13. Ch 13- More Mall Mischief

While Lincoln went with Jordan so she could pay for her new shirt, Lori was keeping an eye on her brother, watching for his movements and his facial expressions. After the girl paid for it, Lincoln seemed to offer to carry her bag, and while she gave a bit of a laugh, she gratefully accepted it, before the two walked off to meet up with their other friends. Lori grinned the whole time as she pulled out her phone and dialled. "Hey, Luan," she spoke. "Lincoln's just about to leave the store with his friends, so keep an eye open, okay?" When the comedienne responded with a pun, a laugh and a "get it", the high school senior groaned. "Whatever. Just let me know what you see." With that, she hung up and returned the phone to her pocket. "Now, I need to find some shoes for my next city date with my Boo Boo Bear."

She walked around a bit, before finding her roommate looking at a rack of dress shirts. "Leni, there you are. I need your help choosing some shoes for-" she stopped when she noticed how her sister seemed to be just looking at the same shirt with little interest. "Leni? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she quietly replied, concerning the older girl.

"Leni, you're looking at a shirt that's literally half off, and you look like you couldn't care less!"

The fashionista sighed, before looking to Lori with a frown. "Are we doing the right thing by watching Linky like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I don't think he likes us doing this. He was telling me that-"

"Leni, you weren't supposed to talk to him!"

Leni's frown grew. "Sorry. I just saw a jacket I thought he'd like and went to show it to him. He was giving Jordan his opinion on a shirt she was trying, and I asked him if he thought she was pretty. He told me that he didn't want us watching him like this, because he thought she might be uncomfortable around him because of us."

Lori didn't answer right away, taking a moment to think about it. 'That's actually really sweet,' she thought to herself. 'He definitely cares about her, that's for sure.' Shaking her head lightly, she returned her gaze to her next youngest sister. "Look, Leni, I'm sorry for snapping at you. From what he said, it's obvious he cares about her, so maybe he does like her."

"But, I don't want to make Linky mad at me."

Lori offered her a caring smile. "We won't, I promise. Once we've heard from the others about what they think, we'll back off a bit, but we still need to watch them today."

"I don't know, Lori."

"Well, look at it this way. What about if she likes him? We don't want our little brother to break her heart, do we?"

Leni blinked in realisation. "I guess so." She smiled again, which relieved the eldest Loud sister. "Thanks, Lori."

"No problem, Leni."

While they returned to shopping in Reininger's, Lincoln and the others were walking towards the next shop, which was the comic book shop, since it was the closest one to the department store. While they did so, however, Luan caught sight of her brother. "Lincoln! Could you come over here a second?" She called to the boy.

"One second, girls," he told them, before he walked over to his sister. "What's up?"

"I know you're hanging with your friends, but I really need to pee, and I can't take Lily with me. It's not like we're both in diapers." She laughed at her joke, before returning to her serious demeanour. "Seriously, though, if I don't go quickly, there's gonna be two fountains in this part of the mall. Please?"

"Seriously? Why can't the others watch her?"

"I tried, but they kept on walking like they didn't hear me."

Lincoln scoffed. "Now you know what it's like for me each time we do this."

She frowned. "That's cold, Lincoln." He raised an eyebrow and waited until she groaned and threw her head back. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry that we always leave you with Lily when we go to the mall. It's just that Lily tends to be less fussy with you."

He relented upon hearing this. "Okay, I'm sorry too. I'll watch her, but be back soon."

"Thanks, Lincoln."

Before he could respond, the comedienne took off at a brisk pace in the direction of the nearest restroom. As he sat down on the bench, he saw that his friends were walking over to him. "My sister needed the bathroom, so I'm gonna watch a Lily for a few minutes. You guys can go on and I'll catch up if you like."

Joy looked like she was going to speak, but Jordan cut her off. "Don't be silly, Lincoln, we're not going to ditch you." She sat down with the boy and looked at the baby sat in the stroller. "This is your youngest sister, right?"

