So, I sat down to write, and this came out. Um… yeah.


Future Imperfect

Thursdays.

Lincoln could never get the hang of Thursdays. Thursdays were terrible. They were kind of like Fridays, but without the added luxury of actually being Friday.

Fridays, Lincoln could deal with. Fridays were for wrapping things up. Fridays were for making sure that last email was sent, for arranging to have a meeting "sometime next week" or for making a note to follow up on a query on Monday. That's how Fridays worked, and Lincoln knew how to deal with Fridays.

Thursdays were a whole other beast. Thursdays were too late in the week to start something new but were still too early to have everything completed by. If the boss gave you a big task on a Friday, you could give it a glance over, send him an email confirming you got his memo, and then you set it aside until you could start it on Monday. But if your boss gave you a big task on Thursday, you kind of had to start it on Thursday, because you did not have the excuse of it being Friday. And, as Fridays were for finishing things, you would be finishing other things on that Friday, which meant that the task you started on Thursday would still be sitting there, half completed, until you got back to on Monday.

And if you had a half-completed task siting on your desk when you left on Friday, it messed with your weekend. You would be watching the game with a few guys on Saturday, and out of nowhere your brain would start making plans for what to do on Monday in order to complete the task you started right before the weekend. You'd be there, enjoying a beer, when suddenly your brain would go "First thing Monday, I should send an email to Patrick in the warehouse to confirm that shipment." Or you would be enjoying a meal with a few family members on Sunday and your brain would go "Gotta remember to go over those figures with Alice in accounting."

And just like that your weekend would be ruined, because you're thinking about work when you're not supposed to be and, really, who wants that? And all that suffering came about because of you started a task on a Thursday.

Lincoln hated Thursdays. He could never get the hang of them.

"Yo, Earth to Lincoln! You still with us, dude?"

Lincoln blinked and returned to the land of the living. He was sitting in his chair, at his desk, at his place of work. He had been staring at the monitor screen of his computer for… who knows how long at this point. He blinked again and turned in his seat to look at the person who had spoken. A rather attractive blonde woman stood there, a knowing smirk on her lips. "You zoned out pretty hard, dude," she commented.

"Yeah," he replied, still in somewhat of a daze. "Sorry, Sam, I just… erm..."

"Thursday?" prompted Sam. "Yeah, I've never been able to get the hang of them either. Now come on, it's lunch time. I wanna try out that new place around the corner and it's your turn to buy."

Lincoln's brain began kicking itself into gear as the important facts began to sink in. It was lunch time. He could deal with lunch time, even on a Thursday. Sam Sharp, his co-worker of about eight years at this point, and friend of even longer, wanted him to accompany her to lunch at the new place around the corner. That in and of itself was perfectly ordinary. Since Sam had started working here the two of them had taken their lunch breaks together the majority of the time. And it was his turn to pay, which sounded about right as well. She did pay for the pork tamales they went for yesterday, after all.

Brain sufficiently back online, Lincoln made a show of looking over the paperwork scattered around his desk and commented "Gee, I dunno Sam. I've just got so much to do today. I was thinking that I might just grab something out of the vending machine in the break room and work through lunch, you know?"

Sam managed to refrain from laughing for all of three seconds before giving a very un-lady-like snort that was quickly followed up by a full belly laugh. "Work through lunch? Oh, Lincoln! You really do come out with some good ones."

"I know, right?" said Lincoln with a smile. Seriously, work through his lunch break, for this place? Like hell he would.

Still chuckling to himself, Lincoln grabbed his keys, phone and wallet before getting to his feet, plucking his jacket off the back of his chair as he did so, and turned to Sam. "Lead the way."

Shaking her head, still amused by her friend's joke, Sam turned and began to head towards the reception desk, Lincoln following behind her. Beyond the reception desk was the door. Beyond the door was the corridor, and that corridor led to the elevator. Just another twenty feet and they would be safely out through that door and in the corridor beyond.

"Where are you two off to?" asked a voice.

Sam came to an abrupt stop and grimaced at the sound of that voice. Lincoln, barely avoiding walking into the back of her, halted in his tracks and tried to not let his annoyance show. They were so close to making their escape. Why the hell did their boss have to come out of his office right then?

Fixing as courteous a smile to her face as she could manage, Sam turned to the speaker. "Hello Donald. We're just heading out for lunch. Gonna try that new place around the corner."

Donald, a man in his late forties with a severely receding hairline and a very weak chin smiled slightly and replied "Well, that does sound like fun. Unfortunately, I'm going to need you guys in the conference room in the next ten minutes. Sharon from the corporate offices in Detroit is coming in for an informal meeting with you all."

Lincoln and Sam's faces fell in unison. "Seriously?" asked Lincoln, incredulously.

"Yeah," agreed Sam. "Sharon only does these meeting once a quarter and we only did the last one a month ago."

"Well, I'm afraid that has changed," replied Donald. "Bernard, Mark and Angela up in corporate think, and I agree, that it would be beneficial for Sharon to increase the frequency of her visits. She is doing them monthly now, and she's going to be here in the next ten minutes."

Sam tilted her head back and let out an audible "Augh!" of annoyance while Lincoln slumped his shoulders and sighed heavily.

"Now, come on!" insisted Donald. "Don't be like that. These meetings are very important. It's an opportunity for the employees of this company to give some genuine feedback to the guys up at the corporate offices. Let them know how you guys are doing."

Sam turned to Lincoln, a despondent look in her eyes as she said, "Looks like we're raiding the vending machines for lunch today."

"Thursday strikes again." grumbled Lincoln as they turned and began making their way towards the break room.

"Just be in the conference room in ten minutes," insisted Donald.


Ten minutes later, Lincoln and Sam were indeed sitting in the conference room and feeling utterly miserable about that fact. They could have been sitting at a table in that new place around the corner, pouring over the menu and they spoke excitedly about what to choose. Instead, they were seated on the uncomfortable plastic chairs of the dreaded conference room, packed in tightly with their co-workers like passengers on a bus that was overcrowded because the trains weren't running due to a strike. They were picking at the very uninviting sandwiches that they had managed to procure from the vending machine in the break room while, nursing disposable cups of a lukewarm liquid that had been provided for this meeting. Allegedly, this liquid was coffee, but neither Lincoln nor Sam was entirely convinced of that.

And, just to make matters worse, they were sitting behind Stanley, who wasn't wearing deodorant again. They had purposefully situated themselves at the back of the room, ducking down slightly in their seats, hoping that this would dissuade Sharon from corporate from calling on them during the meeting. But really, was it worth it if it meant sitting behind Stanley?

In a way, probably. To be honest, it was for the best that Lincoln and Sam remain at the back of the room and tried to keep out of sight. Because, as it turned out, Sharon from corporate wasn't just here to listen any gripes or concerns that they might have had. Instead, she was here for their ideas. She had a big white board out and was writing down their thoughts on how the company could streamline their working practices, increase productivity and overall improve employee morale.

