Sidney Chang was a girl in an interesting predicament, but one certainly of her own making. Sid was many things. A decent skate boarder, a robotics maniac, a fan of k-pop. But, regrettably in this circumstance, a liar wasn't one of them. She stood under the judgmental eye of her best friend, Ronnie Anne... certain that she had ruined that relationship. It was the end of their freshman summer, a hell of a way to start her sophomore year. She had just informed her friend of her budding feelings for her friend's boyfriend... something that she had confirmed over the past couple of weeks through exposure therapy. She had more fun around the two of them then she could have imagined... then the nights came. Ever since that first night of... watching them back after his sister's concert she couldn't stop herself. She used the extra key her mother left while she worked her night shifts and snuck in to watch.

She watched as Lincoln embraced Ronnie. She watched as the two rutted like animals in heat. She saw the look of ecstasy on her friends face every night, desperately wishing to know what it felt like. At one point she had wondered if that was the only reason she was feeling the way she was. Teenage hormones being what they were she felt as if it could just be that she was horny. But it became more than that. Lincoln was no longer the lanky dork Ronnie and Her once wasted time with... well he was still that... but he was becoming more. He was certainly stronger, she had seen that firsthand during the concert. But he had become more dependable over time. Years of learned experiences from failures of being an awkward middle schooler had done good for the boy. Too good.

She was no stranger to crushes, or lust for that matter, given her obsession with Yoon Kwan, but this was different. Yoon was a, 'from afar,' thing. This was so close, yet so far, and for her part, Ronnie hadn't helped. It was always something during one of their outings.

At a local dance place it was, "Dance with Sid for a second while I go to the bathroom, Stinkin."

At the arcade, "You two play this round, I gotta get something to drink."

At any local concert they had snuck in to, "Let her sit on your shoulders, your big goofy frame can finally be useful for something."

Playful jabs at her boyfriend interspliced with allowing Sid to get a taste of what it's like being with such a boy... or rather man. It had to be home training, something to do with the multitude of sisters molding him into perfect boyfriend material. But Sid couldn't blame Ronnie for what she started feeling on her own... all she could do is make her aware. Ronnie had taken the admission in stunned silence for a few moments before sighing and putting her hand to her forehead.

"I... don't know what you want me to say," she finally said as the two girls sat in her room.

"Anything would be fine," Sid answered, not daring to look up, "That I'm a terrible friend, that I shouldn't be eying your man... Hell, laughing at me would suffice."

"Why would I do that?" Ronnie demanded, before letting the silence hang a little longer than either girl was comfortable with, "Look... I need to... I need to think about this."

Sid was horrified at that response, but relieved when Ronnie seemed to drop the issue entirely the next day. They didn't talk about him at all for months... which made it more surprising when she invited her on her trip to Royal Woods to visit him for the holidays.

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Detroit was cold, even in spring, but Lincoln was used to it. Besides, there was no shortage of people to keep him warm at the compound. But an occasional surprise visitor was never unwelcome. A knock on the front door of the old project snapped Lincoln from his work in the kitchen, but he was nowhere near as surprised as when he opened the door. There stood a woman familiar to him, but always seemingly out of reach. The auburn haired, slightly freckled, half Chinese girl smiled at him when he opened the door before wrapping her arms around him.

"How you been, Linc?"

"Sid?! What are you doing here?"

"Didn't Ronnie tell you?" She asked as she pushed past him, "I'll be staying for a couple of nights while I'm doing some work in town."

Lincoln smiled, "Still working on domestic robots?"

Sid nodded as she walked into the familiar dining room, a seat made for her as always, "A lot of money in building something that does what nobody likes doing."

Lincoln shrugged, "I like doing the domestic work, keeps my mind occupied."

Sid eyed him suggestively, "I don't know, I think there's some other things that you could be doing to keep your mind occupied," She bit her lip, "Definitely your body."

"Easy tiger," A voice came from the door way as Ronnie glared at her, "You just got here and you're already eying up my husband?"

