Music Box
"Alright- one more piece, and I'd say this wood is stacked!" Donatello quickly wiped the sweat that had been beading endlessly off of his purple-banded brow before he bent down to grab the last tree shard from the ground and placing it upon its final resting spot.
Normally, stacking wood and doing chores around the home, rarely put Donatello in a cheery mood.
"Whew!" He exhaled once more, stretching his back in relief from lifting several wooden fragments for long periods of time; the toes on his feet curling while his spine cracked in protest- the muscles crying twice as hard with each rotation of movement that he made. "Ugh… Something tells me that I'm gonna end up feeling like a seventy year old man after this." He shortly quipped.
Standing still to take a moment to admire his handy work before he headed back into the farmhouse, the purple clad turtle's lips couldn't stop themselves from involuntarily splitting his face into a smothering grin, his dark, auburn orbs flitting around the heap of what was once a living tree- proud of himself for a job well done.
Donnie knew April would have appreciated his efforts.
"Hehe… Aaaaprrrril." The hero in green lingered in a giddy whisper- his eyes going extremely wide and hazy- his gapped and toothy grin dreamily flopped lop-sided in reply, remembering once again with what had transpired earlier that day. Stacking wood had kept his thoughts from wandering too far as he moved along with his task- throwing the special moment to the very back of his mind.
To push out the memory that fiddled around in his thoughts even further, his right hand- suddenly taking on a mind of its own- followed the familiar path upwards as it sailed to touch his green tinted mouth - forest crested cheeks blushing a crimson heat across his freckles in a mad rush- his fingertips delicately grazing the outsides of his lips tenderly.
And it all came flooding back to him like a deserted boat caught in a massive tidal wave- lost in its trying efforts to stay afloat.
It was the moment he had the nerve to finally confront her.
Remembering how his heart felt beating uncontrollably against his speckled plastron.
How incredibly scared he had been to bring his feelings all out into the open.
And then…
That kiss.
Quick and unexpected as it was- it left Donatello reeling with endless questions as to why she did it. Why now when she had ample amounts of other opportunities to kiss him if she wanted to?
At least, he thought there were.
Regardless of this maddening confusion of his, it still didn't change the fact that she had kissed him.
That she wanted to kiss him and willingly kissed him.
Blush spiraled along Donnie's neck like lava as the scene played on, continuing to flow. The heat burning as it etched effortlessly down to his shoulders, his leathery hide prickling and tingling like mountains shifting across his skin, his larger hands clenching tightly at his sides when suddenly, an idea had struck him- hard- as if an unruly mother had slapped him mercilessly across the face from losing her temper.
Yes. He needed to see her- to confront her- to hopefully be able to settle these unsettling thoughts and emotions as they wove themselves into haunting whispers; echoing deep within the caverns of his mind.
Playing the guessing card in this game of cat and mouse would finally come to an end. The need for answers was too strong and it had to be dealt with. Donatello needed to know- he had the right to know and as if on cue- his feet- on their own accord, forced him to walk toward the house that sat just a few yards away- his face still feeling like a pin cushion from when the blood vastly rushed to it seconds ago.
He wanted his hands to grasp the doorknob to the front door, but again, his legs decided that they were doing all of the talking that day, and without so much as a single thought, his longer green stalks kicked the door open in a rage. His brothers, whose minds were stuck upon the video game, were quickly pulled back to reality as they all jumped from where they had been sitting comfortably for quite some time.
Three sets of eyes were now on Donnie- silently watching as their smarter brother's breath heaved heavily outward - in and out- his flesh glowing bright crimson like some of their enemies during an intensified fight, sweat still dripping off his skin, eyes glowing a dangerous bright, hot white as he shook, while little beeps, bops, boops and high pitched music sang in the background.
Donatello looked absolutely terrible.
Brows of every color and size raised in concern- each intern, scanning the other for an explanation about the purple clad turtle's strange behavior. None of them had a dignified answer of course, and kept the silence ongoing- staring.