That last one was likely in reference to that guy from the Great Lakes City branch who had to be talked down from jumping off the roof two months ago. Unfortunately for Sharon, phrases like streamline our working practices only make Lincoln want to copy that guy, except, you know, without chickening out.

The problem was, Sharon really did not want the types of answers Lincoln or Sam would give to those questions. No, Sharon wanted to hear answers like the ones Darcy gave, which were things like "If Alice was given a bit more authority in accounts, she could sign off more purchase orders without having to wait for Donald's approval, which would speed things up a little." or "We used to have complimentary donuts in the break room for the mid-morning coffee break. I'm sure everyone here would appreciate having that back."

God bless Darcy Helmandollar and people like her. Somehow working here these past few years had not robbed her of her hopes and good nature. Somehow, she was still optimistic and cheerful every day she came to this forsaken hell hole. Lincoln and Sam might be jaded as all heck, but the pair of them did admire her eternal enthusiasm. It was just too bad that she worked for a company that absolutely did not deserve her.

And that was all the more reason for Lincoln and Sam to try and avoid the attention of Sharon. Because they would give her real answers, the type of answer that she did not want to hear. Unfortunately, Sharon from corporate was one of those company stooges who loved to peddle the idea that their company was all one big family, and they were all there to help raise each other up and become better people, allowing them and the company they worked for to flourish.

Which is just about the biggest load of bullshit Lincoln had ever heard. The company was there to make its profits by whatever means necessary, including paying its employees as little as they could get away with, and the employees were there, not because they loved working there, but because they needed money, which is the only thing that prevents the department of water and power from cutting you off from those two vital resources. They say money doesn't buy happiness, but have you ever tried paying the electric bill with happiness? Yeah, exactly!

But, alas, Sharon was a corporate stooge who didn't want that answer. And given that this was the only answer Lincoln or Sam wanted to give, it was best that they keep their heads down and avoid being called upon…

"Lincoln, I see your white hair in the back there. We haven't heard from you, yet." said Sharon's voice.

Ah, fuck!

As multiple sets of eyes turned to face him, Lincoln forced himself to sit up a little straighter and try to look like he cared about the topic at hand, all the while mentally cursing his white hair, which made him stick out in most crowds.

"Um," he said, eloquently. "You know what, I agree with Darcy about the donuts thing. Getting those taken away was a real blow to morale." He was playing it as diplomatically as he could. He noticed Darcy sitting up a little straighter, smiling proudly that he agreed with her. And he did, in a way. Losing those donuts sucked. Hopefully it would be enough for Sharon…

"Well, I'm glad you agree with Darcy, Mr Loud. But, come on. You've been here longer than her. You must have some other ideas to improve things."

'You should have moved on, Sharon!' he thought. 'Okay, Loud! Think! Gotta come up with something that won't piss her off too much. Um… Cut down on stupid meetings like this one? No… Give us all pay raises that reflect the ever-increasing cost of living? No... Er… Casual Dress Fridays? Yes, that will do…'

"Mr Loud?" Sharon from corporate pressed.

He meant to say Casual Dress Fridays. He really, truly did.

"How about improving our healthcare plans? No one who ranks below Donald gets dental, you know? And it's even worse for the warehouse guys." Dang it!

All eyes turned from Lincoln back to Sharon, whose face had fallen at his words. After moment, she found her voice and said "Your concerns about the healthcare plan are noted Mr Loud, but this really isn't..."

But it turned out Lincoln's mouth wasn't done saying things that his brain knew he shouldn't be saying.

"Then there is the issue of pay rises, of course. The cost of living keeps going up and up, but our pay stagnates year after year, even when the company repeatedly reports record profits at the end of each financial year. And then we have the idea of bonuses. You yourself came into this room six years ago and told us that the company couldn't afford to give us Christmas bonuses that year, and we haven't had one any year since then."

It was like a train crashing. Lincoln knew it was happening, but he didn't have any way of stopping it. His brain was telling his mouth to shut up, but his mouth was having none of it.

Even Sam tried to stop him, nudging him in the side with her elbow and hissing through her teeth "Dude!" But it wasn't enough to stop him.

"And as for improving productivity, how about we stop having pointless meetings like this one that will drag on for hours and see a lot of points get raised, only for nothing to happen? I mean, nothing that has been said so far today wasn't also said the last time you came down here for a meeting like this, or the time before that… or the time before that. And we all know you're just gonna scurry off back to the corporate offices in Detroit and nothing will change. Meanwhile, we've been forced to give up our lunch break, and will likely have to sit in here all afternoon with you, all while our work is sitting out there, on our desks, not being done. Not exactly productive, is it?"

It was at this point that Sam stomped on his foot. Hard. His mouth finally stopped talking in favour of a cry of absolute agony as Sam hissed "Dude! What the hell?"

"Oh, God! I think you broke my toe!" groaned Lincoln as he dropped out of his chair and onto the floor, clutching his pained foot.

Sam looked down at her fallen friend, and then back up towards the front of the room. Donald looked about ready to blow a gasket, and Sharon didn't look much better. The corporate woman's eyes locked onto the blonde and asked, rather tersely, "Anything you would like to add, Ms Sharp?"

Like Lincoln, every instinct Sam had was telling her to just tell Sharon what she wanted to hear so that she would leave them alone, but she also wasn't one to leave Lincoln out to dry like that. Coming to a middle ground in her mind, she offered "I mean, the Christmas bonus could be a gift card to Target or Olive Garden or something."

Sharon stared at her with narrowed eyes for a good long moment before, mercifully, turning to the white board behind her and writing down Gift Cards as Bonuses. After that she moved on to Alice, who was sitting in the second row and way over to the right-hand side of the room. Sam quickly took the opportunity to help Lincoln back into his seat.

"Sorry dude, but I had to stop you somehow."

"The pain! The pain!"

"Oh, stop being so dramatic. I'm not even wearing heels!"

"I might never walk again!"

"From the look on Donald's face, you'll be lucky to still be drawing breath once he's done with you. Seriously, what were you thinking?"

"I meant to say Casual Dress Fridays, honest!"

"Yeah, well, you done fucked up now Linc. You know the rules to survive here. Keep your head down, tell management what they want to hear and leave as soon the clock hits five."

"Yeah, I know. Shit. What did I have to go and say all that stuff for?"

"Look, let's just revert back to plan A and not make eye contact. Hopefully Sharon won't call on us again."

Mercifully, Sharon learned her lesson and did not attempt to get another answer out of Lincoln. Unfortunately, the meeting ran for the rest of the afternoon, and they were stuck in that lousy conference room with Stanley's B. O. wafting through the air every time he moved until half past four.

As soon as Sharon thanked them for their input and dismissed them from the meeting, Lincoln and Sam couldn't get out of there fast enough, shoving their way past their co-workers in an attempt to get to the door as quickly as possible. Any pain in Lincoln's foot was forgotten about as the duo sought a solution to a far more pressing issue – the distinct lack of fresh they had been subjected to for the last four and a half hours.

