The room has never been so quiet, it wasn't only foreign but unheard of with how most of the Loud children were gathered in there. A testament of how ridiculous and serious their situation was. There would usually be some arguing here and there and pranking from the jokester of the family with her roommate playing whatever musical instruments she can get her hands on. It wasn't this deafening silence, the intensity lingering in the heavy air weighing down on each of the sisters who were struggling to understand what their only brother was saying. It wasn't this pain and fear clutching onto their sinking hearts all at once, and the faint nausea building in their dry throats.
"Before you say anything, I'm not cheating on Shay, I just wanted to know what all of you think about it." He shrugged as if it wasn't something important that would haunt him later. And why did he feel the need to ask them about this, why did it matter so much for him to have their opinion on something ridiculous and foolish like this.
"Excuse me Lincoln, if I'm correct you are talking about the probability of a polygamous relationship?" Lisa asked, doing little to hide the shock and anticipation in her voice while staring at her older brother.
"Sort of, it's not that I'm interested in one, I'm just trying to understand what all of you would think of it as." Lincoln replied, taking his seat on the floor beside Lisa. Seeing the white haired boy, Lily giggled and quickly sat on his lap as Lisa narrowed her eyes before leaning against him with a faint pout.
"I... I don't think you should be thinking about something like this dude, seriously, what would Shay feel if she know about this?" Luna reasoned, though she was mostly avoiding his question in particular. Not like she know how to properly answer him either. It was all just too confusing. Why would her brother suddenly have something like this in his mind?
"That's why I'm asking all of you, I hope you would be honest to me with your feeling, I just need some outside opinion about this stuff." Lincoln smirked. "And you already know how lucky I am to have Shay as my girlfriend, I really don't need anything more than her." He added.
"Then you also don't need us." Lana blurted out with a deep frown.
"Lana!" Leni unconsciously raised her voice, her tired eyes looking at her shocked sisters before lowering her head in guilt when Lincoln raised a brow.
"Okay, what is happening here?" He worriedly asked just now noticing the weird way most of his sisters were behaving towards him. "And don't lie to me."
[Unique Skill: Lie Detection Activated]
"We... We're talking about you earlier, about your situation." Luan replied while anxiously rubbing her left arm. "Some of us thought that since you're dating Shay now you would stop thinking about us." She added as he couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"And none of you thought of bringing this up to me?" Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Don't you think my opinion would matter in this?"
"You're not making it easier for yourself Lincoln, you're always busy that we can't even take ahold of you anymore." Lynn bluntly remarked. "Sure some of it is our fault, but your situation is not helping any of us either." She reasoned.
"Sigh, it's not that we have anything against your girlfriend Lincoln, but it felt like you no longer have time for any of us anymore, like Shay has been the only thing in your head lately." Lucy said.
"Of course she does, but that doesn't mean I think less of any of you." Lincoln groaned. "She's my girlfriend but you are all still my sisters, there will never be a moment when I'm not thinking about any of you, worrying if you're going to be alright without me, or if you're ever in trouble." His voice filled with frustration, not at them but at himself for his own inability to reveal his emotions to his sisters without a scheme or plan to make it more complicated. It shouldn't be this hard... It don't need to be. And he of all people should have known that.
Then why was he making it harder for himself...
Did he really want his sisters to hate him, for them to despise their own brother for how utterly pathetic he was. For them to see how weak and useless he was compared to them. But he know at least one of them already accepted his weakness, the ugly side of him that he kept hidden far away from his conscience. They... They don't need him. They don't need the person who can no longer be the same brother they know of. It was painful, the realization of how little he meant to his sisters, and yet he couldn't find it in himself to blame them, to criticize them for their fault. In the end, he is still their brother, and nothing in this world can hurt him more than knowing he was the reason any of his sisters were upset. Lincoln Loud will always find a way to fix his mistake, and their brother will do anything to make them happy.
Sighing, Lincoln narrowed his eyes at his sisters gathered in the room. "Do you want me to break up with Shay?" He seriously asked, shocking all of them as they instantly looked at him with their eyes wide open.
"Lincoln, we would never want that from you!" Leni desperately said, tears threatening to escape her eyes with how much her heart was struggling to make the decision. What exactly did she want from him, from her brother, from the person who has been holding her hand and leading her the entire time with his fond and genuine smile, brightening her day. To know that no matter whatever happen he will always be there by her side. She don't want to lose him... She really don't want to...
