Quick disclaimer: I really just wanted to write something nice before everything crumbled. So here involves one of the first steps to mutants coming into society.

Enjoy!

Chapter 35

Lillian ran her finger across Tony's face while he slept softly in the guest room the guys had. She gave him a soft kiss on the forehead before tiptoeing out of the room, just barely closing the door behind her.

"He asleep?"

Lillian nodded, "Oh yeah, it doesn't take a lot to make Tony sleep."

Donnie smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're going to be such a great mother."

Lillian rolled her eyes, "Shut up..."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

She held a hand to her head, "He's such a pain, though."

"A pain you want to marry."

She smiled, her heart fluttering in her chest. "I do." She absentmindedly began to rub her small stomach, wondering quietly just how big it was going to get. "Am I the bad guy? For wanting...this baby to have its father in their lives...no matter how horrible?" She asked him softly, knowing she'd get nothing but honesty.

"I don't think you're the bad guy. But I don't think this child would be missing out on much without Luis in the picture." Donnie rested a comforting hand on Lillian's shoulder, "This child will have more than enough paternal role models."

Lillian was sure of that...but he wasn't changing her mind. Her smile wavered just for a moment and Donnie caught on.

"Unless you don't want mutant father figures. That doesn't make you a bad person either."

Lillian shook her head frantically, "No, Donnie, no..." she reached up and grabbed his hand. "It has nothing to do with you guys being mutants. I wouldn't be with Raphael if that were the case... I just..." she sighed, her hand going to her stomach when a sharp pain startled her. "I have my reasons."

Donatello noticed her sudden discomfort and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "You okay?"

Lillian shook her head, "I'm fine." She shrugged his hand off. "Just a little stomach ache."

Donnie shook his head, "Are you hungry?"

"Always, but I have to go talk to your-"

"That's not urgent."

"He still thinks I love Luis. I have to settle this."

Donnie frowned at her stubbornness. He placed his hand on the small of her back and grabbed her hand with his other, walking her to the living room then towards the dojo where Raphael was doing his exercises. "You sure are hardheaded." He chuckled.

"Yes, I am." She chuckled, almost proudly. She saw Ian playing some sort of arcade game with Michelangelo yelling and shaking him to 'go left' or 'go right'! "Ian," Lillian called before she could walk up the four steps to the dojo. "Ian!"

The words 'YOU LOSE' flashed bright red on the screen of the game, prompting Ian to groan and turn around to glare at Lillian. "What?" He snapped.

"Watch Tony, he's in the back room."

Ian's mood changed instantly from annoyance to relaxed at the mention of the young boy, "Oh, yeah sure."

Turning to give Donnie a thank you, she rested her hand on his cheek, sighed, and turned. Donatello watched her with a worried smile on his face, "Good luck." He whispered, watching her slowly creep into the dojo.

Raphael knew she had walked into the dojo, but decided to ignore her and focused on counting how many bench presses he could do until he was exhausted. His record was somewhere between 350 and 400, lifting 150 pounds, maybe he could go past 450 if he just focused his breathing and ignored his screaming muscles.

Lillian rolled her eyes and frowned. He knew she was there! You can't sneak up on a ninja! "Are you just going to ignore me now?" She spat

Raphael didn't miss a beat in his counting…but never answered.

She crossed her arms over her chest, "You're being a child." She was still met with silence. Lillian set her jaw, a wave of doubt drenched her completely. Maybe she was wrong and he was right. Maybe, even if she didn't want to, she should apologize. She couldn't stand to have Raphael mad at her… "Raph, will you fucking talk to me!" She snapped in desperation, her tone bordering on whiny.

Raphael finally set the barbell back onto its stand, sitting up from the bench, his back facing Lillian. "There's nothing to talk about."

