Donnie had went to the barn to avoid his problems, just as Casey had earlier. Telling Casey what had happened earlier, Casey suggested that Donnie sleep in the makeshift bed Casey made in the back of the van. Donnie accepted the offer, quickly going to the van and waiting for his slumber to rule over his bad thoughts. Eventually, it had, and Donnie was glad that he would escape reality. Casey, having worked too much, decided to crash in the car, feeling too tired to go walk to the house. April slept on one of the couch chairs, a bit upset that Casey had managed to evade her the rest of the day, and she knew it was intentional. She went to sleep before dark thoughts could cloud her mind, thankfully. Leo, though, succumbed to the theory he had earlier: nightmares.

He kept tossing and turning and waking up in cold sweats. No matter the fact that he knew it was just a nightmare, the feeling of fear and hopelessness wouldn't go away. It always took him too long to finally snap out of it. Thankfully, he hadn't woken up April, by some sort of miracle. Whenever he woke up from nightmares, a new pain in his leg would flare; a pain he hadn't felt before. Every time he awoke from the nightmares, right when Shredder attacked, he felt the pain in his leg from when Shredder inflicted the injury all over again and had to do his best to hold in his sounds of agonizing pain. He wasn't even sure if he would manage to get some rest at all throughout the day. What would keep him awake the most was the thought of Donnie hating him. After having shot awake for the umpteenth time, Leo decided it was enough. He slowly got up and left the house, walking into the woods and not looking back.

Hours had passed, and it was nearing noon.

Casey finally woke up, his hair a mess. He stretched, arched his back, got out of the car and left the barn, heading to the house. He went in and headed for the bathroom, freshening up and deciding to check on Mikey and Raph. He peeked inside Mikey's room and didn't see him in there, a bit curious. He shut the door and headed for Raph's room, opening the door and finding the two turtles talking. They looked up, waving at Casey. Casey waved back and shut the door, leaving them be. He headed downstairs, peeking inside the living room and seeing only April, who was still asleep. He went to the kitchen, expecting to see Leo in there, surprised when he didn't. He went back outside, looking around the house and yard twice just to make sure. He checked inside the van, seeing that Donnie was still asleep. Casey looked at the woods, his brow furrowing. '...he wouldn't... actually, yeah, he would.' Casey sighed, heading into the woods, starting his search for Leo.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Casey found Leo, sitting in front of a stream of water. "Trying to master the elements?"

Leo looked over his shoulder. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't, dude, I looked all around for ya. What're you doin', anyways? Somethin' up?"

"I just wanted to be alone for a bit."

"How long is 'a bit' though?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It kinda does, dude. You didn't leave us any message. What if somethin' happened to ya? To us? If I didn't find ya, who knows if they woulda been able to?"

Leo sighed. "Sorry, I know you're right. I just couldn't sleep last night."

"It's chill, dude. Ya wanna talk about it?"

"I pissed off Donnie yesterday, but I'm not sure what I did. I kept overthinking and couldn't sleep. I want to ask, but I feel like he'd just snap at me again. I don't know, it's just frustrating."

"You don't feel like you can talk to him again, don'tcha?"

"That obvious?" Casey shrugged. "I thought things between us were okay, but... I guess not."

"Well, things can't be okay if ya don't tell him what's up," Casey replied. "I'm not tryna get all cliche and wise or whatever, but it's true."

"I know, I know. I thought I'd be able to soon, but now that this happened, all the progress I made just feels like its erased indefinitely, and now I'll have to try to earn back that progress again."

Casey sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Listen, I'll make ya an offer. Ya know everyone's dealin' with shit in the house. That includes me. Whenever ya talk to Donnie, I'll tell ya what's been botherin' me."

"Aren't we all supposed to talk together at some point and tell each other anyways?"

"Yeah, but if ya happen to tell him before then, I'll spill my guts."

Leo sighed. "...fine. Now can you help me up?" Casey walked to Leo's side, helping him up and handing him his crutches. "...I didn't know you cared that much about me," Leo said.

Casey flushed, darting his eyes away. Leo laughed at Casey's flustering, elbowing him. "Wh-whatever," Casey mumbled, smiling meekly as Leo laughed a bit more. Once they finally reached the house, they both watched as Donnie stepped out of the van and met their gazes. Leo looked away as Casey raised two fingers and waved them, while Donnie watched them walk into the house. Leo went for the stairs, while Casey went to the kitchen. He stopped as he saw April standing at the fridge, looking for something to snack on. She caught his gaze and closed the fridge, her arms folded over her chest. "Hey, Red."

"Hi," April replied. "How'd you sleep?"

"Ah, well, sleepin' in the beat up car always leaves some nicks. You?"

"Decent, I guess." April turned around, continuing her search for snacks.

