Okay, guy! Here's a long chapter for you! I don't know when the next one will be out because I've just started college. It's tiring and soooo time consuming. But I'll do my best!
Erica Phoenix16- You're very welcome. I hope you like this one as well.
StillDoll13 - Oh, I like that. Aleo... Or should we go with Lex...No, we can't do that seeing as it's her nickname. Aleo it is!
TMG4899 - You're review made my day. And you totally gave me ideas with how John and the guys were going to meet. I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to do it, but now I do and it's all thanks to you, so you shall be getting it dedicated to you.
NewYorkCelt - I'm so glad you liked it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
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Chapter 9
"Sweet Sixteen Special"
Alex was never one of those people that would get really excited for their birthday when it came around. Sure, when she was little her parents would hold these fun parties for her and her friends, but it wasn't anything she ever asked for or really wanted. And as she got older, she'd just have a fun movie day with Fred, and sometimes a couple other friends before having a nice family dinner.
However the previous year, her family was dead. She didn't have her parents or brothers to have that family dinner. Fred had a soccer game the night of her birthday so he couldn't go to the movies or go hang out. Alex was left to hang with April, but April was a little bit annoying, to be honest. It was the first birthday without them, so April hovered and kept asking her if she wanted to do something or if she was okay. She meant well, but it bothered Alex.
The young red haired teen spent most of her time organizing her room, seeing as it was still a little new to her at that time. She did that until dinner. When that came along, she and April ate together.
Alex didn't know what she was going to be doing this year. She had already asked her friends at school what they were doing. Phoebe and Rudy were going out on a date. They didn't know it was her birthday. Emily was going to a dinner party with her parents. Erik and Kylie were going on a picnic with Erik's mom, who was recovering quite nicely. And, of course, Fred and her brothers were under the control of the Shredder, so they were out of the picture for the time being.
However, unlike last year, Alex did have friends. Friends that were free, but didn't know about her birthday. And as far as she was concerned, they didn't really need to know it was her birthday. Seeing as she didn't like a big fuse, it wasn't something she saw that they had to know. It was kind of miscellaneous information.
To Alex, she would have been happy to just have dinner with April again. Just like every other night. Though she was a little excited for the cake. It wasn't every day she got cake and she really liked cake.
However, cake was far from her mind as she stood in the lair practicing kata. Leo had asked if she wanted to train with her that day and she agree, but she had to work in the store first, so she missed out on most of the lesson Master Splinter had. April hadn't wanted Alex to work on her birthday, but the young red head practically begged her aunt to let the day go on as if it were any other day. They compromised. Alex had to decide what she wanted them to have for dinner and what kind of cake she wanted to have. She could deal with that.
So when Alex finally managed to get to the lair, training was over, but she still wanted to train. Leo offered to help her with some of her forms. He was watching her as she went through she moves ever so slowly, breathing focused and even. Her eyes were closed as she focused on her movement and her breathing.
"What are you doing, Leo?"
Alex could hear Mikey asking his brother that. She didn't indicate that she could hear them, nor did she falter in her practice. She just went on with her movements and focusing on her breathing, though she couldn't help but listen in.
"I'm making sure Alex's form is correct," Leo answered.
"Really? Is that all?" Mikey pressed. By his tone, he was implying something.
"Yes, Mikey, that's all," Leo pushed back in a harsh whisper. "I'm just watching her to make sure her form is right."
"I think you're watching her a little too closely," Raph added in with a chuckle.
Alex had to fight the blush and smirk that wanted to rise to her face, but she did. She opened one of her green eyes just enough to look at the boys without them noticing to see that Leo's face had a red tint to it. He kept opening his mouth to protest, but nothing was coming out. She really had to fight a laugh then. She found it rather flattering though that he was checking her out.
Just then, Alex's Shell Cell started to ring. Too busy with her training, Alex continued on. "Could you get that for me, Romeo?" Alex asked.
Mikey and Raph started laughing. Leo cleared his throat. She could hear footsteps walking over to the direction of where Alex had put her bag, while two other footsteps told her that Mikey and Raph left. The zipper was unzipped and then she could hear Leo answer, "Hello?...Hi, April….Yeah, she's fine. She'd just training right now. She asked me to answer the phone for her….Sure, I'll asked. Alex, April wants to know what you want for dinner and what kind of cake you want her to make."