And yet, she know she need to let him go, to let him find his own happiness. Even if she wouldn't be in the picture with her brother. It's the least she could do for him, for the kind and caring brother who had sacrificed so much for them.
He... He can't keep being nothing more than their brother, at least not like he used to...
"I... I'm tired girls, I really am." He trailed off, his half lidded eyes lowered to the floor. "Like I said to Lisa, I will never stop loving any of you, I-I don't think I even can to be honest, each of you will always be in my mind no matter what happen." He softly added with a small genuine smile.
"Lori's birthday is coming soon..." Lincoln said in a low voice.
"Leni, you're thinking of registering into a clothes designing competition next month, I say you should go with it, you can't regret something that didn't happen yet." He looked at the eldest sister in the room, finding the sorrow lingering in her tired eyes.
"Luna, you and the rest of your band are considering to join the next battle of the band visiting Royal Woods soon, you should practice more while you still can, there's nothing wrong with being prepared." He looked at the rockstar of the family, finding the uncertainty in her conflicted eyes.
"Luan, you have a theater audition that you want to try on, have more confidence in yourself alright, seriously you have more talent than you thought, especially with the way you make those kids smiles for their birthday parties." He looked at the prankster of the family, finding the genuine guilt in her shocked eyes.
"Lynn, do you really think I would forget about your next soccer game, I will try my best to be there, but I never doubt that you would win it with your teams like usual." He looked at the jock of the family, finding the glint of amusement in her fond eyes.
"Lucy, there is a book signing for Vampire of Melancholia coming next month but it will also start at night time, mom and dad would probably be reluctant to let you go alone, but I will try to persuade them by going with you." He looked at the goth of the family, finding the slight change in her pale face.
"Lana, I know you wanted to go to the grand opening of the Motor and Automobiles Museum at Great Lakes city, if you don't mind I would love to be there with you." He looked at the mechanic of the house, finding the anticipation in her hopeful eyes.
"Lola, you don't really have time to worry about me, you know Little Princess Royal Woods pageant is coming up soon right, you should start your training like I've taught you if you wanted to win." He looked at the princess of the family, finding the slight annoyance in her delighted eyes.
"Lisa, you're going to meet with your group of client soon to show them your new creation, which I'm really proud of, and don't worry I will also be there to cheer you on." He looked at the genius of the family, finding the joy in her cheerful eyes.
"And Lily, I would still watch you growing up to be as talented as the rest of our sisters." He smiled at the baby of the family, chuckling a bit when she giggled while reaching for his face.
"You might think that having Shay as my girlfriend was making me less of a brother to all of you, but not once that I actually stopped thinking about our family." Lincoln sighed.
"I'm sorry if I can't be the same brother for all of you anymore, you can hate me as much as you want and I won't blame you for that, I know stuff just doesn't make sense right now but I need this, I need to prove to myself that I can do something right for once, that I can be the person Shay can count on." He muttered out while Lisa was playing with his free hand, her way of comforting him with her small gesture of physical contact.
"And I love her, I really love her..." He painfully said, feeling the sharp piercing in his chest at the proclamation. It wasn't enough, the words alone wasn't enough to show his feeling towards the girl who now have the sole ownership of his heart.
"But don't you think this is just a bit too much, you're still a kid Linc, you don't need to take something like this so seriously." Luan responded.
"Luan, would you really fall in love with someone who don't take your feeling seriously." Lincoln asked. "Would you be fine pretending in a one sided relationship even when you're the one hurting the most." He added as Luan went quiet at the question.
"Hurting her would also hurt me..." Lincoln let out a low sigh. "And seeing her smile would also make me happy, there's nothing in this world that I would want more than that, to be happy with Shay, to be the one who make her smile." He went quiet for a bit.
"Like I've been for all of you..." Lincoln softly ran his right hand through his white hair.
"Just forget what I'm asking about earlier, it wasn't important." He eventually let Lily down from his lap, much to her dismay and got up from the floor. "I... I should leave now." He went to the door and opened it before standing still for a moment.
"You need to choose Lincoln, you can't love us more than you love your girlfriend." Leni painfully said while clutching her chest where her heart was screaming at her to shut up, to get it over with. To believe in the sliver of hope that her brother would still be there for her. "It's... It's not right." She muttered.
