So, this chapter was kind of hard to get right. I re-introduce Tabby here and explain why she disappeared, but also her backstory, which isn't exactly pleasant. Trying to find a balance of how much she would reveal to Lincoln, and how she would go about doing so was tough. I don't want to give too much away, but I guess I should put in a warning that this chapter contains mentions of domestic abuse. It happened in the past and isn't described in great detail, but, I dunno, I guess someone might be reading this who would want to be warned about it…
Rock On, Lincoln: Part 2
"And the square root of sixty four is eight..." muttered Lincoln to himself as he wrote the answer down. With that, his math homework, and therefore all the homework he had been given for the weekend, was complete.
After shutting his book and placing it into his school bag, Lincoln stretched and took a look at the clock on his bedroom wall. He still had an hour and a half before he had to start getting ready for the concert he was attending with Luna and her friends tonight.
Plenty of time to read an issue or three of Ace Savvy!
He picked up his phone and sent off a quick text message before grabbing a handful of comic books and hopping up onto his bed. He positioned himself with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out across the width of the bed, repositioning his pillow to support his lower back.
There was a soft knock on his door, followed by said door opening. Lucy, the sister immediately younger than him, stepped into the room with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She shut the door behind her, and Lincoln noticed the brown paper bag she was holding. Her presence was in answer to the text he had sent.
Without saying a word, she got up onto the bed next to him and pulled the paper bag away from the item it contained. It was the newest volume of Princess Pony.
The gothic Loud sister sat herself down next to her only brother, mirroring his pose with their shoulders touching. Neither one said anything, just enjoying each other's presence in silence as they began reading. It had been a while since Lincoln had discovered that Lucy liked the sickeningly saccharine Princess Pony series. Once, she hid her enjoyment of the saga, taking to secluding herself in the bathroom in the middle of the night in order to read it, afraid that her sisters would tease her without mercy if they ever found out. It meant a lot to Lincoln that the usually quiet and reserved Lucy felt comfortable enough around him to join him like this.
Unnoticed by Lincoln or Lucy, a tiny camera watched them. It was attached to one of the model airplanes that hung from the ceiling above Lincoln's bed. In her room, Lisa watched the live feed on one of her computer monitors. She had little interest in what she was seeing, having already figured out a while ago that Lucy was the one in the household reading Princess Pony. Seeing that nothing worthwhile would come from continuing to watch the feed, she turned off the monitor and went back to watching a lecture on her tablet about nuclear physics, completely unaware that someone else in the house also had access to the camera.
Seated at her own laptop in the bedroom she shared with Luna, Luan couldn't help the smile on her face. An argument could be made that out of all the siblings, Lincoln was the one who loved Lucy the most, but Luan was very close behind him. They had grown closer since Luan had become her mentor for performing her poetry in public, and these days seeing Lucy comfortable and content always left Luan smiling. Seeing the Princess Pony book in the little goth's hands was a bit of a surprise, and Luan made a mental note to ask about it sometime.
"Whatcha watchin' dude?" asked Luna, coming up behind her.
"Just Lucy and Lincoln being adorable," replied Luan.
Behind both of them, Sam set her guitar aside, got up off of Luna's bean bag chair and hurried over to take a look for herself. "Aw. Cute."
Luna, meanwhile, frowned in consternation. "I thought mom and pops told ya not to set up any more spy cams, brah."
"Technically, I didn't set anything up." refuted Luan. "I just hacked Lisa's feed."
"Wait! You and Lisa set up cameras to spy on the rest of your family?" asked Sam, with no small amount of alarm in her voice. "That's horrible!"
"Lisa's trying to make scientific observations, Luan's looking for funny clips." explained Luna, cutting in before Luan could try and defend herself.
Sam glared at Luan with narrowed eyes. "If I find out you've got any videos of me, I'm gonna give you such a wedgie!"
"Nope! Nothin' on you Sam! Honest!" insisted Luan, while making a mental note to delete the file on her computer labelled 'Sam' as soon as possible. And maybe destroy all the hard copies she had stashed away in her closet. There was a furnace in the basement. Could she melt the tapes and dvds in there?
Seemingly satisfied with Luan's answer, Sam turned back to her girlfriend. "So, did you call Tabby?"
"Yep! I apologised and everything. She's actually looking forward to seeing Lincoln tonight."
Luan looked up in surprise at that. "Wait, Tabby? We're bringing Tabby back into things?"
Luna gave her a puzzled look. "That's a weird way to word things, but sure. Tabby's visiting and we've arranged for her and Lincoln to meet up tonight."
"They're gonna make such a cute couple!" insisted Sam, getting an odd, far away look in her eyes.
"You can't do that!" protested Luan. "What about Ronnie Ann?"
"What about her? She lives miles away!" said Sam.
"But she's the OG!" insisted Luan.
"What does that even mean, brah?" asked Luna, bewildered.
In answer, Luan got out of her chair and marched over to her closet. She pulled out a large, brown cardboard box, dumped it onto the bedroom floor, opened it and pulled out a white t-shirt. "It means this!" she announced, unfurling the shirt to reveal the red text on the front.
Luna tilted her head slightly as she read aloud "#Ronniecoln4Lyfe!" She shook her head in disbelief. "You actually printed shipping t-shirts? That's ridiculous, dude!"
"Lori liked hers!" insisted Luan. She pulled the shirt on and stood with her hands on her hips, displaying the message on the shirt proudly.
"No way!" argued Sam. "Tabby's way cooler! Tabbycoln is gonna be the future!"
"That's not even a thing!" retorted Luan.
"Well it will be after tonight!" insisted Sam.
The bedroom door opened and Leni and Lynn Jr appeared. "We heard arguing!" announced Leni.
"It's nothing!" said Luna, hoping desperately to stop this from escalating.
"It's a shipping war!" declared Luan, still glaring at Sam.
"No its not!" argued Luna, moving to stand between her sister and girlfriend, psychically separating the two of them.
"Shipping War!" shouted Sam, gleefully.
Lynn looked Luan over and observed "Well, there's no points for guessing who you're shipping. I'm with you."
"Woo! OG's for the win!" cheered Luan before giving Lynn a high five. She then reached into the box and took out a shirt, which she threw at Lynn. "Have a t-shirt!"
Lynn snatched the item out of the air and quickly put it on, laughing as she did so, before asking "How about you, Leni? You on the winning side?"
"Hmm," Leni pondered. "I dunno you guys. I like Ronnie Ann, but I think Stella is the way to go..."
"What? No way!" protested Luan.
"Pfft! Weak!" added Lynn. "I like the girl, but she friend-zoned Linc ages ago."
"And she's so unsupportive," stated Sam. "She tried to convince Lincoln to not perform his magic at the school talent show!"
"Wait! She did?" asked Lynn, surpsrised.
"Yup! Luna told me all about it."
"Well, that part is true..." began Luna.
"Maybe she was just worried he would embarrass himself," defended Leni.
"Yeah, that's a load!" declared Lynn, waving her hand in a dismissive manner at Leni.
"See?" interrupted Sam. "Tabbycoln is the way to go!"
"Who the heck is Tabby?" asked the jock sister.
"She's the girl I set Lincoln up with for the Sadie Hawkins dance." explained Luna.
"None of those were ever going anywhere" said Luan, dismissively.
"Uh, didn't both of you set Lincoln up with dates that night too?" asked Sam.
"Well, yeah. But we only intended for Lincoln to have a fun date, not anything long term," explained Lynn. "Polly and Giggles didn't even go to the same school as Lincoln."
