A/N: Sorry for the delay people, some real life stuff has been happening and keeping me busy. Fortunately, it's not the horrible kind of "real life stuff" you might expect. Still, hope you enjoy this chapter. Quite a bit of angst in this one, as I'm exercising a Luna Anxiety headcanon that I've had since I first started watching the show.

As always, the story was inspired by an RP idea by norththegem. Come check out our Loud House RP group at oneforall-allforeleven on tumblr!

Also, this story contains some alcohol content. Just letting you know.

Royal Woods

7 years ago

"Daddy!" Luna yelled, excited jumping around the passenger's seat of Vanzilla, "Mick Swagger was so cool! I want to be like him someday! Can I get a guitar for Christmas?"

The past four hours had been hectic sitting in the nosebleed section of Detroit's Little Caesars Arena, but Luna still managed to hold herself high. Mick Swagger had been phenomenal, and to top it off, Luna was able to find her way down to the pit, all thanks to some chubby British teenager who called himself Chunk. The night was astounding, and Luna felt another step closer to her father. High from the excitement of her first concert (and possibly the weirdo with the skunk-like body odor next to her in the pit) Luna couldn't help but excitedly shimmy herself around her seat.

Lynn, Sr grinned, "Of course, honey, but you better play it every day. You got it?"

"Got it!"

"There you go, my little Rockstar." Lynn Sr patted Luna's head.

Her father's statement echoed like music in her ringing ears. Luna loved the sound of the word rockstar. It felt like she had finally found her calling. She couldn't wait to tell her sisters and her baby brother. Soon, Luna would tell Lori, Leni, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln and Lucy about her new passion. Of course, there was still the elephant in the room.

"Why couldn't Mom come again?" Luna asked, settling down from her jumping parade.

"Well, Luna," Lynn Sr said, "Mom's at home resting because she's going to give birth soon. We were actually planning on going together when we bought the tickets, but that was before we found out she was going to have twins."

Of course, Luna knew she was going to have two more baby sisters to look after, and she reveled at that fact. While she was nowhere near as girly as Lori or Leni, she still could appreciate their hand-me-down doll sets while still being up for some roughhousing and pranking around Lynn and Luan.

"I'm still trying to come up with names for them." Lynn Sr wondered, "I know Mom wanted to name one of them, so I can name the other. I was going to go with Lexx, but since she's a girl, what do you think, Luna?"

Luna thought back to the concert. There had been some amazing songs throughout the night, and it was hard for her to pick one name. Yet, there was one that ultimately stood out, even if it wasn't a Mick Swagger smash hit. It stood out since Mick himself admitted to never playing many covers, but he made an exception for his good friends from the Kinks.

"What about Lola?" Luna asked.

"Ahh!" Lynn Sr replied, "Lo-lo-lo-lo-lola! I like it, Luna. Thank you."

"No prob, pop-star." Luna grinned with jollity at her own nickname for her dad. It was her way of saying 'thanks for changing my life for the best.'

A few minutes passed in silence as Lynn Sr pulled into the Franklin Street exit. Once he was stopped by a light, he turned to Luna as he fumbled with the CD player.

"Luna," He started, "Can I show you another band I really loved when I was in the UK?"

"Show me, show me, show me!" Luna replied, entranced.

"Yeah," Lynn Sr said, "This band is called Blur, and this is the most British song in the world."

Present Day

"Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur for what is known as…

Parklife!"

At the stoplight just before the Franklin Avenue entrance to the freeway, Luna bobbed her head back and forth behind the wheel to the tune of Blur's incredibly british tune, "Parklife." She sang along, with Leni staring at the scenery in the backseat. Leni loved all music, so she didn't mind some of Luna's heavier songs, even if this was far from the heaviest thing in her playlist. Rita, on the other hand, was gazing outside the window waiting for the right opportunity to speak out against the Britpop. It reminded her too much of… him. The time came when Luna was stopped in the afternoon traffic.

"Luna, honey," Rita began, "cam you change the music to something a bit more accessible?"

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Luna asked. This seemingly came out of nowhere, and managed to perplex the young musician. Time and time, again Luna remembered her mom enjoying this song alongside her dad. Luna frowned and changed to the next song. It was the Kinks playing the exact song Luna named Lola after. The other women in the car were perplexed. Leni didn't mind the song itself, but Rita was appalled.

