Why, hello there. Before this month is said and done, got one other work of mine to put out there, and it's something of the rough sort I'd say.

Now, I think it's also much needed to get this out there in case anyone may try to point this out. This story of mine does appear to share some similarities with another one called "Shattered Hearts" by MasterCaster. Both have an initial similar premise of Lori getting angry at Lincoln over something he's supposedly done to Ronnie Anne, Lincoln tries to defend his actions, a physical confrontation ensues and worries abound about how they'll make up afterwards. However, I'll categorically assure everyone that all such similarities are purely coincidental and this story idea was floating around in my head for a few months without even giving the other one much thought. I first had the general idea for this one around about late October or early November of last year and I wasn't aware of "Shattered Hearts" until the middle of that November which is when I also added it to my favorites. Nevertheless, there's a reason as to why I put that advance apology in my profile about the chances of anything I write being similar to anyone else's work or covering already familiar ground and it's always the good, courteous act to reassure anyone watching in the form of reemphasizing that and no ill intent is ever intended.

Oh, and you've probably noticed something else, too. This story goes well beyond the 10,000 word limit I've crowed about adhering myself to a handful of times before. Yeah, I'm abolishing that admittedly dumb benchmark and now my thinking is that as long as individual one-shots or chapters of longer stories aren't too terribly long (like 25,000 or 30,000 words, something like that), it won't be a problem at all.

There's actually quite a bit more behind this one that I'd like to say, but we'll get to that at the end. But until then, read on and hopefully you'll enjoy it.

The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.

It was lunchtime over at Royal Woods Elementary, and for some, a satisfactory meal was much needed following an important test a little while earlier.

Gathered in a quintet at one of the tables at the cafeteria were Lincoln Loud, his best friend Clyde McBride and their three additional friends Rusty Spokes, Zach Gurdle and Liam...no surname available.

"Hey, did any of y'all fellers have as much trouble with that test as I did?" Liam asked.

"Eh, I thought it was a snap." Clyde answered confidently, "It's all a matter of putting the time in studying and enough hard work into things. Or as my Nana would put it, just the right amount of gumption."

"Well, gumption I got usually, but that there studying part was likely the hard part. Last night I was slammed with a whole lot of dadgum work back at the farm, so that cut in the amount of study time I'd otherwise done have." Liam admitted.

While ruminations of the test continued, Lincoln on the other hand was focused solely on eating for the moment. That is, until he felt someone bump along his back somewhat roughly while walking past him. Glancing over, he saw that it was another friend of his, Ronnie Anne Santiago. She also looked over at him and gave out a little wink before being on her way.

"What was that all about?" Lincoln wondered out loud.

"Ooh, I think I know one reason..." Zach teasingly said.

Lincoln rolled his eyes, "No, Zach, I bet it's not what you're thinking."

"Why not? The signs have been there for a while now, Lincoln." Rusty said, lightly poking the white-haired boy's ribs and raising his eyebrows.

"Ugh, come on, Rusty. Not everything involving me and her is some kind of secret suggestion of something going on." Lincoln stated with rising annoyance.

"I dunno, Linc, we weren't born yesterday. Didn't y'all take part in some smoochin' last I heard?" Liam inquired.

Lincoln groaned, "Okay, yes, but only because my sisters all but demanded I do so the first time and the other time was only due to satisfying my oldest sister Lori so that she and Ronnie Anne's big brother Bobby could get back together after they briefly broke up. There's really nothing there once that is put aside."

"Usually, I'd take your side on this, buddy, but even I must confess in suspecting there's more to the contrary." Clyde said, "Even with such external pressure, you voluntarily still chose to kiss her both times anyway. Would you really do that unless there is in fact something there for her?"

"Great, you too, Clyde?" Lincoln remarked, still getting ever more annoyed, "What's going on with you guys? You're sounding like my sisters as if you all have some sort of stake in seeing me and her get together. I don't know if it has ever occurred to any of you, but a boy and a girl can indeed only be friends and nothing more."

"Sure, that's what they all say...until they aren't and become something more." Rusty said, "Besides, with all the times Ronnie Anne has pranked and pushed you around before, don't you know that's one of the surest ways she's got the hots for you?"

"'The hots'?" Lincoln questioned in near disgust, "You're really gonna put it like that, Rusty? And don't get me started on all her initial roughhousing to me. No matter what's happened since then, the whole logic of 'if a girl bullies you, she actually may like you' will never make even the slightest bit of sense to me. Imagine if the roles were reversed and I was the one doing those sorts of things to her. Would you guys be all like 'you must like her then'? And my sisters? Oh, they would come down on me hard and get on my case like 'how dare you hurt a girl, you're not supposed to do that'! This whole thing is ridiculous and you're seeing nothing that's there!"

"Jeez, relax, Lincoln. Maybe all we're doing is speculating. We don't know what's going on for sure." Zach told him, then turning to the self-annointed ladies' man of the group, "And yes, that includes you, Rusty."

Rusty shrugged casually, "Hey, think what you will..."

Grumbling, Lincoln tried to keep himself out of further conversation for the remainder of lunchtime. The preceding speculation from his friends got under his skin, but it was far from the only thing that was annoying him today and these past few days. For whatever reason, Ronnie Anne seemed extra assertive in poking around and prodding him recently and at no point has she explained why nor did he ask her about it. Such an amount he felt was completely unnecessary and each instance got him more and more irritated to the point that any time since then he could lose it.

As the school day was nearing its end and the weekend within sight, Lincoln gathered up all his things from his locker. But then, the moment he closed the locker door, there was Ronnie Anne standing before him.

"Hey, what's up, lame-o?" She asked, jabbing his shoulder.

Lincoln sighed, "Not a whole lot, and can you not do that?"

"What, this?" Ronnie Anne said teasingly and repeated the action once more.

"Seriously, knock it off!" Lincoln demanded of her.

"Oh, come on, you're not getting soft on me are you, Linc?" Ronnie Anne asked.

Before Lincoln could mount another response, she yanked him over tightly with one arm and gave him what she believed to be a playful noogie. However, she would not expect his reaction to it.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

In a flash, Lincoln wrestled himself away from Ronnie Anne's grip and shoved her down to the ground, then proceeded to release a week's worth of budding frustrations.

"What is your deal, Ronnie Anne?! Why have you been so rough with me all this week? Sheesh, I could get a little jab here and there or such, but I've counted a good couple dozen examples of all other sorts of roughness from you, and for what? Was there any sort of purpose to it? Are you getting your sick kicks out of it knowing I can't retaliate because of some notion that 'oh, boys can't hit back against girls', huh?!"

He was breathing heavily right as he finished that last thought, but then he took a second to calm down before continuing, though crossness was still very much present in his voice.

"You know, after a week like this, sometimes I really wonder why I even see you as a friend in the first place. One moment you're this kind of cool girl to be around, the next you become this completely obnoxious and overbearing bully! Yes, I said it, a bully! If you don't like that, then whatever, like I really care! I've had enough and maybe this is the tipping point! Why would I ever want to be near someone so rude, inelegant and who apparently loves hurting somebody like me so casually?!"

For that fleeting moment, Lincoln felt oh so proud of himself. Telling Ronnie Anne off for her physical transgressions of the past week and beyond felt as fulfilling as anything he's done in recent memory. He practically felt untouchable.

But that feeling evaporated the very second he saw that Ronnie Anne got back up to her feet. At first, she bore a look on her face that seemed to denote hurtfulness as a result of Lincoln's bluntness and anger. That would however be quickly replaced by a scowl and scrunched eyebrows.

Then, a fist came slamming right on Lincoln's face from her.

He fell backwards hard onto the floor, his senses ringing and blurred, but he did see the now royally steamed Latina girl standing over him.

"You had that one coming, lame-o...and never has that nickname been more fitting."

And with that, she huffed and walked away.

"Oh, what was I thinking?"

That musing from Lincoln was one of many as he walked on his way home a little while later. Now also bearing a bruised mark on his cheek from five fingers of absolute fury courtesy of Ronnie Anne, nothing but regret was filling his mind. While he still felt that he had every right to be miffed about how she treated him during the week that's gone by, he'd come to the realization that there were better ways to handle the situation other that completely going off on her. His mouth certainly has gotten him into trouble before and today was no exception.

And speaking of trouble...

"Oh no..."

