I don't own the Loud House.

Welcome back to another chapter. I think I'll only be updating every two weeks for the foreseeable future. I have familial commitments coming up due to the holidays and I don't have as much time to write as I'd like. But if you want to know for sure then go to my twitter, I post updates more regularly on there if you'd like.

We're coming to the end of this story, just a couple of more chapters and then an epilogue I think. Afterwards, I'll be introducing a project that I started last month that is almost finished. I think that you'll enjoy it once it comes out.

L Is For Love

Chapter 10: Lisa's Plan

Sam wasn't sure what she was going to do with her brother. After they had gotten back from the hospital, Sam had stayed in her room while Simon was grounded in his. Considering that she was a social pariah Sam didn't really have any reason to go out. She wasn't allowed to go and see Lincoln until things were resolved between their families and she didn't want to talk to her own little brother.

Part of the reason for that was because Sam didn't know what to say to him. When Sam learned that Simon had jumped Lincoln with his track friends, she had been pissed. She knew for a fact that her parents were against violence and that Simon had been raised better than that. If it hadn't been for the fact that Lincoln had apparently kicked all of their asses while still holding back, Sam would have probably socked her own brother. But as it was, Simon already looked worse for wear and those bruised ribs would take a while to heal.

But another part of herself felt pleased knowing that her brother was willing to fight to protect her honor. It was sweet in a dark ages sort of way and Sam knew that he had only done it to protect her. He had gone about it the wrong way and he should have talked to her before he acted so recklessly but his heart had been in the right place. Still, Simon had jumped an innocent boy and Sam's newly found crush. Yes, she admitted that she was now crushing on him. It wasn't a big deal, she said to herself as she felt herself blush. But the fact remained that Sam had to speak with him eventually. And seeing how she wasn't going anywhere, Sam decided to go and speak with him now before bed.

She pulled on her bathrobe, she didn't need it but she liked how warm and fluffy it felt. She was wearing her pajamas which consisted of a white t-shirt and her blue Ace Savvy pajama pants. And as she made her way towards her brother's room, Sam wondered if her brother would even be awake at the moment, it was getting late. Sam knocked on his door and she heard him say 'come in'. She walked inside and saw Simon lying on his bed, an ice pack still on his ribs. Ace had really hit him hard it seemed. A part of her wished she could have seen the fight since she assumed Ace won considering he was able to walk away.

"Sis!" Simon sat up abruptly when he saw that it was Sam who walked in. But as soon as he did, he winced and fell back in pain.

"Easy there, Sy, you aren't supposed to be making quick movements like that." Sam said as she made her way over to his desk chair. She sat down and looked at her brother. He was dressed in his own pajamas and he had a bandage around his ribs along with an ice pack. He thankfully didn't have a black eye but she suspected that was only because Ace hadn't wanted to hurt him. "Man…Ace really kicked your ass, huh?"

Simon frowned. He looked ashamed of himself but also angry though it was hard to see who he was angry at. "He didn't kick my ass." He said.

"Oh really?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do a sit up."

Simon glared at her. "Ha ha, very funny sis."

"Simon…what happened?" Sam asked. During their visit to the school, the Coach didn't give them any details aside from that there had been a fight and that Lincoln had managed to fight off 5 boys. And Simon hadn't been willing to elaborate on that. "Why did you think that attacking Lincoln was a good idea? I mean, even if I was somehow pregnant with his kid, which I'm not btw, why would you attack the father of my baby?"

Simon's expression changed back to shame. "I'm sorry, okay…I…I wasn't thinking clearly. I saw you crying on Friday and I wanted to make Lincoln pay for hurting you." Simon then sniffed. "I thought that he had taken advantage of you and that's why you were crying…" Soon, the young boy was sobbing. "I wanted to make him pay…f-for…for…" but he couldn't finish and Sam knew what he was trying to say.

Sam made her way over to his bed and sat down beside him. "Oh Sy…" Sam gently pulled her brother in for a hug and held him for several moments until he calmed down. Once she was sure that he wasn't going to openly sob anymore, Sam pulled away. "I…appreciate you standing up for me, Sy. But next time, please just talk to me first okay? After all, I will end up dating eventually and I might have a bad date or two in my future. But that doesn't mean that you just go out and attack whoever is responsible." She then took his hand in hers. "And if I'm ever…in that satiation, believe me I will call the police. And that's after I castrate the bastard."

Simon chuckled at that and he sniffed. "A-Are you mad at me?" He asked.