"I... I don't know Leni. I don't think I can love anyone as much as I love my sisters." Lincoln stepped out from the room and lowered his gaze. "That's why I'm going to love Shay as much as I love all of you." He said before finally closing the door behind him, leaving the silence that he brought along with him when he first got in there.
...
The next few days come and go like a fleeting images in his memory. There was nothing worth mentioning with the current silent treatment some of his sisters were giving him. And he know that he can't blame them especially after the conversation they had. Everything will change and it is up to them whether to accept it or not. He can't force them to make the decision, whatever it might be. What he can do is be there for them no matter what they decided to choose. He is still their brother after all and nothing will ever change how much he cares about them.
Though some of them did give their opinion about his question...
Rather, their view of the nature of the relationship in particular. From what he had managed to gather by himself through reading books and the internet, a polygamous relationship is when there are more than two people getting involved in a romantic relationship. A harem as some people would call it, but the word itself originated from the Arabic archaic section where a man can have more than one wives or concubines. And somehow, the word itself managed to get into the gaming community with the increasing amount of existing dating simulator games being produced, mostly for entertainment and self pleasure purposes.
Luna told him that the type of relationship he was talking about wasn't exactly accepted among their community, especially the church, but she didn't have anything against the idea since she know how it felt like to have her feeling be seen as wrong by many people. Though she still thought that it wasn't something that he should be worried about at his age. And she might be right about that too.
Lynn barely acknowledged his question, saying that if he have time to think over something like this then he should probably exercise more since she noticed the lag in his movement lately as if he was struggling to get his body to listen to him. And she wasn't the only one who noticed that, considering that he already knew it was a side effect from the punishment given by the system. Either way, she don't really mind the idea of dating more than one person as long as they all agreed to it.
Lucy was more than delighted to share her thought at the idea of a polygamous relationship with how exciting it sounded like, a journey made by a group of people to find love beyond this world, a forbidden one, a sinful one, a beautiful journey to be in the eyes of the beholder of their hearts. He kind of expected that from her to be honest. Though she also said that she would still prefer having the man she loved all for herself.
Lola and Lana didn't really understand what it meant but they also said that if he was going to love anyone, he better choose them for his own sake.
As for Lisa, she don't really see the problem in that kind of relationship as long as they can be honest and fair to each other with their decision making. You need to love someone so much to agree with something like this with how risky it was. To love more than one person is a responsibility beyond many who claimed to be able to do so. It wouldn't be a surprise if they lose everything in a second by making even a single wrong decision along the way.
Leni and Luan still refused to talk with him, which he have no right to complain about considering the strain in their relationship after what he did. He understand that they both needed the time away from him at the moment, and he would give it to them as much as they wanted. Though it's still hurt with the way they were obviously avoiding him.
And unfortunately his situation at school wasn't any better either, Stella...
Stella has been absent from school for the past few days with no news from her. Whenever he or any of his friends tried to reach her, they always get the same response, nothing. She wasn't answering them, or most likely she was avoiding them, him in particular. But why would she do that, he don't remember doing anything wrong to her, what exactly happened between them for her to suddenly be like this?
What happened during their talk?
And why can't he remember anything from that forsaken day?
It was frustrating, his own memory was betraying him. The system was playing a cruel trick on him. A trick which he have no clue of much to his annoyance. Without a proper evidence he can't say for sure what he was dealing with. That is other than Stella's feeling for him. And from what left in his memory of that day, he still didn't give his answer to her...
He... He don't know what he should do. Seriously, what can he even do in this situation. It was ridiculous, how was he supposed to deal with someone who have a crush on him when he already have a girlfriend, someone that he loved with all of his heart. How was he supposed to act like everything was normal when it clearly wasn't. And why...
Why can't he stop worrying over Stella, why did he have a bad feeling everytime he was reminded of the last conversation they had, her faint voice whispering words of desperation in his ears. For him to accept her, to love her.
To take her for himself...
It was wrong, he don't need to be a genius to know that. It was a selfish request, but one driven by her feeling for him, whether it is love or not. And he hated how much it was affecting him, of how bothered he was by the thought of the girl harboring romantic feeling for him, someone that had seen her as a trusted and reliable friend for far too long. And it was frustrating that he can't figure out his own feeling in all of this, what decision he can make to move forwards. Everything was just too confusing and he can no longer live in ignorant from all this feeling being revealed to him by the system, of the increasing amount of girls now starting to get involved in his life as if his sisters weren't enough.
