I don't own the Loud House.
Welcome back to another chapter. I'm back from my two week break and I'm happy to announce that I'll be returning to my normal schedule. I'll be posting every 2 weeks in order to give myself time to write in between. Anyways, this chapter took a little bit to write because I couldn't quite get it right. Even now, I'm not exactly happy with how it turned out. But I'll let you guys be the judge of it. I'm happy with the beginning and the end but the middle leaves much to be desired in my opinion.
L Is For Love
Chapter 12: Confrontation
Lincoln had gotten suspended from school for two days. After explaining to Principal Higgins what Chandler had said and his friends had confirmed it, Lincoln's punishment was reduced. It was ruled as an accidental knee jerk reaction considering that Chandler seemed to want to provoke him. Lincoln had been allowed to finish the day before his suspension would begin. Thankfully, he didn't see Chandler for the rest of the day. The redheaded boy spent the rest of the day at the Nurse's office.
What Lincoln didn't expect was what waited for him outside of his school. He was making his way towards the usual spot that his sister would always pick them up from. Walking with him was Stella, Clyde, Jordan, and Zach. They were chatting about random things, not really paying attention to anything. And as they made their way down the walkway, none of them expected Lincoln to be yanked up into the arms of a tall redhead.
"Lincoln!" Becky cried out with joy as she smothered him with her chest. The passersby watched on with shock and some with envy. Then she pulled him away and before he could say a word or regain his breath, Becky brought him in for a deep and passionate kiss. Lincoln's arms and legs shout out in surprise but eventually they relaxed and he placed his arms around Becky. When the kiss finally did end, she placed him on the walkway and she grinned as she watched him teeter around on shaky legs.
"Are you okay, Lincoln?" Clyde asked as he observed his friend.
Lincoln nodded weakly and turned to Clyde's left. "Y-Yea, Z-Zach..." there was no one to Clyde's left.
Becky giggled at Lincoln's antics. "I hope that you don't mind that I came to see you, my little White Russian? After all, I did miss my boyfriend."
Lincoln could hear as the steadily growing crowd began to murmur and whisper amongst themselves. Lisa's plan was surprisingly working smoothly so far. But as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Lincoln was suddenly reminded that Lisa could not predict everything.
"Lincoln!" A voice called out. Lincoln turned just in time to see Becky practically get thrown aside as a brunette wearing purple and white rushed towards him with a desperate look in her eyes. "Please tell me that there must've been some mistake!"
Lincoln suddenly found himself being grabbed by the shoulders and being shaken by Dana. "W-What?" He managed to ask through her shaking.
Dana stopped shaking him for a moment. "Lincoln, please tell me that you wrote me a love letter and that it simply got lost in the mail. Please, tell me that you didn't forget about me!"
The scene before the elementary school kids was surprising. Lincoln Loud, the resident white haired sole male Loud boy was being confronted by a high school girl who seemed jealous of his redheaded girlfriend. And by the time that Lori and Carol had caught up with them, they too could see that Becky was being helped up by Stella and Clyde.
Lincoln wasn't sure what to say. In all honesty, he hadn't even considered Dana as a possible fake girlfriend. Neither had Lisa and now it was coming to bite him in the butt. Well, not really but he did feel bad about not considering her since Dana was one of Lori's and Leni's best friends and she also hung out with him on occasion. The more he thought about it, the guiltier Lincoln felt. Thankfully though, he had a possible solution. He glanced over at Clyde, catching his friend's eye, and with a subtle nod, Operation: Love Letter was a go.
Lincoln relaxed his features for a brief moment before he looked up at Dana and gave her his more charming smile. "Of course I didn't forget, Dana." He told her smoothly. He reached up and took her hands into his, allowing him to free himself from her grasp. "How could I ever forget such a pretty girl?"
This made Dana blush as the growing ball of dread in her stomach began to crumble and fade away. "You really wrote me a love letter?" She asked shyly.
Lincoln nodded. "Of course I did. The only reason I hadn't delivered it with the others was because I ran out of envelopes and I had to go and get more. I was actually on my way to you after school today."
While Lincoln had been talking (which earned a not so subtle scoff and a 'yea right' from Lori), no one noticed that Clyde had snuck up to Lincoln's backpack, placed a small white envelope in the front pouch, and then hurried away to stand beside Stella. Stella had noticed the whole ordeal and gave Clyde a questioning look which he simply shook his head. Everyone else was too busy hanging onto Lincoln's every word, some entranced by his charm and others enviously taking notes so that they could copy some of his success with the ladies.
