IX
Leanne woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache; she hadn't been able to fall asleep until a certain red masked visitor had quietly left. When he did, she'd uncurled herself and let herself fade away to the comfort slumber brought her. It was Saturday, so she hadn't needed to go to the store. Instead, she dressed warmly and grabbed a breakfast bar before heading out to explore the city. This would be their third week in New York and Leanne still hadn't had any chances of looking around yet.
After walking about for about half an hour, Leanne found herself in Central Park. Despite it being in the middle of winter, the park was absolutely gorgeous. The grass was pale yellow and the trees were bare. The water was even rimmed with a thin layer of ice. Leanne sat down on one of the benches and looked around. There weren't that many people; a few were walking dogs and a handful were having an early lunch break. There was even a couple having a stroll with their two toddlers. Leanne smiled at them as they passed by. She couldn't remember ever taking a walk with her parents.
"Hey, what are you doing out here?"
Leanne was pulled out of her thoughts by a husky voice. She glanced up and smiled lopsidedly, "H-Hi, Kelvin!"
The dark haired man's lips were turned upwards teasingly, "Is that seat taken?" he asked, nodding at the open space next to her.
Leanne blushed and shook her head, "Ah, g-go ahead."
Kelvin plopped down next to her and started a conversation, "So, are we still on for tonight?"
Leanne nodded again, not trusting herself to answer. Kelvin grinned, "It's a bit chilly, so wear something warm tonight. Until then," he wound an arm around her, enjoying it as her face reddened further, "I'll just have to do. Good thing I'm hot blooded, huh?"
Leanne gave a short giggle and looked up at him, "W-What are you d-d-doing here?" She asked him.
Kelvin shrugged one shoulder, "I like the park. It's calming."
They spoke for almost an hour before Kelvin pulled her to her feet and towed her to a coffee shop a block away. They got a corner booth and ordered tea and coffee. All the while, Kelvin kept a firm arm around her shoulders. Leanne was grateful for the extra warmth from the coolness of the winter day, but she'd never been so physically close to anyone she'd just met a few days ago (not including the night before with Raph of course). It made her feel a little nervous and she found herself stammering more frequently.
"Do your parents know about our date?"
Leanne nodded, "Yeah, t-they're f-fine with it."
Kelvin gathered her closer to him and looked at her with concern, "What's wrong? You're looking blue."
"J-Just some f-fa-family problems at home, no-nothing to worry about," she said.
Kelvin cocked his head to the side, "Oh, I've been there. I was pretty bummed when my parents divorced—"
Leanne pulled away, "M-My parents aren't getting d-divorced." She said firmly.
The dark haired man shrugged again, "Yeah, I thought that too. But then the lawyers got involved and it got real messy—"
"They are not getting a divorce." Leanne insisted. She narrowed her eyes when Kelvin merely nodded with an unbelieving, sympathetic expression on his face.
"They're not!"
Leanne yanked herself out from under his arm and stood up. She threw down a bill to pay for her tea and started for the door. She was brought to a halt when her arm was caught and she turned to glare with flashing green eyes at Kelvin. He smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Are we still on for tonight?"
Leanne gaped at him for moment before shoving him away from her and retorting, "You seem to like corny, Kevin—" He broke in, "It's Kelvin." Leanne snapped at him, "So, let me break it down for you… N-O!"
With that she spun on her heel and marched out the coffee shop, ignoring the weird glances and encouraging grins aimed at her.
Leanne stormed down the street in the crisp air, glaring at everything that dared to be in her way. After stalking around in a stupor of rage, she found herself standing outside the antique store. She sighed and shook her head before opening the front door.
"I can't believe I'm coming in to work on my first day off." She grumbled to herself as she stepped out of the cold. She froze when she saw April standing behind the counter with a tall, long haired man. They seemed to be arguing about something, but when they heard the bell when Leanne came in, they both looked at her. Leanne jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, "I'm j-just gonna go." She started backing up, but April smiled at her, "No, no. I didn't know you were coming by. You can go up to the apartment. I'll be with you in a minute. Just taking out the trash," She looked pointedly at the man when she said the last sentence.
