u/ChewieBaka76

Part Three

The bright morning sunshine from the round window in Lincoln’s small bedroom was the first thing that brought Lynn back to consciousness. The second thing was the smell of cooking from downstairs. The third was the noises from the usual Saturday morning activities of her various siblings from the semi-open hallway door. The fourth, and most important, was a sudden incredible need to pee.

She didn’t open her eyes yet as she stretched and reached over with her left arm and wrapped it around something soft.

“Lincoln?” She whispered. Lynn could still feel the warmth of his lingering presence and the smell of his hair, but when she opened her eyes slowly, she found herself face to face with a familiar stuffed rabbit that looked eye-to-eye with her. She blinked a little and then she remembered where she was and what happened hours before: the nightmare, running to check on Lincoln, her emotional breakdown in front of him and everyone else, then staying with him till she fell asleep again.

Lynn Jr. groaned a little and then sat up rubbing her eyes with both of her palms.

A part of her felt better since she’d managed to finish the rest of the night without any more terrible nightmares.

The other part of her felt like the biggest wuss in the world.

She couldn’t believe that she’d actually come running in here like a scared toddler and cried into Lincoln’s chest.

Then Lynn remembered some of the details of the nightmare and the fear and sadness the dream of her brother dying had evoked in her. Some of it still felt all-too real in how it played out. Especially the part where she’d walked into a hospital room with Lincoln laying in a bed hooked up with an IV a beeping heart monitor to say her final goodbye to her white-haired little brother.

Lynn had cried against Lincoln’s chest, telling him how much she wished she’d been a better example for him. Lincoln had cried too, telling her how he always admired her and told her to go on inspiring others as she always had for him. It should have brought her some comfort—and in a way it did—but she could feel the dread forming in her heart. A Loud-sized hole in her spirit that Lynn knew would never go away…

“No!” Lynn whispered harshly, again pushing her palms into her eyes willing that dream memory away. “Lincoln didn’t die! There were no tumors! I didn’t hit him in the head with a soccer ball and knock them loose! None of it really happened!” Her brain was still a little foggy trying to completely wake up.

Then she looked over at Bun-Bun and picked up the stuffed rabbit holding it in her lap.

Staring at the ridiculous looking stitched face, Lynn smiled a little as a good memory came to her of the day she’d given the toy—a hand-me-down from Lori—to Lincoln. She’d been six at the time and Lincoln turned four when his parents decided that baby Lucy would share with Lynn and Lincoln was old enough to have his own space, the converted linen closet that would be his own private room being the only boy in the family. He’d been scared to be alone at first and so Lynn gave him Bun-Bun to help him not feel so afraid.

Lynn even remembered when Lori had given Bun-Bun to her.

It had been during this one stormy night where a then three-year-old Lynn Loud Jr. had been irrationally convinced (thanks to sneaking and watching a late-night suspenseful movie that her parents wouldn’t let her watch) that there was a monster in her closet. She’d gone to Lori and Leni’s room afraid and Lori allowed her to sleep with her while Leni retrieved baby Lincoln to share with her.

The day after, Lori brought her back to her room and they went through the closet in the daylight showing her that there had been nothing but piles of clothes and toys.

Then Lori smiled and gave her Bun-Bun, telling her that he was magic and would keep any monsters away. Even at three, Lynn didn’t actually believe that, but still the toy did make her feel at least a little comforted. Even when she grew older and tougher, Lynn kept the toy rabbit and eventually passed it down to Lincoln to be his companion the day her little brother got his own room.

Lynn also reached down and felt the other side of the bed, which was now cold. Lincoln had been gone awhile apparently. She looked at the stuffed rabbit and asked, “Did Lincoln go downstairs already?” The toy only looked back at her with that goofy, hand-sewn expression. She snorted, “Not talking, huh?”

“Well, what would you like me to say, babes?” Bun-Bun said suddenly with a high-pitched cartoony voice. 

“AAAH!” Lynn tossed the rabbit against the foot of the bed next to her tennis ball in shock. Now she was fully awake.

From behind the semi-open door, the head of a very familiar freckled-faced puppet peered over and said, “Wow, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of someone else’s bed this morning.” Then the door opened fully to reveal Luan who chuckled and said, “Good one, Mr. Coconuts!” She looked at her younger sister and then offered a warm smile, “Good morning, Lynn.”

Lynn yawned out a hello back to her jokey sister and her wooden sidekick. Then she asked, “Where’s Lincoln?”

For a split second that felt like longer, Lynn’s mind pictured Luan’s face go from cheerful to sad and then telling her that Lincoln was gone and that she’d fallen asleep in his room again. That she’d dreamed the whole thing and the night terror had been the actual reality. Fear gripped her heart, which suddenly felt like it stopped beating.

Instead, Luan explained, “Dad and Mom had to go to the restaurant early today so Lincoln is helping me make breakfast. He’s downstairs about to start on the eggs. Lori wanted me to wake you up, it’s almost 10 a.m.”

Lynn felt her heart start beating again relieved, then she looked over at the wall clock at the head of the bed. It read about ten minutes till. “Oh wow, I guess….I must have slept in a little.” She normally woke earlier to start getting in a little exercise before her morning shower and breakfast.

“Well, we all kind of slept in,” Luan explained watching her sister’s reaction. Being a comedian, Luan was good at reading the room and had seen that moment of panic on Lynn’s face. She came over to the bed and sat at the foot, her normally jolly face was a little more serious than usual. Mr. Coconuts sat in her lap silently. “You doing okay, little sis?”

The sporty Loud sister sighed and said, “Yeah, I guess I’m doing better than I was.” She looked at Luan and then said, “I was a real mess last night, huh?”

Luan let out a sigh. “We were all really worried when we saw how upset you were.”

