A/N: My first fanfic! I decided to go with an episode that's been done before, instead of going with a completely original idea for my first one. Hopefully, you all enjoy! Will go into some behind-the-scenes process stuff at the end

In the wake of the Sister Fight Protocol debacle, the Loud House had returned to its usual bustling state after Lori and Leni resolved their conflict over the identical dresses. However, unbeknownst to the rest of the family, one of the siblings wasn't as lively and was actually dealing with some pretty negative thoughts.
Lincoln Loud, the white-haired boy, sat alone in his room, the weight of recent events pressing heavily on his heart.

"I was just trying to help," he muttered to himself, recalling how his attempts to help—or "butt in," as his sisters called it—had only made things worse. The thing that he was struggling with the most was that sense of inadequacy that had overtaken him after he came back from Clyde's house.

If you just butted out from the start, we'd have resolved it on our own.
If you just butted out from the start, we'd have resolved it on our own.
If you just butted out from the start, we'd have resolved it on our own.

These words kept repeating in his head incessantly. That night, he barely fell asleep, still thinking about everything that had happened.

Was my involvement really not needed? Lincoln thought to himself. That can't be true, right? I've helped my sisters with plenty of issues before. Granted, none of those issues had to do with such a big fight. Though, I do always help the twins whenever they fight. Also, there was that one time Lynn and Lucy had a fight. That one took a bit longer to solve, but I ended up helping, right? To be fair, Lori and Leni resolved it quicker than I did with Lynn and Lucy. Maybe they are right. I should butt out.

The next day, Lincoln decided to stay in his room and focus on his homework. He didn't really want to go out and face his sisters again after everything that had happened previously because he thought they'd be mad at him. Coupled with the thoughts that plagued him the whole of last night, it was probably the right decision to stay in the sanctity of his room.

To his surprise, none of his sisters had come in to ask for help with their various activities. Lincoln was surprised but also grateful that he didn't have to face any of them.
While working, his walkie-talkie crackled.

"Come in, Lincoln! Are you there?" Clyde's voice called.

"I'm here, Clyde," Lincoln replied, his tone flat.

"Lincoln, you feeling okay, buddy? You seem kinda sad."

"Yeah, I'm still sad about the whole Sister Fight Protocol thing."

"Why? Your sisters stopped fighting, right? What happened? Did they start fighting again? Are you gonna have to stay at my house again? What if they fight so much that you have to move out? If you move out, then I can never see how Lori's doing, and I'll be separated from the love of my li—"

"Clyde, calm down! You're spiraling again," Lincoln interrupted, shaking his head.

"Sorry, buddy. Anyway, what happened? Why are you feeling so sad?"

"It's just… It's kinda stupid. It's nothing… really," Lincoln deflected, but Clyde persisted.

"Lincoln, if it's got you so down, it can't be nothing. Plus, you're my best friend. I don't care how small whatever's making you sad is. I want to help," reassured Clyde.

Lincoln hesitated before sighing. "Thanks, buddy. I guess I just feel… useless. My sisters said their fight got resolved because I didn't interfere. I'm happy they're not fighting anymore, but it's making me doubt if I'm actually helpful at all."

"Lincoln, come on, man! Give yourself some credit. You've helped your sisters with their fights before, right? There's no way they don't need your help at all!" Clyde replied, hoping his friend would see the light.

"I help the twins when they fight usually, but that's petty squabbles that anyone in the family can help with. I also helped Lynn and Lucy one time, but me resolving their fight took longer than it took Lori and Leni to make up, so it's not like I'm faster or better at helping my sisters," said Lincoln.

"Dude, you're being too hard on yourself. Trust me, all of your sisters appreciate you and your help."

"I guess you're right, Clyde," said Lincoln in a half-hearted tone. "Maybe I am being silly about this."

"It's alright, Linc. Now, since it's Saturday, wanna head to the arcade and have some fun?"

"I'd love to, Clyde, but I'm still not in the mood to do anything right now. Plus, I've got some homework I've been putting off, so it's best I get to that. We can meet in the evening or tomorrow, though."

"Alright, buddy. Take care."

As the walkie-talkie switched off, Lincoln felt that Clyde could be right but wasn't fully convinced. Sometime later, after working on his homework, he decided to head downstairs to grab a snack. On the way, he heard some commotion from the twins' room. Thinking to himself that maybe he'd get his helping mojo back, he opened their door and asked what the commotion was about.

"Hey guys, what's going on? I heard some commotion from outside. Is everything alright?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh hey, Lincy. Yeah, everything's alright. Me and Lana were fighting about how to split some chocolate, and Lisa came in and divided the chocolate equally for us with a new laser cutter thingy she invented. I just squealed because this chocolate is so darn good!" said Lola.

"Yeah, the laser was so cool, and it divided the chocolate exactly 50/50. Both parts weighed exactly the same! And this chocolate is pretty good," added Lana.

