Alright, readers, here it is. After spending a month of hiatus, I've finally gotten to create this new story that I came up with!
Now, as I said before, I had struggled with writer's block throughout July, and it has been tough. But that's not the only thing to touch upon; this story may be a bit more controversial than my previous stories, provided this story depicts alcohol (the only reason this is rated T is that there is no hardcore violence, blood or profanity anywhere). Despite this and the underage drinking that's depicted, there will be some humor here and there, and the sisters will mostly be in character.
Another thing, while this story will have some humor, it's also going to tackle some themes of depression and what it does to someone. I won't give too many spoilers for this, so I'll let you guys read it for yourselves.
In any case, I think we should get this story started right now. If you are curious as to how things will unravel, read it for yourself. For now, enjoy the story, everyone!
DISCLAIMER: All the rights to the Loud House belong to the Nickelodeon Corporation and those who run it.
IN ROYAL WOODS, MI:
It was a typical but beautiful day in the city of Royal Woods, Michigan. It was sunny, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and everyone was making the most of it. At the Loud House, in particular, it was a seemingly normal day for the residents. The sisters were all taking part in their usual rituals that they would do daily, and nothing was wrong with them.
However, one person in the house was the sole exception to all of this, both inside and outside of the Loud House and in Royal Woods altogether. And that someone happens to be Lincoln; the middle child and only son/brother of the family of ten sisters. The only Loud boy was feeling rather depressed and down in the dumps. For that matter, Lincoln had been feeling depressed for quite some time now.
You see, it all started one fine day in the Loud House when the eldest sister Lori had called forth a sibling meeting in her bedroom, as she had some very important news to get out in the open. Now, it was a known fact in the house that Lori was a senior in high school, but because the school year was almost over, this means that the eldest sister will be starting college in the fall and that meant only one thing. It means that she'll be moving into a new dorm room for college and won't be living in the Loud House anymore, thus leaving the house with one less Loud residing with them.
"Alright girls, and Lincoln, I have an announcement to make," Lori had told them all. "As you may know, I'll be starting college soon once I graduate from high school. This means that I'll be moving out of here and I'll be literally getting settled into a nice dorm room with Bobby. Now, this means that I will not be able to take care of you guys anymore, and you will need to fend for yourselves without me being here to guide you through."
Needless to say, none of the siblings were fond of this news, given that Lori was the one who upheld the most responsibilities and kept things in check for them, most of the time. The sisters were pretty bummed out by this, since they could no longer rely on Lori for assistance, and would instead fend for themselves, or have an older sister (or in Lincoln's case, brother) help them out.
Special mentions out of the sisters go to Leni, the second oldest sister in the family. It was a known fact that she was not the brightest bulb in the house, and was pretty ditzy, despite her everlasting kindness. In addition to that, Leni had been sharing her room with Lori for who knows how long, and with Lori gone, that means Leni will be having the room all to herself. Now there was nothing wrong with that (Lincoln has his room in the form of a closet), but Leni enjoyed some companionship, and disregarding the arguments she had with Lori in the past, she loved sharing a room with her. Once Lori is gone, Leni will be pretty lonely in this room, and it'll be sad for her.
And on top of that, there was no telling if anyone could take charge of the whole family ever again, at least in the manner that Lori did it. The sisters had put Lincoln in charge that one time when they overthrew Lori, and they know how that turned out. All in all, none of them were thrilled about this in the slightest.
But out of all of the siblings in the house, Lincoln was the one who took this news the hardest. It didn't sit well with him at all. As a result, the 11-year old boy fell into depression, and it's gone downhill from there.
It should be a known fact that Lincoln was going to be starting middle school soon in the fall, and he knows that his sporty sister Lynn won't be there anymore to help him through the dreadful trials of middle school. The thing is Lynn will still be living with him as she's only going into high school. The same couldn't be said for Lori. To him, the Loud House will be a little less loud with her gone.
Sure, they've been through some rather rough patches over the years that strained their relationship, and those instances were still fresh in his mind. But at the end of the day, Lincoln can always rely on Lori whenever he needed her, and she'd always look out for him. But once she's gone, that'll no longer be in effect. Now, most of his other older sisters weren't the type to be like Lori. Lynn was too much of a sports jock, Luan is too much of a jokester to take seriously, and Leni is…well, Leni. And then there's Luna, who would come pretty close, except she was more occupied with her music career during her spare time. That being said, it won't be the same without Lori. He loved his eldest sister, and he was fonder of the good times they spent together over the bad times.
As a result of his growing depression, he has lost interest in a lot of the stuff he has enjoyed doing, such as reading comic books, playing video games, or even hanging out with his best friend Clyde. Clyde would occasionally check up on him to see if he's alright, but it was obvious that Lincoln's depression was overtaking him.
However, this didn't mean that he was left with nothing to do. Rather, he found some other pastimes to take part in, with a couple of sisters that he decided to hang out with to keep him occupied. For instance, Lincoln had been spending some time with Lucy lately, where he has been writing some poetry with her. Sometimes they would do it in her bedroom. Other times they would do it in the air vent; which was Lucy's preferable place for writing poems. While Lincoln wasn't all for it at first, eventually he got used to it and went along with it with no trouble. Specifically, the poems that Lincoln has been writing about have been not so subtle about his depression, while making pointers as to what's eating at him while not giving away all of the facts. For all her interests in the darkness and vampires, Lucy had seen some of Lincoln's poems and admired them. True, she was skeptical as to how he got into this all of a sudden and why he's been acting different lately. But she decided not to bring it up with him. He was writing rather wonderful poems with her, and that's what mattered to her.
