(A/N: Wow! I did not expect such a positive reaction. Just a few days in, with only one chapter, and this story is the fourth most followed fanfic I have published! Thank you, guys, for the tremendous support, and enjoy!)
Lincoln furiously brushed his fingers through his hair under the running water, desperate to get any remnants of paint out of his hair. "C'mon…" he complained. "This had better not stain. I'm pretty sure red hair doesn't suit me." After a couple of minutes of trying to get the paint out of his hair, he heard a knock at the door. "Just a minute!" He looked back up at his reflection in the mirror- while there was still red on his face, it had been watered down, and would come off when he towel dried it. Turning off the water, he took a couple of deep breaths. "Okay, okay… keep it together." He was cut off when the knocking returned, this time louder. "Okay, I'm coming!" He yelled. Grabbing a towel, he dried his face, and began to dry his hair as he unlocked the door. When he opened it, however, he yelped in surprised when he saw nine of his sisters, all staring at him. "What?"
"What are you up to, Lincoln?" Lori asked, her voice serious.
"You're acting shady, bro," Luna added.
"M-me? What are you talking about?" He replied, defensively.
"Your uncharacteristic stutter suggests otherwise," Lisa pointed out.
"The spirits also believe that you are keeping a secret from us," Lucy spoke next. "The spirits never lie, Lincoln. You're hiding something."
While he knew they were onto him, Lincoln also knew he had to stand his ground, so he crossed his arms at them. "Oh, yeah? Well, if you know so much, then tell me- what am I hiding from you?"
Lisa sighed. "If we knew that, Lincoln, we wouldn't be having this conversation- we would, instead, be interrogating you about said secret."
All at once, his sisters ganged up on him, demanding that he tell them what he's hiding. Lincoln backed up a couple of steps, looking at the viewer. "I'm gonna need a miracle to get out of this!"
"Kids! Time for dinner!" They heard their mom call from downstairs.
Lincoln sighed in relief, then looked back at the viewer. "Somebody order a miracle?" He looked back at his sisters. "Well, I'll see you downstairs for dinner!" He told them smugly, as he walked back to his room to place the now reddish towel in his hamper.
"This isn't over, Lincoln!" He heard Lola call out, before she shut the bedroom door.
He gulped, before entering his room. Throwing his towel in the hamper, he exhaled heavily, sitting down on the bed. "Okay, they know that I'm keeping a secret, but they don't know what it is. As long as things stay like that, everything will be fine. Good thing I have a plan B." He sat there for a moment, looking down at his hands, before looking at the viewer. "I should probably wash my hands before I go to dinner- they're still a bit… painted."
So, Lincoln joined the queue to the bathroom, which didn't take long to shorten, and once he had washed his hands clean of the remaining paint, he went downstairs and into the kitchen, where he was surprised to see that no one was at the kid's table. Walking into the dining room with his eyebrow raised, he was equally surprised that all of his siblings were sat at the grown up's table. "What's going on?" He asked.
"We're all having dinner in here tonight," his mother, Rita, explained whilst placing dinner in front of everyone. "Go on, sit down."
Not wanting to argue, Lincoln took his seat next to Lynn on the left side of the table, with Lisa on his other side. Almost as soon as he grabbed his napkin and laid it on is lap, Lynn leaned over and whispered in an almost menacing voice, "you can't keep a secret from us, Lincoln. We'll find out, one way or another."
He just gulped and nodded, knowing that when Lynn spoke like this, she was serious. 'My only hope is that they talk over dinner and forget about it for now,' he thought to himself. Fortunately for the only boy in the Loud house, this was how things seemed to go, as his sisters mainly talked about other things, with Lori mainly talking about Bobby, Luna and Luan talking about upcoming gigs, Lynn talking about her recent soccer match, and the twins were messing about with each other. While Leni, Lucy and Lisa were mostly quiet, Lincoln wasn't as worried about them as he was the rest of their sisters. It wasn't long before Lincoln- and the others, for that matter- had finished their dinner. 'Okay,' Lincoln began to plan in his mind. 'Now, to go back to my room and figure out how to keep my sisters from finding out.'
"Okay, everyone!" His father, Lynn Sr, spoke as he returned to the room. "Who's up for dessert?"
The eleven siblings looked at their father in surprise. "But, I thought we didn't get dessert at the grownup table?" Lincoln asked.
