Lincoln sighed as he sat in the chair. He really didn't want to be here. In all honesty, he didn't even need to be here. But his family thought he should go. He had just been acting a little…off, lately, and they were worried about him.

Lincoln looked around the therapist's office he was sitting in. It was nice, kinda spacious. It had a decent view outside the window of the park across the street.

"Hello, Lincoln," a middle age man walked in. He had brown hair, a bit of stubble, and was well-built, "My name is Christopher Savino. You can call me Dr. Savino, Christopher, Chris, whatever you feel comfortable with."

"Thank you, Dr. Savino," Lincoln said, nodding at the man's calm tone of voice.

"Now, Lincoln," Dr. Savino began, looking over his notes, "I've been told that you have been acting a little off these past few months. Would you like to talk about it?"

"Not really," Lincoln sighed, "But I know I don't have a choice, so have at it."

"Very well," Dr. Savino nodded, "Now, I'm to understand there was a…tragedy in your family a few months ago. Is this correct?"

"Yeah," Lincoln nodded, "Not something I like thinking about."

"But this tragedy," Dr. Savino pushed on, "Is what started your odd behavior, am I right?"

"Technically," Lincoln said, leaning back into the chair, "But personally, I don't think I'm acting any different than I normally do."

"I think that's the problem," Dr. Savino stated, looking at the boy in concern, "After all, what you've been through typically results in not normal behavior, usually depression and anger."

"I have no reason to be depressed or angry," Lincoln shrugged, "Can I go now?"

"In a moment," Dr. Savino said, holding up a hand, "Lincoln, I fear you may be living in a state of denial. Before you go, I hate to do this, but I'd like you to explain what happened to me."

Lincoln sighed, "You'll think I'm crazy."

"No I won't," Dr. Savino shook his head, "This is a safe place, Lincoln. All I am allowed to do is offer opinions and give feedback. Unless I fear you are a danger to yourself and/or others, then nothing you say will leave this room."

Lincoln bit his lip and looked down. "I would like to be able to tell someone," he mumbled.

"Then tell me," Dr. Savino said warmly, "Remember. Safe place."

Lincoln was quiet for another moment. Finally, he looked up at Dr. Savino, who nodded at him.

"Ok," Lincoln sighed at last, "I'll tell you." He took a deep breath, and then began, "6 months ago, I was in a car accident that killed half my family…"

It was a fun, summer day. The Loud family was in their family van, Vanzilla, on their way home from Dairyland. They had planned the trip a week ago, and they had spent the whole day there, having a blast.

Now, as the sun started to set, they headed home. They were all asleep, worn out from the long day they had just had. Lynn Sr. was driving, with his wife in the passenger seat and their youngest, Lily, in between them in her car seat. The kids were seated in the last three rows in random order, lightly snoozing.

All was calm. The road was deserted, save for them.

Lynn never saw the black SUV with no lights on, as it came barreling around a turn, its driver wasted as f*** behind the wheel. He plowed into Vanzilla, instantly waking everyone up as the van screeched and flipped off the road and down a hill. There were screams, then silence.

"The engine in the guy's car exploded, burning him and giving him a slow, painful death," Lincoln explained, as Dr. Savino nodded, taking notes over what Lincoln was saying.

"Are you happy about that?" Dr. Savino asked, looking at Lincoln with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly…" Lincoln paused, as he thought of how to answer the question, "Yes. That guy had already been arrested once for drunk driving, so he knew very well what he was doing was wrong. Only last time, he hit a tree. This time, he killed 6 people. So yes, I am happy that he is no longer a danger to anyone."

Dr. Savino nodded, writing some more notes down.

"So, what happened next?"

"Well, this is the crazy part," Lincoln rubbed his neck, "But in all honesty, I don't really care how crazy it sounds." He paused, and Dr. Savino nodded for him to continue. "So, a few days later I woke up in the hospital…"

Lincoln slowly opened his eyes, trying to take in his surroundings. He couldn't remember much, and his head was throbbing.

"Hello?" he called out, only to wince at the sting of his completely dry throat and mouth.

"Oh my god…" he heard, "HE'S AWAKE!"

Suddenly, Lori appeared in his line of vision. He then heard what sounded like a bunch of people running, and suddenly Dad and his four older sisters appeared, the 6 of them smiling, relieved at Lincoln finally waking up.

"Oh, thanks god!" Lynn Sr. exclaimed, as he wrapped his son in a hug, only to pull away when Lincoln cried out in pain.

"Water," he gasped, knowing he had questions, but couldn't ask them with his throat as dry as a desert.

Leni complied, running to the water machine and getting her brother a cup of cold water, which he gulped down. Once his throat was finally soothed, he looked up at his family and asked, "What happened?"