Lynn folded her hands in her lap, looking down at them. “I’m sorry I woke you guys up. I just… She trailed off and let out a sigh. "You guys must think I’m a total wimp, huh?”

Luan blinked and then offered Lynn a wide smile that showed her braces. “Not at all,” she said very gently. “I’ve had scary dreams too before. One time, about two years ago, I had really bad nightmare that I woke up and was the only person left. The whole house had been deserted and so had the whole town. I was completely alone. It was scary and I woke up feeling lonely and afraid.”

Lynn blinked and looked at her sister. While it wasn’t quite as bad as her own night terror, what Luan described to her sounded pretty sad and scary as well. Curiously she asked, “How did you get over it?”

Luan smiled warmly and said, “Well, while I was lying there in bed, Luna began to play her guitar in her bunk. I think she’d heard me crying in my sleep and played some music and quietly sang to help me get back to sleep. Knowing that she was there helped me not to be so afraid after that.”

“Sorta like how I needed to stay with Lincoln last night,” Lynn said quietly. “I just….I had to be sure he was…that he was still here.” She remembered the two of them bouncing her tennis ball and Lincoln helping her to relax enough to fall asleep, remembered her little brother’s chip-toothed smile and holding her hand when she fell asleep.

Luan looked at Lynn kindly and reached over putting a hand on Lynn’s shoulder. “None of us thinks you’re a wimp, Lynn. Lincoln told us what you said to him about your dream.” She paused a moment and then continued. “I think if I’d had a dream about something like that, I’d probably still be a crying mess. I’m sorry you went through that.”

Lynn felt a little better knowing that Lincoln had explained things to everyone so she wouldn’t have to. Still, there was something that was bothering her.

“I…I have no idea why I had a dream like that,” she said, voicing her biggest concern about the whole thing.

Her older sister shrugged and said, “Who knows where dreams come from? I mean maybe Lisa might have some clue being the genius she is. The important thing is you’re awake and everyone is still here, including Lincoln; and we’re all here for you if you need us, Lynn.” She leaned over and gave Lynn a long hug with Mr. Coconuts still attached to her left hand.

“Yeah, get in here you,” Luan added in the puppet’s voice as Mr. Coconuts also hugged Lynn.

Lynn hugged her sister back smiling slightly. While she wasn’t exactly better, she certainly felt grateful for Luan’s attempts to lift her spirits. “Thanks, Luan. I’ll be right down. Just need to change and get cleaned up a little.”

“I’ll say you do,” Mr. Coconuts said through Luan. “You smell like you took a swim in onion water, girlie! Pee-yewww!”

“You think that was bad, I had to spend the night cooped up with her!” Added Bun-Bun with another high-pitched Luan voice thrown in.

Luan finished the routine with, “Well now she can eat some French Toast to fuel those Dutch Ovens. Ha ha ha! Get it?”

Despite herself, Lynn actually laughed a little at Luan’s antics. Her older sister noticed and smiled gently before standing up and saying, “See you downstairs, Lynn.” Then her and Mr. Coconuts left.

Lynn got out of bed and then took a moment to fix Lincoln’s covers and put Bun-Bun back in his usual place at the foot of the bed. She retrieved her ball and pillow then went to the room she shared with Lucy. The door was open and so was Lucy’s empty coffin. Lynn also noticed that her own bed had been made and that a new set of her folded clothes were already waiting for her.

She was grateful to Lucy as she put her pillow and ball on the bed then retrieved her clothes and went to the bathroom, which was empty. She took a moment to use the toilet before undressing, undoing her ponytail and stepping into the shower. Lynn closed her eyes and allowed the warm water to fall on her face.

Normally on Saturday mornings, Lynn wouldn’t have showered since she would likely work up a sweat later at baseball practice and would have waited till evening to clean up. But after waking up soaked in sweat from the night before she knew she needed it.

Lynn was used to smelling bad from all of her sporting activities and her personal habits tended to be, well….less than girly at times. Not that Lynn particularly cared to be seen as a stereotypical dainty girl like one of her older sisters, or Lola. While she wasn’t nearly as bad as Lana tended to be when it came to dirt and mud, she certainly wasn’t afraid of being a little dirty like Luan and Leni.

Right now she just wanted to be clean, to literally wash off any trace of that terrible nightmare.

The young athlete also took a moment to pull off a large Band-Aid from her upper left leg from the deep scrape she’d gotten during her last game sliding into home—and scoring one of the last points of the winning baseball game. The scab underneath was mostly healed and would add at least a temporary scar to a small list of others that Lynn accumulated since the start of the baseball season.

Among them scraped elbows from diving for a line-drive and a deep bruise on her lower back from being hit at the plate by that one pitcher from Hazeltucky that she’d been pretty sure hadn’t been an accident. Thankfully for that dimwitted Hazel-jerkoff both Margo and Liam had been there to keep her from going upside his stupid head with her baseball bat.

In the years she’d been active in team sports, Lynn had suffered a number of physical injuries: bruised and contused ribs, badly sprained ankles, a slightly broken wrist, more scraped knees and elbows than she could remember, and about a half-dozen minor concussions from head-related injuries. Not to mention a few very close calls, including one time she almost fell wrong during a Lucha Libre match and could have resulted in her damaging her spine—causing her to semi-retire from that particular activity.

Then Lynn looked down at her lower left leg and the finger-long thin scar where she’d broken her tibia rock climbing. Her high sports socks usually covered the spot, but she could remember the incident well, not to mention the three months of inactivity she’d had to endure as her bone mended. It was supposed to be four or five, but she proved the doctors wrong and was back on her feet and running track by month four.  