The nearest window was the one over by the desks of the guys and girls in accounts. Sam wasted no time in pulling the blind out of the way, allowing Lincoln to undo the lock on the window and slide the lower pane up, providing access to the world outside. They both then shoved their heads out and took a deep breath.

"Ah! Sweet relief!" groaned Lincoln.

"Oh, oxygen! How I missed thee so!" said Sam.

"Are you two done?" demanded Stanley's voice from behind them.

Lincoln turned around, looked the man up and down and then replied "No!" before sticking his head back out the window as Sam turned to look at their co-worker. "Seriously, man! There's this thing called deodorant! Ever hear of it? You should try it some time."

"I'll have you know I have a medical condition. The doctor says I need a special, prescription level deodorant to sort it out." argued Stanley.

Lincoln turned back to him and asked, "Then why don't you get it?"

"Because it's really expensive and our healthcare package doesn't cover that sort of thing." retorted Stanley.

At that moment, someone cleared their throat, loudly. They all turned and saw that it was Donald. He was in the process of showing Sharon out and they had both heard their argument. Feeling suddenly emboldened, Lincoln gestured with his right arm towards Stanley and announced, "My point exactly!"

Sharon rolled her eyes, adjusted the strap of her laptop bag on her shoulder and made for the exit without another word.

Donald marched over to Lincoln. "We are going to be talking about this tomorrow." he practically growled.

"Fine," snapped Lincoln, before pausing and changing his tone. "Actually, tomorrow's not good for me. I've got a lot of stuff to finish up, including some stuff I was originally going to do this afternoon..." He left the rest unsaid, but it was enough for Donald to catch on.

"Fine," he replied. "We'll talk about it on Monday then."

"Fine by me," said Lincoln.

"Fine," said Donald.

"Good," said Lincoln.

Donald turned and marched off back to his office while Stanley shook his head and went back to his desk.

"Feel better?" asked Sam.

"A little bit, yeah." said Lincoln.

The two of them went back to their respective desks to begin packing things up for the day. Lincoln was just organising a stack of paperwork to put into a folder when he heard a voice speak up from behind him.

"Hey, Lincoln?"

He paused in his work and turned to face the speaker. It was Darcy.

"Oh. Hey, Darcy. Listen, sorry for making a scene earlier in that meeting. I know you don't like seeing confrontation."

"That's alright," she replied. "Actually, I came over here to tell you I think it was pretty cool how you told Sharon all that stuff." She blushed slightly and looked down at her feet. "I wish I was brave enough to do that. All I could do was tell her what I knew she wanted to hear."

"Well, there's a time and place for being diplomatic," said Lincoln, trying to reassure her, even as he resumed stuffing paperwork into a folder. "I was just venting some frustrations."

"Still, I wish I were more like you," she insisted.

That brought Lincoln up short. He turned back to her and said, with no small amount of sincerity "Trust me, Darcy. You do not want to be more like me, okay? I'm jaded and cynical. You're optimistic and hopeful, and you should stay that way."

She regarded him for a moment before stating "I don't think you're as jaded and cynical as you think you are, Lincoln Loud. You're just tired."

"Tired?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. "Uh-huh. Lisa and I still talk all the time. She's told me what things are like for you at home. You're clearly a good person under the rough exterior you try and put on when you're around other people. But you care, and that's why you couldn't stop yourself from giving Sharon hell today. We all know that whole thing was a load of crud, and it was good of you to say it. That's going to stick in Sharon's brain more than anything else that was said in that conference room today."

Lincoln gave pause for a moment, thinking about her words. Then, despite himself, he smiled slightly. "Thanks Darcy."

"No problem," she said brightly as she turned to leave. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you," replied Lincoln, watching her leave.

Unnoticed by him, Sam had come up behind him and overheard most of the conversation and was now watching him watch Darcy leave. Once the brunette was a suitable enough distance away, the blonde spoke up. "So, when are you gonna slip her the Lincoln Log?"

Lincoln groaned. "Fucking hell Sam. Way to ruin the moment!"

"What?" his friend protested. "I'm just saying you clearly have her interest. You just gotta reel her in and she'll be bouncing on you before you know it."

"And we're done here," stated Lincoln, grabbing his work bag and slinging the strap over his shoulder before heading off towards the elevator.

"Oh, come on Linc! Don't be like that," insisted Sam as she hurried after him. "I'm just messing with you."

"Yeah? Well keep doing that and I'll leave you to walk home!" Lincoln called back to her over his shoulder.

Sam gasped indignantly. "Well now, that's just mean!"


Twenty minutes later and Vanzilla, which was somehow still functioning after all these years, pulled up outside Sam's apartment building and the blonde opened the door to get out.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," said Sam as she opened the passenger side door.

"Sure," replied Lincoln. "Unless you wanna swing by Luna's gig at The Red Herring later..."

"Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea really, all things considered..." responded Sam.

Lincoln sighed and said "Yeah. I guess you're right. I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight."

"We still going to the gym after?"

"I suppose we'd better." said Lincoln. "I can't believe we've done this every Tuesday and Friday after work for the last five months."

"I know, right?" said Sam. "It's the longest I've ever stuck with a New Year's resolution."

"Same. And it was for going to the gym of all things!"

"Must be something to do with my charming company," teased Sam. "Or maybe you just like watching me in my cycle shorts."

"Dang. You caught me!" dead-panned Lincoln. "Am I really that obvious?"

Sam got out of the van, laughing as she did so. She went to shut the door after, only to pause and add "And don't forget to bring a change of clothes. Something smart-casual, but not something you'd wear to work. I'm dragging your ass out for drinks after the gym."

"Well, if you insist..." said Lincoln, playfully.

Sam, however, had stopped playing. "Hey, I'm serious, Linc. You haven't hung out with anyone properly outside of work for, like, two months, unless it's to go with me to the gym or help Luna or Luan with one of their gigs. You need to unwind, dude. Especially with… well… everything."

Lincoln smiled sadly. "Yeah, I know. And thanks for looking out for me. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."

Sam returned his smile before stepping back and shutting the passenger door. She stepped back away from the vehicle, and then came to a stop on the sidewalk to watch as Lincoln put the van into gear and drove off. As he neared the junction at the end of the street, Lincoln looked into the rear-view mirror and saw that Sam was still standing there, watching him leave.

He sighed, flipped the blinker on and turned left.

There was no other way to say it: in the last few years, Sam had become Lincoln's best friend. The fact that she was his sister's ex-girlfriend made things awkward at times, as Sam wasn't overly fond of visiting Lincoln at home, where she might encounter Luna. But the simple fact of the matter was, Sam Sharp was there for Lincoln in ways that few others were, even members of his own family. Above all else, Sam made sure to remind him to have fun, and that it was okay to look out for himself every now and again. Without her in his life… well… Lincoln was actually afraid to think about that, if he were to be entirely honest.

