N is for Nick who was pummeled by fists.

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He didn't know what was happening, his mind was fogged by the scent of Raphael, the feel of lips over his. The grip on his shoulder relaxed allowing him to move away, to pull back if he wanted. A part of him did, it wanted to pull back, hit his brother and demand the Raphael he knew come back. He was used to being teased, getting smacked on the shoulder and the head, not this gentleness. But then there was the other part of him, the part that was frightened and wanted the comfort. This part won in the internal war being waged in his heart. He pressed in, moving closer, hands fisting the comforter that they sat upon as he trembled.

This type of contact was new to him and by the way that his brother trembled he could tell he was not the only one that was a little scared. His heart pounded against his ribs as he resisted the urge to open his mouth and beg for more of this unknown affection. Pulling away, he watched auburn eyes.

Raph opened his mouth then closed it, not knowing what to say to the one he had just kissed. His first kiss, their first kiss, and he had done it with out thinking.

"Mike, I-I didn't mea-"

"Again."

"Huh?"

Michelangelo flicked his tongue over his lips, his shy gaze dipping to the side, cheeks burning with his sudden bashful nature, "N-never mind." He wanted another kiss so badly, but he wasn't going to rush this. If it was a mistake then he wouldn't push, but if it happened again some time later then maybe... maybe his crush wouldn't be such a crush any more. He felt a little apprehensive at that thought as well as a little excited.

"Um..." the youngest nibbled at the edge of his lip now not knowing what to do nor say. But when there was no offer from the other to break the silence he felt a little hurt. The hands on his shoulders moved, letting go. Raphael got up, moving towards the door... he was leaving. The turtle in orange grabbed his brother's elbow, "Don't go."

Red wouldn't look back at him. Raph was ashamed of himself, for doing what he had just done. Even though it was innocent in nature he felt as if he had just violated his baby brother. If he stayed then he had no idea what he would do next, and honestly he wasn't sure if he wanted to do any of that. Sure Mikey was his favorite, he was always full of laughs and stupid comments, he always had the warmest hugs and most excepting mind, but that didn't justify wanting to see what his mouth tasted like. It didn't give him permission to grab a hold and try to stake claim where he was not needed nor wanted. His stomach was churning. People have called him a monster before, now he was inclined to agree with them. What kind of beast would do something like that?

"Raphie, please... don't go."

He squeezed his eyes shut, if he turned around, if he looked back then he didn't know if he would be consumed and truly become a monster. If he left now, if he had Donnie room with Mikey and just crashed on the couch then maybe he could save what little bit of decency he had remaining.

That was what he had planned, but to be honest fate hates plans and so does destiny. Thus why plans never worked.

Michelangelo desperately didn't want his brother to leave, he knew if he left then the trust between them would be broken. A wall would be put up to keep distance and all he would be able to do would be to wait on the other side of that wall calling out to Raph until the wall crumbled. He didn't want that to happen so he said the first thing that came into his head, a threat, "If you leave I'll go to the shed!"

"NO!"

It was with in a blink of the eye, Raph had whirled around, had pinned Mikey to the bed. Bodies so close, the heat of his breath washing over his beak as the older of the two growled so deeply in his throat it almost sounded like an animal. "Never. go. there," he hissed making sure to speak slowly.

Baby blue blinked, hand coming up to grip tricep. Orange searched in those deep pools of auburn for a reason; a reason for these actions, a reason why he was so upset.

"What happened to you?" he whispered earnestly wanting to know. "In the shed, for you to act like this... you went in, but-"

Gaze softened, "You don't wanna know." Eyes began to moisten as the larger turtle leaned down, his elbow and ankle throbbing from his sudden movements just a moment ago. He tucked his head down resting his chin on shoulder, pressing his weight upon the one under him. Squeezing his eyes tight to the point they hurt he tried to tell himself that this was okay, that the arms wrapping around him wanted him there as images of what happened in the shack flashed in his mind. "You don't wanna know," he whispered once more as Michelangelo tightened his embrace.

Sea-green hands stroked and petted, trying to calm the one that above, tiny tremors shaking the body of his brother. He stared at the ceiling, brows knitted together as he found new cuts in carapace and scutes that had definitely not been there before. The odd grooves suggesting something serrated or ribbed was used. Nuzzling his cheek into Raph's he held firmly. Whatever was happening, it was going to far.

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"Hey Jack," Casey poured kibble into a brand new food dish. He gave the cat a stroke across the back as the animal greedily ate. Straightening out, he went back to the paper bags on the kitchen table, "Okay, so I got you guys more milk, eggs, butter, lunch meat, bread, juice," he paused while taking stuff out noticing only Donatello was in the room and he was having a hard time concentrating. "Everything okay Don?"

"Hm?" a brown gaze went to the human. "Oh, yeah, it's just that something Raph said is bothering me."

"Like what?"

"Well," he shifted in his seat, lacing his fingers together over the tabletop. "While you were gone he went exploring and found your old tool shed. He said that he saw a child locked inside."

"Did he get the kid out?"

"That's just the thing, there was no child inside. Raph even said that there had been a Star Wars backpack but where he pointed was nothing but grass. After he went in, we couldn't get the door open for over ten minutes, and when he came out he looked white as a ghost and insisted that we drop the subject."

Casey frowned, "Maybe he saw one himself."

"See what?"

"A ghost."

Donatello looked at his friend skeptically, "Casey, there are no such things as ghosts."

"I'm just sayin' that about ten or twelve years ago there was a murder case of some kid being found in a some sort of shack dead. It looked like he had been locked in and left there and the murderers were never found. Geez, I knew it was close to grandma's house but I didn't think it was this place."

"You're jumping to conclusions. Just because someone died doesn't mean it had to be on this very spot nor does it mean that their spirit will linger. And why is that shed so far away anyways, that's been bothering me as well."

"Oh, that's because there used to be a hedge maze here. I heard that the people who originally built the house were kind of weird and filled their whole farm land with one big maze to keep people from gettin' to the house. The maintenance shed was built out there because it was the closest to the maze entrance, or at least that's what the land blue print thingy says."

"The landscaping schematics? You have those?"

Casey nodded, "Yeah, Ma found 'em under a doll in the display case. Weird huh?"

Donatello's face scrunched as he thought, mumbling out, "Very weird."

To Be Continued...