Lilly clutched her shirt when she felt her heart plummet to her stomach. "Of course there is-"

Raphael shook his head, "No, there isn't. You made up your mind. You and I both know, trying to change your mind when it's made up is just a waste of breath." He looked down at his raw hands, he was so angry that he completely forgot to tape them up. He sighed, "I just want you to tell me the truth."

"What are you talking about?"

He finally stood up and faced her, "Listen, Lillian, I don't need you to patronize me because you think my feelings are gonna be hurt. I'm not a little kid anymore, I can handle it." He went up to her, paying no attention to the childlike fear in her eyes. "You say you want to be with me, and you know better than anyone that I want to be with you. But you are avoiding the elephant in the room and it's pissing me off."

Lillian wasn't scared that Raphael would do anything to her. He would never and the thought never crossed her mind. However, she was terrified he was going to get angrier and angrier and leave her again because he was convinced she was still in love with another. "Raph, I don't love Luis." She reached up to touch his face but he grabbed her wrists.

"Do. Not." He growled. "You know what I'm talking about. You don't want me in your baby's life. You want a human father. And you know something, I wouldn't be as mad as I am if you had the balls to tell me to my face instead of calling me out in front of everyone for something completely different."

Lillian's jaw fell in shock at his accusation, which for some reason hurt her more than if he thought she wasn't in love with him. Snatching her hands out of his grip, she fought all urges to raise her hand and smash him across the face. Never in her life had she been more tempted to beat the shit out of him. "How dare you…" She muttered. "Do you know how scared I was to start dating you again because I was pregnant and I thought it'd be too much for you?"

Raphael scoffed, "The baby is not the problem here."

"Then who is? Me?" When Raphael rolled his eyes and turned away from her, she grabbed his arm and followed his stare. "Go ahead, say it. It's me that's the problem."

Raphael snatched his arm from her touch, causing her to let out a gasp. "You're starting another fight to avoid this one." He grumbled, walking back to the bench.

Lillian just let him go, his tone of voice throwing her off. He sounded…finished like he didn't want to continue the conversation anymore. Was this it? He was giving up, barely putting up a fight. "You want to fucking walk out again, the door was never closed, Raphael."

Raphael pointed at her, "You don't want me to be the father of this child and you're too scared to admit it. Until you do, I'm done talking."

Lillian let out a childish groan, pressing a hand to her abdomen when she felt another sharp pain. "You want me to say it!"

"Yes, I want you to say it. Be a woman and say it. Grow some fucking balls and say it!" He yelled.

Lillian crossed her arms over her chest, "I never had a father. I never had my father and that made a fucking difference okay? I had father figures, and not until Barry came along did I truly feel like I had a family. I had the best father figures, including Splinter, but I never had my father and that mattered." She felt a sudden overwhelming feeling consume her and she cursed at herself for not being able to hold the tears back. Covering her face with her hand, she choked out a sob before turning away from Raphael. "I want this child to have their mother and father, no matter how horrible he is to me."

Raphael shut his eyes and let out a long breath of defeat. Now he was the asshole, but he couldn't help but feel what he felt. "Lil'…" He sighed, trying to think of something to say that would make this even just a little bit better.

Lillian took a deep breath and let it out, her body trembling at her attempt to control her emotions. Once she felt confident her voice wouldn't waver, she turned to face him. "I understand why you're upset. I really do. I see why you'd be uncomfortable with this. But I don't need you to make my decisions, I need you to stand by them. Even if you don't like them."

Despite wanting to continue the argument, despite wanting to protest against her wishes because there was a heavy lump in his stomach that told him this was a bad decision, Raphael swallowed his pride. This was Lillian's life and baby, he was the one that broke her heart in the first place. He was overstepping every boundary or right that he felt he had the moment he asked her to marry him. She wanted to take the wheel, and as much as he wanted to protect her, she didn't need it… "Okay…I just…"

Lillian held up her hand to stop him, he sighed in response. She grabbed his hand squeezed it. "Listen to me, Raphael." She waited until he looked into her eyes, his stare made her heart freeze in her chest. She always loved his eyes as children…and he was still the same young boy she fell for. "I want to be with you and I want you in my life and my child's life." Raphael squeezed her hand right back at this. "I can't do this…alone."

