Well, like Mikey is about to say-
"Whoo! Party time!" Mikey screams in the back of the sedan. Raph shushes him as the younger teen keeps hollering like crazy. They are situated in the back, since Donnie had to help Leo find the place. Mikey pumps his fist and makes beatbox noises as Raph glares at him.
"Shut up will ya!?"
"Afraid to admit that I'm an awesomer DJ than you dude?" Raph groans and leans against the car door. He looks at his reflection. His hair is combed back. But he scowls at it, wondering what made him do that.
'Oh yeah, I was thinking of Chloe,' he ruffles his dark hair until it's normal. His red t-shirt and black vest over it seem a little different for his style, but the vest is leather, so he brushes off the regret for not choosing his jacket. The jeans have a few faded spots, very close to ripping, courtesy of him wearing them a few times when he goes on solo patrol.
Leo is in the driver's seat. He listens to Donnie as he reads the map that's always kept in the car. He had very few minutes to choose what to wear, since he almost changed his mind. But he picked out a denim jacket, a white tank top, jeans, and his sneakers. Donnie and Mikey didn't pay mind to what they chose. Leo is shifting in his seat as the light blinks red.
'What if she sees me? What if I'm not supposed to be there? I'll get kicked out? This was a very very bad idea.'
"We'll be there when you turn at the next left," Donnie informs him. Leo takes the left and they come to the party site. Chloe had rented a party house in one of the suburban parks. There are party goers mingling around the yard and music is playing through the open doors. Leo finds curb space and parks. Donnie folds up the map and gets out. Mikey magically appears next to him.
Raph grunts as he opens the door and steps out, "Ya comin' Fearless?"
"Uh," Leo stays put and thinks over his options. But before he can come to the conclusion that he can go home, Raph yanks his door open and drags him out.
"Get out here. Yer stayin' and y'll like it!" Raph says, dragging Leo to join the others. The teen in distress locks the car doors and pulls away from Raph.
"Okay I get the picture," he says, brushing himself off.
"Party time! Booyakasha!" Mikey yells as they walk over.
They enter the house, seeing a good portion of the school inside. Raph yanks Mikey back by his shirt as he starts to wander off. "I really don't think she wants me here," Leo says, low enough so only Donnie can hear.
"With this crowd, you may not even see her."
"Hey Raph!" Leo freezes as his brothers turn to look at Chloe making her way through the crowd, "You made it!"
"I couldn't say no to a party," he comments. Chloe is wearing a white dress with a turquoise sash around her waist and rhinestones on the skirt. Her hair is up in a curly bun.
"And your brothers came," Chloe adds, seeing the younger two.
"I'm-"
"This is Donnie," Raph says, wrapping an arm around the interrupted teen's shoulders and patting his chest, "And that goofball is Mikey."
"I go to the middle school. Do you have ice cream?" Mikey butts in, grinning. Chloe giggles at how he proved his brother's statement.
"The ice cream is outside," Chloe looks around, "Hey Raph? Don't you have an older brother?"
"Yes.." Raph says cautiously.
"Well where is he? I'd love to meet him." Raph displays a look of confusion and looks to his left. But Leo's spot is empty.
'He must have escaped into the crowd,' Raph concludes.
"Raph?" He turns back, a cocky smile plastered to his face.
"I'm sure he's around here somewhere. You might even recognize him."
Chloe tilts her head in mock wonderment, "Oh really? C'mon you three, I'll show you to the food." She walks between Mikey and Donnie.
"Happy Birthday.." Donnie whispers to Raph. Raph's eyes widen and turns around to face the girl.
"Happy birthday Chloe!" He says.
"Why thank you Raph," Chloe replies. Raph produces a present, as does Mikey.
"That's from us both," Donnie adds.
"..And I'll show you where to put these," Chloe says, admiring the gifts.
After Leo disappeared, he mingled for a little, chatted with a few friends on the football team, and grabbed a drink. But he always had his guard up, watching for Chloe. He needed to keep away from her. He kept himself on his toes. At one point, his ninja heart couldn't take the stress of turning around to see her and dove to the boy's restroom.
He sits on the back part of a toilet and sighs. 'I thought I could do this, but,' he slides his hand into his pocket. Out comes a small silver gift box, 'I can't.' Leo had stared at the gift so much, deciding whether to go or not. He knows exactly what it looks like. He wants to give it to Chloe, being the perfect gift. With the dress she decided to wear, it would be.
'But I don't think she wants me here.. This was stupid, I'm going home. The guys can call me when they want to leave.' Leo gets up and walks out of the stall. Not keeping his head up, he runs right into Raph.
"Hey Leo! I was wondering where you went off to!" Leo steps back and looks at his brother. He is holding a paper towel and was using it to wipe some ice cream off his shirt. How did he not hear him before?
"Yeah, Raph I- What happened?"
"Oh," Raph looks down at his shirt, "Casey thought it would be funny to mess up Mikey's newest creation. I was in the crossfire."
"Casey's here?" Leo asks.
"Yep. April too. They came together. And by together, I mean they arrived in the same vehicle and aren't together in anyway."
Leo smiles at this, 'Great. Mr. O'Neil can drive everybody home. I won't have to come back.' Raph had gone back to the shirt and the chocolate had darkened to the color of his tee. "Raph I need you to tell April-"
"No way," Raph says, tossing the used paper away, "I'm not your messenger boy. You can tell her yourself. C'mon." Before Leo could protest, Raph grabs his arm and hauls him out of the bathroom. They plow through the crowd. Leo keeps an eye out for Chloe, but they don't see her.
