April would usually just drop by the lair unannounced when she was younger, it must have been when her visits became far and few that she started letting one of the brothers know that she would be dropping by, as not to take them by surprise. How oblivious to herself was she? She knew that she was pulling away but must have ignored it.

This time when she'd walked into the lair, Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo were sitting in the pit, talking and watching television, but as soon as April came into their peripheral vision, they turned towards her.

"Hi guys." April said, walking towards them.

"Hey April." They all greeted her.

"Um, I wanted to apologise to you all...for how I acted on New Years." There were smiles from Raph and Mikey, only Leo remained neutral and he was the one that answered for all of them.

"It's okay April...you were very drunk and we did try and stop you from drinking too much but...you were adamant that you would be drinking a lot."

"Yeah...sorry, I kinda wanted to forget…"

"All about the break up, we get it Ape." Mikey smiled.

"Have ya' apologised to Don?" The turtle in red asked.

"Yes, I did a few days ago."

"Oh, so you just remembered us?" Leo asked, his face and tone completely serious and April bit her tongue.

"You weren't around the last time I was here," she answered before walking off towards the kitchen, not wanting to continue the conversation if they were going to be that way, it was obvious that she would need to build her realtionship with Donnie back to normal before she'd get a chance to with Leo, Raph and Mikey.

It was a cold day and even with the heating system on higher than normal, there was still a chill in the lair. She decided to make herself and Donnie something hot to drink, a hot chocolate for her and a black coffee for Donnie.

She walked past the brothers, holding her head high as she walked from the kitchen to Donnie's lab with the two mugs. When she got to the doors, she checked he wasn't holding anything he could drop or using anything that could hurt him if he spilled it if she startled him, before calling out.

"Are you busy?"

He spun around in his chair and smiled upon seeing her walk towards him.

"Oh no, not at the moment." Donnie smiled and accepted the coffee handed to him. "And what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again so soon?"

It was like a stab to the heart, the way he phrased that, confirming that she was clearly not around as much as she used to be. She felt tears come into her eyes, dammit why was she feeling so emotional now? Her face must have given away how she was feeling, she felt Donnie's mood shift before she saw his frown.

"April? Are you okay?"

"I...have I really not been around all that much?"

"Um, what do you classify as not all that much?"

"Before New Years, when did I last come here or when did we last hang out?"

"Um...well, I think you texted me when you and Harry broke up and we talked on the phone...we text quite often." Donnie shrugged.

"No Donnie, when was I last here ?"

"Um…" Donnie started, looking up at the ceiling, thinking, "I think you came to the lair for our birthday."

"Three months ago?" Just as suspected, such a long time ago.

"Yup…"

"I don't even...I swear it feels like I'm here every few days." April said and sat down on a stool near the turtle.

"Well like I said, we text every few days, maybe that's why you feel like it is."

"But three months Donnie? I spent almost every other day down here for years and some guy comes along and suddenly I just forget you all?" April began to rant, "I disrespect Master Splinter by ignoring my training and…"

"April please, calm down, it's okay." Donnie said as he wrapped his arms around her. April fell into the embrace, pressing herself against Donnie as she held onto him, it felt so good to hug him, even if he was freezing.

"You're cold."

"Well, it is cold down here." Donnie mumbled with a chuckle and went to pull away from her but she wouldn't let him, she still wanted to hug him for a while longer.

Eventually the two parted and April was feeling much less emotional, she was in a clear head space and now they were going to have a serious talk. Donnie's mood had shifted too, he was anxious, sad and the frown was still on his face, he probably thought that she was finally going to talk to him about moving away from her old life and they would never see her again, even after what she had just said.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"What?"

"I know it seemed like I was getting ready to cut you guys out of my life but I wasn't...I honestly didn't realise that I was doing it, I guess I was just so caught up in a relationship going really well that I just let it take over my whole life...you have to promise me that if anything like that you'll stop me, I can have a relationship and still be here." April rambled out and waited for Donnie to take it on and respond to her.

"Although I never wanted it to happen...I was ready for you to completely leave, even after you and Harry broke up, I just thought that you would continue on like before, maybe meet another guy and then we would never see you again."

"Donnie…"

"...I've missed you a lot April." Donnie said, feeling the most honest he had in a long time.

"I'm so sorry…"

"I'm going to ban that word soon," Donnie laughed, "you don't have to apologise for having a life, none of us knew when it would happen, but we knew you would move on eventually."

"I'm not going anywhere Donatello," she said and knew that Donnie wasn't believing her, "I'll make you believe it."

"April…"

"I will."

Donnie sighed but didn't say anything else, looking everywhere around the room but her, like he was trying to think of something to say.

"Is Leo angry with me?"

"Why would Leo be angry with you?"

"He was very...cold and stern when I came into the lair and made a comment about how I'd only just remembered them after I said I had already apologised to you for the other night...Raph was the one who asked if I had apologised to you."

"They've been...very protective of me recently." Donnie said, smiling slightly.

"Because of me?"

"Um, yes," he shrugged.

"I've got a lot of work to do…" April sighed.

"My brothers will come around, you don't have to worry about them."

"Hopefully they will."

"They will April, just give them time and maybe we could all do something together soon?" Donnie suggested.

"That would be nice."

"How about a movie night?"

"That sounds great, I'll bring some movies? And some snacks?"

"I'm sure my brothers won't turn that down." Donnie flashed her a smile and she felt very optimistic for the first time in a while.