A/N: The origin of the room arrangements has been discovered, and tensions are starting to flare amongst the siblings. How long will it take before the powder keg is alight and everyone demands another change? Sooner than you think. After all, people can be very confrontational with their problems. Plus, I'd rather not have this drag on longer than needed.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

Dinner went off without a hitch; no food fights, no name-calling, no sending idle threats across the table, and Lily kept her diaper on the entire time as Lincoln spoon-fed her. If this was an average family, this would be the norm. But for the Louds, it was rather...unsettling. Outside of the usual "how was your day" questions floating around the table, the kids were strangely silent as they preferred to focus on their meal instead of whatever gossip they learned during school. Lori munched absentmindedly on her food, staring with empty eyes over the table. As she panned to her right, the teen spotted Lola giving her a harsh glare, making Lori raise a brow.

"Is she STILL mad about earlier?" Lori thought as this unintentional stare down continued.

The longer it persisted, the more Lori started to feel irritated. Unless Lola wasn't listening earlier, Lori made her intentions very clear. It's not her fault that Lola had to be such a brat all the time; how could Lana even stand her for so long? Oh right, they just fight. A lot. And that was something Lori wanted to avoid. She couldn't cut loose on someone 11 years younger than her. That'd be like Lincoln punching Lily for crying out loud. Plus, while Lola may have a lot of hot air in her system, she was no where near as strong as Lori. Possibly much more fierce, but she still lacked the required endurance and strength to match. The eldest could use her full strength on someone like Lynn though; that girl could bench press the couch if she wanted to. But Lori just couldn't hit a little kid like that.

And before you ask, the text-obsessed girl would be the first to tell you that those massive sibling fights don't count since no one gets seriously hurt.

Adjacent to the oldest sibling, Lynn slouched in her chair as she ate, savoring the taste of turkey loaf before it slid down her throat. She noticed the glare Lola was giving, originally thinking it was aimed at her but realized it was directed at Lori; the teen had her eyes narrowed at the pageant winner right now. Giving her own questioning stare, Lynn wondered what was eating them (Luan wasn't the only one who could make food puns) before noticing Leni, who was sitting just left of Luna; the musician was next to the fuming princess. To her surprise, when the fashionista gazed at the jock's direction, she immediately went back to staring at her plate as if Lynn might chide her for something. Granted, Lynn was a bit miffed at the new requirements her mom placed on her, but she was mostly over it.

Guess Leni wasn't...

Lincoln spanned over the table as he wiped gravy stains from Lily's mouth; the infant gave short giggles, even trying to eat the napkin before Lincoln had to pull it away from her. Seems he wasn't the only person to notice the uncomfortable tension falling upon the family, as his parents and even Lisa were showing signs of wariness. Luna and Lana seemed relatively chill, so to speak; they didn't attempt to make eye contact, and if they did, they seemed to ignore each other. Lucy was quiet like always, though it seemed a little uncharacteristic for Luan to NOT crack a joke at a time like this. Everyone heard about the airbag prank from earlier, but maybe Lucy managed to silence the comedian with her own moody attitude? That would be a first.

Either way, there were too many problems going on that this couldn't be ignored; if it was, they could fester into something no one wanted to deal with. Being the caring brother he was, Lincoln felt he needed to take action now; plus, if last week was any proof, his sisters' problems would eventually become his problems. Taking one of the napkins, he etched out a quick note before tapping Lynn.

The jock glanced at him before noticing the scratched out note. The boy pointed towards Lori, after which Lynn nodded and lightly elbowed the older teen. Breaking off from Lola's perpetual glare, Lori looked at Lynn and noticed the napkin. Raising her eyebrows in surprise, the blonde took it, taking a second to stare at the white paper before catching the freshly scribbled sentence on the white fabric.

Sibling meeting after dinner? - Lincoln

Now that she thought about it, and after looking at how thick the air was with all the tension, a meeting sounded like a good idea. Lori reached into her pocket, taking out her phone and selected the large group chat all of the siblings (sans Lily) were connected to.

Sibling meeting in 20 minutes. Don't be late. - Lori

"So why are we doing this today? Don't we have our meetings on Wednesdays?" Lucy asked, her hands planted in between her legs as she sat at the foot of Lynn's bed.

"And on that note, why does it have to be in here?" Lola whined, pinching her nostrils closed. "This room smells like week-old cheese!"

Lana sniffed around before her nose drew her to the bed sheets the twins were sitting on. She took a big whiff before casually shrugging, "Eh, it's not that bad. Smells like grass, sweat, and a hint of" She paused upon sniffing the sheets again. Her lips parted to form a wide grin seconds later. "MUUUUUD!"

Lola's pupils shrank to the size of peas before letting out a shrill scream. She scampered off Lynn's bed and jumped onto Leni's, uttering an 'ew' every two seconds. "It's gonna take forever to get that stinky smell out!"

"Then why were you sitting on my bed?" Lynn smirked a little as Lola threw a piercing glare her way.

"I should've known it was your bed. At least Leni has some class!"

Soon enough, the rest of the siblings started to voice their own opinions on the matter, even throwing in statements that had little to do with Lola's sensitivity or Lynn's bed.

Lori, who had been standing by Leni's desk, lifted a shoe and banged it on the wood like a gavel. "Guys, guys! Can we focus please?!" She asked in a commanding tone. Once the chatter settled down, the oldest sibling cleared her throat. "Alright, now that we don't have anymore distractions, I hereby call this sibling meeting to order. Lincoln, " She pointed the shoe towards the white haired Loud, "Since this was your idea, you have the floor."

