Lori had been through many different trials and tribulations when it came to her siblings. Whether it be scolding them for failing a test, filling in for her parents whenever they went out, or just simply to have to keep them from disagreeing on anything, period; chances are, she had something in her belt. However, there are certain things in which she wouldn't even want to experience. Some terrifying events that would make her heart ache at the thought of them happening to her own flesh and blood.
In that effect, the worst of such hypothetical scenarios occurred right before her very eyes. Here she was, standing over a grieving boy who'd recently had his plan to run away from home thwarted. A myriad of raging questions was filling the eldest sister's head to its bursting point, but all she could do was stand in shock and awe as his lone brother lay ever so still on the carpet.
"Lori…I…" Lincoln muttered. "This could've been so simple. I could've started a new life and helped you all out." He then began to shed a few tears before looking towards the blonde. "So why? Why did you have to figure it out so quickly?"
Lori, almost by reflex, put a hand on her chest. "Excuse me? Did you honestly think you were going to get away with something like…this?" In a fit of emotion, she gripped the paper from the trash and flashed it right in front of Lincoln's eyes. "You are literally going to look at me and tell me what in the ever living hell this is!"
The white haired child gasped before saying: "W-Well…that is…it's just that-"
Hearing the young boy's gaped speech made Lori all the more anxious. All too quickly, Lori's body flew into auto pilot as her hands grasped onto Lincoln's shoulders. That was when the phone addict began to sprout a manic look in her eyes, and she let out a boisterous scream.
"SPIT IT OUT!"
At the sound of his sister's glaring demand, Lincoln clasped his eyes shut as he shivered in his shoes. The commotion had also garnered the attention of the other sisters, who had sprawled up the stairs to see what had happened.
"Whoa, boss man! What are you thrashin' up here?" Luna inquired, eyeing Lori with a suspicious eye.
Seeing all of the faces around her, Lori began to calm herself down while eyeing the trembling 11-year-old right in front of her. She then began to feel a touch of guilt brush upon her conscience, as she rose up from the ground and started to think through what to do next.
The first thing that came to her attention was all of her siblings. That was when a revelation suddenly slammed her in the back of the neck. 'If they figure out about Lincoln's plan…we'll be facing full blown, over-protective sister anarchy!' She looked over her shoulder to Lincoln once more and realized what had to be done before anything else.
"Attention, Loud sisters!" Lori commanded while standing tall on the ground. "All of you are to report to bed immediately. No questions asked. Got it?"
As predicted, the sisters bombarded the hallway with a flurry of jeers and disdain, all directed at their seemingly authoritarian older sister. However, Lori stood tall as she further decreed: "And for all of you who aren't in bed in the next thirty seconds, you all are being woken up ten minutes before school starts tomorrow."
All too quickly, most of the remaining sisters went bug eyed as they each made a mad dash towards their rooms. All except for a certain little princess, who walked up straight towards Lori with a haughty look on her face and a wrist held up.
"Lori, do you know what time it is?" she inquired, tapping her wrist repeatedly. "It is a measly 7 o clock. In other words, a whole hour before any our bed times. So why, oh why, are you making me go to bed WHEN MY CARTOONS ARE ON RIGHT NOW?!"
Even in the face of Lola's rage, the eldest sister did not bat an eye. Instead, she only looked down towards the steaming six-year-old and said: "Well, it really isn't any of your business. But if you've gotta know…" Lori gave a glance towards the white haired boy. "Lincoln and I are going to have a nice long chat about a certain…issue of his."
Hearing that, Lola's scowling frown turned into a surprised look, as she began to sprout a devilish grin. "Oooooooh. A nice long 'chat', you say?" she said, before putting her hand up to her ear. "Come on! Spill. What did Linky do?"
"Ah ah ah. You overstepped," Lori replied with a wag of her finger. "Time to go to bed."
Lola giggled and said back: "Ookaaayy, Lori. I'll go to bed." She then made her way to her room and closed the door. But Lori went over and gave it a few knocks.
"I mean it, Lola. Actually go to bed," she scolded.
