Alright, first of all, I got a quick FAQ for y'all:

Frequently Asked Question:
Q: Is this incest?
A: Well, my friend, let's point something out first. This is a story about fraternal love, AKA, the love between a brother and (in this case) a sister. This kind of love it's like the love a mother/father has for her son/daughter. It's a different type of love, it's different from romantic or erotic love.

Q: So, no incest, right?
A: I can't answer you, because it's really up to you. The story intentionally walks the thin line between a sibling love and a romantic love. There's nothing written here that can offend you if you don't like incest (unless you're some kind of sad form of life who hates any demonstration of affection). But if you actually came here looking for incest, you might find something you like. Absolutely nothing lewd, and probably nothing as exciting as you may want, but if you like comfy relationships you can go ahead with your head-canon and think whatever you want to think.

TL;DR:
It's a matter of interpretation. You see what you're looking for.
If you don't want to see incest, you'll see a brother who loves his sister.
If you want to see incest, you'll see some comfy incest.
Deal with it.

Alright, now the real introduction. For those of you who know me from my other fic, Requiem for a Loud, this is why I haven't updated in three weeks. It took me two weeks to write this shit and a week more to translate it (for those of you who don't know me, I'm from Argentina, un gusto conocerlos che). Translating this was exhausting, and I'm not even willing to re read it for a proof read. Maybe tomorrow, or next year, idk.

Ok, so, I need to warn you: this is a pretty straight forward and has a somewhat cliché ending. It could have a more mature and complex conflict resolution, but I wrote this without any pretentiousness. It's a simple premise: Lynn falls in love with a a boy and Lincoln gets jealous. If you're expecting some really complex story, then this may not be for you. I basically wrote this to clear my mind and relax a little before continuing with Requiem. I love that story, I love writing it, but sometimes it feels like too much pressure. I never thought it would have the impact it has, and there are like so many deep scenes I'd like to write but I don't know if they'll live up to my and yours expectations... Well, I decided to write something fun, something that felt natural and that didn't intended to be a deep, complex and thoughtful story.

Does this mean that I wrote a piece of crap? I'd like to think I did not. This story length it's mostly to show some character development, and I tried to put some emphasis in the main characters feelings. I believe it can be a comfy reading, if you're bored and want to read some sibling drama.

Disclaimer: The Loud House belongs to Nickelodeon and its creator, Chris Savino. Yo, Savino, PM me so we can discuss how Requiem for a Loud can be the series final movie.

First love.
by UnderratedHero

.

If there was something Lincoln Loud would never be short of, then that would be company. Being the only boy in a house with ten sisters, he was their default choice for company. Even though his privacy percentage only had one digit, and he was constantly busy trying to keep them all happy, and even if none of them ever offered to do things he liked, he was actually happy with the unspoken arrangement.

It had its downsides, of course, but he was the kind of guy who saw the glass half full. First of all, he loved his sisters. He didn't have a lot of friends —Clyde was his only friend actually, the rest of the kids in school never even bothered to call him or hang out with him after classes—, so being with his sisters made him feel that his social life was much more richer than it actually was. He truly enjoyed being with them, he considered them like true friends. Besides, treating with so many girls with such different likes and tastes made him develop a lot of abilities, some more useful or manly than others. But ultimately he was a boy with a great capacity to adapt. That was probably why all his sisters liked to hang out with him. He was a jack of all trades.

That afternoon, Lincoln was in the house garage, playing a jam session with Luna. Lincoln didn't really had any outstanding musical talent, but throughout the years Luna had made him try different instruments. Guitar was definitely not his thing. He lacked the mental coordination to play two different things with his hands, so the keyboards and piano were discarded. They've found he had some facility with the bass, but Lincoln didn't really liked it. Finally, a few weeks back Luna had introduced him to the world of the drums, and Lincoln finally found something he liked playing.

It wasn't easy at all for him to coordinate the movements, but Luna taught him a few basic rhythms he could maintain. And they didn't really needed more than that to have a nice pleasant jam session. Lincoln kept playing the same basic rhythm and Luna improvised on top of it with her guitar. And if at any moment he made a mistake, he forgot to hit the correct drum or he rushed the tempo, she would accommodate and tell him that it was okay.

"You got it, bro!" She encouraged him, finishing with her solo and playing the power chords once again. "Think you're ready for a big finale?"

"I don't know how to do that!" Yelled Lincoln, focusing to talk and play at the same time.

"Just change your rhythm a little, hit some toms and end with the crash cymbal."

"Alright… If you say so", he said unconvinced.

"Cool! Ready… One… Two… Three!"

Lincoln tried to do what his sister told him. He started to hit the toms with a different tempo, trying to make some breaks on the rhythm, finally accelerating and ending with a powerful hit on the cymbal. Luna effortlessly adjusted to the unusual and unorthodox ending her brother played, and soon the sound of the last chord faded away. Lincoln leaned against the back of his chair, exhausted.

"Lincoln, that was radical!" Said Luna, raising her right hand in a rock pose. "You're improving a lot, dude."

"The last part sounded awful", he said, wiping the sweat out of his forehead. "My part, I mean."

Luna left his guitar against the wall and sat on her brother's legs, putting an arm around him.

"Are you kidding? You left your soul on those hits, bro. You should've seen your face, you were completely focused. Besides, remember, rock and roll isn't about being the best..."

"...it's about having fun" he completed, smiling and hugging his sisters. "Thanks, Luna."

"You're welcome. Thank you for jamming with me."

The rocker stood up and started to accommodate all her instruments, while Lincoln walked out of the garage and into the kitchen to help himself with something to drink. When he opened the fridge he discovered his sisters had already drank all the soda, so he took a juice jar and filled a glass.

"Linky!"

Sighing, he turned around to face Lola.

"I'm making a tea party. You're in", she 'invited' him, with an exaggerated smile. Lincoln knew he wasn't getting out of it. He was about to agree when a voice interrupted him.

"Sorry Lola, but he's busy already" said Lynn, entering the kitchen with his karate uniform on and carrying a set of martial arts protection.

"What are you talking about? He's drinking juice" replied Lola, a little more aggressive.

"Lincoln, you promised me you'd help me practice my karate moves for tomorrow's exposition" said Lynn, looking angryly at her brother.

"Did I?" He asked, trying to remember it. He had no memories of offering himself as a punching bag for the afternoon.

"I can't believe you forgot it!"

"Well, I guess you'll have to wait until he's done, since we were about to attend a tea party" said Lola with a grin, like she knew she was going to win this argument.

"Lincoln, the presentation is tomorrow, and I really need to practice" pleaded him Lynn, in a lower tone, almost begging him.

Lincoln hated to see Lynn like that. He truly hated when any of his sisters was sad, but when it was Lynn it affected him in a different kind of way, like he was feeling guilty or something. He assumed it was because Lynn was the toughest of his sisters, and seeing her sad was much more shocking. Or maybe it was just because he spent a lot of time with her, and the short age gap made it easier for him to identify her as a friend. Whatever the motive was, right then he felt like he couldn't disappoint her.

He sighed and approached Lola.

"I'm sorry, but I promised her" softly said.

"It's not fair!" She grumbled, hitting the floor with her shoe. "You always prefer Lynn!"

"Come on, Lola, don't be like that. What if I promise you that tonight I'll participate in every tea party you want me to? I can even be your butler" he offered with a smile.

Lola took a hand to her chin, considering the possibility.

"Fine. But you have to wear a suit! And you better put on your fancy shoes!" She threatened him.

"I wouldn't dare to attend any other way."

Glaring one last time at Lynn, Lola walked away. Lincoln sighed and rested on the kitchen's countertop, finally drinking his juice. He heard Lynn putting the equipment down in the floor, and a second later he felt his sister hugging him from behind, resting her head on his back. With a little attention, she could easily hear his heart beating faster and faster by the minute.

"Thank you, Lincoln. You're the best."

The hug only lasted for a few seconds, but Lincoln felt it like an eternity. When they separated, he turned around and smiled at her.

"It's nothing. Just let me put on some loose pants" he said, pointing at his jeans.

"Sure! I'll get everything ready on the backyard."

With an unexplainable smile on his face, Lincoln went to his room and quickly dressed him some more sporty clothes. When he went out to the backyard, Lynn had already cleared a big area from toys and any other obstruction, and had put on some cushions on the ground. Lincoln couldn't help his mouth from becoming a grimace, thinking about everything that his body was about to suffer. Lynn was a black belt in karate and she had an excellent body control. That meant that she could perfectly manage his fist's strength, and she never seriously hurt Lincoln. Still, the techniques she practiced required a lot of contact and many grabs that, after an hour, started to tired him and eventually left him with sore articulations.

But that allowed him to spent some time with Lynn, and he was actually helping her practice, so he gladly obliged.

"Alright Lynn, how's it going to be today?"

Lynn walked right next to him and handed him the protections.

"It's nor a tournament, so we won't be doing any real combat" she explained, while helping him with the equipment. "It's a demonstration of the forms and its applications."

"But I don't know the forms" he said.

"It doesn't matter. I'll tell you what to throw me and I'll do the defense. It'll be fun."

Almost an hour later, the two of them continued practicing. They had started with everything about grabs, pins and throw downs. And while they weren't really painful, his articulations ended up a little numb.

The application of the katas were designed to be done with four attackers, so Lincoln had to attack her from one side, receive the counter and then quickly move to another side to attack her again. Lincoln doubted that he was any real help for her, since they had to pause a lot and he lacked all technique. Lynn didn't complained, although she looked dead serious, defending with precision and not having to hold back so much given her brother's protection set.

After almost an hour, though, Lincoln was starting to feel really tired.

"Now, go to my left, throw me a middle kick and a face punch" she instructed him.

He moved where she told him to, threw a kick that was easily blocked, and then the high punch. But Lynn didn't moved at all, she just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, looking with reproach at his brother. His fist was suspended on the air a little less than seven inches from Lynn's face.

"Lincoln!"

"What? What did I do wrong?" He asked, confused.

"You're not throwing me real punches!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're stopping before you hit me!" She explained, a little annoyed.

Lincoln scratched his head, not really getting why he was doing anything wrong.

"Well, yes. What's wrong with that?"

"I'm trying to practice my defense, but I can't train if everytime you aim at my face your punches don't have any strength on them and they stop in the middle of the way. You've got to attack me with intention, so I have to make some effort to block it."

"But Lynn, I don't want to just punch you reckless" he justified himself, looking away. "What if I can't control it and I hit you?"

Hearing the worry on Lincoln's voice, Lynn walked right next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Lincoln, if you ever hit me, don't feel bad. We're doing karate here, it's normal to get a hit once in a while. Besides, I'm a black belt" she added with a smile, punching him in the chest. "I think I'm qualified to block your lame punches."

Lincoln raised his head and looked at her. She was right, there was no way he could connect a fist. Not if she already knew where he was aiming at. He finally smiled back and nodded.

"Alright. I get it. No holding back."

"That's the spirit! Now, again with the kick and the high punch."

They resumed their positions, and this time Lincoln had a lot more of confidence. He kicked at her, being blocked, and then he threw his punch. Closed fingers, protected thumb, the angle just right so he would hit with his index and middle finger's knuckles, just like Lynn taught him. He moved his hip to increase the energy on the attack, hoping that she would find his effort a lot more satisfactory this time.

His mind needed a few seconds to finally understand what was going on. Suddenly, Lynn was on the ground, with both hands on her jaw, and the knuckles on his extended arm started to ache. His heart skipped a beat or two as he finally realized what was going on.

"Lynn!" He yelled, removing his helmet and kneeling next to her. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"Lincoln" tried to say Lynn, with some difficulties due to her sore chin.

"I swear I don't know what happened!"

"Lincoln" she tried again, managing to at least sit on the ground.

"I'm sorry, I didn't wanted to…!"

"Lincoln!" She shouted.

Lincoln, who was about to cry thinking about not only the beat up he was certainly going to receive but the fact that his sister might be angry with him, muted himself. Lynn was sitting, with a hand stroking her jaw, but with a big smile on her face.

"I didn't block it 'cause I wanted to see if you were going serious this time", she explained while chuckling. "I didn't know you could hit that hard! When did you learn that?"

"I… guess that… practicing with you", he stammered, totally confused. "Aren't you angry with me?"

Lynn started to laugh, and that sound was like a beautiful melody to Lincoln, who could finally sigh out all his worries.

"Of course not, you doofus", she said, putting an arm around his shoulders and giving him a noogie. "We're doing karate here, it's great that you're learning how to punch. Ready to continue?"

Lincoln really wanted to keep helping Lynn with her practice, but he was exhausted and his right hand was starting to really hurt. He also was a little afraid that they could end up accidentally injured if they kept practicing.

"I'm sorry, but my hand's really aching now" he said, checking on his knuckles.

"It's okay. You've helped me enough already" Lynn said, standing up and walking to the bag that she had left at the base of the tree. She took out two bottles of water and signaled Lincoln to come and drink some.

Lincoln went with her and, after removing all his protection set, he sat with his back against the tree trunk, drinking almost desperately from his bottle. Once they both satiated their thirst, they sat one next to the other, silently enjoying the beautiful day. It was just past all the amazing colors of fall but before the white of winter, a combination of brown and gray that just felt like it was made so one could simply sit and relax, enjoying the peaceful views. Beneath the tree's shadows, their faces were shielded from the direct sun rays while the soft breeze ruffled their hairs. The Loud house's inherent noise could be heard a little, but overall, they were completely relaxed. At peace.

Lincoln loved all those tranquil moments he shared with Lynn. He enjoyed helping her with sports, but her big sister also had a different facet that, and he was sure about this, she only shared with him. Because from all their sisters, Lana was the only one that every once in a while decided to play with her doing what she liked, and she didn't do it for nearly as much time as Lincoln did everyday. That's why they all reduced Lynn to her explosive energy in sports, because they never spend enough time with her to see how she was when she was relaxed. That was a much more loving, affectionate and sensible Lynn.

"I lied to you" she suddenly said, staring at the treetop.

Lincoln turned his head to see her.

"What do you mean?"

"You hadn't promised to help me practice" she admitted, quickly blushing. "I didn't wanted to make you feel guilty, but I really needed to practice with someone and… Well, you're the only one willing to help me when I need it."

Lincoln drank a new sob of water, with a smile on his face.

"It's okay. I get it. But you do have a demonstration tomorrow, right?"

Lynn's face shone with excitement.

"Yes! It's a regional encounter, with a lot of karate schools from different styles. There'll be some pretty important senseis seeing us, I think there's even gonna be a Japanese sensei. It's quite a big deal, we've been preparing for a month now for this."