Lincoln nodded before lifting Lily out of his lap and setting her on the floor. He walked over to Lori's position before turning to address everyone. "So, it's been a few days since we switched rooms again, and-"

"What?" Lynn scoffed. "You're not complaining about bunking with Lily already are you?"

Luan smiled as the opportunity for a joke presented itself. "Need extra diapers in your room?"

Lincoln furrowed his brows slightly as he frowned at the two. Lily blew a raspberry at them, a hand tugged at the seam of her diaper as if they were just begging to give her a reason to throw it. "Actually, me and Lily have been getting along pretty well. If anything, I'd say the complaints lie with you guys." He pointed at his non-infant siblings. Before they could raise a fuss, "Which brings me to my next question: are you guys ok with the current arrangement?" Lincoln rubbed the back of his head. "I know my suggestions didn't work out, but you guys seem to be at each other's throats more than ever after Lisa sorted this out."

The girls looked amongst each other, namely their current roommates.

"As long as Lana keeps her pets away from my stuff," Luna spoke indifferently, folding her arms as she leaned against the headboard of Leni's bed. "We're cool."

Lana gave a dry laugh. "I let them go wherever they please. Sides', they need their own space anyway."

The musician let out a short growl. "They'd have their own space if you're stop bringing them into the house! Yesterday, I found your stupid rat friends in my drum set!"

Lana's eyes narrowed as she gripped one of Lynn's pillows, gearing up to chuck it at the older girl. "Don't talk about Bitey like that!"

Luna slammed her hands into the mattress, leaning forward as if she dared Lana to do what she thinks she was going to do. "Seriously dude! How did Lola even put up with you?!"

"Easy. You gotta show 'em whose boss." Lola replied, taking a moment to glance at her nails. "Once they realize whose the real queen of the jungle, they'll know their place."

"Oh, like how you tried to pry into my personal business like you always do?" Lori pointed out, tapping a finger against the desk in agitation.

"I was trying to be nice about it!" Lola retorted, her hand tightening into a fist. "Maybe I should just get my own room so I don't have to listen to your stupid conversations that I can't follow all day!"

"Come to think of it, that would be a good idea." Lucy stated in a low tone.

"What do you mean?" Luan glanced at the dark girl.

Lucy gave her trademark groan. "No offense Luan, but it's not easy to admit this..." Turning her head towards the comedian, "Your puns stink, especially when you talk in your sleep. And your pranks are starting to get on my nerves..."

Luan was dumbfounded by this. Granted, she knew Lucy was probably a little mad about the prank she pulled earlier (and maybe the other two before that) but she didn't think it'd be enough to get her on the goth lover's bad side already. "But...I thought..."

"Also, Edwin is starting to grow annoyed with Mr. Coconuts. I wish I didn't have to say it, but I need to be honest...he thinks Mr. Coconuts should date a wood chipper."

Ok, those sounded like fighting words. Luan furrowed her brows as her teeth clenched together, a cold verbal lashing building up in her throat as she stared down a clearly unfazed Duchess of Darkness. "Well, you never were a ball of sunshine anyway! At least the gloomy teens at the last party we went to actually managed a chuckle!"

Lucy gave the brunette a blank stare from behind her bangs. "No one really laughs at mimes Luan. Plus, they laughed because you slipped on a rolling pin." The emo repositioned herself to get comfortable. "It's probably the stalest form of comedy..."

Luan's eyes widened a bit at that remark. "Stalest form of..." She spoke in a quiet tone before her anger returned with a vengeance. "You wouldn't know stale even if you looked in the mirror!"

Lucy's usual frown deepened a bit, her eyes narrowing in a threatening manner. "Says the girl who can't handle criticism..."

"If I can't handle criticism," Luan pointed a finger at Lucy, "Then that makes you a hypocrite!"

"What are you talking about?..."

Luan smirked, walking over to the emo and knelt down next to her. Cupping a hand around her ear, the comedian uttered two words. "Clogged. Toilet."

The younger girl widened her eyes to the point Luan was able to make them out past the dark strands of hair. In a flurry of movement, Lucy stood up to her full height to look her sister directly in the eyes. "Take that back!" She spat through clenched teeth.

The comedian only gave a wide grin as she easily towered over Lucy. Leaning down until their noses were just inches apart, "Why don't you make me? Guess we know now you don't have a thick skin after all."

Unfortunately for Luan, there was a reason why Lucy could handle Lynn in their little squabbles. Lucy immediately opened up her palm and, with reflexes so quick that Lynn would be proud, smashed her hand against Luan's cheek. The other siblings flinched upon a loud smack echoing in the room. Luan stumbled back until she bumped into the side of Leni's bed, slouching to the floor in a daze. She had little time to react before Lucy pounced her and started slapping her face in a way that resembled a kid throwing a tantrum.

None of the other siblings moved to separate them, either being in a state of shock or finding the whole thing amusing.

"Guess we also know Lisa's computer was full of baloney." Luna chuckled as Lucy continued to slap their comedic sister.

Lynn nodded. "Yeah. At this point, I'd rather have my own room."

Lincoln furrowed his brows slightly. "That's not what you thought when I got my own room."

"So? I grew up." The athlete gave a light shrug. She sent a grin Lincoln's way before responding with, "Unlike you, who still sleeps with a stuffed toy. That's probably why you and Lily get along so well."