"Uuuggghhhhh. Fine…" a voice mumbled from the other side, as a pair of small feet stomped across the floor and jumped onto the bed. Once Lori gave one last glance across the hallway to check for any stragglers, she walked towards the converted linen closet, stepped inside and closed the door behind her, and gave Lincoln a focused gaze.
"Lori… Are…are you mad?" Lincoln murmured.
"Sit," Lori replied almost instantly, in which Lincoln did exactly that on his bed. She then took a seat right next to him and the two sat in silence for the longest while. Lincoln had no idea what Lori had in store for him, but he still found himself subconsciously twiddling him thumbs in anticipation for whatever lecture his elder sister had in store for him.
"…..I'm sorry," Lori said, spooking the middle child. "Yelling at you like that was a bit much."
"Uummm…it's alright, Lori. Really," Lincoln said, almost relieved at Lori calm tone. "Is…is that all you wanted to-"
"Absolutely not," Lori interrupted. "Am I sorry for snapping at you? Yes. Am I sorry for trying to help out my little brother? Heck no."
Lincoln's body shivered from her last two words, as he looked down towards the floor in shame.
"Lincoln, I literally just found out that you were planning to run away from home. Our home. If you think that I'm going to just turn a blind eye towards some like this," Lori asserted, waving the running away message in front of Lincoln, "then you have got another thing coming."
Lincoln closed him eyes as he braced himself, only to open them back up as he heard Lori's calm breathing.
"So here's what we're going to do. You are going to tell me how this entire scheme of yours came to be. Where, when, and most importantly, why." Lori then sat back and leaned on the wall with her arms crossed. "And I'm going to sit here, listen to you, and help you in any way I can to get you through whatever you're feeling. Because even if you don't think I care, I do. Does that sound good?"
From his sister's spiel, Lincoln felt a sensation appear in the pit of his stomach, making him stop in his thoughts. He felt his sister's presence give him a sense of comfort and security, as if he could talk about positively anything, without consequence. With that, he turned towards her and let out: "All right, I'll tell you." He took a deep breath in, and let loose.
"It's just that…I've been getting a lot of doubts about my future…" he said.
"Your future?" Lori asked, raising her eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
Lincoln slowly turned back to Lori. "Have you…have you ever felt like-" he began before shaking his head. "No, that'd be really stupid."
Cupping his cheeks, Lori said: "What did I just say? I'd listen to anything you had to say. Remember?"
"Oh, yeah… But this was just…" Lincoln started up again before letting out a healthy sigh. "Have you ever felt like the people around you would be better off if you weren't there?"
Lori froze in her tracks, as her face began to grow into a static pause. A sweat drop began to form from her cheek, as Lincoln looked upon it in concern.
"Uuhhh…Lori? Are you-"
"No," Lori finally said. "N-No I haven't." She took a minute to prop herself up before continuing with: "Why do you ask?"
To her relief, Lincoln paid her hesitation no heed as he continued his tale. "I've just been thinking about how all you guys are so successful in life," he said. "And I've been thinking that maybe I'm just sort of…there." Slumping his shoulders, he began to speak in a more distasteful voice. "I mean, everytime I go out, somebody always comes up to me, saying something along the lines of, 'Hey! You're Luna's little bro, aren't ya? Can you get her to give me backstage passes to her next gig?' Then the next person will go, 'Well, well, well, if it isn't the brother of Lola. You can go and tell that meanie pants that she won't be taking my crown this year!' And then there will be an occasional 'OMG! CAN YOU GO AND GET LENI'S PHONE NUMBER FOR ME PLEEEEAAAAASSSEEEE…..whoever you are?'"
The last line made Lori cringe quite a bit, to which Lincoln chuckled and added: "Ehehe…his words, not mine. But what I'm trying to get at is that…everyone sort of just sees me as the brother in a house full of 10 amazing sisters, and yet no one sees me..." With a look to the side, he concluded with: "…as me."
Lori almost thought that was the end, as she began to open her mouth with the intent of consoling Lincoln. But before that, he put a finger to her lips before saying: "And before you say it; yes, I do know that I have talents. And yes, I know that I probably will get ahead in life at some point; probably to the same point as you. But…that's where another thing came to mind.
There were days when I would work endlessly to try to make a name for myself and finally make myself stick out from you guys. All of my classmates I talked to pretty much said the same thing. But then…"
A few tears began to sprout from the white haired boy's eyes.
