The sun was rising, lighting up the already bright city. I could hear someone already up somewhere in the apartment. I had actually been awake for a few hours but I remained in bed due to laziness and the foreboding sense of doom encompassing me. In the blink of an eye an entire moon cycle had passed by and tonight was the night of the full moon. The night I had been dreading for weeks. I had pretended to be okay in front of everyone, but in all actuality I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

In the time leading up to today, I had really bulked up on my werewolf knowledge. I read every book and every article I could find. The only trouble was that it was difficult to separate the truth from the fiction. Fortunately I knew someone that was familiar with lycanthropy. Unfortunately, that person was Xander and as much as I hadn't wanted to, I eventually met up with him at a small café.

It was just a week ago when I had finally summoned the courage to call Xander. He had tried calling me every day after the night he confirmed I was a werewolf, but I hadn't answered a single call. Now I had decided that I had been avoiding him for long enough. I had a lot of questions that only he could answer. Our conversation had been brief.

"Sarah?" He spoke.

"I think we should talk in person." I replied.

"I agree. When do you want to meet?"

"Tonight around seven o'clock, at Luanne's Coffee Shop."

"I will be there."

Once he had confirmed his attendance, I hung up the phone without as much as a goodbye.

Raphael had been apprehensive about me meeting him, which is why I chose a public place. If I was being honest with myself, I was just as apprehensive as Raph. That's why it was much to my surprise that the meeting with him had been very useful. He educated me on all the lore out there that was incorrect. He made sure to tell me the most key bits of information.

"The most important thing to remember is that you will change during the full moon. When it is 100% illuminated. There is nothing you can do to stop it." He sipped his drink, "I suggest finding a safe place to go."

"I've already gotten that figured out." I replied.

"Where do you plan to go?" He asked with peaked interest.

"Pfftt. I'm not telling you. You might kill me." I snapped at him.

"I couldn't kill you Sarah. What happened to you doesn't change the fact that I like you." His smile grew, "By the way, does this count as a third date?" He attempted at humor.

"It most certainly does not. I don't appreciate the insinuation either. I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you."

"I'm sorry. I should have known you'd still feel raw about the whole thing." He turned away from me. No longer meeting my stare.

"Of course I'm still raw. It's still like a gaping wound in my heart and soul. I'm going to turn into a monster a week from now. How would you feel if it were happening to you?" I spoke in a harsh whisper.

He didn't respond. He met my gaze again and for a brief moment I thought I could see a decent person under his smug façade.

"Will it hurt when I transform?" I asked apprehensively. All the confidence in my voice was gone.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Yes. The first few transformations appear to be painful. But once the person has had lycanthropy for a while the change becomes easier." He paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, "Something else you should probably know," I leaned closer to him in anticipation. Listening eagerly. I was ready to soak up any and all information I could get. "Once you have had the disease for so long, you will change during times other than just the full moon. For example: If you become angry."

My heart sank and I got a sick feeling in my gut. Silence fell over our little booth.

"We just won't let it get that far. I'm going to help you find a cure." I replied. The confidence returning to my voice.

"Does that mean I'll be seeing more of you then?" He smiled at the idea.

"Yes, but don't think it's because I want to. I abhor the idea of spending time at your creepy mansion." My response made his smile fall from his lips.

I was snapped back into reality by the sound of a tea kettle whistling in the kitchen. Finally gathering my strength and courage, I pulled myself up from my bed. My room was cold and dark. I missed staying with Raphael. His room always felt so warm and welcoming. We had been sleeping apart because things had gotten all too complicated between us. He still wanted a relationship, whereas I on the other hand, did not. We also had cut off all benefits. Now we're strictly just friends. As much as I hate to admit it to myself, I really missed his touch. Sometimes I felt as if I just needed him. We still hang out every night, but we make sure to sit far apart and I always go home at the end of the night.

If I was being totally honest, I really did want to be with him. I just wouldn't let myself. I didn't want to get that close to anyone. To completely surrender myself to another person…to allow myself to feel the love for him that I knew was there. It was too much. To allow myself to love him would open myself up to the guarantee of getting shattered to pieces again. I can't handle another heartache. Not any time soon at least.

I left the quiet of my room to join Whitley in the kitchen. She had all of her wedding folders spread out across the kitchen island and she was rubbing her temples with an annoyed look on her face. I sat down across from her after pouring myself a cup of hot water. I added my tea bag to the cup before engaging her in conversation.

"Wedding troubles?" I asked as I dipped the bag in and out of the water.

"Yes. The wedding is in three months and my parents still don't know about Leonardo. Well they know about him, they just don't know about him. How do I go about explaining it to them?"

"I don't think they will handle it as bad as you think they will. They're going to have to meet him. You might as well get it over with." I told her.

