Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT.
I've wanted to write an April and Casey story for a while and I finally decided to give it a go and be brave and this is what came out of it. Hope it's okay. I've had this for a while and completely forgot about posting it. I was going to post it right after I first wrote it, but anyway, here it is!
April shut off the TV and sipped the last dregs of her hot chocolate. She turned her attention to the inky, night sky outside her window and the hundreds and thousands of glistening bright lights shining back at her from the city. A city so full of life and energy, almost always bustling with so many people. It was what she loved about living there. There were so many interesting people to be met, so many new adventures to have. Of course, her biggest adventure yet had been meeting the most interesting residents of the city. The people she treasured most in the world. And along with them, the love of her life, although she hadn't known it at the time. Far from it.
The memories slipped away as her eyes rested on the clock on the wall. She was so very tired, but she didn't feel like going to bed yet. She'd had her hot chocolate for a long time now. Maybe an hour? She'd managed to drag that out. She'd watched an episode of a sitcom that she had actually watched when it had aired earlier that night too. That had taken up half an hour. But now it was getting close to midnight and she desperately needed to go to bed and sleep.
There was just one thing missing and she didn't want to go to bed without it. She had always needed something to cuddle at night. Whether it was her teddy bear when she was a child, a pillow in her teenage years when she thought she should start growing out of old habits (that she never did grow completely out of) and now it was Casey that she snuggled close to her heart. But Casey wasn't here tonight. Friday night meant, of course, that he was out with Raph, fighting crime and playing vigilante.
April had no problems with that. Not usually. At first it had been so scary, even though she knew Casey had been doing this stuff for years before she even met him. It was still a dangerous job. Even with a fully trained ninja with him. It was frightening, but the fear had lessened enough for her to stop pacing the apartment every night until he got home. Nowadays, she would check her phone was charged, put it on loud, just in case, go to bed and be woken up in the early hours of the morning as Casey slipped into bed with her. They would cuddle and whisper before they both drifted off to sleep and woke up in each other's arms in the morning. Usually it was not a problem. It was nice.
But tonight wasn't the same.
Silently tip-toeing across the rug, she checked over the apartment, switched off the light and headed to the bedroom. She'd changed the sheets before, so they were lovely and fresh as she buried herself under them. She sighed as the tiredness seemed to flood every cell in her body. Finally some rest. It was silly really. She could have gone to bed hours ago, but she hadn't wanted to retire too early.
The thought of being alone in that big bed saddened her tonight. That was the truth. She felt lonely. She missed him so badly that it really hurt. She had that familiar yearning for strong arms to wrap around her and keep her safe and warm. For someone to hold on to her like nothing else mattered in the whole world. She'd felt it since she was a teenager. She'd felt like this almost every night through those years. She'd wanted someone to hold at night when it was dark and thoughts came around to haunt her.
Now she was an adult, she didn't want someone, not just anyone.
She wanted him.
She wanted to feel the mattress dip as he climbed in next to her. She wanted to smell his shower gel and hear his heart beating, feel his slow, deep breaths. She wanted to hear his goofy comments and she wanted to tell him off for waking her up, but give him a kiss to show she didn't mind at all.
She sighed and pulled the covers further around her, trying to imitate the warmth she felt when she was with him. It was no use, of course. She closed her eyes and reassured herself silently.
He'll be home soon…