He would have liked to think that the system has something to do with this but it was only there to show him what that is already obvious. The truth of their feeling, their deepest secret that would have been kept hidden from him for who knows how long if it wasn't for the system interfering into his life. And with Shay being his girlfriend, it was only making everything more complicated.
Stella has had a crush on him ever since they first met when he introduced himself to her on their bus ride to school. He was the one who reached out to her when she was a stranger in the town. A new kid who was clueless about her place in the school she was unfamiliar with. Was it... Was it his fault for being kind to her, for being the person she needed at the moment when no one else would. Then how is that any different than his situation with Shay? He was also the one taking her hand in his when she was in distress. The only reason he became her boyfriend was because of the system showing the path for him. A path where he could be closer to protect the girl he loved. And he hated how much that thought was messing up with him. The comparison between his situation with Shay and Stella was almost the same. Then, would it be any different if Stella confessed to him first. Would he ignored Shay that day when she was clearly in trouble. What would Lincoln Loud do if that was what that happened instead. Would he really feel any less different.
He don't know, he honestly can't find the answer for that question. And that disturbed him the most, the uncertainty hidden beneath his conviction.
Their feelings has always been there, they just never approach it for whatever reason he was struggling to figure out. With how many girls he know of suddenly getting into his dating routes, it was almost surprising he never noticed any of their feelings before. Maybe he was just that dense... Or plain stupid.
Either way none of that will change his feeling for Shay, it might be more complicated now with them being in the way but it wasn't something that he can't handle.
At least he would like to think so...
...
Sighing, Lincoln placed his book inside his locker and closed it before looking at his best friend standing beside him.
"We need to do something about this Lincoln, I've a bad feeling about Stella." Clyde said while leaning against the row of lockers lining along the wall of their school. He crossed his arms as his worried eyes kept staring at the floor, ignoring the few students who walked past them for their next class.
"And what exactly do you want us to do Clyde?" Lincoln asked in frustration as if he wasn't thinking about it already. He can't stop worrying over Stella ever since he first found out that she didn't come to school, and it was only getting worse with how long she had been absent. He of all people should have realized how serious their situation was. But he also know there is nothing that he can actually do for the girl. Not with how much he was conflicted over his own feeling shouting at him to make the decision. Especially since his choice will also decide the fate of the girl, of his friend, of the person willing to give her all for him.
Why... Why did she have to do this to him...
It was unfair, why did he need to make this decision, why did he need to be so bothered by this. Why can't all this thought just disappear from his mind for once. As if his problem at home wasn't bad enough, he also need to deal with his situation at school. Since when did his life get so chaotic and complicated that each decision was getting harder for him to make, where is the boy that usually have a plan and always know what to do? What happened to the boy who was so carefree before? Right, everything changed since he played that dating game. The game that should have never existed in the first place. But it was still his fault for going along with it as if the system was a tool he can use to his advantage. It was all wrong, even from the beginning he should have known something bad is going to happen. With how the world like to screw with him, there is no way he can be that lucky. Not with how much he hated that word itself.
"Anything..." Clyde firmly said. "Anything would be better than staying quiet like this, it felt wrong." He sighed. "I don't like feeling like this, like I can't do anything."
"I know Clyde..." Lincoln fixed the strap of his backpack on his shoulder and walked through the hallway with his best friend by his side. "But it's only going to get worse if I get involved." He continued as Clyde raised a brow in suspicion.
"You never tell me what happened that day when you talked to her Lincoln, are you hiding something from me?" Clyde asked, shocking him with the way he was phrasing it. But he wasn't exactly wrong either. He had been hiding a lot of stuff from the people around him, from the people who cares about him, the people who only wanted the best for him.
But what they wanted for him wasn't what he needed, the answer they gave wasn't one he can accept. And maybe that was just him being stubborn, but he can't see himself ever being the person they wanted him to be. Not with how weak and pathetic he was, not with the indecision weighing him down like a shackles.
"We just talked for a bit Clyde, nothing more than that." Lincoln asserted.
"But what did you both talked about, there's no way she would suddenly act like this without a reason." Clyde assumed, unaware of the glare coming from his best friend.