She put her foot up on the side of the tub, then ran her finger down the scar. She remembered that the experience had hurt and she’d cried then, but nowhere near the blubbering mess she’d been the night before. That had been physical pain, something that Lynn Loud Jr. could easily deal with, although the sight of her own broken leg bone poking through her skin had admittedly made her just a little bit queasy.

In retrospect Lynn thought that it probably hadn’t been such a good story to tell to some of the younger kids she babysat; well, aside from the Fox quintuplets anyhow.

Still thinking about that close call and her broken leg reminded her of the fact that anything can happen and nobody was safe from accidents. Lynn knew the risks and took them. Sometimes she could push herself a little too hard, and she knew that she took some real gambles sometimes always believing the end results were worth it.

In her night terror, Lincoln had been hit in the head with a soccer ball while playing with her. The hit had knocked loose a cancer tumor in his brain that would have killed him instantly. Instead the loose tumor entered his bloodstream and weakened his heart. He was given a few weeks to live and had survived long enough to make some final happy memories with all of them before passing away. Weeks that Lynn could still believe happened in her mind from a dream that likely only went on for a few minutes, or so.

All because he wanted to cheer her up and play with her in the dream.

In the dream while she'd blamed herself for killing him, Lincoln explained that the doctor told her the tumors would have killed him that day, but her kicking the ball and knocking them loose actually extended his life by a few weeks. That it hadn’t been her fault at all.

That should have comforted her—and it did somewhat in the dream—but nothing was able to prepare her for that last moment in the hospital saying goodbye to her little brother. Even as he comforted her and told her she would continue to inspire others as he inspired her all Lynn could have think about was the little baby brother with the white hair that she once fought off bullies for, the little brother with the scraped knees she cleaned when he was learning to ride a bicycle, the brother who cheered her on at her games the loudest of the other Louds and helped cheer her up when she lost…and she couldn’t protect him from the worst monster of all: death.

It had been so real, Lynn thought. She sat down in the tub and hugged her knees as the water poured over her. She tried to shake those images from her mind. Reminded herself that Lincoln was still alive and downstairs cooking breakfast with Luan and her other sisters. Come on, LJ! You’re stronger and tougher than this!

That didn’t stop her from shaking, nor did it stop the few tears that came to her eyes and fell with the shower water.

End of Part Three

Part Two

It was the sound of light snoring that woke Lincoln Loud up for the second time.

He could also hear the sounds of birds chirping outside and the room was bright with morning sunlight. Lincoln slowly opened his eyes to see his sister, Lynn, still laying on her right side facing him. She was still asleep and looked peaceful—despite the snoring and her slightly drooling on her pillow. The two of them were still holding hands. 

His mind flashed back to the jarring events from hours before. Lynn bursting into his room and waking him quickly, then how she broke down and cried hard against his chest over a terrible nightmare about him dying. His family comforting her and then Lynn staying with him till both fell asleep. He remembered the conversation they had and Lynn telling him that she loved him, a rare show of overt affection from his usually tough-acting sibling.

Lincoln smiled a little as he watched her sleeping. Her snores were not very loud—well not as loud as he remembered them the last time the two of them bunked in the same room. That had been about a year ago when Lynn and Lucy had a fight and she invaded his personal space for almost a week before the two roomies eventually reconciled with his help.

Last night had been very different.

The mental image of Lynn standing there in the doorway with the hallway light behind her and the look of complete and utter shock on her face was not one that would leave Lincoln’s mind anytime soon. Neither would the memory of his sporty sister breaking down and crying hard against his chest as she mentally and emotionally fought her way out of what had been a horribly vivid dream and back to reality.

It had been just as much of a shock for Lincoln seeing Lynn in such a state. He’d always admired how brave his next oldest sister was and how she faced down people much bigger than her—and even mean animals—like they were just other sports opponents. She’d faced down that mean cow at Dairyland, professional wrestlers older than her, and even a supervillain’s henchman.

Still, when Lynn finally calmed down enough to talk about her dream, what she’d told Lincoln made him understand just why she’d crashed out so badly when she woke up. The young boy couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to have a dream about one of his sisters slowly dying. Lincoln was pretty sure he would have reacted much the same way as Lynn, wanting to be sure that such a nightmare hadn’t happened.

Now that he was fully awake Lincoln gently let go of her hand and got out of bed carefully so as not to disturb his older sister’s now peaceful sleep. He found Bun-Bun laying on the floor next to his nightstand. He picked up the stuffed rabbit setting it next to Lynn. He retrieved his clothes: his usual orange polo, blue skinny jeans, and white tennis shoes; and then quietly opened the door.

The Loud House was still a little quiet, although he could hear the television downstairs and knew at least one or two of his sisters was awake. There was no line for the bathroom yet, a rare opportunity that Lincoln wasn’t going to pass up as he quickly rushed in and locked the door. After a quick change of clothes and tossing his pajamas down the laundry chute, he went downstairs.

The twins, Lola and Lana, were on the couch and, surprisingly, not fighting over the remove having found a Saturday morning show they apparently agreed on. Both of them were so engrossed in it they didn’t notice their brother walking past and into the kitchen where Lincoln found his parents, his two oldest sisters, Lori and Leni, and baby Lily in her highchair.

Lynn Sr. was already dressed and adjusting his shirt and kissing Rita on the cheek. His mother was also dressed, both of them getting ready to go to open up the family restaurant. The two sisters were also already dressed, though both of them looked tired. Each had a cup of coffee they were hovering over. Their mother also had a mug of wake-up juice. Lily was banging her sippy cup and singing some made-up song of hers happily to herself.

His oldest sister noticed him first and said, “Good morning, Lincoln.” Everyone looked up from what they’d been doing to look at the boy with various expressions of concern on their faces. “How’s Lynn doing?”

