The next day in the Loud house had been one Lynn was dreading, she had been essentially locked in her own head since she discovered the truth last night from Lincoln about what happened, she felt like scum. Lincoln had calmed down a lot, he didn't know why, just seeing how guilty she felt about the situation made him lower his guard to a degree, though the white-haired boy still viewed himself as a danger.
Now here the two of them were, sat in the living room of an empty house, most of their family were out and about doing their own things, Rita and Lynn Senior had sent most of them to the mall, giving their children their allowance early as a means to keep them busy, Luna meanwhile was out getting ready for tonight's competition.
Lincoln and Lynn had told their parents about what was going on, about the fact they had sex, the sporty Loud having shared the truth about the voices in her head as well, their father fainted when hearing the initial news, the follow-up truth was no better. There was one issue in their recounting of what had transpired, and that was the fact that both of them were trying to fully blame themselves for it, the moment their father regained his consciousness him and his wife both went to have a talk in their own room.
"When they come back, they're going to send you to a mental institution." The depressed split personality declared, Lynn trying to ignore it, her body at least felt far better today than it did yesterday. There still was no word from the obsessed split personality, all it did was make her increasingly uncomfortable.
"Why are you still trying to cover for me?" Lynn Junior looked to her only brother, she thought he would no longer be a willing participant in her life after what had happened, yet the middle Loud sibling had pinned as much blame on himself, it was evident he still felt nothing other than guilt and shame for what they did.
"I'm not, I told them the truth... I just know it wasn't you that did it." Lincoln said while refusing to look at her, it felt strange to be sat in the living room and not have the TV on, the two were not in trouble to his knowledge, their parents had ordered them to stay there until they said otherwise.
"Lincoln, we've talked about this, those split personalities are a part of me." Lynn sighed, she hoped her only brother was not trying to salvage their relationship through lying to himself, as much as the sports loving Loud wanted them to still be close like they used to be, she knew that was going to be near impossible, the brunette assuming Lincoln hated her now. To her it honestly would be easier if the white-haired teenager outright hated her, instead, he was scared of her, or rather, the things in her head, the brunette had accepted the split personalities as parts of herself, she knew what it meant the moment she did.
The thing that had made Lincoln begin to calm down, was just seeing how guilty his older sister was feeling when she discovered what had happened between them, that did little to help his own inner turmoil, from his perspective, he took advantage of her during a glorified mental break, it was why he purely blamed himself. The sports loving Loud wanted to say something, the silence was deafening, his words of refusal to blame her now just made her think more about the voices in her head, were any of her thoughts truly her own anymore? Lynn sighed, feeling her grip on her legs tightening as her hand trembled.
"I'm scared of losing you, Lincoln. When Leni and Lori moved out, it was like the house got emptier. And when I go to college... Will I even exist anymore to you?" Lynn confessed her fears out loud, the last thing any of the Loud sisters wanted was to have their only brother hate them, the aspiring sports star was no different, lately she had been having those thoughts more and more though, what would happen when the next phase of her life came along, would her family be happy that their most destructive sibling was no longer as involved in their lives?
As far as Lynn could recall, her earliest memories were of her and Lincoln, the white-haired boy looked up to her like a hero, she was so strong and fast, it made him want to do his best to keep up, even if the rest of their older sisters never liked how rough Lynn could be sometimes with him, as of late, the auburn-haired girl kept recalling those days more and more, now all she could think were one singular set of words. "They were right."
"I never wanted to cut anyone out of my life..." Lincoln could only say; he recalled the last few years of his life, he had hit many rough patches with his sisters, the same way they all had hit hard spots with one another as well, the white-haired boy had forgiven them for many things, Lynn one time convinced everyone to lock him outside in the rain, and he forgave them for that, though all of his family taking care of him when he inevitably fell sick afterwards helped that, Lincoln was no good at holding a grudge. Now all he could wonder about was if what happened the other night was something he could forgive Lynn for, all the while Lincoln was pondering if she could forgive him for having a hand in it. Their relationship was in ruins, that much Lynn could tell.
Meanwhile in the Loud parents' bedroom, the two had been talking back and forth, it felt like they were going in a giant circle, it was a jarring situation to them, a day that had started off as normal as any other, was suddenly shattered when their son and one of their daughters came and announced that they had sex, the thing that made it worse was the fact that was not even the worst news, finding out their sports loving daughter was hearing voices in her head and losing control of her body to them was just as horrific in terms of news. The information the Loud parents received did not help clear the confusion at all, Lincoln had blamed himself and one of the voices in Lynn Junior's head for their intercourse, whereas the sporty Loud blamed herself entirely.
"I knew Lynn had been acting weird lately for some reason, but... This?" Lynn Senior buried his face in his hands while being sat on his bed, he wanted to be angry, he wanted to be mad at them, he just couldn't bring himself to be though, he was not that type of man, this situation was a complete nightmare, one that was not going to be easy to resolve.
"Honey, please, don't pass out again, I really need you right now." Rita sighed, having been pacing back and forth in their room trying to think. They had plenty of what if nightmare scenarios in their head, like all parents did. One of the Loud parent's fears stemmed from having so many daughters and one son, incest was one of their bigger fears, knowing what caused it had been nothing short of insanity did nothing to help. The two knew Lincoln and Lynn Junior were always close, now the two were scared this might have been happening for far longer than they were aware.