"Luna," Rita said, unplugging Luna's phone from the jack, "I said accessible, not more Dad rock."

"Mom!" Luna yelled. If there was one thing that miffed Luna more than anything, it was rudely interrupting her music. Immediately after the music was disconnected, another British voice began to sing.

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want what I really really want

So tell me what you want, what really really want."

"Ooh!" Leni cheered, "I love this song!"

Luna was livid. Her driving reflected this, almost rear ending the car in front of her. While Luna didn't mind the Spice Girls, she certainly didn't like them. Hearing her top rated British rock selection overruled by manufactured pop stars nearly skinned Luna's ears, especially after being forced to change her song. Leni's off pitch singing didn't help soothe the hurt either. Thankfully, Luna pulled into Bangers and Mosh quick enough to shut the song off in the middle.

Once inside the restaurant, Rita continually complained about the atmosphere, how everything was so expensive, and the dreaded classic rock being played inside. At once, her complaints became too much as she ranted about a $60 blue rare steak.

"Then why'd you let us come here?" Luna retorted.

"You chose this place," Rita said, "Not me."

Luna rolled her eyes as she scoured the menu for something interesting. For as much as she loved the UK, she couldn't believe how bland everything looked. After a while, Luna gave up trying to find something appetizing that she just figured she'd pick at random. The waiter came around just in time.

"I'd like the, uh," Luna stumbled, trying to pronounce "Haggis, neeps, and tatties."

The waiter raised an eyebrow and smirked, putting on his best bad Scottish accent, "Going Scottish the day, are ya, Lassie?"

"Sure, dude." Luna handed the menu back to the waiter. My future, she thought.

"And I would, like, like the garden burger with coleslaw salad instead of fries, please!" Leni said.

"Give me a Shepherd's pie, light on the peas." Rita mentioned, eying the waiter a bit before giving her menu back.

"Isn't pie for dessert, though?" Leni asked.

Rita immediately burst out laughing, confusing the poor soul even more. "Oh, Leni, Honey!" chuckled Rita, "You just say the darnedest things, don't you?"

"I really don't get it, actually." Leni said, feeling ashamed for not understanding what a shepherd's pie was. Rita was less than receptive, holding a plastic smile until someone made a move.

Thankfully, the waiter moved on. "Is that all for you?"

Taking the last of the menus, the waiter left. Immediately after he left her field of view, Rita dropped her smile. She turned to Leni, a glare flaring off herself.

"You don't seriously not know what a Shepherd's Pie is, right?" Rita asked. Leni shook her head. Rita sighed before she could say something truly embarrassing, instead hesitating for a second. Turning to both of her daughters, she shifted her tone to happy again. "Alright, ladies, who wants some drinks?"

As Rita walked over to the bar to get their drinks, Leni and Luna stared at each other. While they grew up together in the same house with the same sisters, besides their fashion sensibilities, they felt like they didn't have much in common. The uncomfortable silence, drowned out by the din of a busy night in the restaurant, was soon broken by a startled Luna. Mom had been taking her sweet time at the bar, fetching a coke for her and a glass of water for Leni, yet drinking an entire cocktail before continuing to chat with those at the bar. She seemed to forget that Luna's seat was facing in her general direction. Luna watched every single motion of her mother flirting with the bartender, fuming her with a rage she had never felt in years. Luna knew exactly where this rage came from. To her, it was the one thing she had in common with her Mom, and she wasn't exactly proud of this. Usually, Luan would be there disarm her with a joke so bad Luna would divert her rage, except she wasn't there. Luna felt her hand curl up into a fist, yet she didn't feel the loud crash when she slammed it on the table.

Leni jumped. "Luna!"

"God dammit," Luna hush yelled, "Leni, Please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed that Mom's… well, gone way crazy."

Leni thought for a moment. "I did notice she was a lot more friendly to the mailman and Mr. Yates down the street."

Clenching her teeth, Luna tried not to scream profanity at that name. Yates. The pretentious little family of goodie two shoes that warped the way she spoke for an entire month. Yeah, she might have registered a few immigrants to vote, but no word in proper english could she use to communicate just how uncomfortable she was through the entire fling. Knowing the Yateses were behind that, she had a bone to pick with each and every one of them and their wide, perfect glistening smiles.

