Lincoln's world completely stopped. There was nothing but the lips pressed against his. And they were making his mind go blank. There were no thoughts, no worries, no anxiety.

Only sensation.

As suddenly as it had occurred, it ended. Lincoln thirstily drew a breath he didn't know was missing. He could swear stars were fading from the corners of his vision. Was the earth beneath his feet spinning gently?

The boy blinked a few times to try and regain his composure.

Ronnie Anne was as struck as he was, drawing heavy breaths and sporting a face showing both surprise and elation.

Lincoln was sure he couldn't get any redder but managed to keep enough presence of mind to entertain a thought.

"What do you do after a kiss?" he pondered. "Get a black eye maybe? Celebrate not being turned pastry shaped by a sister?" he guessed, drawing on past experience.

Him and Ronnie Anne stood still, unsure of what to do. Awkwardness not yet settled in, they did not look away from each other awhile, before the ever present music stopped for an instant.

A new song started somewhere amidst the patty grounds and the two mesmerized youths snapped out of their trance, still panting.

"Every time we touch I get this feeling…" a voice could be heard from the stage.

A need to engage in another kiss was lingering over the two young dancers. Unsure as what to do, their faces remained uncomfortably close. The two hesitated for a moment longer before the reality of the situation made itself manifest.

"Was... was that on purpose?" Ronnie Anne asked, tentatively.

Lincoln was shaken still. Different actions and options were going through the boy's head.

Was he supposed to say "yes"? Make a joke? Was he supposed to kiss her again? He wouldn't mind kissing her again... Was that an option? Or did he have to apologize? Run away maybe? He didn't think his legs were up for that.

"I... uh... I didn't..." Lincoln stuttered. "It wasn't an accident?"

"You don't sound too sure." Ronnie Anne's voice fell with disappointment.

"I don't..." the boy was still overthinking his response, but when he looked at the face of the girl in front of him, his thoughts cleared for once. "I don't know if it was an accident. But it felt right."

Ronnie Anne smiled as she seemed to recover some of her usual moxie.

"You're getting a habit of stealing kisses, aren't you." she smirked.

"Is that... a bad thing?" Lincoln asked hesitantly, doubt about what he had just done creeping back.

"Haven't punched you yet, right?" she said.

"Guess you have..." the boy stopped as Ronnie Anne moved.

She had assumed a fighting stance, ready for a right hook Lincoln knew only too well. He instinctively flinched in anticipation of the punch.

All that happened was him hearing Ronnie Anne's cocky laugh though. He dared open his eyes to see her standing there looking at him grinning. It was a bit odd.

The strange thing wasn't Ronnie Anne taking advantage of his skittishness, that was par for the course. It was her face - she looked happy. Not the "made you look" kind of smug. The "playing at the arcade all day and having pizza afterwards" kind of happy.

"She's OK with this? She liked it? I didn't mess up? Does this mean we're actually..."

The constant ambiance of guests chatting and laughing was abruptly interrupted by a voice coming from the stage. The music had stopped at some point.

"Hello? How does this thing work?" a female voice came muffled by the sounds of the party and the walls of the garage.

"Let me show you how it's done, Mrs. S." Lincoln heard his sister's raspy voice, followed by the audio feedback of someone handling a microphone.

"Darn it!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed. "That's my mom! She's about to give this speech thing she's been preparing!"

"Is that a… bad thing?" Lincoln asked, his mind still focusing on recent matters.

"She's gonna be thanking everyone that helped and that means you and your sis too. We gotta get back in there." Ronnie Anne explained, looking at the stacks of chairs separating them from the party proper. "She might even ask you to say something."

"What, like on stage?" Lincoln got worried.

"Come on, or they'll know we're missing!" Ronnie Anne grabbed his hand.

Despite the frantic situation, Lincoln's body was consistent enough in its reactions to make him start blushing again as the girl in blue held his hand tight and tugged him out of their sanctuary.

Rejoining the crowd of party goers, the two navigated their way closer to the musician's corner while the majority of the guests were focused on the people on stage.

"Thank you, Luna!" they saw Ronnie Anne's mom smile at the formally clothed Loud.

The girl pulling Lincoln behind her looked around and headed to one side of the back yard to sidestep the majority of the crowd.

As he was being led through the guests, Lincoln was struggling to focus on the problem at hand.