"Our daughter is hearing voices and losing control of her body to them. We need to get her help, maybe we should take her to the hospital." Rita repeated the part of the situation she was more focused on, which was the voices in their daughter's head. While she was as upset as her husband about the news of incest, she could not deny she was more concerned about the harm these voices could cause to Lynn Junior if left untended to.
"If the hospital didn't find anything when she was last there, why would that change? She could just lie and get out of it. I know what they did was wrong, but I don't want to lose them..." Lynn Senior sighed; he did not have as much faith in the hospital at this point, he did not want to run the risk of losing any of his kids either, one of their children suffering from mental issues would cause CPS to be called on them, and if they discovered what Lincoln and Lynn had done, then the Loud parents dreaded to imagine the outcome. "We should ask Lisa to find her a good psychologist, someone that actually can help." The father of the Loud family suggested turning to their smartest daughter for help, Lisa had overcome a ton of hurdles after all. Both of them were completely unaware of the fact Lisa was already deeply involved in this situation.
"You know Junior will never agree to see a therapist or a psychologist, she's too stubborn! We can't just ignore two of our children having sex!" Rita argued, Lynn Junior was the definition of stubborn, they still had to fight her to go to doctors sometimes when she was really hurt.
"And what can we do Rita? If they love each other romantically, than the second we try to come down on them, they'll either be gone in an instant or our whole family will turn on us, or gang up on them." Lynn Senior retorted, he wanted to get them help, he really did, but their children were all very independent individuals, yet at the same time, respected and protected each other to no end if they felt one was being wronged, it was a mob mindset that everyone in their house was equally afraid of.
"If it only happened because of one of those voices, then we can just have him stay with Leni or Lori until we handle the one behind it." The restaurant owner stated, he wanted to do something, anything, but this was an impossible situation, they weren't in a good position at all here, no number of felonies that Lynn Junior and Lincoln committed changed that, their son was incredibly smart with crafting plans as well, anything the Loud parents could think of would run the risk of losing both of their children forever. As much as they hated what they did, neither could stomach the thought of imagining any of their kids roughing it out and suffering in the world before they had even graduated from school.
"And what if it wasn't because of one of those voices...? What if they really love each other?" Rita bit her lip after announcing her fear, she hated fighting with her husband, they had been going in circles on this topic for a near hour now, and it seemed like they always reached the same conclusion no matter how many times they discussed it, she saw her husband stand up.
"We have to take this one step at a time, for now, we'll ask Junior if she'd be willing to see a therapist, if she says yes, we'll have her tell everyone about the split personalities, if not..." Lynn Senior began, yet his voice trailed off. He found himself reaching down and holding his wife's hands for some form of comfort, he felt like a failure as a parent.
"And if she won't?" Rita swallowed, neither of them wanted to say the answer out loud, there was a long pause in the silence, the Loud father bringing his wife into a loving embrace, trying to be strong.
Lincoln and Lynn had been sat in complete silence, the two had found themselves without much else to say, aside from further apologies, that was when they heard the bedroom door open, they saw their parents stepping out and coming to them.
"Okay, we've talked." Lynn Senior said, he looked apprehensive, as if he feared the potential explosion that could come of this situation. The Loud parents stood in front of their two children, Lynn Junior closed her eyes, not wanting to look at them for what she expected to hear.
"If they try to screw with ya, you can take them both on. They're too old and weak to do anything." The aggressive split personality chuckled, an opportunity for a physical confrontation roused it to no end.
"They love you, whatever they do, it's only to help you, even if it hurts." The maternal personality tried to be assuring.
"Right now, they are just regretting having given birth to us at all." The depressed personality claimed, hearing them all talking at once was giving the sports loving girl a headache, her heart was starting to beat faster, her anxiety was increasing exponentially.
"Lynn sweetie, would you be willing to see a psychologist?" Rita asked their question, hearing that confused the athletic girl as she looked up to her parents.
"What?" Lynn Junior blinked, her skull might still be healing, and she still heard disembodied voices in her head, though she had to wonder if she had imagined that inquiry, it sounded random to her, especially given what she actually anticipated happening.
"Please, we're proud of you for being brave enough to tell us what was going on, but you need professional help." Lynn Senior pleaded; he hated imagining her suffering through so much of this because of stubbornness. Lincoln was reacting similarly to his sister, confused.
"Uhm, sure. I'll do anything at this point." Lynn Junior agreed with shockingly little resistance, she had consigned away the idea of being able to fight against these split personalities alone after last night. The Loud parents looked relieved when hearing their 5th oldest daughter agree to this without any trouble, the Loud siblings both felt very confused.
"And Lincoln, we want you to start seeing one too." Lynn Senior declared, although to the fatherly Loud it felt more like his only son required the help, between the two siblings the white-haired teen was the one suffering the most mentally from this, despite his best efforts to hide it.
"I will... Thanks." Lincoln was able to express his gratitude for being given the chance to get help, yet his thanks sounded rather emotionless, his gaze drifting to the floor.