“She’s still asleep.” Lincoln said. “I didn’t want to wake her up right away.”

“I see. So, did she say anything to you about her nightmare?” Lori asked curiously as she took a sip of her coffee.

Lincoln hesitated a moment and then said, “Yeah she did. She had a dream that I died.” That got everyone’s attention. Both older sisters were suddenly wide awake and the parents were both just as shocked by that statement. Lincoln then leaned against the counter near the stove and explained what Lynn told him about her night terror and how vivid it had been for her. By the time he was finished the kitchen was so quiet they could hear the birds chirping outside and the television in the living room. Even Lily had stopped making her toddler noises and was looking at Lincoln.

Finally the quiet was broken by Leni who covered her mouth and said, “O-M-Gosh! Poor Lynn. That must have been totes scary. No wonder she was such a mess.”

Lori nodded, “Yeah, if I woke up from a nightmare like that, I literally would have lost my mind. I don’t blame her for breaking down like she did.” She loved all of her siblings so much, and felt extra protective being the oldest. If she lost any of her sisters or brother that way, Lori knew she would have completely lost it.

Lynn Sr. looked down a moment before he said, “We need to do something for her. I know, I could make her favorite breakfast to cheer her up!”

“Honey, we have to get to the restaurant soon. We have that large party to prepare for and I promised to help you out.” Rita reminded her husband.

Lynn Sr. sighed, “Yeah, that’s true.” Then he brightened up and said, “I know, Lincoln you know how to make breakfast, maybe you can fix it today? You can make the scrambled eggs and get Luan to help you with the French toast.”

Lincoln looked at his parents and then smiled, “I can do that. I want to help Lynn feel better if I can. Just leave it to me.”

From upstairs they could hear the sound of Luna’s guitar as she was now apparently awake. This meant that Luan was also likely awake.

As the parents began to leave, Rita looked at the Loud siblings and said, “Lori, you and Leni are in charge till I get back. It should only be a few hours today till that engagement part is over.”

Lori nodded, “That’s okay. I was going to wait and take Leni shopping later this afternoon.” It was one of the reasons she’d stayed the night in her old room that she’d previously shared with her younger sister rather than at the makeshift apartment at Mr. Grouse’s house. She wanted to spend time with Leni while both of them had the day off from their jobs.

Rita looked at them all and sighed. “Kids, if I know LJ, she’s probably going to feel really embarrassed about last night when she wakes up. Just try and help her to feel normal and let everyone else know to be a little extra nice to her, okay?”

“We will, Mom,” Lincoln promised. Leni added, “Totes!” Lori just gave her parents a serious nod.

Both parents gave their children smiles as they kissed them goodbye and headed out. Both Lola and Lana were still fixated on the show they were watching—something about Llamas in prison. Lynn Sr. and Rita called out goodbye to them as they left out the front door. Both twins responded with a “Bye Mom and Dad!” with their eyes never leaving the screen.

Lori looked at Lincoln and Leni. “I’m going to go make sure everyone else is awake. I’ll let Lynn sleep a little longer. Go ahead and get started on breakfast, Lincoln.” Leni was already talking to little Lily and taking care of her. Lincoln made his way to the refrigerator to get everything needed for everyone’s breakfast choices. Lori watched her younger siblings a moment with a smile before heading upstairs.

Luan was headed downstairs. She was already dressed and let out a yawn as she said, “Good morning, Lori.”

“Good morning, sis.” Lori replied meeting her at the bottom of the stairs. “Did you get anymore sleep last night?”

“Well, after everything that happened I was eventually able to drift back off. Is Lynn okay?” There was concern in her voice, not like her usually jovial tone.

“Lincoln said she’s still asleep. I’m going to check on her and make sure everyone else is awake. He’s in the kitchen with Leni and Lily. Mom and Dad had that big engagement party at the restaurant this morning so they want you and Lincoln to start on breakfast.”

“No problem,” Luan said, and then added, “I’ll get cracking on those eggs right away.” She chuckled back to her usual jolly self. “Get it?”

Lori gave a smile and then went upstairs. At the top of the stairs Luna and Luan’s door was cracked open slightly, but Luna’s bass guitar came through loud and clear. Lucy was coming out of the bathroom still in her pajamas and Lisa was just about to go in. Both of them turned when they saw their older sister and she nodded to them. “Good morning, you two. Lincoln and Luan are making breakfast downstairs.”

Lisa nodded pleased knowing that their brother and sister would already be aware of what their breakfast preferences were.

Lori walked over to them and said, “Come here a moment.” Then she opened the door to their sister’s room where Luna sat on Luan’s bottom bunk still in her PJs strumming her cords—some slow tune that sounded upbeat despite the fact that Luna herself looked tired. Mr. Coconuts sat on Luan’s pillow like a spectator at a private concert.

Luna looked up seeing Lori and her two younger sisters and said, “Hey dudes! I uh hope I didn’t wake you guys up.”

“You did,” Lisa said adjusting her glasses. “But I needed to wake up anyhow.”

Lori then ushered them inside. Once they were all together, Lori closed the door and said. “Morning, Luna.” Then she looked at all of them and sighed. “Everyone sit down a moment.” Lisa and Lucy joined their rocker sister on the bunk.

Lori explained everything that Lincoln told her and the others downstairs about Lynn’s dream and why she was so upset. Luna covered her mouth, her eyes open wide and looking alarmed. Lisa’s normally deadpan face even registered the shock she felt, and she wasn’t usually prone to overt displays of emotion. Same with Lucy, who usually showed no emotion on her pale face, but the “Gasp” she uttered as she covered her mouth showed she was just as stunned by what Lori told them as her other siblings. Even Mr. Coconuts’ jaw dropped—despite the fact nobody was manipulating the wooden puppet.

