I wasn't planning on doing any writing outside of You're Not Alone for this month, but I couldn't resist getting this idea down. It came to me quick and I wrote it quickly. I haven't given Stella's mom a name yet, so if you would like to recommend something, feel free to leave it in the reviews.

"It was nice of your mom to take us on this trip," Lincoln said to Stella as he dragged his suitcase towards the car. Normally, Lincoln was a light packer, and he liked not having to take up too much space for his stuff, but as usual his sisters insisted on meddling. They basically packed for him ("Grab some sunscreen! Grab that flashlight! Oh no, the flashlight's not working, get the car battery to fix it!") which resulted in his bag weighing about the same as a baby sperm whale. Thankfully, there was a lot of room for it in the trunk of Stella's family's car; it was a nice, wide piece of modern machinery, like Vanzilla, but with the additional bonus of it being clean and tidy. No sticky seats in this car.

"Here, let me help you with that." Stella took the bag and, with the heaving wheeze that came with struggling against gravity, she placed it in the trunk of the car. The entire vehicle shook when she set it down. Lincoln couldn't help but vividly imagine the car breaking into little metallic pieces.

"Well, that's the end of that," Stella said. She clapped her hands together to beat the dust off them. She turned to Lincoln with an elfin glint of mischief in her eyes. "Is that all, Lincoln, or did you forget to pack the refrigerator as well?" she teased.

"Har har," Lincoln said sardonically. He was slightly amused, but he tried to keep that hidden from her. One thing he liked about Stella was how playful she usually was… but that came with its own risks. Give her too much room, and she'll go overboard. Give her too little, though, and her proclivity towards shyness would kick in, and she'd become ashamed of every step she took and every breath she swallowed.

He noticed that she was smiling oddly at him, her hands crossed behind her back and her face leaning in slightly closer than before. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said coyly. Her cheeks flushed red, and her smile widened just a hint. "Just happy you're going to be coming with us."

Standing in front of the rising morning sun, which cast its long red rays over the world and lit the sky with liquid fire, Stella looked even more radiant than she usually did. The light reflected beautifully off her raven black hair, and it washed over her tan skin, giving it a soft, warm glow that put the image of a fireplace in Lincoln's mind. Because that's what Stella almost was like to him: a warm fireplace. To think someone like him would be dating someone like her… it still astounded him.

Their bodies moved together, pressing up to each other. Nervous giggles were exchanged between the two, ending on an awkward but heartfelt kiss. "Love you," she whispered to him.

"Love you more," he said back.

It was cheesy and dumb, but they were just starting to date, and those things didn't seem as dumb when you start.

The front door of the house burst open, and Stella's mother stepped out with a suitcase that spilled loose papers and clothes on the ground. She was looking especially neurotic. "We're going to be late," she said, scratching at her messy hair. "And when we're late, we're going to hit traffic, and when we hit traffic, we won't get there on time, and… and..."

"Mom, mom, it's okay. Calm down," Stella told her.

The older woman took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, then exhaled it, breathing out all her stress and worries with it. She smiled at the two teens. "You're right. I'm calm, dear. Have you two put everything in the car?" she asked.

Lincoln slapped the eggshell-colored exterior of the car. "Sure did," he said.

"Lincoln, please don't smack the car."

"Whoops. Sorry."

She nodded curtly at him, then beckoned to her daughter to take her things. Stella did just that, and as she carried her mother's bags to the car, the older woman used her newly-freed hands to reach into her pocket and retrieve a jangling set of keys with far too many key-chains and novelty toys attached. She locked the front door, then pressed a small button to unlock the car doors. "Now that that's all out of the way, let's get in the car and get this trip started!"

She had the wavering enthusiasm of a mom, and it clearly reflected in her tone.

The woman and her daughter piled into the car. Just before Lincoln could join them, he felt his phone buzzing. He excused himself for a moment, then turned and cupped the phone around his cheek. "Hello?"

"Hey twerp," greeted the voice of his eldest sister, Lori. "Just wanted to check in on you and make sure everything's going well. Did you forget anything? I'm willing to drive over there and bring you anything you forgot."

"No, Lori. You and everyone else made sure I packed everything. I'm surprised you didn't throw in a whole washing machine."

"Lisa actually tried to make that happen, but I talked her out of it. So… how are things going with your girlfriend that isn't Ronnie Anne?"

