Lincoln raised his wrist to check the time on his ticking watch again. The hour hand was on the 'V' while the minute hand was slowly drifting towards the top of the watch. It was almost five o'clock, which only meant one thing.

She was late.

Lincoln shrugged. He supposed it wasn't entirely her fault. She was coming by train, and seeing how she wasn't the conductor, she was just as much a victim of the ever infamous train delays as he was. However, it was her fault because she was the one who insisted on getting a train ticket instead of something more convenient, like a plane, or a car. Sure, the distance would be really long in a car, but her excuse of 'I just always wanted to ride on the train, Lincoln. Trust me, it'll be quick,' was repeating in his mind, and it was starting to annoy him.

"Even after all these years, I'm still suffering because of my sisters' mistakes," the young man sighed. "And my phone battery just had to die on the way over here. Just my luck."

"Stop bellyaching, kid," an older voice snapped at him. Lincoln turned his head slightly to an angry-looking, skinny man with a black soul patch sitting next to him on the bench. "Let me to you something, kid, you got it easy. You're just waiting here for some girly that loves you and you're whining about your phone? I'm here waiting for the train so I can hop from state to state 'til I get back to New York, get some work there and be away from my fiance. Don't piss and whine in front of me, kid, and start being grateful."

"First off, don't call me 'kid'. I'm twenty three years old. Second… eh, I guess you're right. Sorry to hear about your family."

The New Yorker waved his hand dismissively. "Got nothing to be sorry for. You're not the guy who sent all the good jobs out of the Midwest. Just sucks, you know? Saying goodbye to the people you love."

Lincoln did know. Growing up in a large family meant a lot of goodbyes, and each was more heartbreaking than the last. They did manage to stay in touch, but there was a palpable difference between his present reality of talking to his sisters on a computer and his past memories of dodging their toys in the hall and wrestling them for the remote. He smiled sadly, as waves of nostalgia hit him. How he missed those old days…

"Well, I guess that's why I'm sitting here and waiting for her to get off the train," he muttered to himself.

He was pulled out of his momentary slump when he heard the loud sound of the train approaching, and his eyes lifted and his smile glowed brighter as the train began to pull into the station, hissing smoke and gas into the air. It took a few moments for the train to fully dock, and Lincoln stood up from the uncomfortable bench and watched with alert eyes as the passengers began to flood out. His eyes darted from tired face to tired face, searching for the one he was here for, until he noticed a red cap in the distance, sitting on top of a mat of blonde hair.

"La-LANA! LANA!" he cried into the crowd. He noticed the cap turn in his direction, and begin to move towards him. It disappeared for a moment, dipping under the heavy crowd, until Lincoln felt himself get knocked off his feet as a laughing young woman pounced at him and tackled him to the ground.

"Hey, Lincoln! Good to see you again!"

"How are you not tired after squatting on a train for hours?" he coughed out in response.

She looked much different than the last time he saw her. Her blonde hair was slightly darker and dirtier than he remembered it, and she wore it in a single long ponytail now. Her teeth were finally grown in, and the two rows of white, uncracked teeth he saw in her smile made him feel ashamed to have a chipped tooth at the front of his mouth. But other than that, Lana was much the same. She still wore a pair of overalls over her dark bluish-green clothes, still had a light dirt stain that marred her otherwise clean (and adorable) face, and no matter what style she gave her hair, a large red hat always sat over it.

Yep, she was Lana alright.

"I don't know. Guess I just got a lot of natural energy," she said as she got off the ground and extended her hand to help her brother up. The white haired youth accepted it, and lifted himself with a groan. "I mean, just because it's my break from work doesn't mean I should become a couch potato."

"That's exactly what it means to me," Lincoln chuckled as he and Lana hugged each other. When they broke the hug, Lincoln asked "So where's your stuff? I can help carry it to the car if you want."

"Oh, you have a car?"

"Well, not really. It's Clyde's car. He's letting me borrow it for a little while since he's on his honeymoon with his Russian mail order bride… wait, you didn't answer my question. Where's your suitcase?"

"Relax. I just left it over there," Lana pointed to a small red suitcase left unattended by a pillar.

Now, Lincoln wasn't really the biggest worrywart around, but even his jaw dropped when he saw that. "Lana, you know you can't leave your luggage alone!" he hissed at her. "Someone could've slipped in drugs or a bomb or..."

"Linc, it's Royal Woods. Who would do that around here?"

"I don't… you know what? Forget it. Let me just take it from here..."

"You don't have to. I'm not a helpless little girl, I can carry my own things."

"Don't turn this into a sexism thing. I'm your older brother, you've been sitting on a train for a long while, and offering to take someone else's bag is a common courtesy. So… do you mind?"

Lana rolled her eyes with a scoffing smile. "Sure, whatever you want, Prince Charmless."

