33. Emotional Shift(2)

The white-haired child gave a neutral look. "What was the reason for that?"

"Well...it worked out when me and Lucy were fighting that one time, but I brought up that you didn't like me sleeping in your room that much. So to save you the trouble, it'd only be temporary. Even though it happened 3 times..." Lynn muttered the last part in embarrassment.

Lincoln's nostrils flared a little as he pursed his lips. "Ok...but why did you guys have to use my bed sheets as a divider for Lori and Leni's room?"

Lynn gave a slight pause and held her mouth open as if she was about to speak. However, she closed it when nothing valid came to mind. It was agreed that using Lincoln's bedding was stupid in of itself given that there were extra sheets in the basement as their mom pointed out a while ago. So, the only logical conclusion was, "...We didn't really think that through, and Mom got mad at us for doing that when she found out cause we had spares in the basement..."

A wave of heat flashed through Lincoln for a few seconds before it dissipated. He jolted for a second after it wore off, feeling a bit unsettled.

"And the last level of course, was Erupting Volcano. I don't think I need to tell you what that means; you were there when it happened I think."

Lincoln let his shoulders sag a little. "Yeah...everyone started fighting no matter who was doing what..."

"Yeah..." Lynn rubbed the back of her head. "After that, we went to Mom and Dad to get their opinion on it and they said it was cool; they were happy we were taking charge in fixing our mess, but I kinda think they just didn't want to always settle our fights. Would've helped during the one time we actually used that stupid protocol..."

Lincoln's eyes widened a bit. "That was the only time it was used?"

Lynn gave a low nod.

"So, does that mean everyone just forgot to tell me about it?"

Unfortunately, Lynn shook her head. "We didn't forget...since you hardly get into fights with us, we..." The girl gave a frustrated groan. "We didn't want you to get caught up in our bullshit, ok? Sorry about swearing, but that's the only way I can say it. Sometimes we argue over the stupidest things like Lori and Leni with that dress, and we thought you wouldn't really understand and find it stupid. And you were right Lincoln, it was pretty stupid. But both Lori and Leni wouldn't shut up about who bought the dress first, so we enacted the protocol so they'd stop screaming at each other."

Lincoln bit his cheek again. Getting the two warring parties to stop complaining was one thing, and he himself knew fighting over wearing the same dress was dumb. Now that he reflected on it, he heard Lori wanted Leni to take her dress back even though she was already wearing one. His hands softly curled into fists while his eyebrows tilted down. This was starting to sound like the whole fight started because of a stupid pride thing between his older sisters; wouldn't be the first time, especially with Lori...

"Ok..." The boy nodded. "So, what was the real reason you guys wouldn't let me watch TV that time?" Unbeknownst to him, there was a hint of irritation in his tone.

Lynn picked up on it, a look of concern showing on her face. Still, she needed to answer for that. "We were taking extra precautions. Plus, Luna tried doing a jam session whilst Lori was trying to cool down, and almost took a mirror to the face. So when Hissing Cat is active, we make sure the angry person has a place to themselves." Lynn slumped in her seat a bit. "Even though our choice of rooms was poor..."

Lincoln's gaze softened at that. "Ok, so they didn't want me to draw any anger from Lori..." His breath hitched for a second. "Even though I ended up making ALL of them mad..." The boy breathed in through his mouth before letting a sigh escape him. "Ok...if it isn't too much trouble, I have two more questions..."

"Feel free to ask." Lynn replied, unfolding her arms and letting them fall into her lap.

"W-Why did you guys do it?..." Lincoln asked. Lynn raised a brow, which the boy knew he'd have to be more specific. "Why did you guys hurt me like that? I didn't..." He took a moment to try and a take a calming breath, a wet sensation building in his eyes. "I didn't mean to insult you guys like that, but I was just tired of everything I went through that weekend...and on top of that, why didn't anyone stop the protocol if it wasn't working?..."

"Was wondering when he'd say that..." Lynn sighed inwardly, staring at the carpet like she was just convicted of murder.

"...Lincoln, you probably know as well as I do that me and our other sisters are more aggressive than we'd like to imagine." The athlete's voice was solemn and neutral. "All of us weren't thinking straight that day; we just kept arguing over who was right, this and that, and being too stubborn to back off and shut up when we really needed to. Then, because you kept spilling secrets, we suddenly got the idea that it was your fault."

"You're not wrong though..." Lincoln gripped his arms as he blinked back tears. "If it wasn't for me, it wouldn't have happened..."