"And, like, didn't all four girls end up with different guy by the end of the night?" asked Leni, placing a finger on her chin, thoughtfully.
"Yes, Leni." said Luan, smugly. "Yes they did. And while they did that, Lincoln went off and enjoyed himself with Ronnie Ann. Therefore, Lynn and I win!"
"Boom! Logic!" added Lynn, a triumphant grin on her face.
Down the hallway, in his bedroom, Lincoln could hear the voices of his sisters and Sam, but hadn't been paying enough attention to know what it was they were talking about. However, Lynn's loud exclamation finally drew his attention from his comic book.
"I hope this isn't another room mate rumble..." he grumbled.
Lucy, who had been listening, commented "It sounds more like a shipping war if you ask me."
Lincoln rolled his eyes and groaned. "Ugh! The new season of The Dream Boat only started last week. It's too early to start arguing about who the best contestants are."
Lucy turned her head to look up at her brother in mild exasperation. He could be so clueless sometimes. But instead of pointing out what was really going on, she instead asked "Hey, Lincoln. You like my friend Haiku, right?"
Lincoln blinked in surprise, caught slightly off guard by what was, from his point of view, a rather sudden change in topic. "Uh, yeah. She's okay I guess. Why?"
"No reason," replied Lucy, settling against him again and going back to her Princess Pony book. "It just means a lot that my brother likes my best friend."
"Oh… okay." said Lincoln in slight bewilderment before opening his Ace Savvy comic again and resuming his reading.
He completely missed the small, self-satisfied smile on Lucy's face as she thought to herself 'One day I will succeed in making Haikucoln the one true ship and I, Lucy Loud, will serve as maid of honour at their wedding and they will name their first child in my honour, all while my sisters weep because Lincoln did not get together with the person they wanted, and they will be forced, once and for all, to acknowledge me as the superior sister.'
"Mwahahahahaha!"
"Lucy, why are you doing an evil laugh?"
She paused and blushed. "Oh. Sorry, Lincoln. I was internally monologuing and it just came out."
"Yeah, that'll happen sometimes." replied her brother, nodding sagely.
Vanzilla pulled up in the car park of The Red Herring and the side door slid open to allow Lincoln, Luna and Sam to hop out. Lincoln was wearing the outfit Luna, Sam and Leni had agreed upon the previous day; the purple shirt with the skull on it to match with Luna, along with the black vest and pants he wore when he went to see Smooch perform at the Mall, and the pair of black and white lace-up boots he found in the loft and wore to school once as part of an emo look he tried during his short-lived "I'm predictable" phase.
"You sure you're gonna be alright sitting in the van until eleven thirty, Pops?" asked Luna.
"Don't worry about me, honey." Lynn Sr replied. "I've got the radio. You guys go and enjoy yourselves. But remember, you're responsible for Lincoln. First sign of trouble-"
"I know, Pops," said Luna. "First sign of trouble, Sam and I will drag Lincoln's butt outta there faster than Leni can spell 'brobdingnagian'."
Her dad gave a laugh at that before replying "Maybe try and move a little faster than that. Now, go have fun. I'll see you later."
"Bye, pops!"
"Yeah, bye dad!"
"See you later, Mr Loud!"
Luna slid the van door shut, turned, and began leading the way to the front door.
Behind her, Lincoln asked Sam "What the heck does brobdingnagian mean?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, dude." replied Sam, giving a shrug of her shoulders.
"It means 'very big'." answered Luna. "I heard Lisa use it once."
"Ah!" said Lincoln.
At the front entrance they were stopped by a huge, burly bouncer who asked them to turn out their pockets so he could make sure they weren't smuggling in drinks from outside, or other items of a more unsavoury nature. Given that the bald man with three nose rings and a tattoo on his forehead looked to be the living, breathing definition of brobdingnagian, Luna, Sam and Lincoln decided not to complain.
'Wow' thought Lincoln. 'And I thought Chunk was a big dude!'
After getting past the bouncer, they entered through the front doors and came to a stop in the foyer where they were met by a rather mousy looking woman with long brown hair and glasses. She was collecting entry fees of ten bucks per person (she only charged Lincoln five). After they paid she gave each of them a narrow, red wristband, with 'The Red Herring' written on it. They put these on their wrists and she nodded towards the inner door. They stepped forward and Sam pushed open the door.
They were in.
There was another thirty minutes before the music would actually start, and already they place was packed with people. Lincoln was having trouble seeing very far ahead, as nearly everyone seemed to be much taller than him.
Luna reached down and took a firm grip of her brother's elbow. "This way, dude. We'll grab some drinks before things start."
With Sam following behind them, Luna led her brother through the throng of people and over to the bar. The bar itself was a long one, but was split in half by a plexiglass window. A quick look showed exactly why. On the one side, adult patrons gathered to obtain alcoholic drinks like beers and spirits. On the other side, the side Luna led Lincoln to, younger patrons came up to gather more age appropriate drinks, such as sodas and bottles of fruit juice.
With so many patrons gathered around, it took more than a little jostling to get to the bar, but when they made there, they were met by a familiar red head, standing ready to serve them.
"Hey Luna!" said Becky, brightly. "Should have known you'd be here, with us having live music tonight and all."
"Hi Becky," greeted Luna with a smile. "You remember Sam, right?"
"Sure do," said Becky, as Sam gave her a wave. "Good to see you Sam. So, no other Louds? Couldn't convince Leni to tag along?"
"Eh, this place isn't really Leni's scene," explained Luna. "She's never been much of one for rock music. But I did drag my little bro out though." She turned around and found that Lincoln was kind of trapped in a throng of people, obscuring him from Becky's view. She reached out and pulled him to her side.
Becky's face lit up. "Hey, if it isn't Lincolnovich!"
Lincoln blushed and asked "You're never going to drop that, are you?"
"Not a chance, no." replied Becky. "That's a pretty cool outfit you've got on there, Lincoln. Its quite a bit different from the Ace Savvy getup you were wearing the last time I saw you. I've gotta admit, I never pegged you for the rock n roll type."
"Well, he does take after his best sister," bragged Luna, with a grin. "The little dude's a big fan of Smooch. We dragged him here to broaden his horizons a little."
"Nice," said Becky. "So, what can I get you guys to drink?"
"Two sodas and a root beer, please." answered Luna.
"Coming right up."
As she moved to get sort out their drinks, Lincoln asked the redhead "I thought you went off to college the same time Lori did. How come you're working here?"
"Eh, I had a slight hiccup with my final exams," explained Becky as she took the cap off of a bottle of root beer. "Didn't quite get the math grade I needed to get in anywhere good. So, I'm taking a year to do some courses at the community college while working to get some money saved up. Then I'll apply for somewhere next year."
She placed their drinks order on the bar and Luna began handing Lincoln and Sam theirs as the rocker said "You know, you really should call around our place sometime, dude. I know Leni would love it if you dropped by for a visit."
Becky's shoulders sagged a little as a sad look came onto her face. "I know she would. And I miss her too. It's just… things got a little weird in our friend group when she and Chaz broke up, you know?"
"Yeah, I get that," said Luna. "Still, it couldn't hurt to give it a shot, right?"
The red head gave a soft smile. "No. No, I guess it couldn't hurt."
Picking up her root beer, Luna gave Becky a reassuring smile and then stepped aside to allow other customers to get served.
As they made their way away from the bar, Lincoln asked a question that had been bugging him. "How can Becky work a job where she has to serve alcohol, when she's not actually old enough to drink it?"
