Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Restored Image
Chapter four: Brotherly Instinct
Lincoln Loud's mood began well enough when he arrived at Royal Woods Elementary School the morning after he had lunch with his grandfather Albert, AKA Pop-Pop, at one of the many fusion restaurants located in Royal Woods. Lincoln's well enough mood became better as he was met up by some of his friends, Clyde McBride and Rusty Spokes. The three boys got to talking about the kinds of things they always talked about as they waited for the other two members of their group, Zach and Liam, to show up.
"Did you hear?" Clyde began, getting the attention of his friends that were with him.
Turning to regard his African American friend, Lincoln replied, "Heard what, Clyde?"
"That Astrid girl will be back at school today," Clyde explained, "She's been out sick since sometime last week."
"Man, that girl just can't seem to catch a break, can she?" Rusty remarked, his tone indicating he felt sorry for the girl in question.
"Who again?" Lincoln asked, clearly looking confused. Clyde and Rusty both turned to face their white-haired friend.
"We're talking about Astrid Ace," Rusty clarified, "Don't you remember? I mentioned her to you yesterday when her little brother Argent was talking to us."
"…I still don't know this girl all that much," Lincoln remarked.
"Well that's understandable," Clyde said, "Given that it's a rare occurrence to see her at school. I don't think she showed up all that often during the two months or so you were gone, bro, so you didn't miss much."
"Maybe I'll finally see what Astrid looks like in class later to-" Lincoln began, but he was cut off when a familiar male voice, one he wasn't fond of, cut him off.
"I'm going to have to ask you to keep away from her, Larry," Chandler's familiar voice called out, prompting Lincoln's friends to turn and see the conceited boy himself come walking up to him, accompanied by his two primary friends (using the word 'friends' here very loosely; those boys are more akin to goons than to anything else). Lincoln, not wanting to deal with any of Chandler's crap this early in the school day, didn't bother to turn and face him yet. "I already called dibs on her," Chandler said as he jerked a thumb at his chest.
"Not in the mood right now, Chandler," Lincoln said, his tone already sounding strained.
A look of mild annoyance appeared across Chandler's face since Lincoln wasn't affording him the respect he clearly thought he deserved from everyone. "Hey, what's with not even bothering facing me?" Chandler said in an annoyed tone. Placing his hand on Lincoln's shoulder, Chandler said as he forcefully turned the white-haired boy around, "You will-" Chandler stopped short from finishing, as when Lincoln was turned to face him, he gave Chandler a very angry, very serious glare. A glare that made the conceited boy take pause. A glare that set a very high degree of fear into his heart. Chandler's two goon-friends were likewise afraid as well, even though Lincoln's glare wasn't aimed at either of them.
Gently removing his hand from Lincoln's shoulder, Chandler said somewhat nervously, "H-hey, come on, Larry. I was just playing around."
"…" Lincoln considered the jerk who forcefully grabbed his attention, and could tell that he had, surprisingly, managed to scare Chandler with his glare. Only Ronnie Anne before him was able to make others back off just by giving them a very angry look. "…Just give me some space, Chandler," Lincoln said in a warning tone, "I'm still not in the mood for any of your crud."
"O-okay," Chandler said, the mild hint of fear in his tone still not wavering. The conceited boy turned around and immediately went the other way, his two goon-friends following behind him in quick order. After Chandler and his posse were gone, Clyde and Rusty both turned to face their white-haired friend.
"Dude," Clyde said to Lincoln in a concerned tone, "Are you okay?"
Sighing, Lincoln remarked, "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm not in the mood to deal with anything from Chandler right now."
"I can't fault you for that," Rusty replied, "I mean, he is kind of a jerk. Not to mention how his flirting gives Astrid the creeps."
"If he keeps it up, then get Astrid to tell a teacher," Lincoln said, "Or better yet, Principal Huggins. That should fix things."
"Speaking of teachers," Clyde remarked as he looked at the watch on his wrist, "We ought to get going over to Mrs. Johnson's class."
"Right," Lincoln replied with an agreeing nod as he and Rusty followed Clyde to their first class for the day.