Raph walks out the door and to the right of the house. There are tables spread out. At one of them is April, Casey, Donnie, and Mikey. Leo cracks a smile when he sees Mikey with a plate full of ice cream. "Should I ask what he's doing?" Leo asks Donnie, since Mikey is concentrating.
"It's-"
"Sh!" Mikey says harshly, "I'm trying to focus Donnie." Leo sits down next to April and is about to ask her, when Mikey cheers in triumph.
"Well, what is it?" Raph asks.
Mikey looks at him like he's missing a few screws, "Duh! Can't you see it? It's an ice cream kitty!" Mikey turns it so everyone has a better view, "You know. It's made of ice cream and it kind of looks like-"
"We get it! April, can-"
"Isn't this great Leo! After we talked, I got to talk to Chloe the next day and she gave me an invite. Casey's my plus one, sorta."
"Hey, you invited me," he says, mouth full of food, "And besides," Casey holds up his plate, "There's cake."
"Wait April, you and Leo, talked?" Raph asks.
"Yeah after he had his date with Chloe."
Leo scoffs, "It wasn't a date. We just watched Space Heroes at her house. No big deal."
"It seemed like a big deal to you when you put your arm around her," April clarifies.
"You- WHAT!?" Raph yells, standing up.
"Raph, she didn't like it, okay? So just drop it. I'm feeling guilty about enough without you-"
"So it's true Raph?" April asks. Raph looks at her, with a shocked yet nervous expression.
"What?"
"You like her too." Raph freezes for a second, but then a faint blush gives him away. "You do."
"We've known that for a while April," Mikey says.
"Wait, you both have the hots for the birthday chick? You already have enough things to argue about," Casey says, "I mean sure, I can see what you guys like about- Oof!" April elbows him in the stomach without even turning around.
"So now you're telling everybody?"
"Not now Raph okay! I just want to go home. This was a really bad idea," Leo says, standing up too, "You can take them home, right April?"
"Yeah, sure."
Raph stops Leo before he walks past him, "No. We are talking now. And if you don't feel like talking, my fist isn't busy."
"Raph!" Leo yells back, pushing the arm away, "Why does it matter now!?"
"Why does what matter now?" Both boys freeze in their argument. They simultaneously look to Leo's left. Chloe is standing there, arms crossed and an unamused face waiting for them to answer. Then Leo realizes that he could hear a pin drop.
"Uh, Chloe-" Raph tries.
"What are you two fighting about that is so important that is has to interrupt my party?" Chloe asks, calmly. Although it seems like that calm is paper thin.
"Umm.." Raph says, his voice trailing off. He's the first to speak, so Chloe looks to him for the answer, ".. You," he cringes as it comes out. Chloe stares at him.
"You both are crushing on me?" She asks to clarify. Both boys nod in front of the crowd. "Well.. one problem solved. Leo," she says, snapping her head to his direction, "why may I ask, are you here?"
Leo looks down at the grass and answers like a child, "the invitation said you could bring family.."
"And whose invitation did you go by?"
Leo points to Raph, "his.." Chloe looks at Leo and then at Raph. After a good solid minute of this she looks between them, bewildered.
"You guys are brothers? He's your older brother?"
"You didn' know?" Raph asks. Chloe shakes her head.
"I was just leaving anyway," Leo answers and walks away to the car.
".. Did you have to argue about it now?" Chloe asks the lone teen in front of her. He looks up at her and flinches at her angry gaze.
"Look, Chloe, I'm sorry alright? I got caught up in it and I wasn't thinking," Chloe shakes her head in disappointment and walks into the crowd, "Wait Chloe! Chloe I can explain!" Raph pushes through the crowd as the music starts playing again. Chloe holds her stomach as she doesn't turn around. A few guys comes up to Raph and pull him away from the party. "Hey! Lemme go-" One of them gives him a good punch to the eye. Raph falls onto the ground, panting.
"Leave her be Hamato," One of the guys, who Raph recognizes as a member of the football team, "you aren't welcome." They walk back to the party as Raph clenches the grass under hand. After a moment, he touches his eye and stands up. He walks out to the curb and can't find the car.
'Leo took it, great.' Raph starts walking down the sidewalk and somehow finds his way home.
By the time he walks up the steps, Mikey and Donnie are being dropped off by Mr. O'Neil. They don't ask about his eye, they saw the whole thing. "How was it?" Raph asks as he follows them in.
"It was great!" Mikey cheers. He sees Raph slump and changes his answer to, "I mean, it was okay.. a little too noisy and there were a lot of presents she had to open."
"Did she open mine?" Raph asks. He looks up at Donnie briefly, long enough to see him shake his head. "Right." Raph walks up the stairs and walks to his room. He pauses before going in and goes farther to Leo's door. It's open a crack, so he can see Leo's prone figure on the bed.
His face is buried in his pillow and the hand closest to the door is hanging off the side of the bed, clutching a small silver box. Raph wants to be mad at his brother. He put his arm around Chloe, he told April about Raph's feelings, and he, his own brother, likes the same girl that he does. But seeing his older brother, who rarely showed when he was hurt, devastated over this girl and how she rejected him again, Raph can't help but feel sorry.
'This is a roller coaster I don't wanna be on. But it's too late for that.' Raph sighs, 'Master Yoshi is right, this is tearing us apart. But I can't help but want Chloe's affection. At the same time, I want Leo to be happy.' Raph groans, 'Stupid squishy feelings! Just go away!'
He treks back to his room and slams the door. He mimicks Leo and does a face plant on his pillow, hoping it was all a nightmare.
What did I tell you? These guys just can't quit!
He wants his brother to be happy, but he can't give up the girl.
What will happen? (Also, I've noticed that this is getting a little confusing. It's going off track to what I thought of originally. THere's a lot of changing of the mind if you haven't noticed.)