"Ronnie Anne's mom is going to be thanking us..." he thought as he absentmindedly looked at her talking to the birthday girl. "She looks great tonight. Guess it runs in the family..." his mind wandered. "Luna's gonna be there too, hope she didn't notice I was missing." he tried focusing on the here and now. "Missing because I was behind the garage, where me and Ronnie Anne were..."

"If I can get your attention for a moment." Maria held the microphone again as she was being joined by Sofia.

"Thank you all for being with us tonight!" the birthday girl's mom took the mic. "Let me try and express how special you all managed to make this evening. I can assure you that Carrie is also very grateful for all of you being here and she would have come up and told you that herself, but she's still cranky about us making this a surprise." she pointed her gaze towards where her daughter stood in the crowd. Carrie promptly stuck out her tongue at her mother and crossed her arms even though she could hardly contain her smile.

"I think what we did tonight was so much fun and Maria is here with me to help express our gratitude to everyone involved."

Ronnie Anne's mom stepped up to the microphone again, sporting the smile that she had been dispensing all evening.

"I would like to thank a few people whose contribution to the quinceañera was even more involved." she said and smiled towards one side of the stage where some formally dressed kids were gathering, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne included.

"First and foremost I'd like to thank Leni Loud for designing the lovely suits and dresses for the court of honor and also making the birthday girl's beautiful gown."

The crowd of guests loudly expressed their approval as Maria continued.

"Unfortunately she told me she couldn't make it tonight because of her quince allergy..." Ronnie Anne's mom said with both disappointment and confusion. "But I know her siblings will send her our love. Speaking of which, let's all give a hand to her sister Luna Loud who volunteered to organize the little band that has been entertaining us all night."

The crowd applauded Luna as her band mates shoved her to the front of the stage.

She took the spot next to Maria, beaming.

"That's all right, Mrs. S. We just hope we shook you all night long." she grinned.

"Tell us, Luna, does your little group have a name?" Ronnie Anne's mom asked.

"I don't know what to tell you, we are just an American band." the rocker winked at the people gathered and stepped back so Maria continued.

"And we couldn't make tonight as special as it was without our lovely court of honor. Come on up, everybody!" she waved the red and blue bunch next to the little stage towards her.

About ten boys and girls crowded the podium and Lincoln and Ronnie Anne got lost in the crowd.

Maria started handing the microphone to the kids for them to say a word or two.

"It was super fun." one boy said.

"I love dancing." a girl smiled.

"The dresses are pretty." another said.

As Lincoln's court-mates were expressing their approval of the festivities, he was struggling to come to his senses, despite him and Ronnie Anne having been separated.

"There's a lot of girls in blue dresses... Should I look for Ronnie Anne?" he thought. "Would that be weird? She didn't mind us..." he didn't finish the thought. "Maybe it's not a good idea for us to be seen together. Luna's still lurking around."

Lost in thought, Lincoln hadn't noticed how he ended up at the front of the group of dancers.

"And here's another little Loud that helped make tonight possible." Ronnie Anne's mom dropped the microphone in his hands.

The boy looked at the device he was now holding with confusion.

"Did you have a good time tonight, Lincoln?" Maria encouraged him.

"Yeah, me and…" he started, before realizing what he was about to say.

Lincoln cursed his knack for getting his mind wandering. He had to try and find his way out of the mess in his head and give a non-compromising answers.

"I, uh... I just can't wait for Carrie's next quinceañera." he finally said.

The laughter that ensued from all around him, led Lincoln to believe that he had managed to dodge the proverbial bullet and he proceeded to back up into the crowd that was on stage.

All of them got back into the mess of guests and Lincoln got lost among them as Maria thanked some of the other guests for their contribution. He wondered what to do next all the while trying to evade the embarrassing thoughts that were plaguing him.

"Should I look for Ronnie Anne? What should I say to her... Maybe it's a good idea to get a breather before talking to her again." he looked around for any clue that would help him figure out what to do next.

The absence of such a sign was underlined by the approach of a familiar figure. While Lincoln was wondering whether it was a better idea to look for cover or to act innocent, Luna was upon him.

"Good show up there, Linc. Made the crowd go wild." she said.

"Yeah, uh... You know. Luan's been rubbing off on me."

"The band's playing for the wrong crowd though. You gotta be out there making your lady friend laugh." Luna crossed her arms.