"Wow, that's cool, Lynn. I had no idea."

Lynn's smile vacillated, and she looked down.

"I commented it on the grown ups table, but one one listened to me. I tried to ask Lori and Luna to come with me, but they're all busy."

Lincoln could very much relate to that. In a family as big as theirs, everyone always had something to do, and finding someone who was free and willing to help you or come with you somewhere was always a hard task. He suffered from it too. None of his sisters ever wanted to read comics with him, nor play with videogames, nor watch his favorite TV shows. And if things like those bothered him, he couldn't imagine how Lynn would be feeling, with no one to accompany her to something as important to her as that karate demonstration.

He started to think about his plans for the next day. He had to do his math homework, he'd thought about going to the mall to buy the new Ace Savvy issue, and he could even go to the arcades to try the new car race simulator. Those were important plans for him, being an eleven years old boy, but there was nothing as important as seeing his sister happy.

"I'm free tomorrow" he said, looking somewhere else like it was no big deal. "I mean, if you want… If you don't mind..."

On the corner of his eye he could clearly see Lynn staring at him, and he didn't needed to turn around to know that she was smiling.

"You mean it?"

"Of course."

Lynn basically throw herself against her brother, hugging him with all her strength.

"Thank you, Lincoln!"

"You're… welcome" he said, with some troubles to breath properly.

Lynn loosened her grip on him and raised her head. She was two years older than him, but he had actually already passed her in height by a good three inches. Her hair helped her to dissimulate the difference, but right then, with both of them sitting next to each other against the tree trunk, she had to raise his gaze to see him in the eyes. Lincoln also turned his head slightly down, so he could stare at Lynn's eyes. He felt a strange tickling on his stomach, and the more he looked at his own reflection in her eyes, the more that tickling increased, spreading over his body, filling him with a sensation of happiness and fullness. It was like the blood on his veins was replaced by a much warmer substance that could relax all the muscles in his body and made him feel as light as a feather. It was a beautiful sensation, feeling all that inner peace. He could´ve stayed that way for eternity, not ever feeling tired or bored.

"You know, sometimes I feel like we don't deserve you, Lincoln" Lynn admitted, finally breaking the eye contact and resting her head on his shoulder. "You're just too kind. You're always there for us, even though we may not be willing to be with you all the time."

"I just do that because I love you all" he simply said; for him there wasn't really anything odd about his behavior, it felt natural to act that way with the ones he loved. "I know that you all love what you do, and I like to see you happy. Besides, I know you guys will always be there for me when I really need you."

"Still, you try much more harder than any of us. I like knowing that I can count with you for everything, but at the same time I feel like I'm being unfair. And while I feel like we shouldn't demand so much from you, I can't help it but feeling sad when I think about how everything would be if you weren't the way you are. What if we have some stupid fight or anything and I lose you? I don't know what I'd do."

Lincoln smiled and softly rested his head on top of hers. He placed his hand over his sister's, and lovingly caressed its back.

"You'll never lose me. Look, I know we fight a lot. Sometimes I get mad at you, even to the point where I don't even want to talk to you. And I know sometimes you feel the same way about me. But still, even if I didn't wanted to be with you, and even if you ever hate me… None of that will change the fact that you're my sister. You'll always be. And I'll always be there for you."

He felt Lynn sighing on his chest, and then she snuggled against his body, lacing her fingers with Lincoln's.

"I love you, Lincoln."

"I love you too, Lynn."

They didn't say anything else. They stayed under the tree, just the two of them. Tired by the exercise, they closed their eyes and enjoyed the breeze, the lack of sounds and most importantly the company they gave to each other, the warmth of their blending bodies, their heartbeats synchronizing. Before any of them could notice, they both fell asleep with a smile on their faces.

"And now, representing Royal Woods Shorin Ryu Dojo, second dan black belt, Lynn Loud Jr" announced a solemn voice over the speakers.

Lincoln started to clap as fast as he could, as he saw from the grades how Lynn approached the center of the platform. The event had gathered about two hundred karate students from all ages, their teachers and about five hundreds spectators, mostly family of the students. Some masters had discourse at the beginning about the importance of karate, the philosophy behind the martial art, and then all the students shared a half hour class. After that, every karate school sent a student to make a demonstration. Just as expected, Lynn had been chosen to represent her dojo.

She positioned herself and bowed at the masters.

"Kusanku Sho!" She exclaimed, and immediately the most informed spectators began mumbling.

Lincoln had no idea what those words meant, but as soon as Lynn started the kata, he recognized it as what they had practiced the day before. She was doing the form alone this time, with no opponent, so the movements differed a little from what he remembered. After a little more than a minute full of movements, blocks, punches, kicks, yells and even some somersault-like jump, Lynn threw a final punch and then stood still like a statue, petrified in her place. A few seconds later, she regained her natural posture and bowed once again.

The audience exploded in applause, and Lincoln even stood on his seat, shouting his sister's name. After the people calmed down, four students from different dojos approached and surrounded Lynn. The five of them saluted each other with a respectful bow and then they got ready to do the application of the form.

This time Lincoln could definitely recognize the same attacks and defenses that they'd done the day before. He felt a little embarrassed seeing all those students doing a thousand times better what he'd tried and failed to do with Lynn. He realized he had literally zero technique. He also noticed the intensity with which they were all attacking his sister, and he was afraid that one of them might accidentally hit her. But Lynn knew how to defend herself. The entire room was soon filled with the echoes of the sound produced when the other student's bodies were thrown down to the floor, along with Lynn's yells after every action she did. Lincoln knew that it was all some sort of choreography, that it wasn't something that one could just apply in a real life fight, but still, he couldn't avoid to be amused by his sister's ferocity. He'd always knew she was good, but right then he was seeing a girl that could face an army of ninjas.

With a last and probably painful throw, they ended the demonstration, earning a new round of applause. Lynn help the poor boy stand, they exchanged a few words and then they all went with their respective dojos.

The event continued for at least another twenty minutes, until they were finally dismissed. The students headed to the showers, and Lincoln left the grades and went to the platform. He waited about fifteen minutes until he saw Lynn coming out of the locker rooms dressed as usual, carrying her bag.

"Lynn!" He called her, running to meet her. "That was awesome!"

"Thanks. I was actually kinda nervous."

"Are you kidding me? You were the best! You kicked their asses! You made some sick combos, it was like I was watching someone playing Super Mega Brawlers Turbo Fighter XXIV!"

"Come on, you're exaggerating" she said.

"The kid's right" said a voice behind them.

The Loud siblings turned around and saw a boy that appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen. He was slightly taller than Lincoln, rather slim and with a really light brown hair, almost blonde. He had some small green eyes and a mischievous smile, almost like he was planning on doing something bad.

"Hey, I remember you" said Lynn with a smile. "You're that boy from the Shotokan dojo, you went before me."

"And I was in your demonstration. Very impressive, my forearms ended up aching with your blocks" he commented, stepping closer and extending his hand. "I'm Ryan, by the way."

"Lynn", she introduced as well, shaking his hand. "He's my brother, Lincoln."

Ryan turned his head and inspected Lincoln from head to toes, almost like evaluating him. Lincoln also took the time to notice that this boy was wearing a sports shirt that adjusted to his body, specially on his torso. He didn't know exactly how old this Ryan was, but he seemed too young to be attending a gym, even though he looked like he'd been training for a while now.

"Nice to meet ya, Lincoln", he said, extending his hand once again. "Nice hair."

Lincoln saluted him, but he had to repress a shriek of pain when he felt an incredibly strong pressure on his fingers. He looked at Ryan's face, and he just smiled before letting him go.

"I gotta tell you, your kicks were incredibly precise. How long you've been practicing?"

"Since I was five. That'd be… Um… Eight. No, wait… Yeah, eight years."

"Same here. It's a shame you didn't started on the Shotokan style, I would've met you sooner" lamented Ryan, with some sadness on his voice.

Lincoln frowned. He didn't really knew much about how flirting worked, but that comment sounded an awful lot like it. He feared that his sister would feel offended and would punch him, starting a black belts fight —although that would be awesome to see, he thought—, but Lynn's actual reaction scared him even more. Instead of feeling offended and attack him, she just blushed and giggled.

"And why would you like to have met me earlier?" She asked, with a smile from ear to ear that Lincoln didn't liked at all.

"Well, truth be told, there aren't many guys my age in my dojo that I can practice with. Most black belts are over their twenties."

"I know, right?" She said, playing with a lock of her hair, something that Lincoln had never seen her do. "Good thing I've got Lincoln here to help me practice."

Ryan turned once again to glance at Lincoln. He tried to hold his gaze, but Ryan's cocky grin distracted him and riled him up.

"Well, I guess we all need something to practice with once in a while" he said, quickly looking back at Lynn. "Listen, I know I've just met you, and this may sound a little weird, but if you ever want to hang out and practice something more advanced… With someone who actually knows what he's doing..."

"Are you asking me out?" Lynn interrupted him, with a mocking smile.

Lincoln smiled once again. He knew that funny tone. Now was the part where she would laugh at Ryan, would make him feel humiliated and then they could both go back to their house, chatting about that idiot.

"Yes. I am" answered Ryan with confidence and his arms crossed over his chest.

Lynn took a step forward, looking at him with the same smile. Lincoln could already hear the sarcastic response she would give him.

"Lynn Loud. Look me up. In my profile pic I'm wearing my hockey uniform, holding the summer league trophy."

Lincoln's smile crumbled like a house of cards on an earthquake. Did she just gave a total stranger her Facebook? Why would she do that? That wasn't safe. Their parents always told them to NEVER do that. To make things even worse, Ryan smiled and nodded.

"Talk to you later, Lynn" he said, saying goodbye with a wink.

After he turned around and headed away, Lynn stayed there, watching him leave with a smile on her face. Lincoln was also standing still in his place, with his eyebrows arched and his mouth wide open. He couldn't understand what he had just witnessed. Why did that boy even came close to them? Why did he spoke so confident with Lynn, so smugly? Why didn't Lynn say anything when he refer to Lincoln as 'something'? And most importantly, he couldn't understand why did she looked so happy.

"I love these demonstrations", she finally said, looking at him. "Let's get going, Lincoln."

He nodded, but he didn't said anything. For some strange reason, he felt like if he said any of the things that were going through his mind they'd end up arguing.

The way back home was quite a long trip to walk, but the siblings managed to passed the time talking. Actually, it was Lynn the one who kept the conversation going. She made a very detailed review of the demonstration, reliving every moment, telling him about her sensations and explaining him all the subtleties and histories behind every kata. Lincoln nodded and added a comment every once in a while, but that was mostly thanks to the part of his brain that was responsible for the background tasks. The conscious part of his mind was busy thinking about more important issues.

When they entered the house, they were received by Lori, who was sitting on the coach watching TV.

"Where were you?" She asked, without looking away from the screen.

"Remember that karate demonstration I told you about the other night? The one you couldn't accompany me to because you had 'very important plans'?" Remarked Lynn, noticing the completely lack of plans that her elder sister seemed to have.

"No."

"Well, Lincoln came with me. And I did great, though I don't think you give a damn about it."

Lori finally turned her head and glared at her sister. She also looked at Lincoln, who was absently looking at the floor. Lori squinted. Usually, everytime the chance of a fight between his sisters arose, like it was doing after Lynn's sharp comment, he always intervened and tried to calm things down before they escalated. That usually left him in the middle of the crossed fired, and he became part of the collateral damage. But right then he seemed to be more worried about his shoelaces, carefully analyzing them. Lori sighed and stood up.

"I'm sorry, Lynn. I didn't knew it was that important to you" she apologized.

Lynn stared at her with suspicion, not buying her apology at first, but after a few seconds her expression softened, and she slowly released the air she was holding in her lungs.

"Whatever" she said, before climbing up the stairs to her room.

Lincoln watched her go until she reached the top of the stairs. He stood there, with his mind trying to accommodate his thoughts. He probably could've stayed there for a while, but he soon remembered that Lori was there too. He looked at his left and there she was indeed, staring at him with curiosity in her eyes.

"What did she do now?" She asked, signaling upstairs with her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Lynn. She did something that upsets you. Did she used you to practice her kick boxing again? You know mom and dad told you to let them know if she ever did it again without your permission. I swear, that girl literally doesn't know when to stop."

"No, no, she didn't… She didn't do nothing. Or maybe she did. I don't know. But it's not her fault."

Lori didn't say anything. They remained in silence, the only sound heard being Lori's phone ignored notifications. She finally sighed.

"Just talk with her. She's too focused on herself, and sometimes she doesn't realize what she does. I'm sure that whatever she did to you, she didn't mean it."

She returned to the sofa, and Lincoln went to his room just so he wouldn't be standing in the base of the stairs like an idiot. What was that sensation he was feeling growing in his chest? It felt as if a root full of thorns was growing around his heart, squeezing it. He couldn't really identify it, he just knew it felt terribly wrong.

He just laid on his bed staring at the ceiling until his parents called him for dinner.

Ten days later…

Lincoln opened the door to Lynn and Lucy's room. He found the latter sitting on her bed reading a vampire's novel. He couldn't avoid letting escape a sigh of disappointment, one that Lucy quickly noticed, looking up from her novel.

"The darkness that flows from deep within your heart would intimidate the cult of Cthulhu" said a very impressed and interested Lucy, closing her book.

He rested against the door frame.

"Thank you, I guess. What were you doing?"

"I'm reading a Swedish vampire novel called 'Let the Right One In'. They made two movies about this, one with that young blonde actress you like so much."

"And how is it? The novel, I mean."

"The more I read these pages, the more despise I have for the human race."

Lincoln simply nodded, not really caring about the morality of the human race as a whole right then.

"Have you seen Lynn?" He asked Lucy.

His sister shook her head. They both sighed at the same time.

"This last few days I didn't really had much time with her" commented Lincoln.

"She spends most of the day outside now. And by the night she's too focused on her phone. I have troubles sleeping without the sound of a tennis ball hitting the wall."

He thought he'd heard a trace of sadness in his sister's voice, which was odd. The whole family, more or less, had lately noticed the absence of Lynn. She spend more and more time going out, and when she did was at home she always looked distracted. She barely answered when someone spoke to her, and she prefer to lock herself in her room rather than practicing any of her sports inside the house. When Leni asked her if there was something wrong the other day on the grown ups table, Lynn assure them that it was nothing to be worried about. She didn't gave them more details, and no one tried to inquire more.