Lisa, who stayed relatively quiet throughout the meeting as she wrote down the issues between each roommate, couldn't help the rage building inside her gut at the jab towards her calculations. Her pencil lightly stabbed the paper she was using, almost punching a hole through it. "And that's coming from someone who can't afford to not stay silent for 20 seconds?"

"I told you before sis," Luna folded her arms, "Ain't no one able to me how to play my axe."

"I think the numerous noise complaints we get say otherwise..." Lisa directed her attention to the musician. "And another thing I'd like to add is that I precisely calibrated my machine to take into account everyone's personalities, mannerisms, blood type, and similar interests. I didn't account for age as that is how our current situation came up."

"Uhhh..." Leni started, a bit lost in the conversation.

"In short," Lisa adjusted her glasses when they started to slide down the bridge of her nose. "I'm saying that you ignoramuses are hard to please no matter what happens. Besides, how do you expect to get your own room when this house is incapable of having each tenant with their own space?"

At that point, the room became cluttered with arguments being thrown every which way. A few argued with Lisa about the fact she had Lincoln's old room, with said Loud boy arguing with Lynn on why he still has Bun Bun as a comfort item. In the midst of it all, Luan finally managed to push Lucy off her, who wound up elbowing Lana in the face. The mud lover yelped as she covered her nose, immediately shoving the emo away with one hand once she got past the sudden blast of pain. Lucy then stumbled into Leni, which made the blonde accidentally smack Lola on the side of her head as she flailed around to catch her balance. The pageant winner immediately sought retaliation and opted to jump on the fashionista as she landed on her own bedspread. Unfortunately, Leni pushed away at the last moment, causing Lola to tumble into Lisa and Luna who were in the middle of reigniting a previous argument.

Sensing something she didn't want take part in, Lily whined as she hurriedly crawled over to Lincoln and Lori, who stood still next to in front of the desk as they watched their other siblings descend into chaos.

Luan jumped on Lucy, who tumbled with her on the floor kicking up dust and debris in their path as each girl tried to gain the advantage or pin the other. Soon enough, individual fights began to break put amongst the siblings, eventually joining together to become a classic Loud Sibling brawl.

"Um..." Lincoln started as he picked up their infant sister. "Should we do something?"

"I'm literally lost for words right now Lincoln...and I'd rather not get caught up in all of that." Lori responded, unable to pick out who's who in the dust cloud that had hands and feet flying everywhere.

Soon, they trio heard someone chomping on what was hopefully an arm. "Ow! Lana!" Lynn yelled.

"AAAAH! Stop tugging my earring dude!" Luna could be heard next.

"It's not even real! You just pierced your lobes with paperclips!" Lisa retorted, followed by what sounded like a fist meeting glasses.

As the fighting continued to worsen, Lily started to become unsettled. It was unknown whether she was shocked or confused at the whole situation, but it she was getting to the point that she wanted to get away from it all. The baby tugged the sleeve of Lincoln's shirt, but he seemed too preoccupied watching his sisters' quarrel. Lily looked back at the dust cloud, a small whine soon escaping her as she began to tug his sleeve a little harder. Her whines started to get louder as the baby began to bounce around in his arm.

Lincoln blinked a few times as he broke out of his stupor. Looking down at his littlest sister, "Lily?"

By this point, it was already too late. Lily started to become fussy and began to wail her head off. Lincoln and Lori cringed a bit due to being in close proximity to the crying baby. In spite of how loud Lily was, it still wasn't enough to dispel the sibling brawl before them. Lincoln wondered what was making Lily so upset; she had just eaten so she couldn't be hungry, and after (almost regrettably) sniffing her diaper, she hadn't soiled herself either. Maybe this was one of those things were babies just cry without reason, like his mom said.

However...that was starting to make less sense the more Lincoln thought about it.

From what he understood, babies cry when they're upset. Doesn't everyone at least feel grouchy when something irritated them? Sure, sometimes the reason a baby cries wouldn't be easy to figure out, just like the reason Lily suddenly crawled over to him right as the beds were becoming the next WWE smackdown. Perhaps Lily knew what was about to happen and sought comfort from someone she trusted?

"Lily wouldn't be upset over the girls fighting, would she?" The Loud boy thought to himself.

Somehow, as uncomfortable as it sounded, Lily did get roped into sibling fights along with everyone else. Miraculously, she was unscathed each time it happened, large because she just sits there and cries while everyone else takes the hits. Lincoln guessed that in spite of everyone's foul mood they still had enough sense to avoid hitting a baby. Even so, Lily did manage to either bop someone with her rattle or attempt to bite people with her tiny, adorable teeth. So why would she be upset about it now? As far as Lincoln could guess, she just wasn't in the mood to fight.

Nether was he.

All Lincoln wanted was to address his sisters' issues like he usually did, and hopefully work out a peaceful resolution; turns out this caused more harm than good. His first attempt may have been bust, but Lisa's plan seemed to work; for a few days at least. Everyone (sans Lisa) seemed to have the ideal roommate for their respective interests, like Lisa said, and yet something still went wrong. He wasn't sure what it was, but his genius of a sister was onto something when she said his sisters were hard to please. In fact, Lincoln would admit that he probably wouldn't have done anything about the girls room situation if they hadn't constantly interrupted his TV time last weekend. It wouldn't be the first time they disrupted an activity of his to vent, which was fine, but now it seemed like both his and Lisa's efforts were effectively pointless.