"I don't know… what you're talking about." lacking a better idea, Lincoln went for the classic response.

"I'm nobody's fool, Linc..."

"Lincoln!" someone finished Luna's sentence.

A girl his age with braided blond hair had made her way through the crowd towards the two.

"Oh, hey, Jordan." Lincoln greeted his classmate, surprised to see her. She was wearing a yellow long sleeved blouse and had changed the usual blue bow in her hair with a purple one to match her long frilled skirt.

"You were real funny just now." Jordan smiled.

"Thanks." Lincoln said. "Um, Luna, this is my classmate, Jordan. Jordan - my older sister Luna." he introduced the two.

"Hey..." Luna greeted reservedly.

"Hello. You were playing with the band, right. You guys were awesome." Jordan said happily.

"Thanks, dude." Luna responded.

"This is so funny, Lincoln, I'm here with my sister too. She's classmates with Carrie." the girl continued.

"She is? So is Luna." he pointed out.

"Wow, really?" Jordan turned to the tall Loud.

She simply nodded, a mixed expression on her face.

"Am I, uh... Interrupting something?" Jordan noticed Luna's perplexity.

"No, uh... You keep doing what you're doing. I gotta go get my equipment." she pointed a thumb backwards.

Lincoln and Jordan looked on as Luna walked backwards a few steps and disappeared into the crowd.

He could hardly believe his luck had manifested twice tonight in order to relieve him of Luna. He wasn't sure why she left him be this time, but it was all the same.

"She seems cool..." Lincoln's savior said and he turned back to her. "Speaking of siblings, I really wanted to ask you about another one of yours. My sis had told me Leni made the dresses and the shirts for the dancers, but I didn't know they'd be so nice. Do you think Leni could make something for me as well?" Jordan asked, her good mood evident.

"Sure, I guess." Lincoln said. "Leni loves making clothes. Not that many of our sisters really like frilly dresses so she'd be happy to make you one if that's what you want."

"Awesome! Do you think you could ask her for me?" her smile widened.

"I could give you her number if you'd like." Lincoln suggested.

After a few more exchanges, Jordan had acquired Leni's number and Lincoln had distracted himself from his pressing thoughts of dark haired girls both tall and short.

As he turned back to face the party after the fortunate meeting, Lincoln noticed that it was winding down. People were hugging each other goodbye, others were giving their final congratulations to the birthday girl and some were getting last servings of their favorite snack. Even as the merry day was coming to an end, smiles and laughter were still filling the air.

Luna and her bandmates were packing their instruments and Lincoln knew him and his sister would be leaving soon.

Rampant thoughts or not, Lincoln couldn't shake the feeling he needed to see Ronnie Anne again. Was there enough time? Could they find a place away from prying eyes for a bit? Was it worth the risk?

As Lincoln's indecisiveness was gripping him, fate swept him up in the wave of good-byes and thank yous around him as people came to talk to him.

Aunt Sofie pinched his cheek one last time, Carrie complimented him on his sense of humor and Jordan wished them both an easy history test next week. And finally, as Maria thanked Lincoln for his contribution and sent her regards to Leni, Lincoln got his wish and saw Ronnie Anne who was with her mom.

Now that he saw her thought, Lincoln was none the wiser as to what to do or say and simply returned the wave Ronnie Anne tentatively directed at him from behind her mother.

Luna approached her brother right after, holding a bunch of guitars and cables and requested his help with carrying them. Not knowing what else to do, Lincoln obliged. Whatever snide remarks Luna had in regards to his dating life, were lost on him on their way to the back of the yard on account of his tumultuous emotions.

"Again..." Lincoln noted as he once more failed to find his way amongst his worry, regret and unfettered yearning to see Ronnie Anne again.

Soon enough Vanzilla's distinct gear shifts could be heard from behind the yard fence. With all the farewells being already said, all that was left was to haul the musical hardware to the trunk and Lincoln seated himself in one of the back seats of the ancient vehicle right after.

Luna took the front passenger seat and her broad smile was not lost on Lori who had come to retrieve her siblings.

"You look like you had a good time." she commented with mild interest and turned to face her brother.