"Bet you wish I was a fairy tale prince," Lincoln grunted as he started carrying her heavy luggage, cursing its lack of wheels mentally. "That way I'd be a frog half the time."

"I think you mean that's why you would want to be a frog. Because then you'd have an actual reason for me to kiss you," Lana retorted.

"I see you've still retained some good ole-fashioned Loud House comebacks."

"Lynn and Lola were my mentors in that field. Namaste."

The steamy smell of the train station followed them as they walked away and reached the parking lot. Row after row of trucks and cars and motorbikes filled their eyes, and Lincoln started walking ahead of Lana. She followed him to a Toyota Prius, a green car in both color and environmental impact.

Guess Clyde and his folks haven't changed much, since they're still doing this eco-stuff.

"Sorry it's not as impressive as the race cars you work with now," Lincoln chuckled as he reached into his pocket for the keys. His hand squirmed around in there for a while, before he finally pulled out a jingling key chain and pressing a button that opened the car. Lana slid into the passenger seat while Lincoln stuffed the suitcase into the backseat, slamming the door and groaning a little. He then got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and began driving on the road home.

"Hey, if it's alright with you, can we get some dinner before you take me to your place? I didn't really have any lunch," Lana smacked her growling stomach to emphasize the point.

"There's food at my place. We got noodles and cereal," Lincoln offered.

"Aw, come on, Linc. Let's have something at the Burpin' Burger, for old time's sake."

Lincoln shivered at the name. He used to love that place, before Clyde's dads introduced him to a wave of anti-fast food documentaries that left him with a powerful fear of gaining even a slight bit of weight, and an even more powerful guilt over the genocide of trillions of chickens and cows every year. However, the one thing more powerful than either of those induced feelings was the puppy-dog stare of Lana as she begged him with widened blue eyes to take her to the restaurant that started it all… the place where she got everyone stuck, met Bobbie Fletcher, and found a guaranteed career as Bobbie's repairwoman.

Lincoln relented. "Okay, fine. We'll pick up some chicken nuggets."

"Chicken nuggets? I'm not six anymore, Lincoln."

"I didn't say they were for you. The nuggets are for me," Lincoln scowled. "You can get whatever burger you want."

"Can I get a meal combo?"

"Sure, but no onion rings. Don't want that smell wafting in the car."

"Deal," Lana grinned, her mouth already watering at the prospect of warm fast food.

Lincoln drove up to the nearest Burpin' Burger and placed their respective orders. When he reached the window, he took their food and placed it on Lana's lap. It warmed her, which was welcome in the cool fall season. As Lana scrambled to grab her burger from inside the bag, Lincoln drove back on to the street and began asking her about life.

"So, Lana, how have things been with Bobbie Fletcher? I'm sure you're the superstar of the repair team, right?"

Lana nodded, answering in a voice muffled by bits of meat and ketchup which were slowly dripping down from her mouth. She stopped and swallowed, and Lincoln watched as her throat bulged in order to allow all that meat to slide down. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and tried again. "Yeah, things are great. To be completely honest, I'm still surprised the offer was open at the end of high school, and I'm pretty glad it was. Wasn't doing all that well with grades, as you remember..."

"Yeah, I remember. When you were sixteen, you dropped out, and you've been working with her for the last two years."

"Best two years of my life," Lana sighed, before a look of sadness quickly replaced it. "Well, maybe not exactly. I miss you guys, honestly. Kinda sad that we all had to move on and we only see each other at Thanksgiving."

"Well, everyone's got to go their own ways eventually. I mean, unless you're Hispanic or Arab. Then you can just have four generations living in the same house."

"You mean like Ronnie Anne? Your girlfriend~?"

Lincoln blushed, and stared ahead with a look of annoyance. "She wasn't my girlfriend, okay? Just a friend. I mean… it would've been nice, but careers and college and you know how that story goes."

"So if she wasn't your girlfriend, who's the lucky lady? You can't honestly expect me to believe someone as good looking as you doesn't have a gal pal," Lana teased, poking him with her elbow playfully.

"Well, that's the truth," he shrugged. "I guess I did date Stella for a few months last year, but we broke up."

"Oh," Lana said, putting her arm down. "Sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it. I've gotten over it by now. But I honestly haven't been thinking about getting a girlfriend lately. More focused on my last year of college. Of course, it wouldn't be my last year if I didn't take that gap year."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you took one of those."

Lincoln grinned at her. "I pretended to Mom and Dad that it was to help me 'discover' myself, but the only thing I discovered was how many hours I could stay awake playing video games before my eyes dried up."

