"I guess life doesn't always go the way you want it to go, or the way you planned it to be. I never thought I'd be this close to his lips wanting him to kiss me. Wanting him to make me feel lost in a world of emotion. Yet, here we are, sitting on the edge of some random apartment building of the many rooftops in New York like we always did, when we wanted to escape the world. He's just so distracting, I can't take it any longer. There's nothing I could do to change the way I felt or change what I'm going to do. Nothing is going to stop me now..." 2 hours before The thought of almost losing Casey had been a traumatic experience enough. Memories flooded her mind of what she had felt when that happened. Sadness, anger, frustration and every other horrible feeling. What if it had been one of the guys that had been almost eaten by a giant worm? She never would have been able to forgive herself. Especially if it was Donatello... Since he had always caught her, she never had to think about having to catch him because she knew he'd always be there with open arms. He's her hero who saves her from the darkness in the world. But still, what if the day came where she'd have to save "him" and she just couldn't do it, letting him fall into the dark abyss of death? How could she live with herself? Thinking was something the fiery redhead always did. Not particularly as much as her genius friend, but enough to make her emotions ignite once in a while. Really, what could she do, if one of her friends was in trouble and needed her help? She was a Kunoichi who had been training for at least a year now, compared to 15 years worth of skills and experience the guys had. For once in her life she actually began to think that she was a burden to her friends. That she would never belong... anywhere. That she was a nobody, a freak, a true mutant like she was told. "All I do is slow them down. Why can't I just realize, I can't do everything that they can? Why is it so hard for me to comprehend that? She said fed up with herself...Because I can't. I can't... Not be needed. She said to herself." She had known the answer already, but just felt like she needed to say it to let it all out of her system. April had always been independent. She had always done stuff by herself. Everything from school projects from learning how to cook, she had done or taught herself. No help from her father, but he didn't really know how to cook that well himself, so that was actually a blessing. So why was it she felt she needed their help, when all this time it had been her against the world? " Ugh! Why couldn't I be somewhat ordinary? Why did "I" have to be chosen, to be a Kraang test experiment? Couldn't it have been anyone else!? Why was I picked to be the center of a bunch of mutated freaks!" She cried out. Once she said it out loud, she couldn't believe what she said. She was wrong to say such horrible things. Her friends weren't freaks. They had been the only ones kind to her since the beginning. They were people just like her, with feelings, emotions, two eyes, hands, toes, and everything else that a person would have. "What's wrong with me!" She yelled, glad that her Aunt was out of town on business. She then buried her face in her hands and took a deep breath. What if she was alone, abandoned, forgotten, and casted aside by everyone? Then what would she do? For some reason, all she ever did was push those away who wanted to help her. The more her depressing thoughts took there toll, the closer she came to the verge of tears. Everything came to her mind, her mother, her homicide mutant bat father, all her relatives are either dead or far away (not including her aunt), and worst of all when she said she hated her friends and said she never wanted to see them again. So she ran, with tears threatening to spill. She slipped through the slide door, onto the fire escape and took off in the blink of an eye. She climbed to the top of her apartment building and glided across the rooftops like a fish swimming down a fast moving stream. Graceful and Swift. The ginger didn't stop for anything that got in her path. She needed to escape her life for a while, just to get herself straight. She kept running even when she wanted to stop, she willed herself not to. More thoughts raced through her mind, like if the guys hated her, if she let something devastating happen to one of her brothers, or etcetera. A hour later she had finally reached a point where she just stopped. She had ran until she was at a place where she could just make her way back home. She stood a good two feet away from the edge of the building, and stared at the view of skyscrapers she had come to love ever since she started running across the rooftops with Leo, Mikey, Raph, and Donnie. Suddenly she heard voices of laughter and talking. Of course it was no other than the four, ninjas she had come to care so much for. A curse word escaped her lips and she crouched behind an object. She couldn't be seen or they'd wonder why she was up there, and not at home at 10:00 at night. "Mikey stop laughing. The whole point of this mission is about stealth. You know, not being seen or heard!" Leo said exasperated. "Well excuse me for trying to bring a little fun into the night! You know I get bored easily." Mikey told Leo. "Will the both of you shut up or so help me, I will knock the shells right off your backs!" Raph yelled. "Thank you Raph for telling us that." Leo said sarcastically. "Guys, knock it off. If you keep talking so loudly, my ears are going to bleed! Hypothetically of course. It's literally impossible for my ears to bleed at the sound of such low decibels." Donnie stated. All three of his brothers just stared at him, like Mikey looking at a math problem. "It's good to be accurate." He stated proudly. "Of course it is." April thought to herself, with a tone of sarcasm that was unmistakable. Unfortunately for her, her knees gave out from