"Are you trying to say that I did something bad to her?" Lincoln seriously asked as the spectacled boy looked at him with his eyes wide open at the realization of what he was trying to point out.
"N-no, of course not, you would never do anything that can hurt her." Clyde hurriedly replied. "S-sorry Lincoln, I-I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that, all of this was just so frustrating." He apologized.
His gaze slightly softened as Lincoln looked at his best friend frantically trying not to make the situation anymore worse than it need to be. But he don't need to do that, he don't need to apologize for something that he can't help, after all none of this was his fault. "It's fine Clyde, I know you didn't mean it like that, you're just worried about Stella, I understand that you wanted to help her, I really do." He weakly added.
"But I don't think I can do anything about this." Lincoln couldn't help but let out a humorless chuckle. "I'm already dating Shay and I'm serious about it. I can't... I can't do anything to help her Clyde, even if I try, I just know that it will only hurt her even more." He clenched his teeth.
"I wanted to be there for her, to help her, but I know it will only make everything worse for Stella if I see her now." He clearly stated. "I-I can't give her what she wanted Clyde."
"It won't be fair, not for both of them, and I don't want that." Lincoln sighed in defeat.
"Then what do you want buddy?" Clyde worriedly asked, his concerned eyes looking pitifully at his best friend being consumed by the content of his own fragile heart.
"I... I don't know."
...
Meanwhile, in the girl's restroom another scene was currently unfolding, a story resurfacing from the past.
"Why did you do this?" The girl with braided ginger hair seriously asked while blocking the path out of the door with her friend standing slightly behind her in uncertainty. "You know I have feeling for him, you've always known that, then why would you do this to me, why did you steal him away from me Shay!?" Girl Jordan glared sharply at the quiet girl standing still infront of her.
"I... I didn't steal him." Shay nervously replied.
"Then what, you want to say that he suddenly fell in love with you, come on Shay you can't seriously fall for that old trick again, you know you will only gets hurt just like before." Girl Jordan remarked.
"Lincoln wasn't like them!" Shay suddenly raised her voice, her eyes slightly widened when she realized what she just did, and yet she can't stop the words slipping out from her mouth when she heard her boyfriend being insulted by the girl. "Don't you ever compared him to them, I won't allow that, you've no right to judge him like that, not when you don't even know how far he was willing to go for a nobody like me, not when he was willing to sacrifice so much for me, not with how much he was hurting because of his own feeling, you don't understand me, and you clearly don't understand him Jordan." Shay confidently said.
"And what makes you any better than me Shay, can you really say that you know him, do you really know him like I do!?" Girl Jordan scowled. "He has always been like that Shay, he can never look at someone in trouble without helping them, I've always known that, I even liked that about him." She gritted her teeth.
"But that's also why he would never have a girlfriend, not with how oblivious and careless he was about the people who have feeling for him. Not with how much he can't make the decision for himself even if it was hurting him the most, that was the kind of guy you're dating Shay. He was selfish, he would rather make other people happy before himself."
"Can you deal with that part of him, can you really accept him even when you know it was hurting him to be in a relationship." Jordan sternly said. "Would you really let this feeling of yours stop him from being himself?" Her eyes widened in shock when Shay suddenly slapped her cheek.
"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT..." Shay muttered out through gritted teeth, her exposed eye glaring intensely at the ginger haired girl still recovering from the shock. "Don't you dare looked down on his effort, do you think I don't know that already, do you think I like seeing him getting hurt, do you really think his feeling for me wasn't real?" She cried out as tears started escaping from the corner of her eyes. "I... I didn't ask him to do all this for me, I just wanted him to stay by my side, that was more than enough for me, but that wasn't enough for him, he needed to know that I will be happy, he needed to know that he can make me happy." She clenched her fists tightly by her sides.
"Tell me Jordan, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I feel guilty for everything that he did for me, for all of his effort to make sure I will not cry for his sake." Shay faintly sobbed.
"He didn't only give his heart to me Jordan, I also gave mine to him." Shay slowly walked past her and held the knob in her shaking hand, barely holding herself together from completely breaking apart.
"You can never truly have all of his heart for yourself Shay, if you've been dating him this long, then you should also know where his heart truly belong, where it has always been, and it will keep happening whenever he see someone in trouble, you can try, but you can't change that about him, you can't change who he is." Girl Jordan desperately said. "You can't stop other people from falling for that stupid dork." Girl Jordan said in a low voice as Shay went quiet for a bit.
