It was a sweltering sunny day in July as Lincoln Loud climbed the stairs up to his older sister Luna's bedroom. Sweat was dripping from his brow, and he could have sworn that he'd already gotten a sunburn from the brief time he'd been outside. His whole body ached, and he whimpered in pain with every step he took.
"Of course Lynn had to have softball today." Lincoln muttered to himself as he approached Luna's room. The rest of the family was at Lynn's game, leaving just Luna and Lincoln at home together. However, the latter of the two would be leaving soon anyways.
"Alright Lunes. I got the last one out there." Lincoln sighed, wiping his brow.
"Thanks little bro." Luna chirped. "I got the last of 'em." She smiled, putting her guitar into its case, closing the lid.
"I…remind me why George couldn't have helped you carry the amps out?" Lincoln whined.
"Because I volunteered you, and because you're such a good helper." Luna teased, scratching his head. "Besides, I've got twenty bucks I'm giving you."
Lincoln pulled away, gasping. His eyes lit up and all of his pain seemed to melt away. "Twenty bucks?"
"What? You think my roadies work for free? Chunk gets fifty bucks every gig. The only reason he's not here is because his sister's having a baby." Luna shrugged.
"Why don't I get fi-"
"Because the last time you got fifty bucks you spent it on stupid things." Luna said bluntly. Lincoln sighed, nodding.
Luna smiled, weaving her fingers through her hair. She was sweating as well, despite the fact that the air conditioning in her room was on full blast. She had a battle of the bands that afternoon, but she wasn't that nervous. Twenty bands were auditioning today, and the top ten were moving on. Tomorrow, if they advanced, they'd be playing for the championship. She didn't want to sound conceited, but she was fairly sure they'd be playing tomorrow.
"Are you nervous?" Lincoln asked her lightly. "You know…for the battle?"
"Nah." Luna shrugged, taking a sip of her orange soda. "I think we got this one in the bag. I don't wanna toot my own horn here, but I've heard of some of the bands and..well..we coulda outplayed them years ago."
Lincoln chuckled. Luna was usually incredibly humble, but she also knew her worth. Lincoln was proud of her for bragging about herself.
"Well..I should get going." Luna said, grabbing her case. "Don't wanna leave Georgie hanging." George was the first member of the band to get his license, thus making him the designated driver. He was picking up Luna first, then Sam and Ruth.
"Alright..good luck." Lincoln smiled. He didn't say it, but he was looking forward to having the house to himself for a while. Granted, the rest of his family would be home in about an hour. But it would be fun while it lasted.
Luna drank the last of her orange soda, tossing it in the trash can by her and Luan's bed. She padded downstairs, getting her boots on and stepping outside. Lincoln waited until he heard the familiar sound of the front door shutting before he headed to his room. He grabbed a stack of comic books and hurried downstairs. He had no time to waste.
One hour later
"Ughh.." Lincoln moaned as he rubbed his stomach. In hindsight, maybe his chocolate milkshake hadn't needed the entire bottle of chocolate syrup. And perhaps he could have cut off on the Doritos after the second bag. Or maybe the first. Definitely the first.
But to be fair, he'd read four of his Ace Savvy comics, and watched three episodes of AARGH! so at least the day wasn't totally wasted. However, that didn't stop his head from spinning. He closed his eyes, trying to will the contents of his stomach down when he heard the front door open.
"Hey Link!" His older sister Leni cheered, making it inside the door before anyone else. "You totes missed a great game."
"Four whole grand slams!" Lynn added proudly. "We went to Burpin' Burger to celebrate!"
At the mention of the greasy restaurant chain, Lincoln's stomach turned. He was sure that if he took even one bite of the dreaded sandwich, he would surely explode. His mom heard him moan lightly, sighing.
"I'll put yours in the fridge." Rita said gently, holding the bag and the orange soda she'd bought him. She could tell he'd gorged himself on junk food over the past hour. Perhaps he wasn't as sick as he said he was that morning, but she figured the stomachache was punishment enough.
