April had been at the guys place all night, working on her homework next to Leo, who was watching "Space Heroes", Donnie typing away on his laptop, Mikey playing an app on his phone, while on the tire swing, and the sullen brother, Raph, training on the dummy near the back of the room. They were all busy doing their own thing and so was she. She was looking up something on her T-phone for her genetics project. The chapter she was on, was making her mind twist and turn like she was walking down a meandering path. It was talking about chromosomes, alleles, and how some people can be heterozygous or homozygous. Whatever that means. It had been a long night of frustration and staring at a little bright screen. She finally decide to take a break, took a deep breath, and clicked the button on the top of her phone to make the screen go black. She abruptly just stared at the screen, not paying attention to the darkness, but to the reflection it showed of her. All she saw in herself were flaws and none of the beautiful things she had been gifted with. The characteristics she saw as "flaws" were her orange hair, her pale skin, and worst of all... her freckles. They were the one thing she despised most about herself. They were mottled on her cheeks, like a Dalmatian. "Ugh!" She groaned. She got up and lumbered to the bathroom, with a forlorn and gloomy look, that caught the attention of two chestnut brown eyes, with a hint of red. Once she had walked completely in, Donnie followed, and hid to the side of the entrance. He knew he was eavesdropping and being sneaky, but it was for a good cause and that cause was his April. She started to vent to herself, talking to her own reflection. "God! These freckles are so ugly! Why is that out of everything, I got cursed with these stupid little spots. No matter what I do, they just won't go away! Why was I born so… hideous?" She hung her head in a sad matter, exhaled, and touched the place on her face where her freckles remained, standing there for a couple of minutes. She eventually, began to walk back to the living room, mourning in her own self-pity. Donnie hadn't heard her walking out the door because he'd just been struck with surprise when he heard her say that about herself. He knew that was anything but true. Once she exited, she saw Donnie listening through the wall, not very surprised at the sight. He had always been overprotective of her. "What are you doing?". She asked with a voice filled with the slightest bit of anger. "Ahhh! He screamed and fell backward on his shell. Oh me? Nothing really, just trying to see if there's a loose pipe in the wall. He said. TAP TAP. He knocked on the wall. Well nothing here, I should probably get back to fixing up the Shellraiser so…bye!" He scrambled to get to his lab and shut the door, but a voice called out, " Not so fast, Donnie!" He turned around with his fingers crossed that it wasn't about what he had done. Truthfully, he knew he had been caught red handed. He cautiously moved toward her because he wouldn't be surprised if she smacked him senseless. He probably would've done the same to Mikey, if he'd spied on him or pulled some sort of shenanigan like that. "Why were you spying on me, while I was talking to myself?" She asked with her lips pursed and hand on her hip. He had been nervous at first, but by this point, he was like a pile of goo on the floor. "Well it's just that... Y-you seemed so sad when you left the room, s-so I just wanted to make sure you were okay. He said stuttering, just barely audible, ashamed of what he did. Seeing how sorry he was made her feel guilty for getting angry in the first place. He just came to see if she was alright and she made him feel bad. She hated and loved how at times, he was such a gentleman. Master Splinter had taught them well. She let out a huff. "It's okay, your intentions were good. I guess that's what really matters. She said honestly." "So…Did you want to talk about it? You know, about your freckles? I swear I won't judge you or think of you any different." He told her, with his hand over his heart. "Nah, I don't want to bug you with my stupid problems." She said like she didn't really care. Donnie could tell she didn't want to talk to her reflection anymore and was just trying to spare him her problem, but she was more important to him than anything else in this world. What kind of friend would he be if he didn't help her with her everyday problems? He clutched her hand and guided her into the lab, locked the door, and sat her down. "I'm listening, and no worries, no one will barge in on us." Donnie told her. That earned him a smile because even she knew his brothers had the tendency to do that. "Alright, well you heard the part me venting, right?" She asked. "Yes, I did." He said solemnly. "Well, I've always been treated different because of my freckles. Once when I was little, the girls in my class made a, "No Freckles Club" when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Since I was the only girl with freckles, I was all alone and rejected. I was always made fun of and picked last for everything. I've been trying to get rid of them ever since then, but they just won't go away. It was hurtful what they said and it always made me feel self- conscious about the way I looked and how people thought of me. I just never forgot what they said." She told him feeling her heart ache. Donnie's blood boiled hotter than ever. He couldn't believe that people could be so mean to someone like that, just because of a small difference! His face had an expression of anger, but began to soften when he saw how much sorrow she felt. "April I'm so sorry that that happened to you, but in all honesty, I love your freckles. I think they're what makes you who you are and I would never want you to change that. They also bring out your blue eyes and just make you even more special. You're more beautiful than you think April. Perfect, just like a flower, I promise you that." Donnie told her slowly making sure she absorbed every word. That was one of the first times his words came from came from his heart and not his head. Her pupils dilated when he told her that, but she still wasn't convinced. It was going to take more than that to make her believe that her freckles were actually "beautiful". "I'm sorry Donnie, but I still have trouble believing that these little dots are pretty. I mean really! What flower has freckles? Think about it. There isn't one. April told him. I gotta get going, it's getting late and if I'm not home by 10:00, my aunt is going to flip! I'll see you tomorrow." She left with a broken smile and her shoulders slumped. "I guess I'm really not beautiful." She thought to herself. After she left, Donnie knew he had to do something. He couldn't just let his sweet princess feel that way about herself. In his eyes she was perfect, like a flower, as he had said. He thought for a moment, then dashed to his laptop and instantly started to search. He rummaged through websites until he found exactly what he was looking for. "Perfect! Donnie shouted… _ She awoke, her vision a haze, still half asleep. The sun peeked through the slide door, warming the room with glittering sun rays. She took a deep breath and sat up hugging her legs, remembering her conversation with Donnie last night. A small grumble escaped her lips. She turned around to put in her contacts, that were placed on her nightstand until she stopped seeing a small blur of orange. She put in her contacts and then picked up the object. It was a bright orange Tiger Lily with a note attached to it. It was gorgeous and radiant with the light hitting it just right. She picked up the small, cream colored, card and read aloud... To the girl who has freckles like a Tiger Lily. -Love, Donnie She smiled brighter than Donnie had imagined she would, when she read that. She silently walked to the bathroom not to wake up her Aunt, but this time when she looked at her reflection, only one thing came to her mind… "Just like a flower." For once, she was glad she was wrong. She tilted her head and smiled because she saw exactly what Donnie saw in her... Perfection. Authors notes: Hello Everyone! I'm sorry about the lack of dialogue for the other turtles, but i just wanted to to be between the two love birds! I based it off a story my class had read in Literacy, so I thought it was a pretty close resemblance to April. This is probably, one of my favorite stories that I've written so far, even though it was just a oneshot. Thanks to everyone's support and don't be shy to PM me. I won't bite! :)