As for friends of the past… Clyde was in France, working at a top restaurant in Paris. Or, at least, that was what Lincoln had heard. Presumably he was still with that nice girl, Chloe. As for Stella, she lived quite a bit closer, having moved to Huntington Oakes where she was a very successful architect and married to a doctor. Lincoln couldn't recall the guy's name and hadn't been able to make it to the wedding. He barely heard from Clyde or Stella anymore. Sure, people get busy with their lives and move on, but was it really that hard to send a text with the words 'Hey, man. How are you holding up?' Pretty hard, apparently. And Lincoln had long ago come to the realisation that he was the only one putting in the effort to keep in contact.

Liam was different. He still lived in Royal Woods, but he had taken over the management of his family's farm. This kept him busy at all hours of the day, all year round, but he was also the only one of his school friend group that Lincoln was likely to see. That Lana worked for him also helped. Lincoln didn't always get to see the guy when he picked Lana up from the farm at the end of the day, but Liam would frequently insist on sending Lana home with a pack of farm-fresh bacon or a box of eggs, just to help the family out. Lincoln really needed to tell Liam how much that gesture was appreciated.

As for Rusty and Zach, well, those were different stories. Rusty's try-hard ladies' man bit had been funny when they were eleven, but the older he got the worse it got, until one day when they were at a pool party at Jordan's house shortly after starting their final year of High School. Lincoln himself had spotted Rusty slip something into Mollie's drink. Lincoln broke his nose for that, and then told Mollie, who promptly kneed the redhead in the balls. That incident may have ended Lincoln and Rusty's friendship, but Mollie had been very appreciative, and they dated for the rest of High School and the summer that followed. Unfortunately, Mollie going off to college in New York while Lincoln… stayed where he was needed… well, it kinda put the kibosh on things.

Zach, meanwhile, had gone with his parents and a large group fellow believers that they met on-line, to storm a government facility out in the desert somewhere and demand to "See them aliens." Lincoln hadn't heard from Zach since. He liked to entertain the idea that Zach had successfully freed some alien beings who were being held captive by the government, and as thanks, they had whisked him away on their flying saucer to see some of the wonders of the cosmos… But it was far more likely that he was sitting in a prison cell somewhere, in the kind of black ops place that was deep underground and officially didn't exist.

As he came to a stop at a red light, his phone emitted a ding from where it sat in a holder on the dashboard. A tap of a button and a message from his sister, Lynn, came up on the screen. 'Hey, Stinkoln. Don't bother coming to pick me up from the Food and Fuel. I need to clear my head, so I'm going for a walk. I'll catch up with you at Luna's gig later, okay?'

Lincoln groaned. Any time he received a message like that it actually meant that something had set her off, so she was going for a walk to try and work off some of her frustrations but would ultimately end up drowning her sorrows in a bar. Just what he didn't need on a Thursday!

The traffic lights turned green, and Lincoln resumed driving until he arrived at the Super Mart, the biggest supermarket in Royal Woods. Making his way through the car park, Lincoln eventually pulled up to a stop outside the front doors. A moment later, Luna and Luan both walked out, both still wearing their uniforms.

"Hey, girls!" Lincoln said, brightly, as Luna opened the front passenger door to get in while Luan slid open the side door to get in the back. "How are things?"

"I spent the day working the fish counter," groused Luan. "How the fuck do you think I'm doing?"

Lincoln decided not to respond to that, choosing instead to turn to his other sister. "How about you?"

"Eh, I was on shelf stacking duty all day, which kinda blows," Luna replied. "But on the plus side, I'm super stoked for tonight! It's gonna be rocking!"

"Sure it is!" came Luan's sarcastic reply.

Lincoln shook his head and continued driving. Luna and Luan were born performers. Everyone could see it, even from a young age. The trouble was, they never made it big. Luna loved performing her music, no matter how big the crowd was. The problem, though, was that not everyone liked her. Sully and Mazzy had dipped out of The Moon Goats after graduating High School, leaving Luna and Sam as a double act that had some amount of popularity in the local area. Unfortunately, after nearly a decade of this, with them both working low paid jobs in the Super Mart to try and make ends meet, all while the eternally optimistic Luna would repeatedly insist that their next gig would be the one, in the end even Sam couldn't take it anymore.

As much as Sam loved rock and roll, she also wanted a future. She wanted to have a home, to get married, and maybe even adopt a kid or two. But Luna insisted that all of that could wait until they were famous, and, in the end, Sam just couldn't see a future with Luna anymore. That left Luna as a solo act, and not everyone who liked Luna and Sam together liked Luna on her own. But still she carried on, still convinced that the next gig would be the one that got her discovered, still convinced that once she made it, Sam would come back...

Unlike the ever-optimistic Luna, Luan had become a bitter, cynical person. Like Luna she seemed destined to forever be relegated to performing in the rather small comedy circuit that Royal Woods and the surrounding towns had to offer. And while some people who performed on that circuit had been given the chance to perform at a higher level, with some even making appearances on national television, Luan Loud was not amongst them.

While Luna's best gigs were at the Burnt Bean coffee shop and The Red Herring bar, Luan's best gigs were occasional sets at The Chortle Portal and getting roped in to make the old folks laugh at the senior centre. She had long since given up performing at children's birthday parties. What had brought her joy as a teenager only served to slowly kill her soul the older she got. And it didn't help that she, like Luna, had ultimately sabotaged her own love life.

"Bastard left me for Shannon!" Luan would complain whenever the subject of her ex-boyfriend, Benny Stein, came up. It was a statement that wasn't entirely true. Benny had put up with a lot from Luan over the years and clearly, he had the patience of a saint. But even saints have their limits. Even saints can only take their girlfriends being in endlessly bad moods for so long. Benny didn't leave Luan for Shannon. Luan's behaviour just pushed him over the edge, and Shannon was there to catch him when he fell.

And while Lincoln did indeed know and appreciate that Luan had her issues to deal with (didn't they all?), there was a part of him that would probably never forgive her for how she treated Benny. He was a great guy and, as loathe as Lincoln was to think this way about one of his sisters, the person Luan was now did not deserve Benny.

Vanzilla pulled up outside the Burpin' Burger. Lola was already outside, the scarf she usually wore around her neck pulled up far enough to cover her nose, despite it being a relatively warm day in late May. But the scarf was not for keeping warm. It was to cover her nose, to cover her shame. As fast as she could, Lola pulled the side door of Vanzilla open and scurried into the very back row of seats, keeping her head low, dreading that someone, anyone, might see her.

Nature and genetics could be a cruel thing. With a family as big as theirs, it was highly likely that at least one of the girls would end up inheriting some traits normally associated with their mother's aunt, Ruth. It just so happened that Lana and Lola both ended up developing large, round noses like her. Lana, who was never much of one to worry over her appearance, barely cared. But for Lola, who from a young age had been a star of the pageant circuit, that particular development was a crushing blow. She left the pageant circuit behind, took to hiding her face as much as possible, and took a job working behind the scenes at the Burpin' Burger, where she could remain hidden from view. "It's where a hideous beast like me belongs!" she would wail whenever questioned about her choice of employment.

