Chapter Two

As morning descended on the Loud House, slowly but surely, the residents began to stir. It was Sunday morning, which although it meant no activities, it also meant it was weekly chore day. This meant that each sibling was responsible for taking care of their things. Taking out their trash, doing their laundry, and tidying their rooms.

It just so happened that Lincoln Loud was doing none of that. In fact, he didn't really care if he did any of that at all.

Lincoln sighed, turning over the pancakes, smiling as they sizzled in the pan. This was breakfast for one, and it wasn't even for him. Lincoln didn't really cook anymore, not when his father loved to do it more. Luan had even started cooking more than the white haired boy.

Today though, he made an exception and slid the blueberry pancakes off of the spatula and onto the plate. Luna loved blueberries, especially in pancakes and muffins. Lincoln suspected it was partly because blueberries stained things purple, which was Luna's signature color. Luna's other favorite was vanilla, which Lincoln found ironic because she was well….Luna.

Lincoln set the plate onto the tray, pulling out some vanilla yogurt, butter, and orange juice out of the fridge as well. After grabbing the syrup, he headed upstairs, careful not to spill anything, or wake anybody up.

Lincoln passed his room, where Luan was still completely asleep, despite the fact that she looked incredibly uncomfortable. He headed down to Luna's room, quietly letting himself in.

Luna was an early riser. Lincoln didn't know if it was because she went to a lot of late night concerts or if it was just something about her, but Luna had a knack for staying up late and waking up early. In fact, she was usually the first Loud sibling up in the morning, making her the first to get the bathroom.

Luna was certainly awake this morning, but her blanket was pulled up to her head. She turned over, glaring at Lincoln.

"Go away." Luna said quietly. Lincoln did nothing but smile.

"I made you breakfast. Blueberry pancakes." He smiled. When Luna didn't say anything else, Lincoln smiled again. "Your favorite."

Luna sighed. Those were her favorite. And she hadn't eaten dinner last night either, so she was going on nearly twelve hours of no food. The scent danced around her nose and she did her best to ignore her growling stomach.

"Come on Luna. I know you're hungry." Lincoln said, a bit more serious this time.

"I'm not hungry. I've a massive headache and it's too bloody hot in this room." Luna snarled. She did have a headache and it was quite warm, but Luna was really just trying to get Lincoln to leave.

Lincoln, however, was undeterred. The white haired boy simply walked over to the corner of the room and turned their fan on. The fan kicked up, starting to blow cool air around the room.

"Okay Luna, listen." Lincoln said calmly. "You don't have to talk to me, but I'm not leaving until you at least try to eat. So you have two options here. You can either eat, or see this lovely face of mine for the rest of the day."

"Fuck off." Luna muttered, climbing down anyway. Lincoln didn't care if she cursed. He was happy she was eating.

Lincoln watched as Luna took a bite of the pancakes, smiling as the brunette closed her eyes in satisfaction. She'd needed that, and Lincoln could tell she was enjoying the meal. After nearly two entire minutes of silence, with Luna continuing to eat, Lincoln decided to test the water again.

"Are you okay?" Lincoln asked gently. He knew it was a loaded question, but he was just trying to get Luna to talk.

For a moment, Luna just stared at him, holding her fork in her hand. She'd almost forgotten about what had happened. She'd been distracted for just enough time to actually be enjoying her meal.

"No." Luna finally whimpered, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. She put the fork down, bringing her knees to her chest.

Lincoln had a very small window of opportunity here. If he could start comforting Luna before his older sister realized what he was doing, then she would likely let him continue to comfort her.

Lincoln took the tray, gently grabbing Luna and laying back on the bed with her. Luna slowly curled closer, still crying. It had worked.

Lincoln wasn't exactly sure how to comfort Luna. She had comforted him on plenty of occasions, often being the sister Lincoln retreated to when he was little. The boy wanted to return the favor, but he wasn't exactly sure how to. Finally, he found himself scratching Luna's head.

They stayed like that for longer than either of them could remember. Finally, Luna seemed to have collected herself, sitting back up.

"I…I should have known." Luna muttered.

Lincoln almost gasped. This was it. This was the moment. Luna was going to talk about it. He could help her.

The white haired boy cleared his throat, trying to hide the fact that he'd almost gasped. "Known…kn-known about what?"

"That…that these things would happen." Luna muttered. "To…t-to me and…S-Sammy.." Luna breathed, her voice trailing at the end. Lincoln noticed this change, but he didn't say anything. He was happy Luna was talking about it.

