybe you can teach me some stuff, I mean I wouldn't mind learning the proper way to kick a soccer ball, or do a slam dunk."
"I can totally help you with that, but slam dunks aren't beginner level stuff, so you're gonna have to start with free throws," Lynn said.
"You're the expert," Lincoln said, rubbing his head. He then looked to his sister, shy twiddling his fingers "I know you told me not to say this in public, but I really do love you Lynn, I just want you to feel like someone cares about you."
"That's fine, I do appreciate that Lincoln," Lynn said, rubbing the boy's head. "You're an awesome little brother."
Back with Ronnie Anne, Stella and Sid, the three girls were sitting together, all somewhat annoyed at Lincoln's suggestion.
"Is it wrong that I really don't want Lynn to come with us?" Stella asked.
"No, because I don't either," Ronnie Anne said.
"Yeah same, she's a total pain in the ass," Sid said. "I can't believe Lincoln could handle being around her."
"Try having to do her favors for almost a year," Stella said, remembering each time
Stella having to do Lynn's laundry, by hand once even. She remembers Lynn dumping a load of jock straps near her.
"Scrub them real nice and good," Lynn said, tossing the basket aside as Stella went to scrubbing.
One piece of clothing stuck out to her, it was a dirty pair of shorts "Ugh, this smells so bad!"
"Careful with some clothes, I had the runs and I didn't make it to the bathroom once," Lynn said, Stella nearly vomiting.
Then later Stella gave Lynn a sports drink, only for Lynn to spit it out, "Ugh, this is blueberry, I wanted the lime!"
"Since when does that matter to you?" Stella asked. "It's all from your fridge!"
"I'm in the mood for lime, now get to it skyscraper," Lynn said, much to Stella's annoyance as she walked off, muttering to herself.
"Pfft, skyscraper, not my fault she's a shrimp."
Lynn even used Stella as a goalie once, and her kicks did not relent as she kept getting knocked over. "Come on, even Lincoln lasted longer than you!"
"Lincoln has the patience of a saint," Stella muttered, standing up.
Back in the present, Stella shuddered at all the past actions, Ronnie Anne feeling empathy. "I can't believe her."
"At least she didn't do it every day, and some of her tasks were simple, like running to the store to grab her popcorn for some baseball game she was watching," Stella said. "But like I said earlier, it started to dwindle down and she simply used the pics to get me to back off from her when she was in the middle of an argument, usually with Lincoln, Luan or Luna."
"Man, I totally would have punched her," Sid said.
"Again, you're not really strong," Ronnie Anne said.
"Fine, I would have gotten my robot to punch her," Sid said.
"Robot?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, I like to build robots, especially for the Robot Lucha Libre club at the school Ronnie Anne and I attend," Sid said.
"Wow, I forgot you two mentioning that club, can I see one of your robots, I want to see how it was made!" Stella said.
"Oh totally!" Sid said. "I'll take you there right now!"
Sid led Stella to the secret hangout room that she and Ronnie Anne had, the girl of course about to follow when she noticed Carlota talking to Leni, mentioning something interesting.
"So, how is Lincoln's relationship with that Stella girl?" Carlota asked.
"Oh it's totes cute, they really like each other, it's true love!" Leni said.
"Right, so there's no regrets? None at all?" Carlota asked.
"No, not really," Leni said. "Stella's a great girlfriend, she's really cute and very fashionable. Plus she appreciates Lincoln for who he is."
"I see, so there's no tension between them? None at all?" Carlota asked.
"No, not at all, and we plan to keep it that way," Leni said.
"You plan to?" Carlota asked, getting a look of worry from Leni.
"Uh...I should go now, I think I hear Mr. Grouse calling me," Leni said.
"Isn't that your neighbor?" Carlota asked. "From all the way back in Royal Woods?"
"Yeah, he's got quite the call...buh-bye!" Leni said and quickly walked away.
Carlota rubbed her chin in curiosity, "Hm, is that girl hiding something?"
Ronnie Anne groaned in annoyance, but she was worried, if Carlota ever found out about Stella kissing Luan, no doubt she would exploit that, she needed to hurry on over to her friends and give her a warning before things really go bad for her.
I gotta take a break from the story and fix some computer problems, next chapter won't at my usual posting paste but it shouldn't take that much longer, give it an extra week or two. Story's nearly over, hope it's been enjoyable.
I also want to quickly address the portrayal of Sid in this story, it is meant to be comical and I understand it can be a bit weird but it's suppose to be in good fun. I like the character and sometimes it can be fun to tweak her around a bit, but in the end, she's still a good friend and cares about those around her, she's just a bit hormonal lately due to puberty. Unfortunately it is a bad influence on her sister so who knows, she might dial it down, or be completely oblivious, time will tell.