"…then I kept thinking about you guys again," he whimpered, "and I began thinking about what would happen if I did end up becoming popular. What if…" Lincoln's lips trembled as he looked up towards Lori. "What if you become the next me?"
Lori was taken aback as she spoke: "What are you-"
"What if you become "the ten sisters that live in the same house with a famous comic book writer"? I…I could never do that to you guys…" Finally feeling warm drops of salty tears slide down his face, he felt his heart pour out in front of him with his words. "I just…love you guys too much…to let you end up like me. But then I t-thought back to how I'm living right now…and…and…" Stopping for a lengthy period, he regained his composure as he went on. "I know you all love me. Believe me, I know that all too well.
…But I can't keep going on like this. I also can't bring you guys down just to bring myself up." He then looked out of his small window and let out a small smile. "That's when I decided the perfect solution where everyone wins. I'm going to move off somewhere outside of Royal Woods, where I can make a name for myself, and leave you guys with your reputations intact!"
…
…
…
"Ppfffttt. Hehehehehee ahahahahahaha."
Lincoln felt his smile fade away as he looked over to see Lori laughing to herself of all things. "H-Hey! What's so funny?!"
"Ahahaha…. I-I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be laughing…" she giggled. "It's just that—you are so funny!"
"Y-You…" Lincoln stuttered. "I open my heart about what bothering me, and you think something like that is humorous?"
From Lincoln terse voice, Lori finally calmed down. "Sorry, Lincoln. You're right," she acquiesced. "But that wasn't what I was laughing about. I was laughing about how you think that running away will work out for all of us. That's…that's just too rich."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Lincoln asked, confused beyond belief.
"Look, Lincoln, I'm going to save you all of those bus tickets worth of your life savings by letting you in on something real important. Whatever you think is waiting for you to be found out there, you are literally not going to find it."
The middle child looked at the phone addict dead in the eye before letting out: "Oh, yeah? And what do you think will happen then?"
"I mean that you are going to end up completely lost and alone out in the cold, cruel world. All while all of us are going to sit here crying our hearts out, wondering where on Earth you ran off to."
"W-Well…yeah, I guess," Lincoln gulped. "But wait! Maybe…maybe I can explain my reasoning for wanting to go. Maybe they'll understand and let me run off… What do you think?"
Shaking her head, Lori simply smiled. "Oh, Lincoln," she said, clutching Lincoln's arms. "They would tackle you to the floor and smother you with kisses the nanosecond they found out what you were planning."
"Yeah…" Lincoln sighed. But before he could continue on, Lori spoke once more.
"But I'm serious, Lincoln. If you go out there, you are literally going to regret it," Lori explained, sporting a furrowed pair of brows and a serious tone of voice.
"Wait a second…" Lincoln whispered. "How…how would you what the outside world is gonna be like? I mean, I know we go to school every single weekday, but outside of that, none of us has ever gone out on our own. If you really knew what you were talking about, wouldn't that imply that…" He then gasped as a hard lump formed in his throat. "L-Lori…d-d-did you?"
Not saying a single word, Lori only nodded twice with her eyes closed and the sides of her lips slowly forming into a frown.
"B-B-But…why?" Lincoln asked.
Again, Lori did not speak. Instead, she patted the space between her legs, signaling Lincoln to come over to her. Not hesitating, Lincoln did exactly that, as he faced Lori with an inquisitive gaze.
"Thank you for letting me in on your troubles, Linc," Lori finally let out. "I think it's only right that I literally tell you a story of my own. And I'm actually going to make you a deal here."
"A...deal?"
Before speaking further, Lori looked deep into Lincoln's eyes, not looking away even once as she spoke: "If you still feel like running away after this, then I will make absolutely no attempts to stop you. You can run away all you want I will not stop you. And I'll also prevent the others from stopping you, too. Does that sound fair?"
Feeling a cold shiver down his spine, Lincoln, failing to bring himself to speak, only nodded.
"All right…" Lori said. "Well, pay attention. This…is something I felt like keeping stowed away…"
And with that, the hands of time ticked backwards to nine years past, to a time where a blonde little girl was seen roaming the lonely streets.