It just now hit Lincoln very much like the fist to the face he was on the receiving end of. The last time he said anything unpleasant within Ronnie Anne's range…

"No, try to be optimistic here, Lincoln." He told himself, "You're the true victim in this case...right? She won't completely lose it like before, surely."

The "she" in this case obviously was Lori. In the aforementioned previous case, she was enraged at Lincoln because Bobby ended up breaking up with her upon finding out what was said within earshot of Ronnie Anne, culminating in a double date to mend everything. The hope was that if indeed Lori does find out, Lincoln believed that her learning he got socked would soften any potential outrage that may emanate from his older sister, if just by a little.

Rounding the street and approaching his home, Lincoln took a big, deep breath and walked up the driveway. But just as he got up to the front porch, he was about to see something that was equal parts heartbreaking and terrifying. He peeked around to the window to see the sight of Lori sitting on the couch in tears, clutching on to her phone and wearing her "Bobby sweater" on top of that. This was a very similar sight he was welcomed to in that other instance and he feared the worst.

"Great, she likely knows and then some." Lincoln said distressingly, "Well, no sense in avoiding the inevitable."

Sighing, he hesitantly grabbed the door handle and let himself inside. The moment he did, Lori's attention was directed to him.

"Oh, hey there, Lincoln..." She greeted tearfully, "Sorry you have to see me like this..."

This reaction completely confused Lincoln, "Uh...what do you mean, Lori?"

Lori sniffled and wiped down her eyes, "Bobby hasn't called me all day long. I've tried calling him literally a dozen times and...nothing. Is he mad at me? Did I do something wrong to deserve this?"

"Oh great, let me guess, he's not calling because he's found out about how I yelled at Ronnie Anne right at her face, shoved her to the ground and called her obnoxious and a bully who I don't want to be friends with anymore." Lincoln pointedly said.

"Wait...what?" Lori wondered, her eyes getting wide.

Suddenly, Lincoln froze in place. Now he knew why she reacted the way she did when he came through the door. She had no idea of what happened and Bobby supposedly not calling her should've been a big clue there, too.

"Oh, uh...nothing!" Lincoln tried nervously saying, "Gee, would you look at the time, I best be off to my room now!"

He tried to make a quick dash for it, but he felt a hand belonging to his sister grab a hold of his shirt collar, pull him over and spun him around to see the budding rage on her face.

"Oh, I think I heard you correctly, Lincoln! What did you say to Ronnie Anne?!" She demanded furiously, then something else occurred to her, "Wait, that must be why Bobby hasn't been calling me! He must know you done that and has broken up with me again!"

Getting angrier with every passing second, Lori grabbed Lincoln roughly by the wrist and dragged him along with her upstairs. The rate in which she was doing so caused Lincoln to lose his footing midway through and his body casually bumped against the edges of the stairs.

Once they arrived at the top, Lori kept dragging Lincoln until she brought him to her room, where she closed the door, dropped him onto the center of the floor and lorded over him with fury unlike he'd ever seen from her.

"How...just how?!" She said combining strain and choler, "Why do manage to keep literally screwing things up between myself and Bobby?!"

Lincoln gulped, "Wait, i-if you let me e-explain, Lori..."

"Oh, you better do that, 'cause I'm giving you ten seconds to explain yourself before I...I..." Lori tried saying, only to growl in frustration.

"Okay, okay, Ronnie Anne for some reason was being extra rough with me all week long and the boys, even including Clyde, began suggesting and saying something must be developing between me and her, then before school was over she jabbed and noogied me, causing me to shove and yell at her saying I don't want to be around her anymore!" Lincoln quickly explained.

"...That's it?!" Lori shouted, "You broke up with her all because she roughed you up a little too much? Give me a break, Lincoln! So what if she's rough on you? You can take it and besides, that does mean she likes you!"

"Broke up? Lori, how many times must it be driven to your thick skull that me and her were never a couple?!" Lincoln responded, slowly regaining his confidence.

"You kissed her! Twice!" Lori reminded him.

"So?" Lincoln fired back petulantly.

"So?! You must have something for her inside if you did so!" Lori said, prodding her brother's chest several times.

Lincoln batted away her finger, "No, I don't! Dang it, why can't anyone get that?!"

"Well, no matter what you think, you know what we have do!" Lori said, grabbing his shirt collar again, "We're going on another double date with Bobby and Ronnie Anne just like that other time you opened your big mouth when you shouldn't have!"

Lincoln narrowed his eyes and brushed her hands off of him, "No."

"Excuse me?" Lori asked while raising her eyebrow.

"You heard me: no!" Lincoln repeated defiantly.

"And what makes you think you have a choice in the matter?" Lori told him through gritted teeth.

"What makes you think that you have the right to dictate how my own social life should be run?!" Lincoln retaliated angrily, "I'm capable of making my own choices in life in case you're wondering! What, is that you are too insecure about if your own relationship with Bobby can't survive unless you force me and Ronnie Anne together? What should that say about you?"

"Lincoln, I swear, you are going on another double date or I will literally..."

The enraged eldest sister wouldn't have her sentence completed when out of the blue, Lincoln took the shocking step of standing back up and slapping her across the face.

"Or what?! You're gonna turn me into a human pretzel? Oh, how original, like you haven't said that too many times before!" Lincoln said with no fear, "Besides, you'd never do something like that because I know you are too much of a spineless coward to..."

And in that moment, Lincoln realized that his mouth, and also now his actions, were about to get him into a serious amount of trouble yet again, even more so than back at school. Fear shot back up within him as Lori looked back and shot daggers from her eyes to him. This wasn't simply anger written on her face, but pure, raw unadulterated hatred directed at her brother.

Without uttering another word, Lori once more grabbed Lincoln by the shirt collar and pushed him violently against the bedroom wall, then she threw him back down on the floor with reckless abandon. Next, she got on top of him and stopped short of outright pummeling him with fists by instead smacking him around a handful of times. Lincoln tried in covering up, but it was pretty much useless.

Then, Lori got off of him and roughly dragged him back up to his feet, lifting him up in the air again by the collar.

"You...you..."

She was so filled with rage that she couldn't finish whatever contemptuous thought she had in mind. Instead, she opened the door and tossed Lincoln out, causing him to tumble backwards until the back of his head banged against the door to Luna and Luan's bedroom.

"You're not worth it anymore...heartbreaker."

With that, Lori took off her sweater, tossed it onto her bed and casually walked past her brother before heading down the stairs.

While his sister left, Lincoln groaned in absolute agony. What had just preceded was unheard of. The level of physicality his body went through was nothing short of painful both on the inside as much on the outside. He never felt such complete intent in causing bodily harm on an individual basis from anyone in recent memory, let alone one of his own sisters, than what Lori just did.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

Though his senses were all over the place due to the drubbing he was on the receiving end of, he could still easily hear the sound of Lori shouting at whomever she was yelling at and also the sound of the front door slamming shut, perhaps her heading on out to wherever.

"Sheesh, what's her beef?"

He quickly recognized that second voice as belonging to Lynn. He got confirmation of that when he saw her making her way up the stairs as she tossed her football up the air a couple of times.

"Oh, hey Lincoln, did you see-"

But the minute she got a real good look at her brother laid out in a heap, Lynn gasped.

"Lincoln?!"

She quickly opened the door to her room, tossed her football inside and went right by his side.

"Hey, did something happen to you?" Lynn asked him concernedly.

Lincoln tried saying something, but words were not coming out, whether out of physical or emotional incapability. Instead, he tried sitting back up, but that also proved to be something of a challenge.

"Ow, ow, ow..." He uttered softly.

"Whoa, whoa, easy now, take your time." Lynn advised him to do, "If you're that hurt, you don't want to strain yourself unnecessarily."

There were plenty of questions rushing inside of Lynn's mind about how Lincoln had gotten into the condition he's in right now, but those could wait until she could offer whatever assistance to him that she can.

Taking his sister's advice to heart, Lincoln gave himself some time and tried to slowly lift himself back up. He at the very least did get back up to a sitting position, but getting back up to his feet was another difficulty.

"Here, let me give you a little help there." Lynn told him.

She put one of his arms around her shoulders and one of her own around his waist, then gently assisted in lifting him up to his feet.

"Now try leaning against me should you have any trouble walking." Lynn said, "Oh, and I'm guessing you'd like to head on over to your room?"

All Lincoln did was nod a little and Lynn began in bringing him over there. Though his legs weren't in that much pain, he still felt so sore all around that he essentially hobbled along, though like his sister suggested, he leaned up against her to mitigate that somewhat.