Also, Lincoln has been spending some time with Luna as well. Usually, when it comes to Luna, Lincoln would ask for her to play something upbeat to his interest, but not in this condition. Lincoln requested his rocker sister to play something that was on the dreary side of rock music. Getting what he was talking about, Luna obliged and played songs by several dreary metal and rock groups that she knows, one of them being Alice in Chains. She had performed several songs by them such as 'Down in a Hole', 'Rooster', 'Would?', and several other songs that were depressing, most of them were from the albums Dirt and Alice in Chains (self-titled album) while trying to avoid constant swearing in front of her bro. Needless to say, these songs blended in well with how Lincoln has been feeling lately. Luna wasn't entirely aware of his depression, and while she felt that this side of him was different and came 'out-of-nowhere', she decided to go along with it. She was doing this with her brother, and that's what mattered to her.
Another sister that Lincoln had been spending time with constantly was his jokester sister Luan. Now he wasn't up to hearing her jokes frequently, but what they did do was watch some TV. In particular, they watched a specific show that Luan got the DVDs from her dad, who used to watch the show when he was in his teens. The show that they watched together was called 'M*A*S*H'; a show that was heavily war-themed and also combines elements of comedy and drama; sometimes called dark comedy. Now Luan felt that Lincoln would have liked the funny aspects of the show, but that's where she was wrong. Instead, Lincoln was a little more attached to the more depressing elements of the show, with interest in some of the more dramatic (borderline tragic) episodes in the series such as 'Sometimes You Hear the Bullet', 'Abyssinia, Henry', 'Margaret's Engagement', and several others too. Now, this would be odd for an 11-year-old boy to take interest in this, but he kept it to himself, as he kept watching the show with Luan. At times, the jokester sister would throw a couple of raised eyebrows in Lincoln's direction to see how he was doing, but otherwise, she didn't say anything. She has assumed that he wanted to watch something funny and humorous with her, and that made her happy.
And then there was Lynn, who had been taking notice in how Lincoln was all down in the dumps as they call it. Feeling that she needed to get her brother to stop being such a stick in the mud, she would often drag him along when he was doing nothing and get him to play some games and exercises with her. They played her favorite sports together like baseball, football, soccer, basketball, and more, and they play active board games together. Naturally, she was hoping for Lincoln to exhaust himself, but on account that he'd be perked up and be in a better mood. Unbeknownst to her, Lincoln was losing to her on purpose, and when she noticed it, it got her confused. Not that she objected to it, but she felt that her little bro wasn't putting up much of a fight against her, and was hoping he'd make it a little more challenging for her instead of being a lame-o. But who was complaining, right? Not Lynn, of course. She decided to let this slide, feeling that at least playing with her when he had free time was important to her…
Currently, Lincoln was simply passing the time by watching TV alone. Something else that's worth mentioning is that the parents had gone away for the weekend for a getaway and that they'd be home in a couple of days. In the meantime, bar usual, they left Lori in charge, even though she was out for the moment, tending to some matters that had to do about college preparation, thus leaving the rest of the sisters upstairs in their rooms for now. They had already had dinner prior, and everything was cleaned up, and the sun was getting close to setting over the horizon for the evening. As such, Lincoln was given some alone time, and he decided to kill it by seeing what was on television.
Alas, there was nothing good on TV today, and Lincoln was growing more jaded with each passing channel, especially since each program somehow reminded him of his ongoing depression.
"And in other news tonight," the anchorman reported. "An 18-year-old woman has recently moved out of her own home and is heading for college. She had a lovely family that was left behind, and her younger brother was devastated about her departure."
*FLICK*
"Would you like to solve the puzzle, sir," a game show host asked a fine-looking gentleman on a Wheel-of-Fortune-esque show.
"MY SISTER RAN AWAY FROM HOME," the contestant took a wild guess to the puzzle.
"That is correct!" The game show host boomed as a round of applause had roared throughout as that was the answer to the puzzle.
*FLICK*
"Well, that's all of my things. Everything's been packed up. Now I can move out and start a new life on my own," a petite looking woman said as she was moving out in this dramatic movie. "I doubt that my younger brother will miss me when I leave…"
*FLICK*
"Mark, my dear younger brother, I'm afraid that I have some bad news," a lady said to her brother in this cheesy soap opera. "I'll be moving away from here since I've gotten a new job in a different city. This means you won't be seeing me again."
Naturally, the little brother fell to his knees and cried in an over the top manner.
"NO SARAH! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!" Mark cried. "I'LL BE A WRECK WITHOUT YOU! YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND!"
Sarah sighed and looked remorseful about this. "I'm sorry Mark, but it's for the best. I'll miss you, and I'll hope to see you again someday."
This got Mark balling his eyes out in an overdramatic manner as Sarah left to put her things in the taxi that came to pick her up.
*FLICK*
"Hey, Fred, my little brother," a big sister in her mid to late 20s came in through the door in this family sitcom. "Guess whose back?!"
Expectedly, Fred raced over and leaped into his sister's arm.
"Betty," he cried tears of joy. "My big older sister! I missed you so much! I'm glad that your back home! I thought that I'd never see you again!"
"I missed you too Fred," Betty smiled. "I'm glad to be back home, and you will always be able to see me again, little bro."
The siblings engaged in a cheesy heartwarming hug that was typical for this type of show.
"Ugh, there's NOTHING on," Lincoln groaned. "This is boring. I can't even hang out with Luna, Luan, Lucy, or even Lynn since they're busy."
As Lincoln stopped surfing through the TV, he felt his throat go dry. He was getting thirsty, and that meant it was time for a soda break.
"All of this channel surfing has gotten me parched," Lincoln sighed as he dropped the remote. "Maybe helping myself to a soda will put me at ease."