And the more he thought about it, the more Lincoln found himself becoming irate at the entire situation.

The boy's left eye started to twitch as his forehead started to develop a red hue. Lincoln bit his lower lip as his body started to tremble, only to be brought back to his senses when Lily buried her head into his chest. He gave a sad frown at the baby, gently rubbing her back in spite of his shirt being drenched with hot tears and snot.

"Someone's gotta stop this..." Lincoln muttered to himself before turning to Lori, only to frown upon seeing that she was on her phone again. "Lori, can you hold Lily for a sec?"

Lori glanced up from her phone. "Why?"

"Just do it." He held out the baby. "Please?..." He asked in a begging tone.

Lori stared at the two for a moment before shrugging and took Lily from his hands. "What are you gonna do?"

"Just cover her ears." Lincoln quickly replied before walking over to the cloud fight. He stayed a 7 feet away just in case someone tried to rope him into it. "Girls!" The boy yelled in a commanding tone, hoping it would catch their attention. Sadly, no dice. "GIRLS!" Lincoln yelled again, this time enough for his voice to carry halfway around the room.

None of the quarreling siblings heard this either. Lincoln turned around to make sure Lori did as he asked, a tad satisfied upon seeing the teen had her fingers plugged into Lily's ears.

Taking a deep breath, "STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!" Lincoln yelled as loud as he could, only to be cut off when his throat could no longer handle the strain and sent him into a coughing fit. His voice was probably heard throughout the whole house.

"LOUDS! TURN OFF THAT RACKET! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" Came the cranky voice of none other than Mr. Grouse.

Ok, the neighborhood if that.

Clearing his throat, Lincoln saw his other sisters had finally listened; they were stuck in various positions upon halting their conflict. Leni was having her hair pulled by Lynn, Luna was on top of Lola with a fist raised and Luan's foot planted on her cheek, Lisa was latched onto the back of Lucy's head with her wig sitting crooked on her dome and her glasses cracked, and Lana had her teeth sunk around Luan's leg that her foot connected to Luna's face. The comedian herself was gripping the back of Lynn's jersey with a visible tear in the fabric. Each of the girls were covered in various scratches and small bruises, with strands of hair and a black eye forming on a few of them; like Lynn, some of their clothing was torn into as well.

"Look, you guys need to figure something out." The 11 year old spoke in a hoarse voice, rubbing his throat to soothe his pain. "I've tried to help you, it didn't last more than a day. Then Lisa came up with something and things looked like they were going on. But even with the best roommates you could possibly get, you guys still find something to complain about!" Lincoln coughed a lot more before clearing his throat again. "At first I thought bunking with Lily was gonna be a bad thing, but turns out I actually enjoy it. And I was the only one who didn't have a roommate before all of this started! I could've easily said that I don't want to stay with her, but I gave Lily a chance and adjusted to her needs. I can't just force her to change for me..." The boy's voice was getting clearer, but it still sounded like he was struggling to talk. "Maybe instead of changing rooms, you should change yourselves..." Lincoln planted his arms to his sides with his hands curled into fists. "And it anyone comes to me about roommate problems, sorry but I'm not gonna help you."

None of the girls responded as they processed everything Lincoln said; except for Lily, whose crying degraded into sniffles. Turning around Lincoln walked up to Lori, thanking her for watching Lily before taking the baby into his arms. Lily clung to him like a koala as the boy made his way to the door, hoping that some water would ease his dry throat.

However, right as Lincoln opened the door, he was met with his father in his nightwear with a hand reached out for the doorknob.

Lincoln's eyes widened a bit. "Dad?"

"Hey sport." Lynn Sr. greeted with a tired yawn before letting himself in. "Kids, me and your mother usually don't interrupt your sibling meetings, but-" The patriarch paused as he became slackjawed at the state most of the girls were in. From what little information he picked up through the floorboards, it seems the discussion about room arrangements went sour.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lynn Sr. gave a frustrated sigh. "Ok. I know you guys switching rooms is still a thing, but it shouldn't come to..." He splayed his hands out at the group of girls who were untangling themselves. "This!" The father rested them on his hips. "I thought you guys had already worked something out, but I guess I was wrong. Now, your mother and I have a busy day tomorrow and all of you have school, so lights out in 10 minutes. And as far as the room assignments go, if you kids can't work something out by tomorrow afternoon, we'll decide for you."

The kids went wide-eyed at this before Lynn Sr. decided to head back down.

"This is bogus man!" Luna groaned as she fiddled with the ear that had a missing earring. "Every time the 'rents pull that card on us, it never ends well!"

Lincoln let a despairing sigh escape him. "Guess we brought this on ourselves..."

"Says the boy that whose yelling probably woke them up in the first place!" Lola chided as she examined her gown.

Lincoln was about to point out all the noise they were making beforehand, but Lori beat him to it. "You were literally rocking the floor the whole time before Lincoln woke up the neighborhood. But like Dad said, we don't have time to cry about it. This meeting was a failure, so everyone just go back to your rooms and we'll deal with it in the morning. Case closed." The oldest sibling tapped her shoe on the desk at the last word, making sure it wouldn't be loud enough to disturb her already irritated parents.