Lincoln was greatly affected by the absence of Lynn in his life. He was used to at least one or two painful sports session everyday, with those nice peaceful moments after the exercise. If he was starting to miss Lynn, he wondered how Lucy would be feeling. Lynn was her closest sister, her roommate and the one that she could count on to help her with anything. The worst part was that, would she ever feel depressed or anything, she wouldn't ever let her siblings know. She was just that introverted and stubborn. She'd rather be sad alone than admitting to anyone that she missed Lynn.

Lincoln walked closer to her.

"Would you like to do something with me?" He asked with a smile.

Lucy raised her head, staring at him with her characteristic seriousness.

"Like what?"

"Well, lately I've been feeling really tired" he exclaimed, exaggerating a fake yawn. "I could use a five hundred years nap, but I'd need a coffin to sleep, right? And maybe some dark ritual that could grant me eternal youth. Do you have something in mind that could help me?"

Lucy's lips curved in a little smile, and Lincoln immediately felt happy with himself.

"I'm sure we can do something about it."

That night, Lincoln decided to go to bed early. As soon as he finished his dinner, he went up to his room and put on his pajama. He didn't feel like sleeping, he was just tired. It was a very strange sensation, a completely lack of energy to do anything. His body and mind seemed to be looking forward to a night of doing absolutely nothing, just laying down on his bed staring at the ceiling with his eyes looking nowhere and his many thoughts tangling with each other. He didn't wanted to think so much. These last few days, everytime he did it he ended up being depressed, feeling incomplete. It was something completely irrational and seemingly senseless. But, with or without sense, the truth it's that he felt bad. Very bad.

After some long minutes in which he tried to clear his mind, he heard a knocking on his door. Sighing, he got up, for the first time in his life wishing that whoever it was would've just come in without knocking. When he opened the door he found Lana, who was also wearing her jammies.

"Hey, Lana. What's up?" He asked, ducking to be at eye level with her.

"We're having a meeting in Lori and Leni's room to talk about our secrets" she excitingly said. "Wanna come? Lola promised to tell more of her secrets this time."

Lincoln smiled. Ever since they let Lola join their secret secret's sibling club, she had barely talked about her antics, keeping them to herself. Last time, a few weeks ago, they'd told her that it was time that she started to trust them. Lincoln was kinda curious about what would Lola be ready to admit. But his weariness could more.

"I'm sorry Lana, but I'm really tired tonight. I'm just gonna go to bed early."

"You're not coming?" She asked, looking at her brother with confused eyes.

"Not this time. But don't let that stop you guys. You can talk bad about me behind my backs if you want" he said, ruffling his little sister's hair, making her giggle.

"Okay. I'll tell the girls. Goodnight!" She said, running fast to Lori's room.

Lincoln sighed and closed his bedroom door. He lied down on his bed once again and closed his eyes, trying to relax his whole body. He took a couple of breaths as deep as his lungs allowed him to. However, just as he felt his consciousness starting to fade, someone knocked his door again. He let out a groan. Didn't they get that he wasn't feeling like going to that meeting?

"Come on in" he said aloud, with his eyes closed, not wanting to stand up again.

He heard the door opening and one of his sisters poking her head in.

"Lincoln?"

His heart almost stopped working right there. He immediately opened his eyes and sat up, looking at his sister. All his muscles were now tense.

"Lynn!" He said, failing to keep it cool due to the excitement of seeing his sister again. More like seeing her speaking to him again, actually.

"How are you?" Lynn asked, closing the door behind her, leaning against it.

"I'm… I'm fine, yeah, I guess. Just… tired, y'know?" He answered. "And how are you? Everything okay? I don't… Well, I think I haven't talked with you for a while now..."

Lynn sighed and sat on the edge of Lincoln's bed, careful to not sit over his legs.

"You're right, I've barely talked with you this week. I'm sorry" she said, clearly feeling guilty.

Lincoln quickly pushed his blankets off him and sat next to Lynn.

"No, no, it's alright. I mean, I know you're probably busy. I'm glad you're not mad with me or anything, though."

Lynn turned to see him with a smirk.

"Mad? Why would I be mad with you?" She said, raising a fist to hit him.

Lincoln immediately shielded his face with his arms.

"Ha! Two for flinching!"

After receiving two bumps on his shoulder, Lincoln started to chuckle, soon followed by Lynn.

"Look, I'm sorry if you thought I was angry with you or anything. I know I've been acting weird these last few days, but it has nothing to do with you. How could I be mad with my favorite brother?" She said, roughly putting an arm around his shoulders.

"I'm your only brother" he pointed out with irony.

"My favorite sibling then" she told him, planting a little peck on his cheek before getting up in front of him. "Now, get you bored bum out of bed and go to Lori's room. I've got something to say and I want everyone there."

Without waiting for any reaction from him, Lynn left the room. Lincoln was sitting motionless on his bed. Cliff could've scratched his bare feet and he wouldn't notice. A damn meteor could fall through the roof, turning his room in a focal point of a fire and Lincoln would hardly notice the change of temperature. His heart was beating at twice the recommended rate, and the smile on his face threaten to numb all the muscles involved in it.

Lynn had talked with him again. She assured him that it wasn't his fault. She personally went to his room to ask him to go to their sibling's club meeting. He felt like a fool for worrying so much about nothing. He practically jumped out of his bed, running down the hall to the last room. He knocked, and Leni soon opened the door.

"Hey, Linky!" She said, letting him in.

"I already told everyone my secret, and I'm not repeating it" hurriedly said Lola, with folded arms.

"She was the one who ruined mom and dad's anniversary cake" Lana said, laughing out loud.

"No way!" Said Lincoln, surprised. He remembered that incident, when her mom woke up one morning and found that her cake was missing a portion.

"It was just a tiny little bit!" Lola argued. "The glace looked so tempting..."

"Whatever. I believe you will all be interested to know about my last experiment with the blender, and the disastrous consequences on the kitchen curtains" Lisa told them with an evil grin.

"I'm sorry Lis, but now that Lincoln's here, I've got something to tell you all" said Lynn, standing up and positioning herself in the middle of the room.

"Fine. Your loss" said the young scientist, knowing very well that an argument with Lynn was a lost argument.

"Alright Lynn, what did you broke this time?" Interestedly asked Lori.

Lincoln noticed that Lynn started to blush. Her hands went behind her back, and she looked down, slowly moving her foot over the carpet.

"Actually, it's nothing bad. But you gotta keep it a secret" she said, warning them all with a glare.

"Spit it out, Lynn!" Lana encouraged her.

The toughest of the Loud sisters suddenly looked like a little girl, completely embarrassed. She seemed to be decided to say whatever had happened to her, but she had some trouble finding the right words. She parted her lips a couple of times, but she soon closed them shut. A little confused, her eyes soon rested on Lincoln. He was staring at her as well, trying to guess what she had to say. When he saw her staring at him, he felt the silent request of support. It wasn't the first time she resort to him when she needed help to confess something. Like that time when she failed her math test and she knew their parents wouldn't let her participate in the regional hockey tournament. She came back from school and went right to his room, locking herself there with him for the whole afternoon. He spent all those hours helping her find a way to convince them to not punish her. Later that night, she bunked in his room. He was one of the most important supports Lynn had, the one she always looked up for when she needed containment. And he would always be there for her.

Smiling, Lincoln covertly gave her a thumb up. He nodded and tried to tell her with his eyes that it was all okay. The gesture was well received by his sister, who smiled at him. Lynn sighed and looked at the rest of her siblings.

"Lynn? Are you sleepwalking?" Asked Leni.

"Go on, just say it" Luan told her.

After a few more seconds of silence, Lynn spoke, but it was such an inaudible whisper that Lincoln couldn't really hear it. It seemed that only Lori and Luna catched what she said, since the former dropped her phone and the latter spilled all the juice she was drinking.

"What?!" They both said.

"Hey, I didn't listened!" Complained Lola.

"Say it again!"

Lynn, now completely flustered, spoke again, this time loud enough so they could all hear her.

"I've got a boyfriend."

After half an instant, Lynn's nine sisters started to shout and jump all over the place. The high pitched cries were a little decibels down from piercing everyone's timpani, and Lynn quickly found herself surrounded by nine pairs of arms hugging her with all their might.

"Who is he?!"

"Do we know him?!"

"How old is he?!"

"Where did you met him?!"

"Is he, like, handsome?!"

"STOP!" Yelled Lynn, walking away from the group hug.

"Alright, Lynn, start to talk" demanded Lori, while she and all her sisters sat around Lynn.

"We want, like, every detail" added Leni.

Lynn sat in front of her sisters, still blushing, but much more relaxed now that she no longer had such a big secret.

"His name's Ryan" she started, exchanging quick glances with all her sisters. "I met him in the karate demonstration the other day. He's fourteen, but I swear that he looks like he's sixteen!"

"How's his hair?" Asked Lola.

"Its… perfect. It's almost like blonde, and he has it all disheveled, but not like I-just-woke-up-and-hadn't-brushed-yet disheveled, more like I've-fix-it-just-enough-to-look-like-a-model disheveled."

All her sisters started to giggle, and let out a little sigh.

"So he does karate too?" Asked Luan.

"Yes! And he's SO good. And he goes running everyday. And he likes soccer!"

"Seem like he was made for lovin' you, sis. And you were made for lovin' him!" Happily said Luna.

Lynn started to play with a lock of her hair.

"That day he just came by and invited me to practice with him. The next day we met at the park and we practiced the whole afternoon. I gave him my number and we've been chatting ever since. We hanged out a couple of times, and I can assure you that I've never met such an athletic and romantic boy."

Her nine sisters let again a scream of excitement.

"And how does he look like?"

"He's gorgeous! I'll show you some pics later. But listen: today we went for an ice cream. We were in the park, sitting on a bench, and I had a little vanilla on my nose."

"Typical" said Lana with a smile.

"And he just came a little closer and he wiped it away, and then he just was there staring at me and… And he leaned in… And he kissed me!"

For generations, scientist would fail to come up with a satisfactory theory about why the windows on that Royal Woods neighborhood didn't exploded on that cold December night. In theory, the vibrations produced by those nine sharp screams should've been able to destroy any kind of glass, but luckily nothing happened.

"And then?!" Asked Lori.

"I, uh… After the first kiss I just… kissed him again… and again… and maaaaybe one more time" she admitted, with her face as red as the sleeves on her shirt. "And he asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend. And I told him I did."

They all began to celebrate, asking her a thousand questions about the new boy, their new brother in law. They were one hundred percent focused on Lynn, who was just as busy trying to answer everything her sisters were asking her. That's why none of them noticed Lincoln. No one saw him standing up, or moving backwards until his back bumped against the wall. No one saw him opening the door, and they didn't heard him running to his room. When they finally noticed him gone, Lana remembered that he was tired. Being a young boy, he probably wasn't really interested in romantic relationships or all the little details they were discussing. He surely was falling asleep by now, so they figured they should probably leave him alone.

Therefore, none of them ever knew the awful night Lincoln spent alone in his own room.

Lynn, his sister, had a boyfriend. That boy that practiced karate had asked her out, and she had accepted. The same boy that left his hand aching when he shook it had kissed her sister, and she had liked it. That same idiot with the smug smile asked her to be his girlfriend, and she gladly accepted. Lynn, from all his sisters! He knew that high school boys were practically fighting for the right to ask Leni out, and she accepted once in a while, but she had nothing really serious going on. Luna had never introduced a boyfriend to the family, but Lincoln had eaves dropped on a couple of boys related stories. As far as his knowledge went, Luan never had a boyfriend, but he was pretty sure that she'd kissed a boy at some point, and she was always discussing about her 'ideal boyfriend' with the rest of the sisters.

But Lynn? She'd always been above boys. Yes, she saw those romantic shows with the rest of the family, but she had never been really interested in boys. Her only love were sports. She didn't mind arranging her hair, or dressing fashionable. She just cared about training. Training to be the best. The only thing boys ever produced in her was a desire to show that a girl could beat them and be better than them in sports. And suddenly she was in love? That didn't made any sense. She didn't need a boyfriend. She didn't need a boy in her life. She had Lincoln.

She had him…

Lincoln could barely shut an eye that night. He stayed awake for God only knows how long, worried. He had barely seen Lynn this past week. And now he knew it was because she had been busy with that Ryan. He asked himself if that was the way it was going to be from now on. If she would be following Lori's steps, texting and speaking with her boyfriend all day long, hanging out at every chance. Maybe they already had nicknames. Maybe they were already talking like idiots, asking for the other one to finish the call, in a tug of war that extended for minutes and minutes. If she was going to be like that, Lincoln could very well be saying goodbye to his sister. He told himself that he was exaggerating, that it wasn't that bad. He could live without being used as a punching bag twice a day. And Lynn seemed to be happy. If she was happy, then he should be happy as well for her, right? He should be happy. Happy for her. Lincoln told himself that, he repeated it over and over until he couldn't keep himself awake anymore. Still, he fell asleep with the feeling that his logic was failing at some point.

Being happy shouldn't hurt that much.

Three weeks later, Lynn was still dating Ryan, and Lincoln's worst fears started to become real.

Every day he saw her a little less. In the rare occasions that they bumped with each other on the house and exchanged a few words, Lynn would always be kind with him. They even maintained their parkour routine on Saturday mornings. But she wasn't the same anymore. She had dates almost everyday that she didn't had a sports practice after school. She would have lunch at home and then she would go away until well into the afternoon, a little before dusk. The rest of her day consisted in practicing shots on the basketball hoop she had on her room, checking her phone and talking with Lori. Lynn had started to share a lot more of time with her eldest sister, whom she previously ignored most of the time. It was like Lori had become Lynn's favorite sister.

Meanwhile, Lincoln felt painfully relegated. He never thought he would be missing having a bruise. And even though there were very few things in the world that he hated more than sports in general, he would've given anything just to be able to play as a goal keeper with Lynn.

That afternoon, as he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt miserable. He had taken his shirt off and was flexing his arms, trying to see some muscle. But he was only eleven years old, he didn't practiced any sports and his diet was far from being healthy. The merciless mirror was just showing him the image of a skinny, weak little kid. Pretty much the opposite of the boy that was holding Lynn in his arms in the picture his sister now had in her Facebook profile.

With a sigh of defeat, he dressed again. That's the way it was going to be with all his sisters? Would the time come when they would all start a relationship and would forget about him? He pondered about his place in his family. His sisters loved him, but they only spend time with him because Lincoln was the only one willing to sacrifice his own me-time to do the things they liked. Lynn practiced sports with him everyday, until she found a boyfriend just as athletic as she was. She still loved Lincoln, of course, but she didn't really had a need for him.