“Oh no, poor LJ!” Luna said looking at the floor. At that moment she thought about last night and how emotional their sporty 14-year-old sister had been crying into Lincoln’s chest and holding onto him like she was afraid he’d disappear. Luna couldn’t have blamed her despite waking everyone else up with all the noise. She’d have made some noise herself if she’d had a dream that terrifying.

Lucy said, “Now I know why Lynn screamed. That was a terrible nightmare, even by my standards.”

“More like she experienced a night terror,” Lisa said, already in analysis mode and again adjusting her glasses. “A sleep disorder, or REM-related parasomnia, that causes feelings of panic, or dread, which typically occur during the first hours of stage 3–4 non-rapid eye movement sleep and often resulting in the patient suffering from either confusional arousal, or an abrupt stage of intense fear….street name: panic attacks.”

Lori nodded, “That sounds like what happened. Lynn dreamed that Lincoln died and she woke up screaming and afraid it had been real.”

Luna said, “Yeah, at first I didn’t know what happened. I was still out of it.”

“I was dead asleep and nearly hit my head on the coffin lid,” Lucy said in her usual monotone voice. “That scream was enough to wake the dead.”

Luna made a face thankful that Luan wasn’t here to make a pun out of that.

Lori then spoke up, “Listen up guys, we need to be there for Lynn today, after last night she’s literally going to have a rough morning.”

Luna and Lucy both nodded understanding that. “Yeah, LJ likes to come off as tough all the time. She’ll probably be super embarrassed when she wakes up. We need to be nice to her.”

“Maybe not too nice,” Lucy said. She was thinking about it and added, “If we overdo it, she’ll think we’re trying to baby her and she won’t like that.”

“I concur with my Gothic sibling,” Lisa said. “Perhaps it would be best to ignore the situation and allow our Sporty sibling to come to us in her own way when she feels like it?”

Lori sighed and said, “I get all of your points. Believe me. I think we should do what we feel is the best way to lift Lynn’s spirits, but not overwhelm her. We need to be ourselves and just do what we always do.”

All of them seemed to agree to that. Then Lori said that they need to get ready for breakfast. As she left her younger sisters to do their various things, she could smell eggs and bacon cooking downstairs. Could hear the television playing.

Lori looked down the hall to the slightly open door to Lincoln’s small bedroom and quietly walked over to look inside at Lynn laying on her side, her freckled face completely still as she slept with Bun-Bun lying next to her. Her bangs had fallen over her eyes, and there was drool on her mouth as she snored.

A memory came to Lori just then of Lynn at age three coming to her when she had a nightmare about some sort of monster in her closet. Lincoln, who was still barely over a year old, was still asleep in his crib and hadn’t awakened; but she’d come to Lori and Leni’s room to stay with them, trembling and crying a little. Lori let Lynn sleep with her at the time, while Leni retrieved Lincoln and kept him with her.

After that night she’d given Bun-Bun (which had originally been hers) to Lynn to help her sleep after going through her closet to assure her little sister there was no way a monster could be in there. Lynn had later passed Bun-Bun to Lincoln the day he was old enough to be given his own room and then baby Lucy moved into hers.

Watching her sleep, Lori could still see that 3-year-old version of her baby sister begging for comfort and support from her eldest sibling beneath the sport-loving, tomboyish adolescent she’d grown into and her heart went out to Lynn.

A part of her wanted to walk into the room and kiss her cheek, hold her when she woke up and reassure her that everything was okay. But Lori decided to give her a few more minutes of peaceful sleep instead. She smiled and went downstairs to see if Lincoln remembered that she preferred her eggs hard boiled.

End of Part Two

“NOOOOO!”

Lynn Loud Jr. bolted upright in her bed screaming. The tennis ball that she’d been bouncing off the wall before to help her sleep—before she’d finally crashed out—fell off onto the floor and bounced a couple times. Lynn didn’t hear it thumping, didn’t even register anything else beyond the images still playing vividly in her mind. She was almost entirely soaked in her own sweat, the long t-shirt she wore to bed clung to her, and her cheeks were wet with tears.

The bedroom was dark, save for the bright full moonlight shining through the window casting everything in a slightly bluish tint. It took Lynn a moment to realize she was in her bed in the bedroom she shared with her Goth younger sister, Lucy. She looked over to the other side of the room where the black coffin her vampire-loving sister slept in sat and felt a shudder crawl down her body. Lynn hugged herself shaking, her mind still full of images she couldn’t shake. She was breathing hard and her heartbeat was racing so fast it was a wonder she hadn’t passed out again.

The realization that she’d just woken up slowly began to register with Lynn. She blinked once, twice; but even with this fact slowly dawning, Lynn found she couldn’t stop herself from shaking. It wasn’t just the slightly cool air, or the fact she was covered in sweat. Her mind was still stuck in that strange netherworld place between being awake and still being in her dream—in her nightmare.

The nightmare where her brother, Lincoln….

Lynn covered her mouth and her eyes went wide as she choked back another scream. She quickly pulled her blanket off and practically jumped out of bed on a pair of unsteady, shaking legs. She nearly slipped on the fallen tennis ball, but again didn’t even fully register this. She was running and her mind was racing just as fast—so much so that she slammed into her bedroom door before she could fully grab the doorknob. Lynn tossed the door open and practically threw herself out into the hallway, running right towards the final door at the end.

She was so oblivious to all the noise she’d made that Lynn didn’t notice the lid of Lucy’s coffin opening as she was leaving and her dark-haired sister sitting up. She didn’t notice that a couple of the other doors were opening as her sisters were investigating the source of the sudden disturbances.