Sid looked over and grinned, "What? I thought you said what's yours is mine and vice versa."

They glared at each other for a moment before they both smiled and embraced, "God... I missed you Sid."

"Missed you too, Ronnie," she closed her eyes and put her cheek to her best friend, "You been keeping a tight leash on him?"

Ronnie sucked her teeth, "Like Hell... I may be top dog here, but his sisters are still all the idiot ever worries about."

Lincoln rolled his eyes, "Here we go."

"Don't here we go me, Lincoln Loud. Stella already told me all about Lynn and Lucy's little episode."

Lincoln sighed, "Look, I took care of it."

Ronnie crossed her arms, "Fucking them in the basement until the kids come home isn't exactly taking care of it."

"Holy shit," Sid perked up at this, "For how long?!"

Lincoln shrugged, "Couple of hours."

"Yeah, giving them what they want is really putting your foot down."

Lincoln said nothing and embraced Ronnie from behind, "Look, you have to do certain things with Loud women to assert your dominance-"

"I assert mine just fine, thank you-"

"Not what I meant. You have your method and I have mine," he noted, "They haven't been up to anything since then, have they?"

Ronnie looked away, not really able to argue against that, "I still say you should just sleep with me, in my unit."

Lincoln shook his head, "I can't do that. You know how I get some nights... It's the same reason I won't sleep in anyone's unit. Thrashing around like that after I got too comfortable... I could really hurt someone."

Sid smiled, "I wouldn't object to being man handled a little."

"Jesus," Ronnie shook her head, "Am I the only one in this house that doesn't always have sex on their mind?!"

"Your, 'toy collection,' says otherwise," that comment earned him a punch in his shoulder, "Alright, I earned that one. Why didn't you tell me Sid was coming over?"

"What, would you have said no?" Ronnie asked with a snide smile.

"Of course not," Lincoln responded, "Just would've been nice to know so I could get out the guest stuff."

"What's the point?" Sid asked before grinning, "We're just all going to be sleeping in the same bed like always."

Ronnie scoffed at this, "Here we go."

"What? Are you saying we won't?" she nudged her.

"I'm not an animal like the rest of you," she noted, "Besides, BJ and Reina are getting to the age where they'll start asking... questions."

Sid shook her head and whispered to Lincoln, "We'll see how long that lasts."

"I heard that!"

Lincoln and Sid began laughing while Ronnie stifled a smile, a blush forming on her face. Thus was their current relationship, and none of them would change it for anything... minus a few minor details. But other house mates certainly would... two of which were eying the exchange currently from around the corner.

"Great," Luan groaned, "I get back from a short tour in Wisconsin and Sid Chang shows up to cock block me."

Luna elbowed her, "Stow it dude, I'm not going to get any this week either."

"Yeah, but you're here all the time now! Between here and running dad's Detroit location it's hard to get my, 'fill.' Besides, you have Sam."

"Sure, I do, but if vinyl or rubber was enough to fill that void, I wouldn't be in a relationship with my brother, now would I?"

Luan rolled her eyes, "I guess. But neither of us are going to get our, 'voids filled,' now anyway."

They wouldn't be the first group of Loud sisters to bemoan the coming of Sid Chang. Her arrival always meant a dry spell for them... just like all those years ago.

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Another day, another peg on the rotation. Luan's turn was first in the cycle... and it was winter break. He knew all of his sisters were going to monopolize his time at every opportunity. Well, that was the plan as Luan was eying him hungrily and gripping dangerous parts of his anatomy as they sat on the couch dangerously close to the kitchen where their parents were, much to his many protests... but then the knock on the door snapped her out of her stupor.

"Dang it," she groaned as she stood up, "I'll get it!"

She would immediately regret her decision. Not that she could prevent it. She could pretend they weren't there... but her parents would have answered the door... and in would walk the sisters biggest rival, though she herself didn't know it yet. Ronnie Anne greeted Luan, and when Lincoln heard her voice he jumped up in excitement.