"Well, we don't normally, but we're celebrating today!"
As Rita returned to hand everyone a bowl of chocolate ice cream, Leni decided to ask what all eleven siblings were thinking. "Mom, what are we celebrating?"
The matriarch looked at Lincoln, who no one had noticed was looking slightly panicked. "Do you want to tell them, Lincoln?"
And just like that, all eyes were on the white-haired boy, who gulped. "Wha-what are you talking about, mom?"
"Your project, of course! The school sent us an email! Here, I'll read it out now." She then proceeded to pull out a sheet of paper with said email and read it out. "Dear Mr and Mrs Loud, you and your family are invited to the Royal Woods Elementary School Art Gallery tomorrow, which will show artwork from students between the first and sixth grades. We are extremely proud to inform you that your son, Lincoln Loud, received an A+ on his most recent project, which he has agreed to allow to be displayed in the gallery. Doors open at half past six, and the gallery is open from seven to nine, where students will be able to look at the art and talk with teachers about the work being shown. I look forward to seeing you there. Sincerely, Mr Thompson, Head of Art." She put the paper away, and looked back at her son, eyes gleaming with pride. "Why didn't you tell us about this when you got home?"
Lincoln, noticing the varied glares he was receiving from his sisters, chuckled nervously, pulling on his collar while he blushed. "I, uh… I guess I just… forgot? He only told me today before lunch."
"Well, your mother and I are very proud of you, Lincoln!" Lynn Sr praised his son. "This is the best grade you've received all year!"
"Thanks, dad." Lincoln then proceeded to eat his ice cream in silence- despite enjoying the treat he had received, he was highly aware his sisters were still looking at him while he ate. Once he was finished, he placed the spoon down in his bowl. "Dinner was great, mom. Can I be excused? I, uh, promised Clyde I would contact him about a, uh, problem he's having."
"Of course you can, Lincoln," she happily allowed. "Just place your plates and things in the sink."
He nodded, picking up his bowl, plate and glass, standing up and walking into the kitchen. Once everything was placed in the sink, he calmly walked through the dining room, then booked it up the stairs, dashed into his room, grabbed his walkie-talkie and shut the door, leaning against it. "This is Lincoln, calling Clyde!" He spoke into the talkie with urgency. "Do you copy?"
"This is Clyde," he heard Clyde say on the other end of the connection. "What's up, Lincoln?"
"Clyde, I have a code indigo! I repeat, code indigo!"
He heard Clyde gasp. "You mean our sisters have discovered one of your secrets?"
"Yes! Plan A failed, so it's onto plan B- try and dissuade them from going. But I don't know what to do! I need help, Clyde! I repeat, I need-"
The door was forced open, causing Lincoln to scream as he flew towards the window and got lodged in it. Behind him were his sisters, Lynn with her foot in the air after forcing the door open. Both Luna and Luan reached up to pull Lincoln out of the window, turning him around as he smiled nervously at his sisters.
"Erm, I'm a little busy talking to Clyde right now," he told them in an attempt to get them out of his room, holding up the walkie.
Lori, stepping forward, snatched it out of Lincoln's hand, and spoke into it, "hello, Clyde? It's Lori. Can you hear me?"
"ROBOT. ERROR. SYSTEM. SHUTTING. DOWN…" They all heard as the line was disconnected.
Lori held it up smugly. "Looks like there's no one there." Before Lincoln could say anything else or try and escape, they grabbed him and carried him off into Luna and Luan's room, where they tied him to the chair. As Lincoln tried to struggle his way out of the confines of the ropes, Lori held her phone up, turned on the flashlight and shined it in her little brother's face, causing him to squint. "Alright, no more games. Talk."
"Wh-what are you talking about? I already told you, I forgot until mom read the letter!"
"Highly unlikely," Lisa explained. "The abnormalities in your behavioural characteristics in the past couple of hours do not suggest that you had simply forgotten, rather, they suggest you wanted US to believe you had forgotten."
"Not to mention how you freaked slightly when I said, 'in the paint'," Lynn added.
"And how you suggested art to rhyme with heart, before changing it to start," Lucy chimed in. "Even if it did work better."
"And your reaction to my watercolour joke," Luan spoke next.
Lana looked up at her older sister. "Actually, that was pretty normal," she pointed out.
"Oh… but, still, there is no way he forgot!"
