Summary: Sequel to "Secrets". Things are tense between our couple as a rise in Foot and Purple Dragon activity is keeping Raphael busy on patrol and in training. But, when Raphael takes a big step to commit to his partner, maybe things can start changing for the better. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or its characters. I only own my OCs.

A/N (Please read for important info!): Hi, guys! I'm back! Here we are with part two of Raphael and Amelia's arc. I want to just put a warning in for adult themes in later chapters and for mild depression. At the bottom of this first chapter, I'll be placing summaries for the fics of Leo, Donnie and Mikey, and I've started a little bit of work on all three. There'll be more details down below and there'll be a poll on my profile for you to vote on who you'd like to read about next. The winner will be announced in the last chapter of this fic.

I'd like to thank The Silvernote for her constant support with all of the crazy ideas I've been having. I'm dedicating this, and all the other fics to you, because you've been awesome! This fic is set two years after the end of Secrets and I highly recommend that you read that story first to get an understanding of certain events that are mentioned in this story. Just a reminder as well, the turtles are based on the 2k14 turtles, who I love to death!

This story is completed, by the way, and I'll be uploading a chapter a day as I did before. I'll also be waiting to publish the next fics until they're completed so I know they won't be abandoned half way through.

Happy reading!

~ Changes ~

{ Chapter One: Neglected }

"No need to worry, Mia... I'll take good care of you..."

Sitting up in bed, deep blue eyes wide and frantic, honey-blonde curls in a tangled mess and damp with sweat, Amelia Smith breathed heavily as she tried to calm herself from the nightmare that she'd just woken from.

Almost two years had passed since her co-worker had held her hostage in her apartment through a terrifying ordeal that had lasted hours. She should've been over this by now, but the nightmares still got to her eventually, no matter how she tried to block them out. Drawing her knees towards her chest, the twenty-year old author rested her elbows on them and ducked her head between them, taking another deep breath as she tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of the sweat soaked bedding sticking to her legs, along with the growing nausea in her stomach.

"Babe?" A deep gruff voice at the side of her caught her attention, and a large, three-fingered hand tenderly started to rub her cotton clad back, "Is it him again?"

"I'm so sorry, honey..." The blonde whispered, swallowing thickly as she tried to fight back her tears, "Go back to sleep. I'm alright."

"The hell you are." The voice sounded angrier this time, and steadily, Amelia felt the weight shift on the bed as her lover sat up beside her, wrapping a bulky arm around her small frame, "Look at me."

"Raph..."

The protest was weak, half-hearted even, but it came out as an automatic response, just as it did every time she had a nightmare about that horrible night. A thick finger reached under her chin and tilted it upwards, where she was met with a pair of soulful green eyes, and a concerned expression that made her heart pang with guilt. Those strong arms and hands that had the power to snap someone's neck like a twig, now held her so gently and tenderly, as though her form was made of glass. Amelia felt her shoulders sag, her tired eyes blinking slowly as the tears that had been threatening to well in her eyes finally retreated.

"I need you to talk to me about stuff like this." He said gently, brushing her hair out of her face, "Please..."

'I would if I ever actually saw you.'

The bitter thought was pushed down into the deepest pits of her stomach, as she tried to fight the urge to move out of Raphael's embrace. She'd been losing weight over the past few months, since things started to go somewhat downhill, and she didn't want Raphael to notice.

"I should be over it by now." Amelia breathed, running her hands over her face, "It's been almost two years."

"You suffered a trauma." The large turtle said quietly, continuing to rub her back through her lilac camisole, "It takes time to get over that, and it takes some people longer than others. It doesn't make you weak, or anything like that. Okay?"

"Yeah." Amelia sighed, wiping the sleep from her eyes, "I'm sorry I woke you."

"Jeeze, stop fucking apologising. There's nothing to be sorry for." Raphael's tone was gruffer than he meant it to be, "Besides, I would've been getting up in ten minutes or so, anyway."

"More training?" Amelia asked softly, earning a heavy sigh and a nod from her boyfriend in response.

"I'm sorry, darlin'..." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, "Foot activity's increasing again... The Purple Dragon attacks are getting more frequent... We're on patrol more, so it means more training. I know we barely see each other these days..."

"It's okay." Amelia said, her eyes falling to her knees.

"It's okay?" Raphael asked incredulously, "So, us not being able to celebrate our second anniversary two weeks ago... That was okay?"

Amelia didn't answer. Of course it wasn't okay. Not really. Regardless of the fact that Raphael asked to just have that time to spend with her, Splinter had told him no. Amelia had been very upset. They'd had very little time together for about three months now, and it was driving Amelia insane. To then hear that Raphael couldn't even have time to celebrate his second anniversary with her had pushed her over the edge. The nightmares had started up again since they'd stopped spending time together.

