Author's Note
I would like to start off by apologizing. I caught the flu and have been down a while. Then was having breathing issues, but I'm doing breathing treatments now and feel a bit better. Again, sorry for the long wait
Now, I'm sure you've all noticed that as the chapters progressed, the more I've added to the stories. And I will go back and add the scene where Lincolns dad picks him up during his birthday. I didn't realized I omitted it. If anyone wants to Beta for this story, or help with story progression, let me know. I'll take any help I can get.
Now, onto my plans for updates. I'm rewriting, using the original as long. My updates are quick right now, because all I'm doing is adding to the story, and changing from first person to third. But when I catch up, I will have to work on story details, and it will take longer. Also, now that I've been doing this, I might revisit some of my other fictions as well.
Lincoln
Luna's reactions was immediate, and seemed to switch between horror, and confusion. Her mouth opened in the shape of an 'O'. He eyes wide in disbelief, and in horror as she just focused on his shoulder. He was sure what his face mimicked hers at the moment, just as shocked as she was. Though, his horror was more how she was going to react, than how bad his shoulder looked, with blood running down his t-shirt.
Luna opens her mouth, the words incoherent, as she sputtered trying to make sense out of what she was seeing.
"Dude, you're bleedin." Luna finally seemed to find her words, though she sounded panicked, which was to be understood. "We need to go to the hospital Dude.
Fear rushed through his body, as his blood runs cold. Not the hospital, he couldn't go there. If she managed to make him go to the hospital, then it's over for him. Child Services will be contacted. There wasn't even a question about that. He could give a false name, and manage to escape the hospital, if it was for something else. But this was a knife wound. He would be watched until CPS showed up. Worse yet, if Luna decided to tell her sisters, there was no way that he could get away.
'I can't go back, that's why I have been lying to them. I can't let it end like this.' he thought to himself. If COS gets notified about him, he'll have to go back and live with is adopted dad.
"NO! Luna, Please. Not the hospital. No hospitals." Lincoln begs, reaching out to her with his good arm. There was nothing else he could do right now instead of beg.
'Man, I must look like a pathetic nut case," He thought as he begged her, standing in her bathroom, bleeding on the floor from a knife wound that no boy his age should have. She must think that he was insane.
Ever since he met the Louds, every time they had met after almost feels as if he had sunk deeper, and looked more pathetic in their eyes. It was enough that he was surprised they hadn't already figured out on their own. Buying stuff for him, catching him sleeping in the library, Lynn finding him in the soup kitchen, Being sick in the pharmacy, and now bleeding from a knife wound in their bathroom.
"Dude, Lincoln. Look yourself, man. That cut looks really bad. How are you not crying right now." She just points to his shoulder, as if that's all the argument that she needed. And in a normal situation, that should have been all the argument. His case was different thought.
It did hurt, he wasn't even sure himself why he wasn't crying, but there was no way that he could tell Luna that. It wouldn't help the point he was trying to make.
"Look, Luna, I can't go to the hospital. I can't explain fully, but I just can't. Please, I'm begging you. Don't make me." He drops his gaze to the floor, staring at the drops of blood now dripping on the floor. He was lucky that it wasn't gushing, or a fresh wound, or else he'd have bled out by now.
Either seeing to realize that he wasn't going to budge on going to the hospital, or that arguing was less important than helping him at the moment. It looked like Luna was arguing in her own mind. Luna just looks at him for a few moment before sighing. What ever internal battle she was having, one side won.
Then she seems to realize the situation at hand, and she grabs his left hand, and he was sure that she was about to drag him to the hospital. Lincoln was getting ready to try to pull away, and make a run for it. When she pulled him to the toilet, and pushed him down on it.
"Sit." She said looking down at him again. "Geez dude."
Lincoln stays seated as she had told him to, wrapping his good arm around his torso for comfort, no knowing what else to do. He watched as she digs through the cabinets, and drawers looking for anything she can use. She seems to have dropped the hospital thing for now, which he was thankful for. Because he didn't know what he would have done if she insisted he go, and enlisted her sisters for help. He didn't know if he would have been able to get away from all of them.
"My bag," Lincoln says softly, pointing to his pack when she looks to him. Lina makes her way to the bag, opening the pack on the ground as she pulls out the bandages, the gauze, medical tape, disinfectant, along with a first aid kit. She looked at hi once again one eyebrow raised as she looks over the items.
Now that he knew that he was relatively safe, he sighed relaxing a bit, until the pain in his shoulder came back full force. He leaned forward hissing in pain, Lincoln noticed that as he had Luna turned her attention back to him worry in her eyes, before going back to what she was doing with more haste now.
