"Hello?" Donnie answered his phone as he rubbed his other hand across his face.

"Hey Donnie, I was going to come to the lair tomorrow now the snow's cleared and was wondering if you wanted me to bring anything? I could grab some pizzas for you guys?"

"Yeah that sounds nice April," Donnie croaked before he started coughing and sniffing.

"Are you sick?" April asked, concerned, Donnie had sounded fine when they'd spoken yesterday.

"No, no, I'm fine...honestly, just a tickle in my throat," Donnie lied.

"Okay..."

"So um, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow D," April said before the call disconnected. She immediately called Raph, who picked up after several rings.

"Yeah?"

"Hi Raph, is Donnie okay?"

"Why?"

"I just called him and he was coughing and sniffing and just sounded awful, is he sick?"

"It's so nice you care about him Ape," April bit her tongue and simply asked again.

"Is Donnie sick?"

"Yeah he is, tried to play it off but after he nearly passed out Leo made him go to bed."

"He almost passed out?"

"Yeah, luckily we were watching him because he's been stumbling around since he woke up this morning, we left him alone in his room but we could hear him moving around so Leo's just gone to sit with him for a bit to make sure he actually rests."

"I'll come down today and bring him some soup, I can watch him for a few hours and give you guys a break."

"You don't have to do that April."

"I know I don't have to Raphael, I want to."

"Um, okay, I'll let Leo and Mikey know you'll be round," Raph said and hung up without another word.

As soon as April put her phone away she went into her small kitchen and began pulling out various ingredients to start making Donnie some homemade soup. She wasn't the world's best cook but soup was something she could make and had been praised for in the past, including by the turtles.

"Are you making soup?" Karai asked as she brought some groceries into the kitchen.

"Yes, vegetable," she answered as she stirred the liquid, "well, I was going for cream of vegetable, but it's not very thick."

"Why are you making soup anyway?"

"I phoned Donnie earlier and he sounded very stuffy but said he was fine, so I called Raph and he told me that Donnie was sick, so I'm making him some soup."

"That's so nice that you're making soup for your friend ."

"Yes, I am doing this for my friend. " April rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to feed it to him as well?"

"I'm sure he is able to eat his soup by himself."

"Hm...okay." Karai hummed as she left the kitchen.

April got back to cooking her soup, picking out one of her food thermos to put the soup in when it was done, to keep it warm for the trip to the lair. As she filled up the thermos she thought maybe she'd made too much but at least he could keep some for later if he couldn't eat it all.

Even though she hadn't told Raph when she was coming down, Leo was standing by the entrance of the lair, waiting for her. He smiled when he saw her.

"It was nice of you to come and look after Donnie," Leo greeted her, completely sincere and different to the way he had been when April had seen him previously.

"He's my friend, you all are and if I can help in any way, I want to...you should go and watch tv or just relax for a while and I'll watch over him."

"Thanks April," he smiled and April put the thermos down on the ground so she could throw her arms around Leo in a hug, ignoring how he tensed up for a few seconds. He recovered quickly and returned the hug, squeezing her gently.

"It's nice to have you around more April." Leo mumbled against her head.

"You're going to get sick of seeing me soon."

"Never," Leo laughed before pulling away and clearing his throat. "I should probably let you bring that to Donnie," he smiled at her before turning around and walking towards the pit.

Feeling elated at what had happened between her and Leo, April had a spring in her step as she made her way to Donnie's bedroom.

"Hey D." April entered his room with a bright smile, even though how haggard Donnie looked made her inwardly frown.

"April...what are you doing here?"

"Raph told me you were sick, so I made you some soup," she said, holding up the thermos, "why did you tell me you were fine?"

"I didn't want you to worry."

"Did you not want me to be here?" April asked as she pulled Donnie's desk chair over to the side of the bed so she could sit down.

"What?" Donnie frowned at her and April held back to urge to roll her eyes.

"Did you not want me to be here...I told you I was going to make things right between us but...do you not want that?"

"Of course I want you here April, you're my best friend." He was your best friend rang out in her head, the words Karai had said to her.

"I've been a crap best friend."

"You...you haven't been very um, present..."

"So, I've been a crap best friend." April repeated.

"April…"

"I want you to be one hundred percent honest with me Donatello, you can say whatever you are feeling and I'm going to listen."

"Okay…" Donnie sighed and then took a deep breath before continuing, "It took me a long time to get over...how I felt about you but then we became closer and I our friendship was perfect, you didn't have to spend as much time with me as you did but you were always there for me, to talk or to listen about my inventions or experiments and to help out and we made one hell of a team out on patrols, so to have that just yanked out of my life without warning, after so many years, it was...a hard hit and I was angry and upset but I never wanted to make you feel guilty for...being normal, you didn't owe me anything, not even friendship so I tried to get over how I felt...but it was hard."