"Good ol' American capitalism, that's how," said Sam. "She's too young to be responsible enough to make her own decisions about drinking alcohol, but she is old enough to be paid an extremely small amount of money to serve alcohol to others."
"Huh." muttered Lincoln. He really didn't understand the real world sometimes.
Behind him Luna pulled Sam close to her and said "Dude, the older sisters agreed that we'd let Lincoln reach fifteen before allowing him to become jaded with the world."
"Oh. Right. Sorry." the blonde sheepishly replied with a blush on her cheeks.
Lincoln, meanwhile, had moved on a little ahead and, seemingly without warning, bumped into a familiar face. Black hair with a purple streak in it, and a wide, friendly smile greeted him. "Hey, Linc! How's it goin' man?"
Lincoln's jaw nearly hit the floor with surprise. "Tabby?"
"The one and only," she replied, while giving him a playful wink. "Luna told me she was going to drag you to this."
"Really?" he asked, turning his head to look over his shoulder at his approaching sister and her girlfriend. "She didn't say anything to me..."
"Well, we wanted to surprise you, bro." explained Luna.
"Surprise!" added Sam, somewhat unnecessarily.
Lincoln rolled his eyes at the duo's antics and turned back to Tabby. "Well, I gotta admit, I am surprised to see you! You seemed to vanish of the face of the earth after the Sadie Hawkins dance."
Tabby gave a laugh. "Not quite, Lincoln. My trip to America ended two days after the dance and I went back home to England."
"Oh… Well, I guess that explains that," said Lincoln. So, wait, did that mean…?
"Yes, my accent is real," added Tabby, as if reading Lincoln's mind.
"Huh. So, uh, what brings you back here?" Lincoln asked.
A slightly odd expression flashed over Tabby's face, something that Lincoln nearly missed, before she pushed it aside and answered "I've got family who live here in Royal Woods. My mother brings me out here a couple of times a year to visit them," Lincoln got the distinct impression that there might be slightly more to it than that, but decided it would be wise to not press the issue.
There was a brief moment of silence in which Lincoln struggled to think of what to say next. Fortunately, Sam came to his rescue. "Hey, isn't that your mom on stage right now?"
They all looked towards the stage, a brief gap in the crowd allowing both Lincoln and Tabby to make out a raven haired woman setting up a microphone stand while two other people organised a set of drums. It was actually kind of surprising to Lincoln how much the woman looked like her daughter. It was almost as if someone had taken Tabby and just aged her to her mid-to-late thirties. They were even dressed alike, and although the older of the two had her black hair grown down to her shoulders, there was a purple streak in it, just like Tabby had.
"Yeah, that's her." said Tabby. "She's insisting on helping Uncle Chunk out while we're here."
Lincoln nearly dropped his drink. Uncle Chunk? How the heck had he missed that? He had always kind of wondered how Luna and Tabby knew each other, and now, boom, there it was. Tabby was the niece of the guy Luna frequently employed to be her roadie. Question answered.
"You alright dude?" asked Luna. "You look like your mind just exploded."
"I can't believe I never put that together..." muttered Lincoln, earning him smiles from the rest of the group. He turned back to Tabby "So, I'm guessing Chunk is the family you're here visiting?"
"Got it in one, mate." she said. "Just for a couple more days though. Flight back is Sunday morning so I can be back in school on Monday."
Just then some of the audience began clapping and cheering. Lincoln turned to look, but couldn't see the stage any more. The crowd of people had surged forward and completely blocked his view.
"I can't see a thing!" he grumbled.
"Me neither," said Tabby, from her spot next to him.
"I gotcha, dude!" said Sam's voice from behind Lincoln. Before he had a chance to turn and ask what that meant, she ducked down behind him, put her head between his legs and then stood up again. Lincoln had the brief sensation of rising rapidly upwards before coming to a sudden stop. He now had a clear view of the stage thanks to his new position, seated on Sam's shoulders.
A moment later and Luna had copied Sam's move with Tabby, allowing both kids an excellent view that was shared by no one else.
The reason for the excitement from the crowd was readily apparent – Chunk and the rest of his band were on stage, the guitar players putting the straps around their shoulders, the drummer getting seated behind the drums. Lincoln noted that Tabby's mother was one of those picking up a guitar.
Chunk approached the front microphone. "Alright people, we're about good to go here. Are you guys ready to rock?"
The crowd gave a huge cheer, and Lincoln himself was nearly deafened by the combined shouts of Luna, Sam and Tabby.
"Alright, alright. That's good to hear!" continued Chunk with a chuckle as the cheers died down. "Now, before we get started, I'd like to take a minute to introduce you to someone very important to me. Someone who has travelled around three thousand, eight hundred miles just to play here with us tonight. She's fresh out of East London, give it up for me baby sister, Gwen!"
Again the crowd gave a huge cheer, somewhere in which could be heard Tabby's shout of "Go Mum!" Hearing her daughter, Gwen looked out over crowd and spotted her. She gave her daughter a quick wink before turning her attention back to her brother.
"Good to hear you're all on board," said Chunk. "Now, to kick things off, I think we'll start with a little Mick Swagger number..."
He struck the guitar strings and the show officially began with a rendition of the famous Mick Swagger song Double Duty.
Lincoln was rendered absolutely stunned within the first minute. Chunk and his band were fantastic, of course, but he found himself almost unable to take his eyes off of Tabby's mom. The passion with which she rocked out on her guitar was awe inspiring. In a weird way, it was like watching an older Luna on the stage. The way her fingers seemed to dance back and forth as they worked the guitar strings, the way her whole body rocked in time with the rhythm set by the drums, the way her voice carried when the song required her to provide backing vocals…
She had to be a professional, right?
Lincoln was so stricken by the performance that he forgot to breathe for a minute and nearly passed out!
"Good, isn't she?" asked Tabby with a smirk, leaning over to talk to him.
Lincoln nodded dumbly. Good didn't begin even describe what he was seeing. This was like watching someone from Smooch (his favourite band) play, but this was a woman, which somehow made it ten times better, even if Lincoln didn't quite understand why…
As the first song ended and the crowd cheered, Lincoln turned to say something to Tabby. However, whatever he was going to say quickly left his mind when he spotted someone in the crowd a little further over. Or rather, three someones. Mazzy, Sully and a guy Lincoln didn't recognise. The way Mazzy and Sully were scanning the crowd, it was obvious they were looking for someone.
And then Lincoln's memory clicked up a gear and reminded him that Mazzy and Sully were supposed to be meeting him, Luna and Sam here. He'd gotten so caught off guard by Tabby's sudden reappearance that he had completely forgotten that there were other people that they were meant to be meeting up with.
He raised both his hands and waved them while trusting that Sam would be able to keep her balance despite his movements. Thankfully it only took a moment for Sully to spot him and begin leading the other two over to their location, even as the next song started.
"Nice of you guys to make it!" Luna said, raising her voice to be heard over the music.
"Sorry," said the guy Lincoln hadn't met before. "Georgie couldn't decide what type of shoes to wear."
Lincoln didn't have the first clue what this guy was talking about. Who the heck was Georgie of all people? And why did his indecision about shoes make Sully, Mazzy and the new guy late?
"Its not that I couldn't decide, Dylan!" refuted Sully. "You just vetoed every pair I tried on."
When Dylan opened his mouth to reply, Mazzy cut him off. "Enough, guys. I'm not listening to this again, you argued about it enough on the way over here. Now go get us some drinks will you? I'm drier than the sahara here."
"Hey, how come we're getting the drinks?" protested Sully.