It wasn't just him that she missed. It was all of them. She barely saw anyone these days. She ate alone and slept alone. The only company she tended to get was the few minutes she got with Raphael first thing in the morning.

"Sweetheart, I don't know what I can do to make this better..." Raphael muttered, running his hand into her hair, "You're not happy, and I'm trying... I just... You're busy with working on your books, I'm busy with training..."

"We see each other when we wake up every morning, which is better than nothing, I suppose." Amelia said, unable to stop the bitterness lacing her tone, "I don't see how this situation can improve, right now. I have work to do, and you have your responsibilities... That's no-one's fault."

"Amelia..."

The twenty year old didn't want to talk about this any more. It was a sensitive subject, and she would much rather let Raphael do what he needed to do, than let him worry about how it made her feel. He had a duty to protect their home and the city they lived in, and she had no right to stand in the way of that. She got herself out of bed, shivering in the cold of the mid December morning, and she went to grab her clothes for the day which were folded neatly on the Ottoman at the bottom of the bed.

"It's fine." She replied, sounding snappier than she intended, "I'm taking a shower."

Raphael watched sadly as she walked out of their bedroom, closing the door behind her. The strain that this lack of time together was putting on their relationship was intense. They hadn't had sex for three months, which was pissing both of them off, they had no time where it was just them and no-one else. She was becoming more and more withdrawn, and Raphael knew that it was getting to a point where the damage was going to become irreparable.

He got out of bed, put on his gear, and headed downstairs where Leonardo and Donatello were eating breakfast. It was easy to tell from the glower on his face, and fact that he was incredibly tense, that Raphael was not a happy turtle this morning. Leonardo looked across at Donatello, who swallowed a piece of his pop tart before clearing his throat in a very nervous manner.

"Morning, Raph... Where's Amelia?"

"Shower." Raphael replied sharply, grabbing a pop tart from the box that sat on the kitchen counter before putting it in the toaster.

"Is everything okay?" Leonardo asked, eyeing his brother warily.

"Take a fucking guess."

Right. Everything wasn't okay, then. Donatello looked across at Leonardo incredulously, pushing his glasses back up onto his face. It was plainly obvious that the extra training and patrols were taking their toll on both Raphael and Amelia. Amelia was clearly depressed, and she wasn't getting any help because no-one had the time. Every spare minute was spent in training. Duty was starting to come before family, and Raphael's relationship was suffering because of it. Amelia was incredibly unhappy, which was then making Raphael feeling worse. It was hard to watch what used to be a loving, happy, fun relationship, slowly crumbling into decimation.

"Sorry." Leonardo muttered, clearing his throat, "Stupid question."

"Damn fucking right it's a stupid question." Raphael growled, grabbing a small plate from one of the makeshift sideboards before lightly tossing it onto the counter where it rattled as it settled on the surface, "The only time I see my fucking girlfriend is when I wake up next to her every morning. She barely sees any of us because we're stuck in fucking training for ten to twelve hours a day, and then we go on patrol, to protect ungrateful, twisted, horrible people. So, no. Everything isn't okay. My girlfriend's fucking depressed, and there's nothing I can do about it, because I'm too busy training or on patrol to pay her the attention she needs from me."

"Things will improve in time." Leonardo said quietly, even though he knew that it wasn't much of a consolation, "We have a duty to..."

"Duty's half of the fucking problem. I have other responsibilities now." Raphael barked as his pop tart jumped out of the toaster, "I'm not giving up the love of my fucking life to suit you, Sensei or anyone else. Got it?"

He put the pastry on the plate and then went to get himself a glass of milk, which he liked to have with his breakfast. Leonardo sat silently while Donatello looked across at him worriedly, taking a drink of his own orange juice. Raphael had every right to be angry. They all needed a break, but as always, Splinter did things for a reason, and Raphael had been doing his best to be patient about what was happening, even though it was driving him mad.

"Have you spoken to Dad about what this doing to your relationship?" Donatello asked, watching his older brother carefully as he sat at the table, "I'm sure he'd be willing to let you spend more time with her if he realised..."

"He wouldn't let us have our fucking anniversary together." Raphael snarled, "So, I doubt he'll let me take any other time off. Look... It'll be fine. We'll... We'll just have to work it out."

"Oh, man... Are you and Amelia breaking up or something?" The sound of Michelangelo's whining tone of voice caused Raphael to roll his eyes.

"Dude, no!" The red-banded turtle growled, "We're not breaking up. We just don't get any time together these days, and it's upsetting Amelia."

"Oh..." Michelangelo replied with a nod, "So, you aren't getting any..."

He put his thumb and index finger together in the 'Ok' position, and then started moving his other index finger back and forth through the gap, which earned him a hefty smack on the back of the head from Leonardo, a horrified look from Donatello, and a thunderous look from Raphael.

