Tension hung heavily in the air, the Loud sisters locked eyes with Sam, who didn't back up a bit. She knew they had the numbers advantage, but this didn't discourage her. She was willing to get to the bottom of this, even if it cost her relationship with them. She knew she was right, she had to be, otherwise the air wouldn't be so tense in the room.

The Loud sisters who didn't attend the meeting at the park looked at each other, they were puzzled, confused at the sudden change of mood. Lori and Lola shared a puzzled look, Lisa looked at Sam, trying to analyze her gestures and body language so maybe she could be a step ahead of her. Lucy remained the same, her face unfazed and her hands over her lap as she remained still like a statue.

"Okay, I think we have a lot to talk about and..." Sam stopped, realizing that there was someone missing. She looked at the sisters, there were only nine. "Hey, where's Luna?"

The sisters looked all around the living room, none of them noticed the moment when Luna sneaked out of the living room. Oh, okay, I'll deal with her later. Sam thought.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Luan asked, the tone of her voice made Sam realize that she was talking a bit defensive. "And why is it so important that it can't wait for Lincoln to arrive?"

Sam had to suppress the urge to respond to that in a rude way. She breathed deeply before replying.

"Because this is between you and me. He is well aware that I wanted to have this conversation with you alone." She replied, her voice came out rather calmed, but they all knew she wasn't. "Having said that, I guess it is time to address the elephant in the room, don't you think, girls?"

There was something in the way she said that last word, like was it an attempt of being passive-aggressive? Despite being outnumbered, she was confident because they had the advantage of morality. Sam knew that she could refute every argument they might come with by resorting to decency. What better defense than making them feel inferior with the truth?

"Now, the things I want to discuss concern all of you, my husband, and the feelings you still have for him."

This revelation feel like a bucket of cold water over them. They opened their eyes wide and felt a shiver running down their spine. Some of them remained calmed, Lisa expected something like this, she knew for a long time that a secret like this wouldn't remain hidden for a long time. Lucy also remained the same.

"H-How do you know that?" Lola asked, her face denoted panic; she knew that, if a secret this scandalous was revealed, her career would be over and she would be flagged as a degenerate.

"Lincoln told her." Leni replied, her face unamused. The way her arms were crossed under her chest, the way she looked at Sam, like knowing that she has just as much control of the situation as her... the others couldn't help but feel nervous at what both women had to say, and they also hoped to know what to say so they were not just spectators.

"That is correct." Sam replied, her face stoic and calmed. She didn't want to concede any control, but she was already struggling with Leni. She made a mental note to be careful with her...

"How much did he tell you?" Lucy asked, speaking for the first time ever since she introduced herself to Lina. The gothic sister wasn't having a good time dealing with this either, she understood how bad this situation was.

"Come on, girls, you didn't expect me to marry Lincoln and not know about it, right?" Sam asked, there was a triumphant demeanor in her attitude, one that the Loud sisters didn't like a bit. "Now, let's not waste any more time."

Lynn crossed her arms under her chest, she looked at Sam like she would look at her opponents when she was an active football player, a look of determination, a look that showed that she wasn't gonna back off despite what her opponent might throw at her. "Alright, why don't you start?" She asked. This was a tactic used mostly in fighting sports, let your opponent get close, let him strike first and wait until he makes the slightest mistake to attack back.

Sam narrowed her eyes and began to talk. "Listen, I'm not gonna judge you about it. I think that, given the situation you all were in back in the day, it's not your fault to fall for the only guy who genuinely worried about you all when you were in a vulnerable state." She began, an unfazed expression in her face. "But I think you all can grow past those feelings now. You all are adults, grown people who I assume, can see the wrong in their way of thinking."

As they all heard the word 'wrong' coming from Sam's mouth, they couldn't help but feel personally attacked. They all knew her words weren't meant to harm them, but again, given the current context they all had their doubts.

"I assume you all can grow past this..." Sam tried to find the correct words to avoid insulting them. "phase, and continue with your lives. Having romantic feelings for your brother is not healthy for you or him, and definitely it's not for our relationship."

There was an implicit remark of dominance in the way she said those last words, like a reminder of who was actually married to the man they all loved. It did not sink well in them, but they couldn't refute it.

"So..." Sam continued. "I think we all can agree that it all is in the past, and you will no longer pursue an impossible fantasy, right?" She asked.

Okay, now she was downright testing their patience.

None of the Loud sisters replied, letting an unsettling silence fall on the room. They all stared at Sam, who returned the stare back at them; deep down Sam knew that this fight might not be in her favor, but she maintained her stoic face nonetheless.