"Did I ever!" Luna wasted no time in initiating her retelling of the night's events, interrupting whatever her sister was about to say. "It was rock and roll all night! They gave us central stage and we lit the party on fire!" Lincoln's musical sister threw up the horns. "The mates were on point, the food was choice and the birthday girl was smashing. She was a riot, too!" Luna continued to her sister's moderate dismay. "You're not gonna believe what she wanted me to play."

"That's nice, Luna, but did Lincoln..." Lori attempted to interject.

"Yeah, Linc laid down the jokes too! There was this time he was on stage and he made everyone laugh..." the excited musician went on.

Attempts of extracting any useful information being seemingly pointless, Lori rolled her eyes and turned the key in the ignition, starting the process of awakening Vanzilla.

With the familiar growl of the old vehicle's engine and the steady stream of anecdotes coming from Luna, Lincoln found himself being relieved of sisterly intervention yet again. Were it due to blind luck or karmic justice for his past days of incarceration, he didn't know, but it was welcome nonetheless. He wasn't sure he would have had either the time or the mental wherewithal to think of an excuse or a lie good enough to steer Lori away from the evening's events. And he was sure if she caught wind of what had happened tonight he wouldn't hear the end of it.

So once more Lincoln was presented with the opportunity to reflect on recent happenings.

It wasn't a day at the skate park that got out of hand. It wasn't a secret outing to the junkyard that took a wild turn. This time whatever happened was on Lincoln and Ronnie Anne. Were they forced to attend tonight's event and dance? Sure. Was what happened during it impulsive and unexpected? Indeed, it was. Was it their own doing though? Surely. And could Lincoln hardly do anything to stop thinking about it? Undoubtedly.

It was as if the boy's stomach was full of puffy clouds that made him feel light and anxious all at once every time he remembered Ronnie Anne's eyes before the two of them...

Lincoln swallowed with difficulty. He looked up from his seat to try and dilute his apprehension. The Loud residence was coming into view - the short trek home was coming to an end.

"And the dude Carrie was dancing with was totally shaking in his cots." Luna was still going on as they all left the car once it was in the driveway.

"Yeah, about the dancing..." Lori tried once more to change the course of the conversation.

"He was a good dancer, yeah, but you could totally tell he wasn't ready for how gorgeous Carrie was looking." her younger sister continued and Lori gave up trying. "Almost makes me want to ask Leni to make me a nice purple dress."

The musical equipment was left in the van to be sorted out in the morning and the three Louds went inside the darkened house. Night had fallen quite a while ago and the house was uncharacteristically quiet, most residents undoubtedly asleep. Lincoln followed his sisters up the stairs, their beds the final destination for the evening and as he looked up, he saw Lori standing at the top, looking at him mildly annoyed.

"Don't think you're off the hook. You'll sing like a bird tomorrow." she said in half whisper before turning to her side of the corridor.

A pang of anger flared in Lincoln's chest at the comment, replacing the sweet apprehension that was there a moment ago.

Happy endings to the evening or not, he was starting to get fed up with his sisters' knack for inserting themselves in everything he did. They were no doubt looking forward to harrying him tomorrow as well.

"I bet they'd like to nag me all day, just to see if their harebrained scheme worked." Lincoln thought with annoyance as he got in his pajamas and went towards the bathroom. "Not that it kinda didn't, I guess..." he mused as he brushed his teeth. "But if they had it their way, I'd probably be buying roses and reciting poetry. If anything, it was hiding from them that got me and Ronnie Anne... hanging together."

Lincoln didn't feel like worrying about his sisters any more.

"They'll get theirs..." he mentally threatened them as he yawned. Now that he was on his way to his bed, he realized he was actually pretty tired. Dealing with siblings would have to wait for tomorrow.

Lincoln's dreams that night were full of princesses. Princesses who swooped in in order to save him from witches so that he could meet a queen. As he woke and stood up in his bed, the last traces of those fading dreams left only the faint idea of impending danger involving females. Lincoln didn't need any premonitions to know what kind of troubles he'd be facing today though.

He took a deep breath to steel himself and tried to think of something, a plan, a ruse that would help him. As his mind turned to the sisters he'd have to deal with, and on what they'd pester him about, he had to stop himself before his thoughts drifted towards a certain dark haired girl. The butterflies were starting to wake in his stomach as well and Lincoln knew he needed to stifle their impending dance if he was to deal with what was coming.