After a few pain-filled seconds, Lynn and Lincoln arrived at the latter's room, whereupon she guided him close to his bed before carefully lifting her brother up onto it, rolling him softly onto his back and with his head resting on the pillow.

"Okay, there we go..." Lynn said with a little bit of a spent sigh, then she hopped up onto the bed and sat next to her brother, "So, I know this will sound like a sudden change of subjects, but I was about to ask if you knew why Lori was acting so steamed and..."

Right then and there, Lynn stopped herself short as a horrifying thought came to mind. She slowly began putting two and two together and gasped.

"Wait...did Lori do this to you?" She worriedly asked.

Lincoln groaned and took a moment, but confirmed that alarming prospect.

"...Yeah." He weakly answered.

After that admission, Lynn sat there for several seconds of stunned silence. Gazing up and down at Lincoln's battered form, she shook her head in disbelief. Though she can attest herself in being sometimes a little too rough on him, Lynn would never come close to truly hurting Lincoln in the manner he appeared to be in, certainly not in clear malice.

"Well...shall I ask how or why she did this?" She asked tentatively.

Another uneasy groan came out of Lincoln's mouth. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to reveal the events that lead up to his condition. Fear of further retaliation from Lori should it be known, plus divulging the fact that his own poor personal choice behavior these past few hours could've been the primary reasons for all that's happened put some serious doubt in his mind. But at the same, Lincoln also knew he couldn't simply avoid the subject and sooner or later most everyone will find out, so perhaps better to get out there now as opposed to having it be found out at a worse time.

"Well, first I need to backtrack to a little while earlier today..." He began after a shuddered sigh, "While me and the boys were having lunch, Ronnie Anne sudden bumped against me while walking and then the guys, even Clyde for that matter, started speculating that her bump plus other past events are proof me and her must be becoming a couple or something like that. I denied that thoroughly and just before the school day was over, Ronnie Anne came up to me again and started playfully roughing me around, at least I bet that's how she sees it. And the other thing is, she's been extra rough all this past week, so all of that plus today's events made me lose it on her to the point I shoved her to the ground, called her an obnoxious bully, questioned if we should even be friends anymore and then she punched me in the cheek right here."

He weakly lifted his index finger to point to the bruised cheek from which he got decked. Lynn wished in that moment to speak her mind about the roughness of Ronnie Anne, something she'll admit to having a little bit of a problem over, but that wasn't anywhere near as important as needing to know how this connected with the reprehensible actions allegedly conducted by Lori, so she remained quiet and let her brother continue.

"So that was bad enough and I'll admit my big mouth really did not help matters. But that's paltry compared to what came next..."

He took a little time to prepare himself. The volatile events of just a few minutes ago were already something was difficult to talk about, but he felt the need to push onward regardless.

"I came back home and I was worried that Lori had found out about what had happened through Bobby and that he might've broken up with her again because of it. But it turned Lori had no clue about it due to him not calling her for whatever reason, which I found to be so unusual. So in my infinite wisdom, I let slip everything right in front of her and she just absolutely lost it to the point she dragged me up to her room, demanded an explanation, which I did give in what little time she allowed me, and after I refused to go along with her plan of having me brought along for another double date with Bobby and Ronnie Anne..."

Going into the full details of the actions Lori committed to him was something Lincoln found real hard to do, so he stopped short of revealing them outright.

"So, that's it? That's what made Lori do this to you supposedly?" Lynn asked.

Lincoln sighed anxiously, "Well...I probably provoked her by slapping her and calling her a spineless coward for never following up on previous threats of force against me, so..."

"What?" Lynn said completely gobsmacked, "Uh...I…yeah, wow, if that's even remotely true, little bro...that was not cool on your part. You should've know better..."

"Yeah, I know that by now...and you seem to agree that I had this coming like I've been thinking just now." Lincoln said.

Lynn's eyes grew wide and she put her hand on his shoulder, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out! I did not suggest that at all, Lincoln and to be blunt, you're crazy to think that yourself."

"Well, why not?" Lincoln questioned somewhat petulantly, "Today amounted to some of the dumbest things I've ever said and done recently! At some point, they had to come bite me in the rear end and well, look at me! Certainly seems like I've got mine!"

Groaning in both pain and regret, Lincoln covered his face with both hands and shook his head. Meanwhile, Lynn hated this idea that he either deserved or had something like this coming to him. She really wanted to drill it into him to the contrary, so she moved even closer to him and pulled his hands away form his face.

"Lincoln, I will not deny that you have done some pretty dumb and misguided things in your life, and trust me, I've rubbed some of those in your face a number of times before." Lynn said with an ever so brief chuckle before reasserting a more serious tone, "But that should in no way excuse Lori teeing off on you, again if that's really what happened and I'm certainly not trying to suggest you're making something like that up or anything. Sure, we as siblings can get into fights over stupid stuff, but even I can admit it should never lead to real lasting harm physically or damage the bonds we share."

She didn't know what else to say, so Lynn settled for laying down next to Lincoln while clasping her hand around one of his own and remained with him for a little bit. Despite the physical and emotional toil he endured, plus still thinking he had this coming to some extent, having Lynn by his side was making him feel just a modicum better on top of her assistance thus far.

"So, do you need anything?" Lynn asked him.

"I...I don't think so..." Lincoln answered, "Maybe all I need right now is some rest."

"All right, if you say so." Lynn said, patting his hand.

She got off from his bed and was about to leave him alone, though one other thing came to mind.

"You don't mind if I tell everyone else what happened, do you?" She asked, "I know you might be a little scared if I did because of how Lori could react, but still..."

Lincoln sighed, "I guess not...but if you can, please don't have everyone like come rushing up and checking up on me or anything like that, at least not all at once."

"Sure..." Lynn simply said.

Finally, after giving him once last concerned glace, Lynn let her brother be by himself and closed the bedroom door behind her. Then, she let out a long sigh.

"Just...what the hell, Lori?"

Over at a home not too far away from the Loud house, Maria Santiago and the eldest of her two children, Bobby, were in the kitchen together making various selections for tonight's dinner.

"Oh, by the way, Roberto, maybe you know this already, but I was returning some of your laundry to your room soon after I came back home and noticed that you seemed to have forgotten to bring your cellphone with you today." Maria reminded him, "Plus, and not that I was trying to snoop through it or anything, but you also appear to have not charged it up, either, so I took the liberty of doing that for you."

"Wait, I did?" Bobby wondered in surprise.

To confirm his mother's claim, Bobby rushed over to his room and sure enough, his phone was sitting right on his desk with the charger hooked up to it. He would try wracking his mind as to how such an absent minded episode came about, but that was secondary to him as he turned it on frantically knowing there was a high likelihood Lori had been trying to call him repeatedly.

Right as his phone turned on, Bobby's hunch was correct as he found a dozen missed calls from her. He was about to call Lori back, but noticed there were also a few text messages from her that he wanted to check first. Most were simply concerns over why he hadn't been calling recently, but the two most recent ones drew his immediate attention.

"Bobby, did you literally break up with me?! Was it because that stupid little heartbreaker shot his mouth off again to Ronnie Anne? Call me soon, please!"

But only a couple of minutes after that text…

"Actually, you know what, don't call me now. I'm too angry to talk! What's wrong with that heartbreaker?!"

To put it mildly, Bobby was absolutely clueless about what Lori was talking about. Though he chose not to call her like she just suggested in that last text, he at the very least thought a return text would still be a good idea.

Right as he finished up and sent that text, he heard an exchange going on just beyond his room.

"Ronalda, come on now, why are you so upset?"

"Leave me alone, Mom!"

An angry slamming of a door soon followed and Bobby knew that it was Ronnie Anne going into her room. Wondering what that was all about, he peered out from his room and saw his mother standing by and looking on concerned.

"What happened?" He asked.

Maria sighed and faced her son, "Well, your sister just came home and she looked mad about something. I tried to ask her about it a few times, but she refused to talk and she's now sealed herself up in her room as you probably heard right about now."

"Huh, maybe I can talk to her." Bobby suggested.

"I appreciate that, but I don't know if you would have as much luck as I just had. Maybe it is best that she be left alone and hope she'll be more willing to talk in a little while." Maria said.

Sighing again, she went back over to the kitchen while Bobby looked in the direction of Ronnie Anne's room with a worried looked on his face. He began to feel whatever Lori was referencing in that text of hers was what got his sister so mad...and it also dawned upon him that the "heartbreaker" Lori mentioned could very well have been Lincoln.