"But since you're already here, I guess I can give it to you now." Lincoln said as he reached behind him and pulled out a small white envelope from his bag. On the front, it said in neat writing with purple ink 'To Dana, My Darling Bunny Ears'. Dana took it with trembling hands, her emotions threatening to spill out at any moment as she read her name on the front. "I'm sorry that I made you think that I didn't like you as much as the others, even if for a moment. Trust me, you're just as special as the others. Perhaps, even more so since you're my darling Bunny Ears."
"Hey!" Becky and Carol protested at the same time.
But Dana didn't hear them. She was too busy trying to open her long awaited love letter. She eventually got it open despite the trembling of her hands. And as she read it, her eyes began to tear up by the sweet words on the page. Lincoln had written her a love poem and he poetically described her brown hair, her rich chocolate eyes, and her love for the color purple. By the time that she was done reading it, Dana was shedding tears of joy.
"Oh Lincoln...this is so beautiful...I love it." Dana told him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
"I hoped that you would. I wrote it special just for you." Lincoln said as he returned the embrace, pointedly not looking at his sister Lori. They both knew that he was lying through his teeth since no actual letters had been written. And Lori also knew that the only poem Lincoln had written had been last week for Clyde to give to his little girlfriend, Chleo. But Dana didn't need to know that at the moment.
XXXXXX
While the other Louds had been at school, Luna had been grounded in her room all day. She had been forbidden from playing any of her instruments or using any technology. And for once, Luna felt like she actually had to serve her punishment. She deserved to have all the things that she loved be taken from her and that especially included her music. After all, Luna had acted like a total dumbass and she had no one to blame but herself.
Her folks, after being confronted by Lisa, had essentially placed her under house arrest. Luna chores that she had to do but once she was done, all she did was lay on her bed. Her time alone had given Luna plenty to think about. She reflected on her past actions and Luna's guilt festered and grew. She knew that she didn't deserve Lincoln's forgiveness. Even though her brother had forgiven her, Luna didn't accept it. She couldn't not. Not until she could apologize to Sam.
Luna sighed as she turned onto her side once again. But as much as she wanted to apologize to Sam, Luna wasn't sure if she could. How could she face her former best friend after the way that she had acted? Luna hated herself for the way that she behaved. She accused Sam of being a pedophile in front of the whole school and even punched her in the face. All for what? Some perceived backstabbing that wasn't even true? She ruined Sam's life all because Luna felt slighted because her feelings had been dashed.
As Luna wallowed in her self pity, she suddenly heard a knock on the front door. She propped herself up by the elbow. There weren't supposed to be any visitors today, was there?
She got up from her bed and made her way downstairs to answer the door. Luna wasn't aware of anyone coming to the house for something since no one said anything. Nor did she know of any packages that were going to be delivered that day. Those kinds of things were usually sent out in the group text for the family to alert anyone at home to expect something.
As Luna opened the door, she never expected to see the person standing on her front porch. Her mouth hung open as she stared at the teal streaked blonde. "S-Sam..." She barely managed to breathe out.
"L-Luna..." Sam stammered out.
It was good to see that Luna wasn't the only one who was nervous as hell. She swallowed the lump in her throat with some difficulty since her throat had suddenly become dryer than the sahara. "W-What are you doing here?"
Sam cleared her throat into her fist. "I uh think we need to talk..."
Luna had been dreading this. She wanted to apologize but she honestly didn't know how. How could you apologize for ruining someone's life?
Sam seemed to be able to sense the inner turmoil within Luna because she added. "Please, Luna, do it for what we used to have."
That made Luna wince. 'What they used to have.' That pretty much confirmed to her that Sam and her were through as friends. Her already shattered heart began to crumble and fade away in her chest. She stiffly nodded before stepping aside to allow her in.
"Thanks." Sam said as she stepped inside.
The two of them sat in the livingroom and simply stared at one another for what felt like hours to Luna. She wasn't sure how to start this kind of conversation. What kind of words were enough to convey just how sorry she was? How much she regretted her actions and how she wished she could take it all back? 'Sorry' just didn't cut it in this situation.
"So..." Sam began lamely after several minutes of awkward silence. "I kissed you brother...twice."