After a couple of minutes that felt like ages, Lana finally spoke. "We understand your concerns, Sam, they're valid and we can assure you that we are not gonna pursue him further."

The other sisters nodded in agreement. Sam felt relieved, it seemed that this went better than expected. Feeling more confident, like she won the fight, she replied. "I'm glad to hear that, girls, I think..."

"Let me finish," Lana interrupted. Sam stopped, her previous triumphant demeanor was now replaced by surprise. "We are not gonna pursue this deal any further. We know Lincoln only came here because he wanted to be near his family, and we have no right to put our personal interests before that."

"Besides..." Lola continued where her twin sister left, despite feeling afraid, she gathered enough courage to face Sam. "Nothing of what we did in the past worked, he never returned our feelings despite our best efforts."

"Now he has a wife and a daughter, so I believe it's safe to assume that our chances of success if we ever tried again would be close to zero." Lisa continued. "Though not zero..." She thought, adjusting her glasses.

"Well, I'm glad you all are aware of that, and..."

"Look, you have all the right to be with him." This time it was Lynn who cut her mid sentence. "But that doesn't mean that we can stop loving him, even if we wanted."

"Excuse me?"

"What you just heard." Lynn replied. "We can't choose not to love him, that's out of our control. But what we can control is the way we love him, and that's all that matters."

Lori cleared her throat. "Listen, we can guarantee that we will not make any advances with Lincoln. We will respect your marriage, and our bond will be solely as siblings." She stated. "However, we cannot guarantee that he won't make any advance on any of us..."

At this point, Sam couldn't believe the wide turn this conversation took. She was sure that she held the high ground, but right now she felt the ground beneath her crumbling and threatening to send her down at any moment.

"Y-You can't be ser-"

"Oh, yes we are, Sam." Luan replied this time. "We promise you that we won't initiate any contact, but if he is the one bringing it up...well, let's say we will respond accordingly."

Sam was infuriated, she had lost this battle, a battle where the odds were in her favor, yet her opponents managed to flip the score. She narrowed her eyes lightly, planning carefully her next play. Sighing to relax herself a little bit, she spoke. "Are you all aware that what you want to do is illegal?"

This seemed to hit a nerve amongst the Loud sisters. Some opened their eyes with surprise, they were solely focused on the moral side of their dilemma and never thought that it had legal consequences. Others narrowed their eyes, realizing just how far she was willing to go just to keep them out of the game.

"Listen girls. I love Lincoln, and I don't want to ruin this for him, and I definitely don't want to separate Lina from her family, she seems to be...quite attached to all of you." Sam commented, her body language denoted a newfound feeling of superiority. "You made things clear, you don't plan to give up on pursuing those feelings."Sam smiled, feeling like she was on the lead again. "I guess it's like you said, you can't help but love him, I guess nobody can decide that. But I warn you, don't get in the way of our marriage. I wouldn't want to call the authorities and take Lina and Lincoln away."

A silence fell around the house, the tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. For a moment, the sisters glared at Sam, some of them with fear that she might actually do it and separate them from their brother and niece, others with anger for throwing such a threat. But there was one whose face remained the same ever since this conversation started, she has remained sitting still on the sofa, not moving a single muscle.

"Lincoln is our brother." Lucy spoke, her calmed, emotionless voice sent a shiver down Sam's spine. She didn't know why, but her tone made her a little uncomfortable. "Nobody can take that away, not you, not the authorities, not the higher entities that command each and every single action we do and every word we say. The way we love him is our business."

There was a momentary silence following, nobody wanted to risk and say something that might ignite a fire. Sam glared defiantly at the sisters, while they practically threw daggers at her. Finally, Lori broke the silence.

"If we could stop loving him like we would, please believe me when I tell you that we would do everything to do it. But we can't. You know why?"

Sam shook her head.

"Because he's not only the most important person in your life, but for ours as well. There were other people whom we loved and cherished, but they're no longer here."

Sam narrowed her eyes, using her late in-laws was a cheap tactic. She knew it, and that's why she didn't use it. Sam reserved for herself the words she wanted to tell them and allowed them to continue.

"And that is, amongst other reasons, is why our hearts refuse to stop loving him." Leni continued. "But that doesn't mean that we will keep trying. Just like Lana said, he's all yours and we won't get in the way. We'll spend time with him as a family.." *She crossed her arms under her chest, this gave her a slight look of superiority. "But if something happens...you won't be able to do anything, because it will be Lincoln who will make the first move."

This was a whole roller coaster of emotions, from being morally superior to them, to being outnumbered, to finding a secret weapon in the legality of the matter, to being totally defeated. Sam refused to let them win, maybe there was something else she could use.

After thinking for a moment, she sighed.

