"Misunderstood Guardian"

Ch. 10

Don woke up to find himself in Gerald's bed. His eyes went wide and he sat up quickly, looking around to see Gerald was missing. "G-Gerald??"

"What is it?" The older male poked his head in the window, a cigarette in his mouth.

"Where have you been? Why am I in your bed??

"Don't worry; I didn't take advantage of you last night." He chuckled. "You fell asleep and when I woke up you were in an awkward position so I just put you in bed while I went to buy some smokes."

Donatello frowned and snatched the cigarette away from the other's mouth. "You shouldn't be smoking right when you're still recovering! Plus, you should be resting, not going out!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, mother. Next time I'll stay in bed like a good little boy."

"I-I can't believe you! You act like nothing happened last night! You nearly died yet you don't seem to care!"

Gerald blinked when heard the other sniffle. He walked over and placing his hand on Don's cheek he found it was wet. He sighed and placed a hand on his back, bringing him close to him. "I'm sorry…"

"Should we… give you some privacy?"

Don turned to see Leo standing in the doorway of Gerald's room, Gina, Raph, Bryan, and Mikey standing behind him. "G-guys!" He broke away from Gerald's embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see if you guys were okay!" Bryan exclaimed before glomping the turtle and clinging to him tightly.

"We're fine, Bryan," The genius turtle smiled softly, petting the neko-boy on the head.

Leo walked up to Gerald. "I'm… sorry for my earlier actions I—."

"It's okay… I thought about it and realized that your actions were because of Dominick's interference. There's no need to apologize especially to me. Dominick has been a pain in the ass ever since I can remember."

"Even still, I should have been more trusting of you…"

Gerald shook his head. "Just forget about it, kid." He patted the blue bandana clad turtle on the head.

Raphael laughed. "Leo a kid; oh man, that's rich!"

"I think anyone younger than me is a kid… kid." The retired bounty hunter smirked in Raph's direction.

Mikey giggled, placing an arm around the red bandana clad turtle's shoulders. "He got you there, Raphie."

"Shut up Mikey." Raph scowled at the other, pushing him away.

"Did you say Dominick?" Don stared dumbfounded at Gerald. "But… he's supposed to be dead!"

"We thought so too, but he's still alive. The bastard came to the lair last night and practically laughed in our faces." Leo didn't say how the demon had revealed he was the one who killed Gerald's sister. He figured if he told the other, the retired bounty hunter might try to do something stupid. So he kept it to himself, vowing to tell Gerald later.

Gerald sighed, and then said, "While you guys are here, I might as well make some breakfast. Mikey, can you please help me?"

"Sure!" Mikey grinned and followed the other in to the kitchen, leaving the others to glance suspiciously at Don who sweatdropped.

"So, what were you doing in Gerald's bed, Don?" Raph was the first to speak up.

"N-nothing!"

"Are you sure? Didn't seem like nothing to me." The red bandana clad turtle walked up to the other, grinning.

"Come on, Raph, stop teasing him already," Leo scolded the other lightly. "If he says nothing happened, nothing happened."

"Hey, it's okay if you like the guy, Don. We've all had our suspicions when you started spending extra time with him in the lab."

"Look, just because I don't jump on the first female that happens across my path like you Raph, doesn't mean I'm gay okay!? We're just friends—nothing more! So just get off my back!"

Raph's eyes went wide as the genius turtle pushed past him and out the door. He had never seen Don act like this before. "Guys, I believe we have a turtle in denial."

Gina hit him upside the head. "You can be such a jerk, you know that Raph?" She turned to go follow Don.

"Hey, I was just saying what was on everybody else's minds! Geeze."

When Gina found Don in the hallway she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't listen to Raph, kay? He's just a big jerk."

"I didn't mean to snap at Raph like that… I don't know what came over me… Maybe he's right… maybe I am gay and I'm starting to develop feelings for Gerald." Don groaned placing his hands on his head. "No! This isn't happening! He's practically twice my age and he has too much on his plate; this would just complicate things even more. I don't want to do that to him."

"So, you're just going to ignore it? Don, this isn't just going to go away on its own. Is that why you throw yourself in to your work; because you're afraid of your feelings?"

"I-I don't know… I have to things through…" With that said, Don left.

"Where are you going?"

"…To get some fresh air."

---

The purple bandana clad turtle was sitting on the roof top when Raph came up. "What do you want, Raph?" He asked without turning around.

"To… apologize… I was just kidding; I didn't mean to upset you like that."

"Did Leo or Gina put you up to this?"

"Well, I admit they chewed me out pretty bad… but that's not why I came to apologize. I felt bad after you left…"

Donny sighed. "Come here, Raph," he said, patting the ground next to him.

Raph sat down next to the genius turtle and looked at him.

"The reason I got so upset is because I think you're right. I didn't want to believe it at first; that I was gay, but… the more I thought about it, the more true it became. I mean, if Mikey's gay, why is it so hard to believe I could be too? Then I began thinking of Gerald… the way I feel when I'm near him… it all began to become so clear to me. But I-I just don't want to complicate what we have now; if I tell him how I feel, it could damage our friendship. I don't want that to happen, y'know?"

"Oh Don…"

The genius turtle shook his head. "Just forget I told you any of that, okay? Breakfast should be ready by now…" Getting up, Don retreated back in to the apartment, leaving Raph still sitting on the roof.