Getting off the sofa, Lincoln walked off and headed straight for the kitchen to get a can of soda.
Of course, he was in for a shocking surprise, for when he opened the refrigerator door, all of the soda was gone.
All of the soda in the fridge is gone! Lincoln thought and concluded. I guess one of my sisters must have gotten to it first and we're all out.
Now Lincoln knew how to put up with this, because in a house with ten sisters, he has to learn to share. Unfortunately, his parched throat led to him feeling desperate, and he wondered if there was any extra soda stashed away somewhere. One by one, Lincoln checked all of the cabinets; under the sink, above the sink, and in the bigger cabinets to see if there was a soda somewhere.
No luck at all.
Suddenly, he remembered one other cabinet that he hadn't checked yet that could have some; above the fridge. Slowly but surely, Lincoln climbs up onto the counter and eventually gets on top of the fridge where he approached the cabinet that none of them looked through.
"Perhaps this cabinet could have some soda," he murmured with sheer determination.
He opened the cabinet and finds something in there. While there were no cans of soda in there, there was something else that caught his attention.
It was a pint-sized bottle, and it had some liquid in it. Half a pint of it to be honest. It immediately clicked in his mind.
"Bingo! A bottle of soda," Lincoln said, grabbing the bottle of liquid and closing the cabinet afterwards.
What he wasn't aware of was that wasn't soda at all, since there was no label on the front of it that said what it was. However, on the side of it was a label that exclaimed that this beverage was to be consumed during special occasions only, mainly when the kids aren't around.
"That's odd. Why would this have to be consumed when none of us are around," Lincoln was confused for a second before brushing it off. "Oh well, I don't see any harm in drinking this. None of my sisters are around to take this from me, not even Lori. I might as well help myself."
With that, Lincoln slid back down the fridge with the bottle in his hand and then climbed down from atop the counter. As soon as he jumped off the counter, he opened up the bottle and took a good whiff of it. He noticed how it smelled different from other sodas that he drank, given that this wasn't soda.
"Hmmm, this soda smells funny," Lincoln felt his nose crinkle before shaking it off. "Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess."
With that, he took his first sip of the stuff. Once he did that, he instantly spits out what just touched his mouth, and judging from the scrunched look on his face, this wasn't anything like what he drank before.
"Bleck, this stuff tastes funny too," Lincoln reacted appropriately.
Of course, letting his curiosity get the better of him, he took another sip of the stuff. This time, he was able to swallow the liquid down with no trouble. He suddenly felt a sensation from drinking it.
"Huh, this stuff has quite an aftertaste," Lincoln said musingly. "I guess there's no harm in drinking some more of this. What could go wrong?"
Going with that decision, Lincoln continued to drink the stuff down casually, while becoming more intrigued by the stuff. But he was completely unaware of what exactly he was drinking from that bottle He had no idea what could go wrong from drinking that stuff…
Meanwhile, upstairs in Lori and Leni's bedroom, three sisters were taking up the room at the moment; Leni, Luna, and Luan. While Lincoln was drinking the mysterious stuff downstairs, Leni was keeping herself busy by brushing her hair innocently while looking in the mirror, while Luna and Luan were busy cleaning up Lori's side of the room. Since Lori will be moving out of the house soon, now would be as great of a time for them to sort out her side of the room and get it organized. After all, they were going to lose her to college, so what's the harm in that?
The rocker sister and jokester sister were never fond of cleaning their room, let alone their eldest sister's, but they decide to get some of this done while Lori was out at the moment. As they were doing that, they decided to strike a conversation with each other about what's been going on lately.
"Hey sis," Luna started to speak to her roommate. "Have you noticed something odd that's been going on here lately?"
Luan smiled at her roomie and answered. "You mean like how Lori has been grouchy lately? That ain't odd. She's going to be moving out for college. Everyone knows that."
"Well, that's particularly it sis," Luna then told her. "But I'm also referring to our brother and how he's been acting different lately."
"Huh, now that you mention it, Luna," Luan rubbed her chin. "Lincoln has been acting a little different lately. He's been less of a comic reader these days."
As Luan chuckled at what she just said, Leni overheard what they were saying about Lincoln and looked curious. Putting her brush down, she turned around to face them.
"What's wrong with Lincoln," she took this seriously. "Is it something bad?"
"We don't know for sure, sis, but it's kinda big," Luna told her older sister. "Lincoln has been spending a lot of time with me and Luan individually, more often than he usually hangs out with us. Not that I'm complaining about it, but it seems…odd."
"I know what ya mean by that, sis," Luan remarked. "From what I've noticed, Lincoln has been acting a little blue."
Abruptly, Leni jumped up and looked at them as if they grew three heads.
"Our little brother has turned blue," Leni cried, taking the phrase literally. "I always thought that Lincoln was more orange than blue. Orange is more of his color."
Luna shook her head and decided to clarify with the ditzy sister about what Luan was referring to.
"No dude," Luna corrected. "When Luan said he's blue, she means he's feeling depressed."
Now Leni had a more worried look on her face. She knows what it's like to be sad and down, even though she remains optimistic most of the time. That being said, she had to wonder exactly what was wrong with Lincoln.
"Do you guys think he is sad," Leni wondered. "I have to imagine exactly what he's going through right now…"
Speaking of whom, back downstairs in the kitchen, Lincoln had just finished consuming that liquid stuff as he pulled the bottle away once it was empty. He let out a loud belch and then a hiccup afterwards. All of a sudden, his eyes started to feel a little woozy and he felt some unexpected side effects coming on.