Would the same thing happen when Luna finds some rocker boy whom she could jam with? What if Luan founded someone to help her with her routines? He started to feel utterly depressed. He felt some kind of oppression on his chest, like someone was sitting on top of him. He needed someone to tell him that things weren't the way he thought. That he was being irrational, that all his worries were unfounded. His body reacted before his mind could interpret what was going on, and when he finally realized it, he already had come out of his room and walked through the hall.

Without being fully convinced that it was a good idea, Lincoln knocked on the door. Right away, Luan opened it. She was wearing her glasses with the fake nose, so she was probably practicing her comic routine.

"Hi Lincoln" she greeted him with her unalterable good mood, removing her glasses.

"Hey, Luan. Were you busy?" He nervously asked, crossing a hand over his abdomen to grab his other arm.

"I was just practicing my routine" she said while stepping aside, confirming Lincoln's suspicions. "But come on in, I need an audience with feedback!"

Accepting the invitation, Lincoln stepped inside the room he shared with Luna. The latter was on her litter with her headphones at max volume, playing the air guitar. Lincoln walked right to the beanbag chair and let himself fall heavily on it, feeling the way he was sinking in the foamy material. The feeling of sinking was starting to become a much familiar sensation, although the physical sensation was certainly much more pleasant than the emotional metaphor. At any moment, he could just stand up and go away from that chair, but there seemed to be no way out of the emotional whirlwind that he was trapped on.

His fall on the chair must have shaken the unstable foundations of the house, since Luna immediately opened her eyes and saw her brother.

"Hey, sweet child o' mine" she told him, taking off her headphones.

"Hi" he said back, trying his best to fake a smile.

"What do you need?" She asked, pausing the music on her cellphone.

Lincoln considered his answer. Maybe it was the best if he just told her the truth. That he felt completely depressed and lost. That he was having feelings he shouldn't. That he was desperate to receive some love from his sisters, some reaffirmation that they still loved him. But he couldn't say so. He couldn't share those thoughts, they wouldn't understand. They'd just tell him to get over with it, and they could even be mad with him or consider it something weird. He didn't wanted any of those things. He didn't have the energy for something like that.

"I'm just… bored. Do you mind if I stay with you here? Just keep doing your thing, I promise I won't bother you."

Luan and Luna exchanged a quick look. They were both thinking the same.

"Are you alright, bro?" Asked Luna, coming down from her bunk.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Better than ever" he answered with a tone that didn't help his lie at all.

"I'm thinking of at least three jokes I could say to you right now, all of them related to the chair you're in" Luan told him, smiling at him. "But I won't tell them, because I don't think you're alright. I think there's something that's making you sad."

Lincoln let out a slight groan. Deep inside, he knew that he had entered their room to tell his sisters about his problem. He wanted to tell them, let them help him understand, but it was hard to explain something he didn't even fully comprehended.

"If I tell you", Lincoln started, looking at them dead serious, "do you promise to not tell anyone about this? NO ONE can know. I just want the two of you to know about it."

The two sisters looked at each other once again. The situation seemed to be more serious than they'd thought. Luan took Lincoln by the hands and made him get up from the chair. He didn't resisted, and just let his sister lead him to her bed, both of them sitting in the edge of it. Luna then sat next to him, leaving Lincoln between both of his sisters.

"We promise" Luna assured him.

"What's wrong?" Asked Luan, a little worried.

Lincoln took a deep breath and raised his feet, squeezing his knees against his chest.

"It's Lynn. She's not playing with me anymore, not since she has her tough and perfect boyfriend" he sadly explained. "We used to play everyday, but now she barely speaks to me. She's never at home, and when I try to talk with her… It's like she doesn't care for me anymore."

He finished talking and rested his forehead on his knees. He didn't wanted to see his sisters, but he could still sense them looking at each other. He knew they were exchanging silent opinions. He then felt two hands slowly caressing his back.

"Lincoln, Lynn still loves you. Of course she cares for you" Luan assured him.

"It's normal for a girl to be distracted with her first boyfriend" added Luna. "She's living a new experience, dude. She may be used to every sport known to men, but these are her first steps on love."

"But she's with him all day long."

"Come on, Lincoln. You know it's normal for a girl to want to be with her boyfriend. Take Lori for example!" Said Luan.

Lincoln finally raised his head and looked at her.

"That's the problem. That's exactly the problem. I know it's normal. But it doesn't feel like with Lori. In that case, I'm happy that she's with Bobby, because he's a cool guy and she's happy too. It doesn't affects me that much that she's talking with him all day long. But… But in Lynn's case it does bother me. And it shouldn't. I should be happy for her too. But I can't. And that makes me feel bad with myself."

Immediately, both his sisters hugged him, resting their heads over his.

"Aaaw" they both said at the same time, squeezing him.

"Huh?"

"You're so cute!" Luna told him.

"W-What? What are you talking about?" Asked a very confused and flustered Lincoln.

"We know what's wrong with you" Luan told him, hugging him a little tighter. "You're jealous!"

Lincoln felt a ball of nerves forming inside his stomach.

"Jealous?!" He exclaimed, fighting to escape from his sister's grip. "You're nuts!"

"Of course not, bro!"

"B-But I c-can't be jealous! She's my sister!"

Luna gave him a little bump on his shoulder.

"We're not talking about that kind of jealousy, like, romantic jealousy. It's more like… fraternal jealousy, y'know?"

"Right. She's your sister and you love her, don't you?" Asked Luan.

"Of course I do! I love you all."

"Aaaw" they said again, tightening their hug.

"You're her brother. It's natural that you're jealous about her, and that you don't like that she has a boyfriend. It happens with every boy who has a sister."

Lincoln moved, feeling a little uncomfortable under Luan and Luna's arms. He felt his cheeks burning, and he didn't need to see himself in the mirror to know that he was as red as his sister's clown nose. But he frowned and shook his head, trying to shake away the shame and some awkward thoughts.

"No! It's not like that!" He complained. "I'm not… jealous for Lori, for example!"

"That's different" said Luna, downplaying it. "Lynn's your favorite sister, obviously you'll..."

"Wow, wow, wow!" Said Lincoln, finally finding the strength to free himself from their grab, standing in front of them and looking at them with a frown. "That's a lie! I don't have a favorite sister! I love you all!"

Luna and Luan smiled.

"We know you love us, but we all have a favorite member in the family" explained Luan. "You're lucky, since you're everyone's favorite brother."

"But we all have a sister that we like to be with the most, whom which we're closer. Luan's my favorite sister."

"And Leni's mine."

Luna twisted her head so fast that they could hear her neck bones snapping. She looked at her sister with her mouth wide open, feeling her heart breaking in a thousand pieces.

"Shot through the heart, and you're to blame", she said, putting a hand over her chest.

Luan started to laugh and she hugged her sister.

"It was a joke. Of course you're my favorite sister."

"But… I don't… I don't have a favorite sister" retorted Lincoln.

"Well, maybe you don't see it that way, but for the rest of us it's pretty obvious that you prefer Lynn" commented Luna with a grin.

"Why? Why would you think that?"

"It's obvious. You always choose to be with her on every game we play, even those that aren't related to sports and where Lynn doesn't give you any advantage."

"And when you're with her you're just so happy" added Luan. "You look relaxed and cheerful. Clearly, you don't feel that way for playing sports, so it's safe to assume that you enjoy being with her. You know what? Let me show you."

Luan stood up and walked directly to her closet. While she looked for a recent tape, Lincoln started to think.

Was Lynn his favorite sister? Could it be? He never even tried to make some kind of mental ranking about his sisters. He wasn't lying when he said that he loved them all equally. That's what he honestly believed. He could admit though that he spend more time with some than others. Lori was always busy, Lucy preferred to be alone and Lisa was always doing some weird researches and experiments. Maybe he didn't spend much time with them as he did with the rest of his sisters, but that didn't mean he loved them any less. The idea of having a favorite sister… The mere concept of favoritism between his siblings seemed absurd and even insulting. He loved them all.

But the more he thought about it, the more reasons he found to believe his sisters. It was true that he always tried to team up with Lynn. She was also constantly looking for him to be her partner in whatever activity they were up to. In Halloween, the two of them always walked the neighborhood together, sometimes allowing Lucy to tag along. And he also had to agree when they said that he felt truly happy when he was with her.

"Got it!" Happily said Luan, finally finding the tape she was looking for.

"Why don't you use CD's?" Asked Luna, noticing how many equipments Luan needed to connect so she could play the VHS tape.

"Because if they're in VHS, none of you can SEE THESE videos without my permission! Ha ha! Get it?"

She turned off the lights and powered on the projector. The camera was filming Luan practicing her juggling abilities in the kitchen with five muffins. She seemed to be doing it pretty good, which surprised Lincoln. He couldn't even jiggle with three balls.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" He asked.

"Just watch."

She continued for little less than a minute, until she missed a muffin and then she let the others fall, frustrated. With a sigh, she started to pick them up and clean the floor, until she suddenly stopped, staring through the windows kitchen. The camera didn't showed what she was seeing, but by the look on her face, it was something that made her feel happy. She picked up the camera. The next seconds were utterly confusing, with the camera filming the floor as it was being moved around the house. Lincoln managed to identify the living room, and then he recognized the garage entry, and the backyard.

Luan then steadied the camera, and Lincoln completely blushed at what he saw.

The camera was filming the tree on their backyard. At it's base, Lincoln and Lynn where laying down, sleeping peacefully. Lynn, wearing her karate uniform, was snuggled against him, with her head on his shoulder. Lincoln immediately recognized the scene. It was the practice they had had the day before the demonstration. He remembered taking a nap with Lynn, but he couldn't have known, until then, the smile he had while sleeping. He didn't remembered resting his head on top of his sister's in such an affectionate way, or that they were snuggling that close. And he definitely didn't remembered having slept holding her hand.

Seeing the videotape, he remembered the peaceful sensation he felt that afternoon. And he felt once again that familiar tingling inside him, like a fire thawing all his problems away, filling him with a warmth he didn't wanted to ever end. His sisters saw the smile on his face, and they all saw the video until the recording ended. When the screen went blank, Luan turned on the lights.

"Do you still think we're wrong?" She asked, trying not so sound cocky.

Lincoln stammered, not being able to articulate the words. He sat back on the bed, his knees suddenly weak. His smile slowly faded away. He finally looked at his sisters, with worry on his eyes.

"Are you mad with me?" He asked. "For having a favorite sister?'"

"Of course not, dude!" Luna answered, as she and her sister sat once again next to their brother. "We know you love us."

"Still… This is wrong. I can't be jealous about my sister. She's going to have lots of boyfriends in her life, and I can't be feeling this blue everytime she's dating someone. It's not fair. For any of us."

"That's something you gotta figure out for yourself", Luan told him. "At least you now know what's your problem. The next step is understanding that she's still loving you the same, that this doesn't change anything."

"Yeah, and whenever you see her with a guy and feel bad again" started Luna, with a mischievous smile, "just remember that you were her first boyfriend."

His two sisters started to chuckle, confusing Lincoln.

"What do you mean?" He asked, oblivious to whatever was so funny. Luan raised an eyebrow.

"You don't remember? You're both still 'married'."

They started to laugh hysterically, and Lincoln just sat there not understanding. Noticing how lost he seemed to be, evidently not having memories of those times, Luan went again to her closet and took a box covered in a golden gift wrap. It was labeled as "The Loud's best moments". She barely needed ten seconds before taking one of the tapes and putting it on the projector.

Once it started, they could all see on the screen the interior of a room. Lincoln found it odd that he couldn't really recognize it, although it looked really familiar. He wasn't seeing anything that could give him a clue about which room it was.

"Is it recording?" Said the voice of his father. "Yes, it's recording. Let's test it before giving it to Luan."

"That was my first camera" Luan explained to him.

He turned to look at her.

"Your first camera?

Luan nodded. Staring back at the screen, Lincoln saw his father turning around, giving them a better view of the room. This time Lincoln could finally identify it as his parent's room. It was so different, it didn't even had the same furniture.

Laying on the matrimonial bed, Lincoln saw his mother, playing with a baby. He wondered who that baby was. His father approached his wife and started to stroke the baby's brunette hair.

"How's little Lucy going, huh?" He playfully asked, caressing his daughter for a few seconds before stepping out of his room and climbing up the stairs. When he finally reached the first floor, the camera started to point at the different bedroom's doors.

"Let's see… Lori's room, Leni's room… Then that's Luna's… Yeah, this is Luan's room."

Lincoln smiled, remembering those times where it wasn't necessary yet for all his sisters to share a room, when they still had plenty of space. His mind started to quickly make the math. If Lucy was barely a baby, that meant that he would be between three and five years old. And at the time…

"Oh. She's not here. Maybe she's with the little ones?" Said Mr Loud, after entering Luan's room, the one that was currently occupied by Lola and Lana. He turned around and went to the room right across the hall, the one that was now Lisa and Lily's.

When his father opened the door, Lincoln immediately remembered it all. When he was a little kid, he shared a room with Lynn. It was that way until the twins were born and his father decided to convert the linen closet into his very own room. On the video, however, it was pretty clear that he was still sharing a room with Lynn.

Luckily, Mr Loud opened the door without making any noise, so the kids inside didn't knew he was watching them. Lynn and Lincoln were sitting on the bed they shared. Lincoln couldn't avoid smiling when he looked at his younger self. He couldn't be more than four years old, but even by that time he was already wearing an orange t-shirt. Maybe that had always been his color. His hair was also a lot shorter, somehow making his head look even more childish. And he also smiled when he saw Lynn, her hair was straighter and she had a long braid falling past her shoulders. He didn't remembered that hairstyle.

"Clyde's dads bought us two cereal boxes" young Lincoln said, having some trouble speaking fluently. "In my box I found a toy."

He saw himself –well, his younger self– poking inside one of the pockets on his short, and then he took out a small plastic ring, with a yellow plastic jewel.

"It's so pretty!" Lynn said, grabbing it to inspect it better.

"You can have it if you want" little Lincoln said, smiling at her. Lynn stared at her, a little confused.

"Don't you want it?"

Lincoln shrugged.

"Boys give rings to the girls they like" he explained, matter-of-factly.

"But that's when they want to marry them."

"And what's that?"

"It's when a daddy and a mommy love each other a lot and they want to be together."