Even though it felt like an hour had passed, it had only been maybe a minute while she opened everything, getting things ready to be used. She turns to me with items in her hands once her eyes moved to his shoulder, she winced in sympathetic pain. Judging from the look on her face, he could tell that she wasn't used to this kind of situation. He couldn't blame her, not many normal people had experience dealing with knife wounds. And while the Louds were not really what you'd call 'normal' they were normal enough to not have dealt with this kind of thing.
Luna physically shook herself, steeling her nerves, as she steps towards him.
When Luna stood before him, she knelt down in front of him, depositing the items, and bottles on the floor next to the toilet. She looked into his eyes, as she pulls out a pair of scissors cutting what remained of his shirt away. She looked closer at the wound, and she swayed a bit before shaking her head again. Maybe it was worse than he thought, and he already thought that it was bad.
She picks up a bottle, and Lincoln notices before she had a chance to use the disinfectant on his shoulder. He reached out stopping her from opening the bottle,
"Wait, you can't do that yet." I start to explain.
"What? I know it'll burn, but you got to-" Luna started.
"No, you have to stop the bleeding first." Lincoln explains while leaning back. She stops moving, and he sees that she is just looking at him with a surprised look on her face.
"How in the Hell do you know that?" Luna asked as she picked up some of the gauze and placing it one his wound applying pressure with one hand, while using another bit of gauze and alcohol to wipe away the dried blood around the wound. Lincoln winces at that , wishing he could cry out but didn't wan Luna to know he was in pain. Even if she knew he was in pain, he wanted her to think he could handle it.
"Oh, uh, I had a few cuts and scrapes before, and I had to clean them myself. You learn a little bit of first aid after a while." He says simply not wanting to go into detail.
Luna looks like she wants to ask more, but whens he glaces back at his shoulder continuing to clean the dry blood, she seemed to drop what she was going to say. Choosing to accept the answer he had given for now.
It was quiet for a while, while it seemed Luna was thinking, every now again she would lift the gauze to see if the bleeding had stopped.
"What Happened to you, Linc?" Luna broke the silence catching him off guard.
'Of course she's curious about what happened, who wouldn't be,' he thought to himself and couldn't blame her curiosity. He was bleeding in her bathroom, while she was getting ready to bandage a serious cut on his shoulder. She had every right to know what happened
Lincoln thought about it for a bit, then decided to at least tell her the truth, or at least most of it. She deserved the truth for what she was doing to help him. It also might help lessen some of the guilt that he felt for telling them so many lies
"I was jumped on my way home," He told her, ignoring the concerned look that she was giving him, not bothering to tell her he was unconscious for an entire day, because there was no way that she would handle that news well. "I didn't have anything on me, and they got angry."
"And you didn't go to the police? Or your parents? Or anyone? Why would you hide something like this, Linc?" Luna asked him sounding, and looking confused. She had every right to be, because she had a point.
He didn't have a good reason for not telling anyone to give her. He had no excuse that could lessen her suspicion about why he didn't have an excuse for hiding something like this.
'Damn it,' He tried to think of a way out of this. When he notices that the bleeding from the wound stopped. He swears he has lost too much blood for his liking.
"Hey, Luna. The bleeding has stopped, You're gonna want to clean the cut now." He explains as a why to distract from the question.
Either Luna noticed that his unwillingness to answer the question, or more likely she was more concerned his injury and focused on his instructions. Luna pulls the gauze away from the wound, she gets up after grabbing another, wetting it with warm water returning to kneeling before him and dabbing lightly at the wound to get the dry blood that she hadn't been able to get.
"So, how did this start?" It wasn't bleeding when I came to check on you earlier, looking at the jacket and shirt, I would have noticed if you were bleeding." She said while focusing on what she was doing, making sure not to reopen the wound.
Firs thing that went through his mind was telling her that Lori did it, and threatened him. But thought against it. That would cause more trouble than it was worth for whatever petty revenge he could have out of it. And it would cause him more trouble, and he would have a lot of explaining to do.
'She checked me earlier?' He wondered, why would she do that? That was something you did for people you care about, not people you barely know. These sisters can't be that good. He decided to stop asking questions that he was never going to get answers to. Instead he decided on something closer to the truth.
"Uh, Lori, she brought me a bowl of the soup she made for Lucy, and I was eating it, and I started coughing. She put her hand on my shoulder to help steady me, and I guess it reopened the cut." He decided to bend the event that way if for some reason, Luna decided to ask Lori. Lori would probably agree, and maybe trust me if I didn't say anything about her threatening me. It was the least he could do. Lori wasn't being mean, just to be mean, she was protecting her siblings. He couldn't blame her for that. He never had siblings, but he knew if he had siblings, he would do anything he could to help them and keep them safe.