"Woooooooooooow, that was-hic-some drink," Lincoln slurred while hiccupping. "I-hic-should try some of-hic-that stuff again soon."
As he was mumbling under his breath, he started to waddle and stagger out of the kitchen with the bottle in his hand, as if the drink took full effect.
That's right everyone. The liquid that Lincoln consumed was alcohol; liquor to be precise, and he was now drunk. Because of this, he wasn't aware of what he was doing as he headed for the stairs. Before he did that, he reached the couch, the bottle was released from his grip, and it fell on the sofa. With that done, Lincoln trudged up the stairs in a dizzy manner. At that moment, he broke out into singing in a drunken manner.
"Ooooh, the Dipsy Doodle's the thing to beware! The-hic-Dipsy Doodle will get...oooo!" Lincoln was singing 'The Dipsy Doodle' by Ella Fitzgerald as his voice would be heard by three of his sisters very shortly…
Back with Leni, Luna, and Luan, they were thinking about they were discussing the possibility of Lincoln being depressed, and Leni had come to a decision.
"Girls, maybe we should talk to Lincoln about his depression before he gets any worse," Leni said. "We can also cheer him up too."
By contrast, Luna was a little apprehensive about this. "Uh, I don't know about that, sis. If we do that, he'll figure out that we've learned about his change in behavior, and we shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"Luna's right," Luan had nodded in agreement. "We don't want to make our brother anymore glumpy about it. Heh heh heh, get it?"
Leni ignored Luan's pun as she now had a confused but thoughtful expression on her face.
"So you're saying that Lincoln may not be depressed after all?" Leni rubbed her temple as she asked that.
"Well, its possible sis," Luna shrugged casually. "Maybe he decided to do something different for once."
"Yeah, and besides, what could Lincoln possibly do to show how depressed he is," Luan queried.
Before anyone could say anything, a voice was heard slurring a song outside as if that was the answer to their question.
"The Dipsy Doodle's easy to find! You know it's always in...hic...back of your mind! You never know it until..." The voice was from Lincoln, and he was right outside their door.
With curious looks on their faces, the three girls decided to investigate what that was all about.
Once they opened the door, out there stood Lincoln who was slurring and staggering like a total drunk. The girls noticed that he was acting differently, more so than he has recently, and his hair was getting messy. Just then, it clicked in the heads of Luna and Luan as to what was going on with Lincoln now, as they suddenly jaw dropped at the sight before them.
By contrast, Leni was more concerned about Lincoln's well-being as she grabbed him and brought him into his room.
"That's the way the Dipsy Doodle...works!" Lincoln continued slurring the song as Leni shook him to get his attention.
"Linky, what's wrong with you," Leni whined worriedly. "Why are you singing and walking like that?"
"Oh-hic, howdy lover," Lincoln told her as she got a whiff of his bad breath.
"And why do you smell like a skunk?" Leni pinched her nose and waved away the smell.
It was then Luna chose the best time to reveal exactly what was wrong with their little brother.
"Dude, our bro is drunk!" Luna hollered loudly.
"He's drunk like a skunk!" Luan declared in a not so joking manner.
Leni was confused by what they were saying. "Lincoln is drunk?"
"Yes! Our bro here has been doing some underage drinking, meaning he had some alcohol," Luna grabbed Lincoln by both sides. "This is why he looks so messed up!"
It was then Leni gasped in horror. Lori had told her about how they shouldn't drink alcohol, but she had no idea that this was the effect that it had on people. She thought that alcohol was something to stay away from, but it turns out there was more to it than just that.
"N-No, it can't be true," Leni yelped out in worry.
"Oh it's true alright sis," Luna confirmed while facing Lincoln. She would expect this from someone who was going to a concert just to get waste. Not from one of her relatives, especially her only brother who is under the age of 21.
"How could you do this to yourself, bro," she scolded him rightfully. "It's not like you to do something like this, dude!"
"Yeah, how could you Linky," Leni cried out in despair.
"Yeah Lincoln, this is unbeerable," Luan laughed at the pun that she just made.
She came to a stop when Luna cast a rather stern leer in her direction. Luan cleared her throat and got on track.
"But seriously, I can't believe that Lincoln would do this to himself," Luan muttered.
Lincoln then looked at all three of his sisters and slurred.
"Ooooh...girlssss," he muttered something under his breath that they couldn't make out.
"Huh? What is he saying?" Leni queried. "I can't hear what he's saying!"
"People who are drunk tend to act like this, Leni," Luna told her.
"Yeah," Luan gulped and tugged on her ponytail a little. "But how could Lincoln have gotten himself drunk in the first place?"
Before anyone could answer that, their sporty sister Lynn had entered the room, having left her room for a moment when she heard a commotion going on in here.
"Hey guys, what's going on in here," Lynn inquired as her eyes quickly fell onto her brother, who was not feeling like himself. "Uh, what's up with our bro?"
Luna gave her a straight answer in a simple tone. "Lynn, Lincoln is drunk."
This caught Lynn by surprise as her eyes expanded like saucers.
"No way! Seriously dude!?" Lynn was in disbelief.
"Does it look like I'm joking?" Luna replied while giving her a look.
"Yeah, that's my department," Luan spoke up afterwards.
Lynn ignored what Luan said and had her focus on Lincoln again. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
"Why would you do this to yourself bro," Lynn told him. "This isn't like you man! Getting drunk is for losers! You are no loser Lincoln! You should know that!"
Lincoln disregarded what Lynn just said and decided to resume singing.
"You think you're crazy," Lincoln was singing louder this time while staggering in a manner that resembled dancing. "You're just a victim of the Dipsy Doodle! Ah-hic-but it's not your mind that's hazy! It's your-hic-tongue that's at fault..."