Lori, if you can't tell, was still very much stubbornly headset on Lincoln dating Ronnie Anne.

"Things are going great so far," Lincoln responded smoothly. He made sure not to let Lori get to him too much with her "Ronnie good, Stella bad" mind-games. In fact… maybe he could respond with a few mind-games of his own. His smirk grew devious as he casually said, "Yeah, yeah, things are really great so far. So great I wouldn't be surprised if me and Stella went to… the next level."

"T-The next level?"

"Well, you know how kids are these days. So impatient, so uncontrollable. They let their hormones guide their every action. Like slaves to their passions, they are. Maybe one of them – oh, hypothetically, a handsome young man with smooth white hair – gets a little crazy with another one – again, hypothetically, but I'm picturing a pretty Asian girl with long legs – and you never know what might happen~"

"Lincoln, I swear to God, I wil-"

"What's that, Lori? Krrsh, krrsh. You're, krrsh, breaking up, Lori."

Chuckling to himself, he ended the call. She was so going to be mad at him when he got back, but he couldn't care less. He was going off to vacation, away from the daily challenges of Royal Woods and the Loud House. And best of all, he was doing it with his girlfriend Stella.

Nothing could possibly bring him down.

It was a long, dull ride to the vacation home, made slightly worse by the heavy traffic they encountered on the streets. Thankfully, the further they got from the city and central roads, the more the traffic dissipated. During the afternoon there were almost no cars at all, and Stella's mom drove as freely as she could. Lincoln rolled down the window and was immediately smacked in the face by a cool rushing current of air: painful at first, but nice after that, so he kept his head out the window like a dog. Good thing he did, or he may not have spotted some wooden benches loosely littered on the side of the road.

"I think that's a park," Lincoln said, pointing outside his window.

"A park?" Stella's mom repeated. "Perfect. Now we have a place for lunch. Oh, and if anyone needs to use the bathroom."

Over in the passenger seat, Stella blushed and cringed. Come on, Mom, don't talk about bathroom stuff in front of Lincoln, she thought.

Teenagers, amirite?

The large car pulled over in a sandy lot. Lincoln practically leapt out of the car; his legs were so sore, he really needed to stretch them. He crossed his fingers and raised his arms to the open blue skies, listening to his joints pop. He shook his legs a few times to get the blood flowing, and finally punched his own back for good measure. He looked back at his driver and fellow passenger, and watched them carry small picnic baskets to one of the benches. The smell of fragrant spices and fried mutton filled the air, and Lincoln inhaled it like it was life itself. It smelled divine. "Wonder if they made any weird Asian food for lunch." He paused, then shook his head at himself. "Come on, Lincoln, you're better than that."

Turned out there was no weird Asian food; only sandwiches. Squares of white bread with no crust lined against each other, and between the slices were delectable helpings of lettuce, tomato, meat, and cheese. The presentation of the food made Lincoln's mouth water. He reached over to take one, only for Stella to smack his hand. "Ow," he said.

"Don't be rude, Lincoln," she hissed. "The grown-up has to take food first."

"Stella, please, it's not a big deal," her mother said. She smiled at the white-haired boy, then offered him a sandwich. "Please tell me what you think," she requested when Lincoln took the sandwich from her.

Alright, Loud, all eyes are on you, he thought. Even if you don't like it, pretend you do. I mean, you probably will… it's meat and cheese, that's amazing. Well, not as good as sauerkraut and PB, but most plebs in this world refuse to see how good that stuff is… focus, Lincoln! Eat the sandwich and be nice about it.

He raised the sandwich to his mouth, ignoring the intense stares of the Filipinas, and took a small bite from it.

His eyes shot wide open. He wasn't going to have to fake liking this!

"This is amazing!" he declared. He promptly tore off a larger piece of sandwich, and then another, and then another, and before he knew it he was biting into his fingers. He reached to grab another, and inhaled it just as quickly.

"You like it?" Stella's mom planted her hand on her chest and sighed with relief. "I thought maybe I put too much cheese."

"The, mmph, cheese es berfeckd," Lincoln said through his full mouth. Stella rolled her eyes, then offered her boyfriend a packet of juice to wash everything down. After clearing his mouth, he smacked his lips with satisfactions. "The meat was amazing. What was it? It didn't taste like beef."