"Uh Huh. This is Lily." He saw that the infant was reaching for him, so he undid the buckle and picked her up. "Hi, Lily. Missed me?"

"Poo poo," she responded, which was met with coos from Lincoln's friends.

"She's adorable!" Sadie sighed.

"She really is," Jordan added. She then noticed Lily looking at her and gave her a small wave. "Hi there." Lily smiled at this and began to reach out to the girl with the braided ponytail. "Huh?"

"I think she wants you to hold her." Jordan looked a bit nervous when he said this. "It's alright."

"I don't know, Lincoln, I don't want to hurt her."

"You won't."

"Go for it, Jordan!" Mollie encouraged, which was met with nods from the others.

"O-okay, then." She held her arms out, and Lincoln helped her to take hold of the youngest Loud, letting go once she felt comfortable enough holding her. After a few seconds, Jordan smiled again. "Hi there, Lily. My name's Jordan."

"Ora!" She tried to say, which just seemed adorable to the girls, and even a bit to Lincoln, especially when Lily hugged her. "Aww… you're just precious." She looked over at the baby's brother. "How old is she?"

"She's a bit over one and a half," Lincoln answered.

While the girls continued to talk innocently with the infant, Luan eventually emerged from the bathroom and began to walk back to where she had left Lily with their brother. When they were in sight, however, she saw how the infant was giggling in the braided haired girl's grasp, and how Jordan was smiling back. The comedienne didn't fail to notice the smile on her brother's face either, and how his gaze was more at his friend than his younger sister, which made her smirk. "Just friends, huh?" She said to herself, before walking over to the group. "Thanks for that, Lincoln," she told the boy.

"No problem, Luan," he replied.

"She is just precious!" Jordan told the brunette. "Seriously, she's the cutest little thing!"

"Yep! Until she messes up her diaper, that is. That happens, and it can really mess with that idea." Luan laughed to herself. "Get it?"

The girls all had the same reaction as Lincoln and groaned in response to the joke. "Well, it's been nice meeting you, Luan," Jordan said as she placed Lily back in her stroller, "and it's been so much fun meeting you, Lily!" The gargled response that Lily gave was met with coos from the sixth grade girls. "Anyway, we better move on, or I'll be stuck here forever."

Lincoln nodded, then began to walk off with his friends. "See you later, Link!" Luan called as they walked off, her brother waving back. After he was far enough away, Luan pulled her phone out and dialled a number, before placing it next to her ear to speak. "Lynn, Lincoln's headed your way- get your head in the game!" Once again, she laughed and asked the athletic girl, "Get it?"

"Whatever," Lynn responded with a groan, before hanging up. The middle schooler had agreed to watch from inside the comic book store with Lucy, because it was next to the sports clothing store, and because Lucy had been recommended a vampire manga by a member of the morticians' club, so it wouldn't be hard to excuse themselves. However, that didn't mean Lynn would just stand there so her brother could easily see her. Instead, she stood behind the ends of the stands, peering out over the edge. Her crutches made this a little more difficult, but she found a way to manage. As her brother and his friends entered the store, she watched them carefully. 'Okay, bro, it's go time.'

Oblivious to his closest-aged sister's presence, Lincoln turned to his friends. "So, what do you guys want to look for?"

"I'll be honest, comics aren't really my things," Sadie replied, to which Joy nodded her head in agreement. "They're okay, they're just not my thing."

"That's fair."

"I'm gonna see if they have any Kill Book manga," Kat answered next. "I haven't read any before, but I recently got into the show on Flakyroll, so I'm curious."

"I think I'll join you," Mollie added, before the two walked away.

"What about you, Lincoln?" Jordan asked. "What are you looking for?"

"Well, I usually get the new Ace Savvy on Wednesdays, so I think I'll see if there's a new Muscle Fish out."

"Muscle Fish? I think I've heard of it, but I don't think I've ever seen one."

"Really? I could show you, if you like."