The four sisters could only stare at him in disbelief and shock. There was a reason why underage drinking is bad and can mess you up, and this was one of them. Nevertheless, they remained speechless for several minutes as Lincoln continued to sing like a drunk…
Eventually, the singing became so loud that the twins heard it from their room, and they decided to investigate. When they reached the room, it was Lola who spoke up first.
"Lincoln quit it with the singing, will ya," she scolded him to be quiet. "Some of us are trying to concentrate on winning their next beauty pageant here, you know!"
By sharp contrast, Lana was seemingly intrigued by what Lincoln was doing, regardless of how he was doing it.
"Wow, that is cool," the tomboy twin then encouraged. "Keep it up bro!"
Lola couldn't help but scoff at her twin of a sister, who knows next to nothing about acting proper.
"C'mon, don't encourage him to act like that," she scoffed. "Lincoln needs to show some class."
"Class, shmass," Lana snorted while crossed her arms. "Not everyone can be as pampery as you are, sis!"
"Excuse me!?" Lola countered with a look of indignation. "I'll have you know that anyone in this house could show some decency and class, including Lincoln! You could show some class too if you tried!"
Lana then delivered a scowl of her own as she growled. "Want to think that over?"
In a matter of seconds, the twins ignited into another one of their typical scuffles, getting the attention of the other sisters in Lori and Leni's bedroom.
Luna had to put a damper on this right now, or at the very least, have the twins take it elsewhere, preferably in their bedroom. They already have a drunken brother on their hands. The last thing she wanted to deal with is two scuffling twin sisters ON TOP of their drunken brother.
Without further ado, Luna let out a loud whistle and got the twins to stop.
"Girls, that's enough," she told then. "Lana, Lola, I'm gonna have to ask you two little dudettes to head back to your room. This is something that you shouldn't be seeing right now."
"Awww," Lana whined with a whimper. "But I wanted to see Lincoln sing and dance as he has been."
Lola, on the other hand, was all for heading back to her room. She had some stuff to take care of anyway.
"Oh cut it out Lana," she huffed. "This was a waste of my precious time anyway! If Lincoln wants to make a fool out of himself, then he can be my guest!"
"What," Lana barked back as they headed back to their bedroom. "You know that Lincoln can't live up to your expectations!"
The last thing that came out of Lola was a huff. The two of them then went into their room, and Lola slammed the door right behind her.
Unfortunately, as soon as they sent two of their sisters away, another sister came to the scene, in the form of Lisa Loud. Being the brainiac in the family, Lisa bore a rather indifferent expression on her face. At the same time, she was also wondering what the fuss was about.
"Pardon my intrusion sibling figures, but might I ask you what the ruckus is about," Lisa queried in a rather dry manner. "I'm in the middle of doing something of ultra cosmic importance, and it requires the utmost silence from all parties. And frankly, I'm surprised that this clangor hasn't woken up Lily yet so to speak."
Right after she said that Lincoln turned to face her. He started saying something indecipherable that one could make out naturally. Eventually, what he said next came out crystal clear.
"Oooooh, welcome to the-hic-party sis," he murmured.
Lisa only needed one look of this display to understand what was going on with Lincoln, and why he was acting the way he was. The other sisters didn't think she'd understand, as Luna was quick to speak on Lincoln's behalf.
"Lisa, I can explain," she said. "This isn't what it looks like."
"Let me guess," Lisa adjusted her glasses to get the clear picture. "Our only brother helped himself to some of our paternal figure's alcoholic refreshments being held in the cabinet right above the fridge, which would explain the state of disarray that Lincoln is in currently. Am I right with this deduction?"
This left the others speechless, as that was pretty much spot-on. At the same time, some of them have forgotten about how their dad had liquor in the cabinet above the fridge. In particular, Luna remembered after that guess.
"Dang it, I forgot that Pops had liquor being held in the cabinet above the fridge," Luna told them. "Aside from that, that's pretty spot-on sis. I can't believe that our bro would drink some of Pops' liquor."
"I'll say. This is something for us to wine about," Luan joked before laughing. "Get it?"
Lisa completely disregards Luan's pun and nods in Luna's direction.
"Precisely," she continued. "And if I'm not mistaken, since our male sibling figure is under the age of 21, he was as you would call it; underage drinking, which as you may know, is unhealthy to the human mind and body."
The thought of seeing Lincoln drink liquor willingly was enough to give Leni the shivers. For all his selfish acts and motives, Lincoln was, for the most part, someone who was innocent, or at the very least he wouldn't take part in such criminal acts. At least that's what she heard about underage drinking. It just didn't sit well with her.
"N-Now wait a minute Lisa," Leni stuttered in fear. "Linky would never do something like this on purpose! This has to be an accident!"
Lisa looked at the ditzy looking sister and noticed the fear that was plaguing her face. Nonetheless, Lisa didn't budge an inch on her already indifferent expression. Still, she decided to reveal further information.
"Perhaps," she shrugged. "But frankly, there is more to it than just the beverage. For you see, adults who tend to drink alcohol tend to do it for hooliganic purposes, social gatherings of the kind, and then some drink to cope with internal stress, as well as coping with depression."
"O-M-GOSH," now Leni was panicking again. "Our brother seriously is DEPRESSED!"
"It's possible," Lisa rubbed her chin musingly. "People who struggle with depression tend to have a lack in daily rituals or engagements that they enjoy doing the most, having a lack or spike of appetite on both ends, trouble sleeping at night which leads to insomnia, and overall, feeling indifferent and disinterested in fun activities in generals. Let it be known that depression is a very complicated emotion and that it's not to be taken lightly. It can be highly unpredictable, depending on the person who is affected by depression. I've done some close-range analysis on Lincoln and I've more than certain that it's the case. But I have to confirm it first. Tell me siblings; have any of you noticed a serious change in Lincoln's mood or behavior?"