In Luna and Luan's room, present time, they all heard a muffled chuckle behind the camera, that luckily both children didn't heard. Mr Loud zoomed in, recording with more detail Lincoln's concentration face as he thoughtfully scratched his head.

"We're not a mom and a dad" he finally concluded.

"No."

"But I do love you a lot" he told Lynn, looking at her with sadness.

Lynn giggled. She crawled closer to her little brother and sat right in front of him.

"I love you too. Listen, if we don't tell anyone, we can marry now. So when we're parents, we'll be together already!" She said, raising up his arm with a smile. Little Lincoln copied her, celebrating her sister out smarting concepts.

"Let me help you" he said, taking the ring from her and softly putting it in her finger.

"You may kiss the bride" she said, repeating a common phrase from cartoons and movies.

Without even doubting for a second, Lincoln leaned forward and innocently gave his sister a peck on her lips. For a fraction of a second they both closed their eyes, and then they separated with a loud an exaggerated 'muak'!

"Now let's play with the bouncing ball!" Said the girl, standing up.

"Okay!"

While the kids stood up and went to the closet, looking for their ball, their father silently walked out of the room. Once in the hall, he pointed the camera so it was filming his own face. He was widely smiling, and a single tear was falling down his right cheek.

"This video… will be saved… for ETERNITY!" he emotionally exclaimed, seconds before the recording ended.

Lincoln, eleven years old Lincoln, kept staring at the white screen. He had completely forgotten about the things he'd just saw in the video. Remembering the fact that he had shared a room with Lynn on his early childhood helped him understand why he enjoyed being with her so much. Maybe it was because he felt nostalgic, an unconscious yearning about times he didn't remember.

A deep emotion started to grow within him, in his heart. He blinked a couple of times to contain a couple of treacherous tears that threaten to escape. His sisters hugged him.

"You know, we'll all be with someone eventually" Luan softly told him. "Sometimes you'll get along well with that person, and sometimes you may not."

"But we'll never stop loving you, bro. Don't you ever forget this: you were, and always will be, our first love."

Luna's words did it. He hugged hem back and let a few tears of happiness fall down his cheeks. They received all the love that he was giving to them. They let him stay with them until he managed to calm down, until he would be certain once again that they all loved him.

Later that same night, Lincoln knocked on the second right door of the hall.

"Come on in!"

Lincoln opened the door and stepped inside the room. Lucy was on the attic playing with her homemade ouija, like he'd suggested a few minutes ago. That allowed him to have at least a couple of minutes alone with Lynn. She was laying prone on her bed, texting with a hand while the other one was throwing a tennis ball against a wall.

"Hey, Lincoln" she greeted him, without looking away from her phone.

"Lynn, are you busy?" He asked, out of education mostly, while playing with his pajama's buttons.

"Kinda" she said with a smile.

Lincoln stepped closer to his sister's bed. He took a deep breath and his face became serious.

"I need to ask you something" he solemnly said.

"I'm all ears" she told him, while slightly blushing and giggling for whatever she was reading.

Lincoln clenched his fists. He waited a second for the tennis ball to hit on the wall and he stretched his arm to catch it as it bounced off. Immediately noticing the fact that the ball didn't returned to her hand, she finally looked at him.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Lynn, it's important" he said, throwing the ball to the other side of the room.

"Can't you just tell me?" She complained, sitting on her bed and staring at him a little bothered.

"And can't you just put your phone aside for a minute and listen to me?" He pleaded, losing his seriousness in an instant. He was showing off more sadden than he first intended to.

Lynn might've changed a lot the last few weeks, but deep inside she was still the same. She wasn't as phone dependent as Lori yet. She left her phone on her nightstand and looked at her brother, a little worried.

"Is everything alright, Lincoln?"

He sat on the bed beside her, staring at his feet.

"Are you happy?" He bluntly asked, not making visual contact.

Lynn was stunned by the question. She certainly wasn't expecting that. She moved a little uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Are you happy?" He repeated, looking up at her. "With your boyfriend. Ryan. I need to know."

She stayed quiet for a few seconds, just confusingly staring at her brother.

"Yes. I am" she said, with a little smile on her face. "He's… He's really sweet. And he loves sports."

"You were never really interested in boys" he pointed out. Lynn snorted.

"I've always been interested in boys. But this is the first time I found one I truly enjoy being with. Besides you, of course" she said, friendly punching him in the shoulder; she noticed however how somber he looked. "Lincoln, what's going on?"

He didn't answered right away. He didn't know what to say. Certainly, he couldn't tell her that he was jealous of the attention her boyfriend was getting from her. It wouldn't be fair for her. But he did had some doubts, and there was nothing wrong about telling her what he honestly thought.

"I don't like him" he finally said, frowning.

"Who? Ryan?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah. Him."

"But Lincoln, you don't even know him."

"I met him with you. He glared at me, he made fun of my hair and he treated me like I was some puny little kid. He clenched my hand and he was just staring at us like… like… like he was convinced that he was better than everyone else."

"Oh, come on, you're exaggerating..."

"I'm not. I'm serious. I don't like him. I don't like his personality. If it were up for me, he wouldn't be your boyfriend."

Lynn's face twitched in a cross face, and he saw her clenching his fists.

"Well, that's none of your business! You won't be deciding who can be my boyfriend! You have no…!"

"I know" he interrupted her, sighing. "That's why I need to know if you really like him. Because if you do… If you're happy with him… I'll just have to accept it and deal with it."

He looked down, defeated. He said all he could, all he was willing to admit. And he'd been completely honest. After his talk with Luna and Luan, he'd decided that he would confront Lynn about whether she was happy or not. And if she told him she was, he would force himself to just accept her relationship. He had no idea how could he do that, but he was willing to try. For his sister. Because she deserved it.

He felt her getting closer, and then she hugged him. He turned around right away so he could hug her back. It had been almost a month since his last hug with his sister… with his favorite sister. He realized just how much he'd missed resting his head on the gap between her head and her shoulder. How much he'd missed her arms locked around his neck and back, gently caressing him. He'd missed her breathing on his nape. All those sensations together were enough to finally calm him down, helping him relax.

"I'm sorry you don't like him. Really. I guess he´s conceited, pretty vain, but he's an athlete. Everyone who practices sports has it's super competitive side. I do. He does. But he's also nice, and… I really like him."

"I just want you to be happy" he whispered in her ear. She just hugged him tighter.

"I am happy" she assured him, so he could see the smile on his face. "I'm happy with Ryan, and I'm even more happy now that I know my favorite brother worries so much about me."

"I'm your only brother, though" he jokingly remembered her.

"You know what I mean, dummy."

Lincoln smiled and then he excused himself, telling her that he wanted to go to sleep. He left her room and interned into his own, laying on his bed.

"If she's happy, then I'm happy too" he repeated out loud.

Perhaps, if he kept telling himself that, one day it might've come true.

A couple of days went by, and Lincoln was still trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing. He knew he was doing the right thing, his brain was constantly reminding him of it. It was his heart the one that refused to understand. But as soon as Lynn rushed inside the house and went running up the stairs, locking herself in her room, he felt his heart saying 'I told you so'.

He was in the living room, playing some videogames. Lisa was right beside him, registering the metamorphosis of her caterpillars. Both of them were utterly focused on their activities when the door was suddenly opened. Lynn came in, running, and violently slummed it closed. Before he could turn around, she was already going inside her room.

"Lynn?" He said, confused.

"Indeed" Lisa said. "Considering how she slammed the door and the speed with which she went upstairs, my initial hypothesis is that she's going through a personal problem that has produced a negative effect with an intensity going from moderate to serious. My second hypothesis is that the toilet will be soon clogged."

The 'game over' announce went barely noticed by Lincoln. As soon as he heard the rest of his sisters gathering outside Lynn's room, he tossed his joystick aside and climbed up the stairs as soon as he could. By the time he got there, the rest of his sisters were already there.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Lynn came running into our room and kicked me out. She seemed upset" Lucy told him, appearing out of nowhere and scaring the heck out of him.

"You okay, sis?" Luna asked out loud.

"Leave me alone!" Lynn screamed from inside her room.

They all stared at each other, not knowing what to do. Lori finally stepped up.

"Stay here. I'll try to talk with her" she told them, putting her hand on the doorknob. "Lynn, I'm coming in!"

As soon as she opened the door, Lori expertly ducked, dodging the baseball she already knew Lynn was going to throw at her. She closed the door behind her and the rest of her siblings could hear a lot of objects hitting the wall and the door. They didn't hear any complain or scream, so they assumed that Lori was dodging them all. Eventually the assault stopped, and the Loud house was suddenly in silence. No one dared opening the door, they didn't even wanted to try to eaves drop on them. They just waited there on the hall for some minutes that Lincoln found eternal.

Finally, they came out of Lynn's room. Lori was walking with a hand resting on the back of a clearly flustered Lynn. They all practically jumped on them.

"She's fine" Lori hurriedly said before they could ask anything; she spoke with her authoritarian tone, the one that allowed no questioning. "She had a… small relationship issue that I will discuss alone with her in my room. None of you will try to get even close to my room, or try to hear what we're talking about. No eaves dropping, no going up the vents. Am I clear?"

They all exchanged some nervous looks. Knowing they had no other option but to agree with Lori's terms, they all nodded. The eldest walked Lynn to her room and locked the door behind her. The rest of the family stood on the hall for a few seconds.

"Pff. Boys" Lola finally said, going to her room to resume her tea party.

Lucy went to the basement and soon the rest of the girls decided to go back to whatever they were doing before the little incident. The only one who stayed right were he stood was Lincoln.

'Relationship issue'? Lincoln clenched his fist. If that Ryan had hurt his sister's feelings, he would personally kick that smug smile from his face. Black belt or not, no one would ever go away with hurting with his sister in any way. All the hatred he'd been feeling that last month was starting to hit boiling point. As soon as Lynn would exit Lori's room he'd talk with her.

But then a sound caught his attention. Lynn's bedroom door was full open, and he could see a small light on her bed. A new light a new sound let him know it was his sister's cellphone.

He knew he shouldn't. He also had a phone, and he knew how important privacy was. In a family as big as his, privacy was scarce, but they all could count with the fact that their siblings respected their stuff, and they wouldn't be snooping on their most private belongings. Under normal circumstances he would've turned around, ignoring it. But things were way past the 'normal' mark. It had been a month too far from normal, and things were quickly escalating to a critic point. Nothing made sense, things were not how they were supposed to be. So, making sure that there was no one seeing him, he sneaked inside his sister's room and onto her bed, grabbing her phone.

Luckily, Lynn had no lock-screen whatsoever. It was easy to open the instant messaging app. He cringed from indignation when he saw that the first chat was with a contact named 'Him', followed by a heart-shaped eyes emoji. She had a couple of unchecked messages from 'him'.

'where r u?'

'pls answer me :'( '

'lynn im sorry idk what happened to me'

Lincoln stopped for a second at that last message. Did he… Did he hit Lynn? If he'd as much as moved a hair from her, Lincoln and all his sisters would pulverize him. Ryan would have to send a petition to the very United Nations asking for a damn resolution that could keep them from turning him into a human pretzel. Barely containing his anger, he decided to read the rest of the messages.

'srsly'

'i got carried away'

'that kiss felt soooo different i got carried away'

'u know i wouldnt force u to do anything'

'it was an impulse'

'i promise u it wont happen again'

'pls text me back'

It took him a few seconds, but Lincoln finally understood what was going on. He was eleven. He'd heard enough things in school to know what had happened. He suddenly felt sick. He didn't know if this was better than if he'd hit her. Lynn… She couldn't be okay with doing that. There was no way. Not her; not with him. They were just together for a month now! Those things were for older teens. He sat on his sister's bed, staring at the phone screen.

He had to tell his parents. This was some serious business. He knew that if he told them, he was basically signing his death sentence with Lynn. She would never forgive him. And that idea terrified him and made him doubt if it was a good idea or not. He didn't wanted Lynn to be angry with him. But Ryan was definitely not the right boy for her. She may not see that yet. Lincoln had heard that sometimes love blinds people. She would probably hate him for a while, but eventually she'd come to realize that he was doing it just because he wanted only the best for her. Because he loved her.

He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't heard the steps getting closer from the hall. When he saw on the corner of his eye that someone abruptly stopped on the doorway, it was already too lat to try to leave the phone where he found it and pretend to be doing anything else.

Lynn stared at him for a few long, tense seconds. At first she looked confused, but soon his face became a mask of anger.

"LINCOLN! GIVE ME MY PHONE!"

She lunged directly at her brother. He couldn't even attempt to prepare himself. Lynn tackled him against the wall. The two siblings started a violent hand fight for the phone. Maybe it was because of the anguish he'd been thought for the last month, or the fury he was feeling after reading those messages, but somehow he found the strength to throw himself over Lynn, pinning her down against the bed. He stretched his arm so she couldn't grab her phone.

"GIVE ME THAT!" She shouted, trying to free from his grip.

"I read what happened!" He yelled her too. "I knew he was an idiot! I told you!"

"You don't know anything!"

"I know enough! He… He molested you!"

It was a miracle he could pin her down for as long as he did. But after that comment, Lynn resorted to his jiu jitsu techniques. Lincoln didn't even see what happened, but suddenly she tangled her legs on his body, she took the phone from his hands and she throw him out of bed. He fell head first into the floor, which hurt him like hell. He tried to stand up, but Lynn violently turned him around so he laid facing upwards, with her foot on his chest.

"Don't you… ever… grab… my phone" she threaten him, breathing heavily between words.

Lincoln tried to sit up, but she augmented the pressure of her foot, keeping him down.

"I knew something bad would happen! I knew he was a jerk!"

"Shut up!" She screamed again, violently removing her foot fro his chest, afraid that she might lose control and do something that could seriously injure him.

He took the opportunity to stand up.

"You don't know what happened" Lynn warned him, looking anywhere but his eyes. "You don't understand anything."

"I'm not a child" he firmly answered. "I know about… about that stuff. And you're not old enough to..."

"You won't be telling me what am I old enough for or not!" She exploded, glaring at him.

"I can tell you whatever I want! I'm your brother!"

"You think you know so much, but you have no idea what you're walking about!"

"Of course I know! He tried to…!"

"He just groped me, you big meddling idiot!" Lynn bursted out; she didn't cared if the whole house could hear her now. "That's when people do when they're making out! They use their hands too! It's perfectly natural, but I got nervous and I ran away! You're just a stupid little kid who thinks he knows what he's talking about, but guess what? You don't!"

