Holly reemerged dressed in sweat pants and a hoodie toweling her hair dry. She sat herself down on the couch to six sets of questioning eyes. "What?" She said and grabbed a handful of popcorn.
"Where have you two been this whole time?" Mikey asked waggling his nonexistent eyebrows at her.
"Not that its any of your business," she said and threw a pillow at him, "But we were just out enjoying nature."
"The 'birds and the bees' kind of nature?" Stacey asked her daughter, drawing a mixture of confused and shocked looks from everyone in the room.
"OK, first off...Eww." Holly said and pulled a disgusted face at her mother, "and secondly, even if that were the case, I would never announce it to the room."
Stacey shrugged, "Just asking." and she turned back to check on the food she was cooking.
"So what were you doing?" April asked, eager for as many details as possible.
"I told you, we sat by the lake and watched the fish and ducks." Holly said honestly. "We started heading back as soon as we heard the thunder."
"Yeah, OK." April said skeptically.
Holly just shook her head, she knew they wouldn't believe her anyway. "What are we watching?"
"I hooked up one of my new phones to the TV, so we can watch anything!" Donnie announced happily. "We've got every streaming service, and I can switch us between countries so we can get international shows."
"Oh cool! You integrated a VPN?" Holly asked.
"Yeah," Donnie said a little deflated, he had hoped for a little more praise than just 'cool'. He navigated through some available shows on his phone and selected a comedy.
The movie started and they all settled in for the evening. The rain had eased off, but was still coming down steadily. Eventually Raph came down to join everyone and he almost left again when Leo and Mikey started questioning him about where he and Holly had been all afternoon. Donnie didn't get involved, but April did join in the teasing much to his embarrassment. Holly stopped him though and pulled him back to the couch. Stacey had made an amazing Asian inspired meatballs and rice with roasted beans for them all to enjoy. They dished up and sat chatting and eating while the movie play in the background.
When the feature had ended, they all helped tidy up before starting another movie. Stacey dug out some blankets and extra pillows so everyone could choose a spot to get comfortable in. Mikey was on his plastron on the floor with a pile of pillows propping him up. Big Bowl of popcorn still in front of him. Everyone else had spread out around the room, taking up any comfy spot they could.
The storm persisted through the rest of the evening and eventually Splinter and Stacey departed for the peace of their own rooms. They left the teens to watch whatever they liked, which they did with gusto. Since Mikey picked the first movie, and Donnie picked the second. They all argued over who got to choose next. Eventually, they resorted to the oldest method for making decisions between friends. Rock , Paper, Scissors. Unfortunately for everyone, Leonardo won and chose to put on one of the many Space Hero movies that were made
"Can we at least watch the one with the rock monster that destroys the Space Hero ship?" Mikey asked.
"Sure!" Leo said happily.
"Can we not watch any of them?" Raph asked sarcastically.
"He won fair and square, so suck it up." Holly scolded him, and poked him in the side of his leg.
Once the movie was underway however, everyone else had pulled out their phones, or dug out a laptop to do something else. Mikey had rolled onto his shell and was playing games on his phone.
Holly frowned at the screen as she tried to watch the movie Leo had chosen. The acting was terrible and the plot made no sense, but she tried to enjoy it.
"I warned you," Raph hissed in her ear. She shoved him and stuck out her tongue at him, and he just smiled and went back to watching something on his phone.
Donnie and April were huddled together whispering to each other. Donnie had a soft smile on his face, the same one he always had whenever he and April got to be together.
"I am sorry about earlier." April said softly and bit her lip to try and stop herself from laughing.
Donnie's smile dropped slightly, he fidgeted as he admitted, "I mean... I'm not."
"That's not quite what I mean," April said and blushed again, "I am just sorry that it was more public than I had hoped."
Donnie frowned and cocked his head to the side slightly, confused.
She leaned in a little closer to make sure no one else could hear her, "I would have preferred that I could show you... those parts of myself, somewhere more private."
"Oh." Donnie said and his eyes went wide.
"Unless, you don't want to..." April started.
"NO!" Donnie yelled to cut her off. He looked around at his brothers who, along with Holly, were giving him a range of questioning looks. "Sorry" He muttered to them all, while April was trying to suppress her laughter once again.