"She did what?!"

Meanwhile, back over at the Loud house, Lynn had just got done explaining to her recently returning family, minus Lori who was still gone to wherever she went, about what the eldest sister had supposedly done to Lincoln.

"Are you absolutely sure about this, LJ?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Well, truthfully I wasn't there when it happened, but I have no reason to believe that Lincoln would make something up like that based on the condition I found him in." Lynn Jr. answered.

"You know, we should ask Lincoln ourselves, honey." Rita suggested to her husband.

"I think so, too." Lynn Sr. agreed before glancing back to his namesake daughter, "And I know you just told us that he'd rather be left alone, but with the seriousness of the claims you're making, it's likely for the best we hear directly from your brother."

With that, both of them made their way upstairs and up to the door leading to their only son's bedroom.

"Lincoln, can we come in?" Lynn Sr. asked while knocking on the door.

The only sound they heard in response was him groaning lightly.

"Listen, we understand you might not be in the mood for company, but your father and I think you should make an exception for this instance with us, so please can we come in?" Rita asked.

Following another round of silence, they finally got an answer.

"Okay…" Lincoln could be heard feebly saying.

They let themselves inside and right away they can tell that their son did look disheveled with his hair lightly messed around, a couple scuff marks and redness along his face, and a bruise on his cheek.

"Whoa there, you do look a little roughed up, kiddo." Lynn Sr. said, taking a seat on the chair in the room.

"Are you okay, Lincoln?" Rita asked with concern, sitting down next to him on his bed.

"Yeah..." Lincoln replied gently, "I guess you found out what happened?"

"Something like that, but to know for sure, we needed to hear from you directly." Lynn Sr. said with a nod then a sigh, "Can you confirm to us that Lori did...do all of this to you?"

"...Yeah...well, but not all of it. Ronnie Anne did contribute her part with a punch to my cheek, which you also must've known about, too..." Lincoln answered, moaning soon after.

His parents shared a look with each other upon getting that final corroboration and shook their heads.

"Looks like we're going to have a very serious talk with Lori when she comes home..." Lynn Sr. said soberly.

Rita nodded and brought her attention back to their son, "Now Lincoln, we need to know something else, too. Did you indeed hit Lori before she committed her own actions?"

"Yes..." Lincoln said in a strained voice.

He winced as he turned away a little, afraid that his parents would get into a long lecture about how irresponsible his actions were and how he must've ultimately been at fault. He felt the bed shift when his mother came closer and ever so gently made him turn to face her and his father again.

"Listen, honey, your father and I will not in any way, shape or form defend whatever your sister did to you. From the sounds and looks of it, it was absolutely indefensible and in no way is there any justification for it. Yet at the same time, you should have known better than to hit any of your sisters, too." Rita told him, trying to strike a balance between compassion and exacting.

"I know, I know!" Lincoln said as his voice was really starting to break, "I need to shut up more and learn to take what's coming!"

"No, son, that's not how you should see it." Lynn Sr. stated sincerely, "I agree with your mother that hitting your sisters is wrong in pretty much all circumstances. But like she also said, that doesn't mean what Lori did in return was acceptable, and judging by how you look and what we've been told, she crossed too many lines in terms of retaliation."

After his father was done speaking, Lincoln shut his eyes and whimpered, causing Rita to do her best in bringing him up without causing too much strain and hugged him.

"Listen, maybe we don't need to do much right now in terms of treatment, but if you don't get much better by some point tomorrow, we may have to get you checked out, okay?" She explained.

He didn't use words, but Lincoln did nod lightly. The idea that he could potentially be hurt enough by Lori to the point he might have to be examined was a scary prospect, one he hoped doesn't end up coming to fruition.

"WHAT?! WHY DID HE TELL YOU THAT?! AND YOU LITERALLY HAD TO TELL EVERYONE ELSE, TOO?!"

"Oh no..." Rita muttered.

"You know what, stay here with Lincoln for the moment. I'll see what's going on." Lynn Sr. offered to do.

He stood up from the chair and headed back downstairs. By the time he did, Lori was there seething as she yanked Lynn Jr. by the collar of her jersey, all while the rest of the sisters looked on and perhaps too terrified to intervene.

"Lori Marie Loud, you let go of your sister right now!" Lynn Sr. ordered.

The arrival of her father and his command were enough for Lori to stop in her tracks and roughly push her sister away, though she didn't seem too intimidated all the same.

"Oh great, you know, too?" She sarcastically questioned.

Lynn Sr. folded his arms, "You better believe it, young lady! Just wait until your mother comes on down..."

Thought she didn't interpret that as a cue based on hearing that as it echoed on up, Rita did nevertheless feel the need to join her husband in confronting their eldest daughter about today's events.

"Okay, just take it easy for the next while, all right, Lincoln?" She said.

She lightly kissed his forehead, sighing as she stood up and left the room. When she got down the stairs and upon laying eyes on Lori, her expression became that of total sternness.

"Lori, you are in so much trouble..."

In the Santiago household, the mystery of Ronnie Anne's bitter mood was still left unanswered. Both Maria and Bobby had left her alone in the couple of hours since her return home, but with dinner mere minutes away, there was hope she could soon let in on what's going on.

"Mind if you let your sister know that everything is almost ready?" Maria asked of her son.

"Sure thing." Bobby answered.

He walked away and arrived up to Ronnie Anne's room where he knocked on the door. However, no response came about, nor could he hear much of anything else inside.

"Ronnie?" Bobby inquired worriedly.

With still no response, he simply took the risk in letting himself inside. Upon entering, he saw a very saddening sight.

Laying down in the middle of her bed with her face buried with her arms, Ronnie Anne appeared in Bobby's estimation to be in deep distress. Even without knowing the full context, he immediately came over to her side.

"Hey, are you okay, sis?" He asked.

It took a few seconds, but Ronnie Anne lifted her head up to look at her brother. In a contrast to her normally confident, tough girl disposition, she confirmed a more fragile nature as evident by the tears in her eyes and stains of such on the sleeves of her hoodie.

"Aw, what's the matter?" Bobby reiterated.

She pulled herself up and arrived at sitting position closer to Bobby. Without giving it another thought, he brought her into an embrace as she started to sniffle.

"Something happened at school today, didn't it?" He asked.

"W-what m-m-makes you think t-that?" Ronnie Anne tearfully wondered.

"Well...some texts from Lori claim somebody she calls a 'heartbreaker' said some bad things to you...and I'm afraid to think she was talking about Lincoln." Bobby said, "Is that true?"

"Yeah..." Ronnie Anne admitted, a couple of sobs beginning to form, "He first s-shoved me to the g-g-ground, then accused m-me of being t-too rough with him all this week...then s-s-said I'm a-a bully who he doesn't w-want to be f-friends with me anymore...and the p-p-part I hate the m-most...he might b-be right..."

She couldn't hold it in any longer and began sobbing harder and as that happened, Bobby tightened his hold of his sister closer.

While he allowed Ronnie Anne to let everything out, Bobby took a moment to both reflect on what his sister just told him, but also about another past incident very similar to this. He knew that he broke up with Lori after the first time Lincoln belittled Ronnie Anne because at the time, Bobby didn't know the lone Loud boy that well and thought his disparagement of her was indicative of who he really was. But after how Lincoln tried to make it up to them during the double date with Lori, and especially when they started hanging out together to the point that he and Bobby viewed each other as honorary bros, that caused a complete turnaround for the elder Santiago sibling's views on the white-haired boy.

Now for this current incident, although Bobby didn't like learning that Lincoln shoved Ronnie Anne or about the tirade he went on her, the fact his little sister did admit to perhaps provoking a response and knowing Lincoln is generally better than that did make him hope that reconciliation is just as possible as ever. The only worrying aspect of it all is how Lori found out, how she assumed Bobby could've broken up with her and if she did anything at all to Lincoln on top of that.

"You know..." Ronnie Anne muttered after she began calming down, "Maybe I could talk to Lincoln about what happened today...but I don't know if he'll give me that chance, though."

"Aw, I think he would. Sure, I don't like hearing what he did to you, but I don't think he meant it on purpose I hope." Bobby assured her, "And yeah, I can't deny you can be a tad on the rough side, including with me, but I know that's not who you really are, too."

After a moment more, Bobby pulled back so he and Ronnie Anne could face one another.

"You don't?" She asked.

