"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!"
Lori screamed at QT as she ran into room to shoulder check the teen off her brother. The hit was strong and threw Quinlan against the side of the wall. The brunettes head hit the wall and rattled her senses. Lori wrapped her arms around Lincoln's frame and pulled him to a protective hug.
"YOU PERVERT! WHAT DID YOU DO TO LINCOLN?!"
The eldest sister began backing up into the hallway with the boy. His eyes darted around trying to figure out what was happening but the recent near choking was preventing him from realizing. QT stood up and looked around the bedroom. She could see Lori's blue tee in the hallway. Her mind was racing.
This is not what was supposed to happen. QT began to move towards Lori. It's a misunderstanding! She tried to voice but her voice wouldn't come out. Why, of all times, did it have to not come out?!
"I'M CALLING THE COPS ON YOU, YOU PEDOPHILE!"
The threat rang throughout the house. QT froze...No she wasn't a pedophile...she just loved Lincoln. It was different. She's not a pervert.
"P-please...i..mis..and..g" QT fumbled her words.
"GET AWAY!" Lori dragged Lincoln back.
No! No! No! Please don't take him away from me. Not now. Not like this. Please don't take him from me!
"PPPPPPPPPlease, you don't uuuuunderstand." QT squeaked out, she knew it looked bad but she just needs her to listen.
"DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WERE FEEDING MY BROTHER HIS OWN-HIS OWN- YOU'RE DISGUSTING!"
She's not listening. I just need her to listen.
"I WILL NEVER LET YOU NEAR MY BROTHER AGAIN!"
QT's heart was breaking but she couldn't allow this. She needed Lincoln in her life. Lori just needed to listen.
QT lunged towards the blonde and gripped her arms trying to protect the boy. Lori's rush of adrenaline had made her strong but she did not realize how strong QT was. Tears were pouring out of the girls eyes as she tried to wrestle the white hair boy out of her grip. Lori's grip was almost completely gone and she had resort to kicking QT in the gut to get her to back up.
The girlfriends attack was pushed back but only for a mere second. Quinlan stumbled back from the 6th front kick to her stomach. Lincoln's eyes met hers but due to Lori's arms wrapping around him he could not speak.
"LISTEN!" QT rushed her with a tackle. She aimed for the shoulder that her boyfriend's head was away from. The collision sent all three of them flying down the hall. Lincoln was separated from his sister's grasp and he slammed against a wall.
"LINCOLN!" Lori and QT shouted in unison. Lori tried to get up but QT's arm wrapped around her waist to prevent her.
"LET GO, YOU PEDO!"
"LISTEN!"
"LET GO!"
"LISTEN!"
The crash of a grate getting pushed open came from a nearby room. Two set of tiny feet rushed to the door. Lisa and Lucy came running out of Lucy's bedroom, fear was on their faces.
"Lori, listen to her. She did-"
*SMACK!*
The sound of a slap filled the hallway. The young girls looked at their eldest sister who had recoiled. Their brother's open palm left a mark on the right cheek of the girl. He came to his senses after he could hear his girlfriends pleading and his sister's screaming. The sole Loud boy had acted at out of emotion and even as the contact between his hand and his sister's face became reality, he felt regret.
Lori looked at him in disbelief. Her younger brother's face was a mixture fear, hate, and disappointment. The stinging pain from the hit was nothing to the emotional turmoil in her heart at the moment.
"Please listen...please listen" QT was still crying her arms wrapped around Lori's waste. Her tears stained the blondes khaki shorts.
The scene froze in silence. As everyone tried to comprehend what happened. A tears began to come out of Lori's eyes for the second time that day. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.
She began to bawl as well.
Lana rushed up the stairs. She froze as she looked at the scene.
"W-what happened?"
"I don't know." Lincoln responded. "I just don't know."
The fort was disassembled so seating could be returned to the couch. Small whimpers could be heard from Lori who was being consoled by Lisa and Lucy while the others came from Quinlan who was being comforted by Lincoln. No one really talked and just let the two girls get their emotions out.
Lana had returned to the Impala to finish the jobs she had started. The car would need to be ready if QT decided to leave. It was because she was outside, and not as into her fixing as she once was, that she noticed the two cars carrying the missing family members return. She closed the hood of the Impala and waited on the front lawn.