"I get it," She assured him, and wound her arm through his.
As Leonardo's movie finally ended, everyone was feeling restless. It wasn't particularly late and no one wanted to sleep yet, but they didn't want to be too loud and disturb Splinter or Stacey.
"What are we going to do?" Mikey asked.
"We could play a game?" April said, "Or we could have a silent disco?"
"A What?" Raph asked, irritable confusion on his face.
"A silent disco?" April replied, "Everyone listens to their own music through headphones and dances around!"
"Um, I don't think so." Leo said, "Chances are Mikey will forget the 'silent' part."
"Why don't we just find stupid stuff to watch online?" Mikey asked.
"Works for me." April said and settled back into Donatello.
"Oh! Whoever can find the funniest video wins!" Mikey added.
"Wins what?" Raph asked again.
"Umm, no chores for a week?" Mikey offered.
"That's not exactly fair for April" Holly piped up, "its not like you can go to hers and clean her room."
"Oh, but we could come to you?" Leo asked.
"Well, yeah." Holly said smugly, "My mom knows you guys now, and we have a Jacuzzi tub that needs scrubbing." She added with a nasty smile.
"Gross." Raph said and jabbed Holly playfully in the ribs. She spasmmed and let out a squeak, before grabbing a nearby pillow and pummeling him with it.
"How about, if I win, I get to sleep in one of your beds anytime I stay with you for a month?" April said.
"So you mean, Donnie has to sleep on the couch for a month? Deal!" Raph said.
"Oh, no. I get to choose who's on the couch." April said. "Maybe I'll make you sleep on the couch for a month?"
"Works for me," Raph muttered to himself with a quick glance at Holly.
"You won't want Mikeys room though, it smells weird and I'm pretty sure he has year old pizza somewhere in there." Leo commented.
"I like the way my room smells, its my safe space." Mikey said.
Both April and Holly wrinkled their noses at the idea of Mikeys room.
"What all do you have in your room?" Holly asked Leo curiously. "You've seen my room, but I have no idea what you hide away in there."
"I don't 'hide' anything." Leo said defensively.
"Oh no?" Mikey said, smiling at their big brother.
"No!" Leo squeaked.
"So, then you must have told them about Mr. Cuddles?" Mikey continued.
"Mr. Cuddles?" April asked eyebrows raised.
"Its his bear." Donnie said.
"Awe!" April squealed, "I want to see him!"
"It's just an old toy, but he's not hidden away." Leo admitted.
"It's not that strange." Holly spoke up, "I still have one of my old teddies too.
"Yeah, but you're a girl." Raph said.
Holly pulled a face, "So what? Boys are allowed to be sentimental too."
"I'm not sentimental!" Leo protested.
"Someone doth protest too much." Donnie muttered under his breath.
"I'm not saying you are. But women," Holly emphasized with a glare at Raph, "are not the only beings that can have feelings. I mean, you have spike, and I know you love him."
"That's different?" Raph said.
"I disagree." Holly said with a smile and an eyebrow raise.
"Spike is alive. A bear is not." Raph argued.
"While that is true, some people find that their stuffed animals bring them as much comfort as a pet." Holly said with a shrug.
"Can we stop talking about a bear that I do not give a crap about!" Leo almost shouted at them all.
"Oh my gosh, Leo swore!" Mikey said and pointed at Leo.
"Anyway!" Donnie said loudly before Holly could get back on her soap box, "How about we just start looking for something to laugh at."
They spent the next couple of hours watching whatever popped up that looked funny online. At first, Leo and Raph were actively trying not to have a good time. Leo was mad that Holly suggested he was sentimental about a bear while Raph was offended that she dare compare Spike to Mr. Cuddles. But they eventually found themselves cracking a smile, then letting out an audible chuckle, and before too long they were belly laughing along with everyone else. They did find a video of other people who had very unique laughs, and Mikey and Holly were crying by the time that one ended.
"I don't think I can take much more!" Mikey said through his tears. "My sides hurt."
"It is getting late." Leo said. "And we only have one more day left here before we go home."