Luna nodded weakly. "I-I know..."
"You're not going to punch me and call me a pedo?" Sam asked, sending her a guarded glare.
Luna flinched. "I deserved that."
"You deserve getting punched in the face too." Sam told her. But then the blonde sighed before lowering her head into her hands. "I'm sorry...I guess I haven't fully gotten over it."
"You don't have to apologize, Sam, I deserve it." Luna said with a shake of her head.
"But that's not why I came here though." Sam said as she looked up at the brunette. "I came here because I wanted to confess to you, Luna. It's honestly something that I should have told you years ago..." And then Sam told her all about how she had never gotten a Valentine before. Of course, Luna already knew this but she had heard it from Lincoln, not Sam. So Luna just sat there and listened as Sam explained to her how happy she had been to receive her first ever love letter. "And then you ruined it..."
Luna just nodded, hot angry tears already stinging her eyes. What else could she do but nod?
"You took something precious to me and twisted it into something that will haunt me for years to come. You poisoned the one good thing to have ever happened to me on Valentines. And what's worse, Luna, is that you're the one who gave me that Valentine." Sam continued. She too had angry tears in her eyes but she was doing a remarkable job of sounding composed. "Do you have any idea what that's like? To finally receive something so sweet and innocent only to have it tainted by jealousy and anger?"
"I-I'm sorry, Sam, I-" Luna began but she was cut off by Sam.
"I don't want you to be sorry, Luna!" Sam shouted at her. "I want you to understand how deeply you have hurt me!" Sam stood up and began to pace back and forth. "I want you to understand why we can never be what we used to be!" Sam stopped pacing and turned to glare at Luna. "Do you have any idea how much hate you filled my heart with!?"
Luna was sobbing now. She didn't have any words to respond with, how could she? Everything that Sam said was right. It was her fault, Luna had been the one responsible for hurting her.
"I hate you..." Sam told her, her voice barely above a whisper. As those words left her mouth, her angry tears finally began to spill. "I hate you!" She spat at Luna.
Luna buried her face into her hands in order to not look at Sam anymore. But Sam didn't let her hide.
"Look at me!" Sam shouted as she yanked Luna's hands back. "You don't get to hide, Luna, just like I can't hide from what you did to me!" She threw Luna's hands down towards the couch and then grabbed the front of Luna's shirt, lifting the girl up. "You turned me into a social pariah! People think that I'm a fucking pedophile! All of my friends now hate me because of you!"
When Luna didn't respond, Sam shoved her back into the couch. "Even if Lisa's plan works, people will always whisper behind my back wondering if their little brothers are safe from me. This will probably follow me into college, hurting my chances of getting into a decent school. All of that because of you, Luna." Sam crossed her arms over her chest. "And yet you don't have anything to say for yourself?"
Luna just shook her head. She couldn't defend herself. But as she finished shaking her head, she felt a sudden stinging on her left cheek. Surprised, she looked up to see that Sam had just slapped her.
"Say something!" Sam demanded.
"W-What do you want me to say?" Luna asked her, not wanting to anger the blonde anymore. "You're right, it's all my fault. There's nothing that I can do to make this right." She swallowed thickly once more. "B-But I do want to make things right...I-I know that we can never be friends again...but...but...I don't want you to hate me..."
"What are you willing to do to make things right?" Sam asked her after a long pause.
"Anything." Luna told her at once.
"Anything?" Sam questioned with a raised brow.
"Anything." Luna confirmed.
"Kill yourself." Sam ordered.
Luna's eyes widened. "W-What!?" She almost shrieked.
"You said that you're willing to do anything to make things right so kill yourself. Show me that you're sorry for your actions and that you're willing to repent for what you did." Sam said, glaring at the Loud Rocker. "That's the only thing that will make things right between us."
A spark of anger ignited within Luna. She understood that what happened between them was her fault. But Luna didn't think that it meant that she now had to kill herself!
"No!" She said as she stood up to face the blonde. "How could you even ask that of me?"
"You ruined my life, Luna!" Sam shouted at her. The two were now inches apart, both breathing heavy as their emotions ran high. "Even with Lisa's plan, I'll always be that girl who preyed on a little boy! That's because of you!"
"And I'm sorry but that's not worth my life!" Luna shouted back. "I didn't take rejection well and I lashed out, okay!? I'm sorry! I really am but I'm not going to kill myself just because you ask me to!"
