It was a fairly miserable evening in Royal Woods, as the weather had taken a turn for the worst when a storm took over the town, with dark grey clouds littering the sky, and rain pouring down heavily. Inside one house, Clyde McBride was sat near the roaring fireplace with his two dads, Howard and Harold, the three of them relaxing in their dressing gowns by drinking cocoa.

Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be, in this weather?" Harold asked.

"I'll get it!" Howard announced, setting his cocoa on the table. He walked over to the door, then unlocked and opened it, but when he saw who it was, he was shocked. "Lincoln!"

Both Harold and Clyde rushed over to see, and gasped. Stood in front of them was Clyde's best friend, Lincoln Loud. The white-haired boy was stood on their doorstep, dripping wet and shivering from the rain, yet his face was damp from tears running from his eyes. He was carrying a small bag in his hand that was containing some of his things.

"I-I'm sorry to d-disturb y-you," he stuttered, as a combination of the rain and his tears was making him shiver more, "b-but could I possibly… s-stay here to-tonight?"

The McBrides didn't even need to answer, ushering him in and closing the door behind him without a second thought. "Lincoln, you're freezing!" Harold remarked, concerned for the boy's health. "You shouldn't be out in this weather, you'll catch Pneumonia!"

"I'm… I'm sorry." He had to gulp to stop himself from choking on his words. "I-I didn't have a-anywhere to go."

"Well, you are more than welcome here. Now, follow me, and we'll get you cleaned up, and into some warm, clean clothes."

"That's okay, I brought my own." He gestured to his bag, but when he opened it, he saw his clothes were soaked through, as were his comics and his toy bunny, Bun-Bun. "Damnit."

"Don't worry, Lincoln," Howard reassured him. "We'll get your clothes and bunny cleaned and dried in no time."

"And, if needs be, you can borrow some of my clothes," Clyde offered. "We're the same size."

"Thank you."

So, Lincoln followed Howard towards the guest bathroom, while Harold gestured for Clyde to follow him in the kitchen. "Clyde," Harold asked while they were walking, "do you know anything that could make Lincoln this upset?"

"I really don't know, dad," Clyde replied, his voice softer out of concern. "He seemed fine when I saw him yesterday, and I hadn't seen him today because him and his family went to the beach."

"In that case, something must have happened when they returned, because to walk all the way from the beach to here would take him a really long time, especially in this storm." He poured a mug of hot cocoa before adding some marshmallows. Turning to Clyde, he saw that his son was worried, so he kneeled down, placing a hand on his shoulder to make him look at him. "Don't worry, Clyde. We'll get to the bottom of this," he told him with a gentle smile.

Clyde smiled back at him. "Thanks, dad."

So, they returned to the living room and sat down on the couch. It wasn't long before Lincoln returned. While he was now dry and in a clean pair of pyjamas, he was still noticeably downcast as he sat next to Clyde. Harold handed him the mug of cocoa, which he weakly smiled at as he accepted it. "Thank you," he quietly told him.

"You're welcome, Lincoln," Harold told him.

"Okay, Lincoln," Howard called as he returned to the room. "I had to throw your comics out because they were falling apart, but I've put your clothes and bunny in the washer, and I'll put them in the dryer when that's done. They should be ready for you in about half an hour."

"Thank you."

"Now, Lincoln," Harold said as he turned to him, his voice both caring and serious, "I know you're rather distressed at the moment, but we need to know. Why were you out at this time, in the pouring rain, away from your family?"

Lincoln flinched at the mention of 'family', so Clyde put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. Taking a deep breath, Lincoln began to explain. "Well, it started a week ago. My sister wanted me to go to her softball game, but I was selfish and wanted to spend a day by myself. She made me go anyway, and when her team lost, she blamed me, saying I was bad luck. She started telling the others, and I stupidly used it as an excuse to avoid doing other things, which I thought was good at first, but when they started making me eat in the other room, stay behind when they went to the movies, and sleep outside, I realised just how much of an idiot I had been, but when I tried to apologise, they still thought I was bad luck. To prove I wasn't, I went to Lynn's game as the mascot, and they won. I showed myself so they wouldn't think I was bad luck, but they only thought I was lucky if in the squirrel suit, so I had to wear that all the time if I wanted to start hanging out with them again."

