Mikey busied himself around the kitchen, taking stock of what snacks and drinks he had managed to smuggle into the lair, he'd let his brothers find his 'stash' as they had all guessed he was up to something, however none of them knew exactly what Mikey had been planning for the last month.

Picking up his list, Mikey looked it over once more. "Popcorn, pepsi, orange soda, beer," he giggled to himself, the beer had been a tricky find, as Mikey had been sneaking a couple cans out of April and Casey's fridge for the last month, but he knew Raph preferred beer over soda most days.

"Sake for Leo, and Irish coffee for Donnie," Mikey put an extra check-mark next to everything he listed off.

Finally satisfied with everything, Mikey started taking trays of drink and food out to the living room, laying it out on the coffee table he'd cleaned and scrubbed that day while his siblings were busy doing their own thing.

Bringing everything out, Mikey stood back and admired his handy work, grinning to himself he turned to go locate his first brother, hoping he could entice each of them to the living room with the promise of family fun time.

First on his list, was Leo, his blue banded brother was easy to locate in the dojo, it's where Leo spent most of his time, meditating or training, trying to become a better and wiser leader, though Mikey wasn't sure how isolating one's self from the rest of the family was supposed to make Leo better or wiser, but, Mikey wasn't the one who was a master ninja, if anything, he was a rather mediocre one.

Slipping the door open for the dojo, Mikey found Leo meditating, and bit his lip, he could leave Leo to it, come back once he'd gotten Raph and Donnie to the living room, however, he knew if he didn't follow through with his plan, he'd be the one eating all the snacks, and watching the movies by himself again that evening.

Squaring his shoulders, Mikey pushed the door open. "Hiya Leo!" He said, seeing his brother flinch, and crack open one eye to give him an annoyed look.

"Hello, Mikey," Leo said, and Mikey grinned at him, letting the obvious annoyance directed at him roll off his shell, Leo wouldn't be annoyed at him once he saw what Mikey had done.

"I got a surprise for you, bro," Mikey said.

"I'm busy, Mikey," Leo sighed, closing his eyes, clearly thinking that would be enough to get rid of the orange banded turtle.

"You're always busy," Mikey knelt down directly in front of Leo, leaning forward, he grabbed the edge of his mask and lifted it up. Leo's hand flew up to grip Mikey's wrist.

"I told you, Mikey, I'm busy," Leo repeated through clenched teeth, and that just made Mikey even more determined to get Leo out of the dojo.

"Look, just come see what that surprise is, and if you don't like it, then you can come lock yourself in here for the rest of your life and never speak to me again," Mikey said, not attempting to pull his hand back.

Leo continued sitting there, not saying anything for a solid minute, before his shoulders sagged and he sighed. "Fine," he said, letting go of Mikey's hand.

The orange banded turtle jumped to his feet and ran towards the dojo door, pausing to look over his shoulder and make sure that Leo was in fact following him.

He was moving, though slower than Mikey was. Mikey grinned at him and moved into the living room, waiting just inside the doorway for Leo, rocking back on his heels excitedly as the older turtle came into the room and paused, blinking at everything.

"...you cleaned?" Leo asked, living in a sewer, it was never easy to get the lair clean, however when it was clean it was easy to tell it had been done.

"Yeah, but that's not the surprise," Mikey said, taking Leo's hand, he pulled his older brother over to the sofa. "Ta-da!" He gestured to the buffet of snacks and drinks.

"What is all this, Mikey?" Leo questioned.

Mikey was practically bouncing in place, still holding Leo's arm. "Well, you know how it's been like, months since we've all had a family movie night, I thought tonight would be a perfect night for it!" Mikey said, practically vibrating with excitement, though that started to diminish as Leo simply stood there and frowned at the buffet of food.

"Mikey…" Leo began.

"Don't say no, Leo, please," Mikey interrupted him, staring up at him with wide pleading eyes.

"I'm really sorry, Mikey," Leo said, and Mikey felt Leo ease his arm away, the blue banded turtle gave Mikey an apologetic smile, patting him on the head almost awkwardly, before turning to head back to the dojo.

