"There ya go Lincoln. Dad's making dinner tonight so go inside to eat when he says so." Lori said. She had dropped Lincoln off right outside of their home, but he insisted on staying outside even though it was pitch black.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to..." She paused, and her eyes started to tear. Lincoln tried to look, but she turned away. When she turned back, she put on a warm yet fake smile. "I have to get to work. Flip will want me to continue cleaning." After that, she drove off.

'Why was Lori acting strange? Oh well.' He thought before sitting on the sidewalk right outside of his home. The front door was open, and light poured out from the living room and kitchen, where his dad was probably making one of his meals. Lincoln knew he'd probably have to hypnotize himself to eat it, since there was no way in hell he could do it otherwise.

Mom didn't cook that much, but she gave better ideas. She even suggested knew ingredients for recipes their father regularly made. And that's what made it enjoyable. Now, with barely any funds to provide cable or toilet paper, he had to resort to eating crummy meals with little to no care put into them. But food wasn't the only thing that prevented him from sitting at the dinner table. It was his family.

Before you know what, the Loud family dinner consisted of eating good food, making jokes, maybe getting dessert and overall having so much fun with family. But, now that has changed, too. Everyone seems to have neglected one another in favor of getting their mother back, or trying to make themselves happy. And at dinner, it is cranked up to eleven. Angry glares from across the dinner table, awkward silence, bickering from any two siblings. Sometimes Lincoln made a game about which two would fight first. Today he was betting on Lola and Lana, since they a falling out ever since she accidentally hit her on the side of the head with Lynn's softball bat. And then it would probably end in a food fight, and not the playful kind. The kind where you'd have to wash every part of the table and possibly eat it off the floor afterwards. One of the worst parts was that Dad didn't even eat with them, instead going out to eat with friends and mooching off of them for money. And when that didn't work, he'd just force Lori to cook him something. And those meals were probably better than the ones that everyone else was fed!

But that wasn't even the worst part. No, the worst part was that Lincoln could never cheer anyone up. He used to be able to make people smile, to give positive emotions to others when they really needed it. Maybe even make them weep tears of joy. He'd always thought about others, and even when he didn't, he would soon come to his senses and fix it. He made big sacrifices just to make people happy, and most of the time it actually worked. But not anymore. Now all his sisters cared about was making a quick buck just so they can get back on their feet. Others just sat around and moped, not even trying to get up for school. And others just picked fights, some even coming out with scratches and bruises that were caused by God knows what.

Others couldn't make him happy. He had hung out with Clyde a few times this week, but for some reason having a good time made him sadder. He wished he could give the feeling of enjoyment to everyone that he had cared for. Clyde, of course, supoorted him through his rough times, but only for a little. His dads were becoming more and more strict. They always scolded him about not playing with the poor people, and they never realized that the 'poor person' they were talking about was Lincoln Loud. Ronnie Anne, though, was a huge help for a little while. She was offering to give stuff to him such as snacks, games, and once she even brought him a bag full of candy, just for feeling sorry for him! Those little moments between him and his friends were the things that pushed him on. He wanted to help severely, and he just needed a push to do it. But, no, he couldn't cheer anyone up.

He couldn't even cheer himself up. Instead he stayed up late outside, watching the late night planes fly by or maybe spotting a firefly or two twinkling by. Hell, one time he fell asleep outside, and was only aware when his father honked the horn, signalling for him to get to school. And it's not like he could talk to anybody about it. He just keeps complaining about the same things over and over, and people got really sick of it. But that didn't mean they didn't care.

If only there was something that could make him hold on, something that could push him to go further and fully understand what his purpose was in this situation. What could he possibly need in order for him to not only help himself, but to help others?

That question was left unanswered, until he heard someone walk outside. He turned around to see his father with a plate of half eaten chicken legs.

"Hey, Linc. Here's some leftovers from tonight's dinner." He said as he put the plate down next to his son.

Lincoln didn't speak a word. His father sighed.

"Look, I know what we're going through. Your mother's gone, money is tight, and everybody just seems to be in a bad mood. But let me tell ya what. We're gonna fix this. Some way, some how, we are going to go back to normal, with your mom or not." He said triumphantly. Lincoln stood up and hugged him.

"Thanks dad." He said. His father nodded and walked away, leaving the boy to eat his dinner. He took a chicken leg and took a bite out of it. Chewing slowly and thinking hard, he felt calm.

He had finally done it.

He finally got a push. Everything will go back to normal with the right amount of effort.

All he has to do it wait.

=

Hey, everyone. That was the Lincoln chapter that was asked for from popular vote. I hope you enjoy it. However, I will be making a follow up chapter to see how Rita and Lily are doing. I will also still be taking requests for which character you want to see another chapter of, but I'm going to be more specific. You have to name the character you want a second chapter of, and the reason as to why you want the second chapter. And please PM me the requests, as I do not want the review box to be full of them. That is all.

-MelodicSunshine