"Ronnie?!" he raced over and scooped her into his arms, then into a kiss as Luan's eye twitched, "What are you doing here?!"

She smiled at his reaction, "Told you he'd be happy to see us."

"Yeah you," Sid smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Holy shit, you brought Sid along too?"

She pointed to him accusingly, "See, he didn't even notice me."

"How could he with all this in front of him?" Ronnie joked before planting another kiss on his lips, earning another twitch from Luan.

Why the Hell did he act like that around her? Why was he okay with her PDA?! No. Luan knew why. She had something that none of the other people wrapped in this affair had... the pleasure of being from a different family.

"Ronnie told us not to tell you she was coming," Rita called as she stepped out of the kitchen where his father was currently making lunch.

"Did I surprise you, Stinkin?" Ronnie asked with a smile.

Luan heard a muffled protest from upstairs, she looked up to see Lucy covering Lynn's mouth along with Luna and Leni spying on them from the top floor, the same concerned look on their face that she was currently sporting.

"Well yeah," Lincoln admitted, "I didn't even where my best shirt!"

"All your shirts look the same, Stinkin," Ronnie teased.

"Well, we have to go out! Hit all the same spots! Give Sid the full Royal Woods tour!"

"After lunch," Rita ordered, "You know how your father is about his cooking."

Lincoln looked over at Ronnie, "How long you guys staying?"

"A week," she responded.

"Alright fine," Lincoln crossed his arms, "I guess that's enough time."

Luan looked back up and saw as Lucy mouthed, "Meeting, now."

She looked back as she climbed the stairs, realizing that Lincoln didn't even notice her leaving. As Lincoln an Ronnie laid out their plans for the week, the 5 sisters met in Lynn and Lucy's room.

"What the hell are we going to do?!" Lynn asked as she bounced a tennis ball against the wall.

"Calm down, dude," Luna warned, crossing her arms.

"You calm down! You're the one shaking!" Lynn noted, pointing at her older sister as the tennis ball bounced off her head.

Luna looked down at her hands in protest. Lynn was right, she was shaking. Her and Sam had so many plans for the coming couple of weeks. All up in smoke. The timing wouldn't be the same either. She looked over at Luan, her night had just been ruined in one foul sweep. She was staring at her feet, discontent welling in her eyes. She looked over at Leni, the only one who wasn't seething in a noticeable way, a look of concern on her face for her younger siblings. Finally, over to the stoic Lucy, unreadable to her behind those bangs, but she could feel the pressure coming from her. Each one of their weeks had been subsequently ruined by their brother's actual girlfriend, something none of them could openly claim to be.

She sighed, "Look, we can sit up here and complain or break shit all we want, the actual question is what do we do about it?"

They all turned to their de facto leader, the youngest sister in the room and the one to set them on this path, she let out a defeated, "Sigh," before calmly, yet morosely explaining, "There's nothing we can do."

"So you're just giving up spooky?!" Lynn growled as she grabbed her sister's shoulders, "You can't be serious! What about all our plans?!"

"I had plans too, Lynn," Lucy explained as she pushed her older sister off of her, "Just like the rest of you did. But I'm telling you logically, us doing anything puts our dearest brother at great risk."

"How you figure?!" she demanded.

"Because Ronnie is more than just a pretty face and athletic build," Lucy explained, "She's not just a pretty meat head, like you dear sister."

"Hey!" Lynn growled, "Wait, you think I'm pretty?"

"Focus, Lynn," Lucy demanded, "Ronnie's smart enough to notice if something is off," she explained, "If we start trying to get between them that's going to send up some dangerous flags. If we start trying to monopolize him it'll raise more. As much as it hurts me to say this, we have to relinquish our dearest brother to her for this week. That goes double for you, Luan."

"Hey!"

Lynn sucked her teeth and looked at Lucy weakly, "Christmas was supposed to be ours..."

"Don't remind me," Lucy laid back, "Sigh."

