Author's Notes: Once again i would like to thank all of my followers for your interest in the story! Please remember to provide feedback if there are any issues with my writing, i'm not a native english speaker so i also use this project as a way to improve for all future works in my career.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Loud House, the brand, as well as all of its characters and settings belong to Chris Savino and Nickelodeon, all rights reserved.
Chapter 4: Hesitation.
5 minutes had already passed, 5 long, painful and agonizing minutes, but Lola was standing still, frozen in place, looking at the white haired boy's room, despite the apparent lack of anything remotely interesting going on at said place, as the hall was being lit up by nothing but the faint moonlight that managed to penetrate the windows of the loud residence and nothing could be heard aside from the rumblings of the many pets that Lana has, serving as a reminder that she has to feed them, as well as the quiet snoring sounds of some of the loud siblings, including Lincoln. Still, Lola was adamant that tonight, she would have to fix things up with her older brother, no matter what, for the pain in her heart would not subside until she did so.
But why did it hurt so much? Why would she willingly sacrifice her invaluable beauty sleep for "making things up" with him, if he was also at fault for his unnatural outburst! Also, why did she care so much about fixing it? Surely she had already made peace in her mind with the fact that she admired Lincoln to a bigger extent than all the other Loud sisters, as no one before had even attempted to challenge the man with the plan before she did it, certainly it would only be befitting for the infamous pink menace to do so and, therefore, having her only worthy rival best her when he could, originally in the form of a simple competition to stop him from hanging around everywhere in the house reading his Ace Savvy flicks while in his underwear, imprinting an image that for some reason, she had not been able to get out of her head.
The details of said event are irrelevant, she knows that technically speaking, she, or rather, the loud sisters, (… thanks Lily), where the ones to defeat him, but for all intents and purposes, when it came to having a strong will, a smart strategy, and a cunning attitude, Lincoln Loud was, without a doubt in her mind, the real winner, and as a result of her new found respect for the boy (which all the sisters in the house took as a form of pity at the time), Lola decided to gift him a new set of undies, one which she still occasionally watches him wearing from time to time, to her relief.
But back then, she would only limit her appreciation for her brother as a form of respect, not much else to it, a feeling that would change slowly thorough the following months, as Lincoln proves to not only be quite astute for his age, but also assertive, compassionate, patient and really sweet, Lola can easily recall moments such as the time he would miss out on appearing in the school photobook just to save her from having some really embarrassing photos ruin her reputation, or that time when he would just selflessly offer himself as a judge for one of her mockup pageants, or also that time when he would invite her to the arcades to help her win that fancy doll that she had been craving for months…
… Or that time when she screwed up the entire family's plan for free pizza thanks to her stubbornness to admit that she wasn't a good reader, then Lincoln came along and instead of mocking her ineptitude or getting mad at her lies… He stayed, he stayed to help her read, not to win the pizza contest, for they were already way past the deadline, no, he stayed to help her read, because he truly wanted to help her, he wanted to make her actually enjoy reading, and when the family had arrived, expecting to see Lincoln be successful at his mission, he just calmly announced his failure with full satisfaction and confidence in his voice, throwing the entire blame on his pure hands, something that Lola, filled with not just respect, but also admiration for her amazing brother, couldn't resist, so, not wanting to be left behind, she stood up, and actually told the full truth to her family, taking the blame for everything that Lincoln had initially tried to shield her from like a noble knight (unlike a certain pony-loving goth coward, yes, the truth about what happened was unbeknownst to everyone but Lincoln, Lucy, and herself, who found out thanks to her many hidden microphones in the house back when she was still looking to exploit and manipulate her siblings for her own benefit).
Lola sighed dreamily remembering how much of a knight in shining armor her brother appeared at the time, one that would always support his princess during her rare moments of doubt and uncertainty, she was sure to always follow his example whenever she could, becoming the voice of reason and the planner on her own adventures with Lana, learning about compassion and redemption whenever she happened to mess up as well, and finally, becoming the leader at her playground, but not as the ruthless dictator that she was originally aspiring to be, but rather, as an assertive and supportive girl that other girls would look up to, including her new best friend: Meli Ramos.
One could even said that, aside from her occasional temperament bursts, many of her classmates were no longer seeing her with a constant look of what she could only describe as "fear" in their eyes, but rather, some were starting to legitimately look up to her. Her former crush, Winston, notably among them, seeing as how he recently asked her out for a tea party, a proposal that, had she been the same spoiled princess that she was a year ago, she would have accepted without hesitation, be it out of genuine interest in him, or as a power move to raise her social status, or both, considering the rich origins of the kid. But now, as a more mature individual, whatever feelings that she could have harvested for Winston, were no longer there, so she politely declined the invitation.
Looking back at her own growth, Lola realizes once again just how much of it she owes to Lincoln always being there, supporting her and acting as her guide. To think that, even nowadays, he still impresses her from time to time, like last Christmas, where he apparently spent a fortune to buy her a really fancy set of earrings (although with a funky smell…), it makes her realize just how important Lincoln is in her life, and how happy she is… whenever she's around him… how even her recent fairy tales have her imagining him as the shining knight while she self-inserts as the princess, how she tries her best at pageants in the hopes of impressing him from wherever he's watching, how she strives every day to become closer to him…
…to become his closest sister.
Finally, remembering why she is here to begin with, why she doesn't care anymore whether he was at fault or not, Lola fuels her resolve and quietly opens the Door to get access to Lincoln's room.