"Because I'm the one who drove us here," replied Mazzy. "Therefore, you guys either buy the drinks or cough up a little cash for the gas."
Sully appeared to mull this over for a moment before giving a small nod. "Root beer good with you?"
"Sure," agreed Mazzy, and Sully and Dylan headed off towards the bar. As she turned to address Luna and Sam, she caught the confused look on Lincoln's face and quickly explained "Dylan is Sully's boyfriend."
"I guessed as much," admitted Lincoln. "Why did he call him Georgie though?"
At that question, Luna gave a loud laugh. "Dude, George is Sully's real name."
"It is?" her brother asked, now even more confused.
"Yep," concurred Sam. "We all call him Sully because its short for Sullivan, his surname."
"Oh." muttered Lincoln, eyes widening in realisation. George Sullivan. Wow, he was really learning a lot today. At this rate, he was probably going to learn that Mazzy is the older sister of one of his classmates or something!
Mazzy turned her attention to the girl on Luna's shoulders. "What's up, Tabs? Long time not see!"
"All's good with me, Maz." replied Tabby. "You?"
"Eh, can't complain," the older girl replied. "I see your mom's enjoying herself." she observed, nodding towards the stage.
Tabby smiled fondly. "Yeah. She's been needing to let off some steam, you know, considering..."
She trailed off, looking downcast. Before Lincoln could attempt to pry, Sully and Dylan came back with their drinks.
"There you go, Freilich," said Sully, handing a bottle of root beer to Mazzy. "Don't say we never do anything nice for you."
Lincoln frowned. "Wait, Freilich?" he looked to Mazzy. "Are you related to a Mollie Freilich?"
The teen smiled and replied "Oh, you know my sister?"
'Yup. Called it.' thought Lincoln before answering "Yeah, she's in my year at school."
Mazzy's smile turned into a full blown grin. "I should have guessed you were the 'Lincoln' she mentions from time to time."
Immediately a blush appeared on Lincoln's cheeks. "Mollie talks about me?"
"She sure does. Apparently you put on a cool magic show and are her closest competition when it comes to performing cannonballs."
"Oh… ha-ha… yeah..." replied Lincoln, with an embarrassed chuckle.
Unnoticed by him, Luna nudged Sam in the side and muttered with a playful smirk "Sounds to me like the good ship SS Tabbycoln has a bit more competition than you thought, luv."
"What was that?" asked Tabby, from her position on Luna's shoulders.
"Just wondering what the next song will be," insisted Sam, somewhat unconvincingly.
Tabby's looked from her to Luna with narrowed eyes, regarding the two older girls with suspicion, but didn't question them any further and instead turned her attention back to the performers on stage.
Mazzy continued her conversation with Lincoln "So, you never answered me, dude. You up for some drum lessons?"
"Actually, yeah," replied Lincoln. "Playing drums is fun and I think its something that I'd like to get better at. I'd like to be able to keep up with Luna some day."
"I'll get you there," promised Mazzy. "You're making a good choice Linc. If there's one thing chicks dig, its a musician."
"R-really?" stammered Lincoln.
"Between you and me, dude, Mollie loves a good drum solo. So does Tabby, for that matter."
Lincoln gulped slightly and turned to look at the girl sitting on his sister's shoulders. Tabby herself was watching the act on stage, but turned to look at him when she felt his eyes on her.
"What?" she asked, puzzled.
Startled at being caught out, Lincoln fumbled for something to say, before finally settling on "I just can't get over how much you and your mom look alike."
"Oh. Uh, well… thanks." she replied, the hint of a blush coming to her face.
"Smooth." muttered Sam.
"What was that?" asked Lincoln.
"Nothing!" insisted the blonde.
"Yo, Luna, what's up with the Rugrats?" asked a female voice from behind them.
Turning, the group found three new faces approaching them. All three were around the same age and Luna. One was a girl with pink bangs that came to the middle of her forehead, with long strands framing her face, while the rest of her head was entirely shaved. She had multiple rings in her ears, wore a red dress, black waistcoat, ripped black leggings and black lace-up boots that came almost up to her knees. Next to her was a girl with a hair colour similar to Mazzy's. She wore a black leather hat, black top, red trousers, black boots, a white, fluffy coat and, despite being indoors, a pair of dark sunglasses. With them was a guy dressed in a faded, lime green tank top with an anarchy "A" symbol on it, and a pair of torn, purple skinny jeans. He was very tall and had a purple mohawk and almost as many ear piercings as the pink haired girl.
"Oh, hey, Carmen," said Luna, addressing the pink-haired girl, the one who had made the rugrats comment. "This here is Chunk's niece, Tabby. And the lil' dude on Sam's shoulders is my brother, Lincoln."
Carmen looked unimpressed. So did the other two. She eyed Lincoln and Tabby with annoyance. "I thought we came here to rock out, not babysit."
"Hey, girl. Chill out," said Mazzy. "They're cool kids."
Carmen huffed and turned away from Lincoln and Tabby. "Whatever," she said, dismissively.
Lincoln didn't even need to look at Luna to sense her annoyance. She clearly wanted to say something to the newly arrived girl, but refrained from doing so in front of himself and Tabby. Turning to the girl on his sister's shoulders he asked "Hey, I'm out of soda. Wanna come with me and get a fresh drink?"
"Yeah, sounds good." agreed Tabby, who also picked up on the negative vibes that the three new arrivals had brought with them. Carmen especially.
Luna and Sam set the two eleven year olds down and the duo began making their way towards the bar. Before they had moved too far off, they distinctly heard Luna say "Yo, Carmen! What the heck is your problem, dude?"
Whatever Carmen's problem was, they didn't hear it. By that point there was enough of a crowd between them and the argument that the noise said crowd generated, along with the music of the next song from the band, drowned out whatever Carmen's reply was.
"I swear Luna used to hang out with those three more often in the past," commented Lincoln as he and Tabby made their way towards the bar.
"That Carmen seemed like she was looking for an argument the moment she rocked up," observed Tabby. "Trust me, Linc, that girl's got bad news written all over her."
"You think?" he asked, slightly perturbed by Tabby's immediate dismissal of someone.
"I know." Tabby replied, somewhat darkly. "I've got an older cousin like her back in England, on my dad's side of the family. And let's just say there's a reason me and my mum avoid that part of the family."
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah. Now, don't get me wrong, my cousin loves rock n roll same as me and my mum. But if she were here now, she'd be handing out… well… stuff."
"Stuff?" asked Lincoln.
"Yeah. You know… stuff."
It took a moment, but then Lincoln stopped walking and stood with his eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. You mean… Stuff."
"Yeah," said Tabby.
"And you think Carmen..."
"I'm not saying she does, but she gave me the same vibe my cousin does..."
Lincoln thought it over for a few moments, before giving a slight shake of his head and replying "Hang on. You came to that conclusion just because she seemed like she was looking for an argument when she came up to us?"
"Anything to liven up the proceedings, Lincoln." explained Tabby. "Trust me, one minute people like that are causing arguments because they get a buzz off the drama, then they get bored with that and start putting God knows what in their system and to get a buzz off that. That's how my cousin ruined Christmas when I was seven."
"That's horrible," said Lincoln.
Tabby shrugged her shoulders and said "Trust me, Linc, there's not a lot of good on my dad's side of the family. Now come on, let's get those drinks."
As Tabby continued leading the way back towards the bar, Lincoln couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her and her family. Heck, if he were to wager a guess, he'd say there was a divorce happening or something.