"So, Lincoln," Lynn said as she stepped forward, poking a finger into his chest, "do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"
"Look, guys, I'll admit- I didn't really forget, but… I just… didn't think you'd be interested! That's all, I swear!"
Luna scoffed. "A likely story, bro," she retorted at his defence. "Why wouldn't we want to see our little bro's work on display?"
"I, uh… didn't think any of you cared about art that much?"
"A likely story," Lisa spoke up once more. "While I am not a particular fan of the arts, there are times when I can appreciate the aesthetic value."
"Yeah, like, I love art!" Leni spoke next. "All the pretty colours and patterns!"
The other sisters all voiced their agreement at this, before Lori stepped forward, and they all glared at him again. "Strike one- you pretend to forget. Strike two- you pretend we wouldn't care! Now, you have ten seconds to tell us the truth, or we will have to resort to OTHER methods for retrieving information." With that, the ten sisters began to count down. "Ten…"
"Nine…" Leni spoke next.
"Eight…" Luna said, stepping forward with her drumsticks ready.
"Seven…" Luan continued, holding a pie in her hand.
"Six…" Lynn added, cracking her knuckles. By this point, Lincoln was sweating.
"Five…" Lucy spoke, her typically emotionless voice sounding threatening.
"Four…" Lana spoke, holding out her wrench.
"Three…" Lola was next, as she looked at him with menacing eyes.
"Two…" Lisa spoke after Lola, all nine sisters just a couple of steps away from Lincoln as he trembled in his captive position.
"One…" they all shouted together, waiting for Lincoln to make his move, which he did.
"IT'S NOT EVEN THAT GOOD!" He shouted, squeezing his eyes shut as he hung his head low. His sisters were silent whilst he continued to talk. "My work, it's not that good. That's why I didn't tell you, alright? I was afraid that… you would show up, see how bad it was, and mock me for it." He frowned, a small tear starting to form. "At first, I was excited, but the more I think about it, the more I think Mr Thompson made a mistake. He's never given a grade that high to anyone, especially me. I don't think my work should be in the gallery. I'm scared I'll just… embarrass myself. Kind of like I always do..."
With that, Lincoln stopped talking, giving his sisters the opportunity to look at each other. None of them seemed certain as to whether or not they should believe him, until Luna stepped forward. Going down on one knee, she used the back of her left hand to gently lift his head up by his chin, so that he had to look her in the eye. When she did, she could see the hurt in his eyes from having said all of that. She noticed the tears he was struggling to hold back and the frown on his face, and it broke her heart. Frowning herself, she looked back at her sisters and told them, "I think he's telling the truth." The rest of his sisters all looked closer at his expression, and their gazes softened, showing they agreed with the rocker. Looking back, Luna asked him, "do you really mean that?" Unable to bring himself to say it as the tears began to stream down, he nodded, hanging his head down. This brought out a collective "Aww" from his sisters, who all looked at him with sympathy. Much to his surprise, as Lincoln looked up, he saw Lynn walk past him and felt her begin to untie the rope. As the knot came undone and his restraints fell loose, he looked at his now free hands, then back to his sisters.
"Lincoln, that's so sad," Lola told him, almost crying.
"Yeah, big brother!" Lana added. "Why would you think that?"
"Well… I just…"
"Well, you don't need to think that," Lori interrupted, giving him a comforting smile. "You're our brother, and we care about you. Give us one reason why we would mock you, or your work."
"Well… I really don't think it's that good."
"Lincoln, if it was Mr Thompson that graded your work, and he gave you an A+, then you definitely deserve it," Luan argued. "No one in my class ever got more than a B+, over all six years. Do you know why?" Lincoln shook his head. "'B+' he's a huge critic!"
While his sisters all groaned at the joke, Lincoln couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "Dude," Luna spoke next, "I think you're worrying over nothing. Seriously, bro, you're a talented guy- I'm sure it's awesome."
"Do you really mean that?" He looked at all of his sisters, and saw them nodding. He felt the tears flowing, but knew that this time they were happy tears. "You guys… I don't know what to say."
"Group hug!" Leni burst out, before they all engaged in a big hug, with Lincoln laughing happily in the middle.
"Thanks, you guys… this means a lot to me." As his sisters released the hug, he yawned. 'Guess it's later than I thought.' "I think I'm gonna turn in for the night. See you in the morning, okay?"
"Goodnight, Lincoln!" They all replied, as Lincoln left the room.