"How long has Luna been gone, kiddo?" His father asked lightly. He checked his watch, trying to figure out how long Lynn's game had taken.
"I dunno…an hour maybe?" Lincoln sighed. He'd lost track of time.
"Oh cool. So she should be back soon." Rita said quietly. "We really need to start planning for tomorrow. Does anyone know when they'll be performing tomorrow?" It was natural for her to assume that the band was making it through.
"She said she'll know this afternoon." Lincoln shrugged.
It wasn't even a second later when the front door slammed shut again. The Louds all flinched, seeing Luna in the doorway just before the brunette sprinted upstairs, slamming her bedroom door.
"I-I don't think she got in." Luan breathed.
"I just..I don't understand." Rita breathed, sitting at the table with her husband and a few of her children. "I thought the Moon Goats were a lock for the finals."
"We all did." Lynn said from the living room, laying on the couch and tossing a baseball into the air and catching it repeatedly.
"Someone should go check on her." Lynn Sr said quietly. He hated to say it, but Luna could be quite…well, violent when she was upset.
She didn't mean to be. Luna was normally quite a chill person. She definitely didn't have a temper like Lori or Lola. She more often than not let things slide off her back. She was the sister who didn't mind if you ate her leftovers, or took the last slice of pizza when she wanted it. She forgave and forgot like it was nothing.
However, when Luna got angry, she got angry. When you got Luna upset enough, she could get violent. She'd throw things and break things in half. One time she'd gotten upset and broke her guitar over her knee. Another time she'd punched a hole in the wall. She'd been grounded for three weeks for that.
But Luna was still family. And she needed to be checked on.
"I'll do it." Came a small voice. Lincoln. "I'll check on her."
"Alright, if you insist." Lola shrugged, earning a glare from their mother, which in turn caused the young beauty queen to splutter. "What? He offered!"
Lincoln paid her no mind, shrugging and hurrying up the wooden stairs. He didn't mind going alone, especially since it was just Luna. Him and the brunette just kind of…got each other. In fact he figured she would be more receptive if it was just him, rather than him and the rest of the family.
The first thing Lincoln noticed when he reached the top of the stairs was how quiet it was. Even if Luna wasn't upset enough to break things, she surely was upset enough to be playing her guitar. However the house was completely silent, almost eerily so. He half expected for her to suddenly strike a chord and send him flying into the wall. Another part of him was waiting for her to start playing her drum set. Anything to show how angry she was. The silence indicated that she really wasn't okay, that this was much worse than the Louds realized.
Lincoln took a deep breath, smoothing down his orange polo and nodding. It was now or never.
It took him about fifteen steps to reach his sister's doorway. Her door was shut, but it wasn't locked. Surprisingly, it wasn't squeaky either, so Lincoln was able to push the door ajar enough to poke his head in. Feeling brave, he pushed it more, only for a very loud groan to emanate from the door's hinges.
The boy flinched, knowing he was truly in for it now. Luna was going to be ticked. He had barged in on her, which wasn't a good idea when she wasn't in a bad mood. Yes, here came the screams, the accusations, the punches. Luna was go-
Lincoln stopped, realizing that the punches had never come. He slowly took his hands from off of his head and opened his eyes, looking up at Luna. Luna wasn't yelling at him, she wasn't screaming for him to get out, she just…stared at him. She looked at him with glassy eyes, and for a moment the boy wished his older sister would just scream at him instead.
"Go away." Luna said quietly, almost pleadingly. "Please."
"I…are you okay?" Lincoln asked, having finally collected himself.
"Yeah." Luna breathed after a pause. "I'll be alright." She said quietly, wrapping her arms around her pillow and turning away from Lincoln. She didn't say anything more after that, letting the silence settle over the room again.
Lincoln bit his lip, feeling particularly helpless. The boy didn't like feeling helpless, he was the man with the plan after all, but right now he didn't feel like a man, and he most definitely did not have a plan.
Finally, after what felt like forever, Lincoln turned on his heels and returned downstairs. However, not one person noticed his entrance to the living room. The rest of his family was crowded around his mom's phone screen, on a video call with the one person who was their best shot at getting answers, Sam.