Lincoln let her sit in silence, finally putting a hand on hers, looking into her eyes. "You can talk to me, you know. I won't tell anyone. Not even our sisters."

"Sam and I have talked about it. What would happen if we…if we were to be in danger. What we would do…who we would call…how we'd…how we'd protect each other." Luna breathed, seeming almost terrified of her own words.

Lincoln was terrified too. To hear Luna talking about this, to have the picture of his sister being in danger, really scared him.

"Protect...protect her from what?" Lincoln breathed.

"Other people." Luna said quietly. "People who don't want us to be together. We have to be careful, you know? Don't hug or kiss each other in public, always be aware of our surroundings. Try…try not to hold hands in new places." Luna muttered.

Lincoln's heart sank. He had a sneaking suspicion something more happened than what Sam had told him.

"That's not all that happened, is it Luna?" Lincoln asked. He knew the moment the words left his mouth that he'd messed up.

Luna didn't know about Sam's conversation with the family. She just assumed that Lincoln was sneaking around, or at the very least, trying to pry.

"Get out of my room, Lincoln." Luna said calmly. Lincoln could tell she meant it though.

Lincoln took the hint, scurrying out of the room, feeling like he was right back to square one.

But hey, at least Luna had eaten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across town, in a three bedroom home, another variation of this same argument was happening.

"Sam come on!" Simon shouted. "You're being ridiculous! Talk to me!" The young blonde said, following his sister down the hallway.

"Simon, if you don't shut up, I swear I will shove your video game so far up y-"

"SAMANTHA SHARP!" Came a voice from downstairs. Both siblings turned to see their mother hurrying up the stairs.

"I am done." Amanda said bluntly. "The two of you have done nothing but argue with each other all morning. Samantha, we do not threaten our siblings." Amanda said, looking at her daughter. Sam crossed her arms, rolling her eyes.

"And Simon, you know better than to bother Sam right now. I think you both need to take a moment and go to your rooms." Amanda said. It wasn't a question.

The two siblings groaned, but Sam was the only one to go to her room, slamming the door. Simon stayed put, looking at his mom. Amanda looked down at him, crossing her arms.

"I'm just tryna help." Simon breathed. It was true. He was just trying to talk to his sister.

Amanda sighed, uncrossing her arms. She put her hand on Simon's shoulder, giving him a small smile.

"I know. I know you're just trying to help." Amanda said gently, watching as Simon relaxed. "But…let me talk to her."

Simon nodded, conceding defeat. He retreated back to his room, looking over his shoulder one last time. Amanda was still standing there, so the blonde went into his room, closing the door.

After ten minutes of complete silence, Sam was almost startled by a knock on her door. After a moment, she sighed, answering the door.

"Oh. Hey Mom." Sam said quietly, seeming almost surprised. She still sounded super sad though.

"Hey Sammy. Can I come in?" Amanda asked gently. She didn't want to push it. Sam had barely come out of her room since yesterday.

After what felt like forever, Sam finally nodded. She stood back and let her mother into her room. Amanda didn't usually come into Sam's room, so it was a bit awkward at first for the both of them.

It wasn't that Amanda didn't want to come into Sam's room. It was that Sam's space was her own. Amanda respected Sam and Simon's space as long as they didn't give her reason not to.

Amanda sat down on Sam's bed, noticing the piles of clothes scattered around the floor. Normally the mother would say something, remind her daughter to clean her room. She kept silent though, and eventually Sam sat down next to her.

"Are….are you ready to talk about it?" Amanda asked.

Sam bit her lip. She'd thought she was. However, now that her mother was here, and now that it seemed like she couldn't get out of it, her mouth was starting to go dry.

"Sam…whenever you're re-"

"Luna was such a jerk." Sam blurted. She seemed almost ashamed of her words though, turning away from her mother.

Amanda paused. That was not the response she'd been expecting. Not in the slightest. It came so much out of nowhere that the mother didn't even know how to respond. So instead of actually responding, she just sat there, waiting for Sam to finish.

"Th-the…the lady…the lady saw us h-h-holding hands." Sam stammered. She was trying not to cry but failing miserably.

"She..the woman asked us…asked us if we were dating." Sam breathed. She couldn't shake the look in that woman's eyes. The look of absolute disgust, as if Luna and her had troubled her by simply existing.

Amanda had known this part. Sam had managed to get that part out before scurrying to her room the day before. Amanda couldn't quite place how this was Luna's fault though.