"It was actually a blend," Stella's mom explained. "There's a butcher I know who makes patties by mixing mutton with venison. It's a bit on the pricey side, but I figures… well, it is our vacation time and all..."

"Oh. That's... that's pretty cool of you to do." Lincoln, truthfully, didn't take the woman as someone who could let loose. Maybe that was an unfair judgment, but in his defense… well, look at her. Her clean glasses, tight bun, baggy eyes, and proper suit clothing didn't scream "knows how to have a good time" to him, and the things Stella told him about her didn't really help. From what he had heard, Stella's life was an almost-painfully stereotypical story of Asian-American over-success. Mostly homework and piano practice and strict parental controls on the computer and TV. Hell, Stella had once told him that she never let her eat junk food before. Fast food was prohibited except on birthdays, and the desserts in her house were all honey, because that was "nature's candy."

Lincoln couldn't imagine a world without junk and fast food; if his parents tried to take that away, he'd shamelessly fall to the floor and squirm like that kid reeeeee'ing for Schezuan sauce.

They mostly ate in silence after that. Lincoln stole little glances at his girlfriend as she neatly ate her food. She seemed so beautiful and composed even then. When she finished, she patted the corners of her mouth with a napkin, and stood up. "I need to go… powder my nose," she said.

"You need to go to the bathroom?" Stella's mom asked, making Stella cringe hard. She stood up as well and nodded at her daughter. "I'll come with you. I need to use the toilet as well."

"Mooooooom!"

Lincoln pretended like he had gone temporarily deaf and stared blankly ahead like the kill switch in his brain had been flipped. Internally, he was cackling like a hyena. He spun around in his seat to watch the two women head to a small, stony building marked with little male and female stick figures. When they disappeared inside, he sighed. He hated to sound like a sappy romantic fag, but being apart from Stella for even a little while felt like forever. He was now starting to understand why Lori and Bobby became so parasitically co-dependent.

The image of himself and Stella playing "No, you hang up" over the phone popped into his mind. Ugh. Okay, he really didn't want to end up like that.

"Focus on something else, Loud."

It wasn't hard to find something else to focus on – he was in nature, after all. The songs of the birds filled the air with pleasing chirps and tweets. A calm, cool breeze rushed over the swaying blades of grass. Flowers and trees danced underneath a bright blue sky, where a golden ball of fire poured warmth onto the world.

This is paradise, Lincoln thought. He sighed, relaxed. He could feel himself decompressing in his seat, all the stress and bustle of his daily life melting from him. Honestly, he wouldn't even mind if they chose to camp out here instead of going to the cabin. He could use a soothing day outdoors to get back to his roots. There was that one time when he and Clyde had tried to do exactly that – rediscovering their masculinity in the woods – and, looking back, that had mostly been a fun experience.

Except for the part about the bear. There's nothing fun about almost getting mauled by an apex predator.

Yeah, that was terrifying. Speaking of smooth transitions, where are those two?

Lincoln got up from his bench seat, his brow furled with befuddlement. Even through his shoes, he could feel the softness of the brown earth below his feet, but he didn't have the time to worship the aesthetic value of nature like a pagan hippie. He marched over to the bathrooms, and rapped his knuckles on the door with the stick woman sign on it. When he didn't hear a response, his confusion only grew. Hmm, that's odd. He pressed his ear to the door, then blushed and took a wild step back. "What am I doing? Trying to listen in on the girl's bathroom? God, I must look like Clyde."

Still, they were taking too long, and Lincoln was a bit worried. What if something happened to them? What if they were getting mauled by a bear they had disturbed on the toilet?! That probably wasn't happening, but it might be!

Lincoln's beady eyes shifted from side to side, making sure there were no onlookers. Once he was sure, his hand, shakily, began moving towards the rusted handle of the door. When he wrapped his fingers around it, feeling the rough texture on his skin, he held it so tightly his knuckles whitened. Drawing a deep breath for luck, he began pushing down on it…

Only for the door to swing wide open, knocking Lincoln to the ground with a cry.

"Lincoln?" Stella asked. She bent downwards to help the young man off the ground. Dusting himself off, he glanced at both Stella and her mother. Their clothes were disorderly and ruffled, and their faces, both coated with sweat, glowed the same shade of pink. The bathroom must've been really hot, he figured.

"What are you doing here?" Stella's mom asked, pursing her lips. There was shrewdness to her tone.

"I… well, uh… I needed to use the bathroom too!" he fibbed.