Lola and her twin sister Lana were walking through one of the hallways on their way to class. However, they were stopped when someone slammed the lockers along the left wall of the hallway, making both Loud twins flinch. Slowly, they turned to see who had stopped them. To their fright, it was a very clearly angry-looking Ronnie Anne.
"Oh, umm, hey there, Ronnie Anne," Lana greeted nervously, "Umm, glad to see that you'll be sticking around here in Royal Woods."
Saying nothing to the tomboyish Loud twin, Ronnie Anne focused primarily on the twin who consistently won pageants. "You, princess," the Hispanic girl began in a tone that was clearly warning against acting up. Pointing to something off to the side, Ronnie Anne continued, "You see that over there?" Both twins turned to see what Ronnie Anne was pointing at; a garbage can that was close to overflowing. Snapping her fingers to get the twins' attention back, Ronnie Anne said to Lola, "If I hear that you step one more toe out of line, I will personally introduce your face to it! Capiche?!"
"Capi…capi…capi…yes?" Lola replied in a stammer, clearly frightened.
"And you!" Ronnie Anne said suddenly as she turned to regard Lana. With the tomboyish Loud twin shaking slightly, Ronnie Anne said, "I better not hear that you're acting like your twin here, got it?!"
"Do I look like I wear sparkly towels and dance on stage?" Lana replied with as much bravado as she was able to manage at the time (it wasn't all that much, given who the twins were talking to).
Ronnie Anne opened her mouth as if to say something, but she stopped short, closed her mouth, then began to consider what Lana had just said. After a few seconds, the Hispanic girl pointed to Lana in a commending manner as she said, "I like that answer." Ronnie Anne then took her leave for the fifth-grade class she had to get to. After Ronnie Anne was gone, Lana turned to face Lola, and saw that she was still shaking mildly out of fright.
"Relax, Lola," Lana said, "Remember what we talked about the night Lincoln came back. Lincoln isn't really holding any more against you than he is towards me or any of our other sisters. He was just put on the spot and was expected to name some names."
"I know," Lola replied, "But that's not why I'm shaking." Taking a breath to steady herself, Lola explained in a sad tone, "I'm just upset that our brother doesn't like us anymore."
"I think it's more along the lines of trust," Lana pointed out, "Trust that we have a shot to earn again. A shot that Lincoln's giving us."
"Mmm," Lola said in a mildly upset tone as she allowed her older twin sister to lead her to their first class for the day.
Later during first recess, Lincoln was talking with his friends Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zach. "Hey dude," Liam said to Lincoln, "I noticed during first and third period that whenever he looked your way, Chandler seemed ready to wet himself out of fright." Giving his friend a curious look, Liam asked, "What did you do to Chandler?"
"Nothing," Lincoln replied honestly, "I just told him to give me some space."
"He also gave Chandler a glare more frightening than any that either of my parents had ever given to me when I'm in trouble," Rusty added, "I swear, if looks could kill, then Chandler would have been on his way to the morgue right now!" The group of five friends all proceeded to laugh at the joke Rusty made, although Lincoln found what Rusty said to be especially funny.
It wouldn't have been the first time that the white-haired boy took a life.
As the five friends continued to talk, they started hearing some shouting coming from one area of the playground. As they turned to face the direction the shouting came from, Lincoln and the others saw two things; one, that there was a crowd beginning to circle something, suggesting that a fight was going on, and two, Argent Ace came running up to them, specifically Rusty.
"Hey, Rocky's brother!" Argent said in something of an urgent tone, "Things aren't looking really good right now!"
"What's wrong, Argent?" Rusty asked.
"Biff's trying to assert his dominance again," Argent explained, "Last I checked, he's facing Andy and Rocky two on one!"
"I can understand your brother wanting to face him, since he said so the last time Biff was trying to pick a fight," Rusty began in a concerned tone, "But how did Rocky get involved? Last I remember him telling me, Rocky said that he had no intention of crossing Biff's path."
"I'm guessing that when Rocky saw Biff punch Lucy in the eye, he must have lost his temp-" Argent began, but before he could continue, he was cut off when Lincoln strode forward towards the scene of the fight, a determined look of grim anger on his face. As they watched their friend approach the fight, Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zach all wore concerned looks.