"Even to the beach?" Clyde asked in surprise, to which Lincoln nodded. "That can't have been comfortable."

"It wasn't…" He took a deep breath before he continued. "It wasn't until we got back from the beach when things got worse."

The Loud family all burst into the house, talking about how great their day at the beach was. As all ten girls walked in happily, however, Lincoln trudged behind, still wearing the squirrel suit. He was panting heavily. "Can I PLEASE take this off?" He asked his parents.

"Sorry, son," Lynn Sr. told him. "Only in your room. In the rest of the house, you need to wear the suit."

"But I'm burning up in here!"

"Why don't you go relax in your room, sweetie?" Rita suggested. "We'll bring dinner up to you."

Groaning, Lincoln trudged up the steps, turning right and going into his room, ignoring the weary looks his sisters gave him. After he closed the door, he removed the head of the squirrel suit, gasping for air. Once his breath was back, he got out of the body of the suit, still wearing his usual clothes beneath, before turning to the viewer. "Okay, I know I brought this on myself," he told them, "and I'm glad that my family is hanging out with me again, but I can't go on wearing this stupid squirrel suit! It's been five days! What is it going to take for them to realise I'm not bad luck?" His eyes went wide when he realised he needed to pee. "Be right back."

He opened the door and rushed across the landing to the bathroom, where he shut the door before doing his business. After flushing the toilet and washing his hands, he opened the door and began to walk back across the landing. On his way, though, he saw the door to Lynn and Lucy's room opened, the sporty sister walking out. When she looked at Lincoln. She gasped.

"What are you doing out of your squirrel costume?!" She yelled, prompting the rest of his sisters to look out of their rooms.

"I took it off," he told her, an irritated expression on his face. "This might be surprising to you, but spending a day at the beach in a mascot outfit makes a guy rather uncomfortable.

He began to walk again, but stopped when Lynn backed away from him. "No, no! Stay back, Mr Bad Luck!"

Growling, he clenched a fist. "I am NOT bad luck! I already told you, I faked that to avoid going to your events! I know that was selfish, and I apologised for that, time and time again! When will you get it through your heads that-" He stopped when he saw Lynn doing her good luck rituals. What irritated him more was that, when he looked at his other sisters, they were doing theirs too. Even Lisa, who normally didn't believe in superstitions. His anger building up, he snapped. "Enough. Enough! ENOUGH!" He practically roared, getting all ten sisters to stop and look at him. He glared angrily at Lynn. "This is all your fault! You and your stupid superstitions!"

"Well, if you had just supported me like a brother SHOULD, maybe I wouldn't have lost the game!" She shouted back.

"I'm sorry for that, and I've been sorry for the past seven days! What is it going to take for you to forgive me? It's like you don't even want me in this family!"

"Maybe I don't!"

And just like that, following a collective gasp from their nine sisters, silence fell upon the Loud House. Lincoln stood there, heartbroken by what his sister- the closest to him in age- had just told him. "W-what?" His voice was barely a whisper.

It took a couple of seconds for the realisation of what she had said. She cupped her hands over her mouth, regret spread all over her face. "N-n-no… no, I didn't… I didn't mean…"

She reached out to try and put a hand on his shoulder, but he pushed past her, not caring that she fell as he ran into his room, the tears sprawling down his face. He locked the door and sat on his bed crying, his knees curled up to his chest. He could hear his sisters knocking, asking him to come out, telling him he was sorry, but he ignored it all, pressing his face into his pillow.

"I stayed there for, maybe, fifteen minutes, before I grabbed my stuff and left through the window," Lincoln concluded, "I don't even know if they know that I'm gone. It was just after I left that it started raining." He laughed dryly, feeling tears build up again. "Maybe I am bad luck."

Howard put a hand on his shoulder. "Lincoln, that is crazy! You know bad luck doesn't exist, don't you?"

"I thought I didn't… but with everything that's happened, I don't know anymore. It feels like every time I do something right, something goes wrong and my sisters are the ones who either pay or fix everything. I've been so selfish and stupid towards my sisters, and they've stuck by me. I honestly don't deserve them."

Clyde noticed the tears were beginning to fall again, so he hugged his friend in an attempt to comfort him. "Don't say that, Lincoln. I'm sure they miss you right now, and want to know you're safe."

