I'm going to try to upload either every Friday or every other Friday. Just expect a chapter to read on the weekend. As I said, chapters are going to be short and to the point for the most part.
Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad to see familiar faces and new ones favoriting and following! Thank you all.
Anyways, Enjoy!
"Wow, you got a lot and then some." Leonardo chuckled, opening the back of the van. "Did you spend a lot?"
April sighed, "Leo, I told you not to ask me about money. Also, not as much as I thought I was going to spend." April went over to the passenger side door, opening it and pulling out the bag of tools when she saw Donnie walking over to her. "Here are your tools."
"Awesome, thanks," Donnie said happily, inspecting the bag of tools. April placed her hand on his before he could run off back to his lab. His smile faded when he saw how serious she was. "April…"
April looked over at the three turtles unloading the van, waiting for Leonardo to hand something to Raph so that he would walk back into the lair. She watched him leave, before pulling Donnie in close, "We have to talk."
"What's wrong?" He whispered.
"She's back," April stated so softly.
At first, Donnie was confused, "Who?"
When Raphael came back, April shook her head, "In your lab, not here." She said.
"Okay, I'll wait for you there."
"No no, I'll just follow you," April suggested, urging Donnie to walk.
Leo gave Raph a pack of bottles of water, before placing his 6-pack of beers right on top. "What's up with those two?" He asked, watching the two walk away.
Raph rolled his eyes, "I don't know but they could have at least pickup something and bring it inside before they go make out." He huffed, before heading back into the lair.
"What's wrong April? Who's back?" Donnie finally asked once the pair entered his lab. He pulled up a chair, figuring by how stressed she looked she was going to need to sit down.
April ran her hand through her hair before sitting down, "Lillian…"
Donnie's eyes widened, that was the last name he'd expect to hear coming out of April's mouth. "Wha-are you sure?"
April nodded, "I ran into her at the store. She was with three people, it looked like she was buying for a party. I got her number and..." April suddenly smiled a bit. "God, Donnie, she's so beautiful. She looked like-"
"Whoa wait, you actually talked to her?"
"We bumped into each other, I didn't know it was her until she looked at me the way she did." She defended.
Donnie went over to set the bag of tools down on the table, "I'm not saying you shouldn't have I'm just surprised you did. I mean you told me that you never wanted to talk about her again."
"That's...well, yeah," she leaned back in the chair, letting out a sign. "She never called, she never sent a letter. And I looked like an idiot sending her more than 2."
"Ever since Barry left New York, I thought she was never coming back," Donnie said softly, his mind going back to that day the city said goodbye to its beloved commissioner.
April was angry, she hadn't received one call or letter or card! Anything to let her know Lillian was okay and safe. After she promised to stay in touch... Since he was always busy, it was almost impossible to check with Barry on any news on Lillian and her family. April felt betrayed and when it got to be too much, she went to Donnie. She cried to him...
Donnie, seeing the girl he liked so much so heartbroken, grew angry at Lillian for causing this. There was no need for it. It was just cruel in his opinion.
"I am okay if I never see her again." April groaned.
Donnie leaned against the table and crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you?"
April glared at him, "I was..." she frowned. "Until I saw her again and all I could do was tell her how good she looked." She shook her head, "Is it pathetic that even after everything, I miss her?"
He shook his head, "Of course not, April. She was a big part of your life." He pushed himself away from the table and went to kneel in front of her, putting a comforting hand on her knee. "You said you got her number?" She nodded. "I say, call her and plan something. Catch up, be nice," he said, waving his finger in her face, she chuckled. "See where it goes from there and then..." he sighed. "We'll figure out what to do with everyone else afterward."
April shook her head, "She's different. Her eyes, they looked dark. She seemed hollow. She told me she was here on business, and it was a lie. She's on Broadway, you know?"
"Really?"
April rolled her eyes, "Well, off-Broadway. But still."
Donnie rubbed his chin, "I never would have thought about Lilly being an actor." He stood up and went over to his computer, typing in his login and password before going on the internet.
"What are you doing?" April asked.
"Well if she's an actor then she has to have an online presence, right?"
April went over to him, watching as he searched up her name. "She never wanted social media when we were in high school. She said she was afraid her ex would find her."
Donnie looked at April, "The ex that assaulted her."
April nodded, "That's what she told me at least."
Donnie sighed, it always amazed him the amount of adversity that girl went through. He continued his search, finding two forms of social media. "Ok, let's see what she looks like now."
"You're going to be surprised."
"I doubt it. She's always been very beautiful."
Donnie picked on a picture that caught his eye and physically forced himself not to drop his jaw. He places a hand over his mouth to keep it shut, while April admitted an audible gasp.
