Chapter 2

At dinner, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, sharing today's events and eating minestrone. Well…almost everyone, Lincoln didn't say or did anything really. "Lincoln, everything alright, honey?" Rita asked, "It looks like you barely touched your food," she said, noticing Lincoln's bowl was almost full.

"Dinner not soup-er?" Lynn Sr. joked.

"Not the time, dear," his wife told him.

"Sorry."

"I guess I'm just not that hungry," said Lincoln.

"Follow up question," Lynn spoke next, "Why were halfing it at practice earlier?"

Lincoln shrugged, "Maybe I just didn't have the energy."

"Well I wish you should've said that earlier. I could've given you an energy drink."

Luan went next, "Also, why weren't you reacting to my jokes? You didn't even groan. Is something bothering you?"

"Not sure, but I'm fine," Lincoln told her.

However, his tone made everyone think differently. "Lincoln, something must be bothering you," Lori suspected, "Why won't you tell us?"

"Because I have nothing to hide, Lori," he replied slightly annoyed.

"Come on, bro," Luna spoke next, "You said it yourself; you were feeling off."

Lincoln sighed, "Luna…"

"We're only trying to help you, Lincoln," said Lana.

"Lana, please."

"Lincoln…" Lola said impatiently.

"No, Lola."

"But, Lincoln…" Leni tried to talk.

"Guys," Lincoln almost lost it, "Listen, I'll admit, I have been and still feeling off, but I really don't want to talk about it."

After a moment of silence, Rita said, "Okay Lincoln, if you don't want to talk, that's fine. We won't discuss anything further."

"Thanks Mom," Lincoln thanked her. "Can I be excused?"

"Yes."

And with that, the sole son and brother left the table. Charles jumps in his chair and eats his owner's unfinished bowl of soup.

Lisa concluded, "Based on tonight's events, Lincoln appears to be in the same denial state as I witnessed about 2 hours, 45 minutes and 22 seconds ago when he was in me and Lily's room."

"But what can we do? Lincoln won't talk to us," Lucy pointed out.

"Inky sad?" Lily asked with worry.

"I'm not sure, sweetie," Rita had no answer for the baby. "I say wait until the next day. Tomorrow is Friday, so Lincoln might be in a better mood, knowing the weekend's around the corner."

In the parents' room, Rita and Lynn Sr. were discussing a worrying subject. "Do you think something happened to Lincoln at school?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"I doubt it," Rita replied, "Otherwise, we would've gotten a note or call from his teacher or principal."

"A fight with one of his sisters?"

"We usually let them handle that, but I don't think so; you saw how worried they were about their brother."

Little did the two know, all ten girls were listening from the vent in the bathroom. "A fight with one of his friends?" Lynn Sr. continued to list the possibilities.

"Possibly, but I think it's something else," said Rita.

The sisters looked at each other in concern. "Is Lincoln gonna be okay?" Leni asked.

"Yeah, what if he's changed for the worse?" Lana vented a bit, "Is he gonna stay that way?"

"Normally I embrace the feeling of despair, but not when it comes to my family," Lucy said in sorrow.

"Girls, I'm sure Lincoln will be back to himself sooner or later. We just gotta have faith in him," Lori told the group.

"I hope you're right, sis," said Luna, "Lincoln's never acted like this before. What could've happened to him?"

"Sadly, that's literally still a mystery," Lori regretfully informed. "Come on, we should go to bed, it's getting late."

Later that night, Luna came out of her room and walked towards Lincoln's, sniffling on the way down. Ugh, my nose is stuffed. Hope bro's got some tissues, she thought to herself. Luna carefully and quietly opened Lincoln's door, and entered. She tip-toed past her sleeping brother to the tissue box on his desk while trying to hold in a sneeze by pinching her nose. She lets go of said nose, grabs the box and starts to leave. But then…*Achoo!* Luna sneezed into her elbow which hit the light switch on.

"AAAAH! What the-," Lincoln was startled, shot up in bed and shielded his eyes as he felt the light despite them being closed.

"Sorry bro!" Luna apologized, "That wasn't supposed to happen! *Achoo!*"

Soon the rest of the family joined the scene. "What's going on?" Lori asked.

"Oh no! Lincoln's blind!" Leni freaked out.

Lincoln lowered his arm and regained his vision, "No, Leni. Somehow my lights turned on while I was sleeping."

"That's my fault," Luna admitted.

"What happened?" Rita asked.

The rocker explained, "I had some sniffles, so…*Achoo!* I went inside Lincoln's room to snag some tissues. Then I sneezed and accidentally hit the lights, which woke him up." Luna turned to Lincoln, "Sorry for startling you, bro."

"It's okay," Lincoln forgave her, "And I should apologize as well for waking the rest of you up."

"You're forgiven, Linc. We know you didn't mean to," said Lori.

"But as for the sniffling," Rita said, approaching Luna and felt her forehead, "You feel warm, Luna. You should sleep downstairs so no one else gets sick."

"Gotcha. *Achoo!*" Luna complied, going into a tissue, and also sniffled a bit.

Rita turned to the rest of her family, "Alright everyone, back to bed; it is a School night."

"By the way, Luna, you can keep the tissues," said Lincoln.

"Thanks, bro. *Achoo!*" Luna said, sneezing in a tissue.

And with that, all but Lincoln left the room. He turned out the lights and climbed back in bed. There he lies awake with his thoughts. I don't get it. Why am I like this, he wondered, thinking back to today.