"Dude, why didn't you tell her about this?!" Luna had stopped cleaning the wound to just look at him.
"Well, I didn't think it was that bad. I thought, maybe a little bit. I didn't know until I got in here." Lincoln said with an unsure tone.
"Not that bad? Not that Bad! Are you kidding me, Dude? Just looking at this, I can tell it hurts like a wicked bitch. How could you even think that it wasn't that bad? I know people, Linc, tough people, that would be crying in pain over a cut like this." Luna exclaimed gesturing to his shoulder, her voice kind of high at the end.
"I don't know. I- Luna- I mean, I thought I could take care of it like usual. I mean, I usually have to do it on my own" Lincoln mutters looking down.
"What do you mean by that?" Luna's tone was serious.
'Damn, shit, fuck. I really need to learn to shut the hell up.' Luna wasn't looking sat him, but he knew she was waiting for an answer, and this time she didn't seem like she was going to take silence as an answer, out of the corner of his eye he could see the cut still had some blood on it, but was no longer running. That wouldn't help him this time. He takes a deep breath, and does what he does best: Lie through his teeth.
"Did Lynn tell you about my parents?" Hoping that Lynn had at least conveyed that information.
"Yeah," Luna nodded, then adds, "She told us that they weren't around lot or something like that."
"Yeah, that's it. My parents, they're always busy, I don't get to see them as often as I'd like. So, if I hurt myself doing something stupid, I deal with it myself. And hospitals are expensive. And... I just can't make things worse." He tears up a little as he thinks about having to patch himself up, remembering what it was like for his mom and dad to kiss where he had been hurt. Luna helping him kind of made him feel like that again.
It was silent in the bathroom for a while and each second caused his heart to pound harder, he didn't know how she didn't heart it beating against his ribcage. Just waiting for her to say something, was torture.
"Dude, you shouldn't have to. Lincoln, you shouldn't..." Her voice hitches, her voice soft. Lincoln was taken aback at that statement. The same statement that Lynn had told him. But what was he supposed to do? He didn't want to have to do this. He wanted parents that could help. But, what could he do?
'Why do these girls have to care so much?' It made no sense to him. He had only known them for such a short amount of time. And even then he only was with them a fraction of that time. More so, all he had ever done was take and take from these girls. They never seemed to mind, just paid for my food, or games at the carnival. Luan refused to leave me at the pharmacy, they took me to their house, wrapped me up on their couch as if I were family. It confusing him to no end why they were like this towards him. He was just some homeless kid. Some piece of trash, that eats trash out of the dumpsters. That sleeping in alleyways, and in and around dumpsters. These girls are talented amazing females who will go on to achieve more than I can ever hope to.
"Hey, Linc, this might hurt. Here," The word 'hurt' bringing him back from his own thoughts. She reaches out with one hand, taking his in hers. Her other hand brings the disinfectant closer to his wound, and he tightens his jaw, knowing what was coming. As the rag touched his wound, he started squeezing her offered hand. Lincoln almost yelps but takes a deep breath and holds it in.
"Sorry, dude." Luna said obviously seeing the pained expression on his face.
"It's okay," He said through clenched teeth, and just as soon as it started, it was over. He sighs out, his body beginning to relax, looking towards Luna.
"That should take are of that part. I think you need stitches, but we can use these." Holds up what looked like tiny weird shaped bandaids. "They're butterfly stitches. They should hold the skin together, that way it won't split back open so easily." She puts several on the cut, stretching the bandaids so they hold the cut together. He was sure next time he took a first aid kit, he was gonna get one that had these in it. "Now, let me bandage it up."
Luna just sat there seeming lost in thought, or maybe just relieved that the hard part of the task was over, and now dealing with how she felt. As she picked up the gauze, bandage, and the medical tape, wrapping his shoulder with shocking speed. She continued to be quiet for a few second before looking up at him.
"Let me grab you some more threads. Can't have you walking around in blood-stained clothes." Luna said gesturing to what he was wearing.
She leaves the bathroom, and was gone less than five minutes before she was back, with a pair of jeans, that looked to be too long for him, a sweater, and a t-shirt.
"I hope this will do, Might have to roll the pant legs up, you're not as tall as me. One of Lynn's old t-shirts, and for some reason, Leni was making you the sweater." She handed him the clothing.