Lillian was dressed in a bright red, satin gown. Her brown hair was pinned up with loose strands falling perfecting to frame her slim face. She looked like royalty, the way the dress seemed to rise and fall with every curve of her body. To see the shy little girl everyone remembers turn into this confident gorgeous model-like woman, both were mesmerized by the beauty and elegance this woman emanated.
"She doesn't even look real!" April yelled. "God I wished I looked like that."
"She's..." Donnie let out a breath, speechless.
April eyed him sideways, "Please, Don, tell me how you really feel." She said flatly.
Donnie cleared his throat and clicked onto another picture of Lillian standing in what looked to be a field, this time dressed in a white blouse with embroidered cherries on it, that was tucked into her black skin-tight pencil skirt which outlined her curves. The plunging neckline on the blouse revealed her bright tan smooth skin, the sun dancing on her collar bone. Her hair slicked back in a tight bun. Donnie could feel the blood rush to his face as he inspected the picture of the girl who he always thought was beautiful or pretty but never...sexy.
April groaned, "Goddamn it! She's fucking hot!"
Donnie nodded, "She's all grown up now."
April squinted her eyes and read the description of the picture to herself. "Yves Saint Laurent looks good on me-she wears designer too!?"
To this, Donnie shrugged, "That part goes right over my head."
"I'll tell you what that is. That is money." April pointed at the screen. "She looks like money. She looks rich. She looks beautiful. I have never seen her more beautiful."
Donnie scrolled through the other pictures, "This whole profile looks like it's just to show off her style or beauty."
"Donnie, if I looked like that, all I'd do it post pictures of me. You couldn't tell me shit if I looked like she does. Her skin is glowing, her make up is flawless-"
"April, she is beautiful, but I don't think she is the most gorgeous thing to ever live."
"How can you not!?"
Donnie clicked off the computer, "Because I know you."
April's eyes widened for a split second, her face getting warmer the longer she stared at her reflection in the black computer screen. When she looked at Donnie, her heart did flips, "You don't mean that."
He smiled sweetly, "Of course I do."
She searched for any indication in his stare that he was lying, but when she found nothing she sighed. "Don..."
Before anyone said anything else, Raphael barged into the lab. "Can you guys help us unload and put everything away before you sneak off to suck face?" He yelled.
April jumped up, "Jesus, Raphael, are you trying to kill me?" She placed a hand on her chest, not knowing if it was Raph scaring her that caused it to race or the fact that Donnie was still staring at her.
"No, because I need you to put stuff away. Donnie on the other hand,"
Donnie stood up from his seat, "We'll be right there." He grunted. "Pain..." he muttered before walking toward the big steel doors.
April smiled playfully, taking a hold of his hand just as he walked past her before yanking him back over to her. "Oh, no you don't." She growled. "Get over here." She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips.
Donnie happily wrapped his arms around her slim waist pulling her upwards to make the sweet kiss a little more searing. He sighed peacefully, before pulling away and resting his head on hers. "I meant it."
"I know you did." She smiled. "Come on, let's go help your brothers." She gave his chest a little tap.
"Now I don't want to." Donnie smiled mischievously.
April pushed his shoulders back as hard as she could, "Well you gotta." She laughed, Donnie finally letting go of her.
He took her hand and frowned, "Hey," he reached over to cup her face. "Call her, try to see if you guys can plan to talk if she wants to come back into our lives, she will."
April grabbed his hand, her eyes filled with worry. "What about Raphael? He and Mona are doing good, he's happy. What if she ruins that?"
Donnie sighed, she was still going to take care of his brothers as a sister would. "As of right now, I'm more worried about you. We don't have to tell anyone about anything until we know for sure she's coming back in our lives. Take your time, call her when you want to. Maybe not today, or even tomorrow, but process it and then call her."
April nodded, "You always know what to say. You're starting to turn into Leo."
"Please, don't ever tell me that." He joked before they walked out of his lab hand in hand.
"Lillian?"
Lilly turned her attention from the view to whoever called her name. "Oh, hi Dick... What's up?"
"The party is downstairs, you know?" When she smiled and said nothing, he walked into the room and shut the door behind him. "Want to talk about it?"
She blinked, "About what?"
"Well..." Dick began, making his way to the bed, sitting at the edge. "We can talk about why you're up here, the party is down there. Or why ever since you met that girl you've been really weird. Or we can talk about how I know absolutely nothing about you and why you're so secretive. Or...we can just talk." He patted the bed, urging her to come near him. "Come here,"
Lilly rolled her eyes, making her way to the edge of her bed, still facing the window. "Or we don't have to talk."
Dick scooted closer to her, reaching out to grab her hand. "Sweetheart, I am here for you whether you like it or not. I hope you know that." He kissed her knuckle and smiled when she laughed. "Do you not believe me?"
Lilly shook her head, "No I do. It's just..." she sighed, tightening her grip on his hand. "Nothing in my life has ever been steady whether it be relationships, or jobs, even parents..." She said slowly, waiting for his reactions.