By now, Lori, Leni and Luna were all standing in the doorway, seeing the scene before them, trying to figure out if it was necessary to intervene or not. Lori, foreseeing how could this unfold, had told Luan to keep the younger sisters away from the room. Luan may not be the toughest sister, but she was really scary when she wanted to.

Lincoln, meanwhile, had no comeback for his sister. What Lynn had told him didn't seemed like a good excuse for Ryan. It actually just made him worst to Lincoln's eyes. But she was talking about it like it was something natural, a good thing. Maybe she was right. He didn't really knew about relationships. It was all some unexplored ground for him. But he couldn't just stayed quiet and let her win the argument. Not this time.

"He says he's sorry, but he's not!" He dared to say. "He's just using you!"

"Lincoln, shut up, because I swear I'll…!"

"He's taking advantage of you!" He interrupted her.

He didn't care about anything anymore. He'd been repressing so much anger and frustration this last month… He couldn't conceal it anymore. He wreaked his anger on her, even if it was unfair. Even if it wasn't really her fault. He couldn't help it anymore.

"Lincoln, stop!" Lynn repeated, clenching one of her fist.

"Since the competition day I knew that idiot only saw you as a trophy! When he asked you out it wasn't because he liked your personality, it was because he set his eyes on your body!"

"Lincoln!" Lori intervened, stepping inside the room. "You have no right to say those things!"

"You're just one more girl for him!" He kept yelling, ignoring Lori. "He's just waiting to do it with you! And after he's done, he'll walk away from you like with any…!"

The dreadful sound echoed in the walls. Lori, Leni and Luna loudly gasped. A second later, Lincoln was lying on the floor, trying to support himself on his elbows to sit up. He tried to open his eyes. He could open the right one, but his left eye was aching in pain, and it hurt too much for him to see anything. He finally managed to kneel and put a hand on his wounded eye. He saw Luna and Lori grabbing Lynn by her arms, trying to keep her from jumping over Lincoln to keep hitting him. Leni was with him, helping him stand up.

Lynn was a second grade black belt in karate. She had an outstanding and absolute control of her body, and she could stop millimeters away from her target if she wanted to. And still, she had punched him right in the face. A perfect blow to his face, without stopping, without loosening her fist.

Supporting himself on Leni, he managed to stand up.

"He doesn't deserves you" he said, on the verge of tears. "You deserve better."

"Better?" Lynn repeated, disgustingly looking at him. "What, like you?"

His heart stopped, hearing the hate with which she had spitted that last word.

"Some idiot who reads comics in his underwear? Why would I ever want to be with someone who was such a freak? The only reason I stand you is because I have to, because we're related."

There was a new thud, but this time it was Lynn the one who received Luna's open-handed slap. The two sisters started to fight, and Lori was trapped in the middle, trying to separate them. Leni left Lincoln and went with Lori, trying to help her keeping the two sisters from poking their eyes out.

Lincoln kept his eyes on the battle happening before him, but his mind was trapped inside a loop, hearing Lynn's last words over and over again. His legs started to fail, and his lips started to tremble. Before his emotions betrayed him, Lincoln ran away into his room, shoving aside Luan when he tried to stop him in the hall. As soon as he entered his room the closed the door and pushed his desk in front of it, blocking the entrance. In the process, all his favorite toys, plane models and even his clothes fell to the ground, but he didn't cared. He started to pile up all his boxes, chairs and everything but his bed against the door, trying to put as much weight as possible, so no one could open it.

When his room was finally a big giant mess and he was sure that no one could bother him, he sat on the floor against the wall, pushed a pillow against his face and started to scream. He screamed and cried like he hadn't done since he was a little child, not even trying to control him. The pillow contained most of his cries, but nothing could prevent his family from hearing the muffled cries of pain. He cried until the point where his lungs couldn't keep up with his emotions anymore, where he was completely out of air, and he still kept the pillow against his face.

One by one, his sisters knocked on his door, asking, begging and pleading him to open it. He ignored them all. Even his parents went to his room, trying to take him out. They knocked and knocked, and they even tried to bring down the door, but he had secured it too well. Lincoln barely spoke to them when his mother desperately asked him to say something. They were afraid that he might've hurt himself somehow. Just so they knew he was still alive, he screamed at them to leave him alone. After that, he continued to ignore them. He didn't spoke with his sisters later that afternoon, when they came back to his door to try to talk with him. He didn't even had dinner.

He just stayed in his room, crying.

The next morning, at breakfast, Lynn noticed that her sisters didn't even look at her. Lori and Luan pretended that she didn't existed. Leni was trying to look at anything but her, pretending she was distracted with other things. But her agitated breathing and her constant looks by the corner of her eyes gave her away. Luna didn't say anything, but she took her plate and abandoned the room as soon as Lynn entered, while humming the rhythm of Justified Black Eye by No Use For a Name. She still had some bruises on her jaw and arms.

Lynn didn't cared. She went straight to the kitchen. Her younger sisters were playing with their breakfast, but the games and laughs suddenly stopped when they noticed her. No one said anything as she prepared her most needed cup of coffee. Not wanting to be the elephant in the room, she grabbed her food and went to her room. She knew that no one would bother her there. Lucy hadn't even slept there the night before. She didn't knew where his roommate had bunked, but she didn't care. If the rest of her family was going to treat her like she was the only one to blame about what happened the day before, fine. She didn't care. She didn't need them.

When she reached upstairs, she saw Luna standing next to Lincoln's bedroom door.

"Hey, bro, I got you some breakfast here" she said, putting the plate on the floor. "You gotta eat something, Lincoln. You can't lock yourself up forever."

Luna turned around and saw Lynn. They glanced at each other. Lynn then looked away and entered her room, going at her bed. Unfortunately, she had just sat on her bed when Luna also stepped in.

"What do you want?" Asked the younger, not even trying to dissimulate her grumpiness.

"What do I want? I want you to apologize with him" Luna answered, clearly pissed off.

"Yeah, good luck with that."

"You're such an idiot."

"He started. He can't go reading my phone without my permission, and he's no one to talk like that about my boyfriend."

"No one?" Repeated Luna, not believing what she'd heard. "Lynn, she's your brother!"

Lynn drank a little more of her coffee and left the cup over her nightstand.

"He can't be meddling like that. My relationships are not his business.

"He's just a kid!" Exasperatedly said Luna. "An eleven years old kid that's afraid of losing his sister! He's worried about you! And judging by what I've heard, he's not entirely wrong. You're not ready yet to take your relationship to the next base."

"Right, I'm not ready to do it with my boyfriend, but you had no trouble doing it with that Travis guy you met at your last show, didn't you?" She snapped back, staring fiercely at her sister's eyes.

She saw the anger showing off in her older sister's face, how she tighten her lips in a small straight line. She was almost wishing for Luna to jump are at her and start a new fight. Her body needed to release all the stress she was going through, and there was nothing like a good fight to liberate herself. However, Luna controlled herself.

"A few days ago, Lincoln went to my room, and he was one step away from crying" she told her.

Lynn's challenging and fierce face transformed into one filled with surprise and a hint of concern.

"He was scared and he was also confused, because his favorite sister wasn't talking nor playing with hi anymore. He told me and Luan that he was feeling sad because he couldn't be happy for you. He wanted to be happy for you having found someone you like, but he couldn't, and that made him feel miserable."

Lynn turned her head and stared at the sky through her window, trying hard to think about anything else, about something that didn't make her feel like she was about to cry.

"He loves you. He loves you in a way that he doesn't even fully understands yet. He was so afraid of loosing you, and I told him that no matter what, his sister would always love him and be there for him."

The rocker turned on her heels and walked away, stopping in the doorway to give Lynn one last look filled with a mixture of pity and indignation.

"I hope you don't prove me wrong."

She went into the hall and closed the door behind her, leaving Lynn all alone. The thirteen years old girl suddenly found herself with no appetite. She was pretty sure that only one more sip fro her coffee would make her puke. She let herself fall down on her bed, facing at the ceiling. Luna's words made her remember the little visit her brother gave her the other day, asking her about whether she was happy or not.

She was happy with Ryan. It was the first time she ever felt that way with a boy. At least… At least that was the first impression she had. She started to think about what did she liked about her boyfriend. He was hot. Like, really hot. A charming smile, some enviable abs and an even tan –in winter! Basically, he had everything she could find attractive in a boy. But Lynn wasn't with him just for his looks. There was no point in denying it, she gave him her Facebook the first time they met based on his looks, but the more she talked with him, the more she realized that he was just perfect for her. They liked the same things, they shared the same opinions. It was like he knew exactly what she wanted to hear. And when they started hanging out and she found out he was just as polyfunctional in sports as she was, she knew that he was the right one for her.

When he first kissed her, he felt some sort of electric shock running down her spine. That had been her first kiss. The sensations that went through her were indescribable, and she was suddenly aware of every little detail in the world. The pressure of his lips over hers, their breathings synchronizing… She had closed her eyes and let herself be carried away, feeling an invisible force lifting her to another state of mind. If someone had told her that she could fly, she would've jumped from the nearest bridge without thinking. It felt just that amazing.

That's why, when their first kiss ended, she went at it for more, and she kissed him again. And again. The sensations were just too overwhelming, it was an adrenaline rush that completely filled her with energy. And Lynn loved energy. She didn't doubted when he asked her to be his girlfriend. Never before had she felt something like that, and she wanted to keep discovering new sensations. She understood why Lori was with Bobby all day long. And for the first week or so, Lynn kept finding new sensations.

The first time they shared a kiss with a little more than their lips being involved, she almost melted in his arms. Their tongues were moving against each other at a charmingly intense rhythm. They were both highly aggressive and competitive kids, and it seemed like their kisses reflected their personalities. She wasn't exaggerating when she said that she ended up exhausted after some long minutes of those spirited kisses. The energy rush made her feel alive, and it convinced her that she was in love with him. At least, for a couple of days.

As time went by, and some weeks passed, Lynn started to feel the energy slowly disappearing. She compared it with a work out. The first time you do an exercise, you only need a few minutes to feel the effort. But when you start doing it over and over, your tolerance starts to go higher, and you need more intensity and energy to feel the very same effort again. It happened all the time when she trained, and it was starting to happen to his relationship with Ryan. The innocent little pecks weren't feeding the fire that the first kiss started within her anymore. To feed the fire, she needed to raise the intensity of her movements, she needed to be more energetic and aggressive. He was more than willing to play the game, and they'd entered a constant spiral of rising energy and lust. The previous day incident –that had been a lot more serious than she dared to confess Lincoln, with him being only eleven– had been a clear consequence of her need to rise the bet in order to feel something.

And Lynn was starting to realize that the small details and gestures didn't make her feel anything. She was no longer excited to receive a new message. Listening to him calling her "baby" meant nothing, it was just a nickname. And the worst part was that she wasn't even feeling anything when they shared a hug.

For her, hugs had always been the maximum expression of affection two people could share. And her hugs with Ryan felt empty, emotionless and meaningless. When he hugged her it always felt like an obligation, something they had to do since they were a couple. Lynn was yearning for the feeling of protection a hug could give her. She wanted to feel safe, sheltered from all harms, secure from all her fears. She yearned to share the warmth of the other person's body, filling her up like a nice cup of hot chocolate in winter. It was a sensation she knew all too well.

That's what she felt everytime she hugged Lincoln.

She fully regretted having beaten him. She'd never hit him with the intention of hurting him. Never. Any punch she might've given him, or any pain she might've caused had always been with the intention of playing with him. She also felt terrible for having said those awful things. She didn't mean it. She just said those things because at the time she wanted to make him feel bad, she wanted to fight with someone. Her poor, innocent little brother just had the bad luck of ending up receiving all her anger, her reaction to a context that he had nothing to do with. It wasn't his fault that Lynn had started to ponder about whether she was in love with Ryan or if it all had been a mere physical attraction feed by the adrenaline of experimenting new things. It wasn't his fault that Ryan's hands had gone beyond what she was ready to accept, and that they had both argued about that. It wasn't Lincoln's fault that Lori had told her in bad manners that she was only thirteen, and that she shouldn't be dating Ryan. Lincoln just had the misfortune of, first, being caught snooping her phone –which he had no right to do so–, and second, to tell her everything she didn't wanted to hear. He had exposed all of her fears. That Ryan was just interested in the physical aspects of their relationships, that he was too egocentric, that she was still young and most importantly, that he wasn't the right boy for her.

She had unfairly unloaded all her anger and impotence with Lincoln. If there was someone in this life that unconditionally loved Lynn, that was Lincoln. She was always there for her. Unlike Ryan, he hated sports. He detested having to make any kind of physical effort. And still, everytime Lynn asked him to help her practice, he accepted. Lynn wasn't dumb, she could see how much Lincoln struggled to keep up with her, she could see the fatigue in his face and the despise for balls and helmets. But he practiced anyway. He did it just so she would be happy. He was always like that with her. He was the only one willing to give her the TV control if she asked him nicely enough. On movie nights, when the whole family gathered around in the sofa to see a movie together, Lincoln always offered to share his blanket, under which they both could hide a bawl full of popcorn, just for the two of them. Unless it was a really interesting action movie or it was related to some sport, she rarely got to see the ends. At some point she would rest her head on his brother's shoulder, he would hold her hand under the blanket and just in a couple of minutes she would pleasantly fall asleep.

It were details like those that she wished she could find in a boy. She looked for that kind of details from Ryan, but there weren't any. And that was making her sad. He wasn't as bad as Lori or Lincoln tried to picture him. He was an average fourteen years old boy, as interested in new sensations as she was. She wanted to be able to love him as much as she first thought she did. It was impossible that everything she had felt could be extinguish in just a month. She knew that some couples didn't last long, but a single month seemed a ridiculously short amount of time, even though Lori assured her that it was normal.

She wondered if that's how it would always be. How many times would she fall in the same trap, believing she'd found the right guy just to later figure out that he wasn't what she first thought? He wondered if she would ever find someone who could love her forever, beyond the novelty, that would love her despite her flaws and her bad temper. Someone that could love her as a person.

He suddenly remembered that she already had someone like that. Her mind went straight to the little box she kept in her shelf. Not being able to hold back, she stood up and went right at it. She took the box and opened it, grabbing the object she kept there. It was one of her most prized possessions. Everytime she felt miserable, everytime she felt she had everyone against her or when she simply needed to feel loved, she resorted to that little box. What was inside never failed to cheer her up. She went back to her bed, pressing that little object against her chest.