Looking at them, the t-shirt seemed to be large on him, no doubt because of how malnourished he was, but he doesn't mind, though he will miss the shirt that Leni had bought for him., the new t-shirt was white lined in red around the hem and cuffs of the shirt.
The sweater was more interesting to him, Luna said that Leni was making it for him. Why would she do something like that? He really didn't understand these girls. Maybe it was a Christmas present, these girls did seem to be the type that would do that. And Leni's thing was fashion, so this would make sense. He studied the sweater a bit more, noticing that it was orange, the same color that Leni had commented that would fit him. It had long sleeves, and the fabric was much thicker than the shirt she had gotten him. It was true that he would miss the shirt that Leni had bought him.
Leni had made it.
For him.
Lincoln just stared at the sweater in his hands. He never thought that he would have something that was made just for him. Never thought that anyone would ever care enough to spend the time to hand make a gift like this for him. It was enough to bring the boy to tears. He didn't believe he deserved that kindness, not when he had been lying to them.
"Hey, Dude." Luna's voice snapped him back to reality. He hadn't known how long he had been staring at the sweater. "It's getting late, man. And our parents aren't home, will be gone til tomorrow. So, no Vanzilla. Maybe you want to stay over? We'd love to have you stay over, if you can."
They would love to have him stay over? She wanted him to stay? It was surprising, and again something that he hadn't expected from any of the loud sisters. Though, he was beginning to expect the unexpected from these girls.
Lincoln thinks about his options. He could decline then have to explain why his parents never came to get him. Even if the others didn't know, Luna would never let him leave on foot. He didn't want to start that issue. Or worse, one of them could offer to walk him to his house. How would he explain that she couldn't come into the house when he got there. Or worse, explain why he wasn't going to go in until after they were gone.
"If it isn't too much of a problem, I would like to stay, if it's okay." Lincoln wraps his arms around himself, fearing rejection, even if she had been the one to offer..
"I offered, dingus. Of course it's alright. I'll go get Lori to agree, it'll be cake. And you can call your parents." Luna says standing up to leave, though before she could leave the room.
"Hey, Luna." His voice was soft, though it was enough to stop her from leaving, "Thank you, for you know, doing this for me."
Lincoln stands swiftly, and moves across the room, wrapping his arms around Luna pulling her into a tight embrace. She made him feel safe, and he liked that.
Luna seemed like she was caught off guard a little as he hugged her, though she recovered and smiled down at him. Wrapping an arm around him before leaving the room off to inform Lori no doubt. Once she was gone, he took off the rest of his clothing, using a cloth from the sink, and water to was the rest of his body the best that he could. Lincoln had lost count the number of times that he had wrung dirty water out of the cloth before wiping himself off again. He did his best to rinse his hair in the sink, using the bar of soap to get it as clean as he could before tossing the cloth into the hamper. He looked at his own clothes, only his pants were salvageable the rest, he wrapped in a plastic bag and tossed into the trashcan.
Finally, Lincoln was able to put on the pants he had been given much like Luna had suggested, he had no choice but to roll up the pant legs, before pulling on the t-shirt he had been given. The smell was wonderful to him. Yeah his new shirt had been cleaned, but this shirt he could smell the soap used to clean the fabric, and it smelt nice. He couldn't remember the last time he smelt fresh cleaned clothing. The sweater, the felt so soft to his touch, he rubbed against his face a moment before pulling it on. The chill he didn't know that he had, was vanishing. Even if he felt tight in his chest, and his sinuses were clogged from whatever he had caught, he felt the warmth of the fabric.
Once dressed, he looked around the bathroom, he decided he needed to clean it. Luna would understand what happened, but none of the other sisters would understand the blood, and the younger ones would be frightened. So, he picked up the cloth from the hamper, still damp as he started to clean up the blood that he had leaked all over the bathroom floor. Cleaning up the empty wrappers, and tossing it all into the trash.
'I can't keep doing this, I need to tell them soon,' He thought to himself These girls deserved the truth from him, but he couldn't tell them. They would call CPS, and they would think that they were doing him a favor, not knowing what was going to be waiting for him. CPS had dropped him off with his adoptive father, never came back to check on him. Just assumed that everything was alright. There was no way that he could trust them again.
'I need to stop this,' He thought to himself knowing that he needed to leave these girls behind him. Lincoln didn't want to, these girls were the closest to a family he had. He had to stop talking to them, he had to. Then it dawned on him, what if Lisa, or Lynn had managed to catch up to him in the alley that day? What if they were there when the guys got him. There is no way that those thugs would have let the girls leave. They could have ended up injured like him, or dead maybe worse.