Casey rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry." April froze, turning around a bit to look at him. "I know you're mad at me, and ya have a right to be. I just... I didn't think you'd be askin' so soon."

April looked down for a moment, sighing and dropping her arms to her sides. "I'm being a jerk. I get it being too early to ask, I just wanna help somehow, is all."

"I'll tell ya later tonight, in the van, alright?"

April looked back up, noticing that Casey wasn't looking at her. "No, it's okay. I don't want you to be worked up about it."

"I keep my word, Red. Tonight."

"...if you're sure," April replied. "Where'd you and Leo go?"

"I had to go drag him outta the woods- - he went hidin'. He and Donnie are kinda back to bein' awkward around each other again."

April sighed. "Why?"

Casey shrugged. "Donnie and Leo didn't give me much to go on, but they both feel like the other is mad at 'em."

"...maybe we should do that talk thing tonight instead," April suggested.

"I dunno," Casey replied hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tension's high, everyone's got some kinda beef... dunno if anyone's ready to be up front about it."

"I know, I just hate all this awkwardness. I'm over it."

Casey chuckled a bit. "I hear that."

Gripping his hands on the sides of the sink, Leo glanced up at his reflection. He sighed, turning on the faucet and running some water over his face. He turned it back off, sliding his hand down his face to get some water off his face. He stared at his reflection for a good minute, trying to remain calm. So what he saw Donnie? Donnie's his brother, he's lived with him for 15 years, they've been in arguments before... so why can't they just make up already? Why is it so hard to reach out? He finally left the bathroom, deciding to check in on Raph. He popped his head in, seeing Raph and Mikey talking. They paused, saying hey to Leo before they went back to talking. Leo smiled and shut the door, not wanting to further interrupt their conversation. He headed down the steps, deciding to do something he hadn't done ever since he woke up.

He went outside, sitting on the bench swing and plugging in some headphones into his T-Phone. He pulled up the playlist he only plays for moments like this- his angsty tween playlist. Of course, it's a sort of cringe and able-to-mock kind of playlist, but hey, the songs feel like the only thing that understand him right now, and that's why he's glad he decided against deleting this secret playlist of his. He placed the headphones over his head, ready to experience a flashback of tween emotions. Even though it had been ages since he listened to these songs, he still knew all the words by heart. He mouthed along to the songs, shutting his eyes and closing out everything around him. He opened his eyes, deciding he didn't want to be out in the open. He went towards the van, making sure no one was inside of it, and secluded himself inside it, making himself comfortable on the makeshift bed in the back. He carefully laid down, shut his eyes, and eventually, the music lulled him to sleep.

Donnie decided he had hid in the barn long enough. He gave himself a pep talk, making himself face the music. He drew in a breath, coming out into the light and heading towards the farmhouse. He stepped in, his nerves piquing already. If he saw Leo, he'd make conversation. If not, that's fine. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!.. right? He stepped into the kitchen, seeing April and Casey snacking. They raised their heads, waving at him. He smiled meekly, rummaging through the fridge to munch on something for himself. Once he found something, he shut the fridge, pulled out a chair and plumped right into it, deciding eating was a good distraction.

"So," Casey started. "You gonna talk to Leo?"

Donnie narrowed his eyes at Casey. "What am I supposed to say? Sorry I snapped at you yesterday, let's pretend it never happened and fast forward through the awkwardness?"

"Well, not like that," Casey replied, taking a bite of his snack. "Donnie, you gotta talk to him sooner or later. Ain't it killin' ya just holdin' it in?"

Donnie didn't reply to that. He took a bite of his snack, ignoring the question.

"It's either you two talk about it to each other or in front of everyone else. Your choice." Donnie and Casey looked surprised to hear such a crass-like statement from April. They stared at her, unsure of how to react. April looked between the two of them, confused. "What? I'm just saying that's how it is for everyone in the house. Either we tell the person we need to talk to, or we have to tell everyone. It's how it is."

Casey stifled a laugh, liking this side of April he rarely gets to see. "Red's gotcha there, D."

"That goes for you too, Jones, you have to fess up, too," Donnie sniped back, not liking the sudden spotlight shining on him.

April, seeing the look of shock and annoyance on Casey's face after Donnie's comment, realizes that Casey has told Donnie what's been eating at him. She takes a deep breath, trying to remain calm. All the tension and emotions around the house are really starting to get to her. She shot up out of her seat, heading out of the kitchen. Donnie, looking confused, looks to Casey, who seems defeated, for some reason.

"Thanks, Donnie," Casey grumbled, angrily taking another bite out of his snack.

"What?"

"Forget it. Talk to Leo, dude, you needa clear the air." With that said, Casey got out of his seat and went to go after April. Donnie sighed, unsure if he was ready to face the music. Why did he have to backtrack all his progress? Why did he have to be so stupid?

