Lend me your attention for just a moment. First of all, I want to tell you about my next story. It follows Luna as she tries to convince her other siblings to go to an event that she really wants to go to. There's no serious drama in it, so maybe I won't botch it like I did this one with the middle two chapters. Second, despite what I just said, I really appreciate everyone who has read my story. You have no idea what this means to me. I never would have thought that over 2500 people would read it. I know it's by no means the best story in the world, but it gave me a good idea on what I need to improve on in the future. I'm not going to stop writing this story just because the last two chapters were terrible. Besides, I've already finished it so I might as well go ahead and post the last chapter. Tell me what you think of it! And again, thanks to everyone who has seen it. Enjoy the final chapter of the protective older sister.
Chapter4 - Forgiveness
No one questioned why Lynn slept in Lincoln's room that night at firs. They naturally just assumed that Lynn and Lucy had another fight, but when Lucy woke up, just as surprised as the rest of them, though she didn't show it, they decided to ask their parents what had happened. When they found out, they realized that Lincoln must have had one of his famous come-to-Jesus talks with Lynn and they just left her alone about it. They still had no idea why she did it, but they didn't need to know. If anything, it was probably better that they didn't.
Lynn, after waking up, hesitantly talked to her mother about what she realized she needed to do. Her mother, though surprised by this, thought that that was okay and asked her when she wanted to do it. Lynn said now and her mother nearly jumped she was so surprised. Lynn was surprised that she was doing this herself. Despite that, Rita did agree that she needed to get it done.
Before they left, Lincoln asked to come along. Their mother wasn't too thrilled at the idea, but after quickly explaining that he already knew what happened and that it was actually because of him that Lynn beat Tommy up, Rita thought it was a good idea. Lincoln came along, despite Lynn's protests, and punched him when they got in the car. But after they had been in the car for a while, Lynn looked at her brother, trying to make sure their mom wasn't listening, and grinning, said, "Thanks."
He put a thumb up and smiled from ear to ear, "It's no problem. Besides, I don't think Tommy has ever seen me before and I think that he should at least know who he's making fun of."
Lincoln made a devilish grin.
"So are you saying..." Lynn started.
"I'm not saying you were right for doing what you did, but if he intentionally made you that mad, then honestly..." Lincoln paused for a moment and motioned Lynn to come closer. "he probably deserved it... at least to a certain degree."
Lynn laughed at that and they instantly started chatting, only pausing for a moment when their mother needed to tell them something. They talked about everything and anything sports related and Lincoln learned a few things about football and soccer. Lynn learned that there were actually video games about sports and realized that she might want to play a few. Lincoln said that if she was willing to play, then he would try to get some.
Before they stopped at the hospital they took a trip the store to get something that Lincoln asked Lynn to get. She wasn't to ecstatic about doing this, but agreed that it needed to be done. After a few minutes, they got back in the car. They just did whatever siblings do until they finally got to the hospital. They parked and all got out of the car. Lynn was visibly nervous about what she had to do. Lincoln and their mother reassured her that she would be fine and that seemed to ease her worries. It didn't help much, but it did help her enough to be able to walk into the hospital and get up to his room. Their mom wanted to come in too, but they asked her to stay outside and just let each other talk to him.
"Tommy, you have a few visitors," the nurse said to him when the three Louds got there. Tommy wasn't expecting any visitors so when a boy with white hair walked into his room, he didn't know what to think. He didn't know who this kid was.
"I don't believe we've met," Tommy said.
"No we haven't," Lincoln replied, shaking Tommy's hand in the hospital bed.
"What's your name?" Tommy asked.
"Lincoln Loud," Lincoln told him as he started to grin in an almost devilish way.
Tommy's face went pale when he heard that name. They had never met before, but he immediately knew who Lincoln was as the kid motioned his sister into the room. Then Lynn walked in. Tommy immediately looked down, trying to avoid eye contact with Lynn. He was ashamed of what he had said, especially now that he had met the guy that he made fun of so harshly. Then when Lynn walked into the room, he started feeling even worse, almost getting sick to his stomach.
Suddenly he watched Lincoln's face go from that of slight mischief to one that was suddenly serious. He wasn't angry, but you could tell he wasn't exactly happy either. He looked almost annoyed. Tommy thought it was directed at him at first, but then looked at Lynn and saw that her face had the exact same nervous look on it that his own did. Lynn looked at Lincoln and he extended his arm towards Tommy like an amusement park manager would. Lynn looked at him and bit her bottom lip before looking down at the ground again.
Every time that Lynn tried looking at him, she once again remembered everything that Tommy said. She started to get angry again, but when Lincoln looked her in the eyes with that brooding look on his face, she quickly snapped back to reality and realized why she was doing this in the first place. Tommy still had the same look on his face, looking down every time they made eye contact. He was playing with his thumbs and looking down at them. There was a moment of awkward silence.