This question stuck well in their heads as they took the time to think it over. Luna, in particular, was focused on recalling how Lincoln has been acting lately, and it did kinda strike her as being strange.
"Uh, now that you mention it, Lisa, Lincoln has been spending more time with me lately," Luna admitted. "Not that I have a problem with it, since he's my bro, but I have noticed some changes in him. He's wanted me to play some rather depressive stuff dudes. And essentially, I played certain songs by Alice in Chains, and he didn't have a problem with it. It's strange because Lincoln was never slightly interested in that kind of music before."
"O-M-Gosh, that is totes strange," Leni gasped in surprise.
"You said it Leni," Luna nodded. "I hate to admit this, dudes, but now that I think of it, Lincoln has gone Down in a Hole."
"You think that's strange, Lincoln has been spending some time with me too. The two of us have been watching some TV together. And with the show we were watching, I thought it would be sM*A*S*Hing to see him enjoy it," Luan told them while making a pun out of the show she's been watching with Lincoln. "Heh heh heh, get it? But seriously, as we were watching almost every episode, he didn't laugh once."
This resulted in the other sisters to give her shocked and curious looks.
"Is this true Luan," Leni queried. "He didn't laugh once?"
Luan shook her head. "Not a chuckle. And I should know because I'm the Queen of Chuckles."
The girls all rolled their eyes at the self-proclaimed title that Luan gave herself just now. Afterwards, Lynn decided to throw in her comment.
"You know, from what I can remember, I've been constantly trying to get Lincoln to play with me so he can stop moping around like a lame-o," Lynn admitted. "But with every game that he played against me, Lincoln would lose to me on purpose."
This got the others to gasp as Lynn knew how they felt.
"I know the feeling," Lynn continued. "I don't have a problem with winning every game. But Lincoln wasn't even putting up a fight against me, and he wasn't even being remotely challenging."
"Wow dude," Luna commented. "It's unlike Lincoln to throw the game like that."
"Yeah, especially since he doesn't even have a game to throw out the window," Leni remarked in a silly manner.
"Those were my thoughts exactly sis," Lynn told Luna while ignoring Leni. "All of us know that Lincoln would never lose to me on purpose."
"I second that. Lincoln's been spending time with me too," a voice from behind them spoke up, getting all of the siblings (bar Lincoln who was drunk mind you) to jump and scream out of being spooked.
Fortunately, it turned out to be just Lucy, who had her typical stoic frown on her face, as the others were catching their breath from almost having a heart attack.
"Sorry about that, siblings," Lucy apologized willingly as the others have caught themselves.
"Alright, Luce," Luna requested. "Could you close the door behind you? I think we should have a little privacy in this room."
"Sigh. Doing so should help with keeping the spirits away," Lucy closed the door and now the girls and Lincoln were given privacy for the moment.
"Ahem, anyway, Lincoln has been spending time with me a lot lately as well, and he has been writing plenty of poems with me as well," Lucy took out one of the poems Lincoln had written previously. "This happens to be one of them that he wrote."
"Well don't leave us in the dark Luce," Luna encouraged. "Let's hear it."
"As you wish," Lucy didn't hesitate to do so as she cleared her throat and read the poem aloud. This is what was written:
A sister who's gone, a heart that aches,
The sorrow I feel is as sharp as a rake.
With my dear big sister who has blonde hair,
She's leaving us behind without a care.
Within the cloud of depression that's become clear,
Our home is a little less loud with her no longer here.
As soon as she was finished, the others stood there in shock, as if one of them was looking for something to say.
"Whoa. Sis, that was…deep," Luna remarked slowly.
"Don't forget depressing," Lynn snorted under her breath.
Lucy nodded at the comments that she heard, agreeing with every word.
"Indeed. I am all for dreariness from anyone," she confessed before her a grim look crossed her face. "But if Lincoln is too depressed, even for me, then I have a right to be concerned for him."
Leni was shaking her head in confusion, still not understanding something. "Guys, we like, still don't know what got Linky depressed in the first place."
"Allow me to assist you with backtracking, my simpleton sister," Lisa explained to them. "We know that our brother has never been this depressed before, let alone depressed at all. All of this began 5 weeks ago. I believe that it was around the same time where our eldest sister Lori made the announcement that she was heading for college and will be moving out of here. And if I were to make an estimated guess here siblings, it would be that Lincoln's depression must be rooted in the announcement that our eldest sister made about moving out."
"Lori," all of the sisters (bar Lisa) yelled simultaneously.
"Yes. That happens to be her birth name," Lisa answered without a trace of amusement in her voice.
Mentioning Lori in name was what set Lincoln off, as he started blabbering.
"L-Lori? Oh, Lori, I miss you," Lincoln started to spazz like a drunk. "I–hic-don't want you to go, sis! I love-hic-you! You are like the-hic-mother that I never had!"
As Lincoln continued to slur some more stuff under his breath, the others were shocked about what they were seeing. They were unsure whether it was the alcohol or his conscious that caused him to go off like this. Nevertheless, this was more than enough of an answer to their question.
Lucy, in particular, took another glance at Lincoln's poem he wrote, and it hit her. She realized exactly what he was referring to.
"Gasp. Girls, the poem that Lincoln wrote is making sense," Lucy revealed. "The 'sister' that he's referring to in this poem, that's Lori."
It was then Luna facepalmed as they have it all figured out. "Well, that explains everything dudes."
"Indeed," Lisa said nonchalantly while nodding.
