A dead silence tormented the Loud house and all its habitants like a plague. There was not a single sound, the rooms were so silent it was almost as if the vibe of life that this house once gave had extinguished in the blink of an eye. And in a way that was what happened.

Dying is part of life, a very though but inevitable one, and they all were pretty aware of it. They knew they had to carry on with their lives, but how were they supposed to continue living without them? The Loud children had lost more than their parents, they had lost their mentors, their best friends, the people they knew they could trust with their lives.

Lori walked into the hallway and headed downstairs, there she met with the last born of the Loud sisters siting in the sofa, her head hanging low, her sight fixed on a dead spot on the floor as she rested her arms on her legs.

"Lily..."

But she didn't seemed to care. Lori sighed and sat next to her.

"They're...gone, aren't they, Lori?"

The older sister took a moment to think what to say. She knew Lily wasn't a little girl anymore, she knew about life and death and other sensitive topics. But what worried Lori was her reaction towards them, as far as she knew Lily didn't have any experience with this kind of situations; she have heard about them from other people, but experience it in person is totally different.

"I'm sorry, Lili." Lori replied. To be honest she didn't know what else to say.

It's been a few days since their lives changed, and some of them seemed to have troubles adjusting to this new life. How were they supposed to accept that their parents were no longer there?

But what hurt the most was the way they left. Nobody really thought about this every day, but they all believed that their last day would be in many, many years, when they're old and have lived a fulfilling life, surrounded by their children and grandchildren, receiving the love and care they deserved. Knowing they died in such horrendous way did nothing but add salt to the wound, they fucking deserved better!

"I...still can't believe it." Lily said, throwing her arms at her big sister, trying to find some kind of relief, some sort of solace to this pain in her heart.

But all Lori could do was return the hug, caress her hair and allow her to let it all out; all she could do was allow her to get rid of all that pain, even when she felt it as well. Maybe helping others would help her deal with it, or at least distract her.

For now.

Lincoln was sanding at the top of the stairs, watching with impotence as his sisters suffered, angry that he couldn't do anything about it. He still couldn't believe it either, how could someone be so evil to do this to such good sisters?

He walked away and went into his room. For days now, Lincoln have felt that something changed, not only inside the house, that was pretty obvious, but with some of his sisters. It wasn't that they all were sad and grieving, he too felt that way, but there was something else, like they saw him in a different way. He wasn't sure how, but he realized it all started since he beat the hell out of that fucking murderer.

It wasn't until recently that he realized what was happening. They were acting cold towards him, and it wasn't just a rejection, they were actually avoiding him at any cost, and...it hurt, it hurt like hell because it was piling up with other things like the love some of them still felt for him and dealing with his own pain.

Lincoln couldn't help but remember they day where they said their last goodbyes to their parents, it's been a while, but the pain it's the same.

Friends, family, co-workers and people who were close to the family attended to the funeral. The walk with the coffins was slow and painful, watching their parents on their way to their eternal rest was so heartbreaking they couldn't watch. Their closest friends were just as hurt as the siblings, they knew Lynn and Rita were people with hearts of gold, and knowing the horrible fate they suffered was infuriating.

There was a lot of talk and discussions about the future of his father's restaurant, but ultimately the Loud siblings came to an agreement with Lynn's co-worker, Kotaro; he'd lead the restaurant and do the administrative work with a well deserved raise on his salary, but the Louds would still own it. They had talked with him a lot of times, they trusted him enough to know that he'll do an excellent work keeping the business afloat and keeping their father's spirit up.

Over the years Rita had become a well known writer, her works were famous across the nation and were selling pretty well, but now that she was no longer able to receive the royalties, the money would distribute between her children on equal parts.

It seemed that they had their future solved, but they didn't care about money; they'd trade everything they had just to have their parents back with them. Nothing would ever be the same.

The people who so much loved them were gathered around the caskets, shedding tears, comforting each other and wishing that this was nothing but a bad dream. Unfortunately it was true, this was happening and there was nothing they could do. Lincoln was at the front row with his sisters, he watched emotionless as the coffins were being lowered into the ground, he watched as the dirt started to be poured on top of them, he listened as friends and family shared good and funny memories about them, and while this made his sisters cry, he didn't feel anything at all.

As time passed, it began to rain, heavily, as if the sky was crying for the loss of such good human beings. Despite this, the attendants stayed a bit longer to comfort the family, to share their condolences and to let them know that they were there for them. Time passed quickly, and eventually only the family remained.

The sisters walked away one by one, getting on their respective vehicles with the hope of finding some kind of solace in their dreams. By the time the clock marked the 19:00 hours, Lincoln was the only one remaining. He never thought this would ever happen, at least not so soon; he tried to think what their parents would do in this situation, they always were nice and responsible. He had no doubt they were the best.

And yet they left him alone.

"This is it," he muttered. "I'm done. I'm sorry, mom and dad, but I can't do this anymore." he gazed at the tombstones. "Nothing ties me to this city anymore, the pain and the losses...I can no longer live in here."

Lincoln fell on his knees, clenching his fists and teeth as he closed his eyes. "I just hope this is what you wanted."

The storm grew stronger, but he couldn't care less. Just as he did that one time when he beat the shit out of the guy who killed his parents, he began to cry, letting out all the things that had been building up over the course of the last months. He had already made his mind, he was gonna leave, but if there was something he was deeply ashamed of, was that feeling that had bloomed inside of him: he always wanted to be with his sisters.