"God," Luan groaned, "A whole week without getting laid... this really sucks... or I guess it doesn't suck," She shivered, "Shit, now I'm thinking about it."

Leni tilted her head, "So... we aren't allowed to see Lincy?"

Lucy shook her head, "Not like we usually do."

Leni put her finger to her mouth, "But I don't think I can stay in my room a whole week. What if I have to pee?"

"What?" Luna asked, "No, you can still see him. Just no... you know... sensual stuff... like no kissing or hugging too much."

"Why not?"

"We've been over this Leni, brothers and sisters don't usually do what we've been doing," Luna explained.

"But I hugged and kissed him all the time, even before all the other stuff," Leni noted and put her hands on her hips, "Why would I stop that?"

Lucy put her hand on her head, "If only I could get away with stuff like that and get an, 'it's only Lucy,' response."

The rest of the time before their father called them down was spent trying to explain to Leni the severity of the situation, which resulted in her leaving the room in a huff. When the girls came to the kitchen they saw a sight that, years ago, may have brought them joy. Their brother talking excitedly to his girlfriend with her best friend flanking him, listening intently to their ideals. But now it just made him feel so out of reach. The food that their father made, to them, tasted bland for the first time as they just couldn't enjoy it watching the scene unfold before them.

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The sisters that were present had all gathered to once again seethe at the impenetrable bubble that seemed to be around Ronnie, Sid, and Lincoln. Ronnie was teasing Lincoln in her usual fashion, Sid was defending him, but smiling at the playful jab, and Lincoln was desperately trying to change any and all subjects that came up.

"Sure Lincoln, we could talk about April 1st and how you still owe me for that time."

"I think you got paid well enough for that," he responded.

"Hmm, you do, do you?"

"Oh, come on, you know you're one of the only ones who can trade blows with Luan on that," Sid reminded, "Cut him some slack!"

"Besides, you were the one the one who said the kids could wait, trapped in that mattress," Lincoln reminded.

"Oh yes, there's a subject, our, 'niece,' creeping on my son," she smiled as he shuffled uncomfortably.

"I don't like that subject," he stated.

"What?!" Sid gasped, "You didn't tell me about that!... Wait... Niece?"

"Loan's living with us now," she answered, "She's always had a weird thing for my BJ."

Sid tilted her head, "Isn't he, like, 10 years younger than her?"

"11," Ronnie corrected her.

"Come on, Ronnie... she hasn't done anything too bad."

"Nothing you've told me about anyway."

Lincoln sighed, "You really think I would let Loan do that?"

Ronnie shrugged, "No, but it's not like you can pay attention to just our children in this house."

Lincoln rubbed his temples, "Here it comes..."

Ronnie showed a malicious smile briefly, right before Sid derailed her train immediately, "Poor Reina must be taking it hard."

Lincoln looked over to Sid who was twirling her spaghetti as Ronnie turned to glare at her, "Wait," Lincoln turned to Ronnie who averted her eyes, "You knew about Jelly Bean's crush?"

Ronnie glared at Sid again, "I... don't know what you're talking about."

Lincoln wasn't buying it, "Ronnie Anne."

"Oh, don't take that tone with me, Lincoln Albert Loud!" Ronnie chided, "How much of a hypocrite would I be if I crushed the girl's dreams? I'm not encouraging it, for crying out loud."

"Apparently you won't have to crush her dreams," Sid smiled, "Loan will."

"That's a different problem," Ronnie stated, "One that I think we should focus on!"

Lincoln smiled, realizing that thanks to Sid he had her on the retreat for a rare moment, "Oh no, we aren't letting this slip away. Haven't you heard of as I say, not as I do?"

"Rich coming from you!" she shot back, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"It isn't, I've been running interference this entire time! Listen, I don't want my kids to repeat my choices, life is hard enough for us, let alone another generation of this. Besides, if I remember correctly, you were the one who had the most initial hang-ups with this life of ours," Lincoln knew exactly how to press Ronnies buttons when she was like this, earning him a quick elbow.