"We used to be friend Jordan, I trusted you once, I thought you will always have my back." Shay weakly said as her gaze lowered to the floor. "But I will not apologize for falling in love with Lincoln, and you can never change that." Wiping the trails of tears from her cheeks, She finally got our from the restroom, leaving Jordan behind with her friend letting out a sigh of resignation beside her.
"I told you to forget about him Jordan, you don't need to make this more complicated for yourself." The girl said while staring at their reflection in the mirror, mostly at her friend barely moving from her spot, clearly deep in her own conflicted thought "Nothing good will come out of this, we both know that."
"Shut it Mollie, I didn't ask for your opinion." Girl Jordan seriously said while walking over to the sink and twisting the tap. Cold water began pouring into her cupped palms as she quickly splashed them over her face to wake herself up from what just happened. "She... She don't know what she's getting herself into."
"And you do? Seriously Jordan, it's probably for the best if you leave them alone, he has a girlfriend now, don't you think it's about time that you start getting over this whole thing already." Mollie pointed out.
"It... It wasn't that easy Mollie, we both know what kind of person Lincoln is." Jordan muttered out. "I don't want Shay to get hurt."
"Like you did?" Mollie bluntly asked. "Don't you think that it's kind of a hypocrite thing to say since you didn't even do anything when she was bullied before, that you've been avoiding her for this long. Say what you want Jordan but I know you're only doing all of this for him, you just don't want him to get himself hurt don't you, even after all these years, you still loved him. You still wanted to be the person that will stop him from hurting."
"Is there anything wrong with that?" Girl Jordan asked, raising a brow at her friend as Mollie held out a handkerchief for her.
"Everything about that is wrong, but it's not like you would even listen to my reasoning anymore, at least not when he is involved." Mollie shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know what you see in that dork, why you would even go this far for him, it just doesn't make sense, especially after what he did to you."
Sighing, girl Jordan took the handkerchief and wiped her face. "That's what you don't understand Mollie, Lincoln is... Lincoln is special for me, if you know him like I do, you would know why I wanted to protect him so much, even if it was from himself."
"After all, he has a bad habit of sacrificing himself for other people, especially his sisters." Girl Jordan smirked.
"Then what changed?" Mollie asked, following her from behind as they exited the restroom and walking through the hallway for their next class.
"That he finally decided to have a girlfriend." Girl Jordan simply said.
...
"I... I don't know about this Lincoln." Shay hesitantly said with uncertainty in her nervous voice, her scared eyes staring at her boyfriend smiling softly at her, easing her fear away.
"Don't worry Shay, just do as I told you and everything will be fine." He assured her with his right hand placed firmly over hers.
"I-I've never done this before, what if I do it wrong?" She asked, her cute lips pleading for him to comfort her, to guide her, though there was also something else beneath them, a sense of security and tenderness of being held in his gaze.
"Well, you're the one who said you wanted to try this." Lincoln said with a small smirk of amusement.
"I-I know... Stop teasing me already Lincoln." Shay looked at him with a tiny pout, her brows furrowed cutely at his direction much to his frustration since he can't do anything under her adorable glare.
"Fine, just remember what I taught you alright, and have more faith in yourself, I know you can do it." Lincoln confidently said.
Taking in a deep breath, Shay returned her gaze to the front, a concentrated look plastered on her face as she adjusted her balance and seating. "I'm ready."
Nodding his head, Lincoln slowly pushed her forwards, his right hand still guiding hers as his other hand placed on her back to fix her posture. "Just stay on the path alright, you're not ready for free trekking yet, and don't worry I will always watch your back. As long as you remember how to stop when you needed to, you will be fine." Lincoln advised.
"I'm going to let you go now, watch your balance and keep pedalling slowly for now, and don't suddenly pull the brake when you're moving too fast, do everything carefully, if you want to stop, make sure your feet are ready to land on the ground first to balance yourself so you don't fall." With that out of the way, he eventually released his hands from the girl, watching carefully as she shook for a bit before straightening her hold on the handle. Sure she was wearing the helmet and all the protection gears needed for the occasion, but with the girl still new and learning how to ride a bicycle, it would be better if he keep his eyes on her. But he don't exactly doubt that she would get ahold of it much sooner with how fast of a learner she was.