When she got to the last door, the brown-haired girl turned the doorknob and pushed herself inside her brother’s room. The normally athletic girl was breathing hard, as if she’d just run a marathon; but this was more from anxiety rather than fatigue. Lynn stopped just inside the small room in front of the bed where her 12-year-old brother, Lincoln, had been sleeping soundly. The bluish moonlight was shining down on his bed from the small round overhead window; almost like a spotlight.

The sudden sound of his bedroom door busting open jolted the white-haired middle child awake. He sat up letting out a startled (almost girly) yell, then turned his head to see Lynn standing there, holding onto the doorknob and breathing heavily. She was just staring at him, blinking over and over.

Once his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, Lincoln became suddenly aware that his 14-year-old sister was looking at him with an expression that he’d never seen on his normally rough and tough older sister. Lincoln could see that her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks were wet, and she was shaking badly.  

Lincoln was now completely wide awake and worried all of a sudden. He blinked and asked, “Lynn? What is it?”

As she stood there, frozen in that moment, Lynn’s mind was still racing with hauntingly vivid images and memories of her nightmare.

Lincoln hit in the head with a soccer ball she’d kicked in the park. Him in a hospital bed telling all his older sisters about the brain tumors. The terminal diagnosis. Lynn struggling aggressively with her grief. Her unjustified fear that it had all been her fault somehow. Lincoln’s reassurances to her and him spending the last weeks of his life with her and the rest of the family. Her struggling with the idea of losing him, and finally saying goodbye to her dying little brother in the hospital and Lincoln passing away after having barely had much of a life.

All those images, all those dreadful feelings of unbearable grief and loss, were now warring with the reality of seeing Lincoln sitting up in his bed, very much alive and looking at her with a very worried expression. She covered her mouth with her hand letting out a choked sound as tears filled her eyes.

“L-Lincy?” She said in a near whisper, her voice was shaky. It sounded like she was somewhere far away.

Lincoln was really freaked out now. He pulled his blanket back and shifted to sit up, his stuffed animal Bun-Bun fell to the floor as he faced her. “Lynn, what’s wrong?! What happened?!”

It was all a nightmare, Lynn slowly realized, now coming out of the fog of the dream as reality started to truly set in. It had all been just a terrible, horrible nightmare! Lincoln was here and he was still alive! Her baby brother wasn’t dead! He….h-he….w-w-wasn’t….

All remaining sense of composure Lynn still had completely broke in that final moment of realization. She stepped over to Lincoln’s bed and dropped to her knees just as her legs finally gave out, wrapping the startled white-haired boy into a nearly bone-crunching hug, and burying her face into his chest.

Lincoln went wide-eyed when Lynn threw herself at him, her arms wrapping around his thin body, pinning his upper left arm. Before he could say anything, she let out a long, soul-crushing wailing sob that nearly broke his heart. He could feel his sister’s body trembling badly against him.

“Lynn?” he whispered softly. He wrapped his free right arm and pinned lower left arm around her, hugging her back. “Shhhh, it’s okay, I’m here, Lynn. I’m right here.”

If anything those words only seemed to make his usually tough sister cry even harder as she buried her face into his chest. Lynn cried with racking sobs that she couldn’t control as a mixture of deep grief and overwhelming joy were fighting each other. Her hands closed around the back of his pajama top, nails slightly scratching him as she held on tightly, almost afraid he’d disappear if she didn’t hold tighter.

From the doorway the other Loud sisters—who’d been suddenly disturbed from their own sleep by all the commotion—were starting to gather.

Lori, the oldest, stood just outside the doorway and looked inside the room, blinking over and over when she saw Lynn hugging Lincoln and bawling her heart out. Leni also walked over, yawning and asked, “What’s going on?” She also stopped and stared when she saw Lynn sobbing. The second-oldest daughter’s hand went to her mouth as she gasped.

Luna, the next oldest, walked up rubbing her sleepy eyes and muttering, “It’s way too early, bruh. What’s all the….” Lori held up a finger to quiet her, not looking away from the sight of Lynn crying in their little brother’s arms. When Luna looked inside and saw what was happening, she too was completely gobsmacked.

Luan also joined them, along with her puppet, Mr. Coconuts. Both of them also looked in Lincoln’s room and their mouth’s dropped. Luan’s normally sunny face looked troubled as she and her siblings listened to Lynn bawling her heart out while Lincoln was comforting her and letting her sob. Even she didn’t have a joke for this occasion—and neither did Mr. Coconuts.

None of the older sisters had ever seen their younger and normally tough middle sister cry like this. Not even when she lost a big game, or when she suffered a sports injury like a scraped knee, or elbow. Even the time when LJ broke her tibia falling from a rock climbing wall, she’d barely even cried more than a few tears holding back most of her pain.  

“Is Lynn….crying?” Asked little Lana, who joined her older siblings outside the door. Her twin sister, Lola, was by her side also looking confused. Lisa was also there looking troubled by this unexpected series of events.

“What happened to her?” Luan asked Lori, hoping she had an answer. Her eldest sister only shook her head, as completely in the dark as the rest of them.

“Also, why is she with Lincoln crying?” Asked Leni, looking ready to cry herself. She was the most empathetic of all of them, always reacting to the emotions of others around her.

Lola frowned, “If Lincoln did something to make Lynn cry, I’ll pound him!” She slammed her fist into her palm for emphasis.

“Lynn had a nightmare,” Lucy said in her low, monotone voice, startling all of them as the Goth girl appeared virtually out of nowhere behind them. She added, “A very bad one.”

Lori thought that was a major understatement as she watched her younger sister sobbing hard into Lincoln’s chest. Also why did she run to Lincoln and not one of her older sisters, or even their parents?

As Lori and the others watched, Leni quickly rushed back towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway, passing by the stairs where their parents suddenly appeared.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay up here?” Their mother, Rita, asked looking at Leni.

