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 25: Darkness.

Lucy's P.O.V:

- Edwin, my deepest forbidden love, if only my material body could turn ethereal for the vanishing instant of a second to have our souls intertwined in a spell of eternal union – I though while holding the statue of the head of the vampire that was predetermined by fate to be with me for eternity.

Today was early in the morning, and I was having trouble with resuming my encounter with the dark coffin that I had adapted as my bed, my feelings to allow the dreaded escapism of dreams diminishing by the second, lately, I had been having some writer's block with my poems, unable to find the appropriate words that could go accurately with a theme of forbidden love, which had become the central approach of my latest works.

So, as usual, I needed help from Lincoln's input to assist me with some of the rhymes, yesterday was one such of those days, after interrogating Clyde of some important bits to understand the state of my brother during the past week, I happened to stumble him before heading to my own room, he seemed in a hurry to go back to his own room so I took a passive approach by just asking him to assist me later.

He refused.

I didn't ask why, I just silently nodded and then, entered my shrine of peace… only, Lynn was also there, bouncing her basketball relentlessly against the wall, over… and over… and over again.

Never mind, I wasn't having any peace to focus on my poems, not in that room at least, so I used one of my only safe spaces that I know nobody can penetrate, searching at the bottom part of the wall right after my bed, I found an entrance to the classic style air ventilation system of the house and sneaked in.

Peace at last, Lynn didn't even care about my whereabouts, so I didn't have to explain my "disappearance", I was climbing through the system, looking for the perfect spot where I could hear the least amount of background noise, I finally found it in the middle of the space that connects the twins room with Lincoln's, and now, surrounded by darkness, I simply lit up one of my candles, just enough for the faintest amount of light possible to allow me to read and write on my notebook, and began allowing the inspiration to set in.

… and it never came, I was frustrated, but I knew the reason why.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Clyde had told me, I analyzed it in my head, using the dark as a partner to discuss it with, I thought about it deeply… Lincoln's mood, The weird "Illness", how Lola was conveniently there to "assist" him, Lola herself, the fact that Lincoln couldn't help me today, I Connected the dots.

Why today? Clyde was leaving for apparently no reason, the cancelled movie reunion, Lola…

The answer was right in front on me, I am very knowledgeable of the whereabouts of this ventilation system, but I had never been interested myself in using it for banal, non-transcendental reasons like "peeking" or "spying", leave that to the princess, or to my "funny" sister, I wasn't like that, I knew to respect privacy, just as much as I wanted them to respect mine.

But the curiosity was proving too much, I had come this far into the truth, if only for the sake of helping my brother, I knew I had to find out, perhaps with the right situation, I could intervene, but for now, I would remain exclusively observant.

So I made my mind, closing the book and blowing the candle, and headed to the entrance of the vent that landed on my brother's room.

And I found them, laying on the bed, she was putting her head in his chest, and he was reading something, he was apparently speaking in a low voice, perhaps he was reading her a story book to help her sleep?

I got a little closer, and put my ear right in the closed metallic opening of the vent, I could now hear them perfectly.

- Wait, princess… DeLola? – A memory of that day, when the lights went off, came to me in a matter of an instant, one of those few family union moments where I actually felt like participating instead of hiding in the shadows, a story that had the input of every sibling.

… So this is what Clyde meant when he said "making a story together", the references of a princess and a space cowboy, I can vividly remember those being their characters during the making of that story.

…But why? Why are they using those characters? If they were making a continuation, why not just invite the whole family again? is this what they were doing the other day as well? How does that connect to Lincoln's unfortunate dream?

More importantly… why are they keeping this a secret?

My mind was getting filled with more questions than answers, as I struggled to keep my ear attentive to the progression of their story.

- … wait… gasp! – I almost unconsciously allowed my common expression of surprise to come out of my mouth, risking the undisturbed status of my hideout, I just felt like if I had made a discovery.

Truth be told, I'm no amateur when it comes to underlying tones and subtext in stories, as I myself am an avid user of those resources in my poems, the key to meaning is subtlety, after all, which would explain in a way why so many bells in my head rang while interpreting the story that my brother and sister were concocting.

It wasn't as obvious as I would expect the literary skills of a 7-year old who just learned to read fluidly to be, but the undertone of the story was now evidently showcased during the description of a glowing pond in the woods.

… Romance.

I kept trying to connect dots in my head.

- The dream, the recent mood of my brother, also my sister, why they don't tell anybody, the sudden distance between them… and us… - My mind was now an entangled mess as I kept trying to come with explanations, anything that could make sense of the information I had gathered.

Some explanations more disturbing than others.

The princess has never been one to show this much sweetness towards anybody, but I could feel the warmth in her stare as Lincoln read the story, she was not acting, she was in genuine bliss, which made me wonder, why even fake a rivalry with Lincoln in front of the others?

But the one I just couldn't figure out just by reading expressions, was Lincoln, I could see him enjoy the story, but whenever it was that he had to narrate the parts written by the princess.

I could always feel a dissonance, a face filled with mixed emotions, he was perpetually smiling, but that smile wasn't entirely genuine.

… I think I have a few ideas as to why, but can't really investigate any further without more context, which made me realize…

The key to this mystery, might actually be hidden in that book, if only I had access to it, I know I can easily stealth my entrance and retrieve it when he's busy with others, then, if I check the story, and the parts easily distinguishable by writing type and calligraphy, I can actually prove my suspicions.

Also, it seems that during this period of introspection, the "reading session" between the pair was already coming to an end, to my disappointment, I couldn't quite catch on to some details in the story, I could only watch as they each wished each other a good night, preparing to make my silent departure back to the safe darkness of my coffin.

Then Lola asked Lincoln for a kiss, and he complied, he gave her one at the top of her head, I managed to see the exchange while feeling awkward about being present for the sudden display of affection.

But something caught my attention.

That expression, how she looked at him, then down, somehow, I realized that feeling unequivocally.

It was disappointment, sheer disappointment, for something so minimal, why… huh.

- Interesting – I thought to myself, eliciting one of my rare smirks, as I finally turned my head back into the vents and went back into my now dark and silent room, no noisy signs of bouncing balls, only the still annoying but more bearable snorting of my roommate, I then reached my coffin, lit up another candle inside, grabbed my pen and began writing on my notebook.

I had just received a great deal of inspiration for my poems.