Lincoln had his work cut out for him too. This Monday wasn't a school day for some reason he couldn't remember and even if it was a welcome break from the burden of education, it meant that he'd have to fend off sisters for one more day. Lincoln was determined to at least win back this final free day for himself.

He decided he was going to formulate a plan while tending to his morning routine, distracting himself from any troublesome thoughts in the process. With some luck, his sisters would have enough decency to allow him to collect himself before they descended upon him.

"Shower." Lincoln told one of his sisters on his way to the bathroom as she was about question him.

"Breakfast." he told another while walking to the kitchen and that seemed to work for a time, but when the usual morning routine was done, he ran out of excuses.

"Hope you had fun last night, honey." Lincoln's mom said as he was escorted out of the room by a cordon of sisters. "Play nice, girls. No protocols."

The calm having ended and the storm fast approaching, Lincoln was at least appreciative he had time to think of something.

"Escape is impossible and lying is too risky with so many sisters present for the cross-examination." he had thought while he had a few calm moments. "And there's a witness in Luna too. I'll have to give them something, but not enough to doom myself to eternal sistervention."

And now that he was being led up the stairs, Lincoln was trying to figure just how much he could tell them.

He was led into Lori and Leni's room with all sisters now present inside and if he didn't know better, he might have thought this was a normal sibling meeting. Lincoln was seated on one of Lola's toy chairs in the middle of the room, almost all attention on him. Nine pairs of eyes had fixed him, Lily the only one not participating. She was content with playing with some empty thread spools Leni had given her.

Silence filled the room as the girls waited for their brother to start retelling the night's events. With Lincoln reluctant to begin his own interrogation, it fell upon the archsister to start and Lori stood and gave him some of her best accusatory gaze.

"OK, Lincoln, we got Luna's story already and seeing as she was so busy "blowing up the sunshine" as she put it..." she shifted her eyes towards her younger sister and the rocker plastered a guilty grin on her face. "I'm just going to assume you gave her the slip and did nothing productive, except for the court's dance we actually have footage of." she looked at her phone. "So give us something good, or we'll be forced to start sending."

Lincoln couldn't say he was surprised by the lack of tact and the threats, but it still vexed him that the days of sisterly hegemony had not yet ended.

As for the peril Lori presented, if people were filming with their phones at the party, the whole thing had probably already been shared online since the night before. Still, even if whatever clips Lori had access to were all over the social media and no longer a bargaining chip, Lisa probably still had dirt on Lincoln and that meant he had to spill the beans, at least a little.

"I really liked the food?" he tried his luck. "There were churros and this thing called a mangonada. It was made of..." Lincoln stopped as he could almost hear the growling accompanying the scornful looks he was receiving.

"Lincoln!" Lola raised her voice as she usually did when irritated. "You know what we meant! Tell us what happened with Ronnie Anne."

"Your input would have been quite unnecessary if the quality of the video footage we possess wasn't so unsatisfactory." Lisa added with her usual lisp.

"And I know my plan must have worked, so stop beating around the bush." Lori said, full of herself.

"Yeah, tell us how romantic it was so I can start making the wedding dress." Leni joined in.

That much demanding and self-insertion from his sisters was normal for Lincoln at this point, the days of sibling intervention having somewhat inured him to their words, but one thing they managed to do besides waste his time was that they brought back the dance to the forefront of his mind and the unusual yet pleasant feelings were starting to creep their way back.

The way Ronnie Anne was dressed, the way they moved to the music, the way her eyes were as she looked back at him...

"Lincoln!" Lynn pulled him back to reality.

"The dance was nice!" he blurted out at the sudden jolt.

His outburst seemed to get the horde's attention and Lincoln carefully proceeded to feed them little by little, hoping to sate their hunger for details without giving too much up.

"Everyone liked your dresses, Leni..." he continued. He certainly did.

"Aw." his sister smiled. "That's so nice of them."

"And?" a sister demanded more.

"And… Ronnie Anne liked my red shirt, too." he continued, remembering how she looked at him when they met.

"And?" another urged him.

"And… We managed to do the dance pretty well." he said, thinking about the way they stepped and turned in unison.

"And?"

"And, uh…" Lincoln realized he was starting to get distracted. He needed to lull his sisters' curiosity, not reminisce about what happened yesterday with him and Ronnie Anne. But, man, last night she was…

"And!" someone lost her patience.

