(No POV)
A few minutes after the fight, Haiku's mom showed up. After learning what had happened, she immediately fussed over her daughter and thanked Lincoln for looking out for her.
"You don't need to thank me," Lincoln said. "I'm just glad they're not hurt."
He gave a gentle smile as he said that—so gentle that Haiku looked away, playing with her hair as her cheeks tinted pink. Lucy noticed and couldn't help but giggle, but Haiku's mom looked at her daughter with mild concern.
"Are you sure you're alright, dear?" her mother asked with worry.
"Y-Yeah, Mom, I'm fine," Haiku stuttered.
"Are you sure?" Lincoln asked as he gently placed the palm of his hand on her forehead, causing Haiku's blush to deepen. "Hmm… you do feel a little warm. And your face is turning red."
"I-uh-wha—" Haiku sputtered.
By now, Lucy was struggling to contain her laughter as she recorded the whole thing on her phone. Lori may think Lincoln should be with Ronnie Anne, but this just convinced me otherwise, she thought. Haiku might be the perfect match for my brother.
Haiku's mom quickly caught on as she looked at the nice young man who had protected her daughter. "I like this one," she said to herself. "I hope they get together—they'd make such a cute couple."
An Hour Later
Haiku's mom dropped them off at home. As Lincoln went to the trunk to grab his bags, she took the chance to tease her daughter.
"So," she began in a teasing voice, "when are you planning to ask out your white-haired hero, dear?"
"MOM!" Haiku shouted, her eyes wide. She turned to Lucy, clearly hoping she'd deny what just happened.
"It's fine if you want to date him," Lucy said calmly. Haiku's words died in her throat. "I'm rooting for you. It'd be cool if you two hit it off. Who knows? You might even become my sister-in-law."
"See? You already have one of his sisters' approval," her mom added encouragingly.
At this point, Haiku was reduced to a blushing, stuttering mess, failing to respond to the chaos—until Lincoln reappeared with his bags on both arms.
His well-toned arms, she thought, remembering being held in them during the fight.
"Thank you for the ride, ma'am," Lincoln said politely.
"Oh please, call me Lilith," Haiku's mom replied with a smile. "Ma'am makes me feel old. And it was no trouble at all. After all, you took such good care of my daughter—it's the least I could do."
"Very well then, Lilith. I hope to see you both again soon," Lincoln replied. "I had fun today, and I'd love to join you girls at the café again sometime."
"That would be nice, right Haiku?" Lucy said. Even though she hid her emotions well, Haiku could tell Lucy was enjoying every second of this.
Just stay calm. Don't stutter. Talk like you usually do, Haiku reminded herself.
"Y-Yeah, a-and who knows, maybe you c-could read us another one of your books," she blurted out. I blew it, she thought, mentally face-palming, though Lincoln didn't seem to notice.
"Of course," he replied. "I've got a ton you both might like."
"T-That would be great," Haiku said, trying to regain her composure.
"Well, see you, Haiku," Lucy said with a grin. "And remember what I said—I'm rooting for you."
Haiku turned even redder as she watched her best friend and the boy she had fallen for walk into their home.
"Such a fine young man," Lilith said, smiling as she leaned toward her daughter. "I hope you snatch him up while you have the chance, or else someone else might."
Haiku sighed, knowing her mom wasn't going to let this go anytime soon.
(Lucy's POV)
"I'm going to put my things away, Lucy," Lincoln told me. "But I had fun today. It was a nice change of pace from what I usually do."
I gave him a small smile. "I had fun too. I'm glad you came with us—it was great having you there."
Despite all the worrying and those two jerks, it was nice having him around. It felt like I was seeing a side of him I'd never seen before. But I still had one more thing to check.
"Lincoln," I called out.
He turned to face me.
"If something's bothering you… you know you can always come to us, right?"
I expected him to get defensive—or ask why I was even bringing it up—but instead, he reached out and patted my head.
I looked up, realizing I now had to tilt my head back a little just to see his face. He had a soft, knowing smile.
"Lucy," he said gently, "I'll be honest… this is the best I've ever felt in my entire life. People change—maybe not as fast as I did—but I promise you girls have nothing to worry about. Even if you all keep watching me."
"What makes you think we're watching you?" I asked, surprised.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really, Lucy? I've lived with you girls for years. You think I don't notice the kind of looks you all give me?"
Are we really that easy to read? I thought as my cheeks flushed.
"Well, I'll see you at dinner after your little meeting," he said, walking upstairs. Halfway up, he turned back with a smirk. "Oh, and yes—you and our sisters are that easy to read."
I stood there, jaw slightly dropped. Half shocked that he knew what I was thinking. Half embarrassed that he said it out loud.
Sigh… looks like he was right again, I thought, pulling out my phone and sending a message:
Meet in Lori and Leni's room.
(No POV)
"Alright, I hereby call this sister meeting to order!" Lori said, banging a shoe on the nightstand. "Now, Lucy, please tell us what happened at the café."
"Before that, there's something I should say first," Lucy said, taking a deep breath. "I feel like… we should stop being concerned about this."
The others immediately started protesting.
"Order! Order!" Lori shouted, banging the shoe again. Once the room quieted, she crossed her arms. "Now, Lucy, why do you think that?"
"Because of what happened today," Lucy answered. She recounted everything—from her talk with Haiku to Lincoln saving them from the two bullies.
"Are you, like, okay?" Leni asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, Leni. Lincoln made sure of that."
"Man, who knew little bro could fight," Luna said.
"Yeah, it does seem out of character for Lincoln," Lana added.
"Oh come on, I'm sure Lucy's exaggerating," Lynn declared. "I mean—it's Lincoln."
"Didn't you say something similar yesterday about our male sibling unit singing?" Lisa pointed out.
"Look, maybe I was wrong about that—but this is Lincoln. Against those two gorillas from last Halloween? By himself?" Lynn argued.
"She has a point," Luan agreed. "It could've just looked that way from Lucy's perspective."
As the others nodded slowly, Lucy frowned. Were they always like this when talking about Lincoln? Was I like this too?
Quickly pulling out her phone, she searched online and soon found what she hoped for. "Thank you, internet," she whispered, then held the phone up.
"Then tell me if I was exaggerating," Lucy said, showing them the video titled:
"White-Haired Kid Delivers a Beatdown"
After watching, the Loud Sisters sat in stunned silence.
"Looks like you were wrong again, Lynn," Lana said smugly.
Lynn crossed her arms, annoyed at being proven wrong so fast.
"Jeez… can that even be called a fight?" Luan muttered, too shocked to even make a pun.
"I've never seen Lincoln be this brutal," Luna added, wincing.
"Yeah, and like, did you guys see his outfit?" Leni pointed out.
"Yes, Leni," Lori sighed. "But I don't think that's important right now."
"But, like, all of it—from his shoes to the leather jacket—it looks top-quality and expensive," Leni said. "And I didn't see any of that on sale at the mall yesterday. So like, where'd he get the money?"
"Surprisingly, Leni has a point," Lisa admitted. "If the clothing is expensive and he had multiple bags, he must've acquired a substantial amount of money."
"Huh?" the others said.
"Oh, for the love of science—he has money, people!" Lisa said, exasperated.
"Oooh," they all chorused.
"But why are you saying we should leave him alone with all this weird stuff happening?" Lola asked Lucy.
"Because when he held me after the fight, it was just like every other time," Lucy replied. "That made me realize—even with all these changes—he's still the same caring older brother I've always known."
"That's sweet, Lucy. But people don't change like that overnight," Luna said.
"Why not? You did—around Lincoln's age, too," Lucy countered.
Luna rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "Okay, fair…"
"Let's just vote," Lori said. "Raise your hand if you think we should leave Lincoln be."
Only Lucy, Leni, and Luna raised their hands.
"Really, Luna?" Lori asked.
"Well… Lucy did bring up some good points," Luna admitted.
"Raise your hand to continue investigating Lincoln," Lori added.
Luan, Lynn, Lana, Lola, and Lisa raised their hands.
"Well, there you have it. We'll keep spying on Lincoln until we figure out what's going on," Lori declared.
"Sigh… fine. But I have two more things to say," Lucy said.
"And what would that be?" Lori asked.
"First—Lincoln already knows we're watching him. And he doesn't care," Lucy revealed.
"YOU TOLD HIM?!" Lola yelled.
"No. He just already knew. When he talked to me on the stairs, it was like he could read my mind," Lucy said calmly. "Which… I am planning to ask him to teach me."
"And what's the second thing?" Lana asked, curiosity growing.
Lucy smiled—wide and unsettling.
The other sisters leaned in, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.
"I believe Haiku would be the perfect girl for him to date," Lucy said with utmost confidence.
…
Silence. That was all there was until—
"WHAT!?!?" they all shouted, Lori the loudest.
"You can't be serious, right?" Lynn asked. She had shared a room with Lucy for years and had never seen her act like this. Not once.
"Of course she can't be serious—Lincoln is dating Ronnie Anne, after all," Lori said with a glare toward the little goth.
"Well, he did say that they weren't a couple, so…" Luna chimed in.
"Well, they're going to be!" Lori shouted, not liking the direction this conversation was going. "What makes you think they'd be a good couple anyway?" she asked defensively.
Lucy simply pulled out her phone and showed the video she had taken of the two of them, a confident smirk on her face.
Looking at the video, the other sisters could see what she meant—but they were more focused on Lincoln himself.
"Is that really Lincoln?" Lola asked, eyes wide.
"Man, we couldn't tell from the fight video, but little bro's growth spurt hit him hard. Like, puberty hard," Luna said, before remembering something. "Oh man, Sam said his growth spurt had better be major or she'd be jealous of how much he eats. Hahaha!" Luna started laughing. "When she sees this, her and my other bandmates are gonna flip out."
"Huh, I think I agree with Lucy," Lana said, prompting Lori to whip her head around with an expression of disbelief.
"What!?!" Lori shouted.
"Well, you only said they'd be a good match. Lucy actually brought evidence, so it's only natural for us to think so," Lisa explained matter-of-factly.
"Well Ronnie Anne is the only girl that meets my approval!" Lori declared.
"Then Haiku is a girl who has my approval," Lucy countered.
"I'm the oldest, so what I say goes," Lori said, thinking that would end the argument. But Lucy wasn't having it—not this time.
"Not this time," Lucy said firmly, shocking Lori.
"Should we intervene?" Lana asked her twin.
"Are you kidding? This is getting good," Lola replied with a mischievous grin.
"Kids! Dinner's ready!" Lynn Sr. shouted up the stairs.
"This isn't over," Lori warned.
"Far from it," Lucy replied.