"Of course not, sis, and I'm betting Lincoln thinks so, too. Maybe you caught him in a really bad time and he said and did things he truly didn't fully think through. With that said, I do think it's a good idea to talk things out with him and see if everything can work out." He said.

Following Bobby's further assurances, Ronnie Anne smiled through the remaining tears in her eyes and hugged him.

"I don't what I've ever done to have such a great and understanding big brother, but thanks anyway." She said gratefully, "And now I know for certain that I will talk with Lincoln, but maybe not right now. I'll do it tomorrow once I'm feeling more confident about it."

Bobby hugged her back again, "Do what you have to. Now, Mom's waiting for us to join her for dinner, since that's the reason I came to get you in the first place."

They let go of each other and Ronnie Anne smiled at Bobby again before she followed him to do just that.

Similarly, dinnertime at the Loud house was almost about to commence as well. However, the mood was darkened as a result of everyone knowing about the conduct and actions between Lori and Lincoln. Because of it, Lincoln had yet to come on down, while Lori was sitting over at the table in the kitchen as something of a punishment after also having been on the receiving end of a long lecture from both her parents about what she did. Yet despite that, she was shockingly unrepentant about everything and was in no mood to apologize.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family gathered at the dining table, only now wondering if the lone boy among them will come join them.

"Hey, can someone check up on Lincoln and see if he's willing to join us?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Let me give it a try, Dad." Lynn Jr. said.

With that, the younger Lynn made a path up the stairs and back to her brother's room, knocking on the door.

"Hey, you coming on down, Lincoln?" She asked him.

Though she didn't get a verbal response, Lynn did hear what sounded Lincoln shuffling around to get back onto his bed and then him groaning in pain. As a result, she let herself in.

"Lincoln, what was all that I just heard?" Lynn asked.

"Uh...nothing, Lynn..." Lincoln said, trying to sound innocent, "But to answer your first question, I don't think I can make it for dinner. I'm just still too worn out to do much of anything right now..."

Based on what she presumed to hear just before letting herself in, Lynn had to figure that wasn't entirely true. Lincoln probably was in sound enough condition to come downstairs and if she had to guess, Lynn was betting there was another reason for him not wanting to join everyone else. Namely, an obvious blonde-haired reason. But despite that, she didn't want to force Lincoln to come on down and for his sake, she chose to accept his reasoning in the moment.

"All right, if you say so." Lynn said, sighing afterward.

She gently closed the door and came back to the table to deliver the news.

"Lincoln says he's not coming on down because he still feels too hurt to do anything..." She explained to her family somberly.

"Is that so?" Lynn Sr. questioned, "Well, if that's the case, I guess someone should bring his dinner up to him."

"I can do that, Dad." Luna offered to do, noting she was next to where Lincoln presumably would be seated and where his dinner was placed.

She stood up and gathered the utensils, put them on the plate and also got the glass of water, too. But as she was almost about to bring everything up, she could've sworn she heard some kind of utterance from Lori in the kitchen.

"Huh, what was that, Lori?" Luna wondered.

"Luna, just ignore her." Rita advised.

"No, no, no, I think I need to hear this, Mom." Luna said.

She went over to her oldest sister, still with everything at hand.

"What did you say?" Luna reiterated.

Lori grumbled, "I said oh, what a shocker, you of all people volunteering to do that for...him."

Luna raised her eyebrow, "What are you on about, brah?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Luna!" Lori shouted, "Whenever...he needs something or whatever, you are frequently one of the first to do anything. It's like you are going out of your way to literally rub it in all our faces about what a better big sister you think you are."

That did not sit well with Luna, "I have no idea what you are talking about, Lori. I'm not trying to be better than anybody! But hey, at least I'm trying to be a good big sis here, unlike how you chose to waylay him like you did!"

"He had it coming!" Lori defiantly said.

"For what?!" Luna shot back.

"For wrecking things between me and Bobby again and hurting Ronnie Anne's feelings like the little heartbreaker that he is and for slapping me, too!" Lori answered, sitting up from the chair, "And you know what, if this keeps up, maybe he won't be the only sibling I'll try breaking in half!"

"Not unless I bust this glass over your dome first!" Luna threatened her sister with.

"LORI, LUNA, ENOUGH ALREADY!" Lynn Sr. furiously ordered.

The booming voice of their father was enough to put a halt between the hostile confrontation that could have been between them. He took a shuddered deep breath to calm himself down following that.

"Luna...just please take Lincoln's dinner up to him, okay?" Rita requested calmly.

With a sigh of her own, Luna nodded and went on her way.

"Uh, why don't I help by handling that glass, Luna?" Lynn Jr. offered, "You know...just...because, okay?"

"I think I can handle this by myself." Luna replied.

Regardless of Luna's insistence, Lynn grabbed the glass out of her sister's hands and motioned with her head for Luna to come along up the stairs. It was when both made it to the top that some choice words were shared.

"Luna, what were you thinking in nearly starting a fight with Lori? That'd hardly gonna make things any better." Lynn admonished.

"Can you really blame me, though, LJ?" Luna responded after a frustrated grunt, "After what she's done to our little bro and how she doesn't seem regretful about it at all, what's not a little returning of the favor?"

"Okay, for one, breaking a glass over Lori's head would hardly be what I call simply 'returning the favor'. Secondly, you do know that you would be in deep, deep trouble with Mom and Dad if you actually did that since whatever injuries could come about for Lori would be far worse than what even Lincoln has now, right? And finally, yes, I don't like what Lori did to Lincoln any more than you or everyone else does, but even I know better than to start additional fights that could engulf our entire family, especially with her." Lynn said, "Also, do you think for a second Lincoln would like the idea of you rumbling with Lori?"

Perhaps likely out of reluctance, Luna dropped the subject for now and resumed following Lynn until she got up and knocked on Lincoln's bedroom door.

"Hey, Linc, it's me again...and Luna this time around as well." She said, "We're here to bring your dinner up to you since you're not coming down."

"Uh...okay." Lincoln could be heard responding.

Next, Lynn opened the door and let herself and Luna inside.

"Hey, bro." Luna greeted while smiling.

"Hi, Luna..." Lincoln said back, trying to smile himself.

Mild pleasantries out of the way, the next step was how to optimally set things up for Lincoln to eat based on his condition, or at least however hurt he was as Lynn now assumed. It was ultimately decided that Lincoln could scoot back up and lean against his pillow as it was put upright along the headboard of his bed, then the plate was placed just right in front of him and the glass was put on the chair and moved closer within his reach.

"Okay, well, in a little while I'll come back up and collect everything once your done." Luna suggested, taking a moment to look over to Lynn, "And really, I truly believe I can do that myself when the time comes."

"Okay, okay..." Lynn said before sighing, "Anyway, see you around, Lincoln, and we hope you keep getting better."

Lincoln engaged in the briefest exchange of smiles with his two sisters before they left him alone. But before they return with the rest of their family, there was something Luna felt the need to ask Lynn.

"He doesn't want to come on down because of not wanting to be near Lori, isn't it?" She wondered, "I mean, he did look a little banged up, but neither did he appear as if he was seriously crippled or anything like that."

Lynn's face turned sullen, "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. Just as I was coming to see if he can join us, I could've sworn I heard him trying to scramble back to his bed right after I knocked on the door. So he's probably in better shape now than when I first found him and he won't let on to that fact."

As both of them shared a sigh, Luna patted her younger sister's back and then they headed on downstairs to rejoin their family.

The evening's meal proceeded as normally as can be, even with the emptiness of two chairs among the table. During that time, Luna couldn't help but share the occasional leery glare with Lori over where she was at the kitchen, something that had to be admonished each time it occurred.

Half an hour later after the conclusion of dinner, everyone was either helping doing the dishes and other assorted clean up, or doing their own thing.

For Lori, though, she was sentenced to her room for the rest of the night as part of her punishment. Knowing there wasn't much else to do, she brought her phone for the first time in a few hours, which was a shocking amount of time given how attached to it she typically is. She hadn't really checked it ever since she fired off those pair of text messages to Bobby as she stepped out of the house following her violent confrontation with Lincoln.

When she did check things up, the first thing Lori saw were two texts sent from Bobby a couple of hours ago. Her eyes lit up and she eagerly went to read them.

"Babe, I have no idea what you are talking about! I didn't break up with you and haven't been calling you because I somehow forgot to bring my phone and even charge it!And what's this about a 'heartbreaker'?"

She then read the second one posted a few minutes after that.

