Taken Place after Buried Secrets. Even after April kisses Donatello, her feelings aren't solid. Also, someone else has gotten closer to April during their stay at the farmhouse. AU.

Raphael was sitting out on the fresh green grass under a tall shady tree. Spending time in the farmhouse had started to get to him, although he would not show it to anyone. He was supposed to be the tough one, the muscle, the fighter. He had told none of his brothers about his little quiet time he often had at least once a week behind the farmhouse under a big oak tree. The day was sunny and he and his brothers had taken a break from training for the day. Raphael sneaked off towards the tree and immediately basked under the sun. The wind blew calmly around him, soothing him. He greatly enjoyed his quiet alone time. He dozed off after several minutes of thinking about their return to New York—their home.

After a while of refreshing his mind, he heard rustling gentle footsteps coming towards him. He opened his eyes, though the beaming sun had temporally blinded him. He saw April standing over him with a silver tray holding a tall glass of cold lemonade. He smiled.

"Is that for me?" He glanced over at her face; his bright emerald eyes shined and sparkled from the sun, making her blush slightly. She handed him the glass of lemonade and he gladly took it, he slightly brushed his fingers with hers. She stood there while he drank it in one thirsty gulp.

"Thanks, April." She smiled back at him. She was wearing a pastel yellow sundress that touched her knees. She was barefoot, as her bright red hair blew freely against the wind.

"Why don't ya sit down with me?" He set the glass to the side and patted the patch of grass next to him, smirking at her. She giggled.

"Sure, Raphie." She set the tray down as she leaned down with him.

He would not tell anyone this but, he loved the pet name she gave him. He has not been called Raphie since he was a toddler. She laid down next to him as he put his arm out for her to rest on. She snuggled up to him, as she rested her head on his plastron. He put his chin on top of her head. He wanted this moment to last forever. He wanted to forget about everything and everyone around him and just focus on April.

"Raphie?"

"Yes, April?"

She shifted so she could face him. Her big, sky blue eyes stared deeply towards his green ones.

"When are we going to tell them?" She asked anxiously. The hem of her dress started to move upward from the wind. Their relationship was hidden amongst their family. Raphael did not know if now was the right moment to tell them about their secret rendezvous, especially since they still had to save New York.

"I don't know. I wanna wait for the right moment, ya know after the world is saved from the alien race and everything." She looked down as she started to trace his lightning bolt crack on his plastron.

"I understand." She sounded disappointed. They stayed that way for a while, thinking about nothing in particular but embracing the moment they had.

"Hey Raphie, you know what?" She asked after a while, finally looking at him.

"What, Sweetheart?"

"I love you, so much." She sighed as she embraced him.

"I love you too, so much." He whispered as he nuzzled his cheek to the side of her head.

They leaned towards each other and their lips met. It was way different than their first kiss.

—-

He was consoling her after she found out that her mother was a Kraang experiment. It was dark and as Raphael tried to go towards his special tree, he spotted her on the swinging bench and decided to check up on her.

"April, are you alright?" He asked as his eyes beamed with worriedness.

"Yeah, just, you know…I wish she really was my mom. I miss her." She lowered her head while gripping the hem of her shirt. He could tell that she had been crying and more tears were about to fall. He sat down next to her, thinking of a way to console her.

"Please don't cry, April. We will find her. She's out there somewhere." He smiled as she looked at him. She smiled back. She placed her right hand onto his left one. Silently thanking him for being there for her.

He surprisingly hugged her, he was never the affectionate turtle, but seeing April at this state made him want to take away all her pain. He rubbed soothing circles on her back as she leaned towards his neck. After they pulled apart they stared at each other, looking deeply into each other's eyes. The atmosphere was perfect; the starts were out, the moonlight beamed at them, the cool breeze passed by them which made them slightly shiver. They began to lean towards each other and kissed. It was a long peck, no passionate movements, just a sweet chaste kiss. They pulled apart, she blushed as he had his eyes widen. They were silent until Raphael decided to confess her his secret that he had been holding all these months that they had known each other. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and placing another kiss.

—-

Their present kiss was more passionate and deeper. He ran his hands up and down her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with the long tattered ties of his mask. Their tongues eventually met and she started to moan. He loved the sound she made and he wanted to hear more. He laid back, pulling her on top of him. She straddled him. They pulled apart as they stared at each other. He was flushed and panted as well as her. She sweetly smiled at him.

"Are you ready?"

After a brief pause, he responded breathlessly, "Yes."

She hiked up the hem of her dress upwards to reveal her porcelain milky thighs and pulled down the straps of her dress to reveal some cleavage. He stared at her with his signature smirk. She leaned down and kissed his neck. He then put a hand behind her on top of the zipper of her sundress. He gasped as she began to nip him. He went as far as to grab her bum with his other hand, and gently squeezed it. She moaned at his touch and bit him. He growled and squeezed harder. She started rocking her hips after she left his neck.

His mouth went to the top of the cleavage mound she was showing. He kissed there as she purred. His hand began to unzip the dress.

"Raphael." She moaned. "Raph…Raph…" She kept moaning his name as he kissed and then sucked the top of her breast.

"April…" She shimmied out of her dress as she bared her top half, still the dress covering her lower half. She grabbed his face with both hands as she brought his lips to her.

"Raph…Raph…Raphael…please…wake up!" She said between kisses.

"April, I-I..Mmmm." He murmured, bucking his hips.

"RAPHAEL, WAKE UP!"

