The words hit him hard, numbing Raphael to the core. He stared blankly at the ring and the blaring stereo seemed to fade out of existence. Those five words didn't even sound like English to the turtle. Marriage? What a foreign and...and bullshit idea.
His stomach was tied into a knot, but he managed to tear his eyes from the sparkling engagement ring and into the equally sparkling, hopeful eyes of Leonardo.
"I'm sorry - what?" He felt like his brain was fried.
The smile on Leonardo's face faltered for a second and he quickly shoved the box back into its secret hiding place. "I want to marry her, Raph." Although it sounded more of a question than a repeated statement. Leo's hands twisted around each other as the awkwardness began to fill the room like an inescapable sludge.
The knot in Raphael's stomach began to unravel and a searing hot anger burst through the seams. "You can't marry her, Leo!" He ignored the frantic motions from his brother telling him to lower his voice. He continued nonetheless.
"You're not even human! You're a freak just like the rest of us. Do you honestly think that you can marry someone?"
Leonardo's face twisted and he leaned back from Raph sharply; as if the words physically slapped him. "Excuse me? Out of everyone I would have thought you'd be happy for me." His voice was low and cool.
Raphael threw his hands up in the air, "happy?" He snorted and his hands came down with a loud smack against his thighs. "Happy? You know, Leo, you've come up with some pretty idiotic ideas before...but this? This is the stupidest thing you've ever said!"
Leonardo opened his mouth to retort, but Raphael kept going relentlessly. "What kind of life do you think you could possibly give her?"
His brother opened his mouth to speak, but he fumbled and opted to jab a finger into Raphael's chest instead. "You're just a jealous fool, Raph. You can't stand the thought of everyone being happy so you try to drag us down with you. Not any more, brother. I'm done playing this game of yours. Be alone and hateful for all I care!"
With that, Leonardo marched from the room, the door slamming behind him with finality. Raphael stared at it, a hand idly reaching out to turn off the stereo. He inhaled deeply.
"Fuck it."
The night air was therapeutic in a way. He didn't know where he was going or doing, but he had to get away from the lair. Between the dreams and this bullshit news Leo dropped on him, Raphael just couldn't take it. He leaped from building to building, not caring about a destination as his thoughts consumed him.
Marriage? What the fuck kind of crack had Leo been smoking? Where did he even get a ring like that? There's no way he just waltzed into a jeweler and browsed their catalogs. How did he think this was going to go? They couldn't live anywhere except for the lair. The turtle brothers couldn't have children. Didn't marriage include a wedding? Where did Leo think that was going to happen? Karai may not be the most feminine girl in the world, but she deserved a hell of a lot better than a sewer wedding.
'Besides,' Raphael mused, 'marriage means even less of Leonardo that I get now."
He may not like to admit it, but the fact that two of his brothers were otherwise occupied with their respective partners just made him feel more lonely. What happened to "bros before hoes" - or whatever the saying was?
Raphael slowed to a stop as he began to take notice of his surroundings. He knew this place and he couldn't believe he subconsciously ended up back here of all fucking places. Carefully, he peered over the edge of the building. Sure enough, there was that damned bar where that damned devil woman came out of.
He should leave. He knew he should leave. Hanging around here would do nothing but cause trouble, but the prospect of seeing her again was too great.
So, he waited and he didn't have to stand around on that building for long. Right on cue, the blonde woman exited the bar. Raphael recognized the trench coat as being the same one from before. Her golden hair fell loosely around her, framing her face perfectly. Something inside Raphael's chest ached. His heart? Nah, that was dumb. It was probably indigestion.
He followed her again, though he wasn't sure why. They neared the alleyway where she was attacked and, to his surprise, she turned into it. He watched, intrigued, as she slowed to a halt and looked around into the darkness.
"If you're here, I'd like to thank you properly." Her voice was sweet like honey. A nervous chuckle escaped her. "I've been coming here every night trying to talk to you. Either you don't care or I've been talking to myself for days."
Shock resonated through him. She had been waiting for him? What the hell? An inner battle raged in his head. Throughout his whole life he had been taught to never show himself. Humans were not to be trusted. Their fear and inability to accept differences was far too dangerous for the turtles, despite the fact that they literally lived to protect them. However, April and Karai took all four of them into their lives with open arms. Maybe this chick would be the same?
A deep, disappointed sigh came from the woman as she turned to leave and all doubts left Raphael's mind.
"Wait," he called gruffly, dropping into the safety of the shadows.
The lady stopped, her shoulders rigged. "Are...are you the one who helped me?" Her voice was barely a whisper and she didn't turn to face him.
Raphael admired her curves from behind. She did something to him and he kind of hated it. "Yeah." He flinched as she slowly began to turn back towards the alley. She couldn't see him from here, right? It was too dark...right? He began to get the feeling that this wasn't such a good idea.
She faced him fully and he watched her blue eyes scan the unlit alley and finally make out his shape in the shadows. Her brows furrowed and she took a step forward, "are you usually this secretive? It's generally polite to let people see you."
Raphael's entire body tensed, "well, little lady, I'm not exactly the polite type."
The woman took another timid step towards him, "if that were the case then why'd you save me?"
God damnit. Raphael stayed rooted in place. He could see the curiosity in her gaze and guessed she could make out the shape of his body now. His heart pounded in his chest. Why wasn't running?
"You're not human, are you?" The woman asked bluntly, now uncomfortably close. Raphael thought he saw a hint of fear in her, but it dissipated quickly.
"Not...not exactly." He responded, rocking back on his heels.
The woman eyed his silhouette up and down, an unreadable expression on her face. "Can you step out here?" She motioned to where the light of the street still bathed the alley in its soft glow.
"Ahhh. Well," Raphael's voice was tight, "I'd rather not, but," he thought against the next statement for only a moment, "you can come to me." What the fuck was he doing?
The blonde lady stood still for a few moments, clearly deciding on if this was trick, then she moved. The space closed between them quicker than Raphael had anticipated. He wasn't sure what he thought would happen, but he had hoped she would have ran back to wherever she came from.
He was so focused on this whole, strange encounter that he failed to realize that she hadn't stopped moving and suddenly felt her arms wrap around his neck. He moved to defend himself, but froze when he realized what this was. She was...hugging him?
"Thank you," she breathed.
For a brief moment, time stood still. All Raphael could do was stare ahead of him. Then, as quickly as the hug started, she pulled away. He met her gaze, his eyes narrowed in confusion and suspicion.
She finally got a good look at him as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and he heard her stifle a gasp. "Well," she stated matter-of-factly, "you are...not exactly human."
"Heh...yeah...are you afraid?"
Biting her lower lip, she hesitated, then reached out for a formal handshake. "Nah, it takes a lot more than that to scare me. I'm Rin."
"Raphael," he gripped her hand, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.
A/N: wow. It's taken me a year to come back to this project lmao. Oops.
Thank you for the reviews thus far and hope I can still provide an entertaining story for you! I'm a sucker for romance and conflict and it's just starting to ramp up to that. 3
