TILL DEATH DO US PART
He saved her.
He saved her so, so many times.
And even when she became as proficient at fighting as he, even when she'd pulled him from the grasp of harm almost an equal amount of times, he still felt like he had to protect her.
Because, well, she was his April.
And that was never going to change.
He hoped, as he grew older, and matured, that he would either move past her, or gain the courage he needed to tell her. The bravery of the heart.
Alas, he never attained that necessary attribute. He was still the lovesick nerd searching for the formula that would change his life. A formula that, no matter how hard he looked, his mental strength couldn't find him.
Someone else, however, did acquire that trait.
It just took them almost too long.
"No," she grinned. "I got this one. You guys can go on ahead."
She ran at the robots, throwing her tessen to the side, where it hit a wall and spiraled back to cut through three of them. Four to go.
The boys- well, men really, seeing as they'd just turned eighteen (but they were still the same goofy kids she'd come to love)- shrugged and headed back to the Lair. She'd be fine, they thought. She always was, they thought.
As an exception to always, the next time they saw her was bloodied and broken, found a few streets down from where they'd left her by Michelangelo, out on a pizza run. They'd assumed she'd just gone home after the fight.
And maybe he would've spent the night holding back tears, his head in his hands, but instead he had to try and fix her. Try and save her from the injuries that could easily kill her.
And he thought she did die. There was a time when she wasn't breathing, and her heartbeat slowed nearly to a stop, and he found himself squeezing her hand, willing the life back into her, wishing it had been him.
And then he heard a small gasp, and looked up to see her inhaling, and he knew, somehow he just knew she would be alright. He didn't think he'd ever felt happier.
When she woke, she tried to sit up and groaned, clutching her head, which was still wrapped in bandages. "Shh," he whispered, gently laying her back down. "You don't have to get up."
She didn't argue, hardly having regained consciousness, and fell back asleep.
Finally, his brothers convinced him to leave his lab, where she was stationed, and try to get his mind off things with TV. As he tried to focus on the colors and sounds mixing into a blur in front of him, he thought he heard a sound in the other room, which the others dismissed, saying it wasn't unusual for her.
So he tried to shake it off, fighting the urge to check on her. It'd become a bit too habitual after weeks of sitting by her side.
But when he heard a door open, he knew it wasn't Raph returning from the surface, and he knew it wasn't Leo heading to his room, and he spun around and ran straight for the girl he'd almost lost.
Her black eyes lit up, and she hobbled towards him in response.
Neither initiated it; they leaned forward mutually, their lips connecting without any hesitation.
Her mind had still functioned while she was in a coma, and when she was struggling to stay awake afterwards, and all she could ever think was, he saved me.
And when, in the edges of her brainwaves, she felt something she shouldn't have felt, a hand touching her own, she was slipping away. She was deciding it wouldn't be too bad to let go, to stop battling the deep sleep trying to overpower her. And that presence shocked her out of it, made her realize there was no way on earth she was leaving like that. Not without telling him.
When they pulled away, her ignoring the dark circles under his eyes and paler skin, and him not noticing that she still had bruises and cuts galore, she tried to speak. "I died," she said.
He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "I died- I actually was gone- and then I was back and it was because of you, and-"
She sighed, and finally told him, "I fucking love you, Donnie."
He grinned toothily. "I fucking love you too."