"Sushi for dinner," Alex muttered, still slow in her movements. "And vanilla."
"Sushi and vanilla," Leo told the older woman on the phone. "Oh…Okay….Yeah. I got it. I'll let her know. Goodnight, April."
The phone could be heard being placed back in the bag and Leo's footsteps told her that he went back to the spot he was sitting in before. There was silence as she went on with training and Leo just sat there, watching here.
It was a little weird now that Alex knew Leo was rather enjoying the view, however, she wasn't going to stop. She was flattered that somebody thought she was attractive. Plus, she was flattered it was Leo that thought that.
Alex hadn't been lying to her friends when she told them she had some feelings for Leo. Leo was smart and strong. He was a good leader. He cared about Alex and liked to spend time with her just because he liked her company. They could sit and meditate together and be happy because they just had a comforting presence there. She liked how they could tease each other, but it was nothing anything that could be taken to heart.
"You need to keep your arms out a little more," Leo said.
Alex opened her eyes to look at Leo. She nodded her head in acknowledgement. She moved her hands out further in front of her, but in doing so, they lowered from her face. The Kunoichi didn't realize what she had done though.
"No," Leo said. Alex stood up straight and looked at him seriously, waiting for the advice. "Here, more like this."
Leo moved behind Alex and wrapped his arms around her front, grabbing onto her wrists. He bend his knees, bumping them into her's to show them the correct placement. However, her knees weren't what the problem was. This was just the easiest way to correct her stance though. Once she was standing correctly, he moved her hands into the right position. He held her there for a moment, making sure she felt the right way to move was.
"Like this," he said. His head was right next to her right ear so she could feel his hot breath on her neck.
A shiver ran through her body and since her and Leo were touching, she knew he could feel it too. Her stomach flipped, but it wasn't like her "warning system." This was different. Her turned her head ever so slightly and gulped. "Thanks," she managed to get out. It didn't come out as strong as she hoped it would.
"Anytime," he answered.
Alex cleared her throat and stood up straight, breaking away from Leo's hold. "Uh, I should probably get back home."
"Yeah, if April's ordering sushi it should be there soon," he added, rubbing the back of his neck.
Alex quickly got her bag and started to head towards the door. "Maybe I'll see you guys tomorrow," Alex said. "I don't know what time I get off of work so…"
Leo walked her to the door. "Yeah, I'll see you when we do," Leo said.
Alex turned to Leo and took in a deep breath to try and shake off what just happened. She smiled and said, "Night, Leo."
"Have a good night, Alex," he said with a small smile.
xXx
It had been forever since Alex had sushi. It was nice just to have a quite night with April, watching a movie as they ate. As of late, either one of them was working or Alex was training or doing homework. Or they were hanging with the guys, so they hadn't spent a lot of quality time with one another lately.
However, once dinner was over, Alex took a blanket, a fork and a container of cake – vanilla with white frosting – and snuck out of the house through her bedroom window. It was a quiet, clear, warm night so when Alex made it to the graveyard, it was comfortable for her to just lay down and ramble away to her parents about everything any anything that came to her mind. She really needed to do that.
And she kind of thought it was weird she found the graveyard comfortable.
It didn't really have anybody she could go to and ramble on and on about anything she wanted. She talked about April and working at the 2nd Time Around. She talked about her friends and how school was. She talked about the turtles and the romance that was blossoming between April and Casey. She talked about how she missed them and her brothers and her worries about getting them back, along with Fred. She talked back her thought about everything going on with Leo. She also talked about how she really wanted to go and get another massage, because the one she had gotten kind of wore off and her muscles were all tense again.
She really loved that massage.
Eventually, Alex fell silence and just laid on her back on top of the blanket she had spread out. The cemetery was far enough on the outside of the city that the lights didn't block out the stars in the sky. She laid there, watching them, trying to figure out where the Utrom were or if she could even see them. They were probably way too far away for Alex to see them.
