Disclaimer: The Loud House is property of Nickelodeon. I own nothing.

For Want Of A Sibling

Chapter 01

"I can't believe this! They actually locked me out of the house because of a superstition?"

Lincoln was staring at his house in skepticism as he fumed. Is this how families are supposed to react to something like this? Locking their own family member out of their house because of something as vague as bad luck?

His family took reactions up to eleven sure. This however? This was over the top in a way he never saw before. His siblings have done some crazy things with him stuck in the middle of it. But this?

"This is too much. Even for them…" Sighing in defeat Lincoln turned away from the Loud house and started walking. He couldn't bare looking at his house again. Just the thought that all his siblings are asleep in their warm beds filled him with envy. Did even one of them stop to think about him? Did his well being even matter to them?

He tried to keep himself warm from the night air by rubbing his arms with minimal success. Pajamas were meant for use inside a nice cozy bed, not the outside. He could feel the little goose bumps already forming on his arms.

"Snap out of it Lincoln Loud! You're the man with the plan. First thing on the agenda, find shelter." He always came up with something. He could figure out what to do from here.

"What can I do though? I can't contact Clyde, it's too late and I don't have my cellphone on me."

Each step he took was painful as his bare feet scraped against the hard asphalt sidewalk. Every little pebble felt like Lego biting into his feet with the cold ground.

When he finally looked up from out of his thoughts he realized he was at the playground.

"That's it! The park!" He said with a smile. He remembers that plastic tube, he used to play in it a lot. Especially with his siblings.

Just like that the full weight of the situation hit him again. The park, that his big sisters used to take him to and him in turn to his little sisters. This was the very park where the Loud siblings suffered many scrapes from playing to rough. But this was a place with fond memories of laughter and cheer.

He didn't know how long he was just sitting there. Staring at the ground as images flashed through his head. Memories of fun times with his siblings brought smiles to his face. Harsh times with his sisters brought scowls. Anger showed up now and then along with a few chuckles.

The tears however kept flowing no matter what.

He didn't even hear as the person approached him from behind.

'You should feel proud of yourself.'

'Shut up.' Lynn hated that little voice in her head it was annoying as heck. She listened to it way too much. Every time she listened to it, she always regretted it when it came back to bite her in the butt.

'But you really should be! You got rid of the family bad luck charm. Your sisters and parents should thank you.' It didn't have a face, but it had a voice.

And how annoying that voice was.

'Should you really be happy? Your baby brother is outside in the cold and all alone.' There's the other voice too. Just great.

'Oh please, what could happen to him? Anything bad that happens to him is his own fault for being such a jinx.'

Lynn kept tossing and turning in the bed as the two voices kept arguing. So, what if he had to sleep outside? It serves him right for being a jinx and costing her the game.

'What if something happens to him?'

'Go check up on the jinx if you're so worried.'

'We should get him a blanket.' It wasn't that cold out.

Was it? Stupid voices.

"We're just going to check up on him. That's it, nothing else." She told herself as she kicked off the covers of her bed.

She tried to creep out of room as to not wake up her little sister. But as she almost made it to the door the coffin Lucy slept in slowly creaked open. If Lynn wasn't used to living in the same room as Lucy she would probably pee herself. She watched enough horror movies to know what happens when a coffin slowly opens.

"Where are you going?" The monotone voice of her sister reached her ears in the silent room.

"Just getting a glass of water. Got to stay hydrated to avoid those muscle cramps."

Lynn slowly made her way downstairs passing by the boarded room of Lincoln. She likened the boarded room to a condemned building. No entry permitted. No exit available. It was nothing more than an empty shell of what it once.

An image of Lincoln begging to be let back in flashed in her mind. Begging, and pleading for anyone to let him in as tears pricked the sides of his eyes.

'Lincoln's fine outside. I can probably see him from the window.'

The cold tiled floor of the kitchen bit at her feet as she retrieved a glass and filled it with water. She took a peak out the window hoping to see her brother.

Nothing.

'Try the back?' The good voice, the sister voice suggested.