A short while later and Vanzilla was pulling up at the end of the dirt driveway where Lana awaited them, a basket containing a dozen eggs at her feet. Covered head
to toe in mud, manure and God only knows what else, Lana smiled brightly at her brother's arrival and waved to him with her one hand. Yep. One hand. The left one. Her right arm now ended as a stump at the elbow. Lincoln had always feared that Lana's obsession with animals, some of them highly dangerous, would cost her a limb or worse and, eventually, on a fateful summer day when she was eleven, Lincoln's fears became reality when a rattlesnake sank its venomous fangs into her wrist. The doctors had been left with no choice but to amputate. Frankly it was a miracle that she was alive at all. That was only the beginning of their losses in that dreadful summer.

As for Lana, her confidence had been shot. She no longer sought out wild, exotic animals to try and befriend, and she couldn't even bring herself to pick up a wrench or screwdriver. The mechanical hobbies she loved so much now terrified her, always wondering what she might lose next. At one point she had been aiming to have a career working as a member of the pit crew for leading race car driver Bobbie Fletcher. Now not so much. That she could even muster up the courage to work on Liam's farm with all the animals there had taken a lot from her, with Liam starting her off slowly with the lambs before slowly moving up to the goats, pigs and, eventually, cows and horses.

"Hi Lincoln!" said Lana, loudly, as he hopped out of the driver's seat.

"Hi Lana," he returned the greeting as he slid the side door open for her. He rummaged under the nearest seat for a moment before pulling out a large, black refuse bag. He spread it out on the seat before turning to take the basket of eggs from Lana. She then hopped up into the van, sat herself down on the plastic-covered seat and reached out with her one hand to take the basket back from Lincoln. He slid the door shut, hopped back into the driver's seat and they set off.

Just as they were getting back into the town proper, an unusual odour caught Lincoln's attention. "Hey, what's that smell?"

"Probably Lana," muttered Lola from the back seat, earning her and angry "Hey!" from her twin.

"No, it's not that..." said Lincoln, looking around. In the rear-view mirror, he caught sight of Luan with a thin, white stick in her mouth. After a few moments, she took it out and blew out a small cloud of smoke.

"Hey, Luan!" he yelled. "Can you not smoke in the van, please?"

"Oh, bite me, Linc!" she snapped back at him. "I need the nicotine to take the edge off!"

"Eww!" whined Lola. "I don't wanna smell like cigarettes."

"Yeah," piped up Lana, for once agreeing with her sister on something. "I like some pretty grodey smells, but cigarette smoke is disgusting."

"I can't have smoke gettin' around my vocal cords, dude," protested Luna. "It'll mess up my voice for my big gig tonight."

"'Big gig?'" asked Luan in a mocking tone. "It's a spot at The Red Herring, not the Royal Woods Theatre!"

Luna whipped around in her seat. "You wanna try sayin' that to my face, brah?" she demanded, raising a clenched fist.

In answer, Luan simply took a deep drag on her cigarette and then blew the resulting smoke straight in Luna's face.

"Oh, that is it!" snarled Luna as she reached down to unbuckle her seatbelt. "I'm gonna come back there and smash your teeth down your throat!"

"Come at me, bitch!" goaded Luan. "I'm ready for ya!"

Seatbelt successfully unfastened, Luna actually tried launching herself over the backs of the seats up front to get at Luan as Lana and Lola began yelling. Her movement had the side effect of causing her foot to swing along the dashboard and smack the phone holder, causing both it and subsequently Lincoln's phone to crash to the floor beneath his feet.

"Hey! HEY! Calm the fuck down! Both of you!" yelled Lincoln as he reached across to grab Luna by the back of her shirt and, with a harsh yank, forced her mostly back into the front of the vehicle. "For fuck's sake, Luna! Just chill, will you? She's trying to get a rise out of you!"

Luna turned in her seat to send a glare back at Luan, who promptly stuck her tongue out at her older sister, a move that Lincoln caught in the rear-view mirror. "Grow the fuck up Luan!" he barked. "And put that cigarette out! I'm not gonna ask you again. If you really need to smoke to take the edge off, you can do it at home, outside."

Luan scowled at him. "Fine," she snapped before stubbing the cigarette out on some of the van's metalwork. "There. Happy?"

Lincoln rolled his eyes but did not answer. Instead, he went back to focusing on the road as much as he could. Or, at least, he did until his phone started ringing. "Oh, for the love of..." he grumbled, glancing downward to try and see where his phone was.

"I'll get it," offered Luna, who still hadn't put her seatbelt back on yet. She slid off her seat and ducked down the begin rummaging around. It took her a minute to find it, by which time whoever it was that was calling had hung up. Sitting back in her seat with the retrieved item firmly in her hand, Luna held it out towards her brother. "There you go – oh!"

"Oh?" asked Lincoln. "What oh?" He turned to look and saw exactly what she meant by "Oh!" The screen now had a big crack in it.

"Fantastic!" he groused sarcastically, before snatching the item away from her and shoving it into his pocket.

After that, Luna, Luan, Lana and Lola had the good sense to remain completely silent for the rest of the journey home.


1216 Franklin Avenue. After all this time the majority of Lynn and Rita Loud's kids still called this house their home. It was nothing to be ashamed of these days. Given the ever-rising cost of rent and the near complete unwillingness of banks to lend out mortgages to seemingly anyone who was on less than $75,000 a year, living together in huge groups was the new norm these days.

Lori and her husband, Bobby, along with their five kids lived in an apartment that they shared with his cousin Carlota and her husband Alessandro, and their four kids. Leni shared an apartment with her friends Fiona, Jackie, Mandee and two other girls Lincoln didn't really know all that well. Lily was currently living in shared accommodation at college, ten students who didn't know each other, cramped into an area smaller than the family home she grew up in, while Lisa… well, actually, Lincoln didn't really know Lisa's living arrangements. She was working for a prestigious scientific organisation, and when she actually took the time to call, it was rarely to talk about her personal life.

Once inside, everyone spread out to do their own things. Luan disappeared into the back yard to continue with her smoke, Luna went up to her bedroom to do a few vocal exercises in preparation for her performance that evening. Lana went upstairs to take a shower at Lincoln's insistence. And Lola… well, Lincoln didn't really know where Lola went, or what she was doing. Lamenting somewhere, probably.

However, Lincoln had other concerns apart from what Lola was up to. With four sisters successfully brought home and a fifth out taking a walk to clear her head (allegedly), there was one sister living at home still unaccounted for. The question was, would she be in the attic, or the basement?

He opted to venture down rather than up and was soon walking down into the gloom of the basement.

"Lucy?" he called out, softly. "Luce? Are you down here?"

There was the sound of some shuffling clothing from over by the furnace and, as Lincoln moved closer, his goth sister Lucy stepped into the narrow band of light that came in from the small window above. She looked paler than ever.

"Hey, Lucy," he said, stepping up to her. "How have you been today?"