The next morning was filled with the usual moaning of being forced to wake up before you're fully ready, along with some additional groans from several sisters who hadn't fully slept off the injuries they inflicted on each other the previous night. The 5 oldest sisters were centered around the coffee maker with cups of joe in their hands, looking miserable as ever due to not yet feeling the effects of caffeine hitting their systems. The younger ones were in various stage of waking up; the only one absent was Lily, as she was likely still sleeping in her crib. Lucy let out a yawn escape her, Lana was still asleep at the table with her face in her cereal bowl, Lola munched her toast in a pace so slow that you might say a sloth could eat faster, and Lisa (although not appearing as tired) rubbed one of her bag-filled eyes under her spare glasses before taking another sip of orange juice. Lucy and Lisa turned their heads towards the stairs as they heard a pair of footsteps, following by the shuffling of feet on the carpet.

Seconds later, a zombie-like Lincoln moaned a soft 'morning' before making his way to the kitchen. The two uttered a similar greeting before turning back to their breakfast. Like his sisters, Lincoln hadn't slept well that night; his squinted eyes were a bit bloodshot and he still had his bed hair.

Rubbing some dead skin away from his eye, Lincoln greeted his older sisters with the same, zombie-like moan as he reached out with one hand for the fridge door handle, missing a few times before he finally grasped the metal frame and opened the door. The boy grabbed the milk carton before shutting the fridge, moving to grab a bowl and cereal so he could munch on some Zombie Bran to hopefully get his brain jogging. Once he had his needed items, Lincoln shuffled back to the dining room and started fixing himself breakfast.

Lana snored again, soon bolting upright when she felt milk going into her nose. Upon lifting her head, a bandaid was shown to be stuck across the bridge of her nose; turns out Lucy nailed her harder than expected. The young mechanic blinked a few times to gain her bearings, soon focusing on her older brother. "Wow, I thought you would've gotten some sleep last night."

"Lily was being fussy until it was almost 2 in the morning..." Lincoln grumbled, using a hand to support his head while the other dipped the spoon in his cereal. "Thanks for that by the way..." He finished irritably before chewing on the first spoonful.

"At least be thankful you didn't have to attempt to sleep off a migrane the size of this county brother sibling." Lisa replied as she rested her head on the table. "It is nearly impossible to get any proper rest if your head feels like the equivalent of a 1940s automobile running at 60 mph."

Lincoln flinched a little at that statement, a minor flashback of that near miss at the ice cream shop running through his head before his brain registered it as an analogy. A cold sensation ran up his spine before Lincoln opted to focus on his cereal once more, lest he get caught in another panic attack that he really didn't need this morning.

The 5 oldest siblings soon joined the rest, finding a spot to sit at with their own breakfast of either cereal or toast. No one was awake enough to cook eggs without making a mess.

"So Mom carpooled to work and Dad took a cab, which means we get to use Vanzilla today instead of the bus." Lori stated as she lazily thumbed through her messages. "And since we got some time...anyone want to address the elephant in the room?..."

Lana widened her eyes a bit, quickly looking to and fro for the aforementioned mammal. "There's an elephant in here?!" The tomboy lifted the table cloth and peered under, becoming disappointed as she only found several pairs of feet.

Lola shut her eyes and did her best to suppress a growl; it still came out as if a cat was hissing. "No, dummy! She's talking about last night."

"What about last night?" Luan muttered.

"We still gotta figure out this whole room shuffle before Mom and Dad come and arrange it into something no one will be happy about. So," Lori leaned on the table. "Any suggestions? I'm literally open to anything right now."

"How about we draw straws on who gets to have their own room?" Lynn stated before taking another bite of her toast.

Lisa shook her head. "That would never work without everyone else getting upset, and I'm pretty sure father wants all of us to be fair and equal in this matter. Not to mention the room I currently reside in is only 10x10x14 ft, so only someone of small stature would find it comfortable and still have space to spare." She scratched at the base of her wig. "Unless you prefer to sleep in the attic or the basement."

"I would prefer the attic: it's decrypt and perfect Fang and his family. But there's too many boxes up there, not to mention the A/C doesn't work so well." Lucy added.

"And the basement is the opposite. It's dark and cold, not to mention the washing machine and dryer make too much noise; and who knows what kind of bugs keep sneaking in down there." Luan followed up.

Leni's pupils shrank at the mention of bugs. "Please tell me there aren't any spiders in the basement..."

There's a high chance that at least one was down there somewhere, but no one wants to deal with Leni's arachnophobia right now.

"Moving on, what about the garage?" Luna spoke in a half-confident tone. "It works out for me when I have my jam sessions."

"Um, Luna? Remember the time Dad went crazy over the new van?" Lincoln asked, taking another scoop of cereal, soon talking whilst chewing. "I doubt anyone wants to take all those boxes out and find another place to put them."

"My hands feel clammy just thinking about it..." Lola agreed, rubbing one hand over the other.

Lori gave an exasperated sigh. "Well unless we can come up with something before we leave today, we're gonna be stuck with whatever Mom and Dad decide to do when we get back home, so anyone else have any ideas?" She looked at the genius in the room. "Lisa?"

"Apologizes..." Lisa slumped against the table, "But I am currently unfit to offer any meaningful suggestions..."

The rest of the kids started to voice their apprehensions about getting unfair room arrangements, which wasn't helping anyone's tired state one bit. Lincoln absentmindedly tapped his spoon against the rim of his bowl, listening to the angry chatter surrounding him.

Sighing inwardly, "Seems everyone already forgot what I said last night." Lincoln furrowed his brows a little. "And it feels almost exactly like last Friday. I mean, seriously? How did my sisters deal with their roommate's quirks the first time? It's not like the twins or the two performers in the house complain about each other once a month; maybe not every day, but a few times a week usually..."