His eyes widened slightly, pulling her in towards him when she averted her gaze to hide her tears. "You won't be." He whispered, just holding her close to his chest. He took one deep breath. "I'm standing by you."

Lillian returned the hug, although a little reluctant. She wasn't totally convinced Raphael agreed with or even liked her decision but hearing him say he was standing by her regardless…it was a breath of relief. She needed someone to just let her make her choice and he was doing that. At this moment, that was all that she needed.

"Alright, Tony is still sleeping so before he wakes up let's figure out the details of when we are going to go," Barry said, sitting back down where he was on the sofa. He pointed at both Lillian and Raphael who were sitting next to each other, hand in hand. "You guys good?" Lillian nodded. "Good. So, you said this guy gave you a week to get back to him..."

"A week to decide to expose me to the public or give up your freedom?" Raphael asked Lillian who was sitting next right next to him instead of across from him. He clenched his jaw and swallowed a low growl.

Lilly pressed his lips together in a tight smile, rubbing his forearm in a poor attempt to calm him. "I know, he's a dick."

Barry nodded, "So here's what can happen. I'll call my people to see just how long this warrant is going to be, if I push enough we could get this thing in a couple of days. But, I told you what I needed..." he said towards Lillian.

"I'm going, Barry. Don't tell me I'm not going."

"Lillian, you are not going without a check-up. So get one today, tomorrow, as soon as you can. But you are putting too much stress on your body. You're 15, 16 weeks and barely showing?" He shook his head. "Go to a doctor."

Lillian shook her head, "I wear big shirts, I wear big shit, I am showing!"

"You are not okay. I said what I said. My foot is down. You cannot change my mind."

Lillian groaned, "Fine." She surrendered. She'd have to ask her mother for help about where to find a doctor. That wasn't something she was looking forward to.

Barry shook his head, "I'm working on a warrant for all of his electronic devices. Even the ones in his house. Unfortunately, when it comes to when all of this is going down we're going to go in is up to the judge. But basically, as soon as we get the 'okay' we go in."

Barry waited till he received nods from everyone. "Alright," he grabbed the backpack, began digging through it,` and pulled out another folder that was labeled 'confidential' on the front of it. "A while ago, I asked Leonardo here for some information about all of you. He wasn't really able to tell me much but it was enough to have Bishop and I work on them. These are just rough drafts and they still need to be approved by the law and that will take a while but these are what we've been working on."

All the brothers stared at each other with confusion.

"Leonardo, this one's yours. Donatello, this one's yours. Raphael and Michelangelo." He called one by one as he handed each brother a sheet of paper. "I figured the holidays are coming up...here's your sneakpeak at the Christmas present. It will take a while to actually follow through with the state but...yeah."

All brothers had the same reaction to the sheet of paper. It was a white sheet of paper with blue borders and a bunch of information boxes, most of them being blank like residence address or mother's maiden name, birth date, and address. On the top of the page were black bold letters that said 'Certificate of Birth', their names were written in the first box...their last name being Hamato...

"Leonardo had mentioned you guys didn't really have a last name. And since this is just the rough draft, I put your father's last name." Barry pulled out another page, this one discolored and looked tattered a bit. He handed it to Leonardo. "I had my people track this down as soon as you told me your father's name. It's his birth certificate from Japan. I thought you guys should have it."

Leonardo could barely believe what he was seeing with his own eyes. Leonardo Hamato... It almost sounded real... He held both sheets together, side by side, looking at the similarities and feeling this overwhelming sense of pride to be able to say this was his name. His father's name. His clan's name. His family name. It was so close to being official. It was...so close to being real. Legitimate... He was so proud and so happy that if he were to let his emotions get the best of him, he could cry. He took a deep breath, a big smile on his face, and handed Donatello his father's birth certificate.