"Of course they do," Harold spoke up. "You're their family, and they love you. And while what you did was wrong, what they did was just as wrong, and what you did was not an excuse for what they did. This is just something that happened, and you can all learn from."

At that moment, they all heard the phone ring. "I'll be right back," Howard spoke up, before getting up to answer the phone, while Lincoln drank some of his cocoa. Picking up the phone, he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mr McBride? It's me, Rita Loud."

"Oh," he replied. "Hello, Mrs Loud." He looked back at Lincoln, who gulped nervously.

"I'm sorry for calling so late. I know you and your family are probably busy, but it's kind of an emergency. Has Clyde heard anything from Lincoln? We think he might have run away."

"Okay, Rita, calm down a second. Lincoln is actually here with us."

"He is? Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's okay. We've got him cleaned and dried, but he's a little shaken about what happened."

"Oh, thank you, Howard. I'm so sorry to have to burden you with this. I'm guessing Lincoln has explained what happened."

Howard frowned. "Yes, he has. If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't blame him for being so distraught. Even if what he did wasn't right, that was very careless of you all. Making him sleep outside? Really?"

"I know, and we all feel terrible about it. We all became so paranoid that we didn't think about what we were doing, or how it would affect him. When Lynn told me that she saw he'd escaped from his room by the window, we all wanted to go looking for him, but the storm was so bad that-"

"It's okay, I understand. We've known each other for a while, and I know you wouldn't intentionally want to hurt any of your children."

"Howard… would it be possible for me to speak with Lincoln? Both me and his sisters all want to apologise to him."

Howard looked at Lincoln uneasily. "I'm not sure. Just give me a second to ask him, okay?"

"Okay."

Howard walked over to Lincoln and kneeled down in front of him. "Lincoln, your mother and sisters want to talk to you." Lincoln squirmed a little. "I know it's a lot, and I'm not going to force you. However, I think it would definitely help. I've known Rita since you and Clyde first met at kindergarten, and I really think she feels bad about this. I can't speak as well for your sisters, but I think you should see for yourself." Lincoln looked him in the eyes, and saw the sincerity behind them. Giving a sigh, he nodded. While he was still off balance after everything, he decided it was for the best. Howard smiled at him. "Good boy. While you do that, I'll go check on your clothes."

Lincoln nodded, and while Howard walked off to the laundry room, Lincoln took one more sip from his cocoa before he walked over to the phone, placing it against his ear. "Hello?"

"Lincoln! Oh, thank goodness! Are you okay?" She answered, and he could instantly sense her worry.

"Yeah, I'm okay, mom. I'm sorry for running like that… I shouldn't have worried you like that."

"Lincoln, you have nothing to apologise for. Your father and I have been horrible parents this past week, and we feel terrible about that. We all do."

He felt touched by her words, causing a small smile to crack. "Really?"

"Of course we do. Actually, your sisters want to talk to you too. Do you mind if I put you on speaker phone?"

"Sure. Go ahead." He waited a second before he heard the phone switch to speaker. "Hey, guys."

"LINCOLN!" They all yelled.

He moved the phone away from his ear to recover from the sudden loud response, before putting it back to his ear. "Yeah, it's me."

"Are you okay, Lincy?" Leni asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry if I worried you guys."

"Don't be," Lori added. "We're literally just glad to hear you're alright."

"We miss you, big brother!" Lana and Lola both said at the same time.

Lincoln's smile grew, his expression softening. "I… I miss you too, guys."

"Lincoln?" He heard Lynn speak up, her voice quieter than how she usually sounded. "I'm so, so sorry, little bro. I was a jerk when I blamed you for my team losing. I got so caught up and angry that I'd lost, that I just flipped. And there was absolutely no reason for me to say I didn't want you in the family. This is all my fault."

"Actually, if I may interject," Lisa spoke next, "I believe I am also at fault. I stupidly believed in the idea that he was bad luck, when I should have used my brain and realised that superstition is a scientific impossibility."

"You guys aren't the only ones to blame," Luan added. "You're my little brother, Lincoln- I should have been looking out for you the whole time, not casting you aside like you were a burst whoopie-cushion. I'm ashamed at myself for not thinking about your safety."

"Guys, this is none of your fault. If I had thought about you guys instead of myself, and actually supported you at your events instead of trying to stay home by myself, this wouldn't have happened. Plus, I convinced you guys I was bad luck. If anything, I deserved what happened."