"Tell you what, since you clearly need your space, plus I do feel the need to put some of my own time with Ronnie Anne due to her looking pretty upset, let's talk things over tomorrow, okay?"

Lori's eyes grew wide and she gasped, particularly from the first text of Bobby admitting he never broke up with her. Slowly, everything else was falling into place. If he didn't break up with her, that also means there's a chance he didn't know anything about what happened between Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, too, or at least not until a little later on based on the contents of the second text and his confusion about the term 'heartbreaker'. Finally, if he wasn't indicating that he was breaking up with Lori even if he eventually found things out, that also made her possibly realize her whole beat down of Lincoln basically was really for no reason other than her own personal rage and not based on any retribution on Bobby's behalf. Then again, there's no way he would've ever approved of such retribution in the first place.

For the first time since that incident, Lori was starting to feel real guilty for what she did. Her instincts told her to try in apologizing to Lincoln, but part of her thought he may be too scared to be near her because of her actions, hence his absence at dinnertime, so she wasn't entirely sure about doing that at the moment. Perhaps like with Bobby, maybe she can try talking to Lincoln tomorrow as well, assuming he still isn't fearing her mere presence by then.

Meanwhile as that was going on, Luna returned upstairs so she could gather up Lincoln's dishes like she said earlier.

"Hey, bro, just coming back to nab those dishes and such." She stated after a knock on the door.

She let herself in to see Lincoln back laying down on his bed, though on the plus side he did finish up his dinner from the looks of it.

"Well, even with you all laid out, dude, you still must've had something of an appetite!" Luna expressed humorously.

Lincoln chuckled briefly, "I guess...maybe?"

Luna grinned while she went to grab everything. However, she placed everything on Lincoln's dresser for a moment as she wanted to have quick chat with him while she had the opportunity. She took the chair in the room, spun it around so the back faced forward and sat down.

"So how are you holding up, bro?" Luna asked, "Aside when Lynn and I brought your grub a little while ago, I haven't really talked or seen you since this morning. And I get you're not wanting a whole lot of company, but maybe you can spare a sec for me."

"I think I'm doing okay, at least on the outside..." Lincoln answered, frowning quickly next, "On the inside? Not so much..."

"I certainly don't blame you, dude. After what Lori did, who wouldn't be feelin' blue about that? In fact, I'd almost wanna do something to her in return if I really wanted to..." Luna said, gritting her teeth near the end.

"Well, I'd hope you don't..." Lincoln told her almost pleadingly, "I think the last thing we need is Lori getting seriously angry at another sibling. Plus, I did manage to hear part of what you and her were saying downstairs, so please don't start something with her, because I hate the irresponsibility of my actions also lead to you two fighting as well..."

Luna let out an uneasy, sighing laugh, "Yeah, Lynn pretty much drilled that into me. That's probably why she tagged along in bringing your stuff up to you just so she could tell me that on the way up."

She sighed again, sitting up from the chair and putting it aside before sitting down on the bed closer to her brother.

"But yeah, after hearing it from her and now you, I won't do anything real dumb in spite of how I personally feel about all that supposedly went down between you and Lori. Besides, no matter how everything might be at the moment, I have a funny feeling the two of you will patch things up sooner than you might think."

Lincoln wasn't so sure about that, "I'd like to be that optimistic, Luna, but I'm worried this feel different. This is probably the most mad Lori has been at me in a long time based on how she took it out on me. What makes you think it could happen that fast?"

Luna lays down next to Lincoln and takes his hand into her own, "Because that's how it usually turns out, little bro. We don't try to let spats or rifts between any of us drag on for too terribly long and we generally find within us to forgive, forget and come out stronger than before. And yeah, maybe there is a chance I'm trying too hard in looking at the sunnier side of all this, but it's better than wallowing in the depths of despair too much and thinking of the worst, right?"

When she finished speaking, Luna let go of Lincoln's hand and gently put her arm around his shoulders and simply held on for a little bit. Though filled with self doubt about her more optimistic view on the wedge that has developed with Lori will be cleared quickly, Lincoln did have to appreciate the effort that Luna put forth and especially hoped she upheld her word on not scuffling with their oldest sister, which will only lead to more unneeded drama than already was.

"Okay, I got my fill of little bro time and I'll leave you be now." Luna said.

She got up from his bed and took a second to kiss his forehead.

"And again, Lincoln, I do like to believe that you and Lori will be on the right track in a matter of time."

With those final words of optimism, she smiled at him and finally left his room with his dishes at hand.

But right as Luna was about to head down the stairs, she paused and looked to the door leading to Lori and Leni's room where the former had been made to remain in for the evening. Despite how she personally felt about Lori's actions and conduct against their little brother, there was a part within Luna that wanted to also check up on her, too. Granted, the likelihood that Lori was in the mood for talking with anyone, let alone the sister who threatened shattering a drinking glass on her head, had to be on the low side. Yet in any event, Luna felt like going ahead in taking the risk, if any other reason in order to apologize for that threat from earlier on. But first would come returning Lincoln's dishes.

However, an alternate avenue in having them returned might've shown itself as Luna turned to see Lana and Lola emerge from their bedroom.

"Hey, little dudettes. Mind doing me a solid and taking these down for me?" She requested.

"Sure!" They both answered.

Luna handed the plate over to Lana while Lola handled the glass. Before heading off, both also had a couple things of their own they wanted to ask.

"Is Lincoln doing okay?" Lola asked concernedly.

"Yeah, and how come he doesn't want any of us to come see him?" Lana added.

"Well, I don't think it's that he didn't want anyone around him, but it was like Lynn told us and the rest of our fam about what allegedly went down between our bro and Lori that he didn't want all of us at once in some sort of gaggle checking up and overwhelming him." Luna tried explaining, "But anyway, he seems to be doing alright and maybe he'll be more eager to see you and everyone else tomorrow."

Although the explanation might've not been the most satisfying to them, at least hearing that Lincoln was okay was enough for the twins at the moment and they leaved to return the dishes to the kitchen, giving Luna ample time now to attempt in talking with Lori. She went up and knocked on her bedroom door.

"Go away..." Lori could be heard softly saying.

Right off the bat, Luna realized the complete change in her sister's attitude from the tone of voice. Gone was the petulance and defiance, and instead was something of a meekness uncommon with her. Without announcing herself, Luna knocked again a little harder. This time, Lori mumbled something indistinctly, but sounded like she was heading over to open up. Once she did and saw Luna standing before her, she sighed.

"Luna, I'm not in the mood for more bickering or such..." Lori said, mustering a mild amount of annoyance.

She tried closing the door, but her sister planted her hand on it.

"Wait, wait, wait, that's not the reason I'm hear, Lori." Luna assured her, "Can please come in and talk to you?"

Surprised by the more compassionate diction displayed by Luna, Lori thought about it for a few seconds and with another sigh, she opened the door all the way and let her sister inside. After closing the door, Lori sat down on her bed and Luna joined by her side.

"What do you want, Luna?" Lori wondered.

"Well...I wanna say from the top that I'm sorry for everything that was said and almost done by me to you just before dinner." Luna answered, putting her hand on her older sister's shoulder and facing her directly, "I will not make any bones about how much I detested whatever gnarly walloping you gave our little bro, but I also won't pretend that anything I could've done to you in retaliation would've been justified, certainly not bashing a glass of water on your head."

Oddly enough, Lori couldn't help but laugh mildly despite herself, "Well...maybe I could've had something coming..."

Luna shook her head, "No, you didn't. I don't know why you'd think that, brah."

Silently, Lori brought her phone out and handed it over to Luna. A fairly recent text message from Bobby was shown and Luna chose to read it out loud.

"Just got done talking with Ronnie Anne, babe. I don't like learning what your little bro did to my sis, but part of me really likes to hope that he was caught in a bad mood and didn't truly mean what he did. Plus, Ronnie did admit that she might've started things, though and she plans in talking it over with him tomorrow and I'd still like to do the same with you. Hopefully you didn't come off too harshly at Lincoln and again, I never broke up with you."

Now Luna was understanding the sudden and starkly sadder behavior Lori was in, and she was about to get another reminder as no sooner did she put aside the phone did Lori start wailing uncontrollably and desperately clung onto her younger sister. Luna did get taken off guard by all of this, but slowly she put her own arms around Lori and held on to her.

"I'm literally such an idiot..." Lori softly said during a pause in crying, "I..I hurt Lincoln…for no reason...and that text proves it."