Donatello had never felt so happy. The sheet of paper felt so good to hold. To see the similarities between him and his father's name, to be recognized not only as his son but to be recognized as a citizen born here in this city... The feeling was just as dream-like as it was to hear April tell him she loved him for the first time... It almost felt too good to be true. He remembered something Renet had said about them being in the history books, how people would know about how they saved the world on multiple occasions, and up until this very moment, he didn't think it could be true. But it seemed like a step in that direction. He was excited, to say the least. He handed the certificate to Raphael.

Raphael absentmindedly grabbed a hold of his father's certificate, he was so caught up in just looking at his own. His place of birth was New York City, in the borough of Manhattan with the hospital name box empty. For his entire life he had lived in the shadows, and he was used to that. In fact, he preferred a life where no one knew, no one cared, and no one bothered him or his family. This paper with his name...Hamato...it was almost like he was being seen for the third time. Looking at his father's birth certificate he realized it was Splinter calling him his son that made him feel seen for the first time. Turning to look at Lillian who seemed just as captivated as he was with the papers, she was who had seen him for the second time. These pieces of paper...he had been seen and recognized for the third time. And he was okay with that.

Michelangelo was so giddy he could barely contain himself. "Whoa..." he gasped, realizing this meant more than what it may mean to normal people. He looked up at Raphael, who wasn't even looking at Splinter's birth certificate he was just staring at Lillian, hopped up, and took the document out of his hands. There is was. Same last name he had now and his brothers had. Holding this piece of paper felt like his father was here again. Michelangelo was never shy at showing his emotions, so he pressed the paper to his forehead, and instead of letting out a sob he simply just laughed. He was happy, he was sad and missed his father, but most of all, he was proud of who his family was. He turned to Barry, "Awe dude, can I hug you?" He asked.

Barry smiled before standing up with arms instantly wide open. "Of course," he snickered bringing Michelangelo in for a tight hug.

"Thank you so much," Mikey said, hugging Barry as tight as he could.

"You are welcome. I'm sure your father would be proud."

Lillian felt her cheeks warm at Raphael's stare, "Are you happy?"

"More than I've been in a while. It's almost..." he shook his head. "Too good to be true."

Donnie nodded in agreement, "It doesn't feel real." He suddenly stood up and pulled out his phone. "I have to call April."

Leonardo wiped his eyes before he stood up to shake Barry's hand once he was done embracing his brother. "You asked me when we celebrated our birthday. How could I forget..."

Barry shook his hand before pulling him in for a quick one-armed hug. "You guys deserve this. Just a reminder I'm always working for you guys and other mutants that have been mutated through no fault of their own."

"This is more than we could ever ask for, Barry."

Barry smiled, before turning his attention to the man that was sitting quietly and sniffling to himself. "Ian, are you crying?"

Ian looked up at Barry and scoffed, "Hey man, this is a very nice thing you're doing for these guys. Okay?" Ian yelped before wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

Mikey held his hand out towards Ian to stand him up and embrace him. "Bring it in, bro. Come on,"

Ian just chuckled softly, returning Michelangelo's hug.

"I have to talk to my mother about an appointment with the OBGYN. Unless you know a good one that will see me right away." Lillian laughed.

"I do...but you need to talk with your mom first girl. That relationship needs to be prepared and you have to do it one way or another."

Lillian groaned over the phone, "Fuck! I hate this. Fine. I'll ask my mother."

"Atta girl,"

"What are you doing tonight? Have you talked with Neil and Richard lately? I've been so busy dealing with everything that I haven't even thought about them." Lillian admitted softly.

Bell sighed, pulling out a skin-tight black dress she was going to put on after a shower. "You not thinking about Neil. That's a first..."

"I know, I just..." Lillian sighed.