By this point, Leni sported a rather sad and unhappy look on her face as she turned to face her brother. She understood how her brother was feeling about Lori moving out. She's going to miss having Lori as her bunkmate, and it'll get lonely for her to sleep at night, on top of not having her best friend here for her.
"Oh, my poor little Linky," she sobbed expectedly as she brought Lincoln close to her. "I am like, so sorry that you are feeling like this little brother."
As she was expressing her sorrow, Lincoln was looking at her and his vision was slightly blurry. Despite this, he could still make out who it was.
"L-Leni…?" He droned sluggishly. "I-hic…I love you, sis…"
"I love you too, Linky," she would have smiled at that if it weren't for the fact that his breath smelled. "But your breath reeks!"
Luna shrugged casually at that. "I ain't surprised by that, sis. I've seen plenty of people at the concerts that I performed at drinking liquor and getting drunk for the fun of it. And believe me, dudes, it's not a pretty sight."
"Tell me about it," Lynn scoffed, crossing her arms. "I've seen plenty of has-been sports jocks drinking themselves away because they have nothing to live up to. And if you ask me, they are a bunch of losers."
"Frankly my siblings, I do not understand why anyone in their right mind would want to do something as barbaric as consuming this type of beverage and get intoxicated," Lisa confessed. "That being said, I am greatly concerned for our sole brother figure here. How do you think our eldest sister will react to this?"
"Well shucks, if Lincoln will miss Lori so much, maybe he should just bend down and liquor feet," Luan laughed at the pun she made. "Get it?"
None of the sisters found this to be funny, as they turned their heads. If one of them was Lori, she would have scolded Luan for making an inappropriate adult humored joke. But alas, none of them were like her, so they just rolled their eyes and disregarded it.
"Well one thing's for sure dudes, we gotta get Lincoln sobered up fast," Luna proclaimed.
"But what will happen when Lori finds out that he's drunk," Lynn brought up with them. "Lori has been in non-stop grouch mode lately."
"Agreed," Luan nodded. "No one can out-grouch that grouch."
"Listen, Lori can't find out about any of this, guys," Luna declared. "It's bad enough that our sis has been working herself up over moving out of here. The last thing we want to have is to have her do anything to our brother."
"Sigh. It'd curse me to see what our big sister could do to our dearly beloved brother," Lucy moaned.
Leni started whimpering about the worst outcome that could occur from this. "G-Guys, you don't think that Lori could do something bad like punish Linky for this, or worse, snitch on him towards Mom and Dad, would she?"
"Whatever the outcome shall be, the first thing that we ought to do is to keep Lincoln out of Lori's sight," Lisa exclaimed. "We must do this to avoid any further ramifications that'll occur had the truth surfaced right before her."
"Oh come on guys, what are we so worried about," Lynn bragged with full confidence. "Lori is busy with getting stuff done for her new boring life in college. And besides, there isn't any proof that our bro was drinking at all. So what's the worse that could happen to us, especially to Lincoln?"
Then, as if she had just tempted fate, the front door slammed open, and it was rough enough to brief shake the house. The silence didn't last long as a roar came from downstairs.
"GUYS!" This was Lori as her bellow was loud and clear. The girls all jumped and were startled.
"Does that answer your question dude?" Luna retorted towards the sporty sister.
Lynn delivered a brief glare towards Luna. And it faded when they heard Lori stomping her way upstairs. She was coming, and that meant one thing.
"O-M-GOSH GUYS! LORI IS COMING," Leni was frantic. "We have to hide Lincoln and fast! She can't see him in this messy state!"
"That has to be the most sensible idea you've had all day," Lisa deadpanned. "Now where should we hide our brother figure?"
"I dunno," Luna was thinking quickly. "We can't hide him in the closet! She'll notice him!"
"Yo," Lynn pointed towards Lori's bed. "Why don't we hide our bro under her bed? It's the last place she'd want to check."
"That's probably our best suggestion here dude," Luna agreed. "Alright, let's get Lincoln under her bed, now!"
Without a second to spare, the sisters immediately went and grabbed Lincoln and brought him over to Lori's bed. Lincoln was wondering what they were doing.
"Hiccup, oh guys," Lincoln slurred. "Are we-hic-playing hide and seek?"
"Uh, yeah, that's right bro," Luna humored him. "We are playing hide and seek. Now you hide under the bed and keep quiet, and we'll count silently."
"Oh, that has to-hic…be the best game I've played sis," Lincoln quirked. "This'll be fun! Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh…"
He was laughing in such a drunken state until they stuffed him under the bed and got him to be quiet. Luan looked a little surprised by that.
"Gosh, I wish Lincoln would laugh like that when it comes to my jokes," she admitted. "It would be a huge gag when it comes to me practicing."
The other girls gave her the look as Lincoln was under the bed. The loud footsteps from Lori were getting closer, indicating that she made it upstairs and she was approaching the door.
"Alright, dudes. This is it," Luna instructed. "Now remember, we don't know anything about Lincoln being drunk. So act normal."
"Right," the other sisters said in unison as they stood side by side in front of the bed with innocent looking smiles on their faces.
Then right on cue, the door slammed open, and standing there was Lori, who was livid right now, judging by her scowl. Regardless, the sisters kept their cool and smiled as nothing has happened.
Lori disregarded that and got straight to the point. "Alright, I'm gonna ask all of you a question: WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT!?"
"Did what," Leni asked absentmindedly.
"You literally know what I mean, Leni. Which one of you drank alcohol," Lori got out the bottle that Lincoln drank from earlier and showed it to them. "I literally found this sitting on the sofa when I got home. Care to tell me how it got there?"