Lynn finally sighed in defeat and said, "I'm sorry." She was still thinking about what she was going to say next. "I... I shouldn't have done what I did to you... I way overreacted... And... If you'll let me..."
"Go on," Lincoln mouthed at her, after a few seconds, as he looked her straight in the eye, then slowly turned his head back towards Tommy.
"I... I wanna try to... make it up to you," Lynn finally told him, taking a deep breath to calm herself down a little bit. She looked over at Lincoln as if to make sure she did it right. Lincoln nodded his head and walked over to the small, almost nonexistent hallway that went to the front door. The only thing making it a hallway was the bathroom that was a part of the room. He grabbed something off of a small table that was in there.
Lincoln tossed it to Lynn and upon seeing what it was, Tommy sat up. Lynn didn't know this, but Tommy's family wasn't exactly what you would call rich. Neither of his parents had finished college so they were just barely scraping by and couldn't ever afford to buy new things for Tommy. He always had to settle for old used toys, gadgets, and hand-me-downs. He didn't even have his own cell phone. So when he saw a brand new, fairly expensive soccer ball, he was shocked. She had already even written his name on it and everything. As he held it in his hands, admiring it, he saw the price printed on the ball. $45.99. This was a nice, well designed, and expensive ball. But before he could sit up to thank Lynn, she and her brother were out the door. He never got the chance to apologize to her.
As much as she hated to admit it to herself, Lynn actually felt really good doing that. Was this what Lincoln felt like whenever he helped one of his sisters out? If he did, then it was no wonder he did it all the time. It was an weird and strange feeling to Lynn, but good, nonetheless.
After they had finished their hospital visit, they went to the school office and asked to speak to her school principal and the superintendent. Luckily for them, they were both there at the time, talking about exactly this thing. They asked the three of them to come in, and, with encouragement from her mother and Lincoln, Lynn told them what she did. It was hard for her to say, but with her mother standing behind her and Lincoln standing right next to her, it made it a little easier.
With a slight smile on their face, and trying to avoid looking surprised, they told her that it was very mature what she did and then proceeded to tell her that, despite that, they still had to punish her for what she did, which was understandable. So instead of expelling her from school, which was what they had nearly decided to do, they suspended her for a month. Rita let out a sigh of relief from hearing that. As much as Lynn hated school, even she was glad that they didn't expel her. Her other sisters would have never let her live it up if she was.
Lynn, Lincoln, and their mother got home and Lynn had never felt more relieved in her life. If she had never done what she did today, she would be beating herself up mentally for possibly the rest of her life. But if it weren't for Lincoln, none of this would have happened. When the moment comes, those talks with Lincoln seem like a terrible thing, but once everything gets settled down, she's glad that he's there for her. Even if she is supposed to be the older sister.
Of course after a few weeks, everything went back to normal. Lynn went back to school with a month's worth of schoolwork to catch up on and she continued beating everyone in every sport she played. While Lincoln was curious as to why someone would get so jealous over something, that they would intentionally try to make someone as mad as they made Lynn, he didn't think much of it. Besides, after this squabble of sorts, Lincoln decided to look up jealousy in the dictionary, online of course. But what caught his eye wasn't the initial definition, but rather a lack of definition. No where did he find that jealousy was wanting what someone else had. He then looked up envy, because he knew the two words were related and found what he was looking for.
Envy (n.) - painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another, joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.
After reading this and pondering it for a while, it was obvious that Tommy was not Jealous, but rather, Envious of Lynn. This was interesting because it meant that all his life, he had always used the word "Jealous" incorrectly. It made him wonder what it actually meant to be jealous. Going back, he looked again at the definition of the word. At First he didn't completely understand it, but looking down the page a little more, the third definition shed some light on the subject.
Jealous (adj.) 3. - Vigilant in guarding a possession
He read it to himself a few times and then chuckled for a moment. While neither him or his sisters were considered possessions by any means, he understood what it meant regarding them. Lynn was definitely vigilant in guarding him. Tommy may have been envious of Lynn's abilities, but Lynn was Jealous of her little brother. He got off of his laptop and started to read some comics. Still thinking about it, he chuckled again. Then, not a moment later, Lynn bust into his room.
"Hey Lincoln! Look what I got!"
Lincoln looked over to see what Lynn had in her hand and saw a couple of sports video games. She had convinced mom to buy some for her to play.
"Whoa!" Lincoln said as he stared in awe at the games in his sisters.
"You wanna play?" she asked, waving them back and forth.
"Heck yeah I do!" Lincoln replied.
Thinking back on what it meant to be jealous, he realized that he was jealous of his sisters too. He was okay with that though, and he was okay of his sisters being jealous of him. Because that meant, that no matter what might happen, they would always be there for him, and him for his sisters.