Mikey just watched him, he hadn't even planned for the possibility that one of his brothers would tell him no, and turn down a movie night, it really had been months since any of them had spent any quality time with each other, and Mikey was starting to feel lonely.

Shaking his head, he decided he'd ask Leo again later, maybe their leader would want to join in when he saw how much fun everyone else was having.

New determination, Mikey turned towards Donnie's lab next, new spring in his step, he pushed the door open to Donnie's lab, much like he had the dojo door only a few minutes prior.

Mikey stepped into the lab and looked around to locate his brother.

Donnie was leaning over his lab equipment, and Mikey paused for a second, trying to determine if what Donnie was doing was dangerous, not seeing any chemicals or potential explosives nearby, Mikey deemed it safe and bounced up behind Donnie, placing his hands over the purple banded turtle's eyes.

"Guess who!" Mikey sang out.

"Gah!" Donnie screamed, and Donnie dropped what he had been working on, Mikey watched as the expensive looking machine fell to the floor, and multiple tiny pieces scattered everywhere.

"Oops!" Mikey said, his hands still around Donnie's eyes.

Donnie reached up, gripping Mikey's hand rather harshly, he pulled them away from his face and spun around. "What are you doing in there, Mikey?"

"I came-"

"Do you realize you just ruined weeks- no, no months of work? Some of these pieces I can't even get anymore!" Donnie exclaimed, and knelt down, starting to pick up every bit he could find.

"Sorry, bro, I was just-"

"Get out," Donnie snapped, not even looking at Mikey.

"I'm sorry, Don, I didn't mean-"

"You never mean to, Mikey," Donnie said. "Just, get out, before you break something else,"

Feeling hurt and dejected, Mikey lowered his head and slowly left the lab, looking back at Donnie. He opened his mouth to try once more, but decided that Donnie was a little too annoyed right now.

Closing the lab door behind him, Mikey went back over to the couch, looking at the snack buffet again, he turned his attention in the direction of Raph's room, wondering if he should even bother, though he knew spending the night with at least one of his brothers would be better than nothing.

Reaching the hallway that led to Raph's room however, Mikey noticed his brother's door was open, Mikey hadn't seen or heard Raph leave, but he must have at some point while Mikey was busy in the kitchen.

Reaching into his belt, he pulled out his phone and shot a text off to Raph. 'movie night?' Mikey wasn't expecting anything to come of that text, though was elated when he reached the living room again and already had his phone ping indicating he had a reply.

'Can't, hanging with Case, and havin some beers, don't wait up,' was Raph's reply and Mikey felt his excitement for the evening diminish. Sinking down onto the couch, Mikey stared at the text message on his phone, then towards Donnie's closed door, and finally turned to look at the dojo.

Sighing, Mikey reached for the remote, and started the first of many movies he had lined up for the evening, reaching for a soda, he paused, his brow furrowed he grabbed one of the beers instead.

Popping the can open and taking the first swig of the bitter drink, the taste lingered on his tongue as the beverage seemed to warm his belly. He'd had beer before, and it was by far his least favorite drink, however, he wasn't about to let all his hard work go to waste.

The first beer was gone soon enough, and Mikey grabbed a second, followed soon by a third and fourth. The first movie ended, and Mikey switched it to the second one, looking at the clock as he ate the snacks, and pizza, he watched the second hand tick around in a circle, finding it quite mesmerizing.

He couldn't remember much about what happened in the second movie, and switched to the third movie, looking around at the mess that was now littering the floor and couch around him, he reached for another drink, this time grabbing the bottle of sake, and one of the small cups, pouring himself some, he raised the cup to his lips and drank like he'd seen his father do so many times.

"Happy new year, Mikey," he whispered to himself, laying down on the sofa, he wrapped his arms around one of the pillows, staring unseeing at the TV screen as the movie played on, the drinks and snacks forgotten, just like him.

-x

Raph did his best to stay quiet as he stumbled into the lair, he and Casey had spent far too much time talking, and drinking, until April had insisted that she wanted to spend new years with her boyfriend.

Raph had given Casey a teasing smirk, which had earned him a surprisingly hard punch in the arm, but the red banded turtle had left. He had debated texting Mikey back, telling his youngest brother to heat him up some popcorn, it was new years after all and he didn't want to go home and go to bed.