"All the more reason to stay up." Raph said. "Once we're home, it'll be back to patrol all night."
"You're saying you don't like patrol?" Leo asked skeptically, "You get to beat people up, its your favorite."
"It is, but it has been nice getting to actually relax for a change." Raph said.
"You know that someone has been up to something with all the destruction that happened." Donnie said. "Just because we haven't found it yet, doesn't mean it hasn't been happening."
"We haven't seen any movement from the Foot Clan, but you know the Purple Dragons are going to be taking full advantage if the chaos." Leo scratched his chin in through.
"Fong is an opportunistic bastard." Holly admitted. She still remembered the beating she had taken from that dirt bag.
"Let's worry about that later. This weekend is supposed to be our break from all the crazy that has happened." April said.
"Agreed," Donnie said. "One more carefree day, then we can get back to finding your dad, and dealing with everything else." April smiled at him.
"So who won the bet?" Mikey asked. Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. They hadn't been paying attention to who chose what video.
"I guess its a tie?" April offered.
"Yeah, it doesn't really matter." Leo agreed.
"Then I say that I won." Mikey claimed.
"No way!" Raph yelled, "No one wins, we weren't keeping track."
"I was," Mikey said, "and you all laughed hardest at my video... So, I win."
"Not a chance," Leo agreed, "I'm pretty sure the one with the granny falling over was the funniest, and that one was mine."
"Absolutely not." Holly joined in, just for the fun of it.
They bickered about the bet even as they were climbing the stairs for bed. The storm had lost all its force and the rain was tapping gently against the glass windows. April held Donnie back to let the others go up ahead of them.
"Wait." She whispered to him. They watched the others go ahead. Raph and Holly exiting to the left and right into their respective rooms, while Leo and Mikey carried on further along to their rooms.
"What is it?" Donnie asked concerned.
"Can we just stay here for a little while?" She asked and sat back down on the couch. "I just need some peace for a moment."
"Of course." Donnie replied gently, "What ever you want."
They sat back down, Donnie a little nervous at first, but once April leaned into his shoulder, he relaxed.
"I miss my dad, and talking about it earlier reminded me that we're no closer to finding him." April confessed to him after a few moments of silence.
"That's not true." Donnie said, "We know the Krang have him, and most likely he's still at the TCRI tower somewhere."
"You don't think they moved him?" April sat up and looked at him with her eyes wide with worry.
"Not anymore. Since the Techodrome has gone down, and we didn't find any trace of him there, I think they kept him and all the others at the Tower. They probably just moved them to another floor." He tried to sound positive, but TCRI was a huge tower and searching every floor would be difficult.
"We have to find him, and everyone else."April said and leaned into his shoulder again.
They sat for a while in the silence, watching the rain drops roll down the outside of the windows. Every now and then a flash of lightning would illuminate the lake below them, followed by a gently rumble of thunder. They didn't know how long they sat there, but eventually April's head dipped sleepily.
"Hey," Donnie said gently, "Come on, let get some rest."
They held hands as they climbed the stairs, only letting go once they were at their respective doors. When Donnie opened his however, he found that Raph and Holly had pushed the two beds together and had fallen asleep watching a show on Holly's laptop across both bunks.
"Whats the matter?" April asked him. Donnie stepped aside and April poked her head in through the door. "Awe, that's cute." She snapped a quick picture to lord over Holly later.
"I guess I'm on the couch tonight then." Donnie said shutting the door.
"Don't be silly, you can have Holly's bed." April said.
"I don't think that's..." Donnie tried to protest, but April grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into her room.
"There is no point letting a perfectly good bed go to waste." April said. She closed the door behind him and headed over to her own bed.
Donnie stood awkwardly in the doorway and looked around the girls room. It was almost identical to the one he and Raph had been in, except there was a lot more stuff lying around. The bathing suits they had been wearing were hanging up on the bed posts, there was sweaters and shorts all over the floor, and there was make up and nail polish bottles on the bed side tables.
"I'll go change in the bathroom." April said with a chuckle, seeing at how uncomfortable Donnie was.
