The Loud House wasn't usually quiet, but Luna Loud's room had a different kind of noise — the steady strumming of guitar strings. Luna hunched over her notebook, pencil tapping against the page in frustration.
"C'mon, words," she muttered. "Don't bail on me now."
Normally, lyrics came to her like lightning. But lately? Every time she tried, her mind wandered — and it always wandered in one direction.
Her eyes drifted to the open door, where across the hall, Dante sat with Lincoln, setting up Lincoln's old gaming console. He leaned back easily, controller in hand, his laugh filling the hallway like background music.
Luna's cheeks warmed. She quickly bent over her notebook, scribbling a line.
"Steady in the chaos, voice cutting through the storm…"
She frowned, erased it, then scribbled again.
That's when Luan popped her head in. "Whatcha writing, sis? Another ballad? Or should I say, a Bald-dante?"
"Get out," Luna snapped, slamming the notebook shut.
Luan smirked. "I knew it. Love song."
Luna tossed a pillow at her, missing by inches. "Not funny!"
But deep down, she knew it was true.
That night, Luna stayed up long after her siblings crashed, strumming softly in the moonlight. The words finally clicked.
"There's a rhythm in the silence,
A harmony in the noise,
You hold the line around me,
With nothing but your voice…"
The next day, the Loud House was its usual circus: Lynn dribbled a basketball in the hallway, Lola shrieked about someone misplacing her tiara, and Lisa tested a sound amplifier that made everything twice as loud.
To escape the noise, Dante and Lincoln headed out to the porch. Lincoln lugged his comic books, while Dante balanced a soccer ball on his foot, practicing tricks.
Luna followed, guitar slung over her shoulder. "Yo, mind if I jam out here?"
Lincoln shrugged. "Sure. Just don't blow the windows out."
She sat down and strummed. At first her fingers stumbled, but when Dante leaned forward, listening intently, she steadied. The melody came alive, her voice stronger than she expected.
Dante tapped his knee in rhythm, eyes locked on her. Lincoln clapped offbeat, but it didn't matter. For Luna, the world narrowed to the strings and that grin Dante gave when she hit a high note.
When she finished, her heart thudded in her chest. "Uh… so, yeah. Just something I've been working on."
Dante smiled. "That was seriously good. Like… real good. You write all that?"
She shrugged, trying to hide her blush. "Yeah. Just, y'know, stuff that came to me."
From the upstairs window, Luan yelled: "More like someone that came to you!"
"LUAN!"
Dante chuckled, shaking his head. "Ignore her. For real, though — that song had heart. Felt… honest."
Luna strummed a random chord to cover her smile. If only you knew who it was about, she thought.