Lisa adjusted her glasses and chimed in, "Indeed. It's my newly designed Precision Food Equalizer 3000. Utilizing advanced laser calibration, it ensures perfect division down to the milligram, eliminating any potential disputes over unequal portions."

"Uh… neat," Lincoln said, though his tone betrayed a hint of dejection as he left the room. "Jeez, even Lisa's better at helping than me," he mumbled to himself as he continued downstairs As Lincoln continued downstairs, he paused at the top of the stairs, hearing yelling from Lynn and Lucy's room. Hoping this might be his chance to help, he decided to investigate. Opening the door, he found Lucy sitting in her coffin, reading poetry, while Lynn was on her bed watching something on her laptop.

"Everything alright in here? I heard some yelling," Lincoln asked.

"Oh, hey Stinkoln. It's nothing, I was just watching basketball and the Pistons lost to a buzzer-beater. I was just mad at the game," Lynn replied.

"Why weren't you watching it on the TV?" Lincoln asked, confused, as he had never seen his sister watch games on her laptop.

"None of the channels were showing the game for some reason."

"Alright, guess I'll leave you to it," Lincoln said, the dejection clear in his tone as he left the room.

Everyone's getting along more, and even when they do fight, someone else helps better than I ever could. Maybe the girls were right. I should butt out permanently, Lincoln thought as he headed to the kitchen for a quick snack.

After eating, Lincoln started to head back upstairs when he noticed all his sisters standing at Luna and Luan's door. The two teens were in the middle of a heated argument.

"For the last time, it was an accident, dude!" Luna shouted.

"Doing a stage dive and landing directly on Mr. Coconuts and breaking his arm off is NOT AN ACCIDENT! I can't even understand how you managed to do that!" Luan yelled back.

"It's not my fault you left him on the floor carelessly like that!"

Lincoln froze, debating whether to intervene, but the decision was made for him when he overheard Lori and Leni talking.

"Do you think this fight is Sister Fight Protocol big?" Leni asked.

"Yeah, I think so. If they keep going like this for a few more minutes, we should get everything set up," Lori replied.

"Oh, that's just great. Welp, no need for little old me," Lincoln muttered bitterly. He hurried into his room, packed most of his stuff into a backpack, and made an announcement as he left.

"I'm heading to Clyde's place for a bit," he said loudly enough for his sisters to hear, though none of them seemed to notice. He rolled his eyes at their indifference, told his parents where he was going so they wouldn't worry, and bolted out the door.

"Why don't we ask Lincoln what he thinks of this? I'm sure he'll explain why it's not my fault" hissed Luna at her comedian roommate

"Fine by me. I'm sure he won't dive to your defense," said Luan as she laughed at her pun then went back to being furious at her roommate

"Has anyone seen Lincoln?" Luna asked, looking over to the crowd that had gathered at their door

"He was just here" said Lynn

"Yeah, I think he said he was literally going to Clyde's place" added Lori

"Well that's just great." said Luna and Luan at the same time, bitterly

Hours later, Lincoln returned home to find all his sisters sitting on the couch with annoyed expressions.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Lincoln asked as he entered the house.

"Where were you, dude?" Luna asked, her tone slightly annoyed.

"At Clyde's place. Were you guys worried or something? I told Mom and Dad before I left," Lincoln replied, utterly confused.

"It's not that. Why were you so quick to leave? You were home when we started fighting and then immediately left, according to the others," Luan said.

"Oh… Well, I saw you guys were fighting and heard Lori say your fight was probably big enough for the Sister Fight Protocol, so I took the liberty of eliminating the biggest problem: me," Lincoln said, pointing his thumb at himself.

"Dude, me and Luan were looking for you so you could give us your opinion!" Luna replied.

"Oh," Lincoln said, his tone neutral.

"And what's this about you being the problem?" Lynn asked.

"You girls made it clear before—you solve things better without me," Lincoln replied. "I didn't want to make things worse."

"Lincy, don't say that! You're like, always so helpful!" Leni said.

"Yeah! You're the best pageant coach ever, and you always help when me and Lana fight," Lola added.

The rest of the sisters nodded, but Lincoln held up his hand to stop them.

"Guys, save it. Please. No need to make me feel better. I got the hint—no more butting in," Lincoln said as he started walking up the stairs. "By the way, why are you all sitting on the couch?"

"Luna and Luan's argument got even more heated after they couldn't find you, so they started fighting again. Before we knew it, we were all fighting each other. Mom and Dad heard us and said that we have to sit on the couch and get along until dinner," Lana explained.

"Jeez, I wasn't even in the house and I still somehow made things worse. That's gotta be some kind of record," Lincoln said as he closed his door with enough force to make his mood obvious.

The sisters exchanged guilty looks.

"Incy sad?" Lily asked, sitting on Lori's lap.

"Yeah, Lily, he literally is," Lori replied somberly.