Luna struggled to find any words worth saying to console Lori, but nothing came at the moment. This was as much of a revelation to her as it was for her sister, so all she did for a while was maintain her grip on Lori and let her emotions pour out.

Finally, after several indeterminate minutes later, Lori seemed to settle down enough that she might be willing to talk things out more.

"You all right?" Luna asked simply, bringing her sister to an arm's length.

"Maybe?" Lori answered rather tentatively, "But I do appreciate having someone be there for me to let everything out..."

"Hey, what's a sister for, right?" Luna said while lightly grinning.

Lori had a slight grin and brought Luna back in for a gentler, more grateful hug, which she reciprocated.

"Maybe after learning all that from Bobby, having a chat with Lincoln and clearing the air could be worth a shot." Luna suggested at the conclusion of the hug.

Lori sniffled and wiped down her eyes, "Believe me, that has been on my mind both since getting that text from him and reading a couple of others before that, Luna. But I fear he's too scared to be around me and can you really blame him after what I did? So as much as I want to, he might not be ready to even give me that chance."

Hearing that Lori did have the slightest inkling of talking with Lincoln was a positive development for Luna. So much so, it gave her an idea.

"You know, maybe he will. In fact, head on down to the living room, and if Mom, Dad or anyone else gets up in your grill about you being there, just mention that I insist you be there." She explained.

"Wait, why?" Lori wondered.

"Just go with me on this one, okay, sis? Please?" Luna implored her, "Give yourself a moment to perk up some and head on down."

Without much further explanation, Luna got up and departed from her oldest sister's room, heading across the hall and back in front of Lincoln's room and knocked briefly.

"Hey, bro, can I come back in for a jiff?" She asked.

"Um...I don't know..." Lincoln said from the other side.

"Well, I have something pretty urge I wanna tell you, so you might have no choice than to listen in." Luna told him.

Before giving him a chance to respond, she let herself back inside.

"Luna, I'm really not in the mood for more company..." Lincoln said following a whimper.

"I get that, dude, but I think you really should indulge me for another sec or two." Luna insisted on, "Now, you know when I just said I had a feeling you and Lori will make up sooner than you might expect?"

Lincoln only responded with a simple nod.

"Well, I actually just got done talking with her and I think we have a golden opportunity for both you and her to do the same." Luna explained.

The idea of being near Lori after what happened earlier made Lincoln tense up and groan uneasily, causing Luna to come over closer to him and give him further assurance.

"Listen, I understand you're still a bit scared, but this really needs to happen. When I talked to Lori, she's become a complete wreck about how she treated you once she got some texts from Bobby. It turns out he didn't know anything about whatever happened between you and Ronnie Anne at school until she personally told him, nor did Bobby ever give a thought about breaking up with Lori, either. She really does want to talk with you and I convinced her to go down to the living room so this can happen in front of our family to witness both of you getting back on good terms."

Based on his facial expression and additional whimpering, Lincoln still didn't like the overall idea of things, but Luna was determined to make it happen to thaw the frosty relations between him and Lori.

"Come on, Lincoln, I know you can do this. We'll go down together, okay?" She offered to do.

Finally, likely after that was suggested, Lincoln took a shaky deep breath and sat up gingerly, showing off more improvement to his overall condition. He slipped gently off his bed and back onto his feet. He then got a reassuring squeeze of his hand by Luna, who would then lead him along with her out of the room, into the hall and down the stairs.

As they arrived, the rest of their family was gathered in the living room, with Lori sitting on the couch by herself. She turned to her two arriving siblings and locked a brief gaze with Lincoln, who almost immediately diverted his eyesight from her anxiously. He paused nearly three-quarters of the way down the stairs in a last minute bout of hesitation, but Luna let go of his hand, put her arm around his shoulders and drew him closer to her briefly, giving him that last little push to make it all the way down.

"All right, you should try going over to her yourself." Luna softly suggested to her brother.

She patted his shoulder and joined over along with the rest of their family.

Taking another deep breath, Lincoln took his time in slowly inching closer until he made it to the couch and sat down. There were visible trembles across his body and though not shaken like he was, Lori showed her own nerves when she tried shifting closer to Lincoln as well. He felt her hand being placed on his back and flinched in response.

"Lincoln..."

He heard his named addressed quietly by his oldest sister. There was no hostility, no anger, or even almost no sadness, just practically no emotion at all. He released a shuddered exhale before his head turned to finally make direct eye contact with Lori. She had a glistening within her own eyes, and after moments of no added motion, it's like both had the exact same thing in mind by throwing their arms around each other into a tight embrace and both began to sob.

"Lincoln, I'm s-so sorry!" Lori shouted tearfully.

"N-no, I'm the o-one that needs t-to apologize, Lori! Everything is my f-f-fault!" Lincoln countered, "I never s-should have g-g-gone off o-on Ronnie Anne like I did! I n-never should h-h-have slapped you or called you a c-coward! I'm the coward here! I deserved e-every s-s-single beating you gave m-me!"

"Don't. You. EVEN. THINK. THAT!" Lori strained out, "There was no excuse f-f-for what I did now knowing t-the truth! But e-even before s-so, I should've controlled m-m-myself and t-tried to understand things more rationally!"

The crying between them only got more hysterical as they held on to each other like the other was only person that even mattered to them in the world. Their family watching on wished they could say something or help out in their own way, but it appeared to be universally accepted that this had to be their moment and they needed this release and reconciliation uninterrupted.

As the minutes passed, a calm was forming between the eldest sister and the only brother. They gradually parted and looked at each other's eyes, she dripping in tears and mascara, while he hardly fared any better on his end, still perhaps being a bit fearful.

Slowly, she made the next move in cupping his face and pressing her forehead against his.

"Lincoln...please understand something..." Lori began, sniffling and exhaling, "I love you. I love you so much and I will admit that you are no heartbreaker, because it was I who broke your heart through what I did earlier this afternoon. It was absolutely irresponsible , because as one of your big sisters, I should be protecting you from any aggressors, not actually being an aggressor against you. All I can hope for is that you'll allow me to mend things by any means and hope that my inexcusable actions haven't changed how you feel about me like if you started hating me, though I'll understand if you still wish to keep your distance from me for a while longer after this."

He took a few seconds to take in what was said to him, then he formulated his own response.

"Lori...I don't hate you, not even after what's happened..." Lincoln said, trying to maintain a sense of calmness, "But I'll confess in being scared of you, not because I wanted to avoid being near you, but I thought you didn't want to be near me. But putting that aside, I still want to take responsibility for my own dumb actions all day long. I could've saved myself and you so much trouble had I never lost my cool around Ronnie Anne. My mouth gets me into enough trouble as it is and boy, did it ever today. Nonetheless, I don't hate you, Lori...and I really do love you, too."

Through another small set of tears pooling up in his eyes, he gave just enough of a smile before he hugged his sister again. She too smiled and returned the favor.

"I love you, Lincoln, and once again, I'm sorry for everything." Lori said, then she scanned around the room, "And I'm sorry to all of you as well."

"Aw, it's okay, honey." Rita said while smiling.

"As long as you two recognized each other's wrongs and made the effort in reconciling, that's all we can wish for." Lynn Sr. added.

At last, following some tense and uncertain few hours, all seemed good again among the family.

Except for one other small thing.

"Well, since we're on the subject of apologies..." Luna spoke up, "I know I've already told you this privately, Lori, but it's worth laying down with everyone else watching just so we can prove we're cool again, too. I'm sorry once more for being dumb enough in almost starting a scrap with you and I really owe it to both Lynn and Lincoln for driving that home with me...oh, and Dad as well when he bellowed at us something fierce."

Lori chuckled, "Thanks, Luna, and I'm sorry on my end, too. Also, thank you for pulling off this setup so me and Lincoln could make up."

"Hey, like said to you a little while ago, what's a sister for? I guess I was just doing my part in getting you both on the right track and I'm stoked that how it ended up." Luna said, showing some bashfulness.

"Indeed you dd play your part, Luna, and I want to thank you as well." Lincoln said proudly.

Then, he turned his attention to someone else who he also owed a lot of gratitude towards.

"And since we're on this trend of extending thanks, I want to thank you for all you've done for me today, Lynn. You've done your part, too."

Now it was Lynn's to turn to be bashful, "Aw...well, it was no sweat, Linc. But I do appreciate the thought, and I do hope today has shown that even if I do get a little rough with you myself, I'll always be by your side if you need me."

