The Ties That Bind
Disclaimer: The song used is "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon, covered by Paramore
10:00 a.m. That was the time that Mikey woke up the morning after he'd barged into Raph's room, crying over and over that he was sorry. Raph hadn't asked for an explanation. For that Michealangelo was thankful. Thankful that he hadn't had to explain that he was sorry for the deep, horrible resentment that he'd felt towards Raph because of his Nightwatcher routine, because of his refusal to stop being a vigilante until now.
He walked into the living room and saw Raph, Leo, and Splinter sitting on the couch. Donnie was inn the kitchen, glancing up at the TV every few minutes as he ate. The sight of his family being so normal lifted another weight off Mikey. There was no furious electricity passed between Raphael and Leonardo as they sat with Splinter watching Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Mikey walked over to them, sitting down on a chair. "My son, when did you awake?" Splinter said, putting a cup to his lips, his eyes still on the TV. "Just now." he replied, getting comfortable in the chair, not telling Splinter that he'd been up earlier listening to music.
Donnie sat down at the computer in his room later that night. He opened Itunes, and a window popped up saying that a new playlist was done. He knew it had to be Mikey's, because he'd seen him sneak out of his room early in the morning. He opened it, a little guiltily. A folder was there marked "Themes". Donnie opened it, and saw their names in separate folders: Raph, Leo, and Donnie. He clicked his name, and a song started, guitar music coming out of the speakers. He'd heard he song before, but he one Mikey had was a cover.
I been roamin' around,
I was looking down at all I see.
Painted faces filled with places I can't reach
You know that I could use somebody\
Well you know that I could use somebody
Someone like you and all you know and how you speak
And countless lovers under covers on the street
Well you know that I could use somebody, oh
Well you know that I could use somebody
Someone like you
Off in the night, while you live it up, I'm off to sleep
And wagin' wars to shake the poet and the beat
Well I hope it's gonna make you notice, oh
Well I hope it's gonna make you notice
Someone like me Someone like me
Someone like me, somebody
I'm ready, I'm ready
I'm ready, I'm ready, oh
Someone like you, somebody
Someone like you, somebody
I been roamin' around, I was looking down at all I see
The song ended, and Donatello sat back in the chair, thinking. "Why would he put that on there? Why doesn't he just talk to us?, Donnie wondered, trying to understand . He slowly fell asleep in the chair, thinking.
Raphael sat in his room, debating whether or not to go watch Law and Order. He needed a distraction from the emotions pulling at him. Guilt and a nagging sense that he should go talk to Leo. He didn't want to do a midnight break in like Mikey had done to him. He decided to talk to him in the morning.
A knock sounded on Mikey's door, waking him up. "Come in." he said, sitting up, the covers falling to his lap. Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael walked in, closing the door behind him. "What? What is it, dudes?" Mikey asked, rubbing his eyes. "I…uh, I found your playlist last night." Donnie said, the others staring at Mikey. "You always use songs to express feelings?" Raphael said, resisting the urge to put air quotes around feelings. "Shut it, Raph." Donnie said, turning back to Mikey. "Mikey? What did mine mean?" he said. Michelangelo sighed and said "Yours meant that you'd been there for me, and I could use you when I needed someone. And yours," he said, looking at Raph, "meant that I love you, even is you can be a jerk. And, Leo, yours meant that he'd always have us, no matter what he did." Everyone was silent for a moment, till Raph said "Speaking of Leo, I need to talk to him." Leonardo looked at his brother, then nodded, and they left Mikey and Donnie alone.
"Raph, what happened last year-" Leonardo started, till Raph said "We were both being stupid. I mean, look what our fighting did. Mikey had to start selling pizza doing that Cowabunga Carl thing, and Donnie started tech support. We need to put everything past us." Leo's jaw almost dropped to the floor, but he closed it, stunned that Raph had thought the same thing he had. He was about to say something, but Raph hugged him tightly then looked at him and smiled. "Dude, guess what's comin' on tonight?" Leonardo's eyes brightened. "TrueBlood!" he said, excitement touching his voice. They'd made a tradition of watching the show before the falling out, and neither one had seen it since. Now the tradition was started up again.
Raph and Leo sat down on the couch, Mikey on the floor next to Donnie. Splinter was in the middle, surprised when Raphael had asked him to turn the channel to HBO. "You are watching TrueBlood?" Splinter said, happy and surprised to see his sons together and happy. The show came on, all of them staring at the TV till it ended, the only distraction being Mikey commenting on Sookie's waitress uniform. Donatello thought that it was a little awkward to watch the sex scenes with Splinter, but didn't say anything. An ad for the next episode came on, and Splinter turned off the TV. "You must rest, my sons, for tomorrow, you return to your work." Mikey felt that tomorrow, everything would be back to normal, and as he went to his room, he almost started laughing.
(Stay tuned for Chapter 3: What the Rain Brings. Review!!!!)