"Okay, that's great... We're going to have a family meeting tonight, we want you to tell everyone about these split personalities." Rita claimed, suddenly the aspiring sports star was not a fan of this conversation anymore, sure she was anticipating having her head bitten off by her parents over the incest, being forced to reveal her psychological issues to her whole family was somehow a terribly worse outcome to Lynn Junior.
"But why? If they find out, they'll all start treating me different. They'll start treating me like I'm not their sister anymore..." Lynn Junior shared her honest thoughts, Lincoln felt terrible when hearing that, the brunette's greatest fear was more people finding out this secret than needed, as far as she cared, she would no longer be Lynn Loud Junior at that point, he remembered her screaming these thoughts at him when she initially confided to him about the mental problem. Lincoln remembered his promise that day too, holding his head, he felt like he failed Lynn now, his emotions were all over the place as is, this was not helping his ever degrading mental state.
"Don't say stuff like that, Lynn. You'll always be siblings, no matter what happens, they'll still love you." Lynn Senior put a hand on his sporty daughter's shoulder, it hurt the parents of 11 deeply to hear any of their kids talking about themselves like this.
"You need support Lynn, no one can deal with this alone, they'd be more than happy to help too." Rita tried to explain the reasoning for this, their many children would inevitably find out anyway at this rate, a support network was one of the most important things when it came to tackling mental issues.
"So, this is it, huh? How our life ends?" The depressed personality sighed, as far as Lynn Junior made it out to be, she would rather be dead then let people see her as nothing more than a mentally deficient human being, it was like being labelled as weak to her. The auburn-haired girl sniffled, she had no choice in this matter, she knew the alternative was probably far worse, she felt hatred building in her heart against her parents, it was like the trust she had put in them was being tarnished.
"Fine." Lynn Junior agreed through her gritted teeth, her breathing becoming rougher. "What are you going to do to Lincoln and me?" The brunette questioned, wanting to know what their punishment was going to be for the incestuous act they had committed, they assumed something terrible. Lynn Junior doubted they would care about the fact her split personality was seemingly completely absent ever since it had happened, to the sports loving Loud it felt like a piece of a puzzle was missing.
"Well, we need to know something first, Junior." Lynn Senior began, looking like he hated the mere concept behind this conversation, trying to ready himself, as if he expected the worst. "What you two did... Did one of the voices make you do it, or was it what you wanted to do?" Their father made his inquiry clear; Lynn Junior did not want Lincoln to suffer more than he already had, and she knew he was still blaming himself fully over what the obsessed personality had done to him. The sporty Loud wanted to keep her brother out of trouble, swallowing the lump in her throat as she looked to her parents.
"One of the voices, but it's been quiet ever since. Even when I'm doing things that usually make it mad." Lynn Junior explained, now adding onto Lincoln's retelling to their parents, she was just as lost as them on the missing personality, it did seem like a convenient excuse, a split personality causing someone to molest their only brother, only for it to seemingly vanish after the deed was done, the Loud parents did not doubt their child though, none of them would lie or joke about any of them having such a serious mental problem, even Luan.
"Is that voice gone?" Rita hesitantly asked, a vague hope in her heart that the worst of the bunch was completely gone from the sporty Loud's mind.
"... I don't know. There are ways to keep them all quiet for a while, but I've never had any of them shut up for this long before." Lynn Junior answered, she was not optimistic whatsoever about it, she did not want to assume anything, she had lost plenty of sports games because her teammates had prematurely celebrated, so she hated doing so herself.
"Until we're sure it's gone, we think it'd be best if Lincoln were to go to Lori or Leni's for a while." Lynn Senior stated, they did not want it to seem like they were punishing their only son, it was just what they thought was best for the situation, as far as the Loud parents could tell, both their children were victims to these voices.
"I already was going to, I asked Leni earlier today... She was supposed to be here in an hour to talk with you about it." Lincoln confessed he had already been making plans of going out of the house for a short period of time, though his logic was that he was the dangerous one, from Lynn Junior's perspective, her only brother was being punished because she was broken. The aspiring sports star knew her sisters were going to be more upset about their brother essentially moving out for an unknown period of time than they would be when hearing about the split personality disorder that Lynn was suffering from.
"Alright, you two do whatever you need to, we'll let you know when it's time for the family meeting." Rita thought that was enough for the time being, she had no idea what to do, Lynn Junior hopped over the back of the couch, she wanted to get away from them all at this point, her heart beating so hard that she could hear it in her ears. Lincoln caught one last look at Lynn as she made her way upstairs, and the expression she shot back at him clearly was full of apologetic remorse, the white-haired teenager watched as she vanished upstairs.
"Are you going to make Lynn tell everyone what we did too...?" Lincoln had to question his parents before they tried to focus on other tasks in a vague attempt to distract themselves from the newest challenges they faced in their lives. The bucktooth boy knew how scared his sister was of being seen differently, he did not know how any of their many sisters would react to hearing the truth about the two of them having sex.