sitting in that crouching position for a while. There was a small, "OOF" sound from where she hit the concrete, loud enough for them to hear, and it was even worse that they were ninjas trained to hear these type of things. "Did you guys hear something?" Leo asked. He looked around, but didn't see anything. "It was probably just some stupid cat. Let's just go so I can beat the heck out of those Kraang droids! Raph said, impatient and anxious, bored of surveilling the rooftops. He cracked his knuckles and then his neck, ready for anything. April had her back to the object and slowly peeked around the corner to see if they were going yet. Just then Donnie decided to gaze past her hiding place and his head snapped to a strand of red hair sticking out. He knew it was April, how could he not? What other redhead would climb a building and run across the roofs except for the one and only April O'neil. "Shoot!" She whispered. She wasn't sure if she had been spotted or not, since he hadn't said anything or walked over to her. "Alright guys let's go, and Mikey, there's no cat so stop looking! "He's here... Somewhere." Mikey said lowly, then narrowed his eyes and looked left then right. April rolled her eyes, shook her head, and smiled. He always cracked her up, when he said things like that. Leo let out an irritated sigh. "Come on, let's go." They all turned to leave except Donnie who said,"You guys go ahead. I'm going to try fixing... a bug that's been messing with the GPS on my T-phone." "Whatever you say brainiac." Raph shouted behind him. The other three brothers vanished into the night. He waited until they were out of view then turned and walked around April's hiding spot and snuck up behind her. Ahem! He cleared his throat. Ah! She yelped. She hadn't seen him behind her, but he was a ninja. "What are you doing up here so late, and why aren't you at home?! He asked her loudly. Oh! I-I just... Came out for a run! She stuttered. "Really, you just came up here for a run?" He asked skeptically. "Umm... Yes." She said with a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm not buying it." He told her, not going to back down until she told him why she was really up here. She knew she was cornered. If she kept denying, he would just keep asking and he knew she was lying straight through her teeth. Even though she was stubborn and could stand her ground, Donnie was something that could be pretty annoying at times and not at another. Persistent. So she just kept quiet. He continued to stare her down for a straight ten minutes before she finally cracked. "Alright, alright!" April hollered. There was no point in staying up there all night. She sat down on the ledge, with her legs dangling, kicking back and forth, as Donnie sat down next to her. The girl with the firecracker attitude exhaled. "Have you ever thought that maybe someone would be depending on you, but you just couldn't help them, or you let them down?" She asked him. "Actually yes, I have... And believe it or not, hat someone was you." Donnie told her, his cheeks turning crimson red. She smiled at first, but it turned back to an upset look. She stared off into space, completely still for a second, and for a moment, not thinking about what she was going to tell him next. "Well anyway. I just have a few more questions. Am I a burden to you or your brothers? She asked, hoping the answer was no. "Of course not April! He said surprised that she even asked that question. Why would you be a burden to us? You've been anything, but that. What brought up all these strange questions? Is something wrong? Did someone hurt you!?" He said with fury and a serious look in his eyes, as he grabbed her shoulders. "Easy! No one hurt me!" She said. It almost came out as a laugh because he got so serious all of a sudden. "Then... what's wrong?" He asked, extremely confused. "It's just, when I thought Casey was almost killed by that worm, I was really upset and then I imagined if it had been you or your brothers. What if I let one of your brother's die, then you'd never forgive me! All I am is a freak and a I don't belong anywhere. I'd be alone with no one because none of my family is here. I've practically been alone all my life. Then I thought some very mean things, and I had said I hated you, all because of some freaking mutagen! And... and." She told him quickly, breathing heavily because of the heartache these memories and painful thoughts had brought her. "Slow down!" He told her. He put out his hands to try and get her to stop or at least just breathe. She hadn't wanted to do this, but she couldn't contain her sadness any longer. Tears flooded over. The hot droplets stung her eyes, as she screwed them tight, not wanting to see the pitying looks she would be getting from two red-brown eyes. She buried her face in her palms and turned away, only to be turned around and cradled by two clover green arms. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Please forgive me for everything I've done and said!" She wailed into his plastron. April never liked to cry, but on occasion it happened, like every other human being. Shhh. It's okay. I'm right her, nothing is going to happen to you. You're safe. He rocked her back and forth and rubbed her back soothingly. Eventually her breathing calmed and the sniffles had almost stopped. The two sat there holding each other, for what seemed like forever. Just enjoying the warmth of each other, protected in their tight embrace. "April, you've done nothing wrong. It's alright to feel angry or sad. It's okay that you were upset with us. We did kind of mutate your dad. Remember that you'll always be cherished in our hearts, we'll always be their for you. No matter what. I promise." He said as he stroked her hair and brushed another fallen tear off her cheek. She felt her heart skip a beat once he said that to her. Slowly, she sat up and turned her head, and stared right into his eyes not