Leanne nodded uncertainly but hurried past them. Inside April's place, Leanne sat uncomfortably on the armrest of her couch, her arms crossed and frowning at her feet. April came up a few minutes later. She wearily sat down and huffed, "I'll never be able to handle that man. Casey really knows how to push my buttons."
Leanne didn't say anything. April noticed and began to formulate a plan. Wordlessly, she got up and went to the kitchen. She came back with an enormous bar of chocolate. She broke it in half and passed her a piece. Leanne felt a smile tug unwilling at her lips and she took it appreciatively.
"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Leanne nibbled on her chocolate, "I don't really want to."
"But I gave you chocolate."
"Yes, and it tastes really good."
"Leah!"
Leanne looked up sharply, "Since when does everyone call me Leah?"
April smiled, "Since Mikey became fond of you. If he could, I'm sure he'd adopt you."
Leanne frowned and moved to sit next to her, "Besides Mikey and Donnie, men suck!" She announced.
"Why is that?"
"… Kelvin said that my parents were getting divorced."
April's smiled disappeared and she asked softly, "Are they?"
"No! O-Of course not!" Leanne clenched her hands together on her lap, then loosened them, "But he'd know, wouldn't he? H-H-He said his parents got a d-divorce."
Leanne cringed when April put a light arm around her and hugged her, "Don't worry about it too much, ok? Whether it happens or not, it won't be your fault."
Leanne pulled away after a while, nodding, "Well, it's not like anything is going to happen tonight, with my parents and Kelvin." April bit her lip in thought, then spoke up, "How about you stay over tonight? We can sit around and watch movies."
It took a good while of attempted puppy faces and reasoning for Leanne to reluctantly agree. She called her dad to let him know that she wouldn't be coming home and then April came up with an absurd idea of getting dressed up for dinner.
Leanne whined, "But why? Can't we just wear pyjamas?"
April chided her, "No! You're not going out on your date, but who said you had to go on a date to dress nicely. I can lend you another dress and, ONLY AFTER, will I give you pyjamas."
The two young women went to April's room and Leanne let the red head hold articles of clothing against her. She finally chose a silky charcoal dress that hung off the shoulders. Leanne changed into it with a distasteful grimace. She strapped on a pair of heels that April had thrown at her and wobbly stood up. April nodded approvingly. The red head had put on a deep crimson dress that reached her knees and had cap sleeves.
They spent the next hour wobbling around the kitchen making dinner. They cooked up some beef patties and cut up lettuce and tomato; then they sat in front of the TV with yummy smelling burgers. Sometime after eleven, a tap at the window announced the arrival of the turtles. Leanne self-consciously pulled the limp sleeves over her shoulders.
Mikey bounded to the couch, flipping over it and landing between the two women, "Hey, dudes, look! I'm irresistible to the ladies." To prove his point, the grinning turtle spread his arms behind April and Leanne.
Leonardo smiled a greeting before bringing up a sore topic, "What happened to your date, Leanne?"
Leanne didn't look him in the eye as she answered, "Uh, di-didn't w-work out."
Behind him, Raphael snorted and Leanne could feel his gold gaze on the back of her head.
"Yer too young to be dating anyways," He said loudly.
Leanne turned to kneel against the back of the couch, retorting,, "I'm seventeen!"
"Exactly! Too young."
"How old are you then?" Leanne shot back. Raph poked her forehead and smirked at the angry look that appeared, "I'm nineteen, soon to be twenty."
"That's o-only two years difference!" She batted his finger away, glaring.
Leo lightly pushed Raphael away, "Leave her alone, would you? She's had a bad night."
Leanne turned her fiery gaze onto him, "No, actually I didn't have a bad night. A-April made it a pretty great night, until that jerk face thought he should act like a smart ass."
Raphael's eyes hardened and he caught the front of her dress, pulling her over the back of the couch. April protested, "Don't break the dress!"
"It's not da dress I'll be breaking," He growled out, his face close to Leanne's.
Thanks for reading. Unfortunately, I won't be able to update for the next week; I'm going away for a while.
