RAPH

Raph hadn't shared a room with Don since he was six.

Back when they were little, really little, they had always been grouped together. It wasn't surprising. They were twins after all. Grouping sort of happened. Him and Don shared a lot of things in those days; toys, clothes, shoes. It was easier, given the chaos that four little boys could cause. And since they only had three rooms, it only made sense for Don and Raph to share that too.

That only changed after their mother had died. Their father couldn't stand to stay in their old house with her absence haunting the place, and so they had moved to a bigger house with more rooms. Enough so that both Raph and Don could have their own. It'd been a nice change for Raph, to have his own space where Don didn't try to do any of his weird science experiments or mess with any of his stuff. But in the dark of night, when the world was so very silent, sometimes Raph missed the sound of his brother snoring across the room from him. Because back when he slept in the same room as Don? Those snores warded off nightmares.

Now that he was alone, his dreams were easy prey.

Two weeks after their father's death, one week after his funeral, Raph woke up with a gasp, clinging to his blankets for dear life. His dream had been so vivid, so real. The car. The crash. The class. His father. Don-

Wait. Don.

He didn't remember scrambling out of bed, nor did he remember bolting down the hallway with all the speed he could muster. Later, in the morning, he would find a bruise on his leg he got from bumping into the wall. He wouldn't remember that either. Because as he forced open the door to Don's room, all he could think of was his brother buried in the ground along with their parents, another one lost, another one he couldn't save-

"Raph?" Don peered up at Raph from his bed, blinking his eyes a few times. Raph felt all the adrenaline leave him at once. Don was fine. Don had never been in the car in the first place. It was just a dream.

He was an idiot.

"Donnie-" he said, a little dumbstruck. The dream had seemed so real. Too real. He'd been so sure-

"Raph?" Don said, tilting his head. He was no longer half asleep, his brown eyes awake and alert. It was impressive considering Don needed coffee to function most days. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm…" He wanted to say fine, he wanted to say fine so badly, but the words just wouldn't come out. The words that left instead were the last thing he expected to say. "Can I sleep in here tonight? On the floor?"

He regretted saying it as soon as the words left his mouth. He was 15, not 5. He was much too old to be crawling to one of his brother's for comfort in the middle of the night. He expected Don to tease him, to tell him to get out and go back to sleep. Instead, Don threw one of his blankets and threw it on the floor, along with one of his pillows. They made a soft thump as they hit the carpet.

"Try not to make too much noise. I have tests in the morning."

Raph stared at him for a few seconds. Don had already rolled over and gone back to sleep, burying himself in his own covers. Like a turtle. Raph got down on the floor and laid his head on the pillow. Maybe Don was too exhausted to make fun of him. Maybe he was saving it for the morning.

Yet, when breakfast rolled around the next day, Don still hadn't said a word.

DON:

As soon as Raph flung open his door, Don knew his twin had just woken up from a terrible nightmare.

It was obvious. A kid could deduce it. Raph's expression was practically coated with pure terror. He was breathing in little gasps, those kind that Leo got whenever he had a panic attack (which lately, had been far too often).

The "Donnie" had been the giveaway, though. Raph only called him Donnie when he was about to lose it.

"Can I sleep in here tonight? On the floor?"

Don tried to hide his surprise. Only Mikey still asked for impromptu sleepovers. Raph hadn't made such a request since they were seven, and even then, it was never to Don. Raph usually went to Leo or Splinter. The family members that he thought could protect him from the darkness at bay.

Realization settled on him in an instant. Leo was at work. Their father was dead. Don was the only one left.

"Try not to make too much noise. I have tests in the morning." It was a blatant lie, but Raph would never find out if Don could help it. Don rolled over, and hid under his covers. If Raph thought he was being watched, he'd never go to sleep. Ten minutes later Don rolled over to find his brother fast asleep on the floor, his fingers tangled in the carpet. Well, maybe tangled wasn't the right word. Raph looked to be holding on for dear life.

"It's okay, Raph," Don whispered. If only he had the guts to say it earlier back when Raph was awake. He reached down to pull Raph's blanket up so it was covering his shoulders. "It's going to be okay."

Raph relaxed his grip in the carpet. Relaxed entirely, to be exact. Don sighed and rolled back over in his bed, letting himself drift back to sleep. So what if they were 15? So what if they were too old for this?

Raph would never look that scared again if Don could help it.

LEO:

That morning, exhausted and sleep-deprived, Leo opened Don's door to find Raph passed out on the floor and Don snoring in his bed above him.

He stared at them for a few seconds. He recognized this scene, having played it out time and time again with his younger siblings. For years, this had been his job, comforting his younger brothers in the dead of night after night terrors. He'd become almost a professional.

Until he'd been forced to get a real job. And from the looks of it, Donnie had been forced to take his place.

Leo sighed before forcing a smile onto his face. It was good to know that someone had the nightmares covered. Even it could no longer be him.

He closed the door behind him, listening to Don's snores echo through the hallway.