"She was so pretty!" Lincoln let his daydream bleed out into reality at his sister's outburst. He blinked a couple of times before he realized what he had done and turned to see all his sisters looking at him surprised.

"Who was?" Lucy asked from somewhere Lincoln didn't expect, further adding to his alarm.

"No, um… I didn't… No one!" he felt like he shrank under the asking gazes of his siblings.

"Lincoln… Tell us." Lori said firmly.

"No, I…" her brother stumbled once more.

Lori stood up impatiently from her seat and was about to walk towards where Lincoln sat. At the clear threat, his little remaining composure broke.

"Ronnie Anne was super pretty!" he cracked from the collective pressure of both the interrogation and the emotions flooding back from his recent memories.

"And we danced and it was awesome and I didn't want it to end and I can't stop thinking about it!" he got out the thoughts that he avoided all morning all at once, eyes closed and panting.

Tentatively, he looked about to see the aftermath of his unintended confession and all around him were sisters on the verge of outburst.

All at once ten voices raised in a collective squeal Lincoln knew was coming. Sisters hugged and jumped, celebrating Lincoln's admission of affection, even Lily joining the celebrations.

The surprise of the elation around him quickly transformed into the cold realization of what Lincoln had said and then into fear as to what that would entail.

"This is really bad." he thought. "I should've just let Lisa release whatever she's got on me… Yeah, that's right actually." he realized. "That would have been better than this."

As the wave of joy subsided around him, gazes turned expectantly towards Lincoln again. The realization of his situation made him oddly calm in anticipation of the next wave of attention.

"Did you dance some more?" Lola asked.

"Did you tell her how her eyes shined like black pearls?" Lucy asked.

"Did you get her number?" Leni chimed in.

"He already has her number…" Luan told her.

"Did you two kiss?" Lana ignored her older sisters.

The hairs on the back of Lincoln's neck stood at the last question, but the cool that had washed over him in the face of the dire situation kept him from doing something that would get him into even more trouble. He had to do something. He was starting to crack - the sisterly attempts to pry information out of him were starting to work.

"I'm… not telling you anything else." he said as firmly as he could and the room got quieter at his words.

"What do you mean you're not telling us anything?" Lori asked with ire.

"Exactly that." Lincoln didn't flinch. "I'm not playing by your stupid rules any more. It's not enough you got me cooped up in this house for three odd days training me to be a dancing monkey, now I have to sing for you too?" he put his irritation into words. "I did all you wanted, I rehearsed all weekend, I went to the party and I danced with Ronnie Anne. That's plenty enough of a punishment for the busted up trailer thing I did last week."

"But you said you liked it." Leni said.

"Yeah, well maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Lincoln crossed his arms. "In any case you're not getting any more entertainment out of me." he declared.

"But you were just getting to the juicy stuff." Lynn said "You gotta tell us what happened next."

"Nope." the boy replied. "Not gonna happen." he shook his head.

"Do I need to remind you, Lincoln…" Lori started saying in her commanding voice. "That we've got footage of you dancing with Ronnie Anne at the party and…" she stressed on the conjunction. "Of you dancing with Lynn as well. We can still show it to all your friends."

"Yeah, well…" Lincoln thought about his classmates. "They've probably already seen the stuff from the birthday party – Jordan was there and she probably had her phone too." Lincoln improvised. "Show them whatever else you've got. It can't get any worse than it already is."

He meant it too. Embarrassment could only go so far to make him do what his sisters wanted. He wasn't going to risk him slipping up again and giving up more of what happened last night.

Lori looked peeved and was about to resume her arguing when Lisa interjected.

"In actuality…" she pushed her glasses up her nose. "A confession is in order. The footage of Lincoln and Lynn's rehearsals seems to be missing from my data vaults."

"What?" a few sisters exclaimed collectively.

"It must have gotten overwritten by experimental data that I uploaded post factum. My apologies." Lisa did a little bow towards her siblings.

As they all expressed their disappointment, his bespectacled sister turned to Lincoln and smiled faintly while the others were distracted.

Lincoln was unsure as to what that meant, but took the good news and made use of them as best he could.

"Even better." he said as he stood up from his little chair. "The way I see it, our business here is done." he started towards the door, taking advantage of his sisters' failing plans.

Protests, pleas and general disappointment surrounded him on his way to the door, but no one stopped him and after a few tense moments he was back in his little abode at the end of the hall.