These three were talking as if the aforementioned life of theirs wasn't in the room with them. Lynn and Lucy were eying them, jealous as always. Luan, Luna, and Sam were pushing their food around, trying to ignore them ignoring everyone else, rather unsuccessfully. Leni was looking back and forth from the two groups in confusion. Lana and Lisa were the only ones who appeared normal.

"Spaghetti's great Linc," Lana complimented.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Lana," he said back.

"Make me," she teased, sticking her tongue out with food still on it.

Lynn shook her head and muttered under her breath, "I wish all four of you would grow up."

Lincoln didn't hear her, already going back to his conversations with Ronnie and Sid, but one person did, "Oh please," Lisa rolled her eyes, "This is just a case of frustration attraction mixed with the obvious result of under communication due to distance and differing schedules. You can't be mad at them for reconnecting in an accelerated fashion due to the phenomenon."

Lynn stared at her for a moment as everyone except Leni, who was still processing the words her sister just said, tilted their head, "How about you put it in English, nerd."

Lisa sighed, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Your crazy if you don't think they're going to try to reconnect after all the time apart."

"Well if they're going to, 'reconnect,' I hope they wait until after we're done eating," Luan said in a huff.

"Oh, will you girls quit?" Lisa chided.

"You can say that when you quit tapping your finger," Lynn snapped back.

Lisa looked to her lap where her finger was impatiently tapping and blushed, "L-Look! My point still stands!"

"Sigh," Lucy finally said, "Lisa's right... Regardless of how we feel, until Sid finally moves in we'll have to deal with this every time she visits."

"... That's not all we'll have to deal with..." Lynn growled as she looked at the clock.

4 PM on the nose. They had been in the kitchen moping for nearly four hours. As if on que the sounds of their children rang through the house.

"First!" Lacy shouted as she shot through the door.

"Not fair!" Reina's voice shouted behind her.

"Give it up," Lemy called after her, "It's not like you'll ever beat her anyway."

"Shut up, Lemuel!" Reina demanded.

"Don't hate me because I'm right!" he shot back, "Back me up, guys!"

BJ and Lyle averted their gazes as Reina glared at them both, "BJ!" she growled, demanding he say something, but he remained silent, "BJ?!"

"Well, what do you want me to say? I mean... she is older than us, she has a bit of an advantage."

"Robert Loud!" Reina stomped.

"Full name," Lyle shivered, "My sympathy, Robert."

"Awe... come on Reina," he begged.

"Misery certainly does love company," Lupa noted as she passed her arguing siblings only to freeze at the kitchen, glancing up at the smiling woman next to her father, "Aunt Sid?"

The other children ceased their actions and looked up to see the woman smiling at them and Reina and Lacy lit up, "Aunt Sid!"

Both girls ran to the woman and almost climbed her as they rushed to hug her, "I didn't know you were coming!" Reina excitedly bounced.

"When did you get here?!" Lacy asked after her, before both girls began bombarding her with questions.

"Did you bring your board?"

"What's the occasion?"

"Did you finish a robot that can clean my room?"

"Did you bring me any gifts?!"

"Girls," Lincoln laughed, "One at a time."

"How long are you staying?" Reina asked.

"A week," Sid answered, "I have to talk to some potential buyers on Wednesday, so I figured I'd stay tell Sunday."

"I'm interested in this room cleaning robot," Lupa stated, bluntly.

The sisters heard a fork snap, turning to the source of the noise as Lisa averted her eyes and tried to hide the broken silverware. Lucy let out another sigh as she put her head on the table. The effect Lisa described didn't only extend to Lincoln... but their own children as well. Unlike their Aunt Lori, whom they knew very little about past how cagey she used to be when she visited, their Aunt Sid was always happy to see them. The children of the man she loved. As such, she spoiled them rotten, so when she wasn't stealing their brother's attention... she was stealing their kids.