"And Luna told her no."

If the woman had simply kicked them out, that would have been one thing. It would have sucked, sure, but the Moon Goats would have had each other to lean on. Instead, Luna left Sam out to dry, leaving the blonde upset and alone.

"Oh Sammy." Amanda cooed. "Come here." She cooed, wrapping her daughter in a tight hug.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lori Loud was wickedly homesick.

Sure, she'd technically moved back home at the end of May, when Fairway let out for the summer. It wasn't even five weeks later that she was getting in a car to head up to Grand Rapids for a golf tournament.

Sure, Lori was proud of herself for even qualifying for the tournament, and she was more than thankful to be able to go. She even surprised herself, and the rest of her team, by making it past the first week and qualifying for the finals. Lori really wasn't used to being good at things, that was more of her sister's deals. The blonde had yet to tell any of her teammates that she'd only been taking golf seriously since she was thirteen.

Talking to Leni was a welcome reprieve. Lori didn't have to be on with Leni. Even more so, if she was lucky, Leni even did most of the talking. Lori just had to sit with the phone, let her mind wander a bit, and seem at least a little interested in what Leni was saying. It was also how Lori kept tabs on her family, as Leni was always eager to let Lori in on what happened the prior week.

As absent-minded as Leni was, the blonde was wickedly observant. She'd rattle off everything easily, not skipping any detail. Lori was often surprised, having not realized just how observant Leni was until after moving to Fairway.

Lori laid back on her bed, looking up at the hotel ceiling. She'd lucked out and gotten the room to herself for an hour or so while the rest of her roommates were eating downstairs. They'd offered to take her, but she refused, saying she wasn't feeling well. And besides, the food her father sent with her wasn't going to eat itself.

Leni, however, seemed distracted tonight. It seemed as though the blonde was barely paying attention to her older sister. Lori, for the most part, had to initiate the majority of their conversation. Lori didn't exactly mind to do this, but she did find herself worrying about Leni a bit.

Leni was only quiet when she was worried. Normally, the blonde could talk up a storm. She could talk to anybody too, and often times she made new friends just by a simple conversation. Lori had always admired Leni for that, having been told that she'd seemed to always have a case of RBF.

"Leni…is something wrong?" Lori asked after Leni had been silent for nearly a minute.

"What?" Leni asked, seeming distracted. She'd heard Lori, but she didn't want to talk about it. Hopefully Lori would just move on and start another conversation.

"Did something happen, Leni? Is everything okay?" Lori asked, feeling herself getting more worried. She'd had a gut feeling. And her gut feelings were usually right.

Leni was silent for a little while longer. Lori knew she was working up the courage to say it. So the older blonde stayed silent, lest she distract Leni and lose this opportunity.

"Luna's hurt." Leni finally said, much quieter now. She was quiet because she didn't want to talk about it, and because she didn't want Luna to hear.

Luna had at least come out of her room now that it was Tuesday, but she was still on edge. She'd scream at you if you looked in her general direction, let alone try to talk to her. The only person she seemed to allow around her was Lincoln, and even he had to continue to tread lightly. Luan was, of course, still bunking in Lincoln's bedroom. The Louds had elected the age-old strategy of just….giving Luna space, adopting a modified version of the Sister Fight Protocol where everyone just left the room whenever Luna walked in.

"Oh….okay." Lori said giving a very underwhelming response. She hadn't meant to, but she had.

Lori and Luna were never close. Lori didn't know if it was the age difference, or the difference in personality, but they just never gelled together. Sure, they were civil, but not close. Lori was sure Luna would rather hang out with several of their siblings before her, and Lori would be lying if she didn't say the same.

So when Leni told Lori that Luna was hurt, the oldest Loud didn't know how to respond. She cared for Luna of course, but she didn't know exactly how to help. She didn't know if Luna even wanted her help. In fact, she didn't even know what had happened to Luna.

"Oh…like physically? Or emotionally?" Lori finally asked.

"Emotionally." Leni said. "She won't tell us why though. She told Lincoln, but he won't tell us either."

Lori snorted derisively. "I figured he wouldn't."

Lori was silent for a little while longer, but finally she sighed, asking what had been on her mind for the past two hours.

"Leni….do I need to come home?" Lori asked.

This concludes our second chapter. Please don't expect quick uploads like this one. I'm really happy with this one, so I am working more on it. Hope you enjoy!

And how about that fight between Luna and Sam? Is that all that happened? Is Lori coming home?