"Sad," came her one-word reply.

Lincoln reached out and took her hand in his. It was so cold and clammy. She didn't flinch anymore, although Lincoln was one of less than a handful of people who could claim that.

"Have you eaten anything today?" he asked. She shook her head no. "Well, you should." he said. "Come on. I've got some blood sausage in the fridge with your name on it."

It was barely perceptible, and no one would notice it without knowing Lucy really well, but the corners of her mouth did turn upwards very slightly, offering up what passed as a genuine Lucy smile these days as she dutifully followed her brother over to the staircase that would take them up to the kitchen.

Lincoln honestly did not know why they still spent a lot of money for Lucy to attend therapy sessions with Doctor Lopez. She never seemed to get any better. Nor did Lynn, for that matter.

Up in the kitchen, Lincoln guided Lucy to sit down at the kitchen table before setting about preparing dinner. After a few minutes of him setting out pots and pans while Lucy watched him expressionlessly, the back door opened up and Luan came back in. She stank of cigarette smoke, but, from the slightly more relaxed look on her face, it was clear the nicotine had done its job. Her eyes scanned the kitchen as she entered, but the moment they landed on Lucy her entire demeanour softened and she hurried over to her younger sibling.

"Oh, Lucy! Are you okay? How has today been?" she asked in a rapid-fire manner as she crouched down next to her.

"I'm okay," said Lucy, leaning into Luan's touch as her older sister ran her fingers through her raven locks. "Just a bit sad." Luan stood a little straighter and pulled Lucy into what she hoped was a comforting hug. It took a few moments, but eventually Lucy raised her arms and wrapped them around Luan, returning the hug. Luan was one of the other people besides Lincoln who could get away with touching Lucy without her flinching.

Lincoln watched the scene with a smile on his face. Despite the bitchy attitude that she had developed over the years, there was one person who Luan still undoubtedly cared for, and that was Lucy. No matter how angry or bitter she was feeling, Luan could always be counted on to shove that aside and help Lucy if she needed it.

"You smell like cigarettes." Lucy stated, bluntly.

"Yeah, I know," replied Luan, softly.

"You promised you would stop."

"I know. I just… I had a bad day at work."

"Did they make you work at the fish counter again?"

"Yeah, they did. Every Thursday. Without fail."

Lucy nodded sadly, but in understanding. "I don't like Thursdays." she stated.

"Me neither," agreed Luan, before giving a soft sigh. "Look Luce, I promise when I'm on my lunch break tomorrow, I'll go over to the pharmacy and try out some of that nicotine gum, okay?"

"Please do," said Lucy, dipping her head to took towards the floor. "I don't want another person in this family to die before their time."

Lincoln nearly dropped the saucepan he was holding as Luan shot him a worried look. After placing the objects in his hands on the counter, Lincoln hurried over to Lucy and wrapped her in a tight hug as Luan did the same from the other side.

"Lucy," he said. "I promise, no one is going to die any time soon, okay?"

For a moment she did not respond, but then he felt the movement of her head against him as she nodded her understanding. He felt her arm snake around his waist and squeeze him, clinging to him like a drowning person clinging to a piece of driftwood in a storm.

To Lincoln, it had happened so long ago that it felt like a different lifetime. To Lucy, it was something she relived every time she closed her eyes. They had been going to check out a college for Lynn Jr. A number of places wanted to offer her a sports scholarship, but there were a couple in particular that caught the girl's eye and she wanted very much to go for a tour. Initially everyone younger than Lynn was going to go with them, the older ones already away at their own respective colleges. But, for whatever reason, Vanzilla would not start on that fateful morning, so Lincoln had offered to stay at home watching the younger siblings while their parents and Lynn took an Uber. Out of sheer curiosity as to where her roommate sister would end up going, Lucy had asked to go with them and been allowed.

Just outside Royal Woods, there had been a car accident. A really bad one. Lucy wasn't hurt too badly, all things considered, but when she woke up she was on her back with her unconscious sister suspended weirdly above her. Lucy's legs and right hand had been trapped and were in considerable pain, forcing Lucy to lie there, unable to move. Unable to do anything but look at her sister above her. A wound on Lynn's forehead slowly dripping blood down onto Lucy's right cheek. A little girl lying trapped, scared and alone as her unconscious sister dripped blood on her, unaware that her father, too, was unconscious, though in a far worse state than his namesake.

The medics would pronounce their mother dead at the scene.

The family had not been the same since. Lucy certainly hadn't been the same since. Dad had been in a coma for years now, and that was something that showed absolutely no sign of changing any time soon. Leni, Luna and Luan had given up their college education to return home and help Lincoln try and hold things together. (Lori had offered, but, given that she was very close to graduation at that point it seemed pointless to abandon her education).

Lisa had thrown herself into her scientific studies, hoping that she could find a way to help her father recover. And as for Lynn Jr, she did recover from the worst of her injuries, but she simply could not use her legs like she used to, and she would get tired far too easily. In short, her college days were over before they could even start, her hopes and dreams of becoming a star athlete coming to a crashing halt much like that car had. And, for the Louds, it was yet another reason to not like Thursdays.

Lincoln had been doing his best to hold his family together ever since that fateful day. Which was why he was eternally grateful for Sam's continued friendship despite her breakup with Luna. Because some days, he needed someone to hold him together as well.

The sole male Loud sibling gave a slight sniff, coughed a little to clear his throat and then addressed the older of the two sisters in the room. "Come on, Luan. I need you to help me cook dinner for everyone."

Luan pouted slightly and asked, "Why me?"

"First, you're the only one apart from me who can cook anything worth a damn," replied Lincoln. "Second, you still need to make up for goading Luna into a fight earlier."

Luan huffed, blew a loose strand of hair away from her face and got to her feet. "Fine." she grumbled.


"All right, girls!" Lincoln called out through the house. "Let's get going please! I'd like to get Luna's equipment inside the building before too many patrons show up!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" protested Lana as she tried to make her way downstairs while simultaneously trying to put a shoe on her left foot. A dumb move for most people, for Lana, even more so.

"Lana, please sit down to put your shoes on. I don't need to be picking you up off of the floor," said Lincoln before looking up to the top of the stairs and calling up "Yo! Luan, Lucy? Are you two ready yet?"

"Yeah, we're here!" said Luan as she appeared at the top of the stairs, Lucy's hand held firmly in hers.

"Good," said Lincoln before calling out to the house at large "Lola! Where are you?"

The former pageant queen appeared behind Lucy and Luan. "I'm here!" she grumbled.

"Well, come on then. Let's go! Time's a-wasting!" said Lincoln as he turned and grabbed one of Luna's guitars. As he did so, the girl herself came in through the front door. He handed her the guitar and picked up a second one. "Right, are you sure that's everything?"

"You know it, bro!" she said, happily.

"Alright, on we go," said Lincoln, ushering his sisters out the door. Lana and Lola followed in Luna's wake, but Lucy paused as she and Luan were passing Lincoln.