Her stomach dropped, but not in an uncomfortable way, yet not like they way it had earlier with Leo. Without moving, Alex said, "What are you doing here, Leo?"
"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, walking up to her.
Alex shrugged, sitting up. "You should know by now, Leo, that I'm just that good." She winked and patted the spot next to her on the blanket. "Now, sit down and tell me what you're doing here."
Leo sat down on the blanket and made himself comfortable. "I've never come out here to pay my respects to your parents," he said.
"That's okay," she said. "It's not like you knew them."
"Yeah, but you are my friend. I should have come out here to thank them for raising such a good friend. To tell them how thankful I am that you're in my life. I mean, you've saved my life a couple dozen times."
That made her blush. "Yeah, well that goes both ways, buddy. That's not really why you're here though, is it?"
"No," Leo answered.
"Who told you it was my birthday?"
"April."
"April," Alex said, nodding her head.
"Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday?"
The girl shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Not a big deal?" Leo laughed, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Alex, it's your birthday! Of course it's a big deal."
"Not really," Alex said.
"Do you not want to celebrate because your family's not here with you?" he asked cautiously.
"No," she answered. "That's not it. I've never really been into my birthday. I just don't see what the big deal it." The girl turned so she was facing Leo directly instead of having to turn her head. "I'm just another year older. I mean, every day I'm another day older. What's the big deal about marking another year?"
"If you don't like the conventional reasons of just getting attention then try to think of it differently. It lets us celebrate having you in our lives. If you hadn't been form today, sixteen years ago, we wouldn't have been able to become friends," Leo explained. "Just think about it that way. It's more for us than for you."
"Well, feel free to appreciate me any day. It's always nice to feel loved," she joked.
"Oh yeah?" he laughed. "How would you like to be appreciated?"
"Oh, I don't know," Alex laughed along with him. "Martial arts is a big strain on muscles. A massage would be nice."
Now, she was only joking. However, she was speaking some truth. At first she never realized how much strain she put on herself. Not until she got that massage to relieve it all. Then she started her normal routine again and it was then that it hit her. It was like a brick wall falling on her and then having to dig herself out. She was used to pain and strain, but she figured if she did have a massage every once in a while, perhaps she wouldn't be that way.
"I-I can do that," he stuttered nervously.
She could almost hear the wipe of her head as she turned it to look at Leo. Her green eyes were wide in shock as she looked to the terrapin. His green face was red and she could see him gulp. In turn, her face reddened.
"I was only joking, Leo," Alex muttered.
"I-I know," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But you did tell me about your spa day and you did seem a lot more relaxed after it. I mean, a m-massage isn't much to ask for, is it?"
"N-no, I guess not," Alex said, looking down at her hands in her lap. "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer sometime." She was biting her lip nervously with a bright blush on her cheeks.
There was an awkward silence for several moments as they sat next to one another. Alex fiddled with her fingers and didn't dare look at Leo in fear of blushing more. Slowly, as time slowly went on, the air between then became more comfortable.
"You can really see the stars here," Leo said, finally getting to a new topic.
"Yeah," Alex said. "I like to come out here and look at them. I mean, it's not like when we go out to the country, but it's still better than nothing in the city."
"Is that what you came out here for?" Leo asked.
"Partially," she answered. "I like to come talk to my parents."
"Really?"
"Yeah, talking to someone that's not really there can be really therapeutic," she said.
"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity," he joked.
"I'm not talking to myself," she corrected, playfully hitting him on the arm. "I'm talking to my parents. I know they'renot there and that I won't get an answer, but being able to talk about anything, things that I don't talk to others about, is nice."
"I know what you were saying," he said. "I was just joking." He nudged her with his shoulder. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right? No matter what it is, I'm here."
Yeah, but talking to you about you is a little weird, Alex thought. "I know," she said. "Thanks, Leo."
"Oh, I almost forgot," he said. He reached into his belt and pulled something out, but he had it completely covered in his hand so Alex couldn't see what it was. "Close your eyes."
"Why?" she asked hesitantly.
"So I can give you your birthday present from us," he said.
"Oh, Leo! You guys shouldn't have gotten me anything!" Alex whined.