The brother and sister continued talking until they finally reached Lincoln's place. When Lincoln started pulling up in the driveway, Lana's eyes widened. She had expected him to be living in some small, crappy apartment. But no, he was living in a genuine house, complete with both front and back yards, and they were both neatly trimmed. "If you're wondering, I live here with Clyde," Lincoln explained. "His dads help pay for it, and the rest is covered by the money we make."

"You guys have jobs?"

"Clyde works at a fancy restaurant that tips pretty well most of the time, and I take some online art commissions. You'd be surprised how well people pay to see their self-inserts and their OCs going out on dates together."

Going out on dates was, of course, a polite way of saying 'banging each other's brains out.' It wasn't like Lana could tell, though. She didn't even know what the hell an 'OC' was.

But it wasn't important. The two reached down and unbuckled their seat belts, and Lana wrapped her fingers around the plastic bag and carried it out of the car, watching as her older brother struggled to pull out her hefty suitcase. Lana took a deep breath as she watched; she had forgotten how clean and cool the Royal Woods air was, and how easy it was to breathe, especially when compared to the smog and hot air of the racetrack. She felt calm, relaxing muscles she didn't even know were tensed until that moment.

So this is why Bobbie forced me to go back home for break, Lana realized. It's just so… nice to be back in Royal Woods.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a glinting object get thrown in her direction. She caught it with her empty hand, and realized it was the key. "Yeah, Lana, you can just go ahead without me," Lincoln called to her as he started tugging angrily at the suitcase in the back. "I might be here a while."

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Lana asked.

"No, I'm fine. You've had a long day, so feel free to lay on the couch and watch some Fletnix or something. Oh, and leave my food on the kitchen table, I'll get to it later."

"Alright, if you insist."

The young woman turned away from her brother and stepped up to the wooden porch. As she shoved the key into the keyhole, she noticed a few stray vines growing on the white wooden beams of the porch. Without caution, she reached up and stroked the vegetation, and felt bumps along it in patterns. "These must be flowers," Lana realized, before turning back and opening the door. As she stepped inside, she was hit in the face with a blast from the heating, and she glowered. "So much for good, cold air."

She did lighten up as she realized how the indoor climate was pleasantly warm, rather than the scorching hot like she was used to on Bobbie's race tour. The worst were Florida and Georgia. On the hottest days, it honestly felt like there was some giggling alien holding up a magnifying glass to scorch the puny humans like they scorched their ants. As Lana tossed Lincoln's dinner on the table and hopped on the couch, she remembered how much her armpits seemed to drip, and how one of the young men working with her on the team seemed to constantly reach down and tug on his crotch. "It keeps sticking to my legs," she heard him complain to another guy, who just laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Well, I don't have to worry about the heat for a while. It's fall in Royal Woods. The only place colder than here is the inside of an Eskimo's freezer. Let's see what's on the Fletnix," she decided.

There was some anime, but Lana wasn't a fuckin' weeb. There was a crime documentary about Ted Bundy, but Lana wasn't a psychopath trying to get tips on how to start her own murder career. There was a pretty good Fletnix original show, but Lana wasn't about to support the director. She knew he did… something bad, because his name was circulating in an online boycott. He must've done something to deserve. Racist comments, maybe?

"Nothing good to watch?" asked Lincoln as he suddenly appeared in the doorway, slurping on a Jumbo sized soda.

Screw you, Clyde's health videos that make me feel bad. I know this is nothing but liquidated sugar, but I don't care. I'll drink what I want! You can't keep this from me!

"Not really. Why do you have so much anime on your account? And the really pervy anime, to boot," she cringed at the winking image of a spider lady with giant breasts on the screen. Lincoln blushed lightly, and quickly reached over to snatch the remote from her hands and turn off the TV.

"Uh… all anime looks pervy. It's just a different art form. You just don't get it."

"Is that the show you draw self-inserts for?" Lana asked.

"No. Maybe. Depends if they'll pay. And even then, I'll say no. I don't like anime anymore. I left that stuff behind in high school. B-Because I was busy studying hard, like you should. I mean, you should have."

Lana bit down on her lip, trying not to laugh at her dorky brother trying, once again, to hide one of his more childish obsessions. "Alright, alright, I'll drop it. Just one question, Linc."

"What is it?"

"Do you… do you watch weeb shows in your underwear?" Lana asked. At this point, she couldn't hold it back anymore, and let herself burst out in hysterical laughter.

"I think I'm going to bed," Lincoln growled, leaving the young woman to clutch her stomach as she kept laughing at her own wit. He took one last glance at her before he left, and the sight of his younger sister laughing so hard forced a smile out of him, even though her laughter was at his expense.

It just felt good to have one of his sisters around again…

I had been planning to write a Lanacoln story for a long time, but the perfect idea never really hit me. Then one day, I was talking with LoudRisque and he suggested this plot to me, and I just rolled with it. So sit back and buckle in, because next chapter is when things start to get spicy...