"We ought to go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Rusty remarked as he and the others all followed Lincoln, with Argent following behind them, "I'm also going to want to have a word or two with that Biff kid for what he's doing with my brother."
…
The kids on the playground were all watching as Biff Bizowski was taking on two kids, Andy Ace and Rocky Spokes, at once in a fight. Given Biff's reputation, it wasn't all that surprising that he'd be willing to go into a fight with odds against him. Granted, that little snot Rocky jumped in after Biff punched that creepy weirdo goth girl in the eye, but hey, this just meant that after Biff won, no one would be wanting to question his dominance, his authority.
As the fight went on, Lincoln and his friends managed to force their way through the crowd so they could see the Biff vs. Andy and Rocky fight. Looking around, Lincoln eventually saw what Argent had told him about just a few seconds ago; Lucy, Lincoln's gothic ex-sister, was covering her left eye, covering part of her bangs in the process. It was clear that she had been struck, and judging by the way Lucy was shaking, Lincoln thought that she might start crying.
Crying like she must have been when she wrote that apology poem the previous night.
A poem that told Lincoln that Lucy thought he hated her.
Over at the fight, Biff shoved Andy away by slamming him in the stomach with his foot, and while the ten-year-old Ace boy stumbled back, Biff grabbed Rocky by the front of his shirt. Raising a fist in preparation to strike the younger Spokes boy in the face, Biff said in a taunting tone, "Got anything to say before I rearrange your-"
Biff was cut off when someone put their hand on his right shoulder, then forcefully turned them around. As such, Biff came face-to-face with a very angry-looking Lincoln Loud. The third-grade bully did not recognize the sole Loud boy, but figured that, due to being taller than him, that Lincoln must belong to one of the higher grades, most likely fifth. Smacking Lincoln's hand away with his left hand, Biff said, "Hey, what's the big id-" The third-grade bully was cut off again when Lincoln grabbed him by his left wrist, yanking his left arm to the side and making the third-grade bully yip in surprise.
The sole Loud boy's glare intensified, matching or possibly even exceeding that of the glare that Lincoln had given to Chandler earlier. Due to Lincoln's more intense glare, in combination with the fact that an older and clearly upset kid had him where he wanted him, Biff was starting to get frightened. In a growling tone that clearly sounded angry, Lincoln said to Biff in a demanding tone, "Did you really punch Lucy in the eye?"
Wincing slightly in pain due to how his wrist was being squeezed, Biff said, "W-what's it to-"
"DID YOU PUNCH MY LITTLE SISTER IN THE EYE, YES OR NO?!" Lincoln shouted, the sheer anger radiating off of him making most of the people witnessing the fight take pause.
Biff's eyes widened out of shock as he fully realized what he was dealing with; an older brother that's pissed off over someone striking his little sister. "Th-that was your sister?" Biff practically stammered, his tone clearly showing his fright.
Now Lincoln's anger had reached cataclysmic levels. Even so, Lincoln didn't forget how he wanted to play this out. His brow furrowed even more, the white-haired boy said to Biff, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tell someone what you did."
"I can give you a reason myself, Mr. Loud," an adult male's voice called out, getting everyone to turn and see Principal Huggins, followed by two school security officers, arriving on the scene. "There's no need for you to tell anyone," Principal Huggins continued, "I'm standing right here." As the two school security officers escorted Biff into the school, with one of the officers remarking how Biff was now in even more trouble than before, Principal Huggins turned to regard Lincoln, along with Andy and Rocky.
"I thought I made it clear during the assembly at the beginning of this school year that roughhousing on school grounds was not allowed," Principal Huggins said to the three boys in a mildly scolding tone.
As the three boys looked to the ground with expressions that were more or less guilty, Principal Huggins looked from boy to boy, then out of the corner of his eye noticed that one of the Loud girls was covering an eye. With that in mind, Principal Huggins returned his attention to the three boys standing in front of him. "…I strongly suggest that the three of you review the school rules section in your respective school agendas," Principal Huggins continued, "And pay special attention to the rule says no roughhousing." Turning around, Principal Huggins said as he walked away, "Try to stay out of trouble, boys."
