The Fool Devoted to Love

Disclaimer: The Loud House Copyright Nickelodeon (2017)

Chapter 3: It Only Gets Worse

Lincoln kept up his prayers and fought against the rising panic attacks that were becoming a weekly problem.

He was having trouble attending services three or more times a week, something he'd never fallen slack in before.

He was eating less and sleeping poorly.

His grades took a brief dive as his legs became lead and his arms were shackled to the ground he walked upon.

His eyes rarely looked up into the gorgeous blue skies.

His ears rarely listened to the cardinal's melodious songs.

His hands rarely touched the warmth of skin.

Most days his icy heart blocked out the entire world as his body burnt with selfish fire.

Of a morning, his racing heart would wake him up from his fitful sleep.

Of a night, the drumming beat of his throbbing, hot ears would lull him into nightmares.

Messages between Lincoln and Jen suddenly became rare and far between.

Even if it took three months in between each one (and it did), he'd use the opportunity to reassure her of his love and faithfulness to her alone.

And he somehow managed to keep himself sustained during that time.

He had his hiccups; losing his part-time job, getting clinically diagnosed with depression, and losing virtually every friend he had as he swiftly hid inside his mind like a crab within its shell.

But he was alive. In a vague sense.

His blood pumped and his body moved, but his heart was caught between the realms of the living and the dead, and his mind wasn't too far behind it.

Months turned into a year.

A whole year without being able to hold his girlfriend's hand, to hug her close to him, to whisper the words, "I love you" in person with as much sincerity, warmth, and meaning as his soul yearned to give.

That's how long it took for him to receive a random message from her parents.

It was short, simple, and straight to the point.

"Stay away from our daughter. We don't want anything bad to happen to you."

He… didn't know what to think about that.

It came out of the blue. It was unwarranted. He wasn't even overtly sneaking around her parents to talk to her. That offer to meet them at any time was always open.

And then his mother got a similar message.

"Keep your son away from our family, or else."

And one of his sisters got yet another one.

"You're no longer welcome to be around our daughter."

It should be fairly easy to guess how Lincoln responded.

He paused, and prayed, but he couldn't stave off the jitters; the fear of impending doom.

He was scared out of his mind; righteous fury filled his veins; but he was not going to give in to the demands of two idiots that refused to talk to him and painted him as the enemy.

No matter how terrified he was, he continued on continuing on; praying daily for his future wife and family, applying himself in his studies, and struggling to keep his mind afloat as he battled against his doctors about medicine and therapy.

It's supposed at that point that the elephant in the room was the extent to Lincoln's involvement with his religious beliefs.

Let it be said that he was outstanding and well-liked and respected, not just in his own town, but in his whole region in the state where he lived. With a heart of gold and a strong moral compass, he made acquaintances with every church and every person he met, whether they were religious or not. He smiled (even if it was fake at times) and gave people greetings; he'd tip his hat to strangers and open doors for anyone; and volunteered in the community and local hospitals.

He did everything he could to improve himself and prepare things for their long lives together.

He didn't count on one fatal weakness in humanity…

Gossip.

He hadn't imagined that one day he'd meet a stranger that knew nothing about him… but somehow, they knew everything about his sordid love affair with a minor, raping her and nearly murdering her in the woods as her father was coming with the police to take him in…

He stood helplessly at the sidelines as those precious strongholds that his faith had allowed him to find sanctuary inside fell away one by one as his name was permanently marred in tar and grime.

The story of a religious man praying for his wife and waiting faithfully for her father to come around to the idea turned into a sensational tale of a pedophile that was willing to commit any crime to get your innocent, underage daughters in his devil claws that many were too happy to believe.

As his world and everything he worked so hard for came crashing down around him, Jen gave the final blow…

Because prom was coming up…

And Lincoln was not allowed to take her…

But she wouldn't go with any other man unless Lincoln personally chose him.

At the time, Lincoln felt he'd died that day…

At the time, he hated himself because he chose the one boy in school he felt was gay and would handle his precious girlfriend with absolute care, dignity, and love in his place…

But he had no way of knowing that things would get much, much worse.