She padded past him to the adjoining bathroom and closed the door. He made his was tentatively over to Holly's bed and sat gingerly on the edge of it. April came back out from the bathroom and looked at him with her hands on her hips. "Would you prefer to sleep in my bed?"
"I would prefer to sleep on the couch," he said, but he did take off his arm and knee pads and setting them neatly on the ground. The last thing he took off was his bandanna. He folded it neatly before placing it on top of his other stuff.
"You know, I think this is the first time I have ever seen you take all that stuff off." April said from her bunk.
"I usually forget if I am working on something." He admitted. "I often just fall asleep at my desk."
He pulled back the covers and laid down on the bed. He turned to switch off the light and caught April watching him. "What?"
"Nothing." She said and her smile grew bigger. He narrowed his eyes at her, and shut off the light. "Good night." April said from across the dark room.
"Night." He replied, and lay back to try and sleep. It took him a while to relax enough for sleep to claim him, even when he was sharing the room with Raph he found it difficult to let go of the day. He very rarely planned when he was going to sleep like most everyone else. But eventually, he did slip out of the conscious world and he slept more soundly than he expected.
Splinter awoke at first light, he was so unused to the sunrise that he was finding it hard to sleep through the bright morning sun that crept into his room. Not that he really minded, it was not often he got to enjoy the sunrise anymore, so he made his way down to the kitchen to make tea and watch the day begin. As usual, he peeked in on his sons to see how they were. He would never tell them that he still did this, but it was a habit he had formed when they were younger that he couldn't quite let go of yet. Leonardo was sleeping peacefully in one of the bunks in his room, and Michelangelo was sprawled across the entire queen sized bed in his room snoring gently as he had been the previous night. When he opened the door to Raphael and Donatello's room however, he was only slightly surprised to find Holly in there. They were lying facing each other, the wrong way across the two beds, her fingers were intertwined with his. A computer was perched precariously on the edge of the bed, it's screen black, so he snuck in and placed it gently on the floor before backing out and closing the door.
He stroked his chin slightly before gently pressing open the door that led to, what should have been, April and Holly's room. Sure enough, there was Donatello in the wrong room. Splinter Chuckled to himself before closing the door again. He continued downstairs to make a pot of tea, then found a nice spot on the deck to watch the wildlife.
The others soon started to drift down from their rooms. Leonardo was usually the first of the turtles to awaken, and being in the country did not change this. He usually liked to sit and meditate with his father before his brothers woke up and ruined the peace.
Stacey came down for a mug of coffee and just before she was about to head back to her room to change, Raph and Holly came down the stairs together. Stacey gave her daughter a knowing look over the top pf her mug.
"Don't start." Holly said before Stacey could get a word in.
"I didn't say a thing." Stacey said, she looked at Raph, who was avoiding eye contact at all costs. He poured a mug of coffee with such intensity that even Holly had to laugh.
"You're not subtle, you know that." Leo said to his brother as he joined the others back inside.
"I'll make your face not subtle." Raph snapped, and stomped off before anyone else could take another jab at him.
"Oh dear," Stacey said with a head shake. "Is that common?" She asked Leo as he sat at the breakfast bar.
"That was pretty standard, yeah."
"Has a hard time dealing with his emotions." Stacey commented.
"He thinks," Holly added, "You'll all see him as weak if he has any emotions."
"That's just stupid." Leo said.
"I didn't say it made sense." Holly shrugged.
"Poor lamb." Stacey said, "Hopefully he grows out of his inferiority complex."
"Who's inferior?" Leo asked looking between Stacey and Holly.
"Mom, don't." Holly said with a rather serious look on her face.
"Alright!" Stacey said, and dropped the subject. "I have some work to do today anyway. I got an email last night from the team in Paris. Hopefully it can all be resolved online, but I may need to fly out in a couple of days if it can't."
"Great," Holly said and her usual expressive face went somber.
"I know, I'm sorry." Stacey said, "There are just some things that I have to do in person."
Holly just inclined her head in acknowledgment, and Stacey walker over to give her daughter a hug.
"I can't take you with me, you have to go to school. But, if they're OK with it, you can stay with April, or the guys, rather than be alone at home." Stacey suggested.