The sound of unhappy sisters starting to go about their day and discussing their brother could be heard through the thin barrier of his door and Lincoln let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew!" he relaxed a bit after the ordeal that had just transpired.

"I knew it was coming and the questioning still went pretty bad." he mused. "Could have gone worse, I suppose, they don't seem to have anything to extort me with anymore." Lincoln started to relax. "This new Tell Them Just Enough To Get Them Off Of Your Back Without Saying Too Much And Think Of A Shorter Name technique has potential." he noted mentally.

"But the way they made me think of the dance… I really have to be careful." he leaned against his door. "To think they got me saying what happened last night. She really was pretty and I didn't want the dance to end and I really can't stop thinking about it..." he remembered what he had told them and he couldn't help but get swept away by the sweet memories. "The dance, the bright blue dress, her flowing hair…" he reminisced. "How me and Ronnie Anne hid behind the garage. How… we kissed."

Him just saying it out loud made him feel all warm and fluttery inside again.

"Wait... saying it out loud?" he thought.

The sobering thought that he had voiced his thoughts wasn't the only thing to pull Lincoln out of his daydream. The distinct sound of someone coming to an abrupt halt in the corridor in front of his room made him freeze.

"Darn these paper thin walls and my stupid mouth!" the boy thought with despair. Someone had heard him! And right after he had gotten them to leave him alone too.

"Please, please let it be one of the twins!" he thought with desperation. They could at least be reliably bribed. Be it with a shiny piece of plastic jewelry or a frog he could catch at the creek.

As Lincoln was wondering whether he should get his savings or his butterfly net, the door to his room edged open and the unintentional eavesdropper revealed herself.

With a mischievous grin plastered on her face, his sister pushed the door open and looked at her panicked brother. At the sight of who was present for his outburst, Lincoln's heart sank.

"Of all the people who could have heard me..." he thought disheartened.

His sister stood at the entrance to his room, holding the laptop and phone she was returning.

"Did you just..." Lynn began as she inched her way towards a petrified Lincoln standing in the middle of his room.

"No..." Lincoln protested.

"Say that you..." Lynn continued.

"No."

"And Ronnie Anne..." her grin got wider.

"No!" Lincoln hardly managed not to shout.

"Kis..." Lynn was about to finish as her brother desperately put his hands over her mouth.

"Don't say it, they'll hear you!" he said panicking and retracted his hands, realizing he had just admitted to what his sister heard.

"Oh, man, this is rich!" Lynn ignored Lincoln's dismay. "Wait till the others hear this!" she said, smiling ear to ear and left his communication devices as she turned towards the door in order to go and find someone to share the news with.

The girl stopped as she felt something tug at her from behind. She turned with surprise to see her brother hanging by her red and white shirt, a desperate look on his face.

"Lynn, wait!" he exclaimed. "You can't tell!"

"Oh, I sure can." Lynn smiled again. "It's gonna be a riot." she made a step towards the door, Lincoln hardly slowing her down.

Realizing the ineffectiveness of his methods, he jumped to his feet and rushed past his sister to reach the door before her, almost slamming it shut, leaning against it back first.

"Lynn..." he tried to think of something.

"You know you can't stop me, Linc." she smirked at her brother's attempt to halt her. "I can't believe Lori's plan actually worked. She's gonna be so smug about it..." she thought out loud, ignoring the desperation on Lincoln's face.

And he was desperate indeed. Lynn was right. He really couldn't stop her, when she told their other sisters it really was going to be a riot and Lori really was going to be smug about it. He had to do something and fast. This wasn't just about him getting embarrassed in front of his siblings. If word of this got out, it was going to affect Ronnie Anne as well.

Having no time to think of any leverage he might have with his sporty sister, Lincoln resorted to the only option he had left.

"Lynn, please!" he dropped to his knees, having the presence of mind to keep his voice down. "Please, don't tell anyone."

"Come on, Linc." Lynn looked down on her brother with a smirk. "Don't start..."

"I'm begging you!" he grabbed the end of her shirt again. "I'll do anything!"

"Hm..." his sister dropped her smile at the sight of him groveling. "Anything?"

"Anything!" Lincoln bet all his chips on the one gamble he had left. He knew what that meant though, especially if it was Lynn who was going to be taking advantage of his desperate offer. "Just don't tell them I ki..." he gulped. "I kissed her."