'Oh God,' the images of what he could have seen when he woke up hit him. Made him sick to his stomach. 'That's it. Starting tomorrow, I'm cutting ties with them. Just up and vanish. I'll become a memory of a boy they had once met, and they'll be safe.'
'That should be enough time to seem like I called my parents,' he thought as made his way to the door, looking back to make sure he hadn't missed anything, then walked out of the room into the hallway. Wooden floors, with a red runner down the middle, white wooden panels at the bottom of the walls, and yellow wallpaper. He hadn't paid much attention as he came up. He looked at the pictures on the wall. Noticing how happy a family these girls were. Two closed doors on either side of him, a bit father across from another door was the stairs, more doors just past that.
Lincoln heard a conversation from down stairs, it sounded like Luna, and Lori. He decided he didn't want to be a part of that conversation. He decided to continue to explore the upstairs, looking around he realized that he never knew how big their house was. It really seemed a lot bigger on the inside. Then again with all of these girls, it would have to be. The house that he had been staying in had only three bedrooms upstairs, where this one seemed to have at least five, or six, and the bathroom.
Walking past the stairs, he looked into the room across from them. He noticed the twins. Lola on one side at a plastic table, seemingly pouring pretend tea. Lana seemed to be looking in some kind of tank. Maybe she had hamsters or something. Lincoln didn't want to bother the two then he started to make his way to past the door, when he notices movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Lincoln!" He turned to see Lana running towards him from inside the room. "Lookin' a lot better."
"Actually, I feel a bit better," Lincoln said and honestly he did feel a bit better. Though, his sinuses still hurt. His throat still burned a bit, and his lungs hurt when he coughed still. His nose was still clogged up, but his entire body didn't hurt. Physically, he was feeling better than before, not so much pain.
"That's so awesome! Hey, Lincoln, come and meet my animals." Lana exclaimed as she grabbed his hand, of his good arm thankfully, and was being pulled into the room. As he got deeper into the room, he takes in just how different each side of the room was. The owners couldn't be more different. The side Lola was on, various shades of pink. Frills everywhere. Plush animals, and such. The side he was being lead to on the other hand. Hats of various colors hung on the wall. Posters of different animals. Items littered across the floor around the bed. From clothes, shoes, skates. Then finally the tank he was being pulled to.
Once at the tank beside the tomboy's bed, Lana lets go of his hand and reaches into the tank pulling out a lizard.
"This is Izzy!" Lana cradles the lizard as if it were a baby, and the reptile seemed to be all for the attention. "Do you wanna hold him?"
Lincoln could not see a reason not to hold the lizard. He had handled a few animals in the past, some he thought of as pets. He held out his arms for the lizard as an ecstatic Lana placed the lizard into them. Even if the girl was content around the little reptile and he was good with animals, an unfamiliar animal did make him feel a bit nervous. After a few seconds he relaxes a bit at least until the lizard races up his arm and nests in his hair. Making him almost lose his balance, and would have fallen if Lana hadn't steadied him,
Lana chucked a bit looking up at the reptile on his head, though doesn't make any movement to remove him. Lincoln assumed he was comfortable up there. She then turns around picking up an amphibian this time. She turns to Lincoln, and holds out her frog.
"This is my best friend, Hops. We found each other one day at the pond, and we've been best buds since." She holds the frog closer to his face, a big smile on hers. "He's really cool, and he can-"
Lincoln feels something move across his foot causing him to stop listening, Looking down he notices that a snake was now coiling around his calf, starting to squeeze. As he tries not to crap his pants, he stops Lana mid sentence, and looks down at the new reptile that was around his leg.
"Hey! El Diablo must really like you. He only hugs his favorite people." Lana smiles as she leans down and picks up the snake, uncoiling it from around his leg. Lana held the snake to her chest hugging it close. Such a strange sight to see such a young person cuddling a snake, more weird it seemed the snake was returning the affection. "He only hugs his favorite people."
Lincoln could tell that Lana really loved her animals, and while it surprised him they loved her in return. He could tell that they obviously mean a lot to the young girl, and that she enjoyed talking about them to anyone willing to listen, as her smile grew wider the longer the conversation continued. Lincoln had to admit that it was very nice to listening to her talk about her animals with barely contained excitement. Lana continued listing her favorite animals, and he listens to her intently as she continues introducing him. Rat named Bitey. Carney named Walt. Then heard her talk about other pets such as Lucy's bat, Fangs.