"Yeah, Splinter wont care, and I'm sure Raph will be thrilled." Leo said and elbowed her gently.
Holly let out a little snort of amusement, "He doesn't do 'thrilled'".
"Yeah he does, he just likes to pretend he doesn't care." Leo said.
"I know I have let my career get in the way of things in the past, but you are a very capable young woman now and I'm sort of surprised you even still need me." Stacey said and Holly's head snapped around.
"You're my mom. I'll always need you."
"I know, and I am never that far away. Not really." Stacey said and she squeezed her daughter again. This time Holly hugged her mom back.
"OK, I have to go deal with this before it gets too late in Europe." She grabbed her mug and went upstairs to grab her computer.
Holly sighed unhappily.
"You know, we like having you around the lair." Leo said softly from Holly's right. " You're funny, and bright, and make Raph much more bearable."
Holly let out a choked bark of laughter, but turned to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and shoulders. "Thanks." She almost whispered. When she let go, she turned her head and wiped away a tear that she was trying to hide. "Anyway, whats up with Space Hero? I don't get it."
Leo and Holly sat in the kitchen talking over the movie they had watched. Leo was delighted to try to explain the intricacies of the series to her and she agreed that she would watch some of the original series with him so she could understand it better.
When Mikey emerged from his room, Holly started making breakfast for everyone. She started by slicing up some fruit, but Mikey kept eating it before she was ready. She slapped his hand away when he reached for more.
"Will you quit it? You can help me if you can't keep your hands to yourself." Holly said and pushed the cutting board over to him.
"Awe, I helped yesterday." He wined.
"I'll do it." Leo offered happily and he took the chopping board.
Holly began making some pancakes and soon had a stack on the counter that Mikey was trying to steal off of.
"You could go and find Raph, he disappeared a while ago and I have no idea where he went." Holly said, waving a spatula at the stairs.
"Fine, But I get the first pancake!" Mikey shouted as he bounded off to find his brother.
"Are we going to wake up April and Donnie?" Leo asked as he cored and sliced some strawberries.
"Um, only if you are prepared to see something you might not want to?" Holly said with a cheeky grin.
"Good point." Leo acknowledged, and he continued chopping up fruit.
"I'll go see what they're up to." Holly said and grinned nastily.
April had woken up earlier in the morning to find Donnie sleeping peacefully. She could hear the others talking downstairs, but was not quite ready to face everyone. She debated getting up and putzing around the room, but really wanted to stay in bed. She decided to take a leaf out of Holly's book, and snuck over to Donnie's bed. She gently lifted the covers and slid in next to Donatello.
"What are you doing?" He asked dreamily as he shifted over slightly to make more room for her.
"I wanted to cuddle." April said and nuzzled up to him.
"I'm not gonna complain then." He replied and wrapped her up in his arms as she giggled.
They lay together and listened to the others talking and laughing downstairs. Raph yelled at someone and they heard him come stomping back up stairs.
"Bets on who he yelled at?" April asked Donnie.
"Oh, Leonardo... Mikey is a late sleeper." He replied, and again April giggled. He smiled to himself and pulled her closer letting the smell of her hair fill his nose. "I love you."
April's stomach did a flip inside her, "What did you say?"
Donatello started and tried to detangle himself from her, "I didn't... I mean, I did, but I shouldn't.."
"Just, hold on." April said and grabbed his arms as he tried to pull away from her. "Would you give me a second?"
"You don't have to say anything, It just sort of slipped out." He chuckled nervously, desperate to get out of this awkward situation.
"Alright." April said, she took a breath to think. Donnie was looking at her with his big brown eyes, clearly having an internal freak out. "I am not exactly experienced with romance, and I don't think I have ever been in love before, but I know that I like you a lot too" She took another breath, but Donnie didn't look reassured. "You just caught me off guard, is all." April said finally.
"I'm sorry," he said, and again tried to leave, but April sat up next to him and put a had on his arm.