"No, what's done is done, and we know neither of you wanted to do it." The mother of the Loud family tried to explain her logic, truthfully her and her husband had little to no idea if that was true, they believed in it though just from how much their children blamed themselves for it. Neither Lincoln nor Lynn Junior had expressed nothing short of guilt and pure remorse when confessing to the incestuous act, it did confuse the Loud parents when their kids tried to blame themselves instead of each other. If Lincoln and Lynn Junior had gone to their parents saying they were in love with one another, this situation would have been treated entirely different.
"Why don't you go pack what you'll need Lincoln? We'll talk to Leni once she gets here." Lynn Senior suggested to his only son, the white-haired boy did not argue with them, relieved that his 5th oldest sister was not going to have any more pressure put on her than she already did, the bucktooth boy going upstairs himself to pack for his stay at Leni's.
Lynn had gone to take a shower, wanting to try and clean up in an effort to make herself feel better, she still felt like garbage from the party last night, she had done her best to continue guarding Chandler, but the second the party started to wind down the brunette had taken her leave with Lincoln, thankfully nothing had transpired as far as she could tell.
Lynn stood there in the shower, feeling the warm water running down her body, she just stayed standing directly under the showerhead, the brunette felt her eyes closing, she was angry, being backed into a corner was the worst thing imaginable, instead of the sports loving Loud feeling better for confessing to her troubles and admitting she needed help, Lynn did not feel that though, she felt like she had been betrayed.
"That piece of crap voice... It wanted to blow up my family? If it really loved Lincoln, it wouldn't have touched him." Lynn growled, it didn't make sense to her, there was no way it's goal could have been as simple as sex. It was like someone else had solved a puzzle for her, and now, she was stuck trying to figure out how it was done. Lynn planned on turning to Lisa once again tonight after the family meeting, the child genius was smarter than her. Either way now the 5th oldest Loud was thinking her brother was right with what he said earlier, maybe some of the personalities were parts of her, but others weren't, yet she had no clue which fell under what category.
Once Lynn finished her shower and got cleaned up, after realizing no amount of time spent in there would help her find any answers. The brunette got changed into a plain solid red shirt and shorts, she knew she was not grounded, yet doubted there would be any reason to go out anytime soon. Lynn was now just in her and Lucy's room, the door closed, the brunette was on her bed, trying to think of how to break the news about her split personalities to her many sisters.
There didn't seem to be any good way to go about it, how tact could one be when announcing that they were hearing voices and losing control of their body whenever they became too stressed?
"Well, why don't you just show them?" The aggressive split personality advised; that sounded too vague to the brunette, it took her a moment to process the suggestion, that was when she realized just what it was saying.
"Wait, you're saying I should tell my family about my problem, by letting one of YOU do it for me?" Lynn could not believe what she was hearing, the auburn-haired girl thought it was ridiculous, Luna and Lucy already had met Dismal Lynn, the sporty Loud refused to let the aggressive personality take control if she could help it, and she was still paranoid of the possibility that Miss Lynn was hiding their true motivations. Lynn thought on it further and further, the longer she considered it, the better it sounded, and she hated that.
"Well, Dismal sucks at talking, we already know that. And you like to talk with your fists..." Lynn rambled to herself, while she did not have any idea yet, something else came to mind, a name for the aggressive split personality, she got a small grin at that, since her sibling's had named the other personalities, she thought it would be only fair if she named it herself.
"Hey captain punch-drunk, how's the name Lynn-Sanity sound for you?" Lynn spoke while taking a seat on her bed, a grin on her face, as if she was enjoying poking the bear that was in her own mind.
"That crap you shouted when we fought those two losers in school? Eh, sure." The newly dubbed Lynn-Sanity did not complain, the sporty Loud laid back on her bed, her legs dangling off the side still as she idly swung them.
"Can any of you tell me IF that obsessed one is gone?" The aspiring sports star requested, if it was truly gone, then that logically meant the other 3 split personalities would be celebrating in that regard, Lynn knew how crazy she probably sounded, asking parts of her own brain if another part of it had settled down basically, but she saw no harm in making the inquiry. There was no reply, the sporty Loud knew that meant they either did not know, or refused to tell her, she had a hunch that it was the first answer though, it was just a feeling in her gut.
"Guess I'll find out when I go to sleep tonight..." Lynn exhaled, her gaze fixating on the ceiling fan in her bedroom, just staring at it as it slowly spun around and around, she dreaded going to sleep tonight, if the obsessed personality was gone, did that mean one of the others would take over in its place when she slept, or was it merely something only that one broken part of her brain was able to achieve. Lynn felt another sharp pain shoot through her skull, like all this thinking was worsening her skull injury.
"You've been really brave today, you took responsibility and overcame your fear, even if you disagreed with your parents, you did not fight them, you may have done wrong, but that doesn't mean you can't make it right again." Lynn suddenly heard the familiar maternal voice speaking again, yet something did not seem right, like the sound was not in her head anymore. The auburn-haired girl sat up, resting her weight on the palms of her hands while still on the bed, she felt her heartrate increase when she realized what was beside her, or rather, who it was.