However, as he stepped into the lair, he noticed there were no lights on, save for the TV that was casting an eerie light on piles of trash, and junkfood that had been left on the coffee table.

"Tch, seriously?" Raph rolled his eyes, going over to turn the TV off and clean up some of the mess, however as he got closer, he noticed a lone figure curled up on the couch, so small that he might as well have pulled himself fully into his shell.

"...Mikey?" Raph frowned, changing his direction, but paused when his foot kicked an empty can, looking down, Raph's brow furrowed as he saw all the empty beer cans, and the tipped over sake bottle.

The sound seemed to snap Mikey awake, though Raph wasn't entirely sure that Mikey had actually been sleeping.

"Oh, welcome home, Raph, you have fun with Casey?" Mikey asked, rubbing his eyes, looking up at Raph with a lopsided smile.

"Yeah, we had fun, what's all this? You Leo and Don have a party without me?" Raph asked.

"Nah, they couldn't make it," Mikey giggled. "Guess their invitations got lost in the mail," he joked.

Raph's frown deepened, and he kicked a couple more cans out of the way, moving to sit next to Mikey. "So, ya spent the night watching movies? Anything good?" Raph asked, feeling an old familiar pang of guilt growing in his chest.

"Nah, nothing that great…" Mikey sniffed. "I worked so hard, Raph…" Mikey said, "I just wanted to do something nice, and… and no one wanted to spend new years with me,"

"Mikey," Raph began, but wasn't sure what he could say to his brother's admission, though he knew he had to try something. "It wasn't that I didn't want ta spend time with ya, if I'd known ya were doin' this…" he trailed off, gesturing to the half eaten buffet, and the empty cans of beer.

"You were busy with Casey," Mikey said.

"True, but I can hang with Case any time," Raph pointed out. "Besides, he and April apparently had plans for tonight that he forgot about, so I was kicked out early," Raph said. "But seriously, Mike, if ya wanted to spend New Years together, ya should a said something, I would'a helped ya rope those two idiots out here, tied them ta the chair and force fed them your buffet," Raph insisted.

"Doesn't matter," Mikey said bitterly. "We missed new years anyway," he gestured to the clock on the wall behind the TV.

Raph looked in the direction of where Mikey was pointing, pulled his phone out of his belt and checked the time, his mouth twitched into a small smirk. "Mike, that clock is twenty minutes fast," Raph pointed out, showing Mikey the clock on his phone.

The orange banded turtle blinked, then blinked again, leaning forward, his own mouth twitching into a smile, his eyes flicking up to look at Raph. "We… we didn't miss it?" He asked, tears now shining in his baby blue eyes.

"Looks that way," Raph said, standing up, Mikey reached out and grabbed his arm quickly, and with such a grip that Raph felt that pang of guilt in his chest again. "I ain't goin' anywhere, Mikey," he assured his brother. "I just thought it might be fun to follow through on my promise, and drag those two jerks out here with us," Raph said.

Mikey's eye lit up and he nodded, standing he seemed a bit unsteady on his feet, which Raph didn't find surprising, if Mikey had been the one to drink all the beer that had been in the now empty cans.

"Tell ya what, you pick up some of this really fast, and I'll go drag those two out here by their bandana's if I have ta," Raph said, chuckling when Mikey nodded eagerly, doing as he was told, Raph decided to start with Donnie first, as he was sure Leo was going to be a bit more effort.

Heading towards the door to Donnie's lab, he pushed it open. "Hey, brainiac, put down your nerdy toys and come here," Raph said.

"Raph, I'm a bit-"

"Get your ass out here and at least take five minutes away from whatever it is you're doin' ta spend new years with us," Raph snapped, and that seemed to get Donnie's attention.

The purple banded turtle blinked, looking at his clock, then at his computer, and finally his calendar. "Oh…" he said.

"Yeah, oh, now move your tail," Raph said, leaving it at that, he turned and made his way across the lair to the dojo, he saw that Mikey was making good fast progress with the mess he'd made, and was pouring four cups of sake now.

Pushing the dojo door open, Raph looked in to see Leo meditating, rolling his eyes he leaned against the doorframe. "Ya know, if you stay in that position too long, you'll turn into a statue," Raph said.