Desperately wanting to move on, Luna rolled her eyes. "Look, Leni," she said, "The point is Mom has gone nuts since the divorce. I can't count the number of times she's winked at that bartender just now."

"Bartender where?" Leni looked around. Luna motioned behind Leni, but Leni pointed at herself. "Wait, since when am I a bartender?"

Luna gritted her teeth again. It was frustrating enough having to talk to her extremely dense sister, but this had been the most amount of time they had spent together since Lincoln was born. While she knew that Leni was dumb, it didn't occur to Luna just how dumb she was.

"Oh well, whatever, nevermind." Luna crossed her arms. She paid no attention to how lost Leni was. It wasn't that she didn't want to let her know the details – Luna knew the importance and responsibility for the eldest siblings to talk be the middle man in negotiations between parent and child. Luna also knew it was her job to keep her cool. It had been easy in the past, though that was when she preferred to stay out of family matters, instead letting Lori, Luan, and Lincoln deal with whatever was on the plate. Now it was her turn, and she felt underprepared as ever.

Leni frowned. She wasn't very comfortable with herself. For almost all of her life, she relied on Lori to help her out with almost everything. Unless it was her craftsmanship, Leni had to give all credit of what little she understood to Lori teaching her. Seeing Luna, her first younger sister, avoid her gaze in disappointment did more than upset her.

Sighing in exasperation, Leni groaned. "I miss Lori."

Luna had been texting Sam when she said that, yet it prompted her to look up to her second eldest sister.

"I know you do," replied Luna. She was about to tell her to get over it when she saw Leni's defeated frown. Realizing she must have insulted her, Luna slapped her forehead. "I'm sorry Leni. I know how important she was to you. Believe me, I miss her too. I hope she's doing well in college."

Without a proofread, Luna had sent an unfinished text to Sam. She received it, and was promptly confused. Quickly, she shot a text back.

[What do u mean by 'how r the sus']

Taking a look out from her phone, Sam looked around the house. It was dead quiet. Sam knew about the divorce, as Luna had informed her as soon as she got the news. Yet, she was sure these sisters of her would have more energy. Instead, the tomboy – Lana, was it? – just causally played with their dog. Lucy, that creepy goth, was minding her own business in her room, prompted by a "do not disturb" sign on it. The youngest, Lisa, was busy in her own room, playing around with her chemistry set. Instead of engaged, Sam found herself bored to tears around her bestie's little sisters. Not wanting to outright tell Luna that her sisters were not as active as she had heard, Sam just decided to send Luna a simple text.

[Ur sisters r fine]

Back at Bangers and Mosh, Rita finally made her way back to the table, holding a second cocktail in one hand, and her daughters' other drinks in her other arm. She was notably a lot more clumsy in her movement, spilling a little bit of Leni's water and splashing a little bit of Luna's coke on the table. Leni darted a look at Luna, finally understanding what she meant by Rita being a little bit off. Wanting to confirm everything for herself, Leni gazed at her mother's drink.

"Ooh!" She exclaimed, "That looks yummy! Can I try it?"

"No," Rita said, "It's got alcohol in it, and you're not old enough to drink yet. Plus, I'm sure you don't actually need to drown out your sorrows, you're kids, you have none!"

Leni gazed back at Luna, confused and worried.

Well, shit, Luna thought as she looked back at Leni, gritting her teeth in dismay. Through all the years of being her kid, Luna had never seen her mother (or father for that matter) drunk. This was a new, absolutely terrifying experience for her, and it left her shaking.

"As soon as we get our food," Luna stated, "We'll eat it, pay then leave. Got that mom?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, Luna." Rita replied, giving a quick thumbs up.

Once the food finally came out, the girls began to eat as fast as they could. Leni finally understood what a shepherd's pie was, and got to look at it for most of the night. Rita took her sweet time going back and forth between eating that enigma of a dish and ranting. The subjects varied, from complaining about her patients at Dr. Feinstein's office, to outright calling all men pigs to yapping about how the shepherd's pie was undercooked, only ever eating half of it. Usually, Luna would keep her mouth shut and try to ignore these tangents, but there were times when Rita singled her out. Leni was ignored during the entire tirade.