He immediately opened his eyes as he stared up at Casey. Raphael started to look around, trying to locate April. He sighed, it was just a dream.

"Dude, what are you doing out here?" Raphael just sat there, still dumfounded.

"Umm, nothing. I was jus' restin'." They just looked at each other. Casey wanted to believe him, but he let it go.

"Oh, well Leo is looking for you. He says dinner's ready." The sun was beginning to set, he took quite a long nap. Raphael got up and brushed himself off. Both Casey and Raphael started to walk towards the house, in silence. As they reached the porch, Casey turned towards him.

"Raph, umm." He paused. He was not sure what to say to him.

"Yea Casey, what is it?" He looked slightly annoyed, as always.

"Never mind."

Raphael went up the steps and walked in. Casey stayed outside. Raphael did not know that Casey heard what he was day dreaming about. He heard when Raphael briefly moaned April's name. When he bucked his hips, and when his breathing was starting to accelerate as his cheeks began to blush. He would never tell anyone about what he saw and heard, because he was his best friend. He was sad though, because now he had two turtles to compete for April's heart. Who would win? That is for April to decide. Now that Raphael was in the picture, Casey's confidence was beginning to fall.

He walked up the porch stairs and when he reached the door, he paused. He had to mask himself, not with his hockey mask, but with his fake 'everything is okay' face. He had to pretend that what he saw and heard never happened. He opened the door and walked in only to meet laughter as April was surrounded by his turtle friends. He saw Mikey passing out his special pizza pockets to everyone. Leo was sitting on the couch listening to what April was saying. Donnie was next to her, deeply looking at her with fascination. Then he noticed Raph, his best bro, he was the furthest away from her. He was leaning against the wall barely listening to her, but Casey noticed something. Something that he would have never noticed if he did not witnessed him earlier. Raphael was smiling to himself as he took a bite out of his pizza pocket. His cheeks were slightly red and he seemed—in love. Casey decided to walk towards him.

"Enjoying that pizza?" Casey leaned at the wall next to him.

"Yeah, Mike's not a bad chef." He took another bite.

"So, what's April talking about?" His head flicked to where she was.

Raphael looked towards her, his eyes stared at the way she moved her arms, the way she smiled, and the way she talked with confidence towards his brothers. After seconds of staring, his attention went back to Casey.

"I don't know." He yawned.

"I'm gonna head to bed." He finished his snack and started to walk up the stairs. April had finished telling her little spiel. The guys then started to talk amongst themselves. April looked around, trying to locate something, or rather someone. She looked at Casey and walked towards him.

"Where's Raph? Did he go to bed already?" She asked.

"Y-yeah, he said he was tired. I don't know why, since I found him sleeping under the tr—" He stopped himself.

"What?"

"N-nevermind. He went to bed." She cocked her brow.

She walked away from him and saw her walking up the stairs. He desperately wanted to follow her and see where she was headed off to. Was she going to Raph's room? Nah, she wouldn't do that.

It was until twenty minutes later that April returned, no one missed her but Casey. She changed into a yellow tank top and pajama shorts though, and her hair was down and a little ruffled.

"Sorry guys, but I just came back to tell you that I'm going to bed, Goodnight."

"Good night, April"

"Night, April."

"Sweet dreams."

—-

Casey was alone in the living room. Everyone else had gone to bed. He was getting tired, so he decided to turn in. It was close to midnight. He yawned as he headed upstairs. He walked passed April's room, the door was closed. While heading to his room, he noticed the door to Raphael's room open. He took a peek, as it was cracked open. He gasped slightly as he took in the scene. April's back was facing the door; her left arm was around Raphael who was lying next to her with his eyes closed—on the bed, his face towards her own. She was cuddling him; the covers barely tucked them in.

Casey pulled back and walked backwards. Are they? Are they together? Maybe he was dreaming. He pinched himself and looked back in. To his dismay, he still saw them. Now, he saw her moving. Raphael's eyes were open. He began to run circles on her back with his giant three-fingered right hand. She lifted her head and moved towards his face as he turned to lie on his back bringing her on top of him. His hands ran down to her lower back, right above her bum. She kissed him, on the mouth. They were both kissing and touching each other. Casey could not believe it. So the daydream was not a dream at all! Raphael's love was not unrequired love, she returned his feelings. Casey felt sick. He heard a soft moan coming from his best friend. He looked back in. They were in a heavy make out session. At least she is still fully clothed. Casey started blushing as he saw April lifting up her tank top while Raphael was sliding both his hands to cup her bum. Casey looked away as he saw the curves of her breasts. NO, I can't watch this! They're my friends.

He quickly went to his room and slammed on his bed. He looked up to the ceiling, still could not comprehend what he witnessed. April likes him back. April and Raph are together. He let out a breath, trying to forget the images that he had just witnessed. Since when did he start to like her? What kind of friend is he? Then, he thought of Donatello. What kind of brother is he? His eyes began to droop; his hand harshly rubbed his face with frustration. He did not know what he was going to do. He lost. He lost his chance with April without even knowing it. How long have they been together, before or after the invasion? He fell asleep before he could even think of an answer.

On the other room, there was the sound of whispers; the whispers of sweet nothings. Love was blooming amongst them. They would not tell their friends and family just yet. It is neither the time nor the place. They would keep this secret until all was well. Until they were back at home and until Master Splinter was found. As long as they had each other and their secret hiding spot under the big tree behind the farmhouse, all would be as surreal as an everlasting daydream.