XII

In her room, the night before having to pick up her guest, Leanne was gently swaying to a song that was playing on her cell phone. She mouthed along with it, singing aloud to the chorus only.

"All the things we should've said that are never said, all the things we should've done that we never did, all the things we should've given, but I didn't, oh darling—"

"Wow, have you dudes ever heard anything so sad," Leanne yelped as she was grabbed from behind and crushed against a hard chest. She looked over her shoulder and smiled up at Michelangelo. His brothers were climbing through her window behind him.

"I like this song." Leanne said as she disentangled herself from his arms and went to switch off the song.

"Why? Mikey's right; it does sound a little bit on the depressed side." Leonardo said as he shut the window, preventing the cold night air from getting inside.

"Because."

Raphael crossed his arms and looked around the bedroom. The furniture and boxes were all over the place. He grumbled loudly, "I thought we were just movin' stuff around. I ain't cleaning up after ya."

Leanne sent a hazel glare his way and he smirked.

"Well," She said in an annoyed tone, crossing her own arms, "If Mr. Bravo can't handle moving a few boxes, then why doesn't he just go back to the gym."

Raph scowled darkly, "You implying something, pipsqueak?" He started towards her. Leanne abruptly stepped backwards, her cheeks going pink. When he was barely a step away from her she quickly brought her hand up. Her palm slapped weakly against his plastron, bringing him to a halt.

They exchanged glances, hers of surprise and his of amusement, and Leanne quickly brought her hand down, "I-I'm sorry." She hastily moved around him to stand next to Donnie. Donatello grinned reassuringly down at her, "So, where should we start?"

Minutes later they were all moving her furniture around. Leanne's dad wasn't home yet, and her mother had taken to staying at the office overnight and Lukas was over at a friend's; so they didn't need to worry about being heard. With the four turtles helping her, the moving went by very quickly with few incidences.

"I think I preferred the bed in the other corner," Leanne said, tapping her lips with her index finger. She heard groans from Mikey and Raph as they picked up her bed frame and moved it across the room again.

Leanne smiled gratefully and backed out of the room as Leonardo went past, holding her desk on his shoulder. She went to the kitchen and took out a tray, loading it with plates of pizza which she'd put in the oven a while before. She was welcomed back enthusiastically.

"Just don't mess on my blankets," She warned Mikey, who'd grabbed a slice and had plopped down onto her bed. She grabbed three slices of a mushroom pizza and sat on the window ledge. From there she watched the pizza disappear. It was while they were arguing about who got the last slice that Leanne's cell phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Leanne! I'm so glad I got hold of you."

"Mom?" The turtles became quiet.

"Yes, I was hoping to call you earlier, but I lost track of time," Leanne frowned when she heard deep chuckling in the background, "Could you make dinner for you and your brother tonight? I won't be home tonight."

Her grip on her phone tightened, "But you haven't been home in ages… And Lukas is at a friend's."

"Oh. I know, work has been hectic lately. But I'll see you tomorrow perhaps."

Leanne got up and left her room, ignoring the turtles' watchful eyes.

"That's what you said last Sunday. D-Dad's getting w-wo-worried that you're overworking yo-yourself—"

"Sure he is. Look, Leanne, I was just asking if you could do me this favour, but apparently I can't. I suppose you just aren't as grown up or mature as you always seem to pretend to be."

"You're the one that is too scared to come h-home!" Leanne found herself almost screaming from frustration. "If you're that unhappy with d-dad, then d-do-don't be a c-coward!"

"… Leanne, when you see your father tell him that I'll be away on business for the next week. I'm sure even you can do that."

Click.

Leanne stood there in the hallway, her knuckles white from gripping the phone, her eyes wide and unfocussed. Then she blinked once, twice. A sudden wave of rage washed over her and she pulled her arm back and hurled her phone across the hallway. It smashed against the kitchen counter and came to rest in a bunch of jumbled pieces on the tiles.

"Hey! You ok?"