"Can we go try some new tricks?!" Lacy asked pulling her skateboard off her backpack.

"Oh no!" Lynn stood up, "You have to practice dribbling this..." Lacy turned to her mother with her puppy dog look... damn Lincoln for giving her his eyes, she sat back down, "Dang it... Fine."

"Awesome! Can we Aunt Sid?!"

Sid smiled and pull her board out of her bag, still tucked behind the chair she was sitting in as her, Ronnie, and Lincoln hadn't moved much since she arrived, "Duh, little sunshine!"

Lynn's eye twitched as Ronnie looked at Reina, "Jelly Bean, go get your board too."

"Right on!" Reina jumped, "Thanks mom!"

Sid laughed as Lacy pushed her out the door, the boys followed them outside shortly after, even Lupa chose to follow them adding with a morbid smile, "I hope someone falls."

Lincoln, his own smile beaming, looked down the table to all of his sisters glaring at him, his face fell, "What?"

The women, including Lisa, wordlessly stood up and walked out of the dining room, leaving their mostly full plates, Lincoln looked at Lana who was chewing her food, "What's their problem?"

Lana shrugged and grabbed a plate, mouth still full, "Oh well, more for me!"

Lincoln sighed and turned to Ronnie who was smiling, "What?"

"You're such an ass," she said elbowing him playfully, "Come on, heartbreaker, we better go make sure no one gets hurt immitating our Sid."

Lincoln looked around and sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

Even though this was his house, even though he had lived with them for his entire life, even though he was usually always in control of his situation, sometimes Lincoln was still oblivious to the effect he had on people. But that's how he got into this situation in the first place... but he wasn't the only person to blame.

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Even as well as he thought he knew women, Lincoln still found himself painfully oblivious. His relationship with his girlfriend's best friend became one of those times. His teen sisters, still silently seething across the table from him as his parents, his younger siblings, sans Lisa, and he himself ate blissfully unaware of their ire, were their own worst enemies in this aspect. Sid would've been destined for someone else were it not for her proximity to him. But, thanks to Ronnie, she had seen him at his best, which had only gotten better.

Luna was correct in her assessment of her brother, they all had their influence on him which was continuing into his teen years creating their own monster. Leni was fond of dancing, and, due to her nature, most people accepted the now, to their knowledge, single simple girl bringing her brother as a chaperone to her adult parties and teaching him how to dance in almost every conceivable fashion.

Ronnie, when needing a break from his dancing prowess, she ducked away to the bathroom and the bar for a soda of the club they had snuck into, leaving Sid at his mercy, "Dance with Sid for a second while I go to the bathroom, Stinkin."

Lori still had her effect on him, given his love of video games and comics, as well as his love of the Arcade. While Ronnie stomped him on the dance machine most of the time if their was a new cabinet he would show out or show up for cooperative ones, some of which Sid had the pleasure of beating with him ending with a high-five or brief hug, causing her deeper problems, thanks to a simple sentence, "You two play this round, I gotta get something to drink."

Luna and Lynn had their effect on him, in him knowing the best bands around for one. Hell, some of the ones down in Great Lakes she had toured with as an opener in Royal Woods and the surrounding Detroit area. Lincoln knew a lot of security and a lot of security knew Slim. That blue bandana was usually the only ticket he needed. Lynn was responsible entirely for the strength he used to garner this reputation. He still wasn't much for sports, but he certainly had the strength for it putting up with her. Sid's small frame was a breeze for him to lift when she got stuck behind some dude twice her height, "Let her sit on your shoulders, your big goofy frame can finally be useful for something."

If the feelings she had before were lust, as she watched the other skills his sisters secretly taught him in action that fateful night, these brief moments after she was aware of him as a member of the opposite sex turned it into a genuine love. One that was shown in her eyes as Lincoln discussed what his plans were with his parents and one that the girl watching her spurred on incidentally. Even so when she looked at her friend she was surprised to see her flash a knowing smile before going back to her food as the boy she was pining for sat... obliviously.