"Oh no, Dudes- I- I think I've seen this somewhere before." Michelangelo had broken the heavy fog between them, his baby blue pools growing twice their size as he glared at Donatello- his mouth sporadically unhinging in a mighty terror. "They're here… They'e HEEEERE! He screeched, jumping onto Raphael in a scare. "The Zombie Earwig Monkeys from Space- and they got our poor little Donnie boy! Oh the inhumanity! THEY'RE REEEAAAAL- AHAAAAA! I knew it wasn't just a story! You guys totally lied to me!"
"Oh, for cryin' out loud." Raphael spat out in a low huff, peering up at his little brother, the orange-banded face clinging to his deeper, red one. "If ya don't get offa me right now, Mikey, I'm gonna smack the stupid right outta ya." Mikey could only spout a reply in a low whimper of despair and very slowly, he managed to slide off- standing behind his older brother for comfort- his attention never wavering far from Donatello- his suspicions of a zombie monkey conspiracy theory couldn't stop rising from the depths of his very soul.
Mumbling escaped Donatello's lips- his plastron still heaving as his three other brothers' naturally leaned in to try and hear him better. The prominent gap between his teeth had made an eerie whistling sound as he spoke and if under different circumstances, the boys' would have found it quite humorous-possibly even teasing him, but as of right now, they were a tad bit worried for him.
"Um… Did you catch that?" Leonardo questioned- pointing as Donnie continued to mumble onward, his voice pitching each time the others wouldn't understand.
"Nope." Raphael shrugged; showing the least bit of concern. "Maybe he just needs the stupid smacked outta him too- t'set 'em straight." He grinned sinisterly at his brother in blue. "Usually works on Mikey most of the time."
"Hey!"
Raphael chuckled darkly and gouged the orange clad turtle with his elbow playfully.
"whereisapril." Donnie mumbled out loud- the glare intensifying once more, bringing their attention back on him.
"I'm still not getting it- Raph, any ideas?"
"Like I have time for this, Leo. I've gotta game to get back to- in my opinion this whole situation is just dumb."
"I still say he wants to eat all of our brains."
They all replied in almost unison, one line hovering effortlessly over the other as they all spoke.
Again, all they heard in response was- "whereisapril," only slightly more forced this time around and Donatello appeared to be more frustrated and irritated than ever before- the anger hindering his mouth to vocalize clearly for anyone to fully grasp with what he was trying to say.
"You want to run an Ape-mill?!" Michelangelo questioned in fear, his brow furrowing as his suspicions began hiking higher, because he at least knew Apes were a form of a monkey-like animal. Donnie just had to be an Earwig Zombie Monkey Man. There was no doubt about it this time- it had to be real. The purple clad turtle's weird request confirmed it in his mind- Donatello obviously wanted living dead monkey world domination. Where he would eventually turn them all into monkey zombie type creatures. Things were surely getting intense right now and the orange masked hero wanted to allow himself enough time to be able to make a run for it before things got out of control- to save his own skin and to warn his brothers of how much danger they were going to be in and that they themselves should make a break for it, or, sadly be turned. Zombies of this magnitude were all just bad business- well, according to what he had read on the subject anyway.
"Nah- you got it all wrong, doofus." Raphael began, pushing Michelangelo even further off to the side and sliding a comforting hand upon Donatello's shoulder in mock comfort. "Don't worry your brainy little head over whatever this is, Don. We'll get ya everything you need ta' get all of those glittery-girly feelings back in closet again. You'll see little buddy-"
"I said that I needed to see APRIL!" Donatello interrupted; dramatically throwing Raphael's hand off his shoulder, causing his brothers to take a step back in a shock, all except for the brother in red of course. He stood his ground with his feet glued straight to the floor, continuing to grin devilishly at the one dressed in purple. "I just wanted to know where April was- this has got nothing to do with me being girly." The Genius frantically wiggled his fingers about- sticking out his tongue in disgust with such a disturbing thought- then, he voluntarily peered down at his younger brother in orange, narrowing his fired up brown eyes at him, too. "Or me being interested in eating anyone's brains for dinner!" Mikey cringed even further behind Raphael, letting a small cry escape his throat. "Now, if you guys don't mind?!"