As Lana was talking he heard a groan from across the room, drawing his attention to the pink twin, leaned over a vanity against the wall. Lincoln hands the rat he was holding, back to Lana excusing himself. Going over to the pink twin to see what was frustrating her. Looking over her shoulder he could see what she was holding a really frilly dress, and trying to sew a hole in it.
"Hey Lola, are you doing alright over here?" Lincoln asked even if he saw the frustration and knew the answer.
"Do I look like I'm alright? I got a hole in this dress, and I need it for next pageant season." Lola sounds like she's almost in tears as she stares in anger at the dress in her hands. She looked absolutely distraught.
"Maybe I could help?" Lincoln offers the young female. He didn't know why but he didn't like seeing her upset, and he wanted to fix it. Wanted her to go back to how she looked when he won that tiara for her.
"How are you supposed to help? It's not like you know how to sew a dress." Lola muttered dropping the needle and thread on the table in frustration.
"Actually, I do know how to sew." During his time being homeless, he had to mend clothes on more than one occasion. Without money to buy new clothes, but you could pick up a small sewing kit from a dollar store. That was more affordable than new clothes. It hadn't always been perfect in the beginning, but as he went on he got much better at sewing. Even before he was homeless, his adopted father would never buy him anything new, that's where he had begun to learn.
Lincoln picked up the dropped needle and went to work on the hole in the dress. Even if he had gotten good at it it had been a while since he had, sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he worked. He made a few mistakes, but managed to catch them before it was too late and easily managed to go back to fix it. Lincoln was thankful that the hole had of been small, had it been bigger it would have taken a lot more effort, and materials. Lola seemed intent on watching his every move which had lead to a few of the mistakes.
When finished he held the item up looking at it, before handing it to Lola. Watched as she inspected it thoroughly, taking it into her hands turning it this way and that. He had thought he did a wonderful job, you could barely see the stitch, but then again, his idea of wonderful might be different from these girls. Lincoln waited for the damning words from the girl. He was starting to be sure she would hate the job that he had done.
"Lola, I'm..." Lincoln starts his apology. As the girl's smile interrupts him, and leaps over the table wrapping her arms around him. He felt a warmth spread through his body, and up to his cheeks. He looked down at the top of Lola's head, the crown that he had won her glittering on her head. Lincoln smiled and wondered if this was what it was like to be an older brother. If this was what happiness felt like.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much, Lincoln! It's perfect." She said pressing her face against his chest, which made that feeling swell up inside him again.
"Yeah, Linc. Only Leni could have done better!" Lana said hugging him from behind. This was something he could get used to, this was dangerous.
"Any time, Lola. I'm happy it's good enough!" He wrapped his arm around her, returning the hug. "I should get back, I'm sure Luna will be looking for me."
Lincoln felt the loss of warmth when the twins released him. He didn't know if it was the body heat, or if it was something else he missed when they released him. Waving to both the girls, receiving a goodbye for both of them, smiling as he heard them talking about the stitch job. Across the hall and down the stairs, Lincoln can hear the conversation between Luna, and Lori. He stops a bi and listens.
"Dunno what the little dude is lying about, if he is lying about something. But it can't be that bad. I doubt it could hurt any of us." Luna's voice carries around the corner. They were talking about him, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. At least it seemed Luna was on his side.
"I don't care, Luna. You need to be careful around him. He's hiding something. I don't trust him." That was Lori, he already knew she wasn't a fan of his.
"Lori. He helped Leni. He spent time with Lana, and Lola, won Lola that crown. He stopped some creeper from messing with Lynn." Luna listed off things.
"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact-" Lori started to be interrupted.
"Lori, he saved Luan from being mugged, hurt, and we all know what would have happened to her after they got her cash. Whatever he's hiding, it's his secret. He's entitled to privacy. Not like you've spilled your dirty little secrets to him. And you interrogate him your first interaction. That's so not cool." Luna was raising her voice, even if Lori was the oldest, it seemed that Luna didn't just sit back and take it.
"Alright, so he did some good things, But-" Lori started again.
"No, Lori. No buts. Lincoln is a good little guy. Yeah, okay he seemed to have had it rough, but he's good. Besides, he's staying with Luan and me tonight." Luna snapped at her sister.
"Can't he just sleep on the couch?" Lori asked seemingly hesitant of upsetting her younger sister again, he heard a displeased noise from Luna.
"No, we're not gonna stick him down here by himself, what if he wakes up and forgets where he is and gets scared, and he's alone? Besides, Lynn will only sneak down." Luna chuckled at the last part.
"Fine, fine. He can sleep in your room." Lori says sounding displeased.
"Wasn't askin' luv." Luna said.