The sight of the bottle alone was what got them to gasp.
"So that's where the alcohol was consumed," Lisa mumbled under her breath.
Lori didn't hear what Lisa said, and she didn't care. All she wanted was an explanation. She crossed her arms and impatiently looked at them.
"I'm waiting," she spat as she tapped her foot on the ground, hoping to get an answer from one of them.
The other sisters exchanged looks for a brief second before Luan tugged at her collar nervously.
"Eh, heh heh, funny you should mention that," Luan sounded like she was telling a forced joke. "We have a perfect explanation as to how you found that empty bottle."
"Okay," Lori encouraged. "Well let's hear it Luan. How did it get there?"
But before Luan could even open her mouth, some obnoxious singing was heard from under Lori's bed, which got their attention.
"The Dipsy Doodle will get you someday! You'll think you're crazy, the-hic-things that you'll say like..."
The sisters knew this was Lincoln, even though they told him to stay quiet. Feeling that their cover was blown, they smiled nervously and put on an act. Lori was certain who that was, and wanted to know where he was hiding.
"Alright girls," Lori raised an eyebrow and demanded. "Where is that coming from?"
The other sisters were reluctant to tell her the truth as beads of sweat dripped down from their foreheads.
"We have no idea what you're talking about sis," Luna said nervously.
"Yeah," Luan had chuckled forcefully. "This whole thing with the empty bottle and the singing was all just a big joke. We're only hearing voices, Lori."
"Oooooo," Lucy moaned ominously as she went with the act. "Those are the voices of the spirits from our old ancestors talking to us. I can hear Great Grandma Harriet speaking to us from beyond the grave. Oooooooo…"
"Spirits? I thought we were hiding Lincoln under the bed so Lori couldn't find him," Leni babbled, instantaneously blowing their cover.
"LENI!" All of the sisters (bar Lori) shouted in aggravation.
"D'oh," Lynn grunted as Lori pushed past them and headed for her bed.
To be honest, Lori knew that they were lying right from the beginning and they were hiding their brother to cover for him for something he did. She only needed Leni to confirm her suspicions. And now she was checking under her bed.
"Nice going there simpleton," Lisa retorted with mild irritation.
"Why thank you, Lisa," Leni chirped innocently, missing the amount of sarcasm in her voice, which got the others to facepalm in annoyance.
By then, Lori had found Lincoln and dragged him out from under her bed. Once he was out, she brought her close and got a good look at him. She was shocked beyond belief upon seeing his drunken attire. As she took all of this in, Lincoln noticed Lori was gripping him and he responded.
"Ooooooh, hic, hi…L-Lori," he slurred. "I-hic-missed you big sis…I've been-hic-waiting for you to return…Hiccup…"
Combined with how he just said that with everything else she found, such as the empty bottle, and how his breath smelled, it clicked in her head. She couldn't believe it, but the proof in front of her was more than enough. She was too shocked to say anything at the moment. However, some thoughts were running through her head as to how she felt about this.
My...My little brother was the one drinking...? I...literally can't believe it! Lincoln, my dorky little bro was drinking alcohol!? He's been underage drinking, with my dad's liquor no less?! She thought loud and clear.
Needless to say, she was going to be stuck in a catatonic state of shock for a while before saying anything…
END OF CHAPTER 1…
Yup, that's it for this chapter. I'm gonna end this chapter in a slight cliffhanger. I do hope you enjoyed what I wrote, despite the controversial contents surrounding it.
Yeah, I can already feel the controversy with this story and why everything is the way they are. First off, some of you are wondering why the parents didn't lock the cabinet in the first place. Keep in mind that these are the same parents who didn't do squat during the Sister Fight Protocol, and locked their son out of the house for believing he was bad luck. The only reason alcohol isn't present is that it's a kid's show. Then again, the parents were most likely not expecting any of their children to try and help themselves and told their kids who were older than Lynn that the alcohol is forbidden. There may have been a slight technicality in that plan since this happened.
And as for why I chose Lincoln, well I decided to make a twist in these Lincoln is depressed kind of stories. For starters, this one shows that he drank alcohol, something that no one has done before. And also, in this story, he has an actual reason for feeling depressed in the first place, what with how his oldest sister moving out and leaving them and whatnot. All of that is understandable in this case, even though it doesn't warrant drinking liquor. There is some originality in this story, though not entirely. That being said, Lincoln isn't going to be victimized in this story either. Even though the sisters were rightfully horrified by how he drank liquor, they still put that aside to help cover him and keep him from being noticed by Lori so he won't get in trouble.
Another thing I should point out, the reason I had Lana and Lola go back to their rooms is that they are mostly like other kids their age, and they shouldn't stick around to see Lincoln in this state. However, they will do something in the story sometime later. I don't feel like giving away any spoilers here, so you'll have to find out for yourself. And Lily isn't taking part in this because...well, she's a baby.
Lastly, there's Lori. She may be angry right now, especially if the ending is any indication, but by the next chapter, she'll be on the same side as her other sisters and do everything to get him sobered and covered, because that's what sisters do, even in the worst predicaments.
Anyhow, the next chapter will show Lori revealing how she feels about this, and the sisters will defend their brother as well. They'll also come up with a plan to get Lincoln sobered up, and they'll each be getting a part to do and working together to get him sobered. How will all of this go? Find out next time everyone!
For now, you can leave a review if you like and tell me what you think. Because of the controversy here, you can leave constructive criticism about what I'm doing wrong, and how I can further improve things. Or you can leave a positive review and tell me what you like about this.
Aside from that, that's all I have to say for now. So until the next chapter comes out, I do hope you enjoy this story and thanks for reading the first chapter everyone!