"Don't even say that, dude!" Luna objected. "We all screwed up big time, and we all just want to see you home again!"

"You mean it?"

"Definitely!" they all shouted.

"And no squirrel suit needed," Lynn added. "Honestly, we just want our brother back."

"I may not have a heart like the others, but I feel a great darkness knowing you're not here," Lucy commented. "And for the first time in my life, I don't want to be in the dark."

"Please, Lincoln," Luna spoke next. "Come home, little bro."

"I… I don't know what to say, you guys… except…" He felt a couple of tears on his cheeks, but he knew they were happy tears. "Okay." He heard them all cheering on the other end of the line, causing him to happily laugh.

"Lincoln, would you mind putting Howard back on for a second?" Rita asked him.

"Uh, he's left the room. Would you like me to put Clyde's other dad on?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay, hold on one second." He turned to Harold. "My mom wants to speak to you for a second."

"Oh, of course." Harold stood up and walked over to Lincoln, who handed him the phone. While Lincoln returned to the couch to drink some more cocoa, Harold held the phone against his ear. "Hi, Rita."

"Hi, Harold. I know you've both already done so much for us tonight, but would it be possible for Lincoln to spend the night with your family? The storm seems to be getting worse, and it doesn't look safe for us to come get him tonight."

"Of course Lincoln can stay here tonight. I agree, I don't think it's safe for you to drive in this weather. In fact, we were going to be dropping Clyde off with you tomorrow so he and Lincoln can work on a project, so we'll bring Lincoln too."

"You are a lifesaver! Thank you both again so much for this. We owe you both big time for this."

"Don't mention it. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Of course. Goodnight, Harold." With that, she hung up.

"Do you have everything you need, boys?" Harold asked as he opened the door to Clyde's bedroom, seeing Lincoln about to lay down in the air mattress.

"I think I have everything, dad," Clyde told his father.

"Yeah, I think I'm good too, Mr McBride," Lincoln told him next.

"Hold on, Lincoln!" They heard Howard call from down the hall. He came into the room, with his hands behind his backs. "Your clothes are dry, so you can change into them in the morning, and…"

Lincoln's eyes lit up as Howard brought his hands forward and showed the toy bunny Lincoln had brought with him, now dry and clean. "Bun-Bun!" He cried happily as Howard gave it to the white-haired boy, who hugged it before noticing the scent. "Ooh! Is that lavender I smell?" Howard nodded, before Lincoln hugged him and Harold happily. "Thank you both so much! I really appreciate this."

The two dads smiled at each other, before patting him on the back. "You're welcome, Lincoln."

"Now, get some sleep, boys," Howard told them as Lincoln returned to his bed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight!" Clyde and Lincoln both called, before Howard and Harold left, shutting the door.

"You alright now, Lincoln?" Clyde asked as Lincoln got under the cover, holding Bun-Bun close.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Lincoln replied. "To be honest, I'm just about ready to forget about all of this."

"I don't blame you… but, do you mind if I say something?" Lincoln, curious, gave him a nod. "I don't think you're bad luck. If anything, I'd say meeting you was the luckiest thing to ever happen to me."

Lincoln lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if I had never met you, I'd probably be a lot more lonely right now. You were my first friend, and without you, I wouldn't be who I am today. You've made me more confident, you've helped me so many times, and you've made my life so much more interesting. I genuinely can't imagine my life without you, buddy."

"You mean it?" Clyde nodded, and Lincoln wiped away a tear brimming in his eye. "Thanks, Clyde. I know it was a bit of a surprise me showing up, but-"

"Don't worry about it. You're my best friend."

"But you're more than that, Clyde. You've been there for me as long as I can remember. Even when we fought, we always found a way to make up. Clyde, I don't say this enough… but you're not just my best friend… you're my brother."

"Really?" When Lincoln nodded, it was Clyde's turn to wipe a tear away. "I feel the same way."

"Thanks, Clyde." Lincoln then let out a loud yawn. "I think we should get some sleep."

"You're right." Clyde and Lincoln both laid down in their beds, shutting their eyes. "Goodnight, Lincoln."

"Goodnight."

With that, the two boys drifted away to sleep, and as Lincoln lay there, sleeping soundly with Bun-Bun in his arms, he knew that things were going to turn out okay after all.

THE END