Chapter 2: Putting on a mask

Quick note thanks for liking this story and telling me what i did wrong with the last chapter.

Lincoln could have made it easier on himself if he had accepted his dad's offer on picking him up at the airport but declined because he wanted as much alone time he could get. Don't get him wrong he misses his family every much and can't wait to see them but he's still trying to get his head clear enough for his family not to notice.

"Man i can't wait until it snows" Lincoln says as he's walking on the familiar street that he would always walk when coming home from school. One thing that everyone can agree on is Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, even if Lincoln was in Afghanistan for the last couple of months hoping everyday he would come out alive.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he saw the house he lived in for years come into view, now some may ask "Lincoln you're 24 years old why do you still live at home with your parents" into which he'll replay "Most of the time i'm not home i'm only home for a couple of weeks than i get deployed back to Afghanistan" plus when Lincoln does go home he and his family are always together, making everyday a family day. This was not going to happen this time he was done with the navy, after the accident happened he was laid in bed for what feels like forever. Now that there was nothing to make him leave he should start thinking about finding a place of his own, but for now he's gonna spend time with his family.

Walking to the front door Lincoln could hear voices shouting at each other

"When is he coming!"

"I don't know maybe he missed the bus!"

"Calm down girls knowing your brother he'll be here any second know"

Clearing his head one last time lincoln knocks on the door and all the shouting stopped and was replaced with sounds of feet rushing to the door and was opened with enough force to almost break it.

"WELCOME HOME LINCOLN!"

"Hey everyone it's good to be back"

All his sisters started to bring him in a group hug and for the first time and weeks he was happy but he was brought out of his musing when he notices that someone was missing from the group hug.

He looks past everyone and sees the one person that was never one for affection but just by telling the way she is fighting, she wants nothing more than to give her big brother the most loving hug she could get but deciding to wait until she can get him alone.

Lincoln was about to call out to Lucy but felt someone pulling on his arm "Come on Bro! We prepared a stay at home family night!"

"Ok ok everyone let your brother get his stuff to his room" all the sisters let out groans of having to let go of their brother

"Whew, thanks dad"

"No problem son, hurry and get your stuff to your room so we can start the movie".

When all his sister started to move out of the way so they could grab snacks and try to claim a spot on the couch.

Grabbing his stuff lincoln moves up the stairs but not without talking to lucy.

"Hey lucy is something wrong you didn't say hi"

Not noticing the small blush that came on her face lucy looked away before replying "nothing lincoln just something on my mind"

"Oh, well do you want to talk about it"

"Maybe, but not right now"

"Ok well how bout later tonight then, if you want"

Lucy just shrugged her shoulders then went into the kitchen then lincoln finally went to his room to only throw his luggage on his bed not gonna worry about unloading it until later. Making his way back down stairs lincoln saw that the living room was made into the best possible way to enjoy a movie. Small tables were around the living room all filled with food, snacks, and drinks.

"Come on bro i saved you the best seat" Luna said that as she is patting the space sitting me between her and lynn.

"So what movie are we watching"

"Oh hope you don't mind lincoln but we all decided to go with "13 Hours" because we like hearing about the time you spent in the navy".

"Really you guys i heard about this movie it's supposed to be violent and really sad"

"Don't worry lincoln if it get too much for us then we can stop it's still really early so we can do some other thing"

Lincoln just nodded making lori be the one to start the movie and knowing how long the movie is lincoln tried to get more comfortable being sandwiched between lynn and luna. All his moving somehow made it to where lynn and luna were even closer to him and they made it clear when they rested their heads on either side of his shoulders that they won't be moving any time soon.

Everyone was so into the movie that it felt like nothing would get there attention, even when they all had their eyes on the screen lincoln was the only one looking down at his lap because what he was seeing is a group of friends willing to risk their lives to save people. It kinda reminded him and his group when they tried to take back control of a well provide street that could be the trump card if they needed to fall back to.

The only one to notice lincoln is having a bad memory was lynn because she could tell by his face that whatever he was thinking about was causing him pain.

"Hey lincoln are you ok?" lynn slightly whispered in his ear and she couldn't stop and feel excited about it but the moment lynn said something lincoln only looked at her with the most calming face he could do and sharply nodded. This of course didn't fool lynn and saw right past her brother and saw that he is in pain, not wanting to make a big scene about it with everyone close by she decided to ask lincoln about his problem later tonight when everyone is sleeping.

Little did she know that she wasn't the only one thinking about it.