The parents of the Loud house exited their ride before waving the McBrides goodbye as the rest of the children filed out of Vanzilla. Lola ran up to them.
"Mommy! Daddy!" The couple looked to one half of their twins, "Lori abandoned us and came home to spy on Lincoln's date!"
"She What?!" The patriarch seemed more surprised than the matriarch who just sighed. "And today had been so relaxing."
"It's not as simple as that anymore, Pops." Everyone turned to the waiting second twin. "Come inside." The family left their stuff in Vanzilla and entered the house. They grew quiet as they saw the crying teens.
"W-what happened?" Someone asked.
"Lincoln hit Lori when some sort of fight broke out between her and Quinlan." Lucy thought it would be best to speak as directly as possible.
"How did the fight start?" Lynn Loud Sr. stepped up.
Lori looked up to speak but as she made eye contact the guilt flooded in again. She babbled a little bit before bawling again. She slammed her face into her palms and continued to cry. The family was unsure how to approach and had no idea how to comfort either one of them. Mrs. Loud was the first to attempt anything and went to bring more tissues for the girls but that was all. The family took to either sitting or standing around waiting for the crying to die down.
Lincoln rubbed QT's back with a single hand. His other hand rested on her thigh allowing her to lean into his shoulder. He whispered words of comfort into her ear and she occasionally would lift her head to respond back into his. They both continued on like this for several minutes until Lincoln realized he couldn't explain.
"I'm going to be honest I don't fully get the story Honey Bee." Lincoln spoke aloud, "You are going to have to explain it to everyone." QT's eyes still watery from tears looked up to her boyfriend in fear.
"I know sweetie but I don't get what Luna's gift is supposed to mean."
Luna's eyes darted upwards and looked to the group.
"You mean the condoms?"
"Condoms?" Rita Loud looked to her 3rd born daughter, "What do condoms have to do with this?"
"I-i gave Lincoln the condoms you gave me. Sam and I don't need them, so I just... I just wanted him to be safe, you know." Luna looked at the solemn couple.
"I found her mounting Lincoln and forcing him to swallow stuff out of his used condom."
Lori finally spoke up and looked in anger back at the crying teen. The parents and older girls looked at the teen in disgust.
"No!" QT began to panic seeing their looks, "It's a misunderstanding. Please listen to me."
"You have exactly three seconds to explain before I kick you out of this house!" Mrs. Loud looked angry. Her entire family, even her husband, took a small step back. Her glare got to Quinlan as she began to stutter.
"I-iii wwwwo tr-" NO please I need to speak.
Lincoln grabbed her hands.
"Quinlan...Take a deep breath." His forehead pressed up against hers. "With me, Inhale."
Lincoln took a deep breath shortly followed by his girlfriend's choked one.
"Exhale."
He breathed outwards. He patiently waited for QT to do the same.
"Again."
The cycle repeated 3 times before QT's breaths were not labored. The family waited but under the surface some were ready to beat the possible pervert to a pulp.
"Lincoln…" She breathed out again, "Thought the condoms were gum and I had to fish it out of his mouth so he didn't swallow it." A weight had been lifted as she found her voice. She nearly lost her relationship just because she couldn't speak. Lincoln was too good to her for it to end like that.
"Ah crap!" Luna smacked her head. "He didn't know what they were when I gave them to him. It was too embarrassing to correct the little dude but it didn't seem like he was planning to use them, so I let it slide. My bad."
The tension in the room dropped considerable once the boy's innocence was found to still be intact. The group looked at one another and let the worry subside a bit.
"B-but you were on top of him sweating and breathing heavily." Lori held a single in both hands to her chest using it every once in awhile to dab a tear.
"They were partaking in the Japanese form of vocal mimicry called Karaoke." Lisa told the group, "Lucy and I observed them dancing and jumping on his bed. This most likely explains their physical appearances."
Both Lincoln and QT adverted their eyes in embarrassment but for once the boy was happy for their spying. QT on the other hand really hoped they hadn't heard her sing.
"I-i-iii" Lori began to repeat, "I was just scared for Lincoln."
"Lori…" Lynn Loud Sr. sat on the armrest closest to his first born. "I get that you're worried and not without reason...but you need to trust that Lincoln is a smart boy and can make his own decisions."