Dick gasped, "You mean your parents aren't your real parents." He said sarcastically before rolling his eyes. "Honey, your brown, they're not, it wasn't hard to figure out."
Lilly snickered but shook her head, "My mother is my birth mom. If you searched my father on the internet you'd know he's not my birth father and that he married my mother about 6 years ago."
Dick smiled, "I don't investigate every one of my friends. I trust you."
Lilly smiled sadly, "I wish I could do that."
"Well, why can't you?" When she didn't answer he shook his head. "Do you not trust me?"
Lillian looked at him, "It's not that I don't trust you."
Dick moved around so that he could sit right next to her, his legs draping off the side of the bed. "Okay, then here. Start by telling me why you're acting weird and we'll go from there."
"You're missing the party."
"Fuck the party. We have parties every other week. You need someone."
"I don't."
He nudged her, "Lilly, I am your friend. I've known you for like three years. You introduced me to Neil. He's my literal soulmate."
Lillian smiled, "That's just fate."
He nodded, "That has something to do with it. My point is, I'm here for you. Neil is there for you, you guys went to school together. You guys dated!"
Lilly shook her head, "That was before he was out."
Dick groaned, "My point is! We love you very much, you are a very important part of our lives and I want you to tell me when you're not okay so I can fight a bitch."
Lillian laughed, looking up at the soft brown eyes search for a reason to keep her walls up. When she couldn't find anything, she opened her mouth.
Before she could say anything, the door opened. Neil came in a drink in hand, laughing before he spotted the two sitting so close to each other. He gasped, "Am I interrupting? I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay." Lillian sighed.
"Can I join?"
Dick smirked, "Always, baby." He suddenly looked at Lilly. "Oh, I mean...is it okay?"
When Neil shut the door, Lillian took a deep breath and nodded. "It's fine."
Dick nodded, "We were about to talk about why she was acting weird."
Neil nodded, taking a sip of his drink before going over to sit on the other side of Lillian. "I noticed too. Did it have something to do with that girl?"
Lilly nodded slowly, biting the inside of her cheek before she sighed once again. "It's a long story but to keep it short. When I left New York, I told her I would keep in touch and I didn't. I wanted my life here to be over."
"Why?" Neil asked as he took another sip.
Lillian laughed softly, finding it very hard to hold back tears. "Um... April is best friends with these guys and I dated one for a while."
"Was he nice?" Dick asked.
"Most of the time." Memories came flooding back to her. "I mean he was known to be an asshole but to me he was...sweet."
Neil chuckled, "Why'd you guys break up?"
"It just..." Lillian tapped the tears away before sniffing. "It got complicated. He left me. He said I deserved better. Then I moved to California."
"So either way, you guys would have broken up," Neil added.
Lilly nodded, "Oh but I was so in love with him. And he was with me, I guess. I don't know. He made me feel like I was the only girl in the world."
Dick watched her, noting that she had tears in her eyes but still smiled. He has never seen her so vulnerable, she was always very reserved, she never talked about herself or her problems. The way she talked about this one guy, the look in her eyes was different. "But now you have Luis..." he stated, trying to see if the thought that popped up in his head was correct. And when he saw the light in her eyes flicker, he knew he was right.
Lillian nodded, "I do. And I love him." Lillian cleared her throat. "But anyway, seeing April, I just hope that was the first and last time I see her. I don't want them back in my life."
She was lying. Both Dick and Neil looked at each other and both nodded in silent agreement.
"Well here's what I think." Neil started. "And I'm telling you this because you're my best friend and I love you with all my heart."
Dick leaned in close to Lillian, "I told you."
Neil smiled, "You gave her your number, if she calls you back then you should plan to catch up on things. Who knows the next time you'll be here in New York? We start the show next week, you'll be here for at least 6 months, then after that, plan on what you want to do."
Dick stood up, "You have a condo here now! Well, I mean, your grandfather lives here but you know what I mean."
Lilly nodded, "Yeah," after taking some time to herself she nodded again. Having April back in her life may be the thing to finally heal her completely.
Neil took her hand, "Wipe those tears, let's go downstairs and have fun. Your boy toy is asking where you are and I think he got lost in this place looking for you."
Lillian laughed, "Thank you, guys."
"Girl I almost thought you didn't have tears. I was beginning to think you were a psychopath." Dick playfully joked, helping her to her feet before pulling her into a tight hug. "We're always here for you. No matter what."
Neil came up behind them and grabbed the pair for a group hug. "We love you!"
Lillian giggled, sighing peacefully in the embrace. "Ok let's go party." She laughed.
Hmm, even Lillian's friends can sense something. I think you all can too but...not yet. Oh yeah! I'm an Apriltello shipper, so sue me.