The blonde girl stopped and explained, “Lynn had a bad nightmare. She’s with Lincoln.”

Leni rushed to the bathroom and wet a washcloth in the sink, along with filling one of the small paper cups they kept for everyone to use with cold tap water. By the time she returned to the other end of the hallway, the whole family was now gathered in the hallway at the door, with their father, Lynn Sr, holding baby Lily who was still partly asleep. Leni walked past them and into the room carefully making her way to Lincoln’s bedside and setting down the water and wet cloth on Lincoln’s nightstand.

Lincoln noticed as he still held his sobbing sister looking up at Leni gratefully and nodding a thanks to her. Leni backed away holding her hands together still looking worried at Lynn.

Lynn wasn’t aware of any of any of this as she just knelt there ugly-crying into her little brother’s chest. Her mind and her emotions were trapped in a loop of processing grief from the night terror she’d experienced to her overwhelming relief that Lincoln was still here with them and alive. In that moment, Lynn didn't care about looking weak, or being called a baby. All she wanted to do was keep holding onto Lincoln and not let go. To listen to his breathing and his still beating heart; to be reassured that this also wasn’t a dream. That she wouldn’t suddenly wake up back in that nightmare reality where her only brother died in a hospital bed.

Lincoln rested his chin on top of Lynn’s head as she sobbed. Rubbed her back as best as he could with his one free arm. “I’m here, Lynn,” he repeated, reassuring her. “Shhhh, I have you. It’s okay.” He wondered if she was in fact okay though. He’d never seen his athletic and normally rough older sister so completely vulnerable, so utterly grief-stricken. What happened to her?

He looked at the open door to the hallway and saw his other sisters and parents looking in worried. Lincoln closed his eyes a moment, just listening to his sister’s sobs.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour (but was actually a couple minutes) she quietly spoke to him. “L-Lincoln? Are you….real?” She let go of him and looked up with her red, teary eyes and damp cheeks. Lynn put her right hand against his cheek, thumb rubbing his face. Her lip trembled as she said, “You’re here….y-you’re still h-here….” Her breath seemed to be catching and Lincoln was suddenly worried that she might be having a panic attack.

Lincoln gave her a reassuring smile as he leaned his head into her palm, reaching up with his now free left hand and holding her hand against his cheek. “Yeah, I’m here. I promise.” He closed his eyes. Seeing his sister so desperate and vulnerable made Lincoln begin to tear up himself.

Lynn could feel the teardrop that hit her fingers and she saw Lincoln was crying too. She blinked and then began to feel the grief and fear finally leaving, replaced with overwhelming joy. She smiled through her own tears and started to laugh and cry at the same time.

Lincoln reached over and picked up the paper cup of cold water and handed it to Lynn. “Here, drink a little.” She took the cup with both hands and took a long gulp. When she finished he took it, putting it aside and then he took the wet washcloth and began wiping Lynn’s tear-stricken face.

Normally, if someone tried to baby her like this, Lynn Loud Jr. would have swatted their hand away and become aggressively assertive, insisting that she didn’t need to be treated like she was fragile.

In this moment, though, Lynn welcomed Lincoln’s comfort and fussiness. She was still trying to get her breathing and her heartrate back under control. She stood again, still shaky on her legs, and sat beside Lincoln on his bed. He continued to wipe her cheeks with the washcloth as he held her right hand with his other.

The rest of the family now entered the small bedroom joining Leni who’d been standing on the opposite side near the wall watching. Lynn became aware that they were there and that all of them were looking at her with seriously concerned expressions—aside from Lucy who always had that same neutral expression on her face. Even the genius, Lisa, looked worried for her.

Rita walked over and sat next to Lynn, putting her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “LJ? Sweetie, what happened?”

“Mom, I had a really terrible nightmare,” she said quietly. Her voice was still shaky, but it was now getting better. She wiped her eyes with her left hand. Lincoln was still holding her other hand and she wasn’t ready to let go anytime soon.

“Do you feel like talking about it?”

Lynn Jr. shook her head for an answer. No, she wasn’t ready to face that terrible nightmare again, even to confront it.

Rita leaned over hugging her daughter and trying to give her some reassurance. Lynn Sr. stepped over with a box of tissues handing them to his wife. She took a couple and gave them to LJ to blow her nose. “It’s going to be okay, Lynn. You’re here. You’re safe, baby.”

“It wasn’t me I was worried about,” Lynn said quietly. She turned to look at Lincoln, seeing the concern and confusion on his face.

The other Loud siblings watched all this happening, none of them speaking up till that point. It was Lucy who finally walked over to Lynn and asked, “It was about Lincoln, wasn’t it? You’re night terror. You dreamed something bad happened to him and you were freaked out.”

All of them looked at the dark-haired girl, then to Lynn who could only look at the floor. She wiped her nose again and nodded.

Her mother covered her mouth, “Oh honey.” Rita hugged Lynn, rocking her daughter in her arms. Her dad was also sad for their daughter and what she’d gone through. The rest of her siblings stepped forward offering their own comfort and reassurances to Lynn.

Lincoln was still processing what Lucy said. Lynn had a nightmare about him? One so bad it made her breakdown into near hysterics when she saw him. His pajama top was still wet from his sister’s tears, and he watched as all his sisters and their parents were taking turns hugging Lynn. He was still trying to make sense of why she’d had a nightmare about him and why had it been so bad she came running to him.

Then the answer suddenly hit him. Lincoln fought not to cry himself realizing what could have made his sporty, tomboyish sister break down like that about him. He wanted to talk to her then, but everyone was crowded around them. He looked up and saw Leni standing beside him, having retrieved the things she’d brought from the nightstand. He gave her a smile and nodded another thanks to her. She responded with a small smile and a nod back.