When she told him that she didn't know how to ride a bike, he offered to teach her how to start, hence resulting in them being in Ketchum Park where they can safely start their practice. Sure she was hesitant at first with the idea but he managed to persuade her with the promise of getting ice cream first before starting her training, which was enough to lift her spirit up with the sweet treatment. And honestly, he don't think it would be long before she can properly ride a bicycle without his help.
"Good afternoon Lincoln." At the familiar voice, he turned his head to see Shay's father walking towards him.
"Good afternoon Mr Florence." Lincoln greeted the older man with a small smile. "What are you doing here, I thought you are still on your shift." He asked.
"Shay texted me that you're going to teach her how to ride a bike today so I ended my shift earlier since I wanted to see her progress, I hope you wouldn't mind me interrupting your date." Edward replied, smiling slightly when he saw her daughter maneuvering the path while on the bicycle. "And from what I'm seeing, my concern would be unnecessary. You are a good teacher Lincoln."
"Shay is just a fast learner, honestly even I'm not that great when I first started, I'm surprised she never tried riding a bicycle before." Lincoln pointed out.
"That is probably my fault for not considering the thought." The older man sighed.
"Still being harsh on yourself I see." Lincoln chuckled. "Come on Mr Florence, Shay would be angry if she see you like this." He playfully said.
"You're right," The older man smiled back at him. "And none of us would want that." He added.
"Oh right, before I forget." Lincoln pulled out his phone, clicked into one of the application and gave the devise to the older man.
"What is it?" Mr Florence asked in confusion, taking the phone from the white haired boy before looking at the screen.
"It's my bank account, you still remember my part of the deal right?" Lincoln said.
His eyes instantly widened when he saw the digits before him. How... How is this possible? How can a kid like him do something like this, to make the impossible a reality, to defy his own limit and beyond it. He almost can't believe it if he wasn't seeing it with his own eyes.
"It seemed like I really underestimated you Lincoln, and for that I apologize." The older man returned the phone back to the white haired boy who simply slid it into his jeans pocket.
"If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you do it? This isn't something a mere 12 years old can do all of a sudden." The older man asked.
"I already told you Mr Florence, I will do anything for her, as long as I can see Shay happy." Lincoln answered much to the older man surprise and amusement.
"You really surpassed my expectation Lincoln, I'm glad Shay have someone like you by her side." Mr Florence let out a low chuckle. It was a ridiculous situation but one that he need to accept, even he need to admit his defeat when he was shown the proof of his conviction, of the white haired boy's feeling for his daughter. And it was way beyond what he expected from someone as young as him, it was almost terrifying what the kid was willing to do for his daughter. And yet he know Shay would be safe with him, that he will take good care of her like he promised.
"Excuse me Mr Florence, but can I ask you a question?" Lincoln looked at the older man still watching over her daughter stopping the bicycle for a quick rest.
"What is it Lincoln?" Edward asked, giving his attention to the white haired boy beside him.
"Do you know which hospital Alex was transfered to, I was thinking of visiting her soon if you don't mind." At that, the older man raised a brow at him before a look of realization washed over his regretful face.
"Of course you wouldn't know." Mr Florence sighed in resignation.
"W-what's wrong?" Lincoln confusedly asked, his heart suddenly started beating faster after seeing his grim reaction.
"Alex Anderson... She had already passed away Lincoln."
...
A/N: Yup, it's that time again, another author note...
Okay, I already see some of The Really Loud House episode, my honest opinion, it was good...
Honestly there's nothing to complain about since the show still retained the cartoon idea and concept with Lincoln still somehow being the source of the problem. I don't really have anything against live action, if anything they managed to make the show works in its own unique way. And if you're a fan of Loudcest, please don't... Seriously just don't think about it...
The first episode start with Lincoln saying 'today is the day Lincoln Loud become a man.' I've never cringed so hard. If you wanted to watch the show, erase every existance of Loudcest from your gutter of a mind, let that stagnant filth flow into the drain and watched the show with a clear outlook for once.
And I really liked Brian Stepanek as Lynn Sr character, his acting was great, and weirdly even funny to me.
And those who pm me for faster update, pay me 2 dollars and I will do it. Hell, I would even do commission if you don't mind this amateur type of writing.
You can find me in DeviantArt under the same name.
And please review if you wanted to...