"No, Simon…" Sam shook her head. "I'm not. But I do have something to confess…I do like Lincoln." When her brother didn't react, she added. "I like-like him."

Simon's eyes widened. "W-What? But how? I mean, he's barely a year older than me!"

"I know…believe me, I know." Sam said with a sigh. "But I didn't realize that I had feelings for him until Friday. When I went to go see him, I kissed him to get back at his sister. Then after we escaped his house, we went to the park and we kissed again. I know that he's younger than me but he's really mature for his age. Not to mention that he's a genuinely good guy."

Simon was hesitant to ask his next question but he did after a few moments. "Are you dating him?"

Sam sighed. "No…"

"Why not?" Simon couldn't help but ask.

"Well, there's the whole 'the Louds think I raped him' thing, remember?" Sam asked with a humorless laugh. "Then of course, there's the whole potential lawsuit." Sam then stared down at her lap. "Also…there's another girl who apparently has a crush on him."

"There is?" Simon asked. "Does he like her?"

"I don't know." Sam answered truthfully. "But until this whole mess is dealt with, I can't ask him. Mom and dad are already mad that I went to see him on Friday."

"W-Will you try to date him? I mean, after everything is fixed?" Simon asked her.

"I don't know…before I do anything with Ace, I gotta fix or at least deal with things between me and Luna." Sam sighed. "I haven't told you this yet but things between me and her are fucked."

Simon gasped upon hearing his sister curse. "Sam!"

"What? I know that you've heard and said worse, Sy." Sam reminded him. "Besides, that's honestly the best way to describe them. I can't very well go out with her little brother without figuring out where we stand. Besides, I don't even know if I still want to be friends with her anymore."

"Wasn't she your best friend?" Simon asked.

"Yea…" Sam said with a heavy sigh. "But when we all thought the love letter had been from Licnoln, Luna assumed the worst of me without even talking to me first. Had you been the one to confess to Luna, I would have at least talked to her before getting mad."

"Why didn't she ask you about the letter first?" Simon asked, wondering why Luna would treat her supposed best friend like that.

"I later learned that she had actually been the one to write the letter that Ace delivered. Turns out that she had a crush on me, not Ace." Sam turned to look at her brother. "Just so we're clear, I'm not into girls. I don't think that there's anything wrong if you do like the same gender but it's not for me. I would've been flattered that she had a crush on me but I would have turned her down gently. She was my best friend after all."

Simon blushed as he looked away. "Y-You don't think that there's anything wrong with liking the same gender?"

Sam smiled. "Of course not." She reached over and ruffled his hair playfully. "Sy, I already know that you like boys. It's okay with me and I'm sure mom and dad will be okay with it too. They're very accepting people."

Simon looked shocked. "You already knew? How?"

"How much time you got?" Sam joked.

And the siblings spent the next hour just talking and joking with another, their bond growing stronger as Simon learned that his sister really didn't think less of him for being gay. And as the hour grew late, Simon promised to himself that he would apologize to Lincoln the next chance that he got.

XXXXXXX

The next morning, Sam and her family were shocked when the Loud Parents plus Lisa, Lincoln, and Lori came to pay them a visit. Sam had been furious to see Lori, recalling that she had been on the side that opposed Lincoln and herself. But she calmed down a bit when Lincoln assured her that Lori was okay now. It was a tense moment when the Louds stood at their doorstep but Lisa assured them that her parents were there to apologize. While skeptical, the Sharps allowed them to enter their home and they all sat down in the living room.

"Thank you for allowing us to enter your home, Mr. and Mrs. Sharp." Lisa began as she stood in between the two families. "As we last discussed, I showed my parents my paperwork which also included Sam's medical records. And they are now ready to admit to their wrong doings."

"Well, let's hear it then." Mrs. Sharp said as she crossed her arms and legs as she stared down at the Loud Parents.

Lynn Sr cleared his throat. "We…uh…we'd like to apologize to your family as well as Sam for the things we said. We realize now that we were wrong to escalate things the way we did. We should have…made sure to get all of the facts first."

"W-We're also sorry that we didn't listen to our son when he said that it was all a misunderstanding." Added Rita when it became clear that Lynn was running out of things to say. "We can't tell you how sorry and ashamed we are for our behavior. We just hope that we can find some way to work past this for the sake of both of our families."

For a moment, no one said a word. The Sharps were eyeing the Louds with a distrustful eye and Sam especially didn't look happy with their apology. Seeing that things weren't going as smoothly as they hoped, Lynn Sr cleared his throat again.