"Why do I have to go?" she asked, moodily.

"Because this is Luna's night, because this family supports each other and because you haven't left the house in three weeks," replied Lincoln. "Now come on. Out the door."

"Very tactful," commented Luan as she led Lucy towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah..." muttered Lincoln as he took a look around the room, just in case they had forgotten anything. A thought came to him, and he quickly patted his pockets to check. "Keys… wallet… phone… okay, I'm good to go."

He headed out through the front door, making sure to shut it behind him, before making his way over to Vanzilla. He joined Luna at the rear of the vehicle and added the guitar he was carrying to the stack of equipment already there. Slamming the rear doors shut, he and Luna went to separate sides of the van and got in the front seats even as Luan slid the side door shut.

"Okay," said Lincoln, checking his watch. "We're actually not going to be late this time. How about that?"

"Oh, shut up and drive," complained Luna.

Lincoln rolled his eyes and put the key in the ignition. Just as he was about to turn it when his phone began to ring.

The twins and Luan groaned loudly while Luna turned to him. "Seriously, dude?"

"Yeah, alright, alright, shut up." said Lincoln as he tried to pull his phone out of his pocket. "Just let me see -" he broke off as he took in the caller ID. "Hey, girls, it's Lily."

Everyone's demeanour immediately changed. "Ooh, put her on speaker," said Lana.

Thankfully, Lincoln's phone was still capable of functioning despite the rather large crack now adorning the screen. "Hi, Lily," he called. "You're on speaker to everyone in Vanzilla."

"Oh!" came Lily's surprised reply before she called out "Hi, everyone in Vanzilla!"

"Hi, Lily," Luna, Luan, Lucy, Lana and Lola called back.

"You doin' good, girl?" asked Luna.

"I'm doing good, Luna," the youngest of the siblings stated. "Hey, Linky, I tried calling earlier, but didn't get an answer..."

"Oh, that was you?" he asked. "Sorry about that, Lils. Luna managed to… uh, I couldn't get to my phone in time and then got distracted making dinner for everyone."

"Okay," she relied. "Just making sure. It's not like you to not answer."

"Aw. You worried about me, Lils?"

"Always," she answered, kind of bluntly. "Anyway, the reason I'm calling is because I was thinking of coming to visit you guys next weekend."

"Sure thing," agreed Lincoln, immediately. "We'd be glad to have you, right girls?"

"You know it man!" stated Luna.

"Heck yeah!" added Lana.

"That's the best idea I've heard all day!" said Luan.

"That will be something to look forward too," came Lucy's monotone response.

"Sure thing..." said Lola, so quietly it almost went unnoticed. Lincoln rolled his eyes but didn't comment. Lola was going to have to get over the fact that Lily was objectively prettier than her someday.

"Cool," said Lily's voice through the phone. "Well, provided the trains are running on time, I should get into the station at about nine fifteen Saturday morning."

"I'll be there to pick you up," promised Lincoln. "Don't eat too much before you get here. Once you arrive, we'll all go out for a late breakfast. Sound good?"

"It's like you're reading my mind Linky," said Lily, joyously. "Hey, do you think there's any chance of getting Leni to join us as well?"

Lincoln paused before giving an answer to that. To this day, Leni was still very much Leni and, while Lincoln liked that fact, the same could not be said for Luan, Lynn and Lola. Her seemingly endless good nature had the unfortunate habit of rubbing the grouchy jokester, miserable ex-athlete and bitter princess entirely the wrong way, and it had been the same with Lisa before the brains of the family moved away. Eventually Leni had been unable to take the constant arguments anymore and moved out to live with her friends. Lincoln and Luna were the ones who visited her most, with Lincoln sometimes dragging Lana or Lucy along as well. Lincoln hated that the constant fights had forced her to move out, but she was happier with her friends, and the Loud House was a little quieter for it.

"I'll talk to her," he said to Lily. "But I can't promise she'll come. You know what a social butterfly she is. This might be a bit late notice for her."

"Okay, well, if not, I guess I can try catching up with her some other way," said Lily. "Anyway, I've gotta go. Me and my dorm mates ordered pizza tonight and if I'm not down in the kitchen when it arrives, I might not get any."

"Okay, bye Lily. See you next weekend," said Lincoln, as the sisters called out their own goodbyes.

Once Lily was gone, Lincoln put the key in the ignition and started the van while asking "Well, won't that be a nice way to spend next weekend?"

Everyone else nodded their heads, with some voicing their approval. Lola, however, commented "If Leni comes and starts trying to give me make-up tips on how to make my nose look smaller, I might end up clawing her eyes out."

Lincoln sighed and bowed his head, letting his forehead rest on top of the steering wheel. Further back in the van, Lana elbowed Lola hard to reprimand her while Lucy ducked down in her seat, worried that one of her sisters had finally pushed their brother too far. Even Luna and Luan exchanged worried looks.

After about twenty seconds (though it felt much longer), Lincoln sat up straight, put the van into reverse and backed off of the drive and onto the road. Another quick gear change and they were off.

He didn't speak a word until they arrived at their destination.


The Red Herring had changed relatively little over the years. Despite technically being a restaurant, the establishment was much better known as a popular venue for local musical talent to showcase their skills, rivalled mainly by The Burnt Bean over in Fern Valley.

Joey and Becky Fitzpatrick were the owners these days. The pair had been friends since Middle School and had been classmates of the eldest Loud sibling, Lori. Becky had started working at the Red Herring after graduating High School, earning money there while also studying business at the Royal Woods Community College. Since then, the previous owner had decided to retire and sold the business to Becky and her then fiancée, Joey, and the pair had been running the place ever since.

Becky liked music and, luckily for Lincoln's musical sister, was a big fan of Luna's. This pretty much guaranteed Luna a decently sized place to perform as regularly as she liked and, fortunately, the regulars of the establishment all got a kick out of her style of music as well.

Becky must have been waiting for them, because the moment Lincoln brought Vanzilla to a stop outside the front doors, did the owner step out to meet them.

The red head approached Lincoln immediately. "Lynn's in at the bar. She's pretty down."

"How many?" asked Lincoln.

"I cut her off after three," replied Becky. "You go see her. I'll help Luna with this lot."

After giving her a nod of thanks, Lincoln passed Becky and went inside to find his wayward sister.

Lynn was sitting on a stool at the far end of the bar. She was slumped forwards, arms laid crossed on the bar and her face buried in them. There were a couple of other customers with drinks here and there, but none of them paid her any mind. Kayla, girl who had been in the same class as Lana at school, was busy pouring a round of drinks behind the bar and, just down from her, was Joey, who was restocking one of the fridges with bottled beer and sodas. Both Kayla and Joey gave him a sympathetic smile as he passed, both having been there long enough to know what Lincoln was about to deal with.

Hopefully Becky cutting her off at three drinks meant Lynn would be better than she usually was when he found her like this.

"Hey, Lynn," he said as he got closer. It was always a good idea to announce that you were near. A startled Lynn was likely to punch first and ask questions later.