The girls decided that they would talk to him after dinner. As they all collectively walked up to his room, they could hear a soft whimper, almost as if someone was crying. As Lori stepped forward and knocked on the door, some rustling and movement could be heard from inside, before Lincoln frantically yelled out

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Lori. Lincoln, everyone is here. We want to talk" she said in a sincere tone

The girls could hear Lincoln groan, but he allowed them to come in. They all awkwardly shuffled into the room.

"We want to apologize," Leni began. "We didn't realize how our actions made you feel."

Luna nodded. "Yeah, dude. We should have appreciated your efforts to help."

Lincoln felt a lump forming in his throat. "This again? Guys, please, it's not that big of a deal. You had a protocol that I didn't adhere to. I made things worse, I left, and you all solved it. Same thing happened today."

"You think us all being grounded to the couch meant the issue was solved?" Lucy asked in a slightly out-of-character, controlled outburst.

"At least you weren't fighting anymore," Lincoln said, his tone deflated.

"Dude, stop thinking you made things worse or caused anything to happen!" Luna said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "The protocol isn't some flawless plan. It's got plenty of holes in it. Stop acting like you have to follow it so strictly."

"Didn't seem like it had any holes to me. It did a better job than I ever could," Lincoln grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away from his sisters.

"You thought the protocol made you redundant, since you couldn't help out, huh?" Lori asked gently. Lincoln nodded, still avoiding their eyes.

"Bro, why didn't you just say something? If the protocol made you feel like that, you could've at least told us," Lynn asked.

"Like that would've helped," Lincoln said bitterly. "I'm not even considered part of this protocol. Why would my opinion matter? It would be the same if you asked Mom and Dad how they felt about it. Anyway, it doesn't matter. You girls clearly don't need my help as much as I thought—or hoped—you would, so there's nothing I can do."

Lori reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Lincoln, listen to me. This protocol is not as important as you are to us, okay? If you have any suggestions, then we'll listen, alright? Heck, after what's happened, we wouldn't blame you if you wanted to remove it completely."

Lincoln finally looked back at his sisters. "Well, I guess it'd be okay if I could have access to the kitchen, bathroom, and my own room whenever you guys are fighting," he said, his mood beginning to improve. "I don't think that's too much to ask for, right?"

"Nope," the sisters said in unison—except for Lily, who clapped her hands in agreement.

"I mean, personally, I'd prefer if it didn't exist at all," Lincoln continued. "We're a family. Of course, there's gonna be arguments, especially with 11 kids. I don't think it's right that we isolate ourselves like in the protocol. It's counterintuitive when you can just talk it out. For example, Luna and Luan, what were you guys fighting over today?"

"Oh, uh… Luna broke Mr. Coconuts' arm off after she did a stage dive and landed directly on him," Luan said, giving a stink eye to her roommate.

"Yeah, but it was her fault for leaving him lying around on the floor like that," Luna shot back. "And then she wanted me to pay for it."

"Alright, settle down now. No need to start fighting again," Lincoln interjected. "If I was there, I would've said that compromise is key. Both of you are at fault to some degree. Luna, you should've looked where you were diving. And Luan, Luna's right—you shouldn't leave something as precious to you as Mr. Coconuts on the floor like that. I'd have suggested you cover the repair costs 50/50."

Luna and Luan stared at Lincoln, shocked at how easily he came up with a solution. Lincoln, though, took his sisters' silence as a negative and started berating himself.

"Ugh! I knew it. Should've just kept my mouth shut. I'm not better than the protoco—" Lincoln began, but Luna interrupted him.

"No, Lincoln, your idea is actually pretty great."

"I don't know how we didn't come up with that," Luan admitted. "We couldn't have thought of a better idea even if it dived on our heads!" she added with a laugh.

The siblings groaned at Luan's pun but nodded in agreement.

"Hey, whaddya know? Guess I'm not so useless, huh?" Lincoln said, his spirits lifting as his sisters pulled him into a heartfelt group hug.

"Lincoln, we're sorry about how the protocol made you feel," Lori said. "You're right—we're a family, and we need to talk and communicate our issues. Which is why I think we can all agree that from now on, the Sister Fight Protocol is no more. Also, it's kind of our fault since you weren't included in the sibling meeting where we came up with it in the first place. You being there could've saved us all a lot of trouble."

Lincoln chuckled at Lori's apology. "It's okay, guys. I wouldn't have been so sad if I didn't love helping you all so much."

"Aww, Lincy! We love you!" the girls replied as they tightened the hug around their brother.

"Love you all, too," Lincoln said, feeling truly appreciated as the warmth of his family's bond enveloped him.

Well, that was my first fanfic! Hope you all enjoyed. This was kinda rushed, kinda not. I've had this one in my drafts for a few weeks but finally got to work on it yesterday, since I'm on break from College. I tried to not go into the cliche story things of "Lincoln hates himself and is depressed" or "Lincoln's sisters are heartless monsters who hate him" or anything else like that. I tried to stick with how these characters would react in universe.

Also, It's hard to come up with puns for Luan. I'll get better at it the more I write, but jeez that was tough.

Expect more fanfics from me over the festive period!