Three giant green thumbs wrapped in cotton pointed toward the direction of the back yard in a haste- Donnie simply nodded in return, his expression holding firm as he walked off. His three siblings' laughter and the sounds of high-fives echoed- fading into the distance with each step that he made, heading for the back den of the farmhouse to seek out that one person who truly mattered at that very moment.
April O'neil.
She, at least, was the glittery-girly type of stuff that he liked the most in this world and very much wanted to be a part of.
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It didn't take Donatello long to reach the old, rickety back door of the farmhouse. His knees shook in anticipation and nerves as they bent, moving him forward. He thought that confronting her before all of this had transpired was something quite difficult, but now he knew that this would be one of his biggest challenges as of late.
To him, fighting bad guys, mutants and the like were actually pretty easy compared to what he was about to do. No amount of scientific theories or formulas could ever prepare him for something like this.
And his heart pounded unforgiving against his chest, knowing this important piece of information.
Swallowing the dry lump that had quickly formed on inside of his throat, Donatello slowly and carefully reached for the doorknob, his hands shaking uncontrollably as he hesitated- his left hand frantically grabbing the right in protest as they tangled with each other over dominance in a silent battle- his mind drawing a complete blank of what he really wanted to confront her with.
What would he even say to her?
How would he even begin to bring it up?
The purple clad turtle stood in the dark by the corner of the back door at a frozen standstill, when suddenly, his breath had hitched heavily once again- hurting his lungs as he breathed inward- spotting the root of his affections through the small, cloudy window. The tell tale sign of a girl with red hair that had always glistened several shades of copper with the sun- it was flowing sporadically and beautifully, fighting the tides of the breeze in a rage and for once, he swore that his heart had stopped beating.
Donatello reached for the door for the second time- his confidence growing just from the sight of April alone, but again, he pulled his leathery hand back to a halt.
Something glistening and shining was ultimately blinding his pupils and as an automatic reaction he squinted his eyes to keep it from straining his vision. Once the irritating light had passed, the purple clad turtle could now investigate it even further, and when he did, his jaw dropped slightly at the familiar object that was occupying the space between April's hands, it sitting nice and snug on the top of her lap. Though her face was hidden from him he could still see her finger tips gently trail along the top of the wooden box, her digits lightly tracing the metal heart that had been set there.
Taking in another big gulp to hydrate his otherwise dried throat, he watched on- noticing that April had also been wiping tears off of her red tinted cheeks. "Oh crud. Is she.. is she crying?!" Donnie thought to himself in despair, his expression dramatically spiraling as his auburn orbs drifted to the floor "Can things get any worse?" He whispered, furrowing his brow in anger for himself.
Then, music began to play- causing him to bring his attention back up to the girl sitting on the porch; an uplifting tune that he thought for sure was made for April. It was magical and light, like it was telling a tale about whom she was as it sang- bringing the gears to life while it quietly rotated and clicked- adding a percussion of sorts to the background as it played on.
It was perfect.
Donnie's breath was starting to fog up the window he was conveniently looking out of and he took his forearm to swipe it. What he saw happen next nearly killed him and his heart fell to his knees with a metaphoric 'thud'. He couldn't move as he continued to peer outward, watching almost helplessly while April ripped the photo of him out of the center of the music box - letting it fall effortlessly and carelessly at her feet before it finally made peace with the ground.
This unfortunately, is what forced the plumb tinted hero to move- the creaking from the door opening sounded like a wild animal screaming for its life in the middle of the night- banging loudly as it sprung back against the house and it caused April to spin around in fright on her backside-facing the shadowy figure head on with her own glossy and red blotchy one.
"Donnie?" She enquired with surprise; her arm madly brushing the last bit of tears away from her freckled incrusted cheeks, hoping to keep the sorrow she must have been feeling in secrecy.
"What are you doing here?" April asked, putting the music box at down at her side, but Donatello kept himself dangerously quiet and said nothing in a reply. All he was doing at that moment was standing there- cold- with his chest heaving in what appeared to be sadness. She noticed that the fists at his sides were paling to a sickly, lighter shade of green and her heart leapt into her throat once she saw were his gaze had settled- the picture of him at her feet- the portrait itself betraying him as his likeness continued to smile up at him torturously.
