{A/N:} And now, back to your regularly schedueled Apriltello

Ch.21: Snowman

It was getting later into the night, and the turtles had yet to return to the lair. April knew that her aunt was getting worried by now, and she would most likely ground the redhead for staying out so late. Reluctantly, the teen excused herself from the company of the elderly rat and headed home, feelings of worry plaguing her. When she finally arrived home, she was greeted by a furious aunt who yelled a long lecture about staying out into the girl's ear. As she expected, the livid woman took away her freedom of visiting her friends, and demanded that the she come straight home after school for the next week. April wearily nodded, glad that she at least got to keep her cellphone. She walked up to her bedroom and collapsed on her bed, tiredly rubbing at her face. Suddenly she stiffened, aware of the creaking of her window and the chill that swept through the room.

"April...?" a familiar voice whispered out. The girl flipped on the lamp on her bedside table and was at the window in an instant.

"Donnie!" the redhead breathed out in relief, pulling the ninja into a tight hug. She then held him at arm's length and began to look him over, checking for any serious injury. He was a bit bruised and dirty, but otherwise unhurt.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking up to meet his tired chocolate colored eyes.

"I'm fine," the turtle smiled softly. Then he shifted nervously, letting out a sigh. "Look, April, about earlier..."

"Forget it. It's okay, I don't care anymore. Just...just please, please promise me that you won't do something that'll get you hurt if you can avoid it. I don't want something to happen to you because you weren't careful."

"I promise," the purple clad turtle agreed, giving her a small smile.

"Good," the girl smiled, cuddling back into his cold plastron, "Now that we have that out of the way, unfortunately, I can't come to the lair for the next week."

"What? Why not?" the turtle asked in disappointed surprise. April sighed and brought him even closer to her.

"My aunt freaked out because I stayed out way too late. I mean, it's like four in the morning right now," the redhead chuckled softly, "So I won't get to see you for a a while. But you can still text me."

"Then I will. But you should get to sleep," the purple clad terrapin said, wriggling out of her embrace. The girl frowned; it wasn't like him to pull away from her like that, but she made no comment. The boy hastily waved goodbye and made his way out the window, vanishing from her sight as he melted into the darkness. For the first day of her grounding, her purple clad scientist texted her constantly, but then, his texts became shorter, more rushed. Eventually they had dwindled down to no communication at all, and by the end of the week, April became even more worried. The next day she finally made her long awaited return to the lair.

"April!" Michelangelo exclaimed, worry clouding his bright eyes. The redhead grew a bit alarmed, noticing the look of concern on his normally happy face.

"Mikey, what's wrong?" the girl questioned as the young freckled turtle pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's Donnie," the orange clad turtle answered, "He-"

"He won't come out of his room," Leonardo explained gravely, walking up to the two teens, "He's so focused on...I don't even know what, that he won't step foot out of his stupid lab! He hasn't gotten any sleep, and just recently hasn't been eating."

"We've tried getting him out, but he won't move," Michelangelo continued in a panicked rush, looking up at her sadly.

"So we're hoping that you can get that idiot out of the death trap he's built for himself," Raphael joined in grimly, worry over his brother's health shining in the emerald green of his eyes. April looked to each of the concerned brothers, feeling more and more worried by the second. He had broken his promise.

"I...I'll see what I can do," the girl answered shakily, rushing off to the purple clad turtle's room. She knocked twice on his door, but all she got in response was a muffled, "Go away!" She didn't bother announcing herself to him, or following his command. Pushing the door open, the human girl was greeted by the sight of the purple clad turtle haunched over his desk, working intensely. He seemed to be reading, books were messily spread all around the table, some words highlighted, others having markings, notes, or tags.

"Look, I told you guys that I'm not leaving!" the violet masked ninja growled out. She leaned away ffrom the door, taken aback by how angry he sounded without even the slightest provocation.

"Donnie, it's me. Um, we're all going to go build some snowmen in the park, do you want to go?" the girl asked, trying to sound cheerful and inviting.

"No thanks," the purple clad turtle bit out irritably, not looking up. She winced, his harsh voice cutting into her.

"Are you sure? It's gonna be really fun, and-"

"I said no!" the terrapin snapped out, standing up and facing her with cold and agitated chocolate irises. The human girl recoiled, the weak cheeriness she had breaking as she stared sadly at him. The anger within him vanished the moment he registered the frightened look on her face and the disappointment in her eyes.

"Oh, shell, April, I-" he reached out for her, but she backed away, her eyes downcast.

"You broke your promise," she whispered softly, her voice small and sorrowful.

"I know. I know I did, but I had a good reason," he explained tiredly, putting his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him, wanting to know exactly why he had done this.

"Why?" she asked him.

"I...you don't need to know the reason," he said in a rush, avoiding her sky colored gaze. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him, confused.

"I don't need to know? You're destroying yourself like this Donnie! I need to know why you're doing it!"

"You don't need to know!" the purple clad turtle snapped, his lack of sleep making him edgy and irritable. She glared at him, pushing against his plastron with one hand.

"I don't need to know, or you just don't trust me?" The redhead challenged, making him scowl.

"Of course I trust you," he responded, "I just need to keep you safe!"

"Keep me safe?! I don't need you to take care of me all the time! I'm training so that I can help you, but you won't let me!" the redhead hissed, feeling anger bubbling up within her as he seemed to not care that she had been training so hard for him. Why couldn't he understand that she just wanted to keep him safe?

"Because you could get hurt! You're not as strong as you think you are, you haven't trained as long as we have!" he retorted, his agitation boiling in him and making his volume level rise.

"So you think I'm weak? Is that why you wouldn't let me go after the Kraang with you?" the girl demanded, bringing up what she thought was going to remain forgotten, "Do you just think of me as a burden?!"

"YES!" the purple clad turtle finally exploded in a rage, throwing his arms off of her. He immediately fell into silent shock as he saw her expression. Tears had begun to stream down her pale, porcelain cheeks, her shoulders shaking. He froze, not knowing what to do.

"I only wanted to help you. I wanted to keep you safe. Because you're important to me. I..." the redhead broke off and ran out of the room, not throwing the still frozen turtle a backwards glance. The second he saw her figure running away from him, he tried to reach out for her, yelling her name.

"April! APRIL! Wait!" he gave chase, but the girl was already stepping foot out of the lair.

"Please, I didn't mean it!" But it was too late, she was already gone. "I didn't mean it..." he whispered out brokenly, crumpling down onto the floor. He stared at the door, eyes wide and tears silently flowing.

He should have built that snowman with her.

{A/N:}...Just kidding.