Lincoln didn't feel comfortable anymore. He didn't tell Luna about what happened between him and Lori, because he didn't want to cause issues between the sisters. But even with something else, he was causing these girls problems. He couldn't let himself cause them to argue like this. Especially over some homeless boy like himself.
Lincoln tiptoes down the stairs, and cringed with creak of the steps. Making it to the bottom without being noticed, not even looking at the kitchen door, he makes his way towards the front door, reaching out for the handle.
"Whatcha doing, dude?" Luna's voice causes him to jump, he hadn't expected her to come out so quickly. Not understanding how these girls could manage to sneak up on him.
"Uh, just my bag." He said once he noticed his bag by the door. He hadn't known it was there, but it worked out for him. One of the sisters must have brought it in. "I wanted to put my something in it."
"Oooookkkkaaayyy" She stretches out her word sounding suspicious, she glares over at Lori. Lincoln maybe silently cursing her for putting suspicion in her head. She shook her head, "So, did you call your folks?"
"Folks? Oh. Yeah, I called. Mom said it was alright. Said to say 'thank you.'" Lincoln answered thinking that this whole ordeal would have been easier if he had managed to leave before Luna had come out. He should have left when they were still arguing.
It wasn't that he didn't want to stay, because in all honesty he really did. A warm place to sleep at during the winter, even if it was just for a single night. That was unheard of for people like him. Not something that should be easily passed up. His closest to a warm place at night was when he slept behind the dryers the laundry mat, when one night he used his pocket knife to cut the vent from the back, and tossed in two dollars into the dryer to heat up the space behind the wall, and dryers. But these girls were getting way to close to the truth. One of them was even starting to question him. Luckily Luna was holding her ground on the subject.
"Is Lincoln staying over?" Lynn asked from the stairs causing him to jump a little. Lincoln looked up at Lynn to see that she was wearing what he assumed to be her night clothes. Just a plain white tanktop, and red boy shorts.
"Yes Lynn. He's gonna be sleeping in mine and Luan's room." Luna says looking up at her sister.
"What? Why?" Lynn starts to complain
"Because, I said so." Lori stated, and Lincoln wondered if Luna was going to call her on the fact that Lori didn't.
"So unfair!" Lynn pouts before running back up the stairs.
Lincoln let out a yawn swaying slightly on his feet, he hadn't realized how tired he was. He was working on very little sleep for the past few days unless you counted the almost two days of unconsciousness which was not restful. While the soup he had eaten warmed him, and was delicious, he hadn't eaten much either. Added to the fact that he had lost a good amount of blood, maybe he had been exhausted this entire time and only just noticed. Or whatever adrenaline he had been riding was finally coming to an end.
Luna sighs as she watched after Lynn, before turning to Lincoln, noticing his yawn, a smirk on her face.
"Must be tired there, dude. It's about time to hit the sack." Luna says looking down to him. Before heading over to the couch, and picking up what was on it. "We can use the blanket and pillow that you used on the couch"
"Sounds good to me," Lincoln yawns again.
"Why don't you go ahead on up to mine and Luan's room. Make yourself at him, it's the one near the bathroom on the right. Luan should be in there already." Luna nods towards the steps, before continuing. "I'll be up there in a few, gotta make sure everything put away."
Without any argument, not that he had any, he made his way up the stairs, into the dark hall and towards the room to the right of the bathroom. The door was opened and light shining out into the darkened hallway. Entering the room the first thing he noticed was the bunk bed in the corner of the room, then noticed the occupant on the bottom bunk reading some book with a clown on it.
"Hey Linc, Heard you're gonna be our temp roomie for the night.." She looks over the top of the book at him.
Lincoln looked at her, raising an eyebrow. He wondered how she knew he was sleeping here. Luna, and Lori just argued/decided down stairs not too long ago. And he came up before they did. Before Luan lifted her phone off the bed next to her to show Lincoln.
"Luna texted me and let me know." Luan put the device back down beside her still a smile on her face, before setting her book down and hops off her bed. "Wait right here, I gotta go grab something for you." Luan then disappears out the door.
Lincoln stares after her for a moment before turning back to the room at hand. He sets his items down on the floor before he began his exploration of the room. He didn't want to snoop, so he decided not to physically touch anything, but would look around.
There were musical instruments all over the place. Lincoln knew that Luna played the guitar but had no clue about the other instruments. From drums to a keyboard set up in a corner. Her signature guitar hanging on the wall next to the top of the bunk bed. Music books, guitar straps, and random reeds.
Also in abundance in the room was comedy props. Whoopie cushions, joy buzzers. A few joke classes with mustaches attached. What seemed to be a headband with an arrow through it. Fart spray. Googly eyes among many other things.