After the principal was gone, the kids on the playground all started talking amongst themselves.
"Woah," one boy said in a tone of amazement, "The principal just let those guys who fought Biff off with a warning!"
"I never thought I'd see the day where Andy Ace didn't get in trouble for fighting," a second boy could be heard saying.
"Is that goth girl really Loud's little sister?" a girl's voice said aloud.
As the students on the playground talked amongst themselves while dispersing, Lincoln's friends came walking up, having been joined by Argent. "Woohoo!" Andy cheered as he pumped a fist into the air, "Score one for the Ace family!"
With a small but amused smile, Argent said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "You're never going to change, are you, Andy?"
"Hey Rocky, you okay?" Rusty asked.
With a shrug, Rocky replied, "Ehh, this isn't any worse than the times you and I got into fights with each other. I'll be fine." Turing around to face Lucy, Rocky began, "Hey Lu-" The younger Spokes boy stopped short when he saw that Lincoln had brushed aside some of Lucy's bangs so he could take a look at her eye that was hit.
"Yeah," Lincoln said in a tone that would hear no argument from the gothic Loud sibling, "I'm taking you to the nurse's office. We ought to get an ice pack for that bruising." Letting Lucy's bangs back down, Lincoln turned to face the other boys and said, "If you all don't mind, I have a little sister to take to the nurse's office."
"Hey man, don't let us stop you," Clyde remarked as he, Rusty, Liam, Zach, Rocky, Argent and Andy all gave the white-haired boy the clear to take Lucy over to the school's nurse's office.
Over in the nurse's office, Lincoln was keeping an eye on Lucy, who was covering her injured eye with an ice pack. "Are you going to be okay, Luce?" Lincoln asked, "I mean, you haven't said anything since Principal Huggins had-"
"I thought that you hated me," Lucy said, interrupting Lincoln in the process and making him take pause. "I thought that you hated me for my part in driving you away," Lucy continued, "Not that I can blame you for feeling that way, given what I did was downright unforgivable. So why did you step in with the fight involving Biff? Why did you make him stand down?" Looking down to the floor, Lucy said in an almost sad tone, "…Why did you call-"
Lincoln gently laid a hand on Lucy's left shoulder, cutting her off in the process and getting her to look up at him. In a gentle tone, Lincoln replied, "I don't hate you. I never did. It's just that I'm really upset with that bad luck stunt from a while ago, and it's going to take me a while to forgive the lot of you for it."
"I can see how that will take you a while, Lincoln," Lucy remarked, "I mean, there's quite a lot of people in our family to-"
"Your family, Lucy," Lincoln corrected in a mildly somber tone, "The only family that I'm aware that I have is a grandfather and a grandaunt." As Lucy hung her head in disappointment, Lincoln shifted gears, wearing a small but warm smile, and added as he ruffled the top of Lucy's head, "…And a little sister who likes reading and writing. She also tends to wear a lot of black. Maybe you know her."
Lucy looked up, not believing what she had heard. With her one eye that she was not covering with an ice pack, Lucy looked at Lincoln nodding gently in an affirmative manner. He then gently wrapped his arms around Lucy and gave her a warm hug, a hug that made her feel safe, a hug that let her know that everything was going to be okay.
A hug that told Lucy that she was Lincoln's sister again.
END, RESTORED IMAGE CHAPTER FOUR
Author's notes:
…So yeah, Lucy's the first of the Louds that Lincoln forgave. Granted it was kind of a heat-of-the-moment deal that was brought on because Lincoln's instincts as an older brother were triggered upon seeing that Lucy was hit, but I just couldn't think of anything else for how Lincoln would let Lucy into his good graces again. Besides, I was figuring that this would help make it clear that Lincoln does NOT hate any of his relatives, in case some of you were wondering. Anywho, the next chapter should see more development for Lincoln and the rest of the Louds. As a side note, I would have gotten this chapter up a bit sooner, but I was not feeling good at all. I'm better now, though.
…That's right, Lincoln currently like his AUNT RUTH more than most of the rest of his family right now. Let that sink in for a minute.