"Then you're not really sorry then, are you?" Sam snapped.
The two glared at one another for several minutes before Luna took a calming breath and stepped back. She forced herself to calm down and she tried to control her breathing.
"Look Sam, I get that you're upset-" Luna began but Sam cut her off.
"I'm a fucking pedophile because of you! I'm way beyond upset!"
Luna had enough, she shoved Sam into the couch. "Will you shut up about that!?"
Luna closed the distance between them and placed her hands on Sam's shoulders. "I fucked up, okay? I know that but I'm trying to make things right! Why won't you let me make things right?"
Luna could see Sam's anger boiling beneath the surface like a volcano about to erupt. Before Sam's rage could explode, Luna had a brilliantly dumb idea.
"Hit me." She told her.
This made Sam pause. "What?" She demanded.
"I said hit me. You clearly want to, so do it." Luna explained.
"I'm not going to hit you, Luna." Sam snapped, angry that Luna would even suggest such a thing.
"Don't you see? This might be the only way for us to ever be even remotely okay." Luna continued to explain. Sam looked skeptical though still furious and Luna continued. "I hurt you Sam, I really, really hurt you. And the only way for you to feel anywhere near okay with this is for you to hurt me back."
"Luna, I-" Sam began but Luna poked her hard in the chest.
"Come on, you shota-loving bitc-'' Luna began to taunt but suddenly she was cut off as Sam's fist struck her left cheek. She stumbled backwards and tripped over the armchair and flipped over it.
"Oh my god, Luna!" Sam shouted as she rushed over to see if the Loud rocker was okay.
Luna groaned as she tried to sit up. She was holding onto the side of her face in obvious pain. But as she looked up at Sam, she glared at the teal streaked blonde. "Is that all you got, you child fucker?"
Sam glared back but didn't attack. "Are you fucking stupid? Stop trying to provoke me into punching you!"
Luna sprang back onto her foot and pushed Sam roughly. "Come on, Loli lover, hit me as hard as you tapped my broth-"
Sam punched Luna hard in the stomach and she watched as the brunette wheezed before coughing and gasping for breath.
"I-I bet you like it r-rough..." Luna coughed.
Sam had enough. She began to wail on Luna, punching her anywhere that she could. And Luna kept on egging her on, shouting horrible things at her while not fighting back. As things went on, Luna could feel Sam's pain and anger through her furious shouts. Each blow was a chance to release some of that pent up aggression towards the person responsible. And Luna hoped that by the end that Sam would be willing to forgive her.
They had been going at it for a few minutes and Luna looked terrible. Her nose was clearly broken, her left eye was swollen, and she was sure that a tooth was loose. Sam grabbed Luna by the shoulders and with a furious shout, she cocked her head back and then brought it down with all of her strength. Sam's headbutt knocked both girls backwards and they both fell onto their backs. The blow had clearly knocked them senseless. Luna could feel a new cut opening where Sam had struck her and soon warm blood flowed from her forehead.
"T-That was a bad idea..." She heard Sam groan from the floor.
Luna felt worse than Sam did physically but she couldn't help but chuckle weakly. "That did seem kind of dumb..."
Then to her surprise, Sam began to chuckle as well. Within moments, their chuckling grew into full blown laughter mixed in with sobbing. Sam crawled over to Luna's prone form and she laid next to her.
"I'm sorry I headbutted you..." She apologized. Sam wasn't looking at her and Luna knew that they still needed to work through some things.
"What about my broken nose?" Luna asked in a somewhat playful tone. She was in a lot of pain but she still had some adrenaline coursing through her. She'd be in far worse pain in a few minutes though.
"You deserved that." Sam told her shortly.
A few moments passed before Sam sighed. "I'm sorry I broke your nose."
"I deserved it." Luna reminded her.
"You deserve a lot worse..." Sam said, finally glancing towards her. Once she got a good look at Luna, she winced. "Does it hurt?" She asked, pointing at her face.
"A little." Luna said, not wanting to nod since her head hurt like hell.
Sam watched her for a few more moments before she sighed. "Come on, let's get your first aid kit."