Lincoln would probably sleep against the tree in the back. He better be sleeping against the tree in the back.

She turned the light to the backyard on. If there was someone sleeping there before they would've moved from the new light bothering their sleep.

Nothing. No motion at all to signify he slept in the backyard.

'Try the front?' The sister voice started to sound worried. More worried than before. That made her worried.

Psh, there was nothing to be worried about. Linc was probably asleep on the front porch or maybe against the tree out there.

'Are you sure about that?' The not sister voice asked. She could hear the smugness in the voice. She really wished she could punch the thing sometimes.

"He has to be out front. He has to be…" It made sense. If he wasn't out back, he had to be out front.

The not sister voice was snickering. Snickering hard. She probed for the light switch that would turn the lights out front on. She could hear the click of the lights. She could hear the crickets of the night. She could hear the wind of the cold night air.

She could hear the cackling madness of the not sister's laugh.

'Then where is he?'

Carol wanted to sigh. This was no different than all the other times.

"It's not you Carol. It's me." The same old line being told her. New person, same thing, over, and over again.

"No. I get it. It's fine." Post on the same fake smile. Use the same fake words.

But it wasn't fine or okay. How many boyfriends broke up with her because she was 'too good' for them?

"Friends?" They always asked this. They never followed through with their own words. They'd still talk for maybe a week; before the guy would just stop completely.

"Sure. I'm going to go on ahead. Thanks for dinner." She didn't even let him get another word in before she left the restaurant.

She felt the chill of the night air hit her and she instantly regretted not bringing a wind breaker or something. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her now ex-boyfriend stare at the table in guilt from the window. Why would someone do something if it would just make you feel bad later?

Every time. Every. Single. Time! Right when she thinks she's getting close to someone they always back away.

Couldn't there be someone out there who could like her for who she is? Someone that would confide in her and rely on her and vice versa?

It was one of the reasons she was envious of Lori Loud. Her classmate had ten siblings. Ten! They were always together, and they could tell each other their problems.

Carol always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. No matter what occasion Carol always saw Leni beside her older sister. Leni was always there to congratulate Lori, to comfort Lori, to hang out with Lori. She was there to laugh with Lori. She was there to cry with Lori.

It was one of the reasons she hated being an only child.

She didn't want to go home just yet. Her Dad always worked nights, her Mom has long since passed away, and no one to keep her company. It would just be another lonely night at the Pingrey house.

She kicked a pebble on the sidewalk and watched as it skipped across the pavement like a skipping stone one water. She walked a bit faster to kick it again and follow its path before it went flying onto the grass near the old playground. It was then that a speck of white and orange caught her attention.

'Isn't that Lori's brother?'

Carol observed the white-haired child in the distance. Even from where she stood she could tell his body was shaking. She wanted to keep walking. It would be so easy for her to ignore the problem. It didn't concern her, she had her own things to deal with.

As she tried to take a step away and towards her house a certain feeling arose. It started in her mind, just a shallow whisper to not turn away. She tried taking another step and the voice kept getting louder. Eventually it made its way into her chest, clenching and making it hard to breath and settled in her stomach where it continued to wrestle with her gut.

"Geeze…" Rubbing her head with one hand and clicking her tongue Carol made her way towards the boy. "When it rains it pours huh…" She couldn't help the sigh that pressed itself out of her lips.

She cleaned the seat of the swing set with her hand before sitting down beside the boy and taking a better look at him.

Yeah, any doubt she had about this being Lori's little brother before has now been completely swept away.

Lori's little brother. Out alone late at night. In his pajamas. Sobbing in an empty park on a swing.

"So… You sneak out of your house only to lock yourself outside?" She tried to play it as a joke. She personally never experienced that, but she heard some of her acquaintances at school mention something like that happening to them before.

Even though the night was quiet, she couldn't hear his response.

"Yeah… I literally missed that. Speak up." She tried leaning closer to hear better. It wasn't needed to though. The boy found his voice amidst his choked sobs.