With the band playing in full swing, the area around the bar was pretty clear of people, and those who were there were watching the stage rather than ordering drinks. This meant that Becky was able to come over to them the moment they arrived and ask what they wanted.
"Two sodas, please," replied Lincoln. "One for me and one for Tabby."
"Sure thing," said Becky. She went to the fridge behind her to retrieve the two bottles and placed them on the bar before asking "What about Luna and Sam? You getting anything for them?"
Lincoln facepalmed and groaned. "Dang it! I forgot to ask."
"We should probably get them something anyway," suggested Tabby.
"Good call," agreed Lincoln. "We'll take a soda for Sam and a root beer for Luna."
"Coming right up," said Becky, reaching into the fridge below the bar for a bottle of root beer.
After weighing his options for a moment, Lincoln decided to ask "Hey, Becky, I don't suppose you know anything about Luna's friend Carmen, do you?"
He was quite surprised by the disapproving look that appeared on Becky's face. "Why? She's not here, is she?"
"She is. She's over with Luna right now." said Lincoln.
Becky's frown deepened and she drew back from placing Luna and Sam's drinks in front of Lincoln. "You know what?" she said. "I'll take these drinks over to Luna and Sam myself. In the meantime, you two should stay as far away from Carmen Walker as you can, got it?"
Lincoln was left kind of stunned by the force with which she said that. She actually sounded rather a lot like Lori when his eldest sister was being particularly over protective.
"Why?" he asked.
Becky sighed and replied "Look, this happened before I was working here, but she got kicked out like six months ago because… well, it doesn't matter why. But mark my words Lincoln, that girl is bad news. If Lori found out about this, she's tear Luna a new one for letting you anywhere near her. So stay away, okay?"
And with that, Becky walked out from behind the bar to take Luna and Sam their drinks.
"Wow..." muttered Lincoln after a few moments of silence.
"Now do you believe me?" asked Tabby.
"Yeah, I do. Man, I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but wow."
"Sadly, its girls like that that give us rockers a bad reputation" said Tabby. "Now come on, I wanna see if we can get closer to the stage."
That sounded like a good idea to Lincoln, so he pushed all thoughts of Luna's pink haired friend out of his mind and followed Tabby as she weaved her way through the crowd, aiming to get closer to the band.
While Lincoln was putting all thoughts of Carmen Walker out of his mind, Becky couldn't help but be almost entirely focused on the girl in question as she made her way over with the drinks for Luna and Sam. Ultimately, nothing had been solidly proven when Carmen got in trouble before. Apart from the words of a couple of inebriated eye witnesses, there was nothing to make the accusation stick. The CCTV cameras had nothing to show, and when she was searched she had nothing on her person. While the police had chosen to not press charges, the owner of The Red Herring took a much harsher stance and barred her for six months.
Since then, nothing had been proven either, but it was one of those things that everyone just knew. The grass is green, cows go moo, there are fifty states, Dairyland is amazing, Carmen Walker does drugs. It was that simple. The girl didn't even try to deny it. If called out, she just gave a smug little smirk that you just wanted to slap off of her face and would taunt you with the words "Prove it."
As she approached, whatever argument had been going on when Lincoln and Tabby walked away had ended, but there was still an unpleasant atmosphere in the area.
Doing her best to ignore Carmen and her two buddies, Becky walked right up to Luna and Sam, handing them their drinks as she got near enough. "Courtesy of Lincoln and Tabby," she explained at the puzzled look that came onto their faces.
"Where are they?" asked Luna worriedly as she accepted her root beer.
"A safe distance away," replied Becky, sternly. Luna looked embarrassed and shot a look towards Carmen, who wasn't paying attention, before dragging Becky aside and demanding in a harsh whisper "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know exactly what it means," replied Becky, hotly. "Come on Luna, you're smarter than this. Why are you hanging around with her?"
"I just want to give her a chance," said Luna. "She said she doesn't do that stuff any more."
"And you believe her?"
"I want to. Look, I've known her since third grade, okay? She says she's stopped, and I wanna try and go back to the way things were."
"Alright, I get that," said Becky, placatingly. "Believe me, I do. But my boss doesn't stand for any of that kind of thing. If she does do anything, he'll likely consider you guilty by association and kick you out as well. How's that going to look?"
Luna's shoulder's sagged sadly. "I know, I know. Look, just… just let this go for now, yeah? First sign she's up to something, I'll tell you or the bouncer myself, okay?"
Becky regarded her for a moment, before giving a small nod and turning to head back towards the bar.
Luna looked worriedly towards Sam, who didn't look any more comfortable than she felt. With a sigh, the rock n roll Loud sister turned her attention back to the stage, hoping to put the matter out of her mind. However, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Carmen eyeing her suspiciously.
"What was that about?" asked the pink haired girl.
"Becky's friends with my sisters, Lori and Leni. She just wanted me to pass on a message," answered Luna.
It was a complete lie, but fortunately Carmen bought it and turned her attention to the conversation her friends, Marcia and Markus, were having. Luna bit her lip in worry. 'Please don't let me down, Carmen…' she thought to herself.
"Yo, Luna!" said Dylan, his voice breaking through her thoughts. "Is that your brother and Tabby on stage?"
Luna lifted her head to look and her jaw dropped.
After being bumped in the side by a tall black haired dude who was dancing with absolutely no rhythm, and subsequently bouncing off the overweight blonde next to him, Lincoln found himself standing next to Tabby, right at the front of the crowd, mere feet away from the stage.
"Come on Linc" called out Tabby as she reached for his arm and dragged him further forward "Lets Rock!"
She quickly moved into an air guitar routine and Lincoln quickly joined her. He wasn't quite as good as her, but he had been doing this long enough with Luna that he could air guitar far better than most. This was something that the crowd quickly began to take notice of.
It was only when someone whistled loudly that Lincoln realised that there was almost as much attention as them as there was on the band. The crowd had parted a little further to allow the duo more room to do their thing.
This did not go unnoticed by those on stage and, when their current song came to an end, Chunk gave a chuckle and said "Looks like we've got ourselves a couple of real rockers down the front here. Come up 'ere you two."
Tabby wasted no time in clambering up onto the stage. That she grabbed Lincoln by the hand and practically dragged him with her meant he was given no choice in the matter and found himself on stage with her.
"Okay guys," said Chunk to the audience. "This here is Gwen's daughter, Tabby, my niece!"
The crowd cheered loudly.
"An' as for this lad," continued Chunk. "This here is Lincoln Loud. A bloody good kid if ever I met one! Knows a good rock n roll song when he hears it."
Again the crowd cheered.
"So let's give him that song!"
And with that, the band began playing their second Mick Swagger song of the evening, this time the ever popular Transformation.
Lincoln and Tabby shared a brief look before mutually deciding to drop back into their air guitar act. After all, it's what got them the attention in the first place.
From somewhere in the crowd he heard his sister's voice shouting to him. "Woo! Rock on, Lincoln!"
Sitting on the edge of the stage two hours later, Lincoln looked on as Luna, Sam and their friends talked animatedly with their fellow rock and roll enthusiasts. While the members of The Moon Goats liked him well enough, Lincoln knew when to back off and let Luna be amongst her friends without her little brother cramping her style. Whatever beef Luna and Carmen had with each other at the beginning of the night had seemingly been put aside, at least for now, with the two of them talking to each other in a seemingly civil manner. He was still extremely wary of the girl, however. The words of Tabby and Becky echoed in his mind and all he could really do was hope Luna knew what she was doing. Given that his and Tabby's presence had been what set Carmen off in the first place meant that Lincoln was even more reluctant to go over there. He did not want to start that fight again.