"Anything, huh..." Lynn pondered. An offer this big was rare among the Loud siblings. It wasn't every day that you got offered so much power in this household. "So you're going to be my sports partner?" she started small, still unsure of how serious her brother was.

"Yes, I will." he confirmed.

"And you'll give me your dessert?"

"Yes, I will."

"And you'll cook breakfast just for me?"

"Yes, I will."

"And you'll do my chores?"

"Yes, I will."

"And you'll do this for a week? A month?" Lynn wondered how much she could push this. "A year?"

"As long as you want." Lincoln sighed, knowing he was in little position to negotiate.

"And you and Ronnie Anne are going to go on a..." Lynn started saying with a grin.

"Anything that doesn't involve Ronnie Anne." Lincoln gave his one condition. "I'll do all those things you want..." he hesitated. "For as long as you want. Just don't tell anyone." Lincoln said, still on the floor.

"Wow..." Lynn exclaimed. "You're in that deep, bro?" she asked.

Lincoln didn't answer. He didn't know how deep he really was.

Lynn stood silent for a moment. She wasn't used to Lincoln being this passionate about anything besides maybe his stupid comic books. He really was into this girl, huh. And he really was putting his head on the chopping block too - she could get really creative with her demands if she wanted to.

"I can already picture him in the cheerleader outfit..." she thought.

"Tell you what, Linc..." she said and he looked up at her. "I'm feeling pretty merciful - you seem to be in over your head already." she smirked again, Lincoln awaiting his sentence.

"Every weekend you're going to make me breakfast and then you'll play with me anything I want, for as long as I want." Lynn decreed, Lincoln simply nodding. "And this'll go on until I get bored of it." she added, Lincoln nodding again.

"Promise." Lynn asked in a serious tone.

"I promise I'm going to make you breakfast and play with you... every weekend." he said. "You promise too."

"I promise I'm not going tell anyone you kissed Ronnie Anne at Carrie's birthday party." Lynn sealed the deal.

They stood there a moment, Lincoln on the floor, Lynn above him.

"And you should talk to her." she said as she circumvented her brother and got to the door.

"No conditions about Ronnie Anne." he turned to her.

"That's not part of the deal." Lynn stopped at the door. "I'm telling you as your sister." the smirk wasn't hadn't left her face.

As she left Lincoln by himself, he reflected on how odd the last interaction felt. Maybe it was Lynn giving him life advice about relationships? Him selling his freedom right after he had regained it? No... Those things weren't what was odd. They weren't impossible to deal with, he thought.

And then Lincoln realized what felt weird. Not that he had bought Lynn's silence, his weekends being the payment, but what he had really sold them for.

For the opportunity to continue unimpeded. For the freedom to pursue his relationship without sisterly interference.

"My relationship with Ronnie Anne..." Lincoln reflected.

And the thought of it was more frightening than anything Lynn would have him do.

And now for the Local Luna Reference Report:

"You shook me all night long" by AC/DC; "We are and American band" by Rob Zombie; "Nobody's Fool" by a lot of people, but let's say Avril Lavigne; "Rock and roll all night" by KISS; "B.Y.O.B." by System of a Down (strong language). The song the band sang as Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were recovering was "Every time we touch" by Cascada.

That taking care of, here we are again, folks. Two months later and another chapter in the sweet, sweet torture I'm subjecting poor Lincoln to. I can't help it – he's so fun to watch when his little heart burns with young love. Either that or I'm just a tad looney, but I never trusted shrinks to begin with so who cares what they say.

Anyways, this chapter got a bit long, but I couldn't force myself to split it in two for easier reading – I hate it when a chapter feels unfinished by the end. Cliffhangers are the worst. But please tell me if it's too long – I could try and make them easier to digest. Also, have to say, you guys shouldn't expect too much going forward – last time was the big kiss and stuff. Chapters from now on are gonna feel kinda inferior, I'm guessing. That being said, I've still got some midnight oil in me, we're not stopping yet.

Thank you for the continued support, your awesome reviews feed my hunger for warm and fuzzies every time I read them. I just wish some of you would register instead of posting as guests. I know it's a hassle, but that way I could PM you when I want to thank you or ask you something. I want to see that picture you made aNobodyFangirl!

I apologize for the inconsistent posting. Hope we read from each other again soon.