"Holy sh- -"

"What the- -"

April and Leo sighed, trying to calm down after scaring each other. April had slammed the van doors hard and hadn't seen Leo before she climbed in, and Leo's sudden jolt from his sleep and sharp gasp startled her. Leo paused his music and slid off his headphones, propping himself up a bit with one arm. He rubbed his eyes, collecting his breath from the sudden surprise.

"You scared the shit outta me," Leo laughed. Seeing that April seemed tense, he decided to stop joking around. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's really stupid," April sighed, rubbing the sides of her head.

"Doesn't seem like it, but I'm here if ya wanna talk."

"Not when you're nowhere to be found," April replied, smiling at him. "This where you've been hiding?" Eyeing the headphones, she raised her eyebrows. "What were you listening to?"

Leo, not wanting to reveal his secret playlist, gave a meek smile. "Just, uh, random songs."

"Can I listen with you?"

"Uh," Leo was at a loss for words. "...no..."

April chuckled. "Why not? Afraid our tastes are different?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"C'mon, just play some songs, Leo."

"Nah, I'm goooood."

"Fine," April said, crossing her arms over her chest, seemingly dropping the topic. Leo, relieved, let his guard down, laying back down. He was about to ask April something when he saw her launch toward his T-Phone. He immediately shot up, reaching for his T-Phone. He managed to grab it first, laughing confidently as April looked irritated. She smiled smugly. "I'm not going down without a fight."

She then reached for it again, and Leo kept waving his arm around to avoid her grabby hands. They kept rolling around the van, fighting for the T-Phone. April, tired of rolling around, got Leo to lay flat and immediately jumped on top of him, grabbing his arms and pinning them down. Leo, thrown off, loosened his grip a bit as he realized how close April's face was to his. April leaned down a bit, smiling as she swiped the phone away from him. She immediately slid off of him, quickly pulling up his playlist he was trying to hide.

"Oh my gosh," April said, a surprised look on her face as she read some of the songs.

"Oh hell," Leo groaned, preparing for the taunts.

"You have so many songs I listened to when I was like, in my cringe age! This brings back memories- - is this what you were wanting to hide?"

Leo, surprised that he wasn't being taunted, nodded. "Y-yeah. You listened to these songs?"

"Practically everyone in their tween ages listen to these songs, Leo, of course I did. Can I play it?"

"Sure," Leo replied, smiling a bit. "I thought I was the only one who listened to those songs."

"That's how everyone who listens to these songs feels, don't worry." April played a song, both she and Leo bopping their heads to it. "Though, I gotta ask- - you're feeling down, aren't you? Enough to pull up these songs, anyway."

"Ah, it's just this whole Donnie thing," Leo sighed, rubbing the corners of his eyes. "Yesterday he just snapped, and I dunno what I did exactly to make him so mad. I keep running it through my head, trying to figure it out, but I just can't. I guess I'll just apologize whenever I see him. But for now, I'm just hiding out."

April pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them as she watched Leo down on his carapace. She chewed on the bottom of her lip, looking away as she went deep into thought. They sat in silence, letting the music fill the air. Leo had his chin resting on top of his folded arms, replaying what went down last night yet again. He glanced at April, noticing that she looked in a bit of a funk.

"Hey." When April didn't reply, Leo reached his arm out and twiddled his fingers in front of her, retracting his arm when she finally looked at him. "How you holding up?"

April gave him an empty smile. She wasn't sure why, but she did. "I don't know. I just want to skip over this stuff and get to the part where we're all okay again."

Leo smiled at that. "Same here." Leo looked down, taking in a deep breath. "...I think... I'm gonna tell Donnie."

April raised a brow. "Really?"

Leo laughed a bit at her response. "You make it sound like you've been waiting for this moment for ages."

April chuckled. "I just want you two to patch things up. You two have been beating yourselves up about this for- -"

"What do you mean?"

"What?"

"Donnie's been beating himself up about what?"

April paused, confused for a second before she realized what just happened. She sat up, unsure of how to answer Leo's question. She basically just told Leo what Donnie didn't want him to know- - what was she supposed to do now?

"April?"

"Don't mention that I said anything."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No, I already said too much."

"April- -"

"I'm serious, Leo, you and Donnie need to talk to each other. If you don't talk to each other now, you're going have to explain your feelings in front of everyone before you get a chance to tell Donnie himself. I don't think you want that."

Leo laughed a bit uneasily. "No sugarcoating that, huh?"

"It's how it is for everyone in the house, Leo. And that's what's stressing me out."

Leo gave her a sympathetic look. "I know what you mean."

They fell in silence again, taking in the lyrics of the songs. The six teens supposed it was high time to face the music sooner or later. Hopefully they'd get to face it on their terms.