"It's reasonable." Bell grabbed a pair of strappy red bottoms, black heels and tossed that right next to her dress. "I had two auditions back to back today. One for Persephone in Hadestown, and a small part in Little Shops of Horror. After that, I filmed a couple of things for Jeremiah and now I'm home to shower and naturally..."

"You're going out?"

"Yes ma'am!" Bell giggled, "I'm going to take a bath, and Jeremiah and this girl are picking me up to go to an opening of this club." She skipped into her bathroom, turning on her tub, fixing the temperature, and dropped enough lavender-scented bath salts before going back over to her bedroom to let the tub fill and talk to her friend.

"I remember being busy, auditions and going out clubbing...why did I let it stop?" Lillian groaned.

"It's not all bad. You've partied with me so you've lived a life. Now you're gonna be a mommy and you'll have the cutest family." Bell giggled, grinning with excitement. "I can't wait to see that baby."

"I can..." Lilly sighed. "I feel horrible. Aren't you supposed to feel excited to be pregnant?"

"Sweetheart, your circumstances are different. Just love the child. It's not the child's fault the father is an asshole. Once it's born, you'll see, your heart will not have enough love for anyone else but that baby." Bell attempted to calm her friend. "Even that big guy you have adoring your every move. Must be nice!" She laughed.

"Yeah...it is." Lillian jokingly laughed. "Raph is really adamant about being this baby's father. I just...don't know what to do. I want to be with this man. I just...but I know Luis will do everything he can to be in this baby's life."

"Well, I don't really know Raph. Meeting him was kinda scary. He was rude until he saw you. I mean I knew you were in love but that? I've never seen that before and I want some."

"That? What do you mean?" Lillian said slowly, apprehensively.

"I mean the way you guys look at each other. The way you always touch each other, like holding his hand or cupping his face…he just wants to protect you…" Bella sighed, pressing a hand on her heart. "God, you guys must have incredible sex!"

"Bell! Jesus!" Lillian awkwardly laughed. "I haven't...we haven't even."

"Really? Not yet! Girl," Bell laid back onto her bed. "You guys are fucking weird."

"It's not like I don't want to. I think he's scared of hurting me or the baby. I think it's smart to wait until after I give birth. Wow, that felt weird to say."

"How do you have sex? With them, I mean? Like, I've only ever kissed Leonardo and it was like he was so scared to touch me."

"You kissed him?"

"Yeah, just a small one."

"Bell," Lillian warned. "You better not be playing with his feelings."

Bell narrowed her eyes, "I don't play with people's feelings. I kissed him because I wanted to and I thought he wanted to too! But he was so..." she sighed in frustration. "He makes me want to pull my hair out."

"Has he talked about Karai yet?"

Bell sat straight up, her eyes widening in horror. "Who? Why does this person sound like I should know them?"

"Karai is kinda his ex…I'm not sure if they ever made anything official. He hasn't talked about her with you?" Lillian asked.

Bell shook her head, "You know when they don't tell me about their ex I never pry. There's a reason I never talk about certain exes, so if he's the same way I don't care." Bell began to chew her nail in thought. "Though, if he still loves her, I would like to know." Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on her bedroom window, causing her to gasp a tiny bit. "Speak of the devil." She muttered, getting up from her bed and skipping over to the window to unlock it. "I'll call you later, babe. I think he wants to talk about the kiss. You know virgins."

"Bell! Be nice. Don't be an ass!" Lillian snapped.

"I will! I don't mind taking his v-card." She chuckled. "Anyways, I'll call you later. Text me after you talked with your mother."

"Be nice."

Bell rolled her eyes, "Uhuh, got it." As soon as she hung up the phone, Leonardo had opened the window and entered her room. Bella smiled widely upon seeing him slowly enter her room like he always did. She always thought he looked like a newborn deer, testing out the waters before actually diving into something that could potentially be dangerous. "Hi, handsome! I'm actually just about to jump into a bath and hang out with friends. What's up!" She said before heading to the bathroom to turn off her faucet.

