I don't own the Loud House.

I had forgotten to update this weeks ago. I honestly thought I had already posted it. Since FFN isn't sending email alerts out anymore, I have a hard time remembering what I've posted. We're nearing the end of this story since it's only like 10 chapters. Hopefully you're all enjoying this story. I'm gonna be posting chapters sparsely for a bit since I'm a little busy in real life. Things can get hectic for me from time to time.

But enough about that, enjoy!

L Is For Love

Chapter 6: Aftermath

While Lori and Stella were having a catfight of epic proportions in the Loud House, Lincoln and Sam were sitting down at a park bench. Lincoln had taken them there after escaping his house and all of the chaos that was going on there. Having experienced Sister Fight Protocols in the past, he knew that this wouldn't be over anytime soon. And all over a big misunderstanding!

And speaking of misunderstandings, Lincoln wasn't sure what to make of Sam's kiss earlier. To the best of his knowledge, he had never once tried to make a move on her. Sure, he was friends with her, they both liked Ace Savvy, both played music, and both liked the same anime. But he had never thought of her in that way before. At least, he was pretty sure he hadn't.

There was a long awkward silence that seemed to stretch on forever. Neither of them appeared to know what to say. And for a moment, Lincoln just stared at her. Sam was certainly a pretty girl, he might even say that she was hot, as Luna had accused him of thinking. But it didn't change the fact that he was much too young for her. She was 15 and he was 11 and while that four year difference might not mean a huge deal in ten years, it would be a huge deal now as Sam drew closer to 18.

Lincoln took a moment to reflect how he felt about Sam, how he truly felt. Could he see himself dating and even falling in love with her? Honestly, he could. Sam was nice, she laughed at his jokes, and she also liked a lot of things that he liked. And he'd be lying if he said that he didn't get a funny feeling in his stomach each time that she called him Ace. It was her nickname for him since they both liked Ace Savvy.

And as he looked back at their friendship, he had to admit to himself that he had found her attractive. But he never actually thought about dating her! She could do way better than a skinny boy like him. It was ludicrous to think that she would ever date him.

After what seemed like hours but was only ten minutes of silence, Lincoln heard Sam sigh.

"Ace, I think I owe you an apology..." She began.

"What? No, I'm the one who should be apologizing!" He said quickly. After all, it was his sister and family that had caused all this. He could only imagine how hard things would be for her from now on at school. All those rumors and gossip about her.

But Sam shook her head. "No, Ace, this was between Luna and I and I dragged you into the middle of this..." She sighed once more. "I never should have kissed you like that."

While he wanted to protest more that it was his fault, not hers, Lincoln was still curious as to why she had kissed him. "Um...why did you kiss me?" He asked.

Sam chuckled as she leaned back against the bench and propped her elbows over the top, making her chest stick out a bit. "Would you believe me if I said that I did to get back at Luna?"

Lincoln could tell that Sam was being honest, or at least partly. There was something more on her mind, something bigger than that kiss. "Was that all? Just to get back at her."

"Maybe?" Sam said, sounding unsure herself. She was staring up at the clouds above, not once had she looked him in the eye. "I don't know, Ace, today has been kind of a shit day for me." Sam sighed wearily once more.

"Why was it a...bad day for you?" Lincoln asked, pausing before he said a bad word. He didn't like to curse needlessly.

Sam grinned weakly when she heard the pause. She knew that he didn't like to curse and took comfort that at least he was still the same when the whole world had been turned upside down. It was one of the things that she liked about him. Lincoln was steady, like a rock almost.

"You know, Ace, it was such a silly thing to be upset about now that I think about it that I almost can't believe I was ever upset about it to begin with." Sam confessed. She chuckled lightly before she turned to look at him, staring him in the eyes for the first time since they arrived. For a moment, they just stared at one another, as if trying to look into each other's souls and see the secrets buried beneath. But after a moment, Sam looked away and blushed. "I...I've never been anyone's Valentine."

"What do you mean?" Lincoln asked.

Sam sighed. "I told you it's stupid but in all of my life, I've never gotten a single love letter for Valentine's Day." She explained to him how over the years no one had ever given her more than just a card. And while she wasn't looking for a relationship, she still wanted to know that at least someone found her pretty enough to confess to. "I had been feeling like shit all day, Ace, and I was jealous that Luna had gotten so many confessions throughout the day. She even got a joke confession from Luan."