It wasn't long before she felt that warm sensation filling her from within. And the peace that she felt just by holding a simple object gave her a new perspective. That's what it felt to be loved. That was love. Whatever she felt with Ryan… It was a strong physical attraction, a good chemistry at best, but unfortunately, and as much as it hurt her to admit it, it wasn't love.

That realization, that epiphany was the last push she needed. Lynn Loud wasn't the crying type of girl. But that fateful morning, alone in her room, she cried her eyes out.

Some hours later, Ryan invited her over to his house, since his parents would be gone for the day. They had talked last night, and while Lynn couldn't say that they had sorted out the whole incident, they were at least in good terms. He apologized in every possible way, but she was still a little pissed off about his behavior.

After the events of the morning, however, Lynn felt like she owned Ryan a little face to face talk. She accepted his invitation, asking herself if she was truly ready to face him, now that she was more confused than ever. From the moment she went out of her garage until she arrived to his house, she couldn't stop thinking about her emotions and feelings, trying to find out how she really felt about him. It seemed way too easy to just tell herself that she was only going through a crisis, that all her doubts were due to the stress produced by a lot of things going on at the same time. It seemed that the easy way was telling herself that she loved Ryan, that every couple went through some difficult situations. Maybe she could blame the puberty, the adolescence or whatever it was that was making her feel so confused lately. She could blame everyone and everything but herself, and would've made it easier for her, but she couldn't. She knew exactly what was wrong and what she had to do.

Feeling terrible with herself, she took her bike and went pedaling all the way to Ryan's address. Fifteen minutes later, she finally got there. Ryan was an only child, but his house seemed prepared to hold two Loud families. It was a big modern house, the kind that was completely volumetric, like someone had piled up different cubes and added some wooden pergolas here and there. She left her bike near the entry and pressed the doorbell.

Right away, Ryan opened the door. He was as handsome as always, with his big perfect smile.

"Lynn. Thanks for coming" he said, stepping closer.

He wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head as if to kiss her. Lynn, however, was faster than him, and she hugged him tightly. He didn't ay anything, simply returned the gesture.

"Come on in."

They had never been at each other's house. They always hanged out in a park, the mall or somewhere they could practice a sport. It was amazing for her to see just how tidy his house was, in contrast with her own house, where there wasn't a single square feet free from toys or stuff that shouldn't be there. She wondered if that's how normal houses looked. Ryan led her to the living room and they sat in a long black sofa, with a small distance between them.

"You look beautiful today" Ryan told him, trying to break the ice.

Lynn looked down to her own clothes. She was wearing her usual outfit.

"Thanks" she finally said.

Ryan cleared his throat.

"Look… About yesterday" he started, a little insecure. "I'm really sorry. I understand that you want to go a little slower. But… it was the moment, y'know?"

"Ryan..."

"No, seriously, listen to me. We were totally making out, and it was all just really hot. It felt so, so good that things just escalated by themselves. I mean, it wasn't entirely my fault. You got carried away, too."

"Ryan..."

"No, I have to say it!" He interrupted her, sounding a little annoyed. "I didn't like the way you left me yesterday, or how you talked with me last night. You were treating me like I did something wrong and I think that's unfair. I was making out with my super hot girlfriend, and honestly, we've been dating for a month now. It's natural for things to move on, and you were as enthusiastic as I was, so don't play the victim. I mean, I love you, and I'm willing to show you just how much. If you're not, then just tell me, and we can..."

"Can you just shut the hell up for a second?" Lynn told him, raising her tone just enough to shut him up.

Ryan just stared at her, surprised and a little offended by her comment. She sighed and looked at him straight in his eyes.

"Kiss me."

He blinked twice.

"What?" He asked, believing that he'd misheard.

"Just kissed me" she urged him, impatiently.

He grinned. There's no way he was going to deny such a tempting offer like that one. With a smug smile, he moved closer. He raised his right hand and gently stroked Lynn's cheek. Then he put his hand behind her neck and closed the distance between their lips. He immediately felt Lynn's response, kissing him with passion. He smiled for himself. He thought that he'd have to resort to the typical lies, apologies and flattery that girls loved to hear, but apparently his girlfriend was easier to convince. Feeling the passion between them growing, he became more reckless, trying to show her with his kiss how much he wanted her.

Lynn felt the effervescence, and she responded accordingly, giving out her best. Even in a kiss, her competitive spirit wanted to win, to show that she was a better kisser. She felt her heart beating faster, her breathing accelerating, and he also felt the room temperature increasing. Her body seemed to be asking her for more, to surrender to her instinct, to her lust. She was feeling it, an invitation to adventure, risk and pleasure. And she liked it.

But that's not what she was looking for. She was looking for something else. She wanted to find, inside the pleasure, another kind of sensations. She wanted peace, to feel relaxed. She wanted to feel safe, protected, that the arms around her would shelter her from any harm. She wanted to feel that the other person would be with her forever, since they completed each other's worlds. And most importantly, she wanted to feel happiness.

Some part of her felt that she was being unfair, that she couldn't pretend to find someone that could make her feel all those things, someone that could compete with that exaggerated idealization. But the problem was that she knew that a boy could make her feel all that with a hug. He knew it by experience.

After testing Ryan's kiss, analyzing the sensations it produced on her, she decided to end it. But when she moved her head slightly backwards, Ryan moved along, leaning forward. Surprised, Lynn tried to push him away, but in the movement she tangled her legs with his and she fell backwards over the couch. Before she could understand what was going on, Ryan was over her, kissing her more intensely. With things going out of her hands, Lynn struggled to separate her lips from her boyfriend's.

"Ryan, wait", she said.

"Shh, it's okay" he said, going down to kiss her neck. Her hands, meanwhile, started on her shoulders and went slowly down, going over the sides of her abdomen and stopping on her waist.

She was getting nervous. The kisses on her neck were giving her new sensations, but it was no longer a nice feeling. Suddenly all her passion had become nervousness. When she felt his hand going under her t-shirt, she finally decided to act. Just like she'd done with Lincoln, she throw Ryan to the floor with a jiu jitsu move.

"Yo, what the hell?!" He yelled from the floor, quickly standing up. "Damn it, what's your problem?!"

"Are you kidding me? I told you YESTERDAY that I don't want you to touch me like that! And you were about to do it again!" Lynn told him, also standing up.

"Oh, come on! You come to my house, you ask me to kiss you, you put your tongue up my throat and now you play the victim? Again? God, you're so hysterical!"

"I wanted to see something!" Lynn defended herself, crossing her arms.

"What? What did you wanted to see?" Ryan impatiently asked her.

She looked down.

"I wanted to see how do I really feel about you."

He was taken aback by those words. His characteristic confidence seemed to faint a little. But then he frowned and looked defiantly at her.

"And? How do you feel?" He asked.

She tried to settle herself. It was a tough question. If she stopped to think about it, she would never reach a convincing answer. But she wasn't Lisa. She didn't think that much, she was impulsive and she acted by her heart. So she decided to listen to her heart.

"You're really handsome" she said, looking firmly at his eyes. "Really hot, actually. I like it when we're kissing and making out, and I wish I could love you. But your incapable of looking past yourself, you're terribly arrogant and I feel that you don't really like me on an emotional level. And I don't want to be with someone like that."

Ryan listened carefully. He said absolutely nothing, although his face seemed a little somber. They stayed in silence, looking straight at each others eyes. It seemed like they'd both agreed to a staring competition, and none of them was willing to lose. Finally, he spoke.

"I think you should leave."

Lynn silently nodded. Ryan escorted her to the door and flung it open for her. When she walked by him, Lynn stopped.

"I'm sorry if this upsets you. When you grow up and you can finally love a girl for what she is, I'm sure you'll be a great boyfriend."

Ryan snorted.

"Fuck you, Lynn," he said, slamming the door on her face.

She grabbed her bike and went back home. Usually, pedaling helped her think, but he didn't wanted to think right then. She was so confused, she had so many different and opposite emotions going through her that she didn't even knew how she was feeling. A big part of her was feeling sad and depressed, while another one felt free, and a third part was being mouldered by the guilt.

Feeling a whirlwind of emotions inside her, she finally reached her home. She got off her bike on the sidewalk and took it to the garage, from which she could hear an electric guitar and a voice singing on a microphone.

"We started off incredible, connection undeniable, I swear I thought you were the one forever" was singing Luna's unmistakable voice.

Lynn opened the garage door, and the potent sound of the amplifiers hit her like a punch to the face.

"But your love was like a loaded gun, you shot me down like everyone. 'Cause everyone's replaceable when you're just so incapable of getting past skin deep..."

Luna saw her sister entering the garage, but she kept singing and playing her guitar, trying to ignore her. Lynn went past her and left her bike where it wouldn't bother anyone. She was about to go inside the house when she once again noticed Luna's bruises. She owed her an apology.

She stayed near her, waiting for her sister to finish her song. Luna continued playing, fully aware that Lynn was still near her, with her hands behind her back and looking down.

"You're good at hooking up, but you suck at love!"

After finishing the chorus Luna held the last chord, letting the sound slowly fade away. Sighing she unplugged her guitar and turned around to face her little sister. She didn't say anything. She simply crossed her arms and glared her.

"Luna… I'm sorry" Lynn finally said, not holding back all the sadness and regret she was feeling. "For everything. The way I treated you, and for punching you last night. I didn't wanted to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to", she coldly told her.

Lynn looked even more depressed after hearing that, feeling a ball of nerves and guilt building up in her stomach.

"Is he still in his room?" She asked, doing her best to avoid breaking down.

"Lori convinced him to have lunch, but after he was done he locked himself up again. He doesn't want to see anyone."

Luna was really pissed off with her little sister. They all knew she was rude and tactless, but she had been way too harsh with Lincoln. She hadn't really said anything unforgivable, but Luna knew her brother, and she knew how much he loved Lynn. And those words had affected him in the worst way, just when he was going through a tough moment in his life feeling being left out by Lynn. Just imagining about Lincoln's pain enraged Luna. It was unfair. And it was really easy to be angry with Lynn right now.

But she loved her too. And even as angry as she was, she noticed that Lynn looked terrible herself.

"Are you ok?" She asked her.

Lynn looked up and tried to smile, failing miserably at it.

"I broke up with Ryan" she said, and she blinked a couple of times to stop a treacherous tear from escaping her eyes.

Luna quickly forgot her anger with Lynn. She saw the sadness and confusion she was going through, and she felt pity for her.

"Lynn, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

The younger Loud sister didn't stayed there to hear Luna. She turned around and quickly entered the house, barely avoiding being ran over by the twins, going through one of Lisa's explosions and dodging one of Luan's flying pies. She ran up the stairs and stopped in the middle of the hall. Slowly, real slowly, she walked to the last door on the hall. Her brain stopped registering all the noise coming from the house. It was like the house was empty. She was oblivious to anything but one thing, one room, and the one inside it.

Lincoln didn't remember ever feeling so miserable in his life.

It was like the simple act of living was painful. It wasn't just his left eye, all black and swollen. It was a general sensation, like all the cells in his body had decided to work at fifty per cent their capacities. He didn't have any energy left, he had no motivation, nothing. He felt worse than that time when he accidentally broke Leni's sewing machine. She wasn't angry with him, since it had really been an accident, but seeing her so sad had devastated him. He was utterly depressed for a week, until Leni talked with him and assured him that she didn't blamed him. He knew that Lori had sent her, but still, that little talked really made him feel better.

But he was now almost sure that we wouldn't be getting any kind of talk this time. Maybe Lynn would apologize. Lori would probably force her to do it sooner or later. But he wasn't hurt over his swollen eye, he wasn't even mad about her making fun of his habit of reading comics in his underwear. What really made him feel depressed was the fact that she might have been serious when she told him that she only liked him because he was her brother. He started to think about how would it be if they weren't related at all. Would Lynn even bother to talk to him? Why would she? He had nothing that she could consider worthy of her attention. If she spend time with him it was only because nobody else was willing to train with her.

And that idea was like a blade cutting right through his heart. Because he did enjoyed being with her. Just chilling out, beyond any fun activity they could do. They didn't even need to talk. Just by sitting next to her, watching a movie or taking a nap under a tree he was already the happiest boy in the world. At some point, he'd always thought that she felt the same way. But he wasn't as sure as before.

Someone knocked on his door. He sighed, tired. It was probably Lucy. He only told her to leave him alone three times, so maybe she didn't had it as clear as his other sisters, whom he'd told them at least five times each. He decided to ignore her. She would eventually get bored and walked away.

"Lincoln?"

His whole world collapsed when he heard Lynn's voice. His body, that had forgotten about how to live, shook like it had received an electric shock. It was his sister's voice, and she sounded worried. What should he do? Let her come in or ignore her? He wanted to see her. His heart was screaming at him to open the door and let her in. But he was so hurt, he felt so bad, that he wasn't sure he was ready to see her again. Not yet. He laid on his bed, grabbing his pillow and pressing it against his face.

"I know you're in there" she said, and he realized that the pillow wouldn't protect him this time. "You probably hate me right now, and I can't blame you."

He wanted to stand up and tell her the truth. That no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't hate her. Things would be so much easier if he could hate her. But he loved her too much, and that was a problem.

"I'm sorry for hitting you" she continued. "I'm so, so sorry. And all those things I said… None of that was true. I swear. You're my brother, and I love you. You're not stupid, or whatever I told you. I don't even know what I said, because I didn't mean it. You're definitely better than any boy I've ever met and I… I… I just hope that someday I can find someone half as good for me as you are."

That did it. Lincoln didn't thought that he had any tear left to cry after last night, but his body had seemingly reloaded his eyes. He didn't know if he was happy, sad, or how was he actually feeling, but he cried once again. He was too sensible, too vulnerable. There was no way in telling if she was being honest or just apologizing. It wasn't like her to apologize so effusively. But part of him wanted to believe that she was being honest, and he held on to that hope.

"I'm sorry about anything I said. And I'm sorry for ignoring you. Lincoln, I'm sorry."

That's when he noticed that something was wrong. She sounded like she was about to cry. Like she was actually holding back her tears.

"And just so you know, you were right" she told him, and he definitely could hear her starting to sob. "Ryan was a jerk. And… I broke up with him. You were right."

The last words were barely a whisper, and he was surprised that he could hear them through the door. He heard her sobbing again, and then she ran away from his door.

Lincoln was dumbfounded. Lynn broke up with Ryan? That didn't make any sense. She was so in love with him. Just a few days back she'd assured him that she was happy with him. She left him because of their incident the day before? Maybe she had realized that Ryan didn't deserved him. Maybe the things Lincoln told her helped her to see things in a different way, not being blinded by love anymore. If that was it, then his black eye had been totally worth it. He should've been happy now that Lynn wasn't dating that boy he hated so much. He should be cheered up.