He went to take a drink from his bottle of soda, but found it empty. Putting the bottle aside, he looked over to the bar, wondering if he had time to go and get another. Unfortunately, while Becky was still there, the lighting around the bar had been dimmed and she and a colleague of hers were busy counting the cash.
Yeah, the bar was most definitely closed.
He gave a small sigh and leaned back a little, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling… only to find Tabby's smiling face looking down at him. She raised both of her hands, a bottle of soda in each.
"I saw you were nearly out and went to get another before they closed up," she explained, lowering the bottle in her left hand towards him.
"Thanks," he responded, as he reached up to take the offered drink.
As he brought the top of the bottle to his lips to take a drink, Tabby took a seat beside him. She was silent for a moment, running her thumb absent-mindedly over the label on the bottle as she thought about what she wanted to say, until finally she voiced her question.
"Lincoln, could you explain what actually happened at the Sadie Hawkins dance?"
That question caught him by surprise. In all honestly, he knew it was a fair question, but he had assumed that Luna had explained the situation to her. When he voiced that to her, she replied "Yeah, Luna explained her side. Now I want to hear it from you."
"Okay. That's fair I guess." he replied. He sighed again and launched into his explanation. "There was this girl, Ronnie Ann. I thought she was going to ask me to go with her to the dance, but the arcade was having a two for one sale on its games and I wanted to go with my friend Clyde. When Luna and some of my other sisters found out I wasn't going, they thought it was because I hadn't been asked, so they each set me up with a date. You, Haiku, Giggles and Polly. When I told my sisters the truth, they got mad and made me go to the dance anyway."
Tabby was quiet for a bit before asking "Why didn't you just gather us together and explain that your sisters had each set you up with a date? You could have avoided a lot of trouble just by being honest."
Lincoln bowed his head slightly. "Yeah, I get that now. But Luna and the others were adamant that you would all be upset if I flaked on you, so I tried organising it so that I could spend time with each of you without any of you knowing about the others."
"So you tried to keep everybody happy, but ended up making no one happy." stated Tabby.
"Yeah, I guess so. I've gotta admit, I have a habit of doing that. It never seems to work out well, especially for me."
There was another beat of silence between them before Lincoln continued "Still it worked out alright for you, didn't it? You went and hit it off with Liam in the end."
For a moment she didn't reply. Then "Lincoln, I didn't really enjoy myself with Liam all that much."
"You didn't?" he asked. "But I thought you said-"
"I know what I said. But I went to that dance hoping to make a friend or two. And you kept disappearing all the time, so when Liam came up to ask for a dance I went along with it so I wouldn't be standing on my own all night. Then when all those other girls came over and said you were meant to be with them… well, I guess I just decided to cut my losses and keep hanging with Liam."
"Oh."
"Lincoln, I first met Luna when I was nine, and I thought she was so cool. She could sing any song she put her mind to, she could play any instrument she picked up. And she used to go on and on about how she had a brother who was the same age as me. This cool, if slightly dorky brother, whose favourite band was Smooch, and who she thought the world of. Every time mum brought me over to the States I would usually meet Luna at least once, and every time she'd go on about introducing me to you one day, and every time I'd be completely on board with that idea. And then I did meet you. And you spent the whole time we were together ducking out to talk to other people."
Lincoln could not remember the last time he felt so horrible. This girl just wanted to be his friend, and he'd ruined it.
Finally he said "I didn't realise that you wanted to be my friend..."
"Yeah, well..." she broke off, staring intently at her shoes. Lincoln kept quiet, sensing that she was trying to figure out how much she wanted to say.
Then it came.
"My mum and dad separated a little over a year ago. It had been coming for a long time, what with the way my dad treated my mum. It wasn't until Uncle Chunk stepped in and threatened dad that mum realised she needed to...um..." She paused for a moment, rubbing here eyes wearily before continuing. "Dad used to hit mum. A lot. She tried to hide it from me, but I knew. He would come home drunk and… well..." again she trailed off.
This time she turned to look behind them. Lincoln turned as well and saw what she was looking at. Her mother and uncle still packing up some of the band's equipment. Tabby continued. "Uncle Chunk hit the roof when he found out. He came over for a visit and dad came home drunk and forgot he was there. I didn't see what happened but I heard it. Chunk told dad that if he ever laid a finger on mum again, they'd never find his body."
"The divorce has been… well, it's been a nightmare to be honest. And of course once mum's lawyer found out the reason she was leaving dad, the police got involved. Mum brings me out here every few months just to get away from it all."
Lincoln sat there completely dumbfounded. He knew, of course, that the world wasn't perfect. He knew that people went through things like that. But this was the first time he was aware of it happening to someone he knew. And to be honest, Tabby opening up to him like that had caught him completely off guard. It sounded like she had been keeping a lot of things bottled up, and once she started talking to him, it all came rushing out.
And he had absolutely no idea what he should do or say right now, except…
Tabby jumped slightly in surprise as she felt Lincoln take her hand in his. She turned and looked at him with startled eyes, only to find him looking back at her with nothing but sincerity.
"I'm sorry." he said, honestly.
Tears stung at her eyes and a moment later she launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped around him as she buried her face in his shoulder, his purple shirt quickly getting damp with her tears. Thankfully for Lincoln, having ten sisters made him more capable than most boys his age at dealing with a crying girl. He wrapped his arms around her as well and hugged her close as she let it all out.
Unnoticed by either of them, Sam had been keeping an eye on the duo while she chatted to her friends. Upon seeing them embrace, she nudged Luna to get her attention. Luna followed Sam's gaze and upon noticing Lincoln and Tabby's embrace, she couldn't help but smile. Sam could get into shipping wars with Luan all she wanted, all Luna knew was that Tabby would need friends for what was coming, and she knew that Lincoln was exactly the kind of person who should be one of those friends.
And, okay, yes, if something more did happen, then she would be happy for them and likely join Sam in rubbing that fact in Luan's face just a little bit.
Tabby pulled away from Lincoln slightly and wiped at her eyes with her left hand. "Sorry." she muttered.
"Don't be," he replied.
She took a shakey breath and then continued her story. "Lincoln, the reason I wanted to make friends with you is because… well, I'm going to move here soon. As soon as all the paperwork for the divorce is done, Mum's gonna move us here to Royal Woods to start our lives over. I'm going to be going to the same school as you and, with you being Luna's brother-" she trailed off again, apparently struggling to find the right words.
Lincoln thought for a moment before an idea came to mind. "Okay," he said, tentatively. "How about this; we are gonna call a mulligan on the Sadie Hawkins dance. That was a false start, and tonight is us trying again. This is the do-over. We officially designate this as the first time we met and became friends, right?"
Tabby did not need long to think his proposal over, and a small smile came to her face as she replied "I'd like that, actually."
Lincoln returned the smile and held out his hand. "Hi. I'm Lincoln Loud."
She took his offered hand and shook it. "Tabby Clarke." She paused, frowned slightly and shook her head before stating. "Tabby Monk. Pleased to meet ya."
At Lincoln's questioning look she elaborated. "Clarke is my dad's surname. Once the divorce gets done, me and mum are gonna go by her maiden name."
"Ah. Gotcha."
They sat there quietly for a few moments, each basking in the warm feeling they both now had, the feeling that came from a new friendship forming. It was in its infancy now, but with the promise of more to come.
"So, you play any instruments?" asked Lincoln. "Apart from air guitar, I mean."
Tabby laughed and replied "Yeah. Real guitar, actually. And I'm not too bad on a keyboard either. You?"
