Basics: Apritello
Casey is jealous of the special friendship between April and Donnie and confronts Donnie about it. After two weeks of no contact, April confronts Donnie.

"You've reached Donatello, leave a message"
April sighed, shoving her phone into her jeans pocket as she wandered the streets of New York, heading for the turtles lair. It had been two weeks since she had last spoken to her best friend and she missed him terribly. She missed his laugh, the way he got all worked up and excited when talking about some new discovery or invention. She smiled to herself at the mental image of Donatello hunched over his cluttered desk, scribbling away furiously at his latest project, the tip of his tongue poking out in concentration. She sighed again, he looked so adorable when he did that.
She'd never admitted it to anyone, but for the last few months, she'd had a serious crush on the scientist. It had taken her a while to realise it, to realise why her heart felt like jumping out of her chest whenever he smiled at her, or why she blushed bright red whenever she found herself alone with him. After taking a few days to sort her feelings out, she decided to just come out and tell him. From what she had over heard of his brothers teasing it sounded like he liked her but she was never going to be one hundred percent sure unless she asked him.

Turning the corner she spied the manhole cover that led down to the sewers. After taking a moment to ensure that she hadn't been followed, April lifted the manhole cover and lowered herself into the sewers below.
As she navigated the seemingly endless network of tunnels she struggled in vain to come up with a reason what would cause him to suddenly ignore her like this. It wasn't unusal for Donnie to shut himself away in his lab for long periods of time. He did it everytime he got too wrapped up in his latest project. But this time was different. Something was wrong.
Pushing through the turnstiles April looked around in the hope of spotting her purple clad ninja, her heart falling when she saw no sign of him. Glancing over in the direction of Donnies lab, she wandered over to the battered looking TV where Leo was was watching Space Heroes. There were no signs of Mickey or Raph anywhere.
As she got closer she could tell that he wasn't fully paying attention to the show.
"Hey Leo" April said, leaning on the back of the sofa, arms crossed in front of her. He jumped slightly, as if she had disturbed him from some deep train of thought.
"Oh hey April, I didn't hear you come in" She frowned,
"Thats not like you, whats up?" He frowned back, folding his arms over his chest and gesturing towards the lab with his head.
"What do you think? He's not come out of there for ages, nothing we say is making any difference."
"Do you know whats up with him?". Leo shrugged,
"No idea, he was fine up until two weeks ago when he threw Casey out. Since then he's locked the door and refused to talk to anyone".
April looked down at her hands, she knew that Casey and Donnie weren't keen on each other but she struggled to imagine either saying something that would upset the
other so much.
"Do you mind if I try?" she asked turning to face Leo who was still staring into space. He tilted his head on one side,
"Yeah, go for it, you might have a better chance of getting him out of there than we do, he likes you to much".
Leaving the turtle to his thoughts, April pushed herself back from the sofa and headed towards the lab.