"You never have to apologize to me for how you feel."April said. She placed a hand gently on his cheek to get him to look at her, "I'm not saying I don't, I just haven't figured it out yet." He nodded, and she leaned in and kissed him gently. April felt her stomach tighten and she kissed him again, this time a little firmer. She pulled away from him slightly flushed, and smiled a little timidly. This time he leaned in and kissed her, but not his usual timid kiss. This one had some heat to it. She sucked in a breath through her nose as her navel tightened again, and a shiver trembled through her as he ran his fingers just under the hem of her shirt.
Donnie pulled April back down to the bed and ran a hand down the side of her waist, over her hip. She ran her hands down his arms and back up his shell.
Donatello let out a little moan against her mouth, which April was surprised to find made her heart rate quicken.
Their hands were exploring more urgently now. April guided his calloused hand further up her shirt, his fingers ran along the side of her breast, around her ribs and back down her spine. She let her fingers trace the muscle definition in his arms before sliding her hand down his plastron. It was firm but warm, and she could feel his heart pounding beneath it.
"Hey, are you guys decent?" Holly's voice came along with a rapid knock on the door.
They both froze, breathing heavily, their eyes locked in shock and surprise at how quickly they had given into each other.
"Guys? I can come back later if you're busy." Holly said in a mocking sing-songy tone.
April cleared her throat, "We'll be right down." She called out a little breathlessly.
"Don't hurry on our account." Holly replied and they heard her pad away from the door.
April let out a nervous little laugh, which caused Donnie to let out a bark of laughter. Before they knew it, they were both laughing, and everything felt a lot less serious again.
Donatello went down to the kitchen before April did, who needed a moment to collect herself. She washed her face and brushed her hair back into a ponytail.
As she descended the stairs, Holly shot her a knowing grin. "So. How did you two sleep?"
"In separate beds." April replied with an equally knowing look.
"What?" Leo asked oblivious.
Holly laughed, and flipped over the pancakes she was frying up. "Don't worry about it." She added the last few cakes to a huge stack on a serving plate and looked around. Just as she was about to ask where the others were, Mikey came bounding down the stairs with Raph in tow.
"Where were you two?" Holly asked. "I didn't see you when I went upstairs."
"He was hiding in the bathroom." Mikey said, and side stepped a swipe from Raph.
"I wasn't hiding." Raph protested.
"Be nice to your brother," Holly said and jabbed the spatula in his direction.
"Yeah, be nice to me." Mikey said, actually thankful that someone told Raph off for being a jerk to him for once.
"Listen to mom," Leo said wagging a scalding finger at Raph. Raphael glared at his big brother over the top of his mug.
"Don't you get involved either. You should all be nicer to each other." Holly said still brandishing the spatula.
"What did I do?" Donnie asked incredulously.
"Nothing yet," Holly said and narrowed her eyes at him jokingly.
They all ate as much as they wanted, making sure to save some for Splinter and Stacey should they decide they wanted some.
"What are we doing today?" Mikey asked once they had tidied up.
"Anything you want!" April said happily and went out onto the deck to sit in the sun.
"The rain washed away your sand castle, we could make it again?" Holly motioned to the beach where only a lump of sand was left to indicate they had made anything.
"Nah, I wanna do something different." Mikey said.
"We could play Volleyball." Holly said. "We haven't done that yet."
"Yeah!" Mikey shouted enthusiastically, "How do you play?"
Holly quickly went over the basics before Mikey ran off to dig the ball out of the shed. "Are you guys going to play? We need 4 at least."
"I'll play." Leo said, "Seems easy enough."
"I'm good, I want to keep working on my next gen T-phones." Donnie said. He set up his gear on one of the tables on the deck so he could at least watch.
"I think I'll sit this one out too, I want to catch some sun while its still warm enough to." April said.
"Alright Raph, looks like you're our fourth." Holly said.
"Don't I get to decide what I want to do?" He complained.
"Not until you start being nice to your brother." Holly smiled at him. "Come on, I'll at least wear my bikini for you again." They grabbed a bluetooth speaker and headed down to the beach. Holly paired her phone and selected a playlist.
They let Mikey choose who he wanted to be on his team, and he picked Raph.
"Lets do this," Leo said, and he and Holly fist bumped before turning to their side of the court.
"You're going down." Raph said.
"We'll see." Leo said, and served the ball.