"Sure!" He led her towards one of the racks of comics, and when he showed her where the Muscle Fish comics were, she noticed that he Ace Savvy comics were just next to them. "Does Bill Buck do the Muscle Fish comics too?"

Lincoln chuckled. "No, Muscle Fish was created by another comic book artist, but they're part of the same universe. There have been a few crossovers over the years, but mostly they stay separate."

"That's pretty cool, actually." She picked up a random issue from the rack and began to look it through, a smile forming on her face. "This is pretty neat. Might have to look into reading more of these."

He looked at the issue that she was reading and smiled as well. "That's a good issue, too, especially for someone who's just getting into the series."

"Really? In that case, I think I'll get it." Her smile grew smaller, though, as she realised something. "Oh, wait. I was going to get an older Ace Savvy I had heard of online, and if I get both, I probably won't be able to pay for lunch."

Lincoln's smile dropped a little, but then went back up. "If you want, I can get it for you."

"No, I couldn't! It's okay, I can come back and get this another time."

"Don't be silly, I don't mind. It's fine."

"But, what about your lunch? I don't want you to be unable to pay for it."

"It's fine, really. Besides, my sister paid me back some money she owed me, so it's really not a problem."

"You're sure?"

He gave her a warm smile. "I'm really sure."

She smiled shyly, amazed by his generosity. "Thanks, Lincoln. That's so nice of you."

He waved it off, before she handed him the comic book. "It's nothing." He then happened to peer over her shoulder and see his next youngest sister perusing one of the stands. "Hey, I'll be back in a second. I just need to see to something."

"Okay, sure. I'm gonna find that Ace Savvy I was after."

He nodded, then walked past her and towards his eight-year-old sister. "Lucy? What are you doing here?"

Lucy turned to her brother, holding a couple of comic books in her arms. "Hey, Lincoln," she greeted. "I was looking for something a friend recommended since I'm kind of burnt out from Vampires of Melancholia right now."

"Really? What about-"

"Not Edwin. I could never grow tired of him."

Lincoln smirked. "I was going to say what about that one in your arms?"

She looked down for a second at the books in her arms, then back up, thankful her blush was hidden by her hair. "O-oh, that… that's just…"

He kneeled down to his sister's height. "Are you holding that just to hide what's behind it?" Her blush grew more, so she nodded shyly, which made him smile. "Would you like me to get that one for you?"

"… yes, please."

He gave a soft laugh. "Come here." He pulled her forward to a hug with one arm, and used his other arm to grab the comic books from her, placing them under the one he was getting for Jordan, before releasing the hug. Lucy then handed him enough money to pay for it, while making sure she had enough for the other comic book she wanted. "Alright, now go find the one you were looking for, and put this back. I doubt anyone would believe you liked-" As he finally noticed what it actually was, he almost choked on his words, his cheeks practically glowing as he cleared his throat.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh… I-I'll just put that here," he stuttered, slipping it into a random slot on the rack. "Let's just say you'll get it when you're older."

Although confused by this, Lucy shrugged it off and said, "thanks, Lincoln," before walking away. As he stood up, Lincoln saw Girl Jordan coming his way. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yep," she replied. "Also, I saw that there was a new issue of Muscle Fish, so I grabbed it for you."

She held the comic book out for him, and he smiled as he accepted it. "Thanks! Well, I think that's all I'm looking for, so I think I'm good to go."

"Alright. I'm gonna see what the others have got, and then I'll pay for mine."

As Lincoln nodded and walked away to pay for the books in his hands, Lynn, having kept an eye on both him and Jordan the whole time, looked at the facial expressions on their faces. Being an athlete, she had learned to read facial expressions for signs of weakness, but today, she found that she was able to use this experience to get a feel for how her brother was feeling, and while she could tell that he liked the girl, she wasn't sure to what extent. At the same time, however, she got the same sort of feeling from what she saw in Girl Jordan's expressions.

'Might have to see what the other girls see,' she mentally noted. 'This might not be quite that simple.'