Lincoln became wide-eyed upon realizing how good of a question that sounded. He dropped his spoon in the bowl with a loud clang before bolting up from his seat. "Girls girls girls!" He spoke loudly, which was enough to silence the arguing sisters as they turned their attention to him. "Now, call this a long shot, but how exactly did you guys deal with your former roommates complaints? I mean, take Lana ruining Lola's dolls for example, and Lori messing up Leni's hair pin."

Lola rubbed the tips of her fingers. "I just look for something I could tell Mom and Dad to get her to stop since hiding them does nothing." She glowered at her twin.

"But, what about all of her pets?" Lincoln inquired. "If Luna could get annoyed by just a snake, I can't imagine how bad you would react."

"Oh." Lola formed an evil smirk. "They're too scared to even go near me. At first they thought I was like Lana, but go ask what they think now after what happened to Seymour." Lana, hesitantly, gave a nod in agreement.

"I thought that schtick with Seymour was fake." Lynn stated.

"Nope..." Lana sighed heavily. "It was real..."

Lincoln remained silent for a couple seconds as he wondered if those other stories the sisters told about Lola were true. "Oooookay?...What about everyone else?"

"Well, Luna doesn't complain about my sleep puns," Luan folded her arms, "But she did nearly melt Mr. Coconuts with her fog machine more than once."

Luna raised a brow. "You make puns in your sleep? I usually have my music rockin' on my headphones all night."

Luan formed a half-lidded stare. "Well that explains that."

"And sometimes, I move your dummy away from my stuff since they can heat up real nice when in use. Don't want Mr. Coconuts to be smokin' and nearly burn the room down."

"Or the house, in case you forgot the time you decided setting off fireworks indoors was a good idea..." Lori chided the 15 year old.

Luna smiled nervously. "R-Riiiiight..."

Leni tapped her chin as she recalled the incident with her hair pins. "OH! I stash my pins in a place where Lori won't ever find them." She gave a confident smile at this fact.

"Leni, do you actually remember where you hide them?" Lori asked in a dull tone, her posture indicating that she already knew the answer.

"Uh, yeah?" Leni scoffed. "They're in my..." The fashionista paused as her train of thought began to derail. "Um..." Her gaze shifted around, looking for an answer that wouldn't present itself.

"You hide them in my dresser." Lori finished for her, a twinge of irritation in her tone. "And I end up using them because they look so identical to mine. And half the time, you literally forget which clothes and whatever items that go with them are yours."

Leni started to sulk in her seat, feeling a little hopeless at her constant memory loss. "I'm sorry...I would ask, but I thought you'd just get mad at me..."

"Leni..." Lori started, her eyes softening as her lips curled into a faint smile. "I'd only get mad at you if you wear something that clearly didn't belong to you. I just wish you'd stop putting your stuff in my space."

"So, Lynn." Lincoln began as he turned to his sporty sister. He leaned on the table once he felt his legs weren't fully awake. "How'd you manage to get Lucy's bats to stop bothering you?"

"Oh." Lynn gave a prideful grin. "I put on my lucky jersey and they stay away for good."

Lucy scrunched up her nose upon the mention of that, whilst Leni jolted a little due to being reminded of what happened yesterday. "You mean the one you haven't washed in weeks?..."

"Can I keep it?" Lana asked.

"Yes, and no." Lynn answered both of them, her lips pouting a bit as she folded her arms. "Not like I can keep it dirty anyways because Mom won't let me..."

Lana's smile deflated into a forlorn look. "Bummer..."

"Not bummer! She should've washed those icky things long before our noses started to fall off!" Lola growled.

Lynn rolled her eyes. "Anyway, so long as Lucy keeps her dark stuff on her side of the room, we're good." The jock turned her head towards the young goth lover. "But she keeps crossing boundaries too much..."

"I needed some items for my seances, which usually require concentration." Lucy met the athlete gaze with her own blank stare. "Something I can't do if you're always yelling too much about your last few games."

"So? Don't you just go and hide in the vents to do it?" Lynn retorted.

Lucy didn't give an answer for a few seconds. Just as Lynn was about to respond, the emo finally opened up with, "They're good for writing in isolation, but not for anything else..."

"Since we are on this matter, I might as well admit that I usually do not have any qualms with Lily." Lisa stated.

"Then what was that all about last week?" Lincoln asked, drumming his fingers on the table in anticipation.

"Sometimes, being that Lily has yet to realize the hazards of some of my experiments (and per everyone's request), she wanders into my space at random while I'm working. While I do prefer to the companionship that comes with having a roommate, I do wish she'd learn not to distract me while I conduct my research as doing so resulted in a few accidents. The reason I decided to take part in the room exchange was to see how effective this social experiment would be." Lisa paused as she tilted her head towards the table, her left eye twitching a little as she felt her head throb. Bringing a hand to her temple, "And so Lily won't have a pulsating brain from radiation poisoning like I do. In particular, I received that from accidentally miscalculating my experiment when she wanted to play and had to rush Lily out of danger."

"Well, that explains the 'nuke experiment' or whatever going bust." Lori stated.

"See, this is what I was saying last night." Lincoln began, sitting back in his chair. "You guys have gotten used to your roommates over a long time that eventually, you kinda cancel out each other's annoying traits. Which is why I'm guessing things aren't working out like the way they should."