"What have we told you?" Leonardo snapped, "That's so inappropriate, and disrespectful to Amelia. Don't talk about her like that!"

"You're lucky that he smacked you before I did." Raphael growled, glaring at the orange-clad turtle as he gingerly sat down next to an appalled Donatello, who gaped at him in disgust.

"My sons?"

The four twenty-one year olds turned around to meet the eyes of their father, who was standing in the doorway of the dojo with a stern expression on his face. Raphael bit back another growl and got out of his seat with his brothers, before heading towards the dojo to begin their stupidly long training session.

Amelia emerged from the bathroom when she heard the dojo door close, wiping her eyes as tears continued to seep from them onto her blotchy cheeks. She'd spent several mornings like this over the past few months, crying in the shower to unleash her pent up frustration and emotion. While they'd been spending all these hours training and patrolling New York City, Amelia had been doing her eight hours of writing every day apart from the weekends, and she'd been keeping the lair clean and tidy. Not that any of them really noticed, of course.

During the weekends, she would spend time either doing a few hours more of her work, or locked away in the bedroom she shared with her boyfriend, drawing, reading, or crying. She was starting to feel neglected, almost as though she was being pushed out of the family unit. Raphael was always too tired to provide her with the intimacy that she craved, and she barely saw anything of her adoptive brothers and father.

She sometimes left the lair to go and buy groceries, or new little odds and ends for the lair, which again, went unnoticed. She also disappeared topside on occasion to hang out with April, and sometimes she also had to put up with April's co-worker Vern, who had made very unhelpful comments about her relationship with Raphael. It was the most company she got at that time.

After three months of practically being ignored by the family that she'd loved for such a long time, Amelia was now considering whether or not she was even wanted down there any more. Raphael said that he loved her, but, he didn't show it much these days. He almost forgot their anniversary, and even then, they couldn't celebrate because of Splinter's strict training regime.

Raphael didn't seem to want to speak to his father about the fact that they never spent time together. Amelia just didn't feel that it was her place to say anything, but Raphael wasn't in any rush to deal with the problem. He always said that he didn't know how to make things better, but Amelia was starting to wonder if he actually wanted to make things better.

Maybe he was silently pushing her out of his life...

The thought made something inside of her break. Her hands clutched at the doorway of the bathroom to try and hold herself up as her legs started to give way from underneath her when a horrific, rolling wave of nausea washed over her. She took a few moments to get her breath and try to pull herself together, before she eased herself down the stairs, moving towards the kitchen to get herself a bottle of water. She couldn't bear to stomach anything else.

Then, she trudged towards her office, locking herself inside so that she could start her work for the day.

That same night, once Splinter had gone to bed, Amelia had slipped out of the lair with a bag of clothes, and headed for the surface to be away from the lair. In her desperation, she'd called April in a fit of tears, who'd asked her to come to her apartment so that they could talk about what was going on. Now, she was sitting on April's couch, holding a glass of water in shaking hands as she relayed the events of the past few months to the beautiful reporter.

April was listening intently, rubbing Amelia's back while handing her tissue, after tissue, after tissue. Every so often, Vern, who had been with April when Amelia called, would make some kind of sarcastic comment, which would earn him a death glare from the older of the two women. April was making every attempt she could to soothe Amelia, since the poor young woman was utterly distraught, and part of her knew that Amelia wasn't the right frame of mind to be making any big decisions about her relationship with Raphael or his family.

"Honey, they all love you so, so much... You know they do." April said softly, handing Amelia another tissue as she dropped the used one in her hand into the waste basket next to her.

"I just... I gave up my life for him. For them." Amelia sobbed, "It never occurs to any of them why they're never out of food, and they never notice when I clean the place, or change their beds, or clean their gear. They never notice when I've spent money that I've worked hard to earn, in order to buy something to make the place more homely. It makes me feel like shit."

She took a deep breath as April blindly handed the now empty glass to Vern, who rolled his eyes and got out of his seat to refill it with water. April continued to rub Amelia's back, unable to believe that the boys had been this way with her. For Splinter to be this ignorant to her needs was shocking.

"I know they're busy doing something so honourable... But... I mean, Raph and I haven't been together intimately for three months." Amelia cried, causing Vern to cringe and shudder as he got her the water, "And he won't talk to his dad about what this is doing to our relationship. It isn't my place to talk about that with Splinter. Raphael just won't do it, which is why I think he wants rid of me. He just avoids the subject all the time."

"You know, sweetie, they're gonna be worried sick when they realise you're gone." April said with a soft sigh, "You really do mean the world to them. I just think they've forgotten what it was like when you weren't living with them."