"My family locked me out of the house. They said I'm bad luck." Lincoln tried to smile despite the situation. He tried to answer the young woman in a 'what can you do' manner. He tried to chuckle as if it were a joke. It wasn't working.

Carol's mind froze at that short explanation. She did not just hear what she thinks she heard.

"Your family kicked you out of the house…" The boy nodded. "because you're bad luck?" When the boy didn't reply in the negative to her confirmation she was at a loss for words. Her mouth opening as if wanting to say something, and then closing again when nothing would come out.

It had to be a sick joke. She knew of the Louds, she was in the same grade as the eldest. The one thing that always stuck in her mind was how one of the siblings was always near the other when an opportunity arrived.

"They boarded up my room and everything…" She caught that whispered reply that time. With her full attention on the boy any whisper he gave off sounded clear to her now. If the fact that they kicked him out shocked her the loss of all his possessions made her brain shut down.

They were silent for a moment. The boy's sobbing lessening now, but it was still there. Her brain took a while to reboot but even then. The entire situation was new and alien to her.

"Did… you want me to call child services?" It shouldn't have even been a question. There were laws against this kind of thing. But she didn't know what to do, and letting the boy make the choice for her was easier than making her own now.

"No… This was all my fault." He brought this situation upon himself. He wanted alone time. It looks like he got what he wanted.

Carol on the other hand just had one thought going through her head.

'What?'

Lincoln took her silence as a que to tell her everything that happened. It was slow as he took time between telling her the story and trying to hold back the tears that were struggling to continue again. Carol tried to be patient through it all. She tried to be understanding and see things from his point of view.

She stayed silent the entire time. Letting the boy recollect the events that led up to this situation.

"So…" She paused trying to find the right words to use. "You're either an idiot or insane to blame everything on yourself." Her words shocked the boy as he stared at her.

Lincoln didn't know how to respond to that statement. Every time something emotional happened to him with his sister's they would always just be supportive and comforting. The person in front of him however…

"Sorry. That came out harsh." Carol admitted as she scratched her head with one hand. "It's been a long day for the both of us, but you just made my day longer. It's getting late and I'm getting tired." She got up from the seat and stood directly in front of the boy.

"So right now, you have three choices." She placed one hand on her hip and put one hand in the sky with the index finger pointing up. "Number one. You spend the night out under the stars with no way to keep warm. Making me stay out under the stars with no way to keep warm just to make sure nothing happens to you. Which I do not want." Another finger stood on end. "Number two. I call child services for you and I don't get any sleep period. Or three. You come with me. Both of us sleep the day off, and we figure out together where we go from here in the morning." She finished as she held up her third finger.

"So, which one is it going to be?" She held out her hand as she cocked an eyebrow at him.

She saw the confliction in his eyes as his view darted to meet hers and her hand. Back and forth his eyes moved like a pendulum. He was looking for something. What he was looking for she didn't know. But it really was kind of cold out and she just wanted to get into her warm bed.

"Sleep it off." He took the hand offered and she helped pull him up.

Carol nodded once in satisfaction of his reply as his small hand was covered by her own.

"Come on, I live close by. Your hand is freezing." Carol tried to warm up both their hands by rubbing them together.

"How long have you been outside again?" She really hoped he wasn't going to get sick from staying so late outside. She did not want to deal with that.

It was then she noticed something else.

"Uh, you have no shoes." She pointed out. All Lincoln could do was shrug at her observation. It wasn't like most people slept in their bed with their sneakers on.

Carol thought about what to do about the situation. All she really wanted to do now was to get out of the cold and into her bed. First, she gets dumped by her boyfriend and now she's taking care of one of her classmate's siblings.

"Ugh, here, climb on." She turned around and lowered herself closer to the ground.

Lincoln's wrapped his arms around her neck as she lifted his legs up. It took a while for Carol to get a firm grip on the boy. She's never given someone a piggy back ride before. After a while it didn't seem so bad, at least he kept the cold from her back.

Lincoln was reminded of happier times. The way Carol was carrying him brought forth thoughts of his older sisters.

Especially memories of Lori, and how she used to carry him the same way when he hurt himself.