"Donnie…" April frowned but then kept quiet, wanting Donnie to get it all out.

"I know that...people get to a certain age and they want to meet someone that they can settle down with...get married and have kids and I know that I should have seen that coming but you never said anything and I knew that you weren't interested in that with the other guys that you dated but then Harry came along and you just went, I didn't even get a chance to...to get used to seeing you less and less, it just happened...honestly April I feel like I'm repeating myself again and again, I don't know what else you want me to say!"

"I want to know how you felt and how you feel now!"

"I told you I was upset and angry! It's like I was just there for entertainment until someone better comes."

"He wasn't better than you."

"No, he was just human and normal, " Donnie spat out, before he tensed up, regretting his words.

"So you were jealous of him?"

"I'm jealous of any human...going places I could never go, spending time in the city during the day without worrying about people seeing me and capturing me and…" Donnie stopped speaking, an old memory coming to him that he didn't want to remember. April's hand on his shoulder helped pull him away from the memory.

"I want you to be one hundred percent honest with all your feelings going forward Donnie, I want you to be able to tell me things even though you know they might hurt me."

"Okay, I will do that from now on," Donnie nodded and slowly untensened.

"Good," April sighed and a few minutes of silence stretched between them.

"So, can I have the soup now?" Donnie asked.

"Oh, sorry, here…" April laughed as she passed the thermos to him. "There's a spoon in the lid."

"Thanks," Donnie gave her a smile before opening the thermos and picking up the slightly too small spoon. He scooped up a spoonful and blew on it before putting the spoon in his mouth. "This is some good soup," he said after swallowing the mouthful and eagerly began eating the rest, finally something he was able to eat with no problem and hadn't made him feel sick.

"I'm glad you like it," April giggled, "I'm happy to make you soup whenever you want."

"I will definitely take you up on that offer," Donnie said between mouthfuls.

"So...me and Leo had a good moment earlier, he actually looked happy to see me and when I hugged him he hugged me back."

"That's a good start."

"It's a great start, he said it was nice to have me around more."

"I knew that they would come around...you just need to act like you used to," Donnie said as he finished off his soup.

"I honestly thought Leo would be the hardest to get to come back around but I think he's going to be the easiest, I guess it helps that I get a lot of insider info from Karai... can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are Raph and Mona still together?"

"Raph and Mona? Oh yeah...they're still going strong," Donnie replied, a flush covering his face.

"That's good...I didn't want to ask Raph and cause any awkwardness if they'd broken up."

"Oh they're doing really good, he'll be more than happy to talk to you about Mona...maybe that could be how you get through to him."

"That's as good a plan as any," April shrugged, "they've been together a long time."

"Yeah...and Mona left her home planet to come and stay here with Raph."

"That was a big sacrifice," April said and Donnie nodded.

"They're very much in love," Donnie shrugged, "...if I tell you something you have to promise you won't tell Raph or Mona that I've told you."

"Okay," April grinned as she moved to the edge of the chair, eager to hear some gossip, "what is it?"

"They're trying to have a baby."

April's jaw dropped open, never in a million years could she have imagined those words coming out of Donnie's mouth. She didn't even think that it was possible for the turtles to have children, but that was just an assumption she'd never actually talked to them about it...why would she?

"Oh...wow...so, is that even possible?"

"I honestly don't know, I've done as many tests as I can and they're both highly fertile and we have similar reproductive systems and we've lived through so many impossible things so...I would say that it's very much possible and they're not complaining about trying…"

"I bet they're not," April laughed, "wow, I guess I really missed a lot."

"Don't worry, you're catching up on everything you missed."

"I hope you and Mikey don't have any surprises for me."

"I promise there is nothing major going on in my life...as for Mikey, I have no idea, he's very good at keeping secrets."

"Well I guess if he does have something going on, it will be a surprise for both of us!"

"Yeah," Donnie laughed. "You know, I think that soup has honestly helped my cold, the next time I'm ill I will definitely be asking you for some of this."

"I will be more than happy to make it for you and bring it here," April smiled.

"So, um, wanna watch something on Netflix? My laptop's on my desk."

"Sounds great," April said and got his laptop for him, sitting back on the chair as he started up his computer.

"You can sit up here if you want...as long as you aren't worried about catching a cold," Donnie suggested and April responded by crawling onto the bed and getting comfortable next to him as he brought up Netflix and the two decided on what they were going to watch.

April had to stop herself from snuggling into Donnie's side, she didn't want to make him too uncomfortable but she was enjoying being with him.

Donnie's heart did its usual fluttering for a few seconds when April's warm body sat down next to him, but he kept his eyes on his laptop so the feeling soon died down and he was comfortable watching a movie with her. They remained that way for several hours until Leo came to check on them and April decided that it was time for her to leave. Both Leo and Donnie thanked her before she left the lair and when she got home, she had a big smile on her face, happy with how things were going.