Lincoln smiled widely, "I never doubted that one little bit."

In response to those words, Lynn joined alongside Lincoln on the couch and hugged him tightly...perhaps a little too much.

"Ow, ow, ow, still a tiny bit sore..." Lincoln said gingerly.

"Oh, sorry about that." Lynn quickly apologized.

She loosed her grip a little, then she eventually let him go and patted his back.

"Well, I believe that's all the loose ends having been tied up." Lynn Sr. said following a relieved sigh.

"Actually, not entirely, Dad. I think me and Lori really need to have a good talk with Bobby and Ronnie Anne over everything that's happened." Lincoln pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true, but Bobby texted it's okay we can wait until tomorrow to do that." Lori mentioned.

"Honestly, I think we should do it right about now while we still have the time. I'd hate for both of them and us to have everything linger on for much longer." Lincoln said.

Lori gave it some thought, and she came around, "I guess not. Yeah, you know what, let's do that."

"And I do just happen to have my phone handy with me..." Lincoln noted as reached down his pocket to pull it out, "So why don't we talk it out with them together?"

"Well, if that's the case, we'll all leave you alone to do just that." Rita suggested.

The rest of the family agreed and gave Lori and Lincoln some privacy as the latter was getting things set up on his phone.

Back over at the Santiago residence, some jovial laughter was being shared between Bobby and Ronnie Anne, plus with Lori and Lincoln as the four of as the latter two were being heard from and seen through Ronnie Anne's phone. What started as a discussion to clear the air regarding the tribulations of the day had broadened to a more casual chat between all four of them. Before that, Bobby again reaffirmed he never broke up with Lori and doesn't plan to, even after Lori confessed to her misdeeds. Likewise, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne reached an understanding about their own confrontation at school, where Lincoln explained how his lunchtime talk with the boys sort of played a role in him getting incensed and how Ronnie Anne theorized her extra roughness was due to a combination of thinking Lincoln was simply used to it by now and how she was having her own difficulties at school, thus perhaps unfairly channeling it towards him. Either way, she ultimately promised though that she'll try in pulling back some her otherwise harmless roughhousing.

In conclusion, they all exchanged additional apologies and forgiveness before finally they were about to let each other go.

"Wow, this was great. I'm so glad we did this now instead of literally waiting until tomorrow." Lori said, "Anyway, I'll talk to you again until then. Good night, Bobby. I love you."

"Same here, babe." Bobby reciprocated short and sweetly.

"Bye, Ronnie Anne! I'll see you next week at school, okay?" Lincoln said.

"Right back at you, Linc. Good night." Ronnie Anne replied.

And with that, the quadrilateral call came to an end. In the immediate aftermath, the Santiago siblings shared smiles and relieved sighs with one another before enclosing themselves in an embrace.

"Aw…"

But their shared moment together came to quick halt as they turned to the origin of that utterance, which came from their mother watching on.

"Mom?" Ronnie Anne inquired.

"Oh, sorry, couldn't help myself." Maria admitted in slight embarrassment, "You two looked so sweet together and it was nice to hear everything is all good with Lori and Lincoln."

"Yeah, they are. And hey, since you are here, how about you bring it on in, too?" Bobby suggested.

Maria couldn't possibly say no to that as she came over and joined her two kids in a nice familial embrace, both for its own sake and thankful the personal drama of all involved was behind them.

As the evening was winding down, Lincoln was in his room getting ready to put on his pajamas when a familiar sound of static entered his eardrums.

"Lincoln, are you there?" Clyde inquired.

Lincoln grabbed his walkie talkie. "Indeed I am, Clyde. What's up?"

"Well, been wanting to check up on you since after school, so I thought right now before bedtime would be as good a time as ever." Clyde answered.

"What do you mean by check up?" Lincoln wondered.

"Well, the boys have chosen me to apologize on their behalf for how they teasingly suggested you and Ronnie Anne are or were becoming an item if you will. Even I have to admit my own fault when it comes to speculating unnecessarily. So, sorry about that." Clyde said.

"Hey, don't worry about. Even if I didn't like hearing it, maybe I should have lost my cool when I did, either. So if you can, rely the message to the boys that they are forgiven, okay?" Lincoln said.

"Can do, pal." Clyde affirmed, "Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you, so good night!"

"You too, buddy." Lincoln reciprocated.

With a little happy sigh, Lincoln put his walkie talkie away. He could've told Clyde all that went on after lunch and the ensuing drama and reconciliation which came after, but he chose to wait perhaps until tomorrow to fill his friend in on everything.

Now with his pajamas on, Lincoln was just about to climb into bed until he heard knocking on his door.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"It's me, Lincoln. Can I come in for a little bit?"

"Sure."

The door opened and Lori showed herself inside.

"What's going on, Lori?" Lincoln wondered.

"Let's just have a seat for a moment, okay?" Lori requested.

She sat down on her brother's bed and motioned for him to do the same. He did and immediately she wrapped her arms around him.

"I know you've literally heard this enough times already, but I want to again say how sorry I am for how I hurt you today." Lori said.

Lincoln put his arms around his sister's waist, "It's all good, Lori, and I'm sorry again too for all I've done on my end of things."

"It's okay..." Lori said quietly.

The two of them held on to each other for a little while, but Lori eventually let go and kissed her little brother on the forehead.

"Actually, besides apologizing again, there was something else I wanted to briefly talk to you about." Lori said.

Lincoln turned his head curiously, "What is it?"

Lori sighed, "Well, it's about something you said during our regrettable standoff this afternoon. It's the part when you claimed that I'm insecure about me and Bobby's relationship status unless if you and Ronnie Anne aren't together as well. I've given it some thought and there may actually be a little bit of truth to it."

Lincoln was surprised to hear that, "Really? You think so? Because looking back, I don't think I really meant to say that. It was just in the heat of the moment when I was so upset at you the more I personally think about it."

"Hmm...well, be that as it may, I did also want to tell you in relation to that I won't ever force into something with Ronnie Anne that neither you nor her want. I can't foresee where the two of you may go, be it you stay just friends and maybe go beyond that, but that should only be your decision and hers without literally any outside interference, pressure or meddling, certainly not from me." Lori further stated.

She embraced Lincoln a second time, which he did too.

"Oh, and one other thing before I head off, let me promise you that should anything unfortunate come between you and Ronnie Anne that might also affect me and Bobby ever happen again, I'll do everything in my power to not completely lose my mind and certainly not resort to physical harm."

Lincoln smiled, "Thanks, and I'll do the same for you, too."

Lori let out a little laugh as she let go of Lincoln and allowed him to crawl under the covers of his bed. She helped out by further putting the blanket over him, tucking him in and kissed his cheek.

"Good night, Lincoln. I love you so much and that will never, ever change." Lori said wholeheartedly.

Lincoln grinned sleepily, "Good night, Lori. I love you, too."

He snuggled up against the pillow as Lori gave him a brief pat of his head before she let him get to sleep.

As a final thought before drifting off into slumber, Lincoln thought back to the words that Luna told him earlier about how few times anyone in their family let any rifts or disputes go for too long and how soon forgiveness can be attained. Turns out that was very true indeed with the situation involving himself and Lori. Even with the actions of total irresponsibility and dereliction they both committed against each other, they did make amends very soon once the misunderstanding of all involved parties was uncovered, and with some further familial encouragement, Lori and Lincoln have in fact come out of this stronger than before.

With tensions comes conflict. With conflict comes eventual peace. With eventual peace comes an everlasting bond that cannot be broken and strengthens with every passing day in the aftermath.

With that, another one's finished. As I said earlier, there's some more worth discussing when it comes to this one.

First, the original title was going to be "Big Sister Dereliction", but it sounded like it put to much of the onus on Lori, as Lincoln did have his fair share of bad decision making that he immediately regretted taking part in and contributed to all that happened.

Second, this was also meant to be around two or three chapters long, but that also obviously didn't go through as you can tell. I realized that I didn't need to drag out the dispute between Lori and Lincoln any longer that it needed to be, nor make it more complex, as what I had originally in mind involved having pretty much all the sisters getting caught up in everything too, and not just Luna and Lynn like how it eventually panned out, and the issues would've lingered on for a couple of days as opposed to just the evening. Once Lori learned the huge misunderstanding that occurred, I think she would have enough sense in wanting to amend things with Lincoln very soon after getting some additional encouragement.

And finally...well, that's actually about it, really, so thank you as always for reading. I'll see you soon again!