"So, you're saying that you will only respond to my...husband's advances, right?" She asked, making a clear emphasis on the word 'husband', like letting them know who was the woman he actually loved, the one who owned his heart.

This hint didn't go unnoticed by the Loud sisters, they all clenched their fists with anger but held their unamused faces.

"Yeah." Lana replied.

"So...if he didn't accept your feelings when you all were younger...it's very unlikely that he will now that he's an adult and has a family..."

"That's what we've been trying to tell you..." Lynn replied, it took all her self-control to stay right where she was and not turn Sam into shreds.

Sam sighed, enjoying the small piece of victory this conversation gave her. "Listen, I'm not satisfied with this resolution, but I think this might work." She said, crossing her arms under her chest. "By the way, he doesn't know about our...little arrangement, right?"

"Absolutely nothing." Lola replied.

"So it all depends on him..."

"That's right." Lana responded.

Sam took her index finger to her chin and looked at the floor, after a few moments of thinking seriously about it, she nodded. "Okay. I think we can leave this for now."

"I'm glad," Lori commented, her legs crossed and her hands together. She was looking at Sam directly. "Because I don't have intentions of talking about it ever again."

Sam let out a sight and leaned forward, her arms rested on her knees as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was tired, this conversation took a lot of her. "Listen, girls," She began, her voice annoyed but sincere. "I'm not trying to make you all mad, please take into account that...I'm practically allowing my husband to have lovers..." The blonde with the blue bang leaned back on her seat, still not believing what she was doing. "I know you all have loved him for a long time now, I know you all have suffered a lot, especially during...those days. But I don't want us to end on a bad note. What do you say? Let's forget this and just be a family, okay?"

Leni cleared her throat and gave her a warm smile. "I think that's for the best."

Sam returned the smile, feeling good for once ever since they started this conversation. "Besides, I want Lina to have a big, loving family, that's one of the reasons why we're here after all." She commented. "I'm sure that, despite what might happen in the future, she will be a good girl."

None of them refuted that, they all believed that Lina was a light in the darkness of this house, where good memories were many, but the bad memories, while fewer, were stronger. They all smiled, hearing as Lina played with Lily upstairs.

"Don't worry about it," Leni commented, a warm, sincere smile on her face. "We'll love her no matter what."

Sam got up from her seat and stretched her body, feeling relief with the cracking sound of his spine and joints. "Okay, I think we have a fair deal..." She said, feeling a little more relaxed. "And I share Lori's opinion...I don't want to talk about this again either..."

With that, Sam and the sisters left the room and began to do their usual chores around the house. Sam installed herself in Lincoln's former room; she had no idea it was that reduced, but decided not to complain; the last thing she needed was to make her sisters-in-law angry. They would definitely have to look for a bigger bed, but in the meantime it seemed that somebody would have to sleep on the sofa.

Some hours passed after their talk, and everything went as normal as possible. Lincoln sent her a message to let her know that he wasn't coming soon; apparently he had to speak to the manager to get his money back, and the manager wasn't there at the moment so he had to wait.

Sam went downstairs to the kitchen, where she had a small talk with Luan. It felt...weird, they just had an uncomfortable but necessary talk not many hours ago, and the next moment they talked like nothing ever happened. Sam smiled, maybe living here wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. Well, yeah, the only danger was Lincoln making a move on any of them, but she trusted him enough to know that he would never do anything like that.

Luan eventually had to go, leaving Sam alone in the kitchen. The blonde with the blue bang knew that, despite having stated her points clearly, there were still a lot of things that would need to be discussed in the future, but for now she would have to focus on rebuilding the relationship she had with her sisters-in-law. She had to focus on making this house a home for Lina, and for Lincoln's sake. She knew how sad he's been through the years, it was obvious that living all his life with a big family, just to leave them all of a sudden, wouldn't be easy.

Sam saw a small pile of dishes on the sink, and since she wasn't doing anything right now, maybe if she started helping around the house would give her good points with the others.

As Sam washed the dishes, humming a song she's been working on for a while now trying to find the right tune, she couldn't help but think of the conversation. She said that they had a fair deal, but in reality...she didn't feel like that was true. It was ten against one, the whole world against her. Despite knowing that only Lincoln had the power to do anything, she still didn't feel comfortable. What if they don't play fair? What if they turn Lina against her? What if Lincoln actually gets involved with one of them?

No. Sam shook her head. She was starting to make dumb baseless assumptions and...

Her thoughts were stopped when the sound of the fridge being opened caught her attention. She turned around and saw Luna, taking a soda and walking until she was next to her; the look in Luna's eyes was quite...relaxed, like when she met Lina. It was strange, Sam expected Luna to be mad at her; if Sam was in her situation (not that she wants to), she'd definitely be resentful towards the one who stole the love of her life.