The rest of the family looked at each other, clearly concerned about what to say, and during this time Lincoln noticed little things about them. Leni had a bandage on her right cheek, Luna's right eye was black, Lynn had a bandage on her forehead, Luan had what looked like a cut under her chin, and Lori appeared to be missing one of her front teeth. But the worst was Dad, whom he noticed had the top of his head wrapped in bandages.

"What happened?" he repeated, growing alarmed.

"My heart rate went up, so the nurses had to come and sedate me. After I calmed down, Dad told me about the drunk driver and the car accident, and how…" he took a deep breath and sighed, "How Mom and all 5 of my little sisters had died in the accident."

"I'm so sorry," Dr. Savino said, looking at the boy with sympathy.

"Thank you," Lincoln said, taking a moment to pinch his eyes, as though he was worried the tears would start flowing.

"So…" Dr. Savino tentatively spoke up, "I'm still not sure what the "crazy" part of that story was."

"That's cuz I haven't gotten to it yet," Lincoln sighed, "That night, after crying my eyes out, I went to sleep…"

When Lincoln woke up the next morning, he noticed his throat was again super dry.

"Hello?" he called out, wincing.

"Oh my god…" he heard again, "HE'S AWAKE!"

This time, he was greeted to Lucy appearing over him. Next thing he knew, Mom and all 5 of his little sisters were standing around his bed.

"You're alive!" Lincoln rasped out in joy, before wincing as he grabbed his throat. Lisa quickly hurried away to the water machine to get her brother a drink, which he eagerly gulped down.

After tossing the cup aside, Lincoln wrapped his family in a hug, "Oh god, you won't believe the messed up dream I just had," he sobbed in joy, "Dad and the older sisters told me you guys had all died in the accident."

Mom and the sisters stopped the hug and slowly pulled away from him, all looking uncomfortable. Still having a smile on his face, Lincoln calmly asked, "What?"

"At that point, Mom told me that Dad and all my older sisters had died in the car accident," Lincoln sighed.

Dr. Savino, while sympathetic to the boy's plight, looked over his notes in confusion, "Did your mother remarry? I could have sworn a man calling himself your father was the one who arranged this session."

"That's the crazy part," Lincoln sighed, looking Dr. Savino right in the eyes, "I'm living in two realities. One where my mother and little sisters died in the accident while my father and older sisters survived, and one where Dad and the older sisters died while Mom and the little sisters survived. I…I honestly can't tell which is real. And being completely honest…I don't want to."

Dr. Savino frowned at this, but said nothing as he gestured for Lincoln to continue.

"I wear a wristband to remind me which reality I'm in," Lincoln explained, holding up his right arm, "Green in this reality because it's my dad's favorite color, and pink in the other reality because it's my mom's favorite color. I refer to them as the Green and Pink realities, just in case I have to recall something about them."

"I see," Dr. Savino nodded, "It would make sense that because both realities appear to be real, you wouldn't want to get confused. Tell me, other than who survived and who…passed on, are there any other difference between your realities?"

"Well," Lincoln paused as he thought, "In both realities I'm still best friends with Clyde, and his dads are always ready to help us if we need it. I still go to Royal Woods Elementary and am in Mrs. Smith's 6th Grade class. Our school work is usually the same. We still live at the house we've lived at all our lives." Dr. Savino nodded, writing this down. "As for differences, well…"

It had been a month since the accident, and Ronnie Anne and Lincoln were standing in front of her house, which had a moving van in front of it.

"I hate to leave you, Lame-O, especially now," Ronnie Anne said, taking his hand in hers, briefly brushing over the pink wristband he was wearing, "But when Dad was offered that transfer, Bobby begged him to take it, because pretty much everything in town seems to remind him of Lori."

Lincoln sighed, but nodded, "I understand. I'm gonna miss you, Ronnie Anne."

"I'll miss you too, Lincoln," she said, saying his actual name, as they leaned in and shared a kiss.

"Ronnie Anne, we gotta get going," Bobby called, from the backseat of their family car. Ronnie Anne sighed, but after getting an ok nod from Lincoln, she let go of his hands and headed to the car, where she hopped in the backseat next to her older brother. Bobby gave Lincoln a nod, which the white haired boy returned.

Lincoln stayed on the sidewalk as he watched the family car and the moving van drive out of site, never to return.

"In this reality," Lincoln said, pointing at the green wristband, "Bobby's father turned down the transfer, because Bobby had no reason to beg him to take it, and as long as his family was happy where they were, he had no reason to move."

"I see," Dr. Savino said, "Anything else?"

"Well…" Lincoln blushed, "Before I started dating Ronnie Anne, I had a crush on this girl named Cristina, and…let's just say it didn't go too well. We haven't talked since she switched classes just to get away from me."

"Oooh," Dr. Savino winced, "I've been there."