Lynn gave a light huff. "Maybe...but you weren't wrong. We were practically dumber than Leni for thinking our system would work with more than 4 sisters having problems, and we had too few people to manage it. It's like trying to set up a defense on the line, but you put the linebackers in the wrong place. All that anger we would've thrown at each other ended up being given to you, and we practically broke you..." She shook as little as she breathed in deep. "You actually could've escaped once you made it past us." The teen glanced down at her hands as her brows knitted together. "But I ruined it and caught you..."

Neither child said anything for a few moments. For Lincoln, he was too busy absorbing all the information he was given to voice his opinion, and Lynn decided to see if he wanted to talk more before she could continue. Miranda looked between them, wondering if either child had more to say; it certainly seemed like it given their body language. However, her attention was focused elsewhere as the phone on her desk rang. "Excuse me for a moment."

The Louds watched as the therapist lifted the receiver out of the cradle. "Dr. Lopez, how may I help you?...Yes...Ok, great. Uh," The woman looked up at the clock that hung on the wall. "Give me a couple minutes, I'm still with two other clients." Miranda set the phone back down before making her way over. "Ok kids, unfortunately we'll have to wrap this up soon as I have another person here for their appointment." She sat back in her chair. "Is there anything else you two want to say to each other before we finish?"

Lynn gave a short nod before locking eyes with her brother. "I know you may not believe me, and I know I can't speak on behalf of our sisters, but I'm really sorry about everything I've done to you..." She paused to collect her thoughts. "I believe we can both agree that I've been messing up our relationship long before this mess, and I didn't notice it until I realized how much you mean to me as a brother. You probably think of me as some blowhard whose ego is the size of Texas and only cares about winning; you also may think I pick on you a lot just because you're an easy target. But, none of those are true. I just miss the times we used to play together when we were very young, like around the time Lucy was born you know? I mean, you probably don't remember much about them, but I never forgot..."

Lincoln didn't say anything, but the attentive gaze he was giving Lynn clued her in that he was considering her words at the very least. "I'm sorry that I broke your arm..." She flashed a little smile at him. "And it's nice that you don't have to wear a cast anymore." Lynn frowned a bit as her brother shifted his right arm over his left, wrapping his fingers around the elbow. "Ok ok, you're still a bit touchy about it. But, just keep in mind that none of your sisters are trying to hurt you. We haven't ever since you ended up the hospital, and you can imagine what kind of punishment Mom and Dad slapped on us from Day 1." The jock flinched a little as she nearly forgot one last detail. "Oh, and if you're gonna do something like this again...can you please ask for Luan next? She's got a lot on her plate that she wants to get off her chest, and I'm pretty sure you can imagine what it is."

The mention of Luan almost immediately made Lincoln flashback to what happened on April Fools day, and the subsequent days after as he patiently waited for his real eyebrows and hair to grow back. "She probably wants to apologize for the pranks she pulled that day." Lincoln squinted his eyes a little as a more, heated thought came to him. "Though, she didn't say sorry during the time I pretended she wasn't around..."

The Loud Boy shifted his mouth slightly as he reflected on the other answers Lynn had given him. He didn't detect any subtle hints of malice or dishonesty, and with someone like Lynn, it was quite easy to spot. Lincoln knew very well Lynn could easily get him to agree to something with the threat of using him as a practice dummy; something she outright admitted was wrong about herself. On top of that, he had a much better understanding as to why the Sister Fight Protocol had eluded him for so long. That was why he tried so hard to fix things and only resulted in making it worse. Even so, the fact they neglected to tell him about the protocol in the first place also meant part of the blame fell to his sisters.

The boy breathed in deep before he uttered a short reply to his sister. "Ok...but I wanna take some time to think about it..."

Lynn became a bit uneasy at the even tone her brother added to his response, but at least he sort of agreed to her request. A few minutes later, and in a shocking turn of events, both kids would even find themselves riding back to their respective abodes in Vanzilla. Lincoln thought about waiting for Mr. McBride for a ride, but figured he could ride in the very back of the family wagon if Lynn sat in the front passenger seat. Call him cautious, which he still was, but he also wanted some alone time to think. Their mother asked how the session went, but neither child gave too many details.

For Lynn, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest, and felt somewhat at ease knowing that Lincoln was willing to hear her out so she could get the message through to him. But she still felt it would probably take years before Lincoln would even consider trusting her and her sisters. The athlete also noted how her brother seemed to look as if he was growing annoyed throughout the session, and sometimes it looked as if he was having an argument within himself on how he should be feeling about what they discussed.

