A/N: Hey guys, does anyone read author notes?! I don't own these turtles ;_;

Prompt: Salt
Day: January 4th
Pairing: Raph/Mikey
Series: TMNT 2012

The only thing that could be worse than having a crush on his brother, Raph thought, was that it would only get worse if said brother didn't return his feelings. Like salt in a wound. He smiled. Yesterday, as the youngest turtle had accidentally damaged his punching bag, he was pissed at first, but as he apologized so sweet, he just had to forget about pummeling him.

And as their hands brushed together fireworks went off. As cheesy as it sounded. And Mikey had blushed. He swore he had! So maybe, just maybe he felt the same way.

He'd wanted to kiss him. So bad. Just the way his smile came so natural to the nuttball drove Raph on the edge of sanity, the way his lips curved and the lovely sound of his laughter- wait, what!? Was he really turning into such a sap? Leo would make fun of him if he could hear his thoughts. Leo would… would… be shocked and… tell Splinter… Mikey would know… Splinter would be… furious… and… and-

He wouldn't- no! Couldn't tell! Never!

Raphael sighed and slumped in the kitchen chair where he was currently sitting, feeding spike his lettuce. "Oh buddy, I dunno what ta do! Never been... in love ya know. Sounds stupid by the way." He softly caressed the shell of his best friend. The small turtle looked at him, eye showing concern at his papa's behavior.

The mutant laid his head in his hands and started to imagine.

He and Mikey in his room, sitting on the floor like in old times, before they started training. But something was different. Instead of furious chatter there was silence, a comforting one. Just smiling at each other, perfectly content and Mikey leaned forward and their lips almost touched, as the younger one hesitated, looking at his older brother unsure, then jerked back. Raphael felt sick. "Sorry", the orange clad turtle wheezed out, sounding as if he was suffocating. The small one stood up and backed off, breaking into a run as he was outta the door.

As Raph opened his eyes again he tried to fight back the moisture in the green pools (goddamnit it wasn't tears!).

"Hey Raph, bro, you wanna hang out?", asked the youngest, coming into the kitchen. Why wasn't Raph looking up? What had he done now? Did he know, placing together the pieces of his odd behavior yesterday. Mikey was unsure now, standing awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen.

"Like salt in a wound", the red one thought.