"Hey guys." Sam said quietly. She didn't look great either. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, and her cheeks were red from crying. "I have a feeling you're calling about Luna."
Rita gave her a gentle smile. Sam knew Luna well, even if she didn't realize it. Whatever had happened must have been big since clearly both Luna and Sam had been affected.
"Sam, you know how much music means to Luna. Battles sometimes don't go the w-"
"We didn't even get to play." Sam said, cutting Lynn Sr off before he really even got started.
"I'm sorry?" Lynn Sr asked, shocked at Sam's statement. Surely he'd misheard that.
"Luna and I walked in holding hands, and we were asked to leave." Sam said, clearly trying to stay calm. "Luna didn't realize the people hosting the event were sponsoring a church….and they didn't allow us to try out because we are in a relationship."
For a moment, nobody said anything. The Louds were trying to make sense of what Sam had told them, how unfairly the band had been treated. It felt like a punch to the gut for Rita and Lynn Sr, and the two of them felt horrible for their daughter. None of this was fair.
"I…is that even legal?" Lynn asked dryly. Sam just shrugged in response. After a moment, the blonde sighed.
"I think Luna feels worse because she feels like it's her fault." Sam said quietly. "She insisted we walk in holding hands…and that's what set them off."
For a moment, nobody really said anything. The Loud children sat on the couch, too uncomfortable to really do anything. A wave of uncomfortable silence settled over the room. A moment turned into a minute, and a minute into two.
Finally, after two entire minutes of silence, Sam spoke again.
"Is Luna okay?" The blonde asked quietly.
Those three words held so much weight to them. It was the reason they were here after all, all sitting on the couch, crowding around their mother's phone. All of this for Luna.
"She will be fine, Sam." Rita said gently, sounding much more confident than she felt. "She has a whole family here to support her."
The matriarch realized that that probably wasn't the best thing to say, seeing as Luna's family was definitely more outwardly supportive than Sam's family was. That wasn't to say that they weren't accepting, they had accepted and supported Sam when she came out, heck they'd let Luna come with them on a skiing trip, but they weren't very vocal about it. Rita and Lynn had bought Luna pins and stickers with the bisexual flag on it, Lynn had bought one of those novelty t-shirts that said he was a proud ally. Erik and Amanda Sharp saw Sam's sexuality as more of a Sam thing. They loved her still, but they definitely didn't talk about it.
Sam really hadn't told them what had happened. She'd just explained that the gig didn't go as they'd planned. The blonde didn't even know how to approach the subject with her parents. She wasn't sure she was ready to be that vulnerable with them yet.
"I know she does." Sam smiled, definitely not feeling like smiling at that moment. "But that's not what I asked."
Normally, Sam would have considered her response to Rita rude. She would never have spoken to her like that if she wasn't as determined to get her information as she was.
Rita hadn't seen Luna since the brunette hurried upstairs, so the matriarch didn't really know how to answer Sam's question. She hoped Luna was okay, but judging by the situation, she knew it was unlikely that her daughter was alright.
Lincoln stepped in front of Rita, centering himself on the screen.
"She is sobbing her eyes out." Lincoln said. "What do I do?"
Sam nodded. At least one of the Louds was going to be honest with her.
"Music on or off?" Sam asked
"Off." Lincoln said.
"Shit." Sam muttered. This was worse than she thought. "I'll be over in a few minutes."
"No. Sam, you don't have to do that." Rita said, shooing her son away. "We can handle this. You take care of yourself."
After a moment, Sam ended the video call, not really caring to say goodbye. The focus in the room shifted back to Lincoln, and soon the white-haired boy felt the eyes of his family settle on him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lincoln, for the second time that evening, found himself at a loss for words. He knew he didn't really have a suitable answer for the onslaught of questions his sisters were ready to bombard him with.
"Look. All I know is that she was crying. She..she told me to go away and that she'd be alright." Lincoln said, putting his hands up in a placating manner, backing up slightly.
"She's definitely not alright." Luan said.