She heaved a sigh, "I know. I've just been waiting for the right time to do it. It just seems like there has never been a right time."

"It will definitely be shocking for them…" I replied as I thought about the first time I met them. "You should have Splinter tell them the story. He has such a calm presence."

"No. Mom is terrified of rats. I think she needs to be desensitized to mutants before she meets him."

I snorted into my cup as she said that. It was true, I had completely forgotten that Aunt Mary was afraid of rats. When we would sometimes get them in the old house, she would scream like she'd seen a ghost and run out of the house. It was actually pretty hilarious to witness.

"You should tell them this weekend. Maybe invite them over for dinner…I can be here to help soften the confession if you want."

"Yeah and you can tell them you have sex with his brother to make it seem even more normal." She replied sarcastically..

"Oh, yeah. Great idea Whit." I responded. "But seriously, the sooner you tell them, the sooner you will feel better. Can you really handle having all this stress for much longer?"

"Yeah, you're right." She finally admitted. "You'll really be here with me? For moral support?"

"Of course dummy! I know it won't be easy, I mean how exactly do you go about telling you mom and step dad that you're engaged to a mutant turtle?"

"We'll need lots of wine, I think." She replied and we both shared a good laugh.

"Need any help with the wedding planning?"

She looked up at me with her classic smile and pushed a folder and a bridal magazine in front of me.

It had been refreshing to spend the entire morning with Whitley, even if I was helping with planning a wedding. It didn't really make sense to me that she was worried about such trivial things like, flowers, colors, center pieces, cake, and food. Even though I didn't understand it, it had really taken my mind off of what was to come tonight.

But now that I was alone in my room I was aware of the change in the air. I could feel it in my bones and all around me. There was something foreboding about tonight that was deeply engrained in my being. Even if I hadn't previously known that I was going to change, I would still somehow know something big was going to happen to me.

Sulking into the bathroom, I turned on the water and stepped into the shower and after showering and putting on a little makeup, I left the apartment for the sewers. I needed Raph right now more than I needed anything in the whole world.

I followed the twists and turns in the dark tunnels of the sewers before stopping in front of the door. He was standing there, just outside the door. When our eyes locked I felt a flood of relief. It was like I hadn't seen him in weeks, but in reality it had only been a day.

"Hey." He called out.

"Hey, were you getting ready to go somewhere?" I asked him.

"No. We got people comin' over."

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "What? You guys have people coming over?"

"Surprisin' isn't it?" He replied.

"Who is it?"

"A few mutants we've come across in past years."

"Oh…"

"How are you feelin'?" He asked with concern in his words.

"Terrified." I replied shakily.

"I'll stay with you the whole time. You're going to be fine." His words of confidence didn't do much to lift mine.

I stepped close to him. Closer than I'd been in weeks. I placed my hand on his arm and in response he gently wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest. He towered over me so I had to crane my neck to look into his eyes. He looked concerned and a little confused. Why shouldn't he be confused? I initiated the touch after weeks of nothing. After I told him we could never be more than just friends.

He bent down to place his lips on mine, but our mouths never connected because just as we were about to kiss, someone called out his name.

"Hey Raphael!" A feminine voice called out.

I turned around to see who the voice belonged to. A female mutant that much resembled a lizard was approaching. She had brown hair that was tied back into a ponytail and a scarf tied around her neck. She had made no attempt to cover her female parts either.

She pushed past me to embrace Raphael in a hug and I felt heat rise to my face. I was staring at the two of them with laser beams practically shooting from my eyes.

'Am I actually jealous?' I thought to myself.

I tried to shake the awful feeling and tried to forget that it happened. Raph is just my friend. Why should I care if he is hugging another girl?

'A naked mutant girl.' The nagging jealous voice returned to my mind.

Much to my relief the embrace ended nearly as soon as it began as a group of three more mutants joined us.

"Hey Raph!" The one that resembled a lobster spoke. His appearance almost made me gasp, but I caught myself before the sound could escape my lips.

"Hey guys." He said to the group.

I studied them curiously and cautiously. Beside the lobster mutant stood a giant humanoid grizzly bear. He stood a head taller than Raphael. He was very intimidating so I quickly averted my eyes from him. Next to him was a female mutant beetle. She closely resembled a stag beetle. Her face was much like a girl, but she had pinchers around her mouth and when she spoke the pinchers moved back and forth. I couldn't look away, when she noticed this, she glared at me.

"Who is she?" She said with an aggravated tone as she pointed her thumb at me.

"This is Sarah. She's Whitley's cousin." Raphael said and she looked me over before turning back to him, "Sarah, this is Laura." He motioned to the beetle. She didn't look my way again. It was clearly obvious that I had pissed her off already.