Soon all of them were yawning again and getting ready to go back to bed now that everything seemed to be better. Thankfully tomorrow (or rather in the morning) was Saturday so they could sleep in a bit longer. All of the siblings began going back to their rooms wishing each other goodnight.

Lynn Jr. wasn’t so anxious to go back to sleep. She was tired, but her mind was still filled with those terrible dream memories of death and loss. Also, as much as she loved her younger Goth sister, Lucy, she wasn’t anxious to return to their shared bedroom with a coffin sitting next to her bed after the nightmare she’d had.  

“Can I….can I stay here and bunk with Lincoln? Just for tonight?” Lynn asked her parents. Both of the adults looked at each other and then at Lincoln.

Normally Lincoln would have found any excuse to avoid letting her do so after the last time he’d shared a room with LJ and the invasion of his private living space. Lynn was usually not easy to get along with and her personal habits could be a little gross and rough for his liking at times.

But after the way she’d crashed out earlier, Lincoln understood that his sister needed this. He nodded and said, “Yeah, its okay. I don’t mind.”

Lynn Sr. and Rita both smiled and nodded, then they each kissed Lynn and Lincoln goodnight before leaving to take Lily back to her crib. Lucy came back with Lynn’s pillow and handed it to her silently, along with the tennis ball that she normally slept with. Lynn gave her a small nod which was returned before the dark-haired Loud left the room closing the door softly.

Lynn quietly crawled under the blanket close to the wall. She put her head down on her pillow, which was now cold on both sides. She felt Lincoln join her under the blanket as his movements shifted the mattress next to her. Neither of them spoke. Lynn laid on her left side holding her tennis ball and looked at Lincoln’s Ace Savvy poster hanging on the wall a moment.

She then turned on her back and tossed her tennis ball against the wall at the foot of the bed, catching it as it bounced back with a thunk. Lynn usually did this as a means of helping her to fall asleep. She tossed it again. Thunk. She caught it again.

As she tossed it a third time, but this time Lincoln caught it when it bounced back. She blinked and then remembered that he found the sound annoying. Lynn was about to turn and apologize when Lincoln tossed the ball at the wall and it bounced back at her. She caught it and turned her head looking at Lincoln. He was also laying on his back and facing her with a smile that showed off his chipped tooth. Lynn blinked again, then found herself smiling a little as she tossed the tennis ball back at the wall and he caught it again, then bounced it back for her to again catch it.

This exchange went on for a minute or two with both of them smiling and even giggling a little as both of them played around elbowing each other to trying to get the other to miss catching the ball.

Eventually Lynn caught the tennis ball one more time as she yawned and set it aside. She was feeling much better now and was grateful to Lincoln. Somehow he knew just how to cheer her up.

“Thanks, Lincy,” she said quietly, using her old childhood nickname for him rather than the obnoxious one she normally used to annoy, or tease him with these days.

Lincoln was quiet a moment, before he spoke, asking the question she already knew was coming. “I died, didn’t I? In your dream.”

Lynn found herself looking up at the ceiling as she sighed and said, “You were in the hospital, dying from heart failure because of some loose cancer tumors.” She closed her eyes trying to fight back more tears. “You spent your last few weeks alive looking after all of us, trying to reassure us rather than worrying about yourself. Then you finally collapsed and we were in the hospital, saying our goodbyes to you before you….” She trailed off and her lip trembled remembering the saddest part of the night terror.

She felt Lincoln’s hand take hold of hers and he gave it a gentle squeeze. Lynn squeezed his hand back.

She continued, going into details about what happened, how he spent time with her and how he did his best to reassure her that she and everyone else would be okay when he was gone. Talking about it was actually helping her mind to stop racing and calm down. Lynn began to relax more and even started to realize that she was still really tired.

For his part Lincoln found himself shocked at what LJ was describing. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to have a dream like that about one of his siblings; couldn’t even bring himself to imagine what it would feel like if one or more of them suddenly died, or were given a terminal diagnosis. He loved all of his sisters and his parents so much. The thought of losing any of them scared Lincoln terribly. It was no wonder that Lynn looked so devastated when she woke up and ran to him.

Lynn turned on her right side to face him, still holding his hand. “You know the worst part of that nightmare wasn’t just you dying. It was that I couldn’t help you.” She sniffled a little. “I’m supposed to be your older sister and be the one to fight off the bullies and keep you safe. Even though I tease you and sometimes get a little rough, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you if things got bad. You’re my favorite brother, Lincoln.”

“Lynn, I’m your only brother,” Lincoln said, smiling gently as he turned on his side facing her.

She chuckled a little at his words. “I know what I said. I love you, Lincoln Loud. I don’t say that often, but I mean it, little bro.”

Lincoln felt his heart swell and he smiled at Lynn again showing off his chipped tooth. “I love you too, Lynn,” he responded, meaning that with all his heart. “I know you can be rough with me sometimes, but I know its how you show your affection, so I don’t mind it….well, mostly.”

Lynn smiled a little at that, then she yawned and closed her eyes. “Thanks for letting me stay with you. I just wanted….to be sure that…that you’ll still….” Her brain was getting foggy and she fell quietly asleep still holding onto her brother’s hand.

The white-haired boy smiled gently as he reached over with his right hand and brushed Lynn’s bangs from her eyes and leaned over giving his sister a small, soft kiss on the forehead. “I’ll still be here, Lynn. I promise.” He whispered to his sleeping sister.

Lincoln didn’t let go of Lynn’s hand as he also fell back to sleep a moment later. The two middle Loud siblings stayed that way peacefully the rest of the night, with no dreams and no nightmares.

Story inspired by the fanfiction story "Requiem for a Loud" by UnderratedHero.