"Clearly not." Lucy said in agreement.
"Maybe one of us should go talk to her." Leni said.
Lincoln heard himself say that that wasn't a good idea, but his sisters didn't seem to hear him. A moment later, Lynn was going upstairs. A few moments after that, Lynn returned, a sizable bruise now fixed on the athlete's face.
Lincoln could have very easily pointed out that none of this would have happened if his sisters had listened to him. However, he knew better than to aggravate them when they were already stressed, especially Lynn.
"She's upset." Lynn said bluntly. The bruise on Lynn's face indicated that Luna was truly more upset than she let on. It was common knowledge in the Loud House not to pick a fight with Lynn unless you were prepared to end that fight as well. And since Luna had become violent…..it was clear that Luna was beyond angry.
"Luna did that?" Rita asked from the dining room, earning several of her children's attention.
This was getting to be too much for Rita to handle. She understood that Luna was upset. She empathized with her daughter and wanted to help her in any way that she could. However, she couldn't let her be violent. She couldn't let her daughter get away with punching somebody, especially one of her siblings.
Rita was just about to step on the staircase when Lynn cleared her throat, earning the matriarch's attention back.
Lynn Loud Jr was, in every sense of the word, a sore loser. When she was little, her parents often had to hold her during family game nights because she would end up throwing things. And she was very much used to being told to "take a lap or two" by her coaches before getting back on the bus.
However, even more than that, Lynn hated being wrong. She hated getting in trouble for causing fights. She loathed being told off for being rightfully angry. Lynn was extremely passionate, and sometimes that passion came out sideways. Lynn still hated being wrong though.
But, in a rare moment of grace, Lynn Loud stood down.
"Don't. I'm okay. I deserved it." Lynn said quietly.
Rita nodded, seeming relieved that someone told her not to be upset. She really didn't want to get onto Luna, especially when the brunette was already upset.
Slowly, but surely, the cogs in the machine that was the Loud House began to move again, and the siblings returned to their usual activities, much quieter this time.
Eventually, Lincoln retired to his room, starting to work on his history project. He would be writing an essay while Clyde worked on the diorama. History wasn't his favorite subject, but it was successful in getting him distracted.
It was nearly three hours before one of his sisters distracted him. A new record.
Lincoln was a bit surprised when he answered, seeing Luan in his doorway. Luan Loud never knocked, save for times when it added to her knock-knock jokes. She usually just let herself into rooms, especially Lincoln's.
But this time, she'd knocked quietly and even waited for Lincoln to answer the door and acknowledge her to say anything.
"Oh…hey Luan. What's up?" Lincoln asked quietly.
"Luna….Luna doesn't want me to bunk with her." Luan breathed. She didn't tell Lincoln that Luna had screamed. That Luna had thrown her headphones at her. "I…I need a place to sleep."
Lincoln took a look around his room, just now realizing it was 9:30. He hadn't bunked with Luan in years, and he wasn't sure he even had room.
"I…I have a sleeping bag." Lincoln told her. Luan seemed disappointed.
"Great. Can I use it?" Luan asked instead. She bit her tongue. She wanted to tell Lincoln that she wanted to sleep in his room. She wanted to just sleep on the floor, not be alone. Luna had been mean, and she was worried about being by herself with her thoughts.
Luan didn't seem to register that Lincoln was giving her the sleeping bag until he tapped her arm. Lincoln looked up at his older sister, trying to figure out what was wrong. Then it hit him, Luna.
Lincoln had opened his mouth to ask Luan if she was okay, but he never got the chance. Luan had thrown herself in Lincoln's arms, sobbing loudly.
"She…sh-she…she's so mean." Luan sobbed. "W-w-when…when she's angry."
Lincoln nodded. This was much worse than he thought. He'd have to make adjustments to the plan.
And that, was how Luan ended up in an orange sleeping bag, dozing off on Lincoln's bedroom floor
This concludes our first chapter of The Boy and his Moon. How can Lincoln cheer up Luna? What happened between Luna and Luan? Are Luna and Sam destined to separate?
We shall see...