"Oh dear, are you having another waking dream?" Miss Lynn giggled, Lynn could see another version of herself sat there, it scared the sporty Loud since the last time this happened, she nearly got strangled in her slumber by the aggressive personality. Sat beside Lynn was what looked like herself yet again, only this time they looked older, like they could be in their mid 20s, the motherly personalities hair flowing down her back like Leni's, they had a long red dress on, but their entire body had this yellow hue outlining it.
"No, not again..." Lynn hopped to her feet, she was wanting to attack immediately, yet Miss Lynn remained seated, that innocent smile on her face with her hands held together and resting in her lap. That yellow hue seemed to match the positive glow that the maternal split personality radiated, to the 5th oldest Loud, it was like she was being mocked.
"Is that anyway to treat someone that's trying to comfort you?" Miss Lynn rhetorically asked, the only thing that kept the sporty Loud from attacking what she assumed was the manifestation of the maternal split personality, was recalling how it did nothing against the aggressive one, Lynn knew that at best this was a dream, at worst, she was hallucinating. She hated both possibilities equally.
"You just are trying to make me drop my guard, I know you're a lot sneakier than you act." Lynn retorted, recounting the incident with Jake a few days back, while the outcome of that had not been bad, it did not change the fact it had been an elaborate trap set up by the maternal personality.
"I suppose you're justified in your caution; I just want to help. I am the most capable at utilizing our vocabulary. Plus, if I were in control, it forgoes the risk of the other two breaking out when you're telling your family the truth." Miss Lynn continued; she patted the spot on the bed where the 5th oldest Loud had been prior, Lynn did not say or do anything initially, yet after a moment, she begrudgingly stepped over and returned to her seat, maybe it was the relaxing positive nature of the maternal split personality, but the words still rang true.
"You just want to be in control." Lynn crossed her arms, the Highschool girl knew her family would probably be doubting her the whole way through this confession, the brunette felt Miss Lynn put an arm around her, the touch felt warm and calming.
"I do. That's what everyone wants, to be in control." Miss Lynn claimed, that smile not faltering on her face, despite Lynn's uncertain expression. "If I had been in control from the beginning, Lincoln would not have been hurt, you know that as well as me." Miss Lynn informed the sporty Loud, as if she was trying to eat away at her guilt even further now.
"You're still wondering if your family would be happier if I was you instead, right?" Miss Lynn continued, leaning her head down closer to the real Lynn, who now was starting to tremble, this reassuring aura felt like it was becoming far more unnerving now, and that scared her further.
"I-I did." Lynn swallowed the lump in her throat, she couldn't lie to her own brain, so she saw no point in lying or trying to dispute the claim, those had been her exact thoughts at several points a few days ago.
"Would you be happier if you no longer existed?" Miss Lynn questioned, Lynn looked up to her older doppelganger, her pupils starting to shrink, that warm smile no longer felt comforting, it felt terrifying, like the sporty Loud was being dared to say 'yes'.
"Wh... What?" Lynn blinked, wanting clarity on that, unsure if the question was really that straight forward.
"I asked if you would be happier if you didn't exist anymore, after all, you seem so sick of it." The maternal personality pulled Lynn closer, beginning to rub her hand down the sports loving girl's back, gently caressing her, Lynn stayed silent, her breathing becoming more nervous.
"If you want to give up because you've made mistakes, then lay down and let one of us take control, and simply drift away into our subconscious." Miss Lynn's motherly tone began to become firm; it reminded Lynn of Rita a lot now, especially when she was angry at her. "Or..." Hearing that made the brunettes head tilt back, she looked at her maternal split personality in anticipation.
"You can quit trying to control everything and realize that fear you have is an excuse to justify your secrecy." The maternal personality scolded the 5th oldest Loud, taking her arm away from her, Lynn felt her head throb in pain, she winced hard, one eye closing as she stared at her older clone.
"You're scared of people looking at you differently? They won't look at you any different as long as you're still you!" The maternal personality stood up, brushing off her dress, turning around to face the sporty Loud. "Every fear you have about people treating you different because of this? It's insulting them... If you want to prove how strong you are, start by showing your weakness." Miss Lynn finished there, reaching down and putting a hand on Lynn's chest, as if she wanted to feel her heart beating, the maternal personality gently nudged her back, causing her to flop backwards onto the bed once more.
That was when Lynn realized she had fallen asleep while staring at the ceiling fan, her eyelids fluttering as she stared at the spinning fan blades on the ceiling. That was when the sound of her phone ringing caught her attention, the brunette slowly sat up, her head hurt to no ends, though the words of the maternal split personality still rang fresh in her memory, Lynn wondered if the maternal one had been trying to motivate her, or merely break her so it could seize control. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand, seeing it was Luna calling, she hesitantly accepted the call.
"Hey Luna, what's up?" Lynn answered, her eyes half glazed over as she looked around her room, as if having to make sure it was empty out of an unnerved sense of paranoia. The auburn-haired girl taking notice of the time, the day seemed like it had gone by in a flash, she wondered just how long she had been asleep.
"Hey Lynn, sorry if this is a bad time." Luna spoke up, though had to practically shout, the sound of what sounded like a crowd of people chanting could be heard. "I was just calling to say thanks, it's about our turn to go on stage, I know we wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for you and Lincoln." The guitarist explained, not able to hide the anxiety in her voice. The reason the aspiring rock star was really calling was to try and distract herself, having already called her manager beforehand, Luna just wished they could have been there to support her.