"When they had to do all their own chores... Yeah." Amelia huffed, shaking her head, "I know I sound so ungrateful but I feel really under-appreciated, and I also kind of feel like I'm being slowly shoved out of the family circle. It hurts."

In the small silence that followed, April's cell phone began to ring, and she looked at the caller ID to see that it was none other than Raphael calling her, no doubt in a panic. She sighed deeply and got out of her seat, stepping into the kitchen as Vern put the water in front of Amelia and sat back in his chair with a long, weary sigh.

"Raph?"

"April! Is Amelia with you?" Raphael's voice was frantic as he practically yelled into the phone at the young reporter, "We just came back from patrol and she's gone."

"She's with me." April said softly, hearing him sigh with relief on the other end of the line, "Um... Raph, I'm gonna come and see you guys... There's some stuff I need to talk to you all about. I'm gonna leave Amelia here with Vern, and I'll be there soon, okay?"

"Wait, why can't I come to you?" Raphael asked her.

"Because this is to do with the whole family." April replied, swallowing thickly, as she reached for her jacket, which was draped across the back of the couch, "I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Just get everyone together."

"Wait, you're leaving her with me?" Vern asked with an incredulous expression as April hung up the phone, his voice hushed as he moved her out of earshot of Amelia.

"Yes, I am. Someone's gotta tell them what's going on, and Amelia's not in any condition to do it." April replied with a scowl, "And ever since your joke about bestiality, Raphael wants to pummel you every time he sees you, so you can't go."

"O'Neil..." Vern said in a warning tone, earning a glare from April.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." April promised, her eyes wide and pleading, "Just take care of her, for an hour at the most. Please?"

"Ugh... Fine." Vern said with a petulant glare, "But you owe me, O'Neil."

"Thank you." April replied, sliding her jacket over her arms, "Don't make any stupid or sarcastic jokes. Just try and make her feel a bit better."

Without another word, the reporter turned on her heel and headed out of her apartment, leaving a very self conscious Vern, and an utterly distraught Amelia behind.

"April's coming over." Raphael said as he put his phone back on his belt, "Apparently, she needs to talk to all of us."

Leonardo swallowed thickly at the look of worry that spread over his younger brother's face. He didn't really know what to do or say. Raphael had been in an utter state of panic when he got home from patrol and found that Amelia was missing from the lair. Splinter hadn't even heard her leave, which meant that no-one knew how long she'd been gone for, or where she was. She wasn't answering her phone either, and the last time that she disappeared like this, she was almost killed by her psychotic, now deceased co-worker. At least they knew she was safe this time, though.

"I'll find the others." The eldest turtle offered, placing a comforting hand on Raphael's shoulder.

He could see that Raphael was genuinely upset, and worried sick about what April needed to talk to them about. What if Amelia had left without any intention of coming back? It would kill him. The very thought of it brought a thick, hard lump into the back of his throat. What if she didn't come back? He'd never find another woman like her. He'd never find someone so loving, or accepting as her, he'd never find anyone else who he could love the same way he loved her. Feeling the emotion beginning to overwhelm him, he tried to push the worry down inside of him, at least until April arrived and they heard more about what was happening.

Maybe their Hogosha could shed some light on what was really going on with his girlfriend...

~ To Be Continued ~

A/N No. 2:

Okay, I know that this fic is starting on a pretty negative note, but I promise you that it will get better. I really hope you enjoyed this first chapter!

So, as I mentioned above, I've got a poll up on my profile, where you can vote for whether you want to read about Leonardo, Donatello or Michelangelo next. Leonardo's fic will be particularly dark, but as the summary states, I'll be putting warnings where applicable. In Donatello's case, there are some dark moments, and there will be warnings in that fic as well, but I plan for Michelangelo's to be a very light hearted and funny story. For the most part.

Anyway, here are the summaries, and the winner of the poll will be announced at the end of this fic.

Leonardo: "They're both one in the same; pretending that everything's okay on the outside when inside, they feel like they're dying. They meet when they can, fall into bed, and they part again to go back to their very different worlds, waiting patiently for the time when they'll see each other again. Leonardo/OC."

Donatello: "Donatello has been trying to manage his depression effectively. Trying. But when he finally gets the courage to meet his online friend, his life takes a path he never imagined it would, and he finds something he's wished for, for a long time."

Michelangelo "When Michelangelo to see a teen skateboarding contest, the orange-clad turtle is still trying to get over the fact that his angelcakes is dating his eldest brother. When he and said eldest brother have to unexpectedly rescue both April, and one of the contestants, it appears that his luck might just be about to change."

Please make sure you vote! I'll be keeping an eye on the results as I continue to publish this fic. I promise that the next chapter will not have this much of my rambling. Thanks, everyone!

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading so far!

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