When Carol and Lincoln made it to her house she brought him straight to the bathroom.

"Here. Take a bath and then go to sleep. Things seem a bit brighter after a good night's rest." She said as she handed the confused boy a spare towel. She left the bathroom and started heading for her room. In the back of her head she noted the sound of the shower being turned on.

"Dammit Carol just what are you doing?" She paused getting her own pajamas and towel ready to let out a sigh.

Maybe it was just the heat of the moment, looking back on the situation she made a dumb call. She should have just gone straight to the authorities with Lincoln. What does she do?

Instead she takes the boy home.

Isn't that like kidnapping even if the boy himself made the choice? Kids aren't supposed to make decisions like that. Grown ups are. Carol may be almost considered an adult in the eyes of the law, but she's still got 8 months to go before she becomes a legal adult.

Carol was pretty sure she was breaking the law in some shape or form. This is something she could go to jail for. Everyone knew that.

'Think Carol, what can you do?'

She idly noted that Lincoln finished his shower at some point and said she was good to go next. Did she tell Lincoln to wait in her room? She couldn't remember if she did or not.

There were only a couple of things she could think of. What could she do? Where does she go from here? She felt the warm water of the shower hit her hair.

She could go to the police in the morning. If she read the situation wrong and Lincoln was just exaggerating she might just damn an entire family. Was she prepared for that kind of action? She might not be friends with Lori Loud. She might not like her either. Not even she would want Lori forcibly separated from her siblings though.

She knew what it was like to be alone.

She could shelter the boy, for a little while at least. Kids cost money, she knows that from class. They need clothes, food, education, and a bunch of other things she doesn't even want to think of.

Speaking of clothes, she would have to take the kid shopping tomorrow. He can't only wear pajamas. How was she going to get him dressed to go out though?

'Whatever. Him and I will talk tomorrow, and we'll figure this out.'

She finished drying her hair and made her way to check up on Lincoln.

She wasn't worried at all about what the possible state of her room could be. Not at all.

Only to see a sight she didn't expect to see but really should have.

Lincoln was curled up underneath her covers fast asleep. She couldn't blame the kid. The emotional drain along with how late it was must have taken its toll on him. A warm bed must have seemed like a siren's call.

"I'm sorry… I'm not bad luck."

Carol leaned in closer to Lincoln. She tried to catch the words being mumbled in the boy's sleep.

"Luck is how you make it out to be." She couldn't help the retort.

The preteen tossed and turned in his sleep. His face switching into a myriad of expressions. Each expression barely lasted more than a second, with most of them being visages of fear and pleading.

"Please don't leave me…" The boy whimpered as he subconsciously started curling into a ball.

Carol was hesitating on what to do in her head. Lincoln Loud was proving to make Carol experience things she's never had before. She never had a younger brother or even a younger cousin.

'I need to get some sleep as well. Do I wake him up? But there's no guarantee that when he falls back to sleep he'll sleep peacefully…'

That was the last thing she wanted or needed. She had a long day too! Maybe he had a longer day, but it hers was still long! His moans and whimpers were starting to make her feel awkward as well. It was a strange mixture of worry, helplessness, and exasperation.

"Lori… Please…"

He kind of reminded her of a stray pet. Maybe a puppy or a kitten.

'A pet huh…'

She lifted the covers up and pressed herself up against the boy and tried to make herself comfortable.

'There's nothing to feel strange about. It's just like sleeping with a pet, a lot of people sleep with their pets.'

She tried to justify it to herself, but even she knew it sounded weak to her ears. Carol idly started to play with his hair while he slept. It helped calm the boy down from whatever was haunting him, and it helped lower the nervous pounding of her own heart.

Eventually the boy's subtle struggles against his mind started to subside. His breathing started to slow down, and his lips no longer moved as if searching for words. A vast improvement to earlier.

She would never admit it out loud. She would never admit it under threat of death. It didn't actually feel that bad holding the boy. His body heat took a bit to get used to, other that that, it was like…

'Like holding a big teddy bear…'