"You're giving me too much credit, it's just nice to be helpful." Lynn responded, she appreciated Luna's thanks, she just hated knowing that by tonight the sports loving girl imagined the guitarist would be fawning over her like a worried parent when the truth about the split personalities comes out.
"You give them your best and nothing short of it, good luck Luna." The aspiring sports star spoke, aware that the rock loving Loud was most likely making this phone call to either stall or rebuild shaking confidence.
"I will Lynn, thanks." Luna thanked her younger sister once more, the 5th oldest Loud hanging up on that note, tossing her phone aside on her bed while resting her head in her other hand, sighing.
"If I want to prove how strong I am, I should start by showing my weakness?" Lynn repeated what the maternal split personality had said to her during her dream, she did not know what that meant initially, it became apparent relatively fast what Miss Lynn had been attempting to say. "I think I get it... I hope." The brunette murmured to herself.
Meanwhile downstairs Leni had arrived to her old home a few minutes ago, now the 2nd oldest Loud found herself with both of her parents in the kitchen. "Thank you again for agreeing to this, Leni, we know it's rude to drop this on you so suddenly." Lynn Senior apologetically spoke; he did not want it to come off like they were forcing one of their children to take care of another for an unknown amount of time with no reason.
"You don't have to worry Dad; It'll be totes easy." Leni reassured that she did not mind taking in her brother for a while, though the fashion designer knew that it would entail being a lot more than just an older sister to her only brother. The blonde woman did not mind at all, Lincoln was a boy without any bad behavior to her knowledge, if anything she thought maybe he could help her out at her store.
"But... Is everything okay? Lincoln was asking me if he could stay with me before you guys did." Leni questioned, even someone with as low of an IQ as her could not ignore the fact when Lincoln initially called her, he sounded scared and ashamed. Rita and Lynn Senior looked to one another; they thought it might be best to let Lynn Junior make that announcement about her mental disorder at the family meeting tonight. The parents had agreed to not share a word about the incestuous act unless Lynn Junior had refused any form of professional help entirely, it would have been a conversation the Loud parents dreaded.
"Lincoln really misses you and Lori; Lynn Junior is having a problem and we think he'd feel safer if he wasn't home for a while. That's what the family meeting is about tonight." Rita tried to explain it the best she could without divulging the truth, that made Leni only more worried about her family members now, she missed her many siblings too, she was just so busy with work that it was near impossible to see anyone without a very good excuse.
"Alright, I'll try to be a good mom while I'm taking care of him too." Leni promised to do her best for Lincoln, Rita could not help but lightly laugh and smile upon hearing that, she gave her 2nd oldest daughter a grateful hug.
"Thank you so much, Leni." Lynn Senior thanked her, feeling better already simply knowing his only son was in good hands. It wasn't like they weren't ever going to see him again; it would just be far less often since his home would be somewhere else entirely until it was safe for him to be around Lynn Junior. "... Wait, what do you mean by him too?" The Loud father just registered what his 2nd oldest daughter had said, the long blonde-haired girl tilted her head in confusion.
"I told you I had a new employee, didn't I? She's been staying with me too." Leni stated in a matter-of-fact manner while ending the embrace with her mom. "She's older than Lincoln, but not by much." She added while trying to recall it exactly, her parents looked to one another in uncertainty, now they were worried about adding unnecessary stress onto Leni's shoulders.
"We didn't know you had anyone staying with you, are you sure you can handle them and Lincoln?" Rita hesitantly asked, the parents of 11 did not want to go bothering Lori for help, she already was busy with college, the reason they turned to Leni first was more so because the place she worked doubled as her home, they wanted Lincoln to have someone close to him in case he needed their support.
"It's no problem, I'm sure she won't care too." Leni assured that it would be no trouble having Lincoln stay with her, the Loud parents did want to ask why their 2nd oldest daughter had an employee living with them, they did not get the chance as they saw Lincoln coming downstairs with a bag over his shoulder.
"I got everything I need, I think." Lincoln said while stepping over to them, resting his bag on the ground. "I'm sorry again about this, Leni." The white-haired teenager apologized for imposing, he felt his 2nd oldest sister's hand on his head, running it through his hair playfully.
"It's alright, it'll be nice to have you around, like old times." Leni gave a warm smile, she missed her family a lot, she had trouble visiting them just for the fact whenever she did, she wanted to stay longer than she knew she could, moving on in life was hard for the fashion designer, Leni was more than happy at the idea of having one of her family members staying at her place for a while. She could tell Lincoln was not exactly himself at the moment, like any energy he had at the moment was fake, he was upset even if he did not let it show.
"Hey, since I'm here, why don't I help make dinner tonight? It sounds like everyone is going to be here tonight." Leni offered to their parents, looking more than happy to lend a hand, Lynn Senior doubted it could be any worse than Luna in the kitchen, the only difference being the fashion loving Loud tended to follow directions better, mostly because she had no clue what she was doing without them.