In the corner there was a purple beanbag chair, he remembered finding one a while back and using it at his old hideout. Unlike the one that he had, this one had a dummy planted atop it. Mr. Coconuts, staring blankly at him, and he stared back. He doesn't look much different than he had before, still really creepy. It was hard to believe that this dummy was how he had actually met the Louds. Sure he saved Luan, and Luna found them. But he wouldn't have met any of the others without the creepy doll. Despite it being creepy maybe it was good luck.
"What's up, Doll?" A voice made him jump, at first he thought the doll had started talking before he realized the voice came from behind him. Turning towards it, he noticed Luan standing there with a wide grin plastered on her face, holding a blowup mattress.
"We use this for when one of us has friends over for the night." she dragged the mattress further inside before letting it fall onto the floor, which was clear enough for it. Maybe Luan had moved/straightened up when she got the text from Luna.
While adding the blanket and pillow to the mattress, Lincoln noticed the numerous amount of patches on it. Maybe from repeated use from the girl's friends, and rough housing.
"Y'know, I could tell you a joke about a bed, but I haven't made it up yet." Luan snickers at her own joke, while Lincoln rolls his eyes but smile nonetheless. He continues to make up the bed, as Luan hops on her bed, picking up her book again. Lincoln climbs onto the mattress, and wraps himself with the blanket, looking up at Luan, he smirks.
"Y'know, I heard a myth about one bed, placed on top of another, and attached with a ladder. Fortunately, I was able to debunk it." Lincoln grins looking up at the older female. Watching as the book falls from her hands as she starts laughing. Lincoln doesn't know what it was, but the sight of her laughing, warmed him inside.
"I didn't know you were a comedian, Linc." Luan manages after her laughing comes to an end.
"I see you two are having fun in here." Luna says as she comes in from the hallway, closing the door behind her. She had changed from her normal attire to a pair of purple pajama bottoms, with a matching purple long sleeved shirt with a skull on the front.
"Hey, Lulu, whatcha call a sleeping bull?" Luan immediately asks her, "A bulldozer."
Lincoln chucked at the joke, then couldn't help but laugh harder at Luna's reaction as he face drops and she rolls her eyes. Luna looks at him with concern at first, maybe worried for his sanity, before looking back at her roommate. Before turning off the light.
"Hardy har, Luan. That's enough jokes for one night," she sad climbing up unto the top bunk, getting under the covers.
"Fine, fine. All I'm saying is if you know sleep puns, you;ll never be caught napping again." Luan giggles from her bed, followed by a shuffling sound then an oomph. Looking up the bed with the limited light he was able to see a purple pillow firmly panted on Luan's face.
"Go to sleep, Luan. Good night Lincoln." Luna calls out in the night.
"Night, Lulu. Night Linc." Luan yawns and he hears the bed squeak a bit, he assume Luan rolls onto her side.
"Night Luna, and Luan. Thanks for having me." Lincoln says thinking he should get some shut eye. After about ten minutes or so of moving he was no where near asleep. Then he sighs.
The bed was too comfortable. After sleeping on the ground in alleys, or the wooden floor of the house, he had gotten used to the feeling. He had slept good on the couch, but that was more a combination of being sick, hungry, exhausted, and cold. The warm blanket, and soft couch had put him to sleep. Lincoln couldn't remember how many nights he had laid somewhere wishing he had something soft to sleep on, wishing he was warm with a nice blanket. And now that he has just that, he couldn't sleep. At least the mattress was easy on his shoulder.
"You alright, Lincoln?" A voice from the bunk beds asked him, though he knew it was Luna.
"I'm okay, just can't sleep. And a little sore still." Lincoln turns again, facing the bunk beds, though not able to see much in the dark. It did make him a bit more comfortable knowing people that cared was so close. A strange feeling, but nice.
Silence for a little but before he hears movement, he opens his eyes, but can't see much other than Luna moving on the top bunk. Hears something being moved. He was confused a bit, before he started hearing the soft strum of the guitar. The acoustic sound slowly flowing down, and seemingly over his body as he laid there. The sound of happiness from Luna. Luan was so lucky to have a roommate like Luna.
Instead of singing lyrics of a song, Luna begins to hum a soft melody, which relaxed him more than anything could. Lincoln begins to lose himself in the humming and soft strums. His eyes becomes heavier and heavier, and the world seems to fade away as the song comes to an end. Just before he is claimed by sleep he could hear Luna whisper.
"What are you not telling us, Linc." She asks he was sure she didn't expect and answer.