Disclaimer: I don't own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in any reincarnation; TV show, movie, video game, etc.
Title: Love and Letters
Summary: Mikey has a secret. Raph has a secret. Both are content to keep their secrets quiet from their older brothers and teacher. But it never works out that way, does it?
Warnings: Gay Mikey. Raph's secret (and warning) will come in the next chapter, although you can probably get a good idea of what it is just from this.
Chapter Title: Mikey's Secret: Love.
...
Raph's reaction to Mikey's secret was around the lines of 'it ain't life-threatening and it ain't gonna effect your fighting, so who cares?'
Well, the others might, but Raph wasn't the type to sweat the little stuff. Donnie always said it was because brutes didn't have the mental capacity to truly consider certain things from all angles and understand what they meant in the bigger picture, and as Raph didn't have a better explanation for it, he just accepted it and moved on. He wasn't mowing down the little stuff in battle, so the little stuff didn't matter.
Mikey kept his secret out of fear. Not of being rejected or being kicked out or anything (ha! Never happen), but of disappointing Sensei. Raph didn't see what was so disappointing about it, or what about it could possibly make Sensei disapprove of him, but, hey, brutes, y'know?
Actually, now that he thought about, he'd known even before Mikey did. It was one of those little things, a thought picking at the back of his mind that he never bothered to check out. Like he said; he didn't attack the little stuff. The little stuff couldn't kill his brothers. Raph had no interest in sticking his nose into the little stuff.
He wasn't stereotypical, but he was obvious. At least, to him, he was. And, since Raph was the best secret keeper out of all of them (oh, you want me to not tell the others something that'll never come up in any conversation, ever? I'm on it, dude, don't worry), Mikey hadn't minded him knowing his secret all that much, especially after he'd shown him his secret.
He'd get into that later, just... not yet. This was about Mikey. Or, to be more specific, Mikey still being in the closet.
Well, actually, Mikey was so far out of the closet it wasn't even funny, but their brothers were so oblivious he might has well have been shoulder-deep in dirty laundry and long-lost toys.
"Really?" He threw his hands up in the air one day. "Am I really the only one who sees it?"
"Seems like it, dude." Mikey chuckled. "But, to be fair, I'm the only one who noticed your secret, and you had to show it to me."
That shut Raph up. It always does.
Either way, Mikey was the closest to out of the closet a guy who'd never looked his family in the eye and said "I'm gay." could be. Which was, as far as he was concerned, pretty dang far.
"You might as well tell 'em, Mike. It's not like they don't already know it." They just haven't admitted to themselves yet.
"It's not exactly somethin' that comes up, Raph. It'd be weird to just tell them out of nowhere."
The excuse was weak, and they both knew it. Raph crossed his arms. "Hasn't stopped you before."
"Y'know, for a guy that's good with secrets, you sure do like trying to get people to tell them."
Raph shrugged. "I just don't see why this has to be some big secret, is all."
It's an even weaker excuse than the one before it, and they both knew it. Raph didn't like seeing his brothers in pain, and, in his mind, Mikey keeping secrets- something he never did-, and keeping them so closely guarded at that, wasn't like him. At all. It was so unlike him that it had to hurt.
The way Raph saw it, it was like tearing off a band-aid. Sure, ripping it off fast hurt and left you momentarily weakened, but taking your time with it was much more tedious, and made it that much more painful when someone close to you, noticing the half-off band-aid came up to you and ripped it off completely before you were prepared.
It was better to do it yourself, was his opinion, than to have others forcibly do it for you.
"Well, alright then. I'll tell Leo and Donnie..." Mikey swung his legs over the concrete ledge, content with the win he knew was to come. "But only if you tell them your little secret. Eye for an eye, remember?"
Raph tensed. He could practically hear Donnie and Leo now, the chuckling and sneering and lectures.
"I always knew you were dumb, Raph, but I didn't think you were this dumb."
He shook the voice away with a snarl. Stupid Donnie with his stupid Einstein-level everything and his stupid sneering.
It's the same argument every time, and Raph has yet to win it. His pride always got in the way.
Mikey grinned. "Exactly how I feel, bro."
That shut Raph up. It usually does.
Eventually Mikey breaks the silence and nudges his arm. "Come'on, let's play that new video game Ap' got us."
Raph looked doubtful, not to mention worried. "Ain't that the one with the long cut-scenes? With lot's of dialogue?"
Mikey just grins wider and nudges him again, leading him to the TV. "Don't worry, dude. I got you."
Author's Note: And there's Mikey's secret. =)
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