April took to her feet and rushed up to her best friend, her hand reaching out to him to give him some form of comfort- her voice shaking as she spoke. "Donnie, look, this isn't- this isn't what it looks-" The genius' leathery pads grabbed April's own in a heated rush, automatically pausing the girl's protests as his auburn orbs began filling up with tears, threatening to spill over- he couldn't even bring himself to look at her.
Silence ensued for what seemed like hours. April's glossy blue pools threatening to tell on her once again as she continued to watch the pain etch along her favorite hero's face- her chest tightening like a grip from a vice- unforgiving and without mercy.
And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't tare herself away.
"April." A hoarse voice broke out making her heart hurt even further. "I- I don't know what to say." The tears had now escaped from Donnie's eyes; he wasn't even trying to hold in anymore. He didn't see the point- he thought everything was over- done- all of what he wanted to say to her and demand of her had just deflated into nothing.
April had rejected the music box earlier and now, she was rejecting him all together.
April's lips wobbled as she listened to Donatello's heartbreaking sigh. If she were as smart as she thought she was-most of the time- she wouldn't let this go on any more. If she had any kind of common sense and responsibility toward her friends and family she'd put and end to it all right now. Donatello deserved that much. He had been there for her, through thick and thin. Never once did he let her fall from his grasp- saving her. He had never given up on her when it came to getting her out of the most worst possible things that seemed to seek her out- its soul purpose in life was to get out and destroy her very existence. He was always putting her wants and needs first- his forever last. Never once did she slip very far from his thoughts- and now, here she was hurting him over and over and over again.
It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. When was enough going to be enough?
Her mind quickly wandered to the scene from earlier that day, remembering how the sun was so inviting, warm and bright.
How absolutely scared Donatello had been when he finally had the nerve to approached her.
The moment where he was ready to give in.
Willing to let her go.
Ready to give her up.
Her heart broke in two knowing he was quitting, giving up his own feelings just for her, wanting to keep her happy by putting her first as he always had done. She felt the panic rise in her stomach and she had this sudden urgency to make him fully understand with what she was truly feeling and the only way she knew how was to kiss him- telling him to not give up on her, that there was more to them than just friendship and that all she needed was some time. All the while her mind was screaming and shouting- 'Please don't give up, don't let me go- not yet.'
April unscrewed her eyes- bringing her back to reality. Gazing up at Donatello, she brought up a tender hand, brushing away the pain that drizzled down off of his cheeks.
Then, she fiercely caved into him- holding on to him for dear life.
"It's just a picture." She breathed outward; causing her best friend's body to tighten as a small growl escaped his lips- she was barely speaking above a whisper trying her best to ignore it. "And honestly, Donnie, I like having the real you around anyway- I mean, that's gotta be way better than any old, stupid photo."
Finally, the reasons of why she had ripped the picture out came flooding on in- swelling his heart like a sponge.
"Just when I thought I had you all figured out," He pushed her away at arms length so he could look at her face to face- the tears slowly stopping as his expression went more serious- "You scared the living day lights out of me, April, you know that?"
"I know… And I'm Sorry." She sheepishly sighed pulling him back into a bear hug. "I'm complicated. Get used to it."
Donatello chuckled as he squeezed her even tighter- a few moments later; the purple-band that covered his features, lifted high above his forehead in puzzlement as a sudden realization of thought hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Wait, did you just call me stupid?"
April giggled under her breath and moved just enough so she could see his reaction as she arched a sarcastic brow at him, and with out so much as a warning, their noses were suddenly close, touching ever so gently; their lips only seconds away from grazing the other.
Donatello was again frozen from her bold move, but this time it was different. April quickly shoved her lips farther off to the side- pecking his crimson cheek softly as she quickly pulled herself away from his warm embrace. She then jumped off the deck in a mad dash- running out to the woods toward her left shouting, "Tag you're it!" and hightailing it into the thicket, laughing hysterically all the way- secretly hoping- that it wouldn't take too long for Donatello's love struck mind to catch up with her.
Hope you enjoyed! Please don't hesitate to leave me a sweet little review!
The Spoon :3
For those who are wondering why she ripped the photo out, it's because she will always prefer the real life Donnie instead verses just a picture.