"Luna, you're so lucky, you know that?" Rita said.

Shifting in her chair, Luna chose to ignore this, yet she couldn't.

"Luna!" Rita snapped, clearly drunk, "Listen to your mother!"

Luna took her last gulp of the haggis and tatties. She stared back at her mother, eye twitching. "What?"

"You're a lesbian," Rita continued, slurring as she spoke, "That means you can shun men for the rest of your life. You won't meet some assholic dickhead who will fuck you over 11 god damn times then say that he 'has no time and energy to—"

"Mom!" Luna screamed. The restaurant went quiet. Noticing the sudden attention around her, Luna began to feel sick. While she loved being the center of attention when it came to performing, she hated being embarrassed. A knot tugged in her stomach as she tried to clarify herself, but nothing came out.

"As I was saying," Rita began again, "You won't need to meet any—"

"Check please!" Leni yelled. It wasn't very common for her to take initiative, but she couldn't bear to see Luna that sheepish again. It couldn't come fast enough as Rita rambled on. The restaurant returned to business as usual as the waiter received payment and the girls rushed out of the restaurant as fast as they could.

Rita kept on with her drunken ramblings. "And that's why from now on, there will be NO boys in the house. Got it?"

"Sure mom," Luna said as she opened the back seat of the sedan, throwing Rita in back, making sure that she was fully strapped in. As soon as she was, Luna jumped in the driver's seat, checked with Leni, and plugged in her iPod. The song started – another Blur song off the same album, this time "Bank Holiday." As soon as the song kicked in, she revved up the engine, and pulled onto the street as fast as she could. It was a short drive home, but Luna made sure she wouldn't have to listen to her mother's drunk ramblings for another minute. Once pulled into the driveway, Luna promptly hauled Rita out and dragged her to the door, pushing it open without much effort. Once again, the kids left the door unlocked. Dad would be pissed, Luna thought to herself, too bad he's not here to chew us out.

Inside the house, Sam was just sitting on the couch watching a music video – Blur's "Beetlebum" – when Luna barged in. Luna was still getting used to the silence of the house, so she was a bit startled when she saw Sam making herself at home. As much as Luna would have loved to chat, though, now was not a good time.

"Luna! And Ms…" Sam stuttered.

"Anderssen." Rita slurred. "It's Swedish."

Luna's blood boiled as her face burned from being immediately flustered. That same knot wrapped around Luna's throat as she dry heaved her words. The situation couldn't have been more awkward, and Luna didn't want it to get even more tense. She guided her Mom to her room, and let her in. Turning back to Sam, Luna grinned as widely as she could.

"H-hey," Luna trailed off.

"Hey!" Sam said.

The two stared at each other for a moment, only to be interrupted by Leni.

"Luna," Leni said, "Can I lock the car door? I don't think we locked it."

Luna handed the keys to Leni. At least someone cares, she thought. Turning back to Sam, Luna tried to shatter the silence.

"How was…" Luna started.

"Babysitting was pretty good." Sam said, scratching her elbow, "I expected your family to be a bit more… how do I put it…"

Luna dropped her expression. "Loud?"

"Yeah!" Sam immediately covered her mouth, "Oh, sorry."

Luna laughed, a bit awkwardly, "it's alright. Mom hasn't forced us to change our last names yet."

Not wanting the situation to go on much longer, Luna grabbed Rita's purse and pulled out $60. She handed it to Sam with a quick "see you at school tomorrow" as she whisked her out the door. Sam stood by the door, perplexed and a little insulted by the sudden kick out. Yet, she looked in her hand. $60 was nothing to sneeze by, so she just shrugged and left. She passed by Leni, who had accidentally locked herself in with the child security lock. A quick door open later, Sam saved her from having to spent the night there. Leni thanked Sam with enthusiasm as she galloped back to the house.

Slapping her forehead and trembling, Luna cursed to herself while walking up to her room. Leni followed suit. Before Luna got to the door, though, Leni tapped her shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Luna snapped. She slammed the door. Once inside, Luna rushed to her bed, picked up her pillow and screamed. Her anxiety hadn't been this bad in years. She hadn't meant to take out her anger on Sam and Leni, but they just happened to be in the blast radius. Gritting her teeth, Luna quickly sent a text to both Leni and Sam.