Lincoln nodded, knowing that messing up with your crush was a universal guy thing to do, not just for him, "Well, in both realities, she offered me her condolences. However, in the Pink reality…"

Lincoln was eating lunch with his friends, looking down. Ronnie Anne had moved away the previous weekend, and he was still bummed about it.

"Lincoln?"

All the guys looked up as they saw Cristina approach their table. Clyde gave Lincoln an encouraging pat on the back as the rest of the group slowly left the table.

"Oh, hey, Cristina," he said, giving her a small smile, "What's up?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about something…kind of important?" Cristina nervously asked, looking anywhere but at him.

"Sure…" Lincoln said, wondering what was up.

"Let me guess," Dr. Savino interrupted him, "She said she has a crush on you, has moved on past the embarrassing thing you did, and wanted to make a move now that you were single?"

"Yeah," Lincoln's eyes went wide, "How'd you know?"

"Because…" Dr. Savino paused, knowing what he was about to say could hurt Lincoln, but it was for his own good, "Despite being with Ronnie Anne, you obviously still have feelings for Cristina, and you simply dreamt that she was finally willing to return those feelings."

Lincoln frowned at the man, "I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"No! I do believe you, Lincoln," Dr. Savino stated, "I believe that you've created this alternate reality in your head to help you cope with your loss. There's nothing wrong with that. But you need to accept that it's nothing more than a dream."

"But it's real," Lincoln countered, "Every thing makes sense. There are some moments that are almost parallel to this world that it's almost freaky. In fact, something happened in the Pink reality BEFORE it happened in this reality."

"And that was?" Dr. Savino patiently asked, knowing he had to let Lincoln vent if he was going to help him.

Lincoln rubbed his forehead, trying not to get worked up as he started, "Not counting my closet bedroom, we have 5 bedrooms upstairs, shared by 10 sisters. Well, after the accident…"

Lincoln looked at the upstairs hallway. It seemed so different now.

He exited his bedroom and began walking down the hall. Turning to his left, he looked into Lisa's room, still cluttered with her inventions. To his right was Lana's room, full of her tools and reptiles. Next to Lana's room was Lucy's room, still dark and gloomy as ever. Next was Lola's room, full of her princess outfits and pageant awards. Across from Lola's room was Lily's room, complete with her crib and a ton of other baby toys.

Lincoln walked out of his room and looked at the upstairs hall. It seemed so different now.

To his left, he saw Leni's room, complete with all her fashion supplies and sewing equipment. To his right was Luan's room, which had all her props and a stage for her to practice open mic nights. Next to Luan's room was Lynn's room, full of sports gear. Then came Luna's room, still having a bunk bed and a stage, where Luna practiced to be a rock star with all of her sound equipment and instruments. Across the hall was Lori's room, still permanently closed with a "Little Siblings Not Allowed" sign on it.

"That proves that this other reality is a dream," Dr, Lopez stated, "Your younger sisters spread out in real life, and then you simply dreamt that your older sisters did the same. It makes sense that, after getting over the tragedy, your sisters would each want their own space, especially since they could now actually have it."

Lincoln frowned. Clyde had said that this woman was sympathetic, but she was just determined to convince him that his other reality was a dream, and she was NOT being understanding about it.

"But…they each took parallel rooms: Lisa and Lily and Lori and Leni, and Lola and Lana and Luna and Luan"

"Well," Dr. Lopez thought for a moment, "It makes sense, seeing as it would be the easiest to over stuff simply down the hall, instead of trying to completely rearrange everything. And of course Lucy and Lynn would have no need to move, since they would each automatically have their own space."

Finally getting fed up, Lincoln stated, "Look, I may be dreaming in this other reality, or I may be dreaming now. But in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?"

"Lincoln," Dr. Lopez chuckled lightly, "I can assure you that this is not a dream."

Now it was Lincoln's turn to chuckle, "That's exactly what Dr. Savino said."

Before Dr. Lopez could say anything to counter that, Lincoln stood up and made his way to the door, "Look, Dr. Lopez, I can understand that maybe it's not entirely healthy for my mental state to keep living in two worlds, but I don't care. The only thing I feel weird about is dating both Cristina and Ronnie Anne, albeit in different realities. But that's it. I have my family, I have everything I could ever want. And I don't plan to give that up any time soon."

At that, Lincoln exited the therapist's office. He met Clyde outside, who asked him, "Everything ok, Linc?"

Lincoln smiled, "Everything's fine, Clyde. Everything's just fine."

Man, I loved Awake. Such an interesting premise for a show, a cop living in two realities where many things, big and small, are different. And of course it was so interesting and unique, that it got canned after one season. Sigh. Anyway, I thought the idea of something like that happening to Lincoln would be a really interesting idea, so I decided to write it.

R&R