"He's eleven Dad!" Lori tried to counter. "Quinlan's a complete stranger who suddenly decided to date someone in elementary school! That doesn't raise red flags left and right?! She could be a complete pervert!"
"You don't think I haven't thought about that?" The family was unsure where the voice came from before Quinlan raised her head. Her face could be best described with the word: fierce.
"When I first started feeling this way, I was terrified. I thought I could be some sicko who was attracted to little kids." QT spoke in a serious tone, "I didn't know what to do. I tried to check by dropping my sister off at school one day and just look at the kids walking to school." The family looked at her with concern but waited for the end of the story.
"But I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel anything for any of the boys or girls that were in my sister's class. I've only felt this way about Lincoln." She teared up some but everyone continued to listen, even Lincoln. "Here I am, a 16 year old, in love with some nearly 5 years younger than me...but he's just so different from the rest of them."
"I've dated many boys and none of them lasted longer than a month." She shook her head side to side but reaffirmed her gaze to Lori because she need to hear this most of all. "They were jerks, horn dogs, or just not right. I broke up with most of them and some broke up with me. But when Lincoln asked me out, it just felt different. Haven't you wanted a boyfriend who isn't pushing themselves on you or treating you like their property?"
The girls in the room knew this feeling very well. While most of the girls in the room had never been in a relationship, they heard stories through the grapevine or personally at school.
"I know this stupid age gap looks incredibly wrong but I'm begging you to look pass it. I truly love Lincoln. Please don't take him away from me." Her hands were clasped together in a fashion similar to a prayer. Tears crawled down her cheek and trickled onto her sundress. "Please."
The family shifted uncomfortably, here was a near woman begging for them not to separate her from their brother. Lori was the most affected by the speech. She looked at her hands and the crumpled up tissue within. The girls had been right and if she hadn't blown up like that, everything could have worked out. She regretted her actions but she felt deep down that she had done the correct actions. It's just that it truly turned out to be a misunderstanding. An amazingly awkward situation became a vile act in her eyes. Had she been forcing herself onto him, she couldn't just not act. But because she did, she was now an awful sister.
She just couldn't win today.
"I-i'm sorry." Lincoln and QT looked towards Lori, "I've judged you before getting to know you. I attacked you with questions before having a simple conversation. I just- I just couldn't believe something like this could happen. I still can't believe now. I look at you two and I keep double guessing your motives...even if you've poured your guts out for us to see."
Lori wanted to approach them and beg for forgiveness but such action would just push them away.
"I know this will take time but I hope to become your friend…" QT somewhat cringed a bit. "I don't know how to make you forgive me but I hope this is a first step."
The family sat in silence for several minutes.
"I'm sorry for hitting you…" Lincoln said amidst the silence.
"I forgive you...I was acting like a complete bitch." wanted to correct her daughter but couldn't bring herself to do it at the moment. Lynn Loud Sr. let out a loud sigh to catch everyone's attention.
"We know you are sorry for your actions but you still need to be punished Lori…" The girl in question did not argue. "For skipping on your original punishment you will be spending the entire day at Aunt Ruth's tomorrow." She nodded.
"As for interrupting Lincoln's and Quinlan's date...I'll be extending the time of taking away your phone to a week. During that week: no mall, no friends, and no Bobby. You will drive everyone to school and back, that's it. Do you understand?"
"Yes Dad."
The father of the family turned to Lincoln's girlfriend. QT's hands were still clasped together from her previous plee.
"Quinlan, you've had a rough day…" Her eyes looked up. "Would you like me to drive you home?"
"Could I…" She hesitated, "Could I spend the night with Lincoln tonight?"
The question hung in the air. She simply didn't want to feel like she was losing him again, not today. In regards to what happened to earlier, it was a risky request. Another sigh escaped Mr. Loud's lips.
"Okay," QT perked up, "please don't do anything tonight though."
"Of course not." She smiled slightly.
"Thank you." He turned to the rest of the family, "It's been a rough day how about I order some pizzas."
The family cheered briefly but knew the mood did not call for excessive celebration. The family watched timidly as Lincoln and Quinlan returned to his room. Lori went to her own shortly after. Food was later delivered to both rooms.
QT would later fall asleep that night with listening to Lincoln's heartbeat as he stroked her hair.