"Well, you were lucky to have a room to yourself for the past two years." Luan pointed out.

"Yeah," Lincoln folded his arms as he stood up straight. "But I've grown used to her."

"That sounds weird coming from someone who liked having their own space." Lynn chided, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You sure didn't want me around when me and Lucy had a spat months back."

Lincoln furrowed his brows a little. "That's cause you snore louder than a bear and kept trying to wrestle me." He grew a smirk. "But you still missed being Lucy's roommate like she did with you."

Both the athlete and emo looked at each other before glancing away awkwardly.

"Now, you may ask why and how I got used to Lily's quirks, and the truth is..." Lincoln paused, hoping his sisters wouldn't kill him over what he'd say next. "Truth is I..."

"Come on Lincoln! Spit it out!" Lola commanded, making the boy flinch.

"I-I wanted to make up for the times I used Lily for my own benefit or nearly lost her!" Lincoln stammered out, his lips curling into his mouth as if he just ate something sour.

"What?!" Lori yelped. "When?!"

At this point, Lincoln figures he'd best make it quick before his sisters started to make guesses on their own. "During that one time you guys were visiting Aunt Ruth, and I volunteered to babysit Lily, that was because I didn't want to get stuck with massaging her feet..."

Lori's surprised gaze faded into an unimpressed look. "Oh, we already figured that." She spoke as she gave a dismissive wave. "Not that we blame you Lincoln, cause her feet are literally the worst!"

"Yeah, but...I nearly lost her at the park after accidentally mistaking her for another baby..."

None of the girls said anything, only giving the boy neutral stares. This was beginning to unnerve Lincoln further, so he continued. "But I did find her and gave the baby back to the father who did the same thing. Annnnd I got chicken pox afterwards, so I guess that's fair?" The Loud boy smiled nervously as small beads of sweat formed on above his brows. Again, no one was saying anything; they didn't look shocked or even mad like Lincoln would've expected. "Ok, why is no one saying anything?"

"Cause it's not the first time one of us nearly lost track of you guys." Luan admitted, twiddling her thumbs. "I nearly lost Lucy at the mall once and thought Mom and Dad would cook me faster than a turkey. Turns out, she was still hiding in the children playground near the food court."

"I don't remember that." Lucy flatly stated.

The comedian rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't; you were only 7 months old. You know how hard it is to watch you when you're quiet all the time?"

"I regret nothing." Came the emo's response.

"I left Leni in charge of the twins when I went to the bathroom while we were at the park one time. They were close to Lily's age." Lori spoke evenly.

Lola's pupils shrank at this due to knowing how dense her second oldest sister is. "Are you crazy woman?!"

"Hey!" Leni frowned as she turned to Lori. "I didn't lose them! That was you!" She points an accusing finger at the oldest sibling.

"I went to the bathroom for two minutes and when I got back, you couldn't tell me where they were!" Lori retorted.

"I told you they were in the sand box! You calmed down after that, then I think I got distracted by an ice cream truck." Leni tapped her chin in thought.

Lori dispelled a frustrated sigh through her nose. "Sometimes it felt like watching after three babies..." She muttered, to which a few others but Leni caught wind of.

"So, if this wasn't the first time it happened..." Lincoln mumbled as he scratched his head. "Who was watching over me?"

"Lynn." Luna pointed towards the jock, who gave a curt nod. Lincoln's pupils shrank at the thought of Lynn constantly losing him due to various reasons, but he became confused when Luna laughed a little. "Relax dude. She watched you like a hawk the whole time. You could barely go anywhere without her having to tag behind you or drag you back to us when you started to wonder off."

Lynn shrugged. "Someone had to do their job right."

"Hey..." Lincoln narrowed his eyes. "What about the time you nearly left me behind during Halloween?"

The brunette raised a brow. "Wasn't that the same one where you met Clyde?"

"Well, yeah." Lincoln admitted. "But still."

Lynn smirked. "Something good came out of it at least."

Lincoln pouted his lips before leaning back in his seat. "I guess...Mom and Dad don't know about any of this stuff, do they?"

Lori gave a low chuckle. "Heck no. If they did, all of us would be grounded til we're 20." Folding her hands behind her head, "So your secret's safe little bro."

"What about the time we went to the mall?" Lana voiced in confusion. "I never got to say goodbye to my little duckies before they left."

"What time was that? And why don't I remember it?" Leni asked.

"Uhhhhh..." Lincoln stuttered out, shifting his gaze every few seconds as sweat started to form on his forehead again.

"Lincoln wished to have his survival guidebook signed by the author who wrote it, but our parental units assigned him with looking after us while they took our siblings above Lincoln's age to their afternoon activities. So, lincoln dragged us to the mall with him." Lisa explained, taking a moment to finish her orange juice. Giving a satisfied sigh, she continued. "Due to the approximately 2 hour wait time for the line that developed, Lincoln tried to keep us satisfied until then, which included sticking us on a train ride that apparently got out of control due to being overcharged with the amount of quarters he fed it."

By this time, Lincoln was hiding under the table in shame. "Eventually, said locomotive jumped its tracks and each of us landed in various locations in the mall as it rolled through the busy stores; Lincoln had to track us down once he received said signature. In reference to his earlier misgivings involving our infantile sibling, she was still on the train that by then was on a collision course with Flip's food cart. However, Lincoln applied the knowledge he received from his guidebook and saved Lily without a hitch before anything would've occurred that would metaphorically end his life."

