If he was nervous about Leo's reaction to being kissed, that quickly disappeared as one of Leo's hands reached up and gripped the back of his neck to pull him even closer.

When they broke the kiss, Leo rubbed his fingers down the side of Raphael's face. He was pleased to see Raph lean into the touch.

"Where have you been, Raphie?" Leo asked softly.

Raph dipped his face into Leo's neck. He didn't need to ask what Leo meant by that. He knew. Leo quickly placed both hands on either side of his face and pulled it back up to look at him.

Raph rolled to the side and took Leo with him so that they were lying side by side facing each other. "Look, Leo, I decided a long time ago that the best way for me to protect you and keep you safe would be –"

"To hate me?" Leo asked, frowning.

Raph sighed, tightening his hold around Leo's shell. "I've never hated you. I was just," he paused, wondering why it was so hard to find the words to explain. "I was just trying to keep my distance from you because I thought if you liked me less, then you wouldn't feel the need to jump in and save me and get yerself hurt." He met Leo's blue eyes and realized he was having a hard time reading Leo's expression.

Leo was keeping silent, and Raph realized, was also currently keeping his hands to himself despite their close proximity.

"I've been thinking about this the past few days and I realized -," Raph paused again. "I realized that you jump in anyway to save all of us all the time. And I should've realized a long time ago that yer always gonna do that and that you can handle yerself well enough to come out the other side." He took a deep breath and paused again, chancing another look at Leo's face. "I'm really sorry, Leo."

He was starting to feel worried. He still couldn't read the expression on Leo's face and Leo continued to be silent.

"Please say somethin."

A few moments of silence went by and Raph began to wonder if Leo was going to remain quiet forever. He thought about the silence and realized Leo might need some time to really think about what Raph said. He might need time to figure out if he was going to forgive Raph or maybe even decide not to talk to him at all anymore. Raph began to wonder if he should get up and leave to let Leo consider his options. He was currently wedged between Leo and the wall so getting up would be a little awkward but he could shift himself over Leo and then-

"You're an idiot."

Raph's gaze snapped back to Leo's face. Leo's smiling face. Leo's hand reached forward and brushed Raph's cheek, before sliding behind his neck to pull him forward for another kiss.

Raph gasped when Leo's tongue licked his lips and before he knew it Leo's tongue was invading his mouth. He groaned softly back into Leo's mouth as their tongues twisted around each other. Leo pulled back after a few minutes, happily taking in Raphael's half-lidded gaze.

"I just called you an idiot," he said, chuckling. "No threats for saying something like that to the mighty Raphael?"

"You can call me whatever you want if you follow it up with a kiss like that," Raphael said, pulling Leo closer to him. "Why aren't you mad at me?"

Leo ran his fingers down the front of Raph's plastron before sliding them out to run along the edge of Raphael's shell. "Because I'd rather be here with you like this than waste time being mad," he said simply. "Just," he started and then paused.

Raph shook him when he stopped talking, anxious to hear what Leo was thinking.

"Just, promise you won't forget all of this in the morning. Promise me that you'll talk to me when you get another crazy idea like this so I can talk you out of it."

Raph nuzzled his face into Leo's neck before planting a chaste kiss on his lips. "I promise, Leo. I'm not going anywhere." He paused. "Are you really going to forgive me this easily?" He stared into Leo's eyes. "You don't want to take some time to think about it? Maybe come up with a lecture?" he teased.

Leo chuckled. "Look, I'm not saying I'm at all happy with how you handled this. But, I can see it wasn't done maliciously." Leo shrugged once. "You did it because you cared about me."

Raph considered Leo's easy forgiveness as Leo's nose nudged Raph's face to the side so that he could nuzzle his face into Raph's neck.

"I missed you, Raphie."

Raphael nodded, a lump in his throat preventing him from telling Leo how much he had missed him too. He felt pressure in his eyes and squeezed them shut before the tears could escape. He couldn't believe he'd let this go on for as long as it had.

He tried to think of another way to express to Leo how sorry he was. But as he was thinking, he realized Leo's breathing had evened out and his muscles had relaxed against Raphael.

Raph smiled and shut his eyes. He'd tell him again in the morning.