"Sure honey, it won't be long before the others get here." Lynn Senior agreed with no argument, Lincoln watching as his dad and older sister went to the kitchen to get started, the bucktooth boy felt his mom's hand on his shoulder, she was trying to be comforting, she knew it was tough what he was going through, and if he needed any further help all he had to do was ask.
"We'll still give you your allowance each week while you're at Leni's, and you're always welcome to come here... I just, don't want you alone with Lynn until we're sure she's safe, okay?" Rita tried to explain to her son, aware it was impossible to keep an eye on them both at all times, they still went to the same school after all, yet the blonde woman could only hope it would not take much time before her son could come straight home, Rita was praying the entire time that the split personality that had caused this was gone.
"I understand Mom, I'm not upset about it." Lincoln replied, the only person he was mad at currently was himself, he still could not shake that feeling of being nothing other than a monster, rubbing his left arm nervously, he began to step away, wanting to load his bag into Leni's car, he felt uncomfortable at the moment. Rita did not know what to say, she hoped her son would not blame himself the rest of his life for this, she sighed, hating that she could do nothing beyond get her children the proper therapeutic aid, she tried to ignore her worsening feelings, deciding to go help her husband and Leni in the kitchen for the time being to take her mind off the horrors today had unveiled.
As the next hour passed, more and more of the Loud siblings returned home, Lori showed up shortly after Leni, the oldest sibling wanted to know what was going on, but their parents insisted to wait until after dinner for the family meeting to receive the news, Lynn Junior was the one who had to tell everyone about her problem and get help, not them, Lincoln spent most of the time in his room, lost in his own head, he honestly was considering skipping dinner, he had to be there though.
Lynn Junior felt her anxiety increasing drastically when seeing her family for a change, she did notice a lack of Luna being there, which was odd since she assumed the competition would have been done by now. The aspiring sports star did seem to avoid interacting with any of her family for the time being, as if she was scared of hurting them as well. One thing the many sisters did take notice of rather fast, was Lincoln and Lynn seemed determined to be as far away from one another as possible, whenever asked about why they were avoiding one another, neither would answer or merely brush it off.
"I guess Luna's busy?" Lori spoke, everyone was currently gathered in the living room, not counting Lily or Luna, the Loud parents had sent Lily up to the younger kid's room so she would not have to hear this news, they believed she was too young to truly understand. Lynn Junior barely registering her oldest sister's words, her head was resting in her hand with one leg kicked up over the other.
"She did have a competition tonight, Sam said it was bigger than they thought it would be." Lincoln explained what he assumed was going on, he got a call similar to Lynn Junior earlier, a grateful thank you for being such a great band manager, the white-haired teen would not be surprised if the competition turned out to be even bigger than they initially thought.
"Does that mean the family meeting's cancelled?" Lana quirked, sure they had family meetings a dozen times before with members missing, usually that only happened if the topic was about said member or if someone was sick, the Loud house took these meetings seriously.
"We can just tell Luna what happened when she gets home." Lola brushed the absence off; they knew Luna would always want more information after any family meeting usually.
"What's this meeting about?" Luan tried to ask their parents; Leni was trying to comfort Lincoln by holding his hand, sadly it did little to assure him, both him and Lynn Junior dreaded this meeting, the middle Loud sibling more so was anxious when the announcement for him going to Leni's for an unknown period of time would come about, it was practically like an announcement of moving out.
"It's about me." Lynn Junior decided to force the words out of her mouth, thinking back on what the maternal personality had told her about being strong by showing her weakness, and she couldn't think of any bigger weakness of her own than the fear she had of being seen as weak.
"Oh, did something happen?" Lucy worriedly spoke up, most of them unaware of the situation assumed it was about Lynn's weird behavior as of late, Lisa had a feeling she knew what this was about, the child genius was concerned about what brought this sudden confession on from seemingly nowhere.
"Yeah, you can tell us if anything is wrong." Luan implored their sister to not choke now, they could see the aspiring sports star looking like any confidence she had was gone fast, or maybe she gave up trying to act strong, the atmosphere in the room seemed to become bleak rather quickly.
"I've been acting weird lately, I know you all talk about it a lot, it wasn't because of a boyfriend or because I'm just bored from not being allowed to play for a while." Lynn began, the athletic Loud wanted to just come out and say it, yet knew she had no way to be tactful given the truth of this situation, the sports lover was not able to muster up that bluntness she had when talking to Lincoln about the truth of her problem.
"It's cause... Well, I don't really know how else to say it, I've lost my mind." Lynn tried to explain, not looking directly at any of her family now, her words did nothing to really explain anything, it seemed to only confuse them further.
"I don't believe anyone in our family exactly qualifies as 'sane'." Lisa commented, gaining some murmurs of agreement from some of their sisters, she was trying to subtlety nudge her 5th oldest sister into not beating around the bush on this topic. Lynn looked to her parents, they both motioned for her to continue, insisting she had no reason to be afraid, that they were there to support her.
"Alright... Ever since those guys took a bat to my skull, I've been hearing voices in my head, multiple voices." Lynn Junior waved her hand as she declared it, for the first time finally casting a look at her sisters, only to see their reaction, Lincoln was not looking at her, Lisa merely looked relieved that the truth was announced, the rest of their family on the other hand, well, the genius anticipated this.