She gave a slight twitch at the sound of his voice and, after a moment, slowly began to raise her head, turning to look at her brother.

She was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying. Her hair was mussed up and her face was blotchy. She looked thoroughly miserable.

"Hey Linc," she mumbled in reply, unable to bring herself to look him in the eyes.

Stepping closer now that it was safe, he asked "What was it this time?"

She sniffed and replied "Margo."

Ah. Margo had been Lynn's best friend all throughout elementary school, middle school and high school. If there was some kind of sports team that Lynn played on, you could guarantee Margo would be there as well. Soccer, field hockey, roller derby, softball, baseball, football, lacrosse… in fact the only one Margo did not join Lynn in playing was basketball for some reason. They had been inseparable for years and both planned on getting into college on a sports scholarship and finding a team to play for professionally.

The problem was, one of them got into a car accident that ruined any future prospects. And the other did not.

Lynn pulled out her phone, loaded up something and then held it out to Lincoln. He took it from her and examined it. It was a sports website, reporting on the upcoming women's soccer world cup. The USA were one of the front runners to win the whole thing, and Margo Roberts had just been confirmed to not only be playing, but also serving as team captain.

That had been Lynn's dream. Not necessarily soccer, but still…

"Oh, Lynn," he said, sympathetically. He reached out an arm and pulled her to him as she let out a sob. She turned to him, wrapped both of her arms around him and began crying into his chest as he held her. Lynn did not begrudge her best friend the success that she had. Far from it, Lynn could not be happier for her. The problem was, Lynn wanted that as well. And it was taken from her. Her dreams for her future had been robbed from her, because one stupid guy in a pick-up truck was messing around on his phone instead of focusing on the road.

Lincoln did not know how long he stood there holding Lynn, but it was long enough for the rest of his sisters and Becky to get everything set up. By the time Lynn's tears had subsided enough for her to pull away from him, Luna was standing before a microphone while fine tuning one of her guitars.

"Right," Lincoln said, addressing his weepy sister. "That's enough feeling sorry for ourselves for tonight. Why don't we find a booth and just enjoy Luna's music, yeah? Sound good?"

Lynn sniffed a little and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Linc."

"Anytime," he replied, before leading her away from the bar. They found Luan, Lucy and Lola already seated together in a booth, waiting for the show to begin while Lana was still over with Luna, helping her older sister make the last few preparations.

As they waited for things to begin, Kayla swept over to them and took a drinks order. Lincoln ordered himself and Lynn a root beer each. He was the designated driver, after all, while Lynn had had enough alcohol for the evening. Luan went for something fruity and alcoholic, as did Lola. Lincoln didn't know what the hell Lucy ordered, but it had the word blood in the name, and apparently that was all she needed. After a bit of thought they got Lana a root beer as well and Kayla disappeared to fill their order as the number of patrons in the place began building up.


Play it Loud. Play it Proud!

I got not time for turnin' it down!

Play it Loud,

Turn it up until your speakers blow out!

Luna did not disappoint her crowd. For nearly two hours her fingers practically danced across the strings of her guitar as her voice hit all the right notes. Given that it was a Thursday night, the Red Herring was not as full as it usually was when Luna played, but the crowd was still a decent size, and that was enough for Luna.

Luan could not help but admire her. As much as the two clashed these days, something about seeing Luna on stage, guitar in her hand, audience cheering, it made Luan happy. Here, Luna was in her element, free of all her cares, worries, troubles and stresses. Here Luna Loud could be… well, Luna Loud.

She turned to look at Lincoln, who was sitting in the middle of their little group. To his left sat Lynn, who was leaning into his side, head dipped slightly so that he bangs covered her eyes. To his right sat Lucy, who was doing her best to hide behind both him and Luan, who sat on her other side. Lana was next to Lynn and Lola was next to Luan.

"She seems so different when she's up on stage," Luan commented to her brother. "So much more like the Luna we all grew up with."

Lincoln looked at her with a raised eyebrow and replied "Well, you're just the same."

Luan rolled her eyes at him, but Lincoln was being sincere. "No, I mean it, Luan. Stick a microphone in your hands and shove you on stage before a crowd at The Chortle Portal, and you go back to how you used to be as well."

"I guess..." acknowledged Luan as Luna's song ended.

"Thank you, thank you," the rocker said to her crowd as they clapped and cheered. "So, my session is nearly done for the evening. But I'd like to leave you with one last song. It's a personal favourite of mine, so I hope you enjoy it."

The crowd cheered again as she started.

Got the rock n roll bug and I just can't shake it,

Follow your heart if you really wanna make it…

Lincoln suddenly felt a lot less cheerful, as did those around him. Jeez, Luna! Way to kill the mood!

You can live your life full of doubt

Or you can do what you love and it'll all work out…

Looking around their booth, Lincoln took stock of his sisters. Lola, pulling her scarf up to cover just a little bit more of her face, laughed out of the pageant circuit because of how her nose grew in. Lana, rubbing her stump of a right arm with her left hand, confidence shaken, to terrified to pick up a wrench or go near an animal she used to love. Lucy, hiding behind him and Luan, emotionally scarred, usually too terrified to leave the house without her family, too hollow to express herself through poetry. Lynn, once so brave, bold and bombastic, now with her head bowed to hide from the world, robbed of her dreams because of an accident, reduced to working the register at Flip's Food and Fuel. Luan, bitter and cynical, mostly incapable of laughter, working the fish counter at the Super Mart. He looked to Luna on stage, truly alive only in moments like this, otherwise drifting along, waiting for her next moment to shine.

And then there was him. Lincoln Loud. Perpetually single. Very few friends. Working a thankless job that he hated, for a boss he hated, for a company he hated, trying to scrape enough cash together to keep the household afloat… to keep his dad's hospital bills from building up. Trying to keep his sisters from falling apart, trying to help them become who knew they were meant to be, but with each passing day resenting them just a little bit more, no matter how he tried to not think about how much taking care of them cost him.

Because he was Lincoln Loud, and Lincoln Loud took care of his sisters. That's just what he did.

No matter what it cost him.


So… yeah. This came out. We all like the idea that the Louds will go on to become famous for what they're good at, that Luna and Sam will go on to become rock stars, that Luan will have her own television show, that Lynn will become a star sports player of some kind, that Lincoln will find his calling and be great at it. But what if that doesn't happen? Let's face it, the real world sucks. It doesn't care about your thoughts and feelings, your hopes and dreams. It will chew you up, spit you out and then defecate on what is left.

Is there more to this story? Absolutely. Will I write it? Most likely. Is there a happy ending? Perhaps. It depends if I get there, and if I change my mind.

Just to be clear, Lincoln is twenty-nine years old here, and the accident occurred when he was sixteen. This makes Lily nineteen currently, and I'm sure you can probably work out the rest for yourselves. Sam is important to this story, and her bond with Lincoln is very important, but that doesn't mean it's the ship of the story (though it will probably come up.)