"It wasn't that bad though." Lola grinned, tapping her fingers together in a smug way. "I got to rule over my subjects with an iron fist!"

"And we got to keep ducks!" Lana cheered.

"And I was able to create a multitasking machine capable of replicating the appliances found in the store I landed in." Lisa added.

"Wow. Guess Lincoln nearly derailed his chances of getting out of that one." Luan chuckled, earning a collective groan from everyone else in the room.

"That's the other reason why I wanted to make it up to her." Came Lincoln's muffled voice. "She could've gotten hurt twice because of me..." The boy's nose flared a little as he felt his eyes becoming wet. "No...three times..."

"Lincoln..." Lori spoke in a soft tone that many would've swore almost sounded like their mother. "What happened about the car wasn't your fault. You can't expect someone to randomly go and crash every day as you go about your business." The teen folded her arms, a glare taking shape as she stared off into space. "Just like I can't predict when some idiot is going to cut me off on the highway..."

"I'm surprised she hasn't gotten any nightmares about it..." Lincoln replied.

"But she didn't get hurt or anything, right?" Luna pointed out. "Yeah, you kinda messed up by doing all that other stuff, but at least you took care of her."

"I know the table makes a good umbrella," Luan pulled up the table cloth to see her brother curled up on the floor with his knees folded against his chest. "But it's clear skies up here, so come get some sunshine bro." She chuckled a little, and Lincoln couldn't help the little smile that formed on his face.

He uncurled himself and climbed out from under the table, giving a slight hiss when the top of his head tapped the underside.

"So, you want to have Lily as your roommate." Lucy stated as if it was obvious.

Lincoln raised a brow. "W-What makes you think that?"

"Everything you've said about her, and the emotional bond I've seen between you two; you're worried that you won't be able to stay roommates with her if we change it up again." Lincoln didn't say anything after this statement, giving the goth lover the confirmation she needed. "You don't have to worry; I won't make you switch if you don't want to. Plus, I fear that Lily would leave droll on my book and Edwin."

"I think her dirty diapers are bad enough." Lynn added.

Luan gave a wide smirk. "That's a lot coming from the girl who refused to wash hers."

"Watch it..." The jock growled.

"Not to mention the level of admiration Lily probably has for you; our infant sibling may grow restless without Lincoln's presence at this point." She stopped upon hearing a high pitched squeal followed by what sounded like someone blowing a raspberry.

The siblings turned towards the dining room entrance to see Lily stumble in, making a few happy noises before she tripped over her feet again. Unfazed by the fall, the little girl pouted a little before walking over to her siblings general direction, then making a beeline straight for Lincoln's seat. Lily cheered to herself as she grabbed the leg of her brother's chair, bouncing on the spot like a happy puppy.

Lincoln gave a light chortle, leaning down and picking up the infant. "Morning Lily."

"Haai!" She responded back, giggling more when Lincoln softly tickled her tummy.

"And with physical evidence presented to us, it would be best if he and Lily remain in the same room." The genius commented.

"So you're gonna stay in that tiny little excuse for a room?" Lola bemoaned in disgust.

"While the floor space is much smaller than what I am used to, I do appreciate the isolation it gives me to conduct my research in peace." Lisa started to smile. "And the amount of insulation in the walls prevents me from being disrupted by unwanted noise."

"Until someone opens the door." The pageant winner half-joked.

"Guess you're takin' one for the team bro." Luna joked.

Lincoln shrugged. "I'd agree with you when we first started this, but I don't see it that way now." Lily grabbed one of his fingers, needing her entire hand to grasp it. However, she thought it might've been a pacifier and started to suck on it. Lincoln didn't seem to mind though, just letting the baby do her own thing as she rested in his arms.

Lori couldn't help but coo at how cute the scene was before snapping a photo of the two. "I'm totally gonna share this with-AAAH!" The teen suddenly screamed, gaining the attention of everyone else. "Ok, we need to wrap this up right now or we're all gonna be literally late. So, everyone besides Lincoln, Lily, and Lisa who vote to switch back to our old rooms and learn to work something out, raise your hand."

The vote was unanimous as every one besides the trio held up a hand; Leni held up two, but this was ignored.

"Ok. Everyone has five minutes for bathroom use cause we need to get our butts in the van in 40 minutes!" Lori glanced at Leni and Lola. "No exceptions! Now go!"

The siblings didn't need to be told twice. The rest of the morning was filled with panicked voices of the kids putting their day clothes on (some getting mixed up with others), thumps being heard due to getting stuck in the changing process, and banging on the bathroom door to demand that the current user hurry up. Rest assured, getting 11 people out of the house in such a short time was cutting it close. Didn't matter much though, as the kids would look forward to moving their belongings around once more after suffering through the education system for another day.

A/N: Sometimes it's best for the status quo to remain the same, as alternative solutions don't always work the way we want them to. Other times, it can be a nuisance (as shown in Change of Heart and Vantastic Voyage. Yes, I don't like them since they basically amounted to nothing)

In regards to this episode, I felt the room changes would've worked initially, but over time the siblings would still run into problems no matter what. It still felt odd that Lincoln wouldn't want to room with the baby since he and Lily share a close relationship. Plus, babies are relatively easy to share with so long as they get enough love and attention. And I wanted to get the drama out the way so I could focus on more cute moments. You could argue the issue between the roommates wasn't needed, but I saw it was unavoidable due to how it was set up and questions that needed to be answered. But don't worry, the story isn't over.