"I'm Mona Lisa. You and Whitley look a lot alike. Except for the hair color part." She told me cheerily. She was almost annoyingly happy.

Then the giant grizzly bear guy reached his clawed hand out for me to shake. I cautiously put my hand in his and we shook briefly.

"My name is Roland." He spoke. "And the lobster beside me is Steve." He stated with a smirk.

"We prefer to be called crustacean, thank you." He feigned hurt, making everyone share a laugh.

"How is Whitley by the way, we heard her bar is doing really well." Mona Lisa butted in.

"She's fine, her and Leo are getting' hitched." Raphael told them as we all turned to go into the lair.

"Aw, I'm so happy for them! Do you think we'll be invited to the wedding?" She asked as she wrapped her arm around his.

I felt a flare of jealousy course through me. I briefly wanted to reach over and pull her off of him. But I shook the feeling of irrational jealousy as soon as it flooded me. I hated myself for letting the emotion take hold.

At the sound of us entering the lair the others, minus Whitley, joined us in the living room. The girls squealed and ran up to each other and hugged while enthusiastically jumping up and down. They were obviously pretty close friends. Why had I never heard of them?

"Where's Whitley?" Laura asked.

"She's working tonight. But she said that if we want to stop by after closing, we can have drinks and catch up." Tori gushed. "So how long are you guys staying? I hope you won't be going back to Pennsylvania anytime soon."

"We plan to stay for a month at least."

So everyone knew they were visiting but no one bothered to tell me that there were more mutants and that they would be coming to stay for a while? Did they think I wouldn't be able to handle seeing more mutants? I recalled the conversation Whitley and I had had earlier, about her parents. She had said something about being desensitized to mutants. Did she think I wouldn't react well to meeting them?

I turned my attention back to Raphael. Mona Lisa had reattached herself to his arm and was beaming up at him. Tori was grinning from ear to ear at the display. This whole visit seemed to be a plan to get Raphael and Mona Lisa together. The thought stung a little, although I knew that it shouldn't. I had made it clear to everyone that there would never be anything between Raphael and myself. So why shouldn't they try to play matchmaker?

The thought didn't make me feel any better.

Hours passed and night was rapidly approaching. I was becoming more nervous by the minute and to make matters worse, I couldn't be alone with Raphael because Mona Lisa wouldn't leave his side. She seemed oblivious to the tension between me and him even though it was heavy in the air.

We were currently occupying the living room and she and him were sitting side by side on the couch while I paced circles around the coffee table that sat in the middle of the room.

"Is she always like this?" Mona loudly whispered.

I rolled my eyes at her attempt to not be heard.

"No…she's just really stressed out. She's new to living in a city." Raphael lied.

"Oh." Was all she said as she scooted a bit closer to him. Their thighs touching.

Jealousy seemed to be the theme of the afternoon for me.

"Do you think we should leave now?" I asked, my heart was racing and I trembled as I formed the words.

He stood from the couch quickly and pulled me close to him. I let out a sigh of relief at his touch.

"Yes, we can go now but you have got to calm down. You're shakin' like a leaf." He said as he held me tight and smoothed my frazzled hair.

"Ok, let's tell the others." I replied as we loosened our embrace.

They were all sitting around the kitchen table playing cards when we entered the room. They were all laughing and talking loudly. But a hush fell over the group when we entered the room. Clara and Tori came to stand beside me, each of them hugged me and I tried to hold myself together. There was no way I would cry in front of my friends. I didn't want them to have to worry for me and my mental state the entire night.

"Is it time?" Clara asked as she glanced at the time on her phone.

"Yes. We're leaving now. Does everyone know the backup plan if things go south?"

"Yep. I've got my tranquilizer darts loaded up if you break free and Raphael can't handle you. When the girls go to hang out at the bar, we'll post up around the library for back up." Donatello whispered so that only I could hear.

"Thank you." I replied as Raphael and I turned to leave.

"Wait!" Mona Lisa called after us. "Where are you guys going?" She asked.

"We have something personal to attend to." Was my response.

"Can I come?" She asked.

"No, it wouldn't be safe Mona." Raphael told her.

"Does it have something to do with those purple dragon guys we saw on the news?" Her voice went from cheery to being tinged with fear.

"Yeah, it does actually. We'll discuss it later. For now, we have a deadline to meet." He lied again.

He placed his large hand on the small of my back as we walked out of the room. The whole trip to the library was a blur, I was vaguely aware at some point that we were on his bike and I was clinging to his shell. It was like all my thoughts were clouded and I couldn't piece together coherent thought. I was only aware of the pulsing in my ears and the pull of the moon.

The library loomed in the darkness as we rolled to a stop. He helped me off the bike and we walked hand and hand into the shadowed building.