Leonardo looked at the dress and shoes tossed on the bed, maybe it wasn't a good idea to come here so soon after what had happened the last time he was here. But today had been such an emotional rollercoaster, that it made him was to burst! All he wanted to do was see her and have her talk about her problems to get his mind if his own. He watched her walk into the bathroom, forcing himself not to follow and just stay right where he was. She was sitting on the edge of her tub, testing out the water by dipping her arm in the water and swirling it around before she began to take off her shoes and socks.

She looked at him, and he felt all breath leave his body. "Are you just going to stand there and watch? I assume you want to talk about the kiss."

Leonardo swallowed, not even with Karai did he ever feel so nervous whenever he talked to this woman. Of course, he's always found himself being a little nervous being around girls he's had crushes on but the way he felt, this wheezy feeling in his stomach mixed with a tingling sensation that started from the base of his neck, down his spine and painfully end at his tail, this was all so new...

"I guess I should go first." Bell sighed, standing up. "I'm sorry for kissing you without asking. I know you're kind of...weirded out by touch so I...I should've asked first."

Leonardo blinked at her words, raising in eye ridge in confusion before taking a step towards the entrance of the bathroom. "You don't have to apologize. I guess I wanted to kiss you too."

"You did? Then why were you like..." Bell felt herself shake with excitement at his small confession.

"I did. Bell," he was finally at the entrance of the bathroom but did not dare to walk any further. "Do you have...feelings for me?"

Bell felt her heart jump at his question, "I think so..." she ran her hands through her hair. "I mean, I'm still trying to process it because this is new to me. Which is something I haven't said in a long time." She joked.

Leo nodded, "I understand. I will always give you space if you need it."

Bell shook her head, "I like having you here. Making you blush is my favorite thing to do." She teased. "So...do you like me? I feel like you're trying to convince yourself you don't."

"I don't think that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to figure out if it's logical to have feelings for someone who barely knows you in such a short amount of time."

Bell felt her cheeks and neck warm, "Leo, I've been trying to figure that out too. I mean, I fall for people so quickly it makes my head spin." She laughed, walking up to him. "That feeling you get when you're falling for someone, the way your heart skips a beat when they smile at you," She reached out for his hand, running her fingers along his forearms and resting her palms against his. "The way your skin vibrates when you touch them like two magnets snapping into each other." When she looked up at him, finding his blue eyes dark with desire, she felt like she was going to faint. It was like she was seeing him for the first time… he was finally trusting her enough to let certain walls come down. "Don't you think?" She said breathlessly, her eyes moving from his stare to his mouth.

"What if it fades?" He asked, his voice was right about feeling like they were vibrating, it was almost painful to feel her touch against his rough and calloused hands. She was touching him, but not in a way that made him feel like she was just inspecting him like the science experiment he was. She was touching him because she wanted to touch him.

Bell shut her eyes for a split second to try and regain control of her hormones. Leonardo was not someone she could just jump on. She looked back down and their hands and shrugged slightly. "Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. It's all about finding out." She wondered what happened for him to suddenly change his attitude completely. It seemed like her being near him sometimes was enough to cause him to squirm and now…he was letting her touch him. "Are you trying to find out?"

Leonardo wanted to kiss her right then and there when she asked that question. "Do you have...a reason as to why you like something like me?" In all honesty, he wanted to slap himself. Who cares what her reason is!? This was a beautiful woman who was throwing herself at him. Why was he fighting every urge he had to give in to his desires and take her?

Bell blinked at his question, "Well, yeah, you kinda saved me. I mean, those guys were going to rape me and you stopped them. That's one. You're a gentleman, number two."

"Do you like the way I look?" He asked. What!? What is wrong with him!? How pathetic can he be? "I mean…does it not bother you?"

"Leo..." Bella whined, rubbing her forehead with her hand. "At first, it was weird, scary even. But...I liked you before I knew you were a mutant and I'm not really the kind of person that cares about looks. I mean," she stopped when she noticed his demeanor changed at her explanation. "If you're wondering, yes I find you attractive."

"You do?"

Bell nodded before promptly rolling her eyes. "Yes," It seemed like guys always wanted to hear that, and mutant or not Leonardo was still all-male. "Meeting your brothers, I don't know, I feel like if anyone is attractive it's you."

Leo felt his ego swell. He cleared his throat nervously and smiled. "Thanks?"

Bell frowned, "Yeah...you're welcome." She said exasperated, turning on her heel to go back to her bath.

Leonardo grabbed her hand to pull her back to face him. She let out a small squeak in shock at his action. He finally leaned forward and placed a soft, almost apprehensive kiss on her lips. His eyes were tightly shut out of fear of what her reaction would be to this sudden kiss.

Bell's eyes went from being wide, to dark and mischievous. Taking his hand and placing it around her waist, her hands finally come up and around his neck, pulling him forward a tiny bit to have him fully press against her lips. Leonardo jolted back a bit at her actions. "Don't be scared," she whispered, her breath on his face. "Just like this," she pressed her lips against his and sighed when he finally began to move his lips with hers in a kiss that confirmed he wanted this as much as she did.

Leo was losing his mind at the way she was kissing him, almost like she couldn't get enough of him. Both of his hands rested on her hips, gently pushing her back until she hit the sink. She let out a soft low groan at his actions, making all the blood rush away from his head to his lower body. His mind was getting more and more blurry the more he kissed her. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate, to center himself… His eyes shot open when he felt her tongue touch his mouth. He looked at her, and when he saw how relaxed she looked, he let his eyes close once again and just sighed at how soft her tongue felt against his… He had never done this with Karai. He barely got a confession of her true feelings.

'Would you stop thinking about her, you idiot!'

When she tightened her grip around his neck, deepening the already deep kiss and moaning softly against his mouth, his legs almost buckled. He squeezed her hips to warn her before walking her back until he felt her hit the bathroom counter. She was so easy to lift and set down on the sink, spreading her legs so he could rest between them comfortably.

She moaned once more against his mouth and to that he sighed in relief. He was doing something right, that was good. Now what? Just keep kissing her? Should he touch her? Slowly, he moved his hand from her hip to her thigh and see if she'd let him gently caress...

She pulled away, her breath heavy and her cheeks bright red. "You're good at this, babe, but I can't have sex right now."

Leo suddenly pulled away completely, "I'm sorry," he said in horror, backing away from her. "I wasn't assuming anything. I was just thinking and I don't know…I-I am so..."

Bell shook her head, hopping down from the sink to go to him, feeling a little more confident that he would let her touch him again without twitching. "It's okay. Trust me, I know what it's like to have your body act before you could think." She reached up to cup his face, almost losing track of what she was about to say when he grabbed her wrists and leaned into her touch. It was the look of gratitude he had on his face that made her choke on her words. "W-When…I realized I was starting to like you, I went and got tested before we had sex so we have to wait at least a week before we do anything."

Leo reached out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled softly. "That's...sweet."

She shrugged, "It's just a precaution. Sorry for the blue balls."

He shook his head, "No, I'm okay. It's...I was just thinking but I didn't realize...I don't think I'd...I mean we'd..."

She laughed, "Okay...we'll work our way up to that. Let me go cancel my plans and we can make out for the rest of the night."

"Oh please don't change anything because-"

She waved his protest away, "It's fine! Don't worry. A nightclub can wait." She kissed him again. "Mmm, I want to do this for a while." She giggled.

Also added a little Leo/Bell moment. This chapter was just something I wanted to do. But next chapter, after I re-write everything, should be out soon. Trigger Warning ahead of time.

Let me know what you guys think please.