"I know the basics of drums," replied Lincoln. "Just enough to help Luna out. Mazzy's offered to give me lessons so I can get better."
"Oh, no way! Hey, you should take her up on that, you know?"
Lincoln grinned and said "Oh, I intend to. That way, when you join our school, you and me can form a band."
"That sounds like the best plan I've heard in a long while, man!"
"Well, they do call me The Man With the Plan, you know?"
"Do they, now? And who, exactly, is they?"
"Well, its myself and my friend Clyde, mostly. Some of my sisters will throw it out there from time to time when they need my help with something."
Tabby laughed. "Okay then, Mr Man With the Plan. We'll go with your idea. You and me, forming a band."
"Absolutely," agreed Lincoln.
"You know anyone else who might like to be in it?"
Lincoln thought for a moment, only to come up with nothing. Clyde and Liam liked to think they could sing, and while that allowed them to scrape by in the school's glee club, it wouldn't be enough for a band. They would need an instrument as well.
"Wow, I have no idea. Sheesh! You'd think I'd know of at least one kid at school who can play an instrument!"
"Well, you'd better be on the lookout for someone with hidden talents," said Tabby. "I'll be starting at your school in just over two months."
"I'm sure I'll find someone," he assured her as he ran through a list of names in his head. He wasn't exactly convinced of the idea that he and Tabby would ever form a band, but it might be a good idea to scout out some kids with musical interests. That way he could give Tabby an idea who else she could make friends with once she started at his school.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout across the room. As they looked over towards the back of the room, Lincoln and Tabby saw Luna exchanging some rather heated words with Carmen. Neither of them could hear what was being said from this distance, even with most of the crowd having left following the end of the music, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. Just from Luna's body language, they could tell she was furious about something
After a few moments, Carmen and her two friends turned and walked away from Luna, who watched them go with clenched fists. After a beat, she turned and said something to Sam before making her way over to the bar. Sam, meanwhile, made an immediate beeline for Lincoln and Tabby.
"Come on, you two," she said in a hurried manner as she reached them. "We're going."
"Why?" asked Lincoln.
"Because Luna and I promised your parents we'd get you out of here immediately if something bad started to happen." explained Sam. She looked up to those still on the stage. "Yo, Chunk, Gwen, I'm takin' these two outside."
"That might be best," agreed Chunk, who had spotted Luna making her way towards the bar as Carmen and her friends made their way towards a bathroom in the back. Chunk turned his sister and said "Can you get these guitars out to the van? I'm gonna see if the bouncer wants a hand dealing with this."
"Okay," agreed Gwen. "But be careful, yeah?"
Chunk gave her a nod and headed off to assist, leaving his sister to try and pick up multiple guitars. "Tabs, can you give me a hand?" she asked.
"Sure thing, mum." replied Tabby, moving to take two of the guitars herself.
"Here, let me help," insisted Lincoln, taking one of the guitars from her.
"Well, Tabby, I see you've met quite the little gentleman already," commented Gwen, causing her daughter and Lincoln to blush a little.
"Good boy, Lincoln," Sam thought to herself. "Get in good with the mother. Always a good thing to get right from the start."
Sam herself grabbed the keyboard and together they all headed outside, Lincoln and Sam both casting a look over to the bar where Luna was now talking to Becky and a rather muscular, bald headed man who Lincoln guessed was the owner of the bar. Mazzy, Sully and Dylan had joined her, presumably to give her some support, while Chunk was just getting to them.
Once they were outside, they loaded the instruments into the back of Chunk's van, and then Sam insisted that she let Lincoln and Luna's dad know what was going on.
As they side door to Vanzilla slid open, Lynn Loud Sr. turned down the radio and turned to cheerfully greet Lincoln and Sam. "Hey, guys! How was the gig?" Then he noticed their expressions. "Hey, why the long faces? And where's Luna?"
Sam cast a worried look at Lincoln before turning back to Lynn and making a jerking motion with her head that most people know to mean "Can we talk over there please?"
Concerned, the patriarch of the Loud family got out of the driver's seat and rounded the van. He and Sam made their way a little away from the vehicle and Sam started to explain.
"So there's this girl that Luna and I used to be friends with, Carmen. She turned up tonight with a couple of friends. Turns out they were carrying some pills and offered some to Luna and I. Luna told them to beat it and they went off towards the bathrooms. Luna's reporting them to the staff right now and asked me to get Lincoln out here."
"My God..." muttered Lynn Sr. "How is Luna? Is she okay?"
"No." answered Sam. "I mean, she's fine physically, but I think she's really upset. There have been rumours about Carmen doing this kind of thing for a while now, but she's always denied it. Luna wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but..."
"I see. What about Lincoln? Was he anywhere near you girls when this girl offered you-"
"No." answered Sam. "No, Lincoln wasn't near us. He was hanging out with Tabby by the stage."
"You let Lincoln wander away from you?" asked the father, concerned.
"He was right by the stage," Sam said in her defence. "Even if we couldn't see them, Chunk and Tabby's mom could."
"Okay, well, who is this Tabby person you keep mentioning?"
"That would be me," said Tabby, as her and her mother came over.
"Mr Loud, this is Gwen, Chunk's sister, and Tabby, her daughter and Chunk's niece." said Sam, quickly making the introductions. "Gwen, Tabby, this is Mr Loud, Luna and Lincoln's dad."
"Nice to meet you," acknowledged Lynn Sr. This made his worry about the situation apparent, and normally he could not resist dropping into his fake English accent and gushing like a fangirl when meeting a British person. "So, Sam, you said Luna was reporting this?"
"She is," said Sam, before casting a look at Tabby. "Hey, Tabby. Why don't you go keep Lincoln company in the van, yeah?"
A part of Tabby wanted to protest, but she knew when she was being dismissed so that the grown ups could talk. So she gave a nod and headed towards Vanzilla. While she was still in earshot, she heard her mother assuring Mr Loud that Chunk was inside with Luna and wouldn't let anything happen to her.
The side door of Vanzilla was still open, and Tabby approached it with a little bit of caution. "Hey, Lincoln." she said once she could make him out in the darkness. "Mind if I join you."
He looked over at her with a slightly glum expression before giving her a small smile and replying "Sure, hop in. Just mind out for the soggy, springy and sticky seats."
"Got ya," acknowledged Tabby, before climbing into the van. It took a few moments of careful negotiation on her part to work out which seats were the bad ones, but eventually she ended up sitting in the seat directly behind Lincoln, meaning the boy had to turn around and rest on his knees in order to talk to her.
"Some night, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Tabby, a touch of sadness in her voice. "Some night..."
Outside, Lynn, Sam and Gwen had been joined by the rather larger group of Becky, Chunk, Luna, Mazzy, Sully and Dylan.
"Luna, are you okay?" asked Lynn, pulling his daughter into a hug.
"Yeah, I'm fine pops," replied Luna. "Um, listen. They caught Carmen and the others red handed with some pills and the cops are on their way. Given that I'm the one who reported it, I might have to give a statement."
"Okay, well, we can wait around for that," said Lynn. "But I'd better give your mother a call."
Luna nodded, watching as her father stepped away from the group to make the call. A moment later, Sam pulled her into the hug that she really needed.
It was gone one in the morning when Vanzilla finally pulled up outside the Loud family home. The police hadn't exactly gotten there quickly, and it took a while for them to get around to questioning Luna, but in the end they took note of her version of events and asked for some contact information should they need anything else from her before letting her go. In the end, Sam had chosen to catch a ride home with Mazzy, Sully and Dylan, allowing the Louds to head straight home.