In fact, the tomboy ought to give herself a trophy for 'Most Intuitive Sister', as that was exactly what Lincoln was going through right now. He continued to reflect on what Lynn told him about the Sister Fight Protocol and the answers as to how and why it happened. More importantly, he was given a straight answer as to why the girls were so vicious to him that day. And yet...despite the truth being revealed to him (as subjective as it was in his opinion), they weren't exactly the answers he was hoping to hear. The girls intent sounded good on paper, but appears they didn't consider everything before putting the protocol to use. Lincoln could attest that he has that problem as well whenever he thinks of a scheme, but on a scale like this, Lincoln repeatedly found himself referring back to the protocol as a whole and how the girls were so adamant at trying to make a failing system work.

Now, Lincoln was well aware of his own faults after having glossed over them repeatedly in the weeks before. He would admit he should've kept his mouth shut and let the girls do their thing during the first go around; especially when he caused the second bare knuckle brawl. He could even understand someone needing space, and like Lynn said, it was stupid for them to block off the kitchen and only bathroom just because one person was having a fit in a house full of 13 people.

But biggest problem Lincoln could point out with SFP is the fact his sisters outright refused to explain it to him in advance. Weeks back, Lincoln admitted he thought his passion was the help his sisters; something he thought was being lost due to the protocol in place. Today though, he could tell you that he's looking into drawing more with all the praise he's been given for the little art he's done thus far. But that wasn't what was becoming a point of contention. The lack of information when it would've been useful was what bothered him.

And it wasn't like the girls forgot to tell him either, because they quote-unquote, did not want him to get caught up in their BS. Ok fine, Lincoln would appreciate that; but by not telling him about it, he was inconvenienced a grand total of four times (if you count him being forced to leave the house due to the brawl) and he had an easy solution to the problem. Not to mention he was practically inclined to get involved when they took his room from him twice and stole his bedding.

Speaking of his room, Lincoln was beginning to have a difficult time seeing why any other alternatives weren't suggested; he mentally kicked himself for not asking earlier. There were a total of 6 bed rooms in the house: 5 upstairs and the parents room on the ground floor. If the girls were so pressed to hide someone in a room, why exactly did it have to be his comparatively small space? They couldn't just put the feuding person in any of the other, more spacious bedrooms for a few minutes? Plus, when you think about it, there are at least 3 other bedrooms you would pass before you reach his own if coming from the stairs. And yet, the girls bypassed all of them just to reach his?

Adding onto that, Lincoln still didn't get what was so hard to understand about Lori and Leni having an ego contest by wearing a brand new dress. They can share the same room, but not the same clothing? He knew his sisters could be childish, but really? And how exactly were his parents ok with all of this? Did they even know what their daughters were having a fit over? And one last thing to note,

Lincoln blinked a few times as he felt a dull ache coming from just below his forehead and lower jaw. He had been completely unaware that there was a scowl on his face the entire time, along with his knuckles turning white due to grasping his jeans too hard and silently grinding his teeth together. So many more questions that needed to be asked, and yet the boy found himself becoming more and more bitter the longer he kept picking apart the protocol with regular common sense.

It was at this point that, for the first time in what seemed like forever, the Loud boy realized he had been expressing an emotion he thought he wouldn't feel towards his sisters again; and it what got his butt kicked in the first place.

Anger...

A/N: On a wheel diagram that shows the basic emotions of people, Anger and Fear are placed directly opposite of one another. When you begin to lose fear towards the object that is giving you distress, more often then not, you may start to express annoyance or hatred depending on what it is. For insects, this is very common. I used to fear bees, but grew to like the honeybees. Wasps and hornets can fuck off though. If it's towards large animals like say, dogs, people usually either learn to be apprehensive of them or eventually learn to love them.

For Lincoln, he had been so caught up with his fear that he hadn't had time to actually express his annoyance at the situation. Sure, he did at the very beginning, but that was quickly cut off as we all know. Now that he knows more about the circumstances that surrounded the protocol and as you can see from him picking at it in his head, that particular emotion is beginning to resurface. Now, that doesn't mean Lincoln is no longer afraid of his sisters. He might be willing to approach them on a one on one basis, but more than that is still a no-go for him. However, this may make up a bit emotionally imbalanced if he is constantly trying to figure out whether he should be mad or afraid.

Edit: Since a few kept bringing up the error in terms of the date of Lincoln's dream, I fixed that.