"But this is the girl's bathroom." Stella pointed to the stick woman sign on the door, tapping it with her pointer finger. "I know it's a little faded, but that's still clearly a dress."

Most boys would've just played it off as not paying attention to the sign or seeing it the wrong way. But not Lincoln Loud! He, in his infinite wisdom, devised a self-justification so magnificently brilliant that he would not – I repeat, would not – immediately feel like the world's stupidest chimpanzee for saying it:

"I forgot that I'm a boy."

Stella laughed the entire rest of the way. No matter how hard she tried to stop, she just kept laughing and laughing, throwing in a good cackle in there every once in a while for good measure. Even her uptight mother couldn't help but crack a smile every time she glanced in the rearview mirror. Lincoln, sitting in the back, just crossed her arms and scowled. The poor boy's face was the same color as a beet root.

"You know, some people would say you're being really transphobic right now," Lincoln grumbled.

"Oh, come on, lighten up Linc," Stella said teasingly. "Unless… are you on your period or something?"

Lincoln groaned. It was all he could do when he was being assaulted by lame jokes.

"Alright, settle down both of you. We're here!" Stella's mom announced.

"We are?" Lincoln poked his head over Stella's shoulder to see an impressively-sized cabin coming into the view. The car passed over a rocky trail, making the entire vehicle and all its passengers shudder violently, so when the car finally came to a stop in front of the building, Lincoln didn't waste a second before leaping out of the car.

"I'll go unlock the doors and get the power running," Stella's mom said. "You two get all our things."

"Yes, ma'am," the teens said.

The trunk opened up wide for them. Just as Lincoln was about to reach for his hefty suitcase, Stella put a hand on his shoulder, giving him pause. "Hey, so… just wanted to say I'm sorry if I got a little carried away with making fun of you in the car," Stella apologized. Her other hand ran to her neck, rubbing the back of it in a show of apology. "Even if you aren't upset, I have to admit it wasn't really that funny after the first few..."

"Minutes? Seconds?"

"...hours."

It took all of Lincoln's willpower not to roll his eyes like an obnoxious kid on Dr. Phil (Send 'em to the RANCH!). "It's all right, Stella," he finally said. "You were just laughing. It's not like you killed my dog or anything."

She smiled graciously at him, then leaned in to plant a kiss on the tip of his nose. "I'll help you with your stuff."

Ten minutes later, the power and water were running through the cabin, and all the suitcases and bags were in the living room. Stella's mother nodded at her daughter and son-in-law (as a matter of speaking). "I'd say we start unpacking now, but..." the woman yawned, and stretched her arms into the air "...I think we're all pretty tired. I am, at least. I'll go take a nap."

"I'll come with you," Stella piped up. Lincoln shot her an odd look, so she blushed and said, "There are only two rooms here, so we decided to sleep together in one and give you the other."

"Oh. Well, uh, thank you. But are you sure there's enough room for you two?"

"There's enough," the matriarch said. "Unless you're suggesting that Stella sleep in your room?"

She said that completely earnest, without a speck of humor, which somehow made it even worse. Lincoln's face immediately flooded with lava, as did Stella's. "MOOOOOOOOOM!" she shouted. Her mother looked completely confused, but just shook her head with that I'm too tired for this BS look and retired to her room.

Stella looked back at Lincoln with scarlet-tinted cheeks. "Anything you need, just knock the door," she told him. "A-and if you really want me to sleep with you..."

"I DIDN'T SAY THAT!"

"Oh… yeah… right… t-totally, I was just messing." She playfully punched his arm, and faked a laugh. "Well, see you in a bit."

"See ya."

When Stella closed the door to her and her mother's room, Lincoln exhaled heavily. He felt like a deflating balloon. Those two were acting weird, but at the same time, he was their gracious guest, so he wasn't going to push it. He'd just chalk it all up to… uh… cultural differences! Yeah, that worked for him.

He leapt onto the long velvety cushions of the couch that stretched across the living room's back wall. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. There was no available WiFi connection, nor were there any bars, so Lincoln just popped his earphones in and started playing some of the music Luna had downloaded onto his phone. As the harsh vocals of Norwegian heavy metal filled his ears, he felt a surprising sense of calm, especially considered that heavy metal was supposed to make you… you know, not calm.

He sighed, planted his hands behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling with a smile.

These are going to be a fun few days.