taking her focus off of him. He had always been there for her no matter what. Even because of the silliest problems like school. April suddenly had the urge to kiss every inch of Donnie, making him feel the same way he had done to her. At first she thought it was just a momentary thing, but it wasn't. She still wanted to make him feel loved. "You know, you always have my back no matter what. I just wish I could do the same. April told him." He smiled and put an arm around April's shoulder and pulled her closer. April watched in awe, at the city lights. Something her and Donnie had actually done before when they talked about their feelings, life, or just what ever came to mind. Before anything else came to her head, she began to think about the way she felt about him again. "I guess life doesn't always go the way you want it to go, or the way you planned it to be. I never thought I'd be this close to his lips wanting him to kiss me. Wanting him to make me feel lost in a world of emotion. Yet, here we are, sitting on the edge of some random apartment building of the many rooftops in New York like we always did, when we wanted to escape the world. He's just so distracting, I can't take it any longer. There's nothing I could do to change the way I felt or change what I'm going to do. Nothing is going to stop me now..." She thought. "Hey Donnie, could you do me a favor real quick?" She asked politely. "Sure. Just ask." He replied nonchalantly. "Could you... Close your eyes for a minute or two." She asked nervously. He complied and shut his eyes. He didn't ask why she needed him to do this, he trusted her enough. "Alright this is your chance April. Don't screw this up!" Her conscious told her. She hesitantly leaned forward and before she knew it, her lips were pressed up against his. Her fingers intertwined behind his neck, pulling him in closer. His eyes were the the size of frying pans at first, but he became aware to what was going on. It was a dream come true for him, and a desire fulfilled for her. Their kiss became lingered and deeper and more passionate until they finally released each other. After that they both sat in an embarrassing quiet stillness, both keeping they're hands to themselves and taking short glances at each, blushing each time the other saw. "Well, that was... Amazing." Donnie started, before his sentence was finished by April. "I couldn't have picked a better way to end the night." She chuckled. "Neither could I. He said in a whisper against her ear." "So do you, maybe want to try something like this again?" She asked trying to hide her nervousness. "Donnie stared at her stunned. He thought she just kissed him because he was there to comfort her since she had been vulnerable at the time. Apparently, it was more than that, but who was he to complain? "You seem shocked, so if your answer is no then, I understand." She said disappointed because she knew the answer would be no." He had been at a loss for words for awhile, until she made her last statement. No, no! That's not it it all! He hollered. She looked up with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. They sparkled brighter than stars and all Donnie wanted to do was keep them that way. Always filled with hope, wonderment, and fascinating. There were so many things he loved about her. I was actually just dumbfounded because I thought maybe you kissed me because you were... I don't know maybe, vulnerable? Hamoto Donatello, I love you for who you are in your heart. Nothing more and nothing less than. She said lovingly, as she place her hand where his heart was." April tried to hide a yawn but couldn't conceal it. Donnie saw how tired she was and took her hand to lead her back to the sewers. After an hour of walking, they were finally back to the sewers, about to enter the lair with three rowdy other brothers. April stopped Donnie right before they walked in. "Hey! Would you mind if I stayed over tonight? My aunt won't be home until Monday, some I'm gonna be bored all weekend." "Not at all." Donnie said and held her hand. They continued on and walked in only to be screamed at by Leo. "Where the heck have you been! We left you probably about two hours ago. Master Splinter has been worried sick wondering where you were. It's 11:30! "We were just... talking and stuff." April said. They both smiled at each other, knowing that wasn't the whole story. It was something that would stay between the two of them, for years to come. "Okay what did I miss?" Mikey asked, as he came in from playing video games and watching tv. "Nothing important Mikey, but I am staying over tonight! She said excitedly. "Well in that case... PILLOW FIGHT!" Mikey screamed across, the entire lair. He grabbed the pillows he was using as a fortress around the tv and tackled April to the ground making her laugh. He got a death glance from Donnie to make sure he didn't hurt her. Mikey told him to relax and that he'd be careful, but that didn't stop him from keeping a close watch on him. He was pretty clumsy at times. Mikey turned around hitting Donnie square in the face, ending him to the floor. April had already gotten up and secretly grabbed two pillows. She handed one to Donnie and helped him up. They both turned to each other then back at Mikey and smiled deviously " Uh Oh." Mikey said, and turned around screaming like a girl. The pillows he had were long gone. April and Donnie both just looked at each other and grinned widely, as the ran through the halls chasing after the turtle in the orange bandana together. Author's notes: Hello everyone! I'm so sorry about the paragraphs on my last fanfic. Something happened when I transferred it to the document manager. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and commented on my stories, it has meant so much to me. Also I'm sorry if my stories are a little similar, but it makes sense, since my friends call me a sap. So until next time! Purpledaisygirl