A large hand closed over her shoulder and spun her around. Raphael searched her furious face as his brothers joined them in the hallway.

Leo took hold of her other arm and examined it for any breaks, "Did you fall?"

"No."

Leanne tugged herself away from them. She watched from the corner of her eye as Don moved towards her shattered phone. He crouched down and picked up the pieces. He came back to them and gave her a weak smile, "Maybe she had a bad day at work?"

"No."

Donnie's eyes were warm and his words gentle as he said, "I could fix this. It's really easy."

Leanne shrugged. She saw Mikey's baby blues watching her and she tried to lighten up, "I don't really mind. It's not like anyone I want to speak with will be calling. I think," She began, quickly tiring of the concerned looks she was getting, "I'm going to go for a bath."

She ducked past them and slammed the bathroom door closed behind her. She turned the taps on full and sat down on the toilet seat. As steam filled the room, she felt her chest constrict and her eyes beginning to burn.

She wasn't going to cry. She wouldn't cry. Not with all of the turtles outside.

Even with the taps gushing water out noisily, she heard her phone being played with. A song made its way into the bathroom.

Oh darlin', make it go away now, just make it go away

Hot tears started pushing their way out of the corners of her eyes. She jumped when someone knocked at the door. Before she could move off the toilet seat, the door opened a crack.

"Are you still dressed?" Leo asked from behind the door.

Leanne swallowed and wiped her hands across her face, "Y-Yeah."

He opened the door a little wider and poked his head inside, holding her bath towel. He abruptly froze when he saw the tampered tear tracks on her face. Leanne swallowed again and forced a tiny smile. They looked at each for four seconds, then Leanne crumpled under his knowing silver gaze. She brought her legs up to her chest and buried her face into her knees, sobbing. Leonardo slipped inside the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He dropped the towel onto the floor as he walked towards her. He crouched down in front of her and awkwardly put his arms around her, pulling her under his chin.

They sat like that for a while. Even after she quieted, Leonardo could still feel her shaking and hear muffled sniffs. Eventually, they had to separate because the bath tub threatened to overflow. Leo turned off the taps, sat down on the edge of the tub and watched as Leanne grabbed wads of toilet paper and dried her bloodshot hazel eyes.

"T-Thanks," She murmured thickly.

Leo nodded quietly, then said, "I'll get rid of the guys while you get ready for bed." And he stood up and left the bathroom.

Leanne eventually detached herself from the toilet seat. She undressed and stepped into the tub. The water was too hot, scalding even, for her skin. But she sat there until it became lukewarm. Then she got out and dried off. Disorientated, she searched the bathroom for her pyjamas until she remembered that she hadn't brought them in with her. She felt vague frustration, then shook it out of her head. Leo said he'd get rid of the turtles. She wrapped the towel that Leo had brought her securely around herself, then opened the door. Steam flowed out the bathroom and into the bedroom. The only light on was the bedside lamp that they'd unpacked that very day. She stumbled towards her bed, tripping on something that was on the floor next to her bed. She felt a faint touch on her bare shoulder, steadying her, but it disappeared quickly. Barely thinking about it, she threw herself on her bed and curled up around her pillow.

A minute later a blanket was pulled over her and she opened her eyes a fraction to see a pair of pearly eyes above her. Another blanket was put over her, this time it was tucked around her feet and throat.

She lay in her cocoon for hours. She heard her dad come home and go to his bedroom. She couldn't hear it, but she knew Leo was prowling around her room. Sometime in the night, when she'd unwillingly shivered, another blanket was put over her. This continued until Leanne fell asleep. She woke up close to noon and got up slowly and painfully. Her nose was stuffy and her whole body ached. She looked down at the makeshift bed that she'd made next to her own. Its blankets were gone. Looking back at her own bed, she saw that Leonardo had actually given her his bedding throughout the night.

She took a long shower, only remembering that she had to be at work after half an hour. She dressed into an unattractively baggy, black tracksuit and sneakers before taking off towards the antique store. It was after one in the afternoon when she opened the store.