Lincoln sighed, getting on his feet and walking out of his room, there he went downstairs, where he spotted Lori and Lily still on the sofa, who didn't seemed to notice him. He walked past by them, crossing the door and walking out of the house. He had some things to do, and while he wasn't sure if they were right, all he could do was trust his instincts.

"A-Are you still awake, Lily?"

Lily slowly opened his eyes, taking a moment to realize that she fell asleep on the sofa. She was not alone, Lori was sitting right next to her.

"I am now," she replied. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I saw you moving while sleeping and...I thought you might be having a nightmare or something." Lori replied.

Lily didn't say a thing, in part it was true.

"It...was about Lincoln..." she muttered.

Lori totally understood. She too watched with fear as her brother beat that guy who killed her parents; it was true that she was mad with that bastard, all the sisters were as well. But even with all the anger they felt, with all the pain he caused them...they al believed that what Lincoln did was too much. She was his big sister, she changed his diapers, she watched him give his first steps, hell she celebrated with him the first time he rode a bike without training wheels; even with the love she felt for him, as family and as a man, watching him lose control like that...was scary, it was a side she knew he had, but never actually saw it.

And it wasn't that he left him in the hospital, being siblings there were fights when more than one ended up in the ER. It was the murderous intent in his eyes...it made them tremble with fear.

"Please don't be afraid, Lily," Lori hugged her. "I'm sure Lincoln would never do that to us, he was just angry."

"B-But what if I make him lose control too?"

"Then we're gonna protect you." Leni had arrived from the dinning room, and with her came along the rest of the sisters. They walked to the sofa and embraced their little sister, letting her know that they all were there for her; for the first time since that day, they had found something that would help them get through this pain: they may no longer have their parents, but they had each other.

The moment was cut by the sound of the door being opened, Lincoln had arrived.

The sisters were silent, not knowing what to do or say; they all felt a mixture of surprise and fear.

"L-Lincoln..." Lynn started, breaking the silence.

But Lincoln ignored her and continued walking upstairs. This left all of them confused, they expected him to go into his room and slam the door with anger, but he just locked it without any trace of wrath. They all walked to the bottom of the stairs, from there they heard Lincoln revolting everything in his room, as if he was desperately looking for something. This lasted until they heard his door open, and they all returned to the sofa.

Lincoln walked downstairs with two big suitcases in each hand.

"Lincoln?" Lori spoke. "Where are you going?"

"Girls, I'm leaving."

Nobody seemed to understand what was happening.

Lincoln sighed. "Listen, these last few months have been too much to me. I tried to be a good brother, I tried to be there for you, but then of all sudden you said that you loved me and...to be honest I don't think that's right, and that's the reason I rejected all your approaches and ignored the times when you kissed me."

The girls still seemed to be processing what was happening, and Lincoln noticed that. "Listen, I did everything I could to make it clear to you that it wouldn't happen, but apparently it wasn't enough...then I met Sam, who was like a beam of light in my life, and then it was Luna who kissed me and..." Lincoln sighed. "I can't do this anymore. I love you all as sisters, and I really hope you can be happy without me. I'm taking Sam and we're moving to another state."

There was again that silence that has been so common in the house. Nobody said anything, Lincoln expected them to beg him to stay, but it didn't happen.

After some moments, realization seemed to hit them at last; some began to cry, others stared in disbelief.

Sighing once more, Lincoln spoke. "I'm sorry our parents are de...passed away, but that wasn't the last straw, what made me take this choice was that...you all fear me."

"Lincoln, we do-"

"Please let me finish, Luan." Lincoln interrupted her, his voice didn't sound angry or sad, it sounded tired. "I know you were scared of me when I attacked that bastard...I did it because I wanted him to at least feel a small bit of how I felt. I'm not doing it ever again, and if I must be away so your lives can be somehow normal...I'll do it. I'm not doing this for me, I do it for you."

Lincoln made a pause to let them talk, but nobody said a thing. He closed his eyes and opened his arms. "One last uncomfortable sibling hug?" he asked with weak voice as tears rolled down his face.

At first nobody moved, they still tried to process all of this. Some were having a hard time trying to understand, others began to cry, but one of them finally reacted ever since their brother walked down with his things packed up.

Lana walked towards him, with tears down her cheeks and pain in her eyes, and hugged him. She didn't want to lose him, but she understood that it was not up to her.

"We...We're gonna miss you..." she said with broken voice.

Lincoln returned the hug, softly, feeling for once in a long time, the sibling love he so much lacked and missed, the love he knew he could return. Soon the others joined, crying, wailing and hurt, but understanding.

Lincoln gave them a few more words, he wanted them to achieve their dreams and be the best version of themselves, someone their parents could he proud of. The sisters listened to his words, trying not to let go what was left of their brother.

None of them wanted to admit it, but it was true that they al feared him for beating the criminal, that's why they didn't try to change his mind.

The sound of a horn came from outside the house, meaning that it was time to leave.

"We'll meet again. I love you all."

Lincoln walked out of the house and hoped on the taxi. Inside Sam waited for him with a smile in her face and her hands on her grown belly; she knew this wasn't easy form him, and he needed time to properly say goodbye to them.

Lincoln hopped in next to his girlfriend, who received him with a lovely kiss. The sisters saw this, but decided to let it pass; what mattered now was that their brother was leaving.

Lincoln closed the door and signalled the cab to go. The Loud sisters watched with broken heart as their brother was leaving their home without looking back.

And that's how the only son of the Loud family left his old life behind, looking for one that he could control. The Loud sisters were broken, but at least they were together, and together they would look for a way to carry on without their parents...and without their brother.