Lincoln knew about Luan's fake confessions. They were awkward to say the least but thankfully he hadn't been the target of one. Yet, he reminded himself. "And you never told anyone about this?" He asked.

Sam shook her head. "Nah, you're the first to ever hear a word of this. I was...I don't know, ashamed or something. Like I was the ugly duckling or something."

Lincoln, in a bold move, took one of her hands in his. Sam felt her heart skip a beat all on its own as she turned to look at him in surprise, her cheeks slowly turning pink. He stared up at her with a serious sort of look that told her he meant what he was going to say.

"Sam, you're one of the prettiest girls I know." He said honestly and with a confidence that touched Sam's heart. "Any guy would be lucky to have you and if I were a bit older, I would definitely have written you a love letter."

Sam had been so moved by his words that she almost missed what he said. "W-Wait, what do you mean, would have?" She asked.

"I didn't write that letter, Sam. I just delivered it." Lincoln confessed.

Sam was confused. "If you didn't write it then who-" But Sam stopped. She knew who had been the owner of that letter and suddenly it all made sense. Her shoulders slumped as she realized how fucked her day had truly been. "Fuck..." She cursed softly.

"Yea...that about sums it up." Lincoln Agreed.

"But if...if she felt that way about me, why not tell me?" Sam demanded all of a sudden. She was angry again, angry at Luna for not confessing early, angry at herself for not realizing it sooner, angry in general that things had taken such a bad turn for the worse. "Why write a stupid letter instead of telling it to me face?!"

Getting a love letter had been important to her moments ago but now it seemed like such a stupid thing. She was flattered, of course, that Luna felt that way about her but she wasn't into girls. She was into boys and as she felt a hand on her shoulder, she felt her heart skip a beat once more and her anger quickly vanished. She was coming to the realization that she might be into one boy in particular.

"It's kind of a long story involving how our parents met but we all wrote love letters to our crushes." Lincoln explained. "Mine...didn't turn out so well. But when I found Luna's lying on the floor, I knew that I didn't want her to feel like a failure. I delivered it myself and that's when this whole mess happened."

"Who was your crush?" Sam asked. She wasn't sure what was happening to her anymore but she did feel the slightest pang of jealousy at the thought of Lincoln having a crush. Did she actually have feelings for him? Or was the day's events just making her crazy? She guessed it was the latter.

"A girl named Paige that goes to my school." Lincoln said with a shrug. "I gave her the letter on Monday and since it's Friday, it's safe to assume that she either hasn't guessed it was me or she doesn't feel the same. Either way, I'm not too bothered by it."

"You're really mature for your age, has anyone ever told you that?" Sam noted. And for a boy of 11, Lincoln didn't act like he was 11. He acted like he was older, a man in fact. Sam could recall all of the times that she had seen him take charge of a situation and work to make things right. Man with the plan, that was his nickname and she knew that it was well earned. He was the middle child but he acted like he was the oldest and the others often treated him as such.

Lincoln blushed. "Thanks...I don't know about that but I do try my best."

"No, seriously, Ace, you're a really great guy." Sam had reached out and took one of his hands into hers. She noticed that his blush deepened and she smiled. "You're smart, charming, kind..." and she said each of these traits, she was leaning closer and closer towards him, her eyes locked onto his. "Confident...cool...cute..."

That last word came out as a whisper as she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. It wasn't like the kiss she had given him before, one meant to spite Luna. this one was chaste but it felt like it meant more. During that brief moment that their lips connected, Sam felt sparks shoot throughout her body. And she was sure that Lincoln must've felt them too because he was blushing just as hard as she was.

For a moment, they just stared at one another, the silence pregnant and full of promise of delight. Then, they both grinned and began to chuckle. That chuckle turned to laughter and they were soon howling with laughter.

With how the day had turned, it felt great to laugh, cathartic even. And after a long while, when they stopped laughing. They just sat there and enjoyed each other's company. No more words needed to be said because they both knew that the start of something new had begun. Whether or not they would pursue it was a question for later. For now, it was enough to just sit there and relax after such a long day.

End of chapter.