Together they made their way towards the upstairs bathroom and Sam found the Loud's first aid kit. She was impressed by the amount of things inside, some of which she suspected Lisa had invented. Sam began by cleaning up all of Luna's cuts, not bothering to warn her before the alcohol stung her. Sam was still a bit upset at the Loud Rocker. Though she had to admit that Luna had been right, beating the crap out of her had helped to ease her negative emotions. Sam no longer felt like she wanted Luna to die. She still hated her a bit but it was far less than it had been 10 minutes ago.
Sam felt conflicted about how to feel about Luna. A part of her still hated her for what she had done to her. But another part now wanted to forgive her and move on. Who knew that physical violence could help relieve tension between ex-best friends? A small part of Sam even felt a little bit guilty for hurting the brunette, even if she deserved it. Sam just wasn't a violent person to begin with. But when her emotions had run high and Luna had provoked her, Sam had just seen red. She had heard about people who claimed that their anger got the better of them. But Sam had always assumed that they used it as an excuse for their actions. Now she knew better.
"Sam?" Luna asked after a few minutes.
"Hmm." Sam acknowledged as she continued to patch Luna up.
"H-How do you feel?" Luna asked, her voice wavering a bit at the start. It was clear that Luna was still nervous about how Sam felt. Luna wanted to know if Sam had forgiven her or not.
Sam pondered the question for a bit. As she did, she inspected Luna's nose. The bloody thing was surprisingly not broken, just dislocated it seemed. Sam had seen this before with her brother when a baseball had hit him on the side of the nose. It had been painful but her dad had been able to set it back in place. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She grinned just as she took hold of Luna's nose and with a hard yank, she tugged it back into place. Luna howled in pain and jerked herself backwards and away from the blonde.
"Oy! What the hell was that?" Luna demanded in her cockney accent.
"I was setting your nose back into place. You're welcome." Sam said, crossing her arms under her chest.
Luna continued to glare at her while she felt her nose. To her immense surprise, her nose did feel a lot better. It was still bleeding but it didn't hurt like it did before. She took a quick glance in the mirror and she saw that her nose didn't look crooked anymore.
"Thanks." She told the blonde.
"I still hate you a bit..." Sam said, answering Luna's earlier question. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to get over that." Sam let out a long sigh. "But...I don't feel like I want to hate you for the rest of my life."
Luna perked up a bit at this news. "D-Does that mean that w-we...?" She began but didn't dare finish. They both knew what she was asking.
Sam shook her head. "No, I don't think we can ever be friends again." She saw the crestfallen look on Luna's face. She was surprised to feel that it also made her feel sad as well. "But we can try and be on friendly terms at least." This made Luna look up.
"R-Really?" She asked hopefully.
"I do have a thing for your brother, Luna." Sam reminded her. "Whether I like it or not, we will be in each other's lives a lot. It would make Lincoln happy if we didn't fight each time that we saw one another."
"So you'd be willing to be friendly for him?" Luna asked just to clarify Sam's motives.
"Things might change in the future." Sam was willing to allow. "But for now, yes, only for him." She extended her hand towards Luna. "Deal?"
"W-What about our band?" Luna asked, not taking the offered hand yet.
"I'm quitting the band." Sam told her bluntly. "I don't trust you anymore. I can't be in a band with someone I can't trust to have my back."
Luna felt a knife stab her in the chest. That definitely hurt but she couldn't blame her, it was all Luna's fault after all. "O-Okay..."
She reached for Sam's hand and shook it. The two ex friends stared at one another for a moment before Luna looked down at their hands and she winced.
"Damn...you knuckles look like shit." Luna said as she turned their hands so that Sam's was facing them.
Sam looked down and winced as well. She had been so distracted by her feelings and patching Luna up that she hadn't registered just how much her hands were hurting. Now that she had been made aware, Sam began to tear up from the pain.
"Ow ow ow!" Sam cried as she pulled her hand away from Luna.
"Here, let me help you." Luna said as she tried to reach for Sam's hands.
"No!" Sam whined. "You're going to make them sting with that cleaning stuff!"
"You just used that stuff on me!" Luna reminded her.
"Yea, but that was on you!" Sam protested. "My hands hurt way more than that."
"Sam Sharp, you let me fix your hands or so help me god!" Luna began as she chased the blonde girl around the bathroom.
Neither girl noticed it yet but their broken and shattered bond hadn't been completely destroyed. It was frail and hanging by a thread, yes, but it was still there. And as they continued to bicker as Luna finally managed to corner the blonde, their renewed friendship would eventually recover. Though perhaps not like it was before.
End of chapter.