[I'm so sorry, I'll explain tomorrow.]

Luna lied down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. There was no point in moving unless someone was going to respond to her text messages. In the end, she did get a response, but not in the way she was expecting. A few raps on the door were followed by it opening. Leni peered out from the otherside, a worried look plastered on her face.

"Luna," she asked, "Are you okay?"

Luna sat up, grateful that she at least got a response. "I said I'll tell you tomorrow. But thanks for putting up with me these past few hours."

Leni nodded. "I think I'm starting to get what you meant earlier. I think Mom needs some help."

"Can we talk about that tomorrow?" Luna said, "I kinda wanna be alone right now."

"Sure." Leni responded, "Just wanted you to know that you can talk to me about anything."

Luna smiled. "Thank you so much, Lens. Goodnight!"

Once Leni was back in her room, Luna crawled back into her bed. A wave of melancholy finally crashed down as she fully processed the horrid day. She thought about how badly her Mom had embarrassed her in front of Sam and how Sam probably hated her now. On top of this, Sam hadn't replied yet, meaning that it was true. Luna let her mind wander to all sorts of places. One such place was her Dad. What was he doing out in California? Why couldn't he stay somewhere close?

Perplexing as it was, Luna hoped the best for him. After all, he was a single dad with five kids now. Still, Luna missed holding Lily and being her designated babysitter. Luna didn't miss Lola's personality so much, but she'd be damned is she didn't respect the little rapscallion. The next three Luna knew she'd for sure miss. Lincoln was Luna's main musical ping pong table; they'd trade music on the regular and learn to appreciate each others tastes that way. Lynn was willing to practice moshing with Luna and was one of the few to actually be receptive to her harsher punk music. Luan… was Luan. Sure, as obnoxious as she was, Luna didn't realize how often Luan specifically made herself a punching bag to divert Luna's anxiety and anger away from her other siblings. So many memories in this now somewhat empty bedroom were now void because of the divorce. Luna shut her eyes, trying to force herself to sleep. Yet, the room was exceedingly silent, which only emphasized the buzzing in Luna's ears.

Tossing and turning, Luna couldn't quite get comfortable in bed. Before long, Luna gave up. She climbed to the end of the bed and started to get down – thud. It was a single bed. On the nightstand was just an alarm clock, no camera. The obnoxious comedienne usually helped Luna forget about her growing problem with tinnitus. Usually by now, Luan would have said at least one or two hilarious statements in her sleep. Without much else to do, Luna pulled up a document of things Luan had said in her sleep on her phone.

"I haven't worked here in t-towers t-t-hours hours."

Working herself to a giggle, Luna found another random statement.

"Diagnosed with uhhhhhh"

Luna suppressed her laughter, not wanting to wake up her sisters. She walked over to the side of her bed and sat down, sides hurting. She read something Luan said a few weeks ago, back when she was still living in the house.

"Luna, have you spidermantallica?"

This one hit Luna too close. A surge of tears replaced the jolly laughter Luna had infected herself with. She curled herself in her bed and quietly cried. There would be no more sharing funny videos, or recording the stupid things Luan said in her sleep. No more would Luna sneak into R rated comedies with Luan. The rockstar didn't know how much she had missed her until a solid week after she had breezed through.

A/N: Holy crap that was a ton of words. One more thing I wanted to address: I will be referring to real life bands AS those bands, not as funny knockoffs like Mick Swagger (Mick Jagger/The Rolling Stones) and SMOOCH (KISS). My main reason for doing this is so that nobody gets confused when Luna refers to a band, and also so that I don't have to call Blur "Smudge" or the Kinks "The Kanks". Also, the Spice Girls exist in this universe, so I don't see why Blur and the Kinks can't.

Sidenote, I had a roommate who talked in his sleep. This was in the dorms, so I heard every single word, to the point where I wrote almost all of it down. Luan's sleep lines toward the end are all based off of actual things I heard my roommate say.

Anyway, the next chapter will probably be back in Rose Grove again. See you in a little bit!