"This is a joke, right? Luan put you up to it?"
"Hey, I don't do those kinds of jokes, they aren't funny."
"Isn't it normal to hear a voice in your head?"
"You're thinking of a conscious Leni, that is a distinctly different thing."
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"Yeah! We could've been helping you; you've been dealing with these voices for over a week!"
Before anyone else could speak up, Lynn Junior kicked the coffee table, hard enough that everything on it rattled, silencing everyone by startling them with the sudden act of aggression. "That's not all." She stated now that she had their attention regained, causing her many concerned sisters to freeze, how much worse could this news get? "They can take over my body, that time Lucy thought I was going 'goth'? That wasn't me, that was one of the voices. That time I stopped Lola and Lana's fight in the hospital? That wasn't me either." Lynn finished while crossing her arms, she would give other examples of when personalities took over, but knew if she mentioned Miss Lynn in further detail, Lincoln would get interrogated on why he did not share the truth with his siblings sooner about the situation.
"Oh..." Lucy swallowed nervously, now feeling rather bad about how horribly she misread her roommate during that incident.
"Why hide this from us, Lynn?" Lola asked, becoming upset, and a little uneasy knowing she and Lana had unknowingly interacted with one of these personalities.
"I know you hate asking for help, but this isn't something you can handle by just being strong!" Lori exclaimed, feeling like it might be her own fault for the secrecy, everyone knew that if any of her family needed help, that the oldest Loud sibling would drop everything she was doing to try and assist in any way she could.
"Ah, the idiots are all stuck on the fact you didn't tell them right away... Gotta love the lack of focus." The aggressive split personality chuckled; Lynn's head throbbed in pain as she tried to ignore her quickening heartrate.
"Now they'll start treating us like we're a dead girl walking." The depressed split personality huffed, having given their own fair warnings.
"Because I didn't think anyone could help me, I thought if I toughed it out, that I'd be better when my head healed... Instead, it's only gotten worse." The aspiring sports star responded, looking to them all. "And I'm not worth distracting you from your lives over, all I do is hurt you all at best, break something of yours, or get you tangled in some trouble I caused." Lynn Junior grit her teeth, her siblings sat in silence, noticing her anger rising the more she talked about herself. Lincoln wanted to help somehow; however, he could not bring himself to intervene, the glorified peacekeeper of the family thought maybe things blowing up was inevitable for this situation.
"The only thing I imagined happening from letting you all know the truth, was that I'd wind up dragging you down with me." The girl in the sports jersey rubbed her eyes, her vision was getting blurry, she was breathing heavier now. Her eyes wandered, staring to the floor, she did not want to look at them, she couldn't look at her siblings, being a burden, that was the one thing Lynn Junior never wanted to become. Lynn's skull began to ache worse; the depressed split personality having capitalized on the stress now.
"If you want to stop being a burden to them, I can help with that."
"It's so easy to just slip away without any pain or worries."
"You can just use that device Lisa gave you, put it to max and put it over your heart."
It would not stop, Lynn Junior knew she was going to lose control at this rate, she wondered if she should even try to fight it, she wanted to get away from this all right now, even if that meant hiding in her own head, the 5th oldest Loud kept her eyes closed, only to feel someone's arms wrapping around her without warning, or rather, a lot of arms, suddenly feeling like her entire body was being crushed alive.
"You're the strongest person we know, nobody is a burden in this family." Leni said, she understood how Lynn Junior felt, the 2nd oldest Loud often felt like a burden herself due to her low intelligence, her family helped cheer her out of that funk when she personally fell into it.
"It doesn't matter what any of the voices in your head say, we're gonna help you through this." Lola insisted, her and Lisa being the most squished in this group hug.
"Yeah, we'll do everything we can!" Lana added to her twin's statement, the mechanically gifted Loud hoped there was something that they could do to be of use at least.
"I'll do everything I can to help, I also know several great psychologists; I'll begin contacting them first thing in the morning." Lisa promised, fully supporting her 5th oldest sister now that she told everyone the truth, the child prodigy thought this would be a lot easier of a task to manage now.
"I'm sorry for not noticing sooner, I let my desire for shared loneliness blind me." Lucy apologized, as much as she enjoyed that accidental bonding with Lynn, she did not want it if it was because of a split personality that was torturing the sporty Loud.
"I promise to not pull anymore pranks on you. I know they can be stressful." Luan swore, Lynn was probably the only person in the comedic Loud's life that got that sort of promise, it made some of the siblings jealous.
"You're not a burden, you're the only Lynn Junior we know." Lori comforted her sister, Lynn Junior was in one giant Loud family hug, the only one not involved in the hug, was Lincoln, because he felt he did not have any right to be in it, the white-haired boy could see Lynn Junior starting to break down and beginning to cry uncontrollably, she tried to return the hugs to the best of her ability with a smile on her face, Lynn Junior felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from her chest. Rita and Lynn Senior felt relieved when seeing their children dedicating their support to the sports loving Loud, it helped to renew their hope and eased a lot of their worries.