They played for a while before Holly realized she was at a bit of a disadvantage. The turtles vertical reach was significant compared with hers. On one volley, Mikey lept up and kicked the ball down for a spike. Holly dove for it, but missed and lay face down in the sand. She push herself up to her knees.
"You're not supposed to use you feet, you know."
"You're just mad we're kicking your butt!" Mikey said, he and Raph high threed with a laugh.
"I'm not mad," Holly said and brushed the sand off herself as she stood back up, "I'm just realizing that maybe I have to accept that you guys can do things I can't."
"Like play volleyball?" Raph said, and Mikey burst out laughing.
Holly put on a mocking tone, "'Like play volleyball.' You're hilarious." But she was smiling obviously not that bothered.
"I thought it was pretty good." Raph said with a grin, and Mikey laughed heartily at the banter.
Holly and Leo huddled together to try and come up with an idea to at least get one more point.
"Whats the plan boss?" Holly asked.
"Hmm, they have the power, but we're sneakier. How are your acting skills?" Leo said with a nasty smile.
Leo served the ball to Raph, who popped it up to Mikey. He, in turn set the ball right by the net and Raph launched himself up to spike the ball. Holly was waiting underneath the net, and when he hit the ball, she tucked her arms in tight and high to make it look like it hit her in the face. As she saved the volley, she yelled out and crumpled to the floor clutching her face.
"Holly!" Raph and Mikey both yelled, completely abandoning the game, they ducked under the net and slid over to Holly as Leo tipped the ball onto their side of the court.
"Our point" Leo said, and Holly rolled onto her back and laughed when Raph pulled her arms away from her nose.
Raph and Mikey both looked confused for a moment, before both bursting out in protest at the deception.
"That's not funny, I thought I hurt you!" Raph said kneeling over Holly still holding her wrists.
"I'm sorry, It was Leo's idea." She was still laughing. She tried to sit up, but Raph shoved her playfully back into the sand.
"Come on, you guys were killing us." Leo said and retrieved the ball, "We knew we weren't going to win, but we needed to score one more point."
"You're such a sore looser Leo." Mikey pouted,
"Alright, we'll play nice." Holly said and stood up again. "You guys only need two more points to win anyway."
The game was over pretty quickly. Mikey and Raph lorded their victory over Leo and Holly for the rest of the morning. Eventually Mikey got bored though and wandered off to dance around to the music they had on. Raph and Holly sat on the grass and soon April wandered down to join them as Donnie was completely engrossed in his work.
"How was your game?" April asked them.
Holly rolled her eyes as Raph immediately answered, "We kicked their butts!"
"Ok, yes Leo and I lost." Holly confirmed for him. "But you guys literally have a five foot vertical!"
"That's not my problem." Raph flexed his arms to emphasize his skills.
"You're so modest." Holly said, April laughed. "Its true though, we've watched you guys jump onto a fire escape from the ground."
"We do have to scramble after you guys a lot." April agreed.
"I wonder if its part of your biology, or if its the mutagen that causes you to have incredible strength?" Holly said looking him up and down.
Raph shrugged, "For those sorts of answers, you'll need to talk to Donnie."
"Good luck, He's preoccupied at the moment." April said with a glance back at the house.
Donnie had on a pair of magnifying goggles that he used when he was working on small components, they glinted in the sun as he moved around.
"He told me he loved me this morning." April sprung with no warning.
Both Raph and Holly spluttered at this sudden piece of information. Raph actually did a spit take of the water he was drinking and began choking as he inhaled some liquid into his lungs.
"He what?!" Holly practically shrieked.
"Whats going on? Raph are you OK?" Leo asked. He had stopped in the middle of a kata to make sure his brother was alright.
Raph just nodded and waved him off before he finally caught his breath.
"What did you do?" Holly whispered at April.
"Nothing really, I tried to tell him that I care about him too but I have no idea what love is supposed to be." April admitted.
"Do I need to go?" Raph asked not wanting to intrude in any private business.
"Only if you want to." April said, but Holly waved off the question as unimportant.
"Love isn't supposed to be like anything." Holly said with a frown. "Technically, its just a chemical reaction in the brain."
"How romantic." Raph muttered sