Loudhouse Rock!

	Lincoln cautiously stuck his head around the corner, peeking through the doorway of Luna and Luan's room. What he saw within was the usual sight of Luna fiercely shredding away at her guitar like there was no tomorrow. The rocker chick was tapping her foot to the beat and banging her head to the rhythm of her own jam. Luan was nowhere in sight, likely off setting up a prank to ensnare one of their many siblings in. It was for the best as what Lincoln had in mind would only be made a dozen times more complicated with her presence.

	"Pssst, hey Luna," Lincoln nervously murmured only to be drowned out by his sister's wicked melodies. He could tell that she was really in the zone right now and as much as the boy hated interrupting his sibling at such a time, he really needed her help.

	"Luna. HEY LUNA!"

	The amateur rock tune quickly subsided and the thrashing of the music inclined Loud screeched to a halt at the sound of a voice calling out to her. The 15 year old girl scratched her head and turned around, finally spotting her little brother standing sheepishly at the door.

	"Hey there Lincoln," Luna greeted with a smile as she reclined her instrument against the bed. "Sorry about not hearing ya, you know how things get when I really start jamming. So what's up?"

	"Oh nothing much, I just wanted to see what my favorite sister was up to that's all." Lincoln revealed as he rocked himself back and forth with his hands shoved in his pockets, avoiding eye contact with her all together.

	"Favorite sister?" Luna blushed slightly then began to snicker. "Heh, you better not let the others hear you say that dude, you'd never hear the end of it!"

	Lincoln let out an awkward laugh as he walked into the room and shut the door behind him. The young boy seemed to be perspiring a bit and fidgeting more than Lily does during a diaper change. Something was clearly eating away at him and Luna could tell. The older sibling took a seat on the bottom bunk and then spoke up to break the ice.

	"You don't look too hot right now bro, is something bothering you?" Luna inquired.

	"That obvious huh?" Lincoln replied slightly relieved. "Luna, do you think I could ask you something? Something kind of... personal?"

	Luna's eyes widened as she clenched her mattress. What did he mean by something personal? Well, he was getting to be around THAT age. Why was he coming to her for this kind of stuff instead of their parents or Lori? How was she supposed to handle this? What we she supposed to tell him? This was not the kind of visit she was expecting from her little brother at all and not one she was she she could tackle. Her mind was going a million miles a second as her bulging eyes stared blankly at the wall.

	"Hey Luna. Luna!" The sound of her younger sibling's voice awoke Luna from her trance.

	"Wha— Oh, OOOH!" Luna blurted as she shook her head and regained her composure. "Yeah, sure thing. Take a seat dear sweet child o' mine and tell me what's bugging you. I'll help you out as much as I can."

	Lincoln slowly walked over to the bed and plopped down right next to his big sister. The boy twiddled his thumbs and stared at the carpet as he struggled to phrase his words properly. After a moment of silence the boy took a deep breath, clasped his hands together and looked up at his sister.

	"Luna. What's the proper way to treat a woman? How am I supposed to act? What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to do?"

	The eldest brunette was taken aback by this sudden assault of questions. Is that what this was all about? Luna's exterior didn't show it but she was completely relieved on the inside. It was as if the weight of the world was taken off her shoulders. Her slight face of dread eased into a smile. She held a palm over her mouth in an attempt to stifle back the giggles but she couldn't hold back for long. Luna's mouth burst open and a storm of laughter erupted from her lungs as she threw herself back on the bed. Lincoln's face was redder than a tomato at this point. He was hoping he could avoid total humiliation by confiding in Luna but that clearly backfired.

	"You know what forget I said anything." Feeling dejected Lincoln stood up and began walking towards the door.

	"Lincoln wait," Luna pleaded, still wiping off tears of laughter from her cheeks. "Sorry about laughing at you bro, I just thought this was gonna be a SERIOUS issue!"

	"This is serious Luna!"

	"No i meant something more serious like— Okay never mind, you're absolutely right dude. Gimme a chance, let me help you out."

	Lincoln pursed his lips and squinted his eyes at Luna. The boy in the orange polo begrudgingly returned to his sister's side, still suspicious of her intents. He supposed it wouldnt hurt to hear whatever advice she could offer. He already made a fool of himself anyways.

	"So my little bro is having girl problems and came to me for help. I'm flattered! Rock on Linc, you little stud!" Luna exclaimed with a huge toothy grin as she tussled her brother's platinum blonde hair.

	"Okay okay stop embarrassing me Luna!"

	"So who is it? That little neighbor girl from down the street? That Christina girl that you think we don't all know about but totally do? That little firecracker who cold clocked you when you smooched her? Give me the deets dude!"

	"Geez, you don't need to know any of that! Just some general advice would be swell. This is all new to me and I'm not really sure how to proceed."

	"Well alright, but I gotta know," Luna spoke, replacing the playful and teasing tone in her voice with a much more serious and personal one. "Why not ask Dad or someone else? Why'd you come to me for help?"

	"Come on Luna, would YOU ask our parents for advice on this kind of stuff? Besides, Dad would just make things awkward with his... fatherly ways."

	"Good point." Luna chuckled. "What about Lori?"

	"Lori may have more experience on this stuff but she's been kind of moody lately for some reason, not really sure why. Just trying to stay out of her warpath for the time being."

	"Ah, I hear you loud and clear man." Luna responded, completely understanding what Lincoln was getting at.

	"And besides," Lincoln said feeling somewhat abashed. "I wasn't kidding when I said you were my favorite sister. I mean, I love you all the same but you're so chill and always cool to me, for the most part anyways. You don't trap me in headlocks or force me to be your slave or anything. I don't mind subjecting myself to those things if it makes them happy and I enjoy spending time with you all but when I'm hanging with you I just feel a lot more at ease. Does that make sense?"

	Listening to her little brother's powerful words just melted Luna's heart. To think that he had held her in such high regard was astounding and simply blew the rocker girl away. She could feel every hair on her body stand on end as she acquired a sudden case of goose bumps. This was exactly the kind of validation Luna Loud needed to keep on jamming throughout the night. Her mind was going wild as all kinds of ideas for new songs ran threw her brain. Those could wait though. Right now her brother needed some assistance and she was gonna be sure to give it to him as best as she could.

	"Yeah, I get ya Lincoln," Luna softly answered as she turned her head towards the wall for a moment and rubbed her eyes.

	"Alright bro, let me serenade ya on the topic," Luna said as she wrapped an arm around her younger sibling and pulled him close. "Women can be kind of fickle, you can't just treat them like a sibling or one of your bros. Just look at Lori and Bobby. When she's with him it kind of seems like she's a different person at times. Romance is a two way street and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. You get what I'm saying?"

	"Uhhmmm... kinda..." Lincoln replied with uncertainty as he rubbed his head. It was painfully obvious that he wasn't quite sure what Luna was saying. She wasn't getting through to him and at this rate, wouldn't at all. She was gonna need a different approach.

	"Alright how about this then. Just look at my sick axe here! I call him... Mick." Luna said as she pressed her face against the cold exterior of the lavender instrument and took a whiff. Lincoln stared at his sister with a slightly disturbed gaze. That was a sight he wish he hadn't just witnessed. "Me and ol' Mick here have a relationship of our own. I keep him polished and tuned and in return he gives me the chance to rock out and make some twisted rock ballads. It's a mutual thing we got going on ya see?"

	"I guess that makes a bit more sense but it still doesn't quite help me out with my issue. " Lincoln said as the impatience in his voice becoming apparent.

	Luna winced slightly at the realization that she hadn't quite gotten through to him just yet. This was much harder than she had anticipated. Music was what she knew best but without an affinity of his own for the art, Lincoln just couldn't grip her way of teaching. She needed a way to channel her own passion to help Lincoln overcome his own problem. As the Loud sister began to panic, Her face lit up
when a sudden idea came to her.

	"Alright bro, let's try this out." Luna said as she pulled Lincoln up off the bed. Luna then proceeded to squat down and bring herself face to face with her sibling. "See Mick here? Take him."

	Lincoln's eyes quickly darted back and forth between the instrument and his sister. He was at a complete loss for words. Luna was always very cautious when it came to the handling of her equipment so this action took the young boy by surprise. The white haired Loud remained stunned as his sister carefully strapped the guitar around his body. The surprising amount of heft to it almost tipped Lincoln over until he quickly regained his balance. Staring at his face in the reflection of the instrument, Lincoln let his hands freely explore the tool for a moment. He gently ran a hand across its smooth body and delicately pinched the volume and tone knobs. He then firmly grabbed the guitar by its neck and positioned it like he had seen Luna do so many times before.

	"What now?" Lincoln asked.

	"What do you think bro?" Luna responded sarcastically. "You play it!"

	"But I don't know— how is this supposed to— "

	"Don't stress the small stuff Lincoln!" Luna interrupted. "Just let loose and have fun with it!"

	Once again, the boy found himself going back and forth between the guitar and Luna. He didn't understand how this was supposed to help him achieve a better understanding of the fairer sex but it's not like this was gonna hurt his chances. Lincoln took a deep breath and positioned his left fingers along the frets. Acting on instinct, he placed his right thumb atop one of the strings and gave it a pluck. The string vibrated and produced a note that echoed throughout the room. Once the sound subsided, Lincoln looked back up at his sister to confirm if what he did was correct. Luna just smiled back and gave him a thumbs up. The boy took it as a sign that he managed not to screw things up and continued to play to the best of his ability, dishing out amateur licks and chords for a few minutes. The nervous boy began to get into the groove of things over time as he continued to jam even though he wasn't completely sure what he was doing. He looked up at his sister on occasion just to see her reaction. That smiling, freckled face of hers provided a reassuring safety net for Lincoln that washed away all feelings of doubt within him.

	Luna remained silent as she continued to watch her brother perform for her. Sure his fingering technique was amateurish, every other note was a sour one and the chords he played weren't coherent but it was still music to her ears. She closed her eyes and lifted her head up, grinning the whole time as she tapped her foot to the inconsistent beat. Seeing Lincoln play was causing all kinds of memories to come flooding back to her. She was reminded of the time she first saw Mick Swagger live at her very first concert with some friends. She recalled her first vinyl album purchase from the record store with her own money on her 10th birthday. She recollected the memory of her little brother crying in his crib one stormy night as she lulled him to sleep with soothing and comforting lullabies. That was also the same night she discovered her love for music which would play an important role in her life. And here Luna was now, watching her little brother shred as she helped him out with his girl problems. Luna felt like someone just sucker-punched her in the heart when she realized the gravity of the situation. Little Lincoln was growing up and soon enough, he'd be a fine upstanding young man. The loudest Loud sighed and quickly wiped a tear from her eye. Suddenly the music came to a stop and Luna snapped back to reality.

	"I'm done. I can't play anymore." Lincoln said as he gently blew on his bright red and blistering fingers. "My tips are killing me! How do you do it Luna? What's your secret?"

	"There ain't no secret to it bro! You just gotta power through the pain and eventually you get used to it. Love is a battlefield and you gotta fight for that love no matter the cost. So what do you think of your first lesson? How do you feel?"

	"Well aside from the intense finger pain, pretty good I'd say." Lincoln responded smugly as he unstrapped the guitar and returned it to his sibling. "Not even really sure why, I just do."

	"Remember what I said me and Mick have?" Luna reminded. "It's a give-and-take relationship. You gotta have a mutual understanding between the two halves. You felt it a little when you played just now right? That small and special feeling inside that made you feel complete?"

	"Yeah, a little. I think." Lincoln said as he clenched his chest and looked back on his performance.

	"There's a bit of finesse to dealing with women and to be honest I'm not sure if most guys truly understand but don't stress over it dude. It's when you overthink that things start to become complicated. Playing for others feels great but it's important to play for yourself too. I guess what I'm trying to say is you just gotta be yourself bro."

	Lincoln spent a few moments to take in everything Luna had just told him. As the boy rubbed his chin in deep thought, he put on a smile and began giggling.

	"Be yourself. I could have told you that Luna!" The boy spoke in a slightly teasing voice that made Luna blush in embarrassment.

	"Well, I guess it's something I figured out right now for myself too!" Luna said with a chuckle.

	"I'm glad I heard it from you though Luna and I want you to know that it really means a lot to me. You really helped me out here, more than I was expecting actually."

	"So then, you know what you gotta do?" Luna asked.

	"I'm pretty sure I do."

	"Well then what are you waiting for? Go make your next move, you lady killer you!" Luna cheered as she gave her little brother a reassuring and playful slap on the back.

	Sporting a determined expression and some newfound confidence, Lincoln made his way out of the room to his next destination. The eager and confident boy was already halfway down the stairwell when he stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and dashed back to his sister's room. Luna had her back turned and was strapping her guitar on for another shredding session when she was startled by the arms of her brother wrapping around her waist.

	"Thanks again for the advice Luna. I love you!"

	Before she could even turn around to see her brother off again, the white haired boy was already dust in the wind. Luna felt a mighty tugging at her heartstrings as she dwelled on the words and actions of her favorite sibling.

	"Love you too bro." The brunette rocker whispered under her breath as she cranked the amp up to 11 and took a tight hold of Mick. The juices were flowing and the vibe was just right. The melodic-meister of the family was filled to the brim with energy and her emotions were stirring around within like a mixing pot. It was time to channel all this vigor and spirit into a smokin' new masterpiece unlike any these people have heard so far.

	"ALRIGHT LOUD HOUSE ARE YOU ALL READY FOR THE LOVELY LUNA LOUD'S HOT NEW SINGLE TO ROCK YOUR WORLD AND KEEP YOU PARTYING TO THE DEAD OF NIGHT? I call this one 'Linked In'. Let's jam!"