"We wanted to," he pressed. "We don't get to give you a lot so let us have this."
Biting her lip, Alex sighed and closed her eyes. Leo took her left hand and gentely clasped something around it. When he let her hand go, she opened her eyes to see a thin bracet with eleven different colored beads on it. Each bead had a letter written on it. It didn't take long for Alex to figure out the blue, red, orange and purple beads were designated to Leo, Raph, Mikey and Don. There was also gray with S on it, which Alex figure out as Splinter. There was a brown one with a C on it. That had to be Casey.
"That's clever," she giggled. "But who are the yellow, maroon, white, pink and green beads for?"
"Well, after you left and I talked to the guys about what to get you, we came up with this idea. We called April to ask what her favorite color was and she said it was yellow."
"So the yellow is April," Alex said. "But what about the rest?"
"Even though we don't have your brothers back yet, we will," Leo said. "So we wanted to include them too. April told us their favorite colors and who to put on which ones."
"So Marcus is maroon, Nathan is white and Zach is pink," she muttered. "So that leaves the green A."
"Green's your favorite color," Leo pointed out.
"Did April tell you that?" Alex asked.
"No," he said. "I remembered that one on my own."
"Leo," Alex started. She was fiddling with her new piece of jewelry examining it over and over again. "This is so thoughtful of you guys. I-I don't know how to thank you."
"You don't have to."
The teenage girl looked up looked into Leo's masked eyes. She wanted so badly to ask him to see his eyes, but now wasn't the time. They had just given her such a lovely gift. She couldn't possibly ask for anything else.
Leaning forward, Alex placed her left hand on Leo's cheek to make sure he wouldn't move. She placed her lips the opposite cheek, rather close to his lips and gave him a small kiss. She pulled back ever so slightly and said, "Thanks, Leo." As she spoke her lips would gently brush on his cheek.
She didn't expect Leo to put his hand over the one she had on his cheek, nor did she expect him to lean into her touch. Feeling a little more comfortable with his action, she rested her forehead in the crook of his neck. She could feel the warmth of his body, despite the fact that turtles were supposed to be cold blooded. Leo always seemed so warm to her.
She could also catch his sent. She was really shocked that he didn't smell like sewer, though the lair didn't completely smell like it either. There was always that slight hint in the air, but it had it's one, different, but welcoming aroma to it. Leo had that scent to him, but he also smelled a tad bit of incense, though it wasn't anything too over powering. It wasn't like walking into a store that sold it and being nose bombed by the smell. No, this was just a lingering smell of the stuff he used when meditating sometimes.
The hoot of an owl in one of the nearby trees made Alex jump. She pulled back all the way, cleared her throat and asked, "You want some cake? April made it. It's really good."
"Uh," Leo said, a little disoriented. "Sure."
Alex opened the container and pulled out one fork. "I've only got one fork, so we'll have to share, but that's not really a big deal, right?"
"No," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, looking back up at the stars.
Since he wasn't paying attention, Alex took the first bite off the fork and then put some more on it. She held it in front of him and said, "Open up," which got him to look down. He looked rather confused, as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "Come on, open your mouth," she instructed.
Blinking a couple times, Leo slowly opened his mouth. Alex fed him the cake with a slight laugh, which caused him to blush. He took the fork from her after he ate and took a little more. He brought it up to Alex's face instead of his. That cause Alex to blink a couple times.
"You're turn," he said with a smirk.
Alex gulped and felt the heat of a blush on her face, but she opened her mouth and took the cake, nonetheless. She watched as Leo took from for himself this time.
"Well, aren't you being Mr. Romantic tonight, Romeo," Alex teased.
"You're the one that started it," he pointed out. "If you get to tease me with 'Romeo' then I get to call you something."
"Oh yeah?" Alex asked, rather intrigued by this. "And what will that be?"
"I don't know," he said. "I'll have to think about it."
Alex laughed and laid back down on the blanket, looking up at the sky. It seemed her birthday turned out a lot different than she thought it would. She turned her head to Leo, who was watching her curiously. She smiled at him and said, "Thanks for keeping me company tonight, Leo."