But he was mostly worried by the sadness he heard in his sister's voice. She sounded devastated. And Lincoln understood that even if he had a perhaps exaggerated animosity for Ryan, he'd been Lynn's first boyfriend. Of course she was feeling sad for breaking up with him. Specially if she still felt something for him. Lincoln started to think: what if Lynn had broke up with Ryan because of him? What if Lynn actually loved Ryan and was just breaking up with him for his fault, for their fight the day before? He felt suddenly guilty. As much as he hated seeing her with that boy, it was much worse to know that he'd interfered in her relationship with him. If Lynn was now crying because of him, he could never forgive himself.

He stood up and started to move away all the things that were blocking his door. When he finally opened it and went to the hall, he found all his sisters outside Lynn's room, looking from the doorway. They didn't saw him until he positioned himself right next to them and asked them what was going on. With the exception of Lucy, they all jumped on their feet. They weren't expecting him to finally come out of his room. Leni told him that Lynn was crying, and that broke whatever was left of Lincoln's heart.

"I need to talk with her" he said, convinced that he was the one that had to do it.

"I wouldn't do it now, Lincoln" Luan warned him. "She's very sentimental right now."

"Yeah, and she might throw you something if you go in there", Lola said, worried about him.

Lincoln gulped, but he shook his head.

"I have to do it."

"But Lincoln..." Started Lana, pointing at his swollen eye.

"She already apologized with me. Please… Let me do it" he begged, staring directly at Lori.

He knew she would have the final word in it, so he stared at her, pleading her with his look. His elder sister consider it, trying to discern what was the best decision to make. She finally sighed.

"She needs someone to talk to" she said, looking at all her sisters, "but she won't listen to us. She needs Lincoln."

Her younger sisters didn't looked fully convinced, but the older ones assured them that Lincoln was going to be okay, and that it would really help Lynn. They all promised to leave them alone so they could settle any unfinished business between them. After they left him alone, he took a deep breath and entered his sister's room, closing the door behind him.

There she was, snuggled up on her bed while hugging her pillow, facing away from Lincoln. Her shoulders were slowly convulsing, and he could hear her sobs.

"Go away" she said hoarsely, not even turning around to see who had entered her room.

"Lynn, it's me."

If finding out it was her brother affected her in any way, she didn't let him know. She kept staring at the wall, not even attempting to turn around and see him. Lincoln slowly approached his sister's bed, preparing to cover his face if she decided to throw him anything. But the distance between them became shorter and shorter, and he wasn't attacked. He delicately sat besides her, careful not to touch her. He just stayed there for a few moments. It hurt to see her like that. It hurt deep within his heart. It was hurting him because he loved her, and he hated to see her like that. He slowly moved his hand and put it on Lynn's shoulder.

His touch seemed to wake her up. She turned around and jumped right onto Lincoln's arms, who was so surprised that he fell back on the bed. They ended up both lying on the bed upside down. Lynn wrapped her arms around him, with her face against his chest. He immediately felt his polo shirt starting to get wet. Without hesitating, he hugged her tightly and softly at the same time. He rested his cheek on her head and let her cry.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed that way. It was probably less than ten minutes, but he could've stayed like that for as many hours as necessary. Tentatively, he put a hand on Lynn's hair and started to gently caress it. He wasn't sure about why was he doing that. He kinda remembered Leni doing the same thing to him when he was sad. He kept doing it, and his caressing seemed to slowly calm Lynn down. After a while she stopped crying, but still kept her head on Lincoln's chest.

"I'm sorry" she said, taking him by surprise.

"Lynn..."

"You were right about Ryan. We weren't in love. Not really."

Lincoln sighed, holding her tightly against his chest.

"This isn't what I wanted" he said, with guilt in his voice. "I didn't wanted to be this way, with you crying. I just wanted you to be happy."

"I know. I know. That's why I feel so bad with myself."

He felt her clenching her fist on his shirt, completely wrinkling it.

"You were just so worried about me, and I acted like… Like a jerk."

"Don't be so hard on yourself" he told her in a whisper. "I was wrong too. I shouldn't have been snooping with your phone. And who you're dating with… Well, that's your business. I shouldn't meddle. It's just that..."

He trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished. He almost slipped. He was about to say something he didn't really wanted to admit to her. Not for now, at least. But his bad luck made his sister hear him and notice his dubitation.

"What?" She asked, looking up for the first time right into his eyes.

Lincoln thought that his heart had completely broken when he saw her crying on her bed, but after seeing her red, exhausted and puffy eyes, he felt how that small piece of heart he didn't know he still had finally broke too. He was just too exhausted and weak to lie or try to change the topic. He took a deep breath and looked at her eyes.

"I was jealous" he admitted, looking away when he felt his cheeks burning. He could only imagine his own blush.

Uncomfortable, he started to look anywhere, trying not to think about how would Lynn react to what he'd just admitted. It didn't helped him at all hearing her softly laughing. One part of him felt suddenly happy for cheering her up a little, but he was mostly terrible embarrassed.

"Jealous?" She asked, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "From Ryan?"

"Well… Yeah."

She chuckled again, a little louder this time, and Lincoln was pretty sure that his face was as red as it could get.

"You're a doofus" she told him, leaning over her forearms to raise herself a little. "Why would you be jealous? It doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it does" he quickly said, not being able to conceal his feeling anymore. "How couldn't I get jealous? You were together all day long."

Lynn's smile hesitated.

"I'm really sorry, Lincoln. I didn't wanted to make you feel that way."

"It's not your fault. It's okay that you wanted to be with your boyfriend. Besides… I mean, I know I can't compete with someone like that."

"Compete? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I understand that you prefer to spend your time with someone like that, whether he's your boyfriend or not" he explained. "You know, someone as athletic as you, someone who can keep up with you. I'm just a puny little kid, a total failure at sports. I understand what you meant when you said you only spend time with me becau… OUCH! Lynn, what the heck?"

She looked slightly pissed off, with her fist still raised, prepared to give him another punch in the shoulder.

"I already told you that I didn't mean those nasty things I said."

For a second, Lincoln thought that she would punch him again, so he closed his eyes and prepared himself for the impact. Instead, he felt her moving slightly on the bed, and then he felt a little kiss on his cheek. He opened his eyes and saw her hugging him once again, resting her head on his right shoulder.

"You know why I broke up with Ryan?" She asked him, whispering in his ear.

Lincoln was too flustered to answer. He could barely shake his head as if to say 'no'.

"He was… Well, he is a very handsome boy, and we had a lot of things in common. But I don't want to be with just a pretty face. I want someone who loves me for what I am. Someone who can be there for me no matter what. Someone that… Even if I ignore him for a while, punch him the face and tell him horrible things… Even then he still comes to see me when I'm sad. He had none of those things. Believe me, you shouldn't envy him; if anything, he ought to try to be more like you."

Lincoln could only hope that Lisa had some spare pacemaker in her room, because his heart was having some troubles working correctly. In just a matter of minutes he'd been though every possible emotional state, from the deepest sadness to an immeasurable joy. He was too embarrassed to see his sister. He looked away to her nightstand. He was about to look somewhere else when he found something that left him astonished.

He gently pushed Lynn away. He sat and stretched his hand, grabbing the small object inside the open box. He'd seen that box before, it was always on Lynn's shelf. He always assumed it contained something like her first medal, or some signed baseball card. But what he was holding right now… Two months ago, he wouldn't have recognized it. He would've found it odd, but he would just shrugged it off. But now, after that afternoon in Luan and Luna's room, he remembered it.

He kept staring at the little toy ring for a few seconds. He couldn't believe it.

"This..."

He turned around to see Lynn. She was sitting against the wall, with her knees against her chest. She was completely blushed, and he realized that it was something really personal for her, like a deep secret. His mind was barely beginning to understand the implications behind that revelation.

"Is this…?" He started to say, but he was too shocked to finish the question.

Lynn looked down, but she was looking at Lincoln almost with the corner of her eye, trying to see his reaction. He didn't need her to respond. He knew right away that it was the very same ring that appeared on Luan's videotape, from where they were both little kids sharing the same room.

"Lynn… You kept this all along? All these years?"

She didn't answer him right away. Instead, she slowly crawled neared him and took his hand in hers. She interlaced their fingers, and with her free hand she gently took the ring from him. She grabbed it and started to inspect it, looking at it with affection and nostalgia.

"I didn't think you'd remember this" she finally said.

"I-I don't… Well… I didn't" he admitted, a little nervous. "Luan showed me a video, like, a week ago. I was… I was feeling bad, and I… Well..."

"You went to talk with Luna and Luan."

Lynn remembered Luna's words. 'He wanted to be happy for you, but he couldn't, and that made him fell miserable', she'd told her.

"You were jealous of Ryan" she finished, starting to understand what had been Lincoln going through this last few weeks.

"Yes" he said, wondering how did she knew that. "And they told me… They told me that whenever I feel jealous of a boy, I should remember that I was… That I was your first b-boyfriend."

They both remained in silence. They were looking at the ring Lynn was holding, without saying anything. Lincoln could feel his palm sweating a little, and he hoped that Lynn didn't notice it, since he liked to be holding hands with her. He thought that his body may have forgotten about how to breath. He could only breath in again when he saw his sister grabbing the ring and slipping it in one finger. Their eyes met, and Lincoln could feel the energy. A magnetism he'd never experienced before.

"Lincoln, don't you ever, EVER feel jealous" she told him, dead serious. "You're my little brother. There's no one in the world I could ever love more."

He couldn't help it. His whole body started to shake. He wanted to cry, but at the same time he felt like he had won the game of life. His eleven years old mind was saturated with emotions he didn't understand, that he hadn't experienced before. They were still holding hands, and he squeezed her a little. Lynn leaned closer and put a hand on his chest. Applying a little pressure, she pushed him down.

"I thought I was in love with Ryan because I felt good being with him. Physically, I mean" she said, not wanting to give much details, but assuming he already knew about that kind of things. "But he didn't make me feel half the things I feel when I'm with you. With you I'm happy. Really happy."

Lynn was laying right next to him, with their faces only inches apart. Lincoln found himself lost in his sister's eyes. Even after crying, even now that they were being filled with tears once again, they were still the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen.

"I'm sure that when you get a girlfriend she'll be the luckiest girl in the world" she continued, almost whispering.

"Y-You also… I-I mean… Y-You m-m-make me… When I'm with y-you… I..."

She put a finger over his lips, silencing him and saving him from his stammering. She smiled at him.

"I wish that I can find someday someone as half as good as you are. Until then…" she said, raising her hand and showing him her toy ring "...I know there'll be someone who loves me for who I am."

Lincoln saw it all in slow motion. He saw Lynn leaning in. He saw her closing her eyes and tilting her head. Then he felt her tear rolling down his own cheek, and her closed lips touching his for a second. Less than a second. It was probably a shorter peck than the one he'd given her in the video when they were kids. It was just an instant, but it echoed inside his heart for a long time.

He didn't found it odd, he didn't felt it was weird. There was definitely nothing sexual on that peck, there wasn't even a romantic feeling. It was just a small peck between two siblings who loved each other. He perfectly understood why did Lynn did it, because he was feeling the same things as her. It had been simply the expression of the love they had for each other. A fraternal love, probably one of the most pure and beautiful bonds. It wasn't stronger or weaker than the bond he shared with the rest of his sisters. He loved the all the same. But maybe because of the age gap, he could only be this affectionate with Lynn. And right then, at that precise moment, there was nothing else in the world but the two of them. Lynn and Lincoln.

He wrapped his arms around her. Any doubt, any feat, insecurity or sadness he might have felt until then was suddenly gone. The only thing he could feel, no matter how absurd, complex and abstract it sounded, was that he was complete. Being there like that, snuggling with his sister, he felt that he'd found his place in the world. As long as they stayed together, nothing could ever be wrong.

She would be dating other guys, and he would eventually get a girlfriend. But no matter the circumstances, they would always had each other. Nothing could ever separate them.

"I love you, Lincoln."

"I love you too, Lynn."

"Guys? Are you okay?" Lori asked, opening the door.

Her sisters poked in along with her. It had been almost an hour since Lincoln had entered Lynn's room, and everything had been awfully quiet for a while. They were slightly worried, and while the younger sisters were spread throughout the house, Lori, Leni, Luna and Luan decided to check on Lincoln and Lynn. However, any kind of worry they had disappeared when they saw the scene before them. They all let out a sigh, as a smile spread across their faces.

"I'll get my camera, this goes straight to the golden box" Luan whispered, heading right to her room.

Leni and Lori took out their phones and started to take some pictures. They wouldn't upload them to their social media, but it was such a beautiful picture, they needed to have any kind of record. After photographing and recording the scene, they all abandoned the room, silently closing the door.

Over Lynn's bed, she and Lincoln were sleeping together. He was holding her in an embrace like she was his bunny Bun-Bun, and she had her head on his chest like it was the best pillow in the world. Their siblings had of course noticed Lynn's ring. But most importantly, they noticed the big smile both kids had on their faces, even in their sleep. They were just too happy to be with the one they love the most.

They were, after all, with their first love.

The end.

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I basically noticed two major complains in the spanish version:

1) That Lynn and Lincoln's kiss in the end was totally incest and they were not ready for something so lewd coming out of nowhere in just a T rated story. With all due respect, it was just a peck, a little peck on the lips that lasted less than a second. Lincoln is 11, no matter how mature he is, he's just a little boy, you know. And they were both in a total emotional state of mind. If it really bothers you that much, then I don't know, maybe I'm sick, but I don't really think it's that bad.

2) Ryan was a stupidly cliche character. And they're right. I warned you (and them) about it. As I was writing the story I thought about Ryan being a cocky but nice guy. And the end was pretty much the same except that Lynn was still dating Ryan and Lincoln just had to deal with it. But it's a fanfiction I wrote so I could relax a little from writing Requiem, so I did what I thought was fun for me to write, and not what I thought would be the most mature and poetic decision. Kill me for it.

But I want to read your opinions. Was it too long? Was it poorly translated? Was it a boring story that basically did nothing? Or did you actually felt something at some point? What was your favorite part? What was the worst part in your opinion?

I feed on the reviews, I like to know what people think about what I write, even if I'm just writing for fun, nothing serious. I'll see you soon. Maybe I'll see you in Requiem's next chapter, or maybe in the Halloween story I'm planning to write. Anyway, see ya!