"Um…of course, it goes without saying that we will not be proceeding with any legal action towards Sam. We've called our lawyers and told them to stop their motion to the civil court." Lynn Sr said.

"Tell me, Mr. Loud," Sam's father began as he frowned at Lynn Sr. "Had Lisa not threatened to ruin you financially, would you have still come to apologize to us today?"

Lynn Sr paled as he stared down at his lap. "N-No…"

"Then you can understand why we don't just accept your apology at face value." Mr. Sharp continued. "My daughter has suffered because of the allegations your daughter, Luna, leveled towards Sam. The whole school now thinks that she's attracted to young boys and that's putting it mildly. What I want to hear, Mr. and Mrs. Loud is what you intend to do to set things right."

The two Loud parents shared a look but it was clear that neither had an idea as to how to make things right for Sam. They couldn't control the opinions of the public no matter how hard they tried.

"We don't know what to say…" Rita answered after a few moments of silence.

"Where is Luna?" Sam asked, wondering where her ex-best friend was.

"We uh…thought it was best not to bring her." Lynn Sr informed her.

"Luna is sorry for what she's done." Lincoln said, speaking for the first time. "We were able to clear up the misunderstanding and she wishes to apologize in person when things cool down."

Sam stared into Lincoln's eyes. "Is she really sorry?" She asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes." Lincoln nodded.

A few tears threatened to spill from Sam's eyes before she wiped them with the back of her sleeve. "T-Then I'll have to speak to her later. We have some things to take care of."

Lisa cleared her throat. "I believe it is time for me to step in." She looked over at her parents for a moment before she returned her attention to the Sharps. "I would like to inform you that I've created a program that has been searching and destroying all mentions of Sam that implies anything untoward to her or my brother. Any and all photos, whether altered or not, that are made with the intent to harm Sam's reputation are also located and destroyed. If the device is connected to the internet, my program will infiltrate it and destroy its intended target."

"You can do that?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Of course. Such things are child's play to an intellect such as mine." Lisa said as she pushed up her glasses. "I also believe that I have a solution to Sam's public image problem." Lisa turned to look at her brother. "But you might not like it."

"I'll do whatever it takes to help Sam out." Lincoln vowed.

"Very well. Then I believe you can inform your friends, Lori, that the plan is a go." Lisa said to her older sister. "

"Alright. I'll text them right now." Lori said as she pulled out her phone.

Both Sam and Lincoln shared a confused look. "What are you talking about?" Lincoln asked.

"Yea, what's this plan of yours?" Sam added.

Lisa looked at the older blonde. "It's simple. We're going to be spreading the rumor that Lincoln sent several love letters to all of my older sisters' friends." Lisa then turned to face Lincoln. "Come Monday, the whole school will know that you confessed your feelings to several older girls, not just Sam."

Lincoln's eyes widened. "B-But I didn't send any letters!" He protested.

"But the school will think that you did." Lisa said.

"But he didn't." Sam said, coming to Lincoln's defense.

"But the school will think he did." Lori said.

"But-" Sam and Lincoln began but were cut off by Lisa.

"Don't you see? If there are multiple girls who claim that Lincoln also confessed to be in love with and they show him some…affection, they will think that Luna overreacted while the rest of the female Louds didn't. After all, if Lori didn't kill Carol for dating her little brother then obviously she approved." The Young Genius then looked down at her phone. She sent back a reply with a nod. "It's all going according to plan. Also, Becky sends her regards."

"Becky?" Lincoln asked.

"She's also part of this plan." Lisa explained. "She along with several older girls will be showing you affection in the coming weeks. At least until the students grow tired of the drama."

"Just what kind of affections will the other girls be showing him?" Sam demanded as she crossed her arms. Though she did add with a blush. "A-And will I be joining in as well?"

"Oh you know, hand holding, a kiss on the cheek…maybe on the lips." Lisa said with a wave of her hands. "Whatever it takes for them to grow tired of it."

"Basically, we're going to show the others that we're okay with Lincoln dating older girls." Lori explained when Lisa failed to do so adequately. "We know that we're asking for a lot, Lincoln, considering what you've told us already." Lori did look apologetically towards her brother. "But this is the only way that we could come up with that would stop the negative comments towards Sam. After all, if Carol and Becky are also seen 'dating' you then Sam won't be seen as…well, you know."

"But won't people just think that of Carol and Becky?" Lincoln asked. "I mean, they are older."

