I don't own the Loud House.
Welcome back to another chapter of this story. Sorry for the slowdown in updates. I have been rather busy as usual and I've been preparing for my nephews birthday party this weekend. So that obviously too priority. This is the only update that I'm making this week. The next might come on Friday or the one after that. To know for sure, please follow me on twitter, I've been posting updates on my posting schedule on there.
Also, I pleased to announce that I'm working on special project as well. That's also part of the reason why updates on my other stories are coming along slowly. It's about 50% done already and I should have it completely done by the thanksgiving. Maybe sooner if things go well. Once its complete, I'll begin posting it on here and Ao3. So look forward to that.
Thanks again for showing this story love and support. We're almost at the end with this story. I believe we'll wrap things up in about 3 more chapters. And then maybe an epilogue afterwards. I definitely won't be making a sequel to this one. I've got enough projects to work on as it is hahaha.
Enjoy!
L Is For Love
Chapter 9: Revelations
As Sam exited the bathroom to her examination room, she was surprised to see that her parents and doctor weren't alone. Standing beside the door was a familiar girl no older than 4.
"Lisa? What are you doing here?" Sam asked the young genius as she made her way over to them.
"Ah, Sam. I do apologize for my late arrival. I meant to come here sooner but I had to meet with my attorneys before coming here." Lisa greeted her. "I hope you understand that despite the circumstances that I bear you no ill will."
At hearing that Lisa had been meeting with her attorneys, Sam frowned. "Are you here to threaten my family and me with more lawsuits?" She asked.
Lisa shook her head. "No. Just the opposite, in fact." She turned towards her mom before saying. "Mrs. Sharp, if you'd allow, I'd like to take a copy with me for my own records. After all, it will benefit us all if I can also prove that Sam is still indeed a virgin."
"Of course, Lisa." Her mom nodded.
"Wait, what is going on here?" Sam demanded. "Why are you giving her my records?"
"Sam, honey, it's okay. Lisa here is going to help us clear your name." Her mom told her quickly. "You can trust her."
"And how do you know that?" Sam asked, still unsure.
"Because I have already filed a suit against my own parents for their negligent behavior and dereliction of duty for my brother, Lincoln, and myself." Lisa explained. "Should they refuse my demands, then I will bring my parents to court and legally emancipate myself."
"And that will do…?" Sam asked, still not getting what Lisa was referring to.
"It will financially cripple my parents to the point of bankruptcy. They will lose everything should I no longer be there to support them." Lisa said simply. "Not only that but I plan to remove Lincoln, Lana, Lynn, Lucy, and Lily from their custody as well."
Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you being serious right now?" When Lisa nodded, Sam added. "Why?"
Lisa took off her glasses, cleaned them, and finally replaced them on her head. When she looked up at Sam, Lisa's eyes had hardened. "Because they made my brother unhappy." And that was the only reason that Lisa apparently needed to go to war with her parents.
"Um…does Lincoln know about any of this?" Sam asked the young genius.
"He is currently unaware of my plan. The last I heard, he had gone to visit his female friend, Stella." Lisa informed her. Then she added offhandedly. "You know, the one who's infatuated with him."
Sam had been nodding since she knew who Stella was but upon hearing Lisa say that last part, Sam froze. "Wait, what?"
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Lincoln eventually made his way home after leaving Stella's house. Upon hearing the whole story from him, Mrs. Zhau had been appalled by his family's reaction. She apologized to her daughter and agreed to forget about the punishment. And then she insisted that Lincoln stay with them for lunch. And Lincoln took her up on that offer, enjoying the hospitality of the Zhau matron. He and Stella had a great time hanging out with her mom. Mrs. Zhau did tease the pair with comments about them dating and giving her grandkids one day.
But as the hour grew late, Lincoln knew that he had to face the music back home. As he opened the door, he was surprised to find the living room empty. He assumed that everyone was still grounded and that his parents were still out. He quietly made his way towards his room but stopped when he heard someone call his name.
Looking in the direction of Lori's room, Lincoln saw that Lori was glaring at him. "Where have you been, twerp?"
Lincoln stiffened. "I was with Clyde."
"You were supposed to be grounded." Lori reminded him. "Mom and Dad aren't happy with you."
Lincoln just shrugged. "That's nothing new."
"What are you talking about?" Lori asked and for the first time since this whole fight began, Lori didn't sound like she was angry at him, instead she sounded confused.
Lincoln sighed before turning to look at his eldest sister. He was aware that all of the doors were opened with just a tiny crack which told him that all of his sisters were listening. "Come Lori, you know what I'm talking about. I'm the only boy in the family of girls. I'm literally the odd man out here. When it comes to our parents, I'm always left holding the short end of the stick." He then held up his hand and began to count off. "I live in a closet, my shoes are never replaced unless I earn it, my clothes were all bought in the bulk bargain bin store, my tooth is still chipped years after the fact that it happened despite the fact that mom works as a dental assistant, and neither of our parents even know the first thing about me."
When he was done, he could tell that Lori wanted to argue but he stopped her by holding up a hand. "And don't say it's a lie. When was the last time that our parents actually took the time to pay any attention to me and no one else? When was the last time that they took any interest in anything that had to do with me? My calendar events?"
And Lori found herself unable to answer any of his questions. Because even as she racked her brains, Lori couldn't think of any time in which their parents paid any attention to Lincoln that didn't involve one of them or if they wanted something from him. She could also recall Licnoln asking her for a stapler to staple his shoes together last year. When she had asked him why he was doing that, his answer had angered her. She remembered shouting at her parents after she had taken him to buy a new pair, a pair that she saw that he still wore today.
Suddenly, Lori's heart began to ache. She felt as if a hand had reached inside of her chest and she felt as if someone were trying to rip out her heart. She had trouble breathing because she knew that Lincoln was right. And now she was no longer sure that Luna had been right at all. Had she made a mistake? Had she done what her parents had always done to Lincoln? Tears began to form in her eyes and to her surprise, she found her being talked to by Lincoln.
She had somehow slumped against her door frame and had been hyperventilating. Her brother had rushed over to her and had attempted to help her. Lori hadn't even realized that she was having a panic attack. It took him several minutes but eventually she calmed down thanks to his help. By that point, their other sisters were looking at them with concern. All except for Luna who was still silently sobbing on her bed. While the fight hadn't been resolved, an understanding had been reached and they all knew, at least on some level, that Lincoln was right. Their parents had treated their only brother poorly and their current behavior could not stand.
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When Lisa arrived home, she was surprised to find that her siblings were holding a sibling meeting in Lori's room. Their parents were out of the house and Lisa suspected that they were probably seeking legal counsel. As she entered the room, Lisa was surprised to see Luna in the room along with Lincoln. This meeting proved to at least be interesting.
Lori called the meeting to order. Lisa noted that the sisters had been placed in between Lincoln and Luna, keeping the two far apart.
"I called this emergency sibling meeting because something has been brought to my attention. I…that is, we," Lori motioned to the sisters on Luna's side of the room, Lisa noted. "Have acted without knowing the full truth. When this whole thing began, we jumped to conclusions," Lisa saw Luna clench her fists and her lips thinned but she didn't say anything though Lisa suspected that she wanted to. "And didn't give Lincoln a chance to tell his side of the story. We did something that our parents seem to do a lot with him and that is to not pay him attention and treat him with respect. Respect, I might add, that we all owe him for all that he's done for us."
At this, Lisa was pleased to see that all but Luna nodded along. She watched as Lori cleared her throat a few times before speaking, her voice cracking a bit from what Lisa assumed were tears that wanted to be shed.
"Our parents have always treated Lincoln like he's an afterthought and I'll be damned if we do the same anymore!" Lor said as she pounded her fist against the wall behind her. "From now on, we will listen to what Lincoln has to say. So help me if anyone, including me, interrupts him. We owe him that much, at the very least."
From the silence in the room, Lisa was pleased to see that none of them wanted to test Lori's declaration. Even Luna, Lisa noted with no small amount of glee, looked scared at the thought of incurring Lori's wrath.
"Lincoln, if you please?" Lori said, moving aside to give Lincoln the floor.
Lincoln nodded and made his way to Lori's spot. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Thanks for giving me this chance to finally say my side of the story." Lisa noticed that Leni and Luan winced. "On Friday, right before school started, I was rushing down the stairs because Lori had shouted at us all that she would be leaving with or without us. As I reached the last step, I slipped on something and fell down. By the time I got up and saw that I had slipped on a letter, Lori had already left. I noticed that the letter had Luna's handwriting on it and I was going to call Lori to turn back when I remembered that my phone was currently being repaired. So I did the only thing I could do. I raced to the high school to deliver the letter and help my sister confess to her crush. It wasn't hard to figure out who it was, it was kind of obvious."
Luna looked shocked that he knew but she didn't dare interrupt him.
"I knew that Clyde would start operation: Blow Up if I was late and didn't contact him so I'd be safe for the first period. When I got to the high school, I ran into Mazzy and she led me to Sam's locker. I think she might have misunderstood me when I saw that I was delivering a love letter to Sam. I had mentioned to her that I was doing it for Luna but she must've thought that I was confessing to Sam to make Luna happy." Lincoln sighed wearily. "I was in such a hurry to deliver the letter before Sam could see me that I didn't pay attention to what she was saying. I wish I had so that I could have made my intentions clear. Because of that, this whole misunderstanding happened."
The room was silent as they listened to Lincoln's story. So far the story seemed believable, they couldn't detect a lie coming from him and those who had doubted him felt guilty.
"Because I didn't clarify things with Mazzy and I didn't have a phone to let Luna know what I had done, things got mixed up and everyone got the wrong idea. A-After Sam had kissed me and we left the house, Sam told me something that she had never shared with anyone." Lincoln stopped for a moment before he looked over at Luna, who still looked unsure about whether or not to trust him. "Sam told me about how she had never received a valentine in her life. No one had ever given her a love letter before and how she had been happy to finally get one. Except…well, you know how that turned out."
Lisa turned towards Luna and she saw that the musically inclined Loud looked remorseful. It seemed that she had finally seen the error of her ways and regretted her actions.
"Sam was…not pleased to learn who the letter had actually been from." Lincoln continued and Luna flinched. "I explained why we had all written a letter to our crushes and how mine had not worked out. After that, we shared another kiss and well, we just talked for a bit before I came back home."
When it was clear that Lincoln had finished, Lisa watched as Lola raised her hand.
"Are you dating her now?" Lola asked her big brother, sounding curious if a bit timid.
Lincoln shook his head. "No, the kiss kind of just happened. But we aren't dating and honestly, I don't know how to feel about all this."
"What do you mean, Linc?" Lynn asked him.
This time Lincoln blushed as he scratched the back of his head. "Well…I also went to see Stella today…" He began but stopped when Lori raised a question brow at him. "I did see Clyde! But after him, I went to see Stella too. Clyde told me that you two got into a fight. I didn't know that it was an actual fight and not an argument."
Lori looked ashamed of herself. "Oh my god, Lincoln, you have no idea how ashamed I feel for how I acted. The things I said to that poor girl…" Lori said as she hung her head.
"I know." Lincoln frowned. "Stella told me everything."
"D-Do you think that she will ever forgive me?" Lori asked. "I owe her an apology."
"Maybe." Licnoln said with a sigh. "But anyways, Stella also confessed that she liked me and we also kissed."
This made the girls look at him with shock and some with a little pride.
"Obviously, I can't answer their feelings until this whole mess is cleared up but once it's over…well, I don't know what to do."
Everyone was silent for a moment before they heard a sound coming from Luna. They watched as the brunette had covered her face with her hands and was sobbing. Her shoulders shook and her sobs grew steadily louder. Soon, they heard her call out to Sam and say how sorry she was. The girl fell to her knees and she let out an anguish cry before she began to pound her fists into the carpet.
"Luna, stop." Lincoln rushed over to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Luna looked up at him with red puffy eyes. "B-Bro! I'm s-sorry. I was such a bitch to you…" She sniffed before she hung her head. "I…I'm so sorry…"
Lincoln wrapped his arms around her and brought her into his chest. "It's okay, Luna. It's okay."
But Luna didn't want to hear that. She pushed away from Lincoln and rose to her feet. "It's not okay, Lincoln! I fucked up royally with you and Sam. How could you even think about forgiving me?"
Lincoln however just shrugged. "You're my sister. Do I really need a reason to forgive you?" He asked her.
The others looked at them and they couldn't help but admire their brother even more. That was exactly what Lincoln would have done had any of his sisters wronged him in the past. He was a forgiving and kind soul and it was that part of him that had earned him such esteem with all of them, when they didn't forget it that was. Because even though Lori was in charge, there were times when Lincoln would take that role from her and even she wouldn't question him. Lincoln was the man with the plan because they all knew that he could be trusted to lead them.
"B-But I punched you in the face." Luna told him. It was then that she took a good look at him and saw that he had way more bruises that she had given him. "Wait, what happened to you?"
"I was curious about that too." Lori admitted. She had wanted to know what had happened to him but after his revelation and her anxiety attack, she had forgotten to ask. "Did someone jump you?"
Lincoln grimaced. "Yea…"
His sisters gasped and Lynn shouted. "Give me their names. I'll fuck them up for you!" And to his surprise, they all nodded with Lynn.
"Well, it's a good thing that I'm not going to tell you then." Licnoln said.
"What? Why the hell not!?" Lynn demanded.
"Because it was also a misunderstanding." Lincoln said and then quickly explained what had happened but he didn't mention anyone names except for Simon's since it would be rather obvious whose sister it had been. When he mentioned that Simon had also assumed he had gotten Sam pregnant, Lori had to ask.
"B-But Sam's not pregnant…right?" Lori asked, hesitating a little since she was sure she was ready to be an aunt yet.
Lincoln sighed exasperated. "No!"
Lisa took this as her que to step in. "I do believe that I can corroborate his statement."
As one, they all turned to look at the young genius, giving her a questioning look.
"I have obtained a copy of Sam's medical records and they prove that she has not yet been sexually active and more importantly, is not with our brother's child." Lisa informed them.
They were quiet for a moment before Lincoln spoke.
"Um…why did you get her medical records?" Lincoln asked her.
"Because, elder brother, I plan to show them to our parents in order to have them cease their foolishness. The Sharps tell me that our parents plan to sue them." Lisa said. The young genius took off her glasses and sighed. "I have stood by and watched as things played out because I believed that my interference would not be necessary. I had hoped that given enough time, things would resolve themselves. But I see now that is not the case."
"What do you plan to do to them?" Lincoln asked.
"If our parents do not meet my demands, I will destroy them." Lisa stated simply. Everyone in the room took a step away from the young genius prompting her to add. "Financially."
They let out a group 'oh' before Lori said. "Well, you have our full support, Lisa. Whatever you need, you got it."
"I appreciate it, elder sibling." Lisa nodded.
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"What?"
Lincoln watched as his parents sat on the couch looking distraught. Lisa had just informed them that if they did not retract their intentions to sue the Sharps that she would be filing a motion against them. Not only that, but Lisa also threatened to no longer help them financially. Despite their jobs, it was actually thanks to Lisa's investments and government grants that allowed them to not only stay afloat but also afford the luxuries that they had. There was no way two working parents could afford 11 children and still be able to buy them clothes, phones, games, etc. Money had been extremely tight before Lisa took over their finances and their parents had been in severe debt.
"Lisa, you can't be serious!" Their father said as he rose to his feet. But Lisa didn't look the least bit intimidated by his size. "Do you have any idea what that would do to this family?"
"Yes." Lisa said simply.
"B-But are you sure that you'd be willing to go through with it?" Rita asked. She was looking down at the letter Lisa had drafted informing them of her intent. "You'd be destroying our family."
"No. I'd be destroying you." Lisa told them. She then snapped her fingers and Lori stepped forward. "Lori is old enough to be legally emancipated. My lawyers are prepared to fast track her emancipation and file for custody of all of our siblings and you two will be left with nothing."
When their parents turned towards Lori, they watched as Lori just crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "I'll do it, too. This isn't the first time that you two have neglected to treat Lincoln with respect but I'll be damned if I let you do it again!"
"Yea!" Lynn and Lana shouted.
"But Lori, be reasonable. How would you even take care of your siblings on your own?" Rita asked.
"Oh, you mean like how I've been doing all of these years?" Lori asked sarcastically. She glared at her parents before placing her hands on her hips. "You two spend so much time working that you hardly get to spend any time with us. And what's worse, you spend even less time with Lincoln." She pointed an accusing finger towards them. "Name one thing that you have done for him in the last month. The last year."
Rita and Lynn Sr shared a look but neither seemed able to answer.
"Name one thing that he likes." Lori challenged.
Again, neither parent was able to answer.
Growling, Lori took a step towards them and towered over her sitting parents. "Do you even remember what I shouted at you two about the last time we had a talk like this? Do you!?"
Again, neither parent was able to answer and this time Rita started sobbing.
"L-Lori, please…it's difficult being the parent of 11 children." Their father began but Lori cut him off.
"Bullshit! Lincoln is the middle child and he spends time with all of us! He knows what each of us like, he can make our favorite foods, he knows who are friends are, and he even knows what to do when we're on our fucking periods! Yet you two can't even tell me one thing that he likes!" Lori was screaming at them now. None of them had ever seen her get that angry before and the younger kids minus Lisa were trembling behind Lincoln now. "You're supposed to be his parents, his fucking parents! This is just like last year when I had to buy him a new pair of shoes because you two never even bothered to check up on him to see if he needed any! Do you remember now!? Do you remember that he was holding his old shoes together with fucking staples!?"
Both parents were sobbing now and Lori had finally finished her tirade. She was breathing heavily and Leni, being the only brave one, walked over to her and placed a shaky hand on Lori's shoulder.
"What Lori is trying to say is that we all need to do better." Leni began. She glanced over at Lincoln and she couldn't help but tear up a little bit. "We all owe Linky an apology and we can start by apologizing to Sam and her family."
Lisa cleared her throat and she handed her parents Sam's medical file. "Just so we're clear, Sam has yet to be sexually active with anyone, much less Lincoln. They both remain virgins."
After wiping their eyes, they were able to look over the files that Lisa gave them and they saw that Sam had indeed never slept with their son. They looked over towards Lincoln and their guilt only intensified.
"W-We're so sorry, son." His father said but Lincoln shook his head.
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to." He glared at the older man. He might have been able to forgive his sister but his parents were another story all together. Lori had brought up some things that Lincoln had pretended not to notice and now that he could no longer lie to himself, Licnoln would need time. "Call off your lawyer and apologize to Sam. Once that's done, then maybe we can talk. Until then, I'm not forgiving either of you."
"We'll do it." Rita promised. "We'll do it tomorrow!"
"You better." Lisa warned them. "Or else."
No more needed to be said, it was clear what Lisa would do to them if they didn't keep their word. Things in the Loud House were tense and a little heated but for now a truce of sorts had been reached. Lisa knew that things would take time but eventually their family could heal. For now, she needed to head to her bunker. There were certain photos that Luna had brought to her attention that she needed to wipe from the internet and from people's phones. It was a good thing that she was a genius, otherwise things could be troublesome for her.
End of chapter.