The moment Lincoln and Luna stepped through the door, their mother grabbed them both in a fierce hug that threatened to cut off their oxygen supplies.
"Mom… can't… breathe!" Lincoln managed to gasp out.
"Sorry," Rita apologised, letting them go. "Oh, I just cannot believe that this happened! I knew it was a mistake to let you go to that place. I should never have let you go"
"Don't blame yourself, mom." said Luna. "It's my fault. I'm the one who insisted on going, and I'm the one who insisted on taking Lincoln."
Her brother turned to her at that with a frown on his face. "Don't say that Luna. Nothing that happened is your fault. It's Carmen's."
"Yeah, but-" she tried to protest, only for him to cut her off.
"No, Luna. This isn't your fault. You did everything you promised. Becky said you promised that you'd report it if you saw Carmen doing anything suspicious, and you did. And you promised mom and dad that you'd get me out of there if anything bad started happening, and you did. Or, at least, you had Sam do it. You did the right thing every time, so don't blame yourself."
Luna heaved a sigh and said in a melancholy tone. "Thanks, bro. Listen, mom, I'm kinda beat. Mind if I go grab some shut-eye? We can talk more about this tomorrow."
Rita exchanged looks with her husband before relenting. "Fine. Go get some sleep, honey. You too Lincoln."
The boy nodded and followed his sister upstairs.
Behind them, Lynn wrapped and arm around his wife. "Please don't be too harsh with Luna. She's been through a lot, and she's beating herself up enough about this already."
"But Lincoln-"
"Was perfectly safe. Its exactly as Lincoln said; the moment things looked bad, Sam got him out of there, led him over to the van and filled me in on everything."
Rita sighed and voiced a thought that she had been keeping deep down for a long time. "I just worry, Lynn. All these concerts Luna goes to… do you ever think that, maybe, she would..."
"No. No I don't think she would ever do something like that. She's got too good of a head on her shoulders."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure as the sun rises."
Exiting the bathroom with a freshly empty bladder, Lincoln began making his way towards his bedroom, making a mental note to never again drink as much soda as he had that evening. As he passed by Luna's room, he noticed her light was still on and decided to check in on her.
He gave a soft knock as he pushed the door open. Luan was asleep in the bottom bunk, snoring loudly, but nowhere near as loudly as Lynn Jr usually did.
Luna, on the other hand, was sitting up on the top bunk, looking morose.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, stepping further into the room.
Luna looked over at him and shook her head. "No, Linc. I'm not okay."
Feeling concerned, Lincoln climbed up the ladder to the bunk beds and moved to sit beside Luna. The girl had a book open in front of her, and it took him a moment to realise that his was her yearbook from her time at elementary school.
Luna sniffed slightly and held out the book towards Lincoln. "See this, dude?"
He looked at it and saw a large photograph of a group of kids in front of two wooden cabins with an unlit camp fire nearby. Lincoln recognised it as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. The elementary school had a tradition of taking its fifth grade students there for their final field trip before moving on to middle school. He had gone with his friends, Lynn Jr had gone with hers, and now here was a photograph showing Luna when she went on her trip there.
"See that girl next to me? The one with the curly, sand coloured hair? That's Carmen way back when."
"Wow, really?" asked Lincoln, who had a hard time correlating the person in the photo with teenager he had encountered that evening.
"Yeah. We were friends back then." explained Luna. "Not besties like you and Clyde or anything. But probably more like you and Zach or something. You know, I knew the rumours were true. And I always hoped that she would stop. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, even though most others wouldn't. I hoped that, deep down, she was still that girl in that photograph. The girl I bunked with on that trip and made s'mores by the campfire with. But tonight she took that hope, and just smacked me in the face with it."
Lincoln sat there quietly, regarding his sister for a few long moments before asking "Luna, has she ever offered you that stuff?"
Luna said nothing it reply, but after a long silence she gave a jerky nod of her head.
"That's horrible," he stated.
"What's worse is that I nearly went through with it."
"You did?" he asked, stunned. "Why? When?"
"About eight months ago now. And, let's just say that peer pressure can be a horrible thing. It nearly made me make the worst mistake of my life. I remember being in Carmen's house, getting ready with some others to go to a concert. Sam, Mazzy and Sully weren't there. Anyway, Carmen just starts handing out these little white pills and says they're to take when we get there. So I put it in my pocket and we headed off to the gig. And then, once things were in full swing, Carmen announces that we we're doing it now. And everyone around me just did it without thought, and then began goading me when I realised I hadn't. And I nearly gave in."
"What stopped you?"
Luna turned to look him directly in the eyes. "You did, little brother. You had been off at the arcade all afternoon that day and weren't at home when I left. And when I took my phone out of my pocket, to get it out of the way so I could grab the pill Carmen gave me, I saw that I had a message from you. It just said 'Hi Luna! I hope you have a rockin' time at your concert tonight.' As soon as I saw that, I just froze. All I could think was what would happen with me and you if I took that pill. What if someone found out that I had? Would mom and pops let me take you any more concerts? Would Lori even let me anywhere near you? Would you even want me anywhere near you? Would you hate me? Would you be disappointed? After those questions ran through my head, there was only one thing I could do. I dropped the pill and stomped it into the grass with my shoe, then I turned around and I left."
Lincoln frowned slightly and said "I remember that day. You came home really early and said the lead singer had laryngitis and the guy they got to stand in for him wasn't any good."
"Yeah… that was the best I could come up with. I just walked away, and called Chunk to see if he could give me a ride home, which he did."
"Does he know?"
"He knows I was given something, but not by who. Though after tonight, he might have a guess. But when I told him what happened, he told me I did the smart thing by walking away."
"Well, he's right, you know?"
"I know. But I shouldn't even have considered it, dude. I just… I was weak."
Lincoln moved closer to Luna and hugged her. "But you stopped yourself. That's the important thing."
"Yeah..." Luna said, returning the hug. "Hey, listen. Don't tell anyone about this. Mom and pops don't need to know. Even Sam doesn't have a clue, and I'd like it to stay that way."
"Sure thing." Lincoln agreed.
After that, they sat there for a good few minutes, before the silence was broken by a ding coming from Lincoln's phone. He took it out and looked at it before muttering "Huh."
"What's up, dude?"
"I just got a friend request from Tabby."
For the first time in hours, Luna smiled a genuine smile and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Well, go on ahead and accept it, little bro. Can't keep a girl waitin' you know?"
Lincoln returned her smile and put in his phone's passcode.
And there we go. I know some people might be surprised by where I took Luna's story in this chapter, especially with the reveal at the end, but the fact is, of all the siblings, Luna is probably the one most likely to have ended up in such a situation.
As for Carmen, her name is made up, but her design isn't. She and the two others can be seen as a part of Luna's extensive friend group in the episode "Friendzy" and can be seen when Luna claims ownership of the TV from Lucy and her friends.
I have no idea where the shipping war thing came from. But yes, for now, Luan and Lynn Jr are #TeamRonniecoln while Sam (and tentatively Luna) are #TeamTabbycoln and Lucy is #TeamHaikucoln. Watch this space for how the rest feel and whether minds are changed. Also, Mazzie and Mollie being sisters and Chunk and Tabby being related are both ideas I've had for a bit. And they won't be the last characters I make family.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next up I was originally planning to focus on Leni, but there might be a chapter involving Lincoln going to see a magic act with some friends first. I think that chapter will end up playing into Leni's story better than if it were to happen later.