It turned out to be a slow day. There was only one customer who irritated Leanne so much that she merely stared mutely at him until he got creeped out enough to give her twenty dollars and back out of the shop. Nearing six o'clock, Leanne found herself standing zombie-like behind the counter, mentally singing a song about murdering Santa Clause. She dragged herself around the building, locking up the store and going up to April's apartment. She sat down on the couch and stared at the TV screen until she realised that she hadn't put it on. A few hours later, there was a knock at the window. Leanne didn't budge. She'd left that window open, knowing that they would be coming.

The turtles filed in and stood in front of her.

"I can't see the TV." She said in a monotone.

Raphael snorted, "Looks like ya've been watching too much TV. Ya've got the red eyes and dead look down."

"Raph," Leo hissed warningly, glaring at him.

Raph shrugged and observed her with an arrogant smirk.

"You're an asshole."

The smirk faltered and four pairs of eyes gazed at her.

"What ya say, pipsqueak?"

Hazel eyes flashed dark brown, "I said you got your ugly head so far up your ass that—"

Before anyone could do anything, Raph had grabbed the front of her tracksuit jacket and had jerked her up off the couch. There were protests from his brothers who immediately came to her aid. Leo and Don grabbed Raph's arms to get him to release her and Mikey had his arms around Leanne's waist to catch her if Raph had to throw her.

Amber eyes blazed as Raph growled, "Lookie, the squeaker actually can talk without s-stammering."

"It's a frickin' nervous habit, dumbass!" Leanne snarled back, her fingers clawing at his hands. She swung her legs to kick him. Raph caught her calf, "What da shell is wrong with ya?!"

Leanne squirmed and wriggled as she unzipped the jacket and slipped out of it. She fell in an ungracious heap with only a white tank top on and barely took a moment's thought to tackle Raphael's knees. She and the turtles rolled around on the floor as Leanne attempted to strangle Raph. Leo was the first to get back on his feet and he stood over Leanne and Raph. He wrapped both of his arms around her waist and tried to pull her off of his brother, but Raph took that moment to switch their positions. Leanne's eyes widened briefly then closed as she was slammed into the floor with Raph on top of her, his knees pressing her arms down. There was an uncomfortable silence, then a chorus of rage filled voices spoke at the same time.

"Raph!

"Get off of her!"

"I told ya I wasn't scared of beating ya!"

"Raphael!"

Leanne opened her eyes slowly and was instantly hit with a pounding headache. Even though her vision swam, she managed to lock her eyes onto Raph's amber ones. Then a familiar prickling feeling in the back of her eyes became known. With Raph restraining her arms, she wasn't able to wipe away her tears this time. She watched blurrily as the red masked turtle's face transformed into one of concern.

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean to hurt ya…"

Leanne fought to not let her lips wobble the way she knew they did when she cried. Just then, she heard her cell phone buzz. Everyone's eyes were drawn to Donnie who looked confused for a minute, before pulling out her newly fixed phone. He checked the message and looked up at the strange sight before him.

"Uh… April just wanted… wanted to know… if… you'd… picked up that… girl you were supposed… to be picking up… an hour ago…."

The reactions of his statement were comical. Leanne's mouth dropped open, her eyes widened and her tears stopped in their tracks. On top of her, Raph was looking sideways at Donnie, confused. Above them, restraining Mikey from pouncing on Raphael, Leo was silently glancing between Donnie and Leanne.

Then Leanne screamed hysterically.

"Get off, get off, GET OFF!"

Raph tumbled off of her as she leapt up and took off towards the stairs. Just as she was about to rush through the door, she was grabbed from behind and lifted up into the air. She felt someone jam her shoes onto her socked feet and another person speaking urgently to her.

"Ok, hail a taxi when you get to main street. Tell them to wait when you get to the airport."

Leanne nodded dumbly, still scrambling to get out of the store. She was stuffed into one of April's coats and then pushed out into the night.

Thank you for all the reviews that you've taken the time to type thus far. I hope you enjoyed this slightly longer chapter.