"Anything for you, Alex," he answered.
Anything… That was a comforting thought.
xXx
Now, even though Alex didn't like her own birthday, didn't mean she didn't like other people's birthdays. So, when the terrapin ninja's sixteenth birthdays finally came around, she was extremely excited to celebrate with them. She couldn't wait for them to get their presents.
When Alex got to the lair that night she expected to see the guys doing their usual things, however, she saw none of that. The only person she saw was Master Splinter, who was watching the news on TV. She walked up to him, still looking around for her boys. It was so weird that they weren't up. They were usually always up at seven in the evening.
"Where is everyone, Master Splinter?" Alex asked, sitting on the arm rest of the couch.
"They were out patrolling into the early hours of this morning," he told her. "They have been asleep all day.
"Oh," Alex said, sounding a little distracted. "But they're sleeping their birthday away."
"Perhaps they are well overdue for a wake-up call," Splinter suggested.
"Hmm, should I wake them up all at once, or one by one?" she thought out loud.
"That all depends what you planned for them, Alexandra."
"Okay," she said. "You might want to cover your ears, Master Splinter."
Master Splinter covered his eyes, as Alex suggested, and the teenage girl let out a blood curdling scream. Once it was out, she leaned sat back on the couch next to Master Splinter, acting as if nothing had happened at all. Splinter uncovered his ears and turned his attention to the news once more. If someone looked at them, they would think it was completely normal – despite the fact that Splinter was a rat, but that was beside the point.
Now it was just a waiting game.
There were four sets of running footsteps in the hallways above. The guys jumped down, weapons in hand, ready for a fight.
"Alex!" Donny called out, frantically looking for the girl.
"Yeah?" Alex asked, turning around in her seat to look at them. "What's up?"
"Didn't you just scream?" Mikey asked.
"Uh, no?" Alex said. "I'm watching the news with Master Splinter."
"I swear I heard you screamin' bloody murder," Raph said.
"I think you guys have finally lost it," Alex said. She jumped out of her seat and clapped her hands. "But now that you're finally up, I can finally give you your birthday presents!"
"Presents?" He saw Alex lift up her backpack from beside the couch and unzip it. She pulled out four differently shaped presents. "Presents!" Mikey exclaimed.
"What? Did you forget it was your birthday or something?" Alex asked.
"Or something," Leo said, walking up beside Alex. He leaned down to her ear and said, "Don't do that to me. You nearly gave me a heart attack."
Alex laughed and rolled her eyes. She handed Leo the blue package with a wink and moved around him to give the other packages to his brothers. She had wrapped each on to go along with their mask colors. It was just easier to remember who's present was who's by doing so.
Leo's was a six inch box. Mikey and Don both had flimsy wrapped packages the six of packaged paper and Raphael had a red envelope.
"Why is mine the smallest?" Raph asked.
"Actually, your presents the biggest," Alex corrected. "Open it."
Raph opened the envelope and pulled out a little piece of paper. "A picture of a punching bag?"
"Well, I got you an actual punching bag, but it hasn't come in yet," Alex explained.
"You got me a new punching bag?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Thanks, Alex," he said.
"A new Popular Mechanics lifetime subscription? Wow, Alex, thank you so much!" Don exclaimed, giving her a one armed hug.
"New incense," Leo said after opening his box. "Thanks, Alex, I was running low."
A scream was the best reaction she got from all of the presents. Before she even had a chance to look over at Mikey, she was tackled to the ground in a large bear hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," Mikey repeated. "I can't believe you got a hold of a Golden Age Silver Century first edition comic!"
"You're welcome, guys," Alex said. "It's the least I can do after the gift you guys gave me for my birthday. I absolutely love it." She held up her wrist and smiled at it fondly.
"You're welcome, Alex," Don said.
"Okay, who wants cake?" Alex asked.
"ME!"
Okay, so since Leo wants a nickname for Alex, does anybody have any idea what it should be? I don't know if Juliet would be good, seeing how the ending of Romeo and Juliet went, but if you want I can put that. Does anybody have any suggestions I you do, please put them in a PM or a review, as well as the reason for why you want it. Thanks guys!
