Chapter 3
April hadn't heard back from Raph in a couple of days. She quit calling and messaging for fear of looking idiotic and clingy over a friendship. She was trying to figure out what the problem was. Everything seemed fine when they all left that night following the gang attack. The turtles had spent the day at April's waiting for nightfall to leave. They all hung out as usual, having fun and ordered pizza. Sure, Raph was exceptionally quiet, but April figured it was due to what happened that last night. But there had been no contact between them since and they had been talking every day. She picked up her phone to make sure she didn't miss anything him, but there was nothing. She checked the time that she had sent the last message and did the math of how long it had been since she sent it. This was grueling. Maybe she should just go down to the lair and check on everybody. That's what she would normally do. But for some reason in her mind, she just knew Raph would think it was odd.
Raph was beating his punching bag to a pulp in the dojo. He didn't know how long he had been hitting it. It seemed like no amount of working out made him tired enough to stop thinking about April… and the nightmare he had about her. He had been avoiding her ever since they left her apartment. He was so broken when he woke up that morning and he was so vulnerable when he held April, he had to distance himself from her. The thought of losing her for good was worse than the thought of not seeing all the time. He had to get his feelings under control before he got either of them killed. But if he knew April and he felt like he knew her pretty well, her ass would be trotting down to the lair in no time to check on everybody. He just couldn't see her right now. His head and his heart were in the worst places when it came to her. He couldn't think clearly because she crowded everything. If he didn't tell her something though, he knew her feelings would be hurt. She's not stupid, she knows he's avoiding her. He didn't just suddenly become legitimately busy. Raph stopped hitting the bag momentarily and looked at his phone. He hadn't gotten anything else from her in the last few hours, and that harsh fact made him relieved and incredibly disappointed at the same time.
He wanted so badly to make his fingers text her back and tell her the truth, but they didn't. Sorry. Donny has kept me knocked out for a little while until the pain went away. I'm ok. Was all he wrote and hit send. It was so cold and stand offish. He knew it would hurt her feelings when she read it. Raph momentarily thought about chucking his phone across the dojo, but he didn't. He took a deep breath and lowered his arm and set his phone on the bench, then he turned back to his punching bag.
April's phone went off in her hand. She swiped the screen with excitement and read Raph's message. April stared at the screen and a tear came to her eye. She tried to compose herself, but she was on the verge of hysterics. She wanted to see him or at least have a conversation with him and he was blowing her off. Ok. Feel better. Was all she sent back. It stung just as much as his message to send it. She let the tears flow freely. Everything was fucked up somehow. Her mind went back to the dream that it seems they both had. It had to mean something. It was a connection of some sort or a vision. She hoped it wasn't a vision. She didn't know what it was, the only thing she knew in this moment was it felt like her heart was half the size it was a couple of days ago.
Everything had suddenly become so boring. April's days were incredibly routine now, kind of like it was before the guys came into her life. It had been a few more days since their last messaging incident that killed her on the inside, and she decided to go visit the other guys and just see if she could get a feel for the situation. She crept along the walls of the underground tunnels until she came to the door. She tapped on it a few times and it was jerked open. A heard wrapped in an orange bandana popped in her face.
"Hey, Ape! Where you been?" Mikey greeted her and pulled her inside with a hug.
"Oh, you know, just working. I just wanted to come say hi and let you know I hadn't dropped off the face of the planet." She said.
"I get it. You gotta work and stuff." Mikey said walking back to the kitchen and April followed. Donny and Leo were sitting at the table snacking and Raph was nowhere in sight.
April tried to hide the disappointment, "Hey guys!" She greeted cheerfully.
"Hey, April!" Leo jumped up and hugged her, "It's been a few days."
"I know, I know." She sat next to Donny who was enthralled in a project. She reached her arm around his shoulders and hugged him. He jumped as if he hadn't noticed the extra person.
"April, when did you get here?" He asked hugging her back.
"Just now. I wanted to stop by and say hi and chill for a second." She plucked a cheeto out of the back and ate it, "How's Raph's arm doing?"
"Oh, it's fine. He's pretty much been good since we got back from your place that night." Donny replied still keeping his eyes on his project.
His words stung in April's chest, "I figured he would need to sleep it off for a couple of days."
"Nah, he hit the dojo as soon as we got back." Leo answered nawing on a Pork Rhine.
She tried really hard not to break down in front of the guys. Raph had told her he had been knocked out from the pain, "Oh, well, that's good to hear."
Her mind was in another world now. He lied to her. Why would Raph lie to her about his arm? She sat there at the table trying to keep up good conversation when they all heard the door to the dojo slam.
"Oh, listen. The Brooding McBroodster is taking a break from hitting the bag for once." Mikey commented in a sarcastic tone that made April look at him in curiosity. Mikey noticed her look, "He's been in the dojo nonstop, Ape."
April nodded and Raph entered the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her sitting at the table. His heart landed somewhere in his intestines.
"Um, Raph, are you going to speak to April?" Leo said nudging his arm.
"Hey, April. I didn't know you were coming over." Raph said in a much colder tone than he meant and he could tell April didn't miss it.
She furrowed her brow at him. She was no longer upset at the moment, now she was mad. All the other guys slowly turned and looked at Raph like he had three heads. They didn't know what his problem was.
"Well, you're not the only one I talk to down here, Raph." She stood up and grabbed her bag off the table, "By the way, I'm glad your arm is all better. Donny was just telling me how well you healed after you left my apartment. Must be hard to hit a punching bag in your sleep." She put her bag on her shoulder, "Bye, guys. I'll talk to you later." She said to the other three.
Raphael leaned against the wall and banged his head one good time, "Shit!"
"Dude, what did you do to April?!" Mikey said angrily.
"Shut up, Mikey!" Raph growled and stomped out of the room.
April quickly unlocked her apartment and slammed the door behind her. The tears were falling heavily now. She threw her bag and keys down on the floor. She stood there in the entry way crying for a minute, then she slid down her door and her butt landed on the floor she buried her face in her palms and cried hard. She barely heard the knocks on her window through her sobs. She looked up from her hands, across her living room, and saw Raph in her window. She looked away embarrassed and tried to wipe her face and made her way to the window. Raph could see how hard she had been crying when she opened it.
He tried to speak but she walked away as soon as she had lifted it enough for him to come in. Raph sighed and slipped in through the window and April was in the kitchen trying to wipe her face off.
"April?" Raph said very quietly.
April's face jerked around to face him, "You lied to me, Raph! Donny told me you've been fine this whole time, which means you've been giving me the cold shoulder. I've been sitting around her concerned and ignored and you've pretty much okay."
Raph wanted to laugh. She thought he had been okay. He had been the complete opposite, "I'm sorry, April. I really am."
"You know what? I don't think I really want to hear it right now." April snapped at him, "I'm so mad at you. You're not even giving me an explanation. You're just going to say you're sorry. I don't know what your problem is, but you really don't need to come back over until you're ready to talk about it with me."
"I know you're mad, but I am sorry about it." He knew that wouldn't be enough but he still wanted her know he hated doing it. He hopped back out of the window and turned around to close it. April was standing there.
"I have a feeling your nightmare has something to do with this. I want you to know I had the exact same dream of me laying in your arms dead and I'm not ignoring you over it."
Raph hung his head, still not ready to say anything and she shut the window. He turned and left her window.