"Where have you been?"

Luna takes a sip of her soda, feeling the raspy sensation of the gas on her throat. It doesn't bother her, not after years of having all sorts of alcoholic drinks. She clears her throat before giving her a reply. "I was in the kitchen when you and my sisters had the conversation." She responds. "I...didn't feel like talking. After that I went outside to have a little walk. That's all."

Sam was both taken aback and thankful by her calm reaction. "You heard?" She asks, feeling more at ease. "Well, what do you think?"

Luna gazed at the floor for a moment, trying to find the right words to reply. "I agree with all that was said in that meeting. I really have nothing to add that wasn't already discussed..." She turns to see Sam. "Well, maybe except for one thing."

Luna leaves the can on the counter and leans against it. "My sisters are dumb, they still have a tiny bit of hope that Lincoln will love them the same way he loves you. I don't. I lost hope that it would happen many years ago. If it didn't work when we were young," She chuckled, finding her situation both funny and sad. "Fuck it didn't worked when I kissed him, I'm certain that it won't work now that he has you and Lina."

Despite her attempts to sound like it's not that big of a deal, Sam can still detect the pain in her voice. Despite all that they all have gone through, and especially despite their situation, she can't help but feel bad for Luna. Maybe it's the bond they once shared as bandmates and friends, but her heart ached for her.

Still, there was something she needed to know.

"Do you..." She began, unsure if this was the right thing to bring up at this moment. "Do you still love him?"

Luna didn't reply. Instead, she turned her face to meet her eyes. Sam could see it, the pain, the love, the desperation, but most importantly, the resignation. Luna accepted that she will never have anything with her brother past a normal, siblings relationship. Sam nodded, sighing with relief, and extending her hand to Luna.

"Why don't we start fresh?" She offered. "A new beginning."

Luna hesitated for a moment, not sure if she was ready for it. She thought about all that she had been through over the years, all the struggles she and her sisters had to endure in order to be at peace with life. She let out a heavy sigh, and took her hand.

Sam felt relieved when Luna accepted her offer. Now that they were on good terms, they could...

Sam's thoughts stopped when she felt Luna's grip tighten on her hand. She looked at her former band mate, she was smiling, but there was something else in her eyes. Sam took a little longer to realize what it was, but when she finally did it, she let out a small chuckle. "Well, I guess we still have a lot to make up for."

Luna nodded. "Sure we do." She replied, a confident and decided smile on her face; her eyes never left Sam's. "Wanna go outside and...have a little talk?"

"Show me the way."

With that, both Luna and Sam walked out of the house through the back door.

Lincoln returned a few hours back, a tired expression on his face but a triumphant demeanor like a wrestler after winning the world title after a long match. The staff of the hotel were total douchebags, he tried to cancel the reservation since he no longer needed it, they were trying every damn trick of the book to try and convince him not to. They simply didn't take a no for an answer, and kept bringing stupid stuff after stupid stuff to make him angry and get out of there without canceling.

He was about to give up, until he heard Lina complain because a pot fell off a nearby counter and hit her on the arm. The hotel staff felt as the blood left their bodies, they left for a moment to have a meeting, leaving Lincoln really confused. It wasn't until the manager arrived that he was informed of the situation, and feeling just as worried as his employees he offered him a deal, in which they would give him the refund and a free dinner at their restaurant if he didn't sue them for the damage caused to his daughter. He understood at last what was happening; even when part of him thought about asking for more, in vengeance for making him have a hard time, he accepted the offer. And of course, he bought Lina the ice cream he promised.

Currently, Lina was asleep in his arms, he placed her on the sofa and stretched his tired back. This has been a hell of a day, too many emotions for his liking. He walked to the kitchen, wishing to find something refreshing in the fridge to calm his thirst. He walked in, and what he saw left him speechless: Sam and Luna, covered in dirt, their hair messy with grass stains in some places. Luna's left eye was black and sore, while Sam's lip was broken and his nose looked like it was profusely bleeding not long ago. They were laughing, laughing like the good, old best friends they used to be.

"Hey honey." Sam called him as soon as she noticed him enter, she took a piece of paper and took it to her nose.

"Hey there, little bro." Luna followed, leaning back on the chair and placing a pack of frozen peas on her eye.

Lincoln just observed them, not understanding what happened here. He debated between interrogating them or just dismissing it. Feeling his lower back aching from all the time he spent at the hotel, plus the drive to Royal Woods, he just grabbed a soda from the fridge and waved goodbye at them. Both Luna and Sam looked at each other in confusion before bursting in laughter once again.