"That lie hasn't worked on me since I was five, Raph," Leo said, not opening his eyes.

You're the only one who thinks its a lie," Raph shot back. "Now, statue, you gonna come bring in the new years with your family? Or the voices you argue with in your head?"

"New years?" Leo blinked, his eyes snapping over to Raph.

"Are ya fuckin' kiddin' me? Are you and Don that full of yourselves that ya didn't even realize what day it was?" Raph snapped, rolling his eyes. "Ya got five minutes ta get your ass movin' Leo, or I swear-" Raph didn't have to finish his threat, as Leo was already on his feet, moving quickly towards the door.

"Oh, sure now you wanna move fast," Raph huffed.

"Mikey set up a movie night for us tonight, and I blew him off earlier, I hadn't realized it was-"

"Yeah, beat yourself up later," Raph said, throwing an arm around Leo's shoulder, leading him the rest of the way into the living room where Mikey, and now Donnie, were standing.

Mikey was beaming, and it made Raph smile too, seeing MIkey so happy.

"Here!" Mikey said, handing out the cups of sake.

"Uhg, do we really gotta drink this stuff?" Raph protested, but took the cup regardless.

"What time is it?" Mikey asked, looking at his brothers, and it was Raph who pulled his phone out, even as the other two looked at the clock over the TV.

"Wait, it's…" Donnie began, but Raph held his phone out to show Mikey.

"Less than a minute," Raph said, ignoring the looks his other two brothers gave him.

Raph set his phone down so they could all watch the clock tick down, they didn't count out loud, and if Raph were to be honest with himself, he felt a bit silly standing there watching a clock. However, feeling Mikey next to him practically vibrating with excitement, he'd put up with it.

"Five!" Mikey began counting down, not seeming to care that no one else was counting with him.

"Four!" Mikey rocked back on his heels excitedly.

"Three!" Raph looked around at his other two brothers, both of them looking a little amused, and possibly a tad guilty for blowing Mikey off, especially seeing how excited he was for the new year.

"Two...ONE!" Mikey cheered.

"Kanpai!" They all said, raising their cups before drinking their sake. Raph lowered the cup from his lips, and suddenly stumbled backwards when he found his arms full of Mikey, his baby brother's lips pressed against his.

Raph wrapped his arms around Mikey, holding him so neither of them fell over, though he kept his eyes open wide, unsure of what to do, or how he should react to the random and sudden kiss his brother was planting on his lips.

It was a good thirty seconds before Mikey pulled back, breaking the kiss. "What was that?" Raph demanded, his cheeks bright red, heart fluttering as he tried to figure out what was going through Mikey's mind to make him react like that.

"I was curious what a new years kiss felt like," Mikey admitted, his own cheeks were bright red, and he smiled sheepishly at Raph. "I think I liked it," he giggled.

"Ya dork," Raph said, covering his own face with his hand. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reminding himself that Mikey likely wasn't thinking right, his brother had had more alcohol than he was likely used to having, and it was making him act weirder than usual.

No one was saying anything and that seemed to make the situation feel a bit more awkward, finally, it was Mikey who spoke, "Do you guys want pizza? I've got one in the fridge, I could go heat it up really quick," Mikey said, looking hopefully at his three brothers.

Leo smiled at him. "Sure, why not," he said and Raph wasn't sure it had been possible for Mikey to look even more excited, but he somehow managed it. Turning on his heel, Mikey ran from the living room, a loud crash of pans later, and Raph decided he should probably go help, since he was fairly sure that Mikey was in fact quite drunk.

"Raph," Donnie said, and Raph looked back at his purple banded brother, Donnie was holding his phone, and Raph saw him swipe his screen, closing the app he had had open.

"Right," Raph said, taking his phone from Donnie.

"Normally I'd discourage lying to Mikey, but, I think we can make an exception for tonight," Leo said.

Raph didn't really care about getting Leo's approval, but seeing the guilt, and remorse written all over Donnie and Leo's faces, Raph was sure they both knew how much they had all fucked up that evening, and they were just grateful that this time, it had been such an easy fix.

END