After knocking on the lab door, and being promptly told to "go away" April knelt down to pick the lock with one of her hair pins. Pushing it open she looked around the lab for Donatello, quickly spotting him hunched over his computer, typing out what looked like bits of code. His bloodshot eyes glued to the screen except for the small shakes of his head to prevent them from closing. Dark rings under his eyes, evidence of the severe lack of sleep. Quietly closing the door behind her, April crossed over to stand behind him. Donnie jumped when she placed a hand on his shoulder, his eyes growing wide in suprise as he saw her.
"Hey Don" She said quietly as he quickly glanced down before turning his attention back to the screen. Her heart clenched to see him like this, to see someone so strong and so full of life, be so closed off and quiet.
"Hey April, whats up". His voice sounded dry and hoarse, like he hadn't had a drink in a while. Knowing Donnie he hadn't.
"Not much" she replied, tilting her head to one side, nudging him gently in an attempt to bring him out of his thoughts, "Just wanted to see you, I haven't heard
from you in a while". Donnie closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, leaning on the desk. He didn't respond, even when April put her arm around his shoulder.
"Donnie talk to me, please" she begged "What's wrong?"
"Nothin I'm just busy" came the muffled responce. Straightening up, a determined look on her face, April grabbed a nearby stool, placing it next to his, sitting so she was facing him directly.
"No offence Don, but thats rubbish and you know it. Even when you are busy you take the time to look after yourself, THIS" she gestured to him, "this isn't you".
She leaned towards his, placing a hand on his she could feel the tears starting to build up in her eyes threatening to show, "Please Donnie, talk to me, your family are worried about you, I'M worried about you".
He moved then. Leaning back in his chair, hands in his lap eyes fixed on them. There was silence for a few moments while she waited to see if he would respond.
"I had... an interesting converstation with Casey the other day" he finally said, not looking up. April nodded, content that he was finally speaking to her.
"Leo said" she murmured "He said you threw him out" she laughed to herself "knowing Casey he probably deserved it". A small smile appeared on Donnie's face, but it
didn't reach his eyes. They were just full of hurt.
"He pointed out somethings that... I'd been trying to ignore" he frowned at his hands, fiddling with their wrappings. April frowned.
"Like what?" she asked, her eyes not leaving his face. He looked away, as if he was trying to hide his face.
"Like the fact a mutated freak like me would never stand a chance of being with someone as amazing as you".
Aprils heart stopped as she stared at him. Her mind flooding with a mass of thoughts and emotions. Half of her was thrilled to know that he felt the same for her as she did for him, the other half of her was furious at Casey. It didn't matter to her that Donnie wasn't human. It didn't matter to her that they would never be able to hang out together like normal teenagers did up on the surface. She loved him for being him. For being the smart, caring and lovable guy she knew he was.
Leaning forwards she placed her hands on top of his, causing him to turn to look at her though his eyes returned to his hands.
"Your not a mutated freak, you are the most intelligent, creative, nerdy and caring guy I've never met and I LOVE YOU for it". He looked at her properly then, his eyes full widening with disbelief.
"But I'm not... normal, I'm not HUMAN" He stammered. She shrugged,
"That doesn't make you a freak, it makes you unique". She grinned "For someone so smart Don, you can really miss some obvious things" He stared at her his mouth opening and closing several times as he tried to work out an answer.
"I love you" he eventually said. April grinned at him,
"I love you to you big nerd".
Finally the gap-toothed grin that she loved appeared on his face. Standing up, pulling her with him, he pulled her into a hug, his strong arms wrapping around her waist
whilst hers wound round his neck. She could feel the pounding of his heart through his plastron, beating just as fast as hers. April wasn't sure how long they stood there, nor did she care.
Eventually she pulled back, just enough so she could see his face. Placing a hand on his cheek she gently ran her thumb over the dark circles under his eyes, frowning slightly. He glanced down sheepishly. "I guess I haven't gotten as much sleep as I should have recently"
"You don't say" she muttered slightly sarcasticly. Taking his hand she pulled him over to the small cot, that he sometimes used instead of his bed when he got too engaged in a project, that stood in the corner of the room. Pushing him down onto it she yelped with surprise when he pulled her down with him, pulling her close to his chest and wrapping his arms around her again. April looked up at his playful grin, his face inches from hers. Taking advantage of their close proximity she closed the gap, pressing her lips gently against his. Donnie froze for a split second in surprise before returning the kiss.
In the mere moments that the kiss lasted, April felt as if the whole world had fallen away. That the only things that existed were heself and Donatello. Her stomach felt like it was filled with butterflies.
She pulled away first, gazing up at her the purple clad turtle. He seemed just as amazed as she was.
"Wow" she breathed. The corners of his mouth pulled up into a smile. They lay their for a few moments, holding each other, waiting for their hearts to slow. They didn't say anything, just content to be in each others company as they had been so many times before.
Donatello yawned suddenly, breaking the moment, reminding April as to the reason she had dragged him over here in the first place.
"YOU, need to sleep" she told him, starting to detangle herself from him. He tightened his hold on her, resting his forhead against hers.
"Stay with me?" he murmured into her hair.
"Ok" April smiled snuggling back into him. After moving into a more comfortable position Donnie fell asleep almost immediately, his head resting against the top of hers, arms around her. Aprils arms around his neck, head on his plastron. She listened to his slow, even breathing, a small smile on her face. Out of all the things she had thought was wrong with him, this was the last thing she would have come up with. She glanced up at his face, all the worry and pain gone. He was quite cute sleeping she thought. It was clear from today and the past two weeks that he had some insecurity issues, not helped by Casey. April pushed all thoughts of Casey from her mind. She'll deal with him later. But she was determined to prove Donnie wrong. That he wasn't a freak and that he was loved.
After a while she drifted off to sleep in the ninjas arms, happy that the last two weeks of hell were finally over.