"That's why they won't be the only older girls to date you." Lisa said. "We've also recruited at least one friend from each of our older sisters."

"W-Wait, do you mean that you've made Lincoln a harem?" Sam asked, clearly not happy with Lisa's plan.

"Sort of." Lisa said with a shrug. "It's only temporary. All members involved understand that it's only for show and that nothing serious is going to happen." Lisa then paused. "All except for Becky…you might have to watch out for her." Lisa added that last part to Lincoln.

Sam sighed. "That's just great…" She said as she slumped against her couch. "This had better work, Lisa…."

XXXXXXXX

After talking a bit more over the plan that Lisa and Lori had come up with, Sam and Lincoln finally agreed. The adults also agreed to meet with the school on Monday and prove that Sam had not done anything untoward to Lincoln and the Louds would apologize for their statements towards Sam. Luna would probably still be suspended but at least Sam would be allowed back to school. Later that night, Lincoln called Stella and delivered the news about what had occurred at Sam's house. The Filipino girl had not been pleased but she understood and ultimately agreed to go along with the plan. It was only temporary, right?

And as Lincoln prepared to go to bed, Lynn walked into his room. She was already dressed for bed and she closed the door behind them.

"Hey, bro, got a sec?" Lynn asked him.

"Of course, Lynn, what's up?" Lincoln asked, patting the spot beside him on the bed.

Lynn took the offered spot and then glanced down at her knees. She looked troubled about what she was about to say and after a moment of silence, she finally looked up at him. "I want to say that I'm sorry, Lincoln. I-I didn't know about mom and dad and how they treated you…I thought…I thought you got the same treatment as the rest of us."

"Lynn…you don't have to apologize, it's not your fault." Lincoln said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"But I do." Lynn insisted. "I always pushed you to train with me and to spar and run and…and…" Lynn began to tear up as her guilt began to build up inside of her. "You didn't even have proper shoes yet you still…I'm so sorry, Lincoln…I can't even imagine how painful that must've been for you."

Lincoln sighed as he let his hand fall. He was surprised that Lynn had even thought of that. With the state of his shoes, keeping up with Lynn had not been easy. In fact, it had been rather painful for him but he kept quiet about it to make her happy. Thankfully, Lori had taken him to buy new ones again and with Lisa's help, they bought him multiple pairs.

"Lynn…it's fine." Lincoln told her as he pulled his sister into a hug. "You're not at fault here, our parents are."

Lynn returned the hug and buried her head into his shoulder. "I'm still sorry…I feel like a terrible sister."

Lincoln chuckled. "Are you kidding me? You took Luna on after she punched me in the face. You're a great big sister."

Lynn sniffed as she pulled away. "Of course I did. No one gets to punch you unless it's me during our sparring matches." She then tilted her head to the side. "But why did you forgive her so easily?"

Lincoln shrugged. "Why not? After all, this whole thing happened over a big misunderstanding. It wasn't really anyone's fault to begin with, things just happened that way."

Lynn couldn't help but smile. "You really are a good brother, huh?"

"I try to be." Lincoln smiled back. But then he sighed as his shoulders slumped. "I'm not looking forward to Monday though."

Lynn giggled. "Oh yea, Lisa's plan. How do you think Stella is going to take it?"

"I just talked to her not that long ago." Lincoln admitted. "She's not happy but she agrees that it could work to help Sam's reputation."

"Are you okay with it?" Lynn asked him, showing concern for his well being. "If you don't want to do it then just say so and we'll come up with something else. Lisa says that she can probably drug the whole school and make them forget."

Lincoln looked partly amused and partly worried. Mainly because he didn't doubt that Lisa would drug the whole student body to protect him. "I'm not really going to complain if cute girls want to give me hugs." Lincoln admitted with a blush. "But I'm not looking forward to being the center of another rumor."

"Margo might give you more than a hug, little bro." Lynn said with a wink.

Lincoln's blush deepened. Then he paused. "Wait, Margo? But I thought she already had a boyfriend?"

"Nah, she doesn't. But she's happy to play along." Lynn said with a shake of her head. "I did tell her that she could do what she wanted within reason, though."

"Within reason?" Lincoln asked with a worried look. "Within who's reason?"

Lynn laughed again. "Don't worry, Bro, you gotta become a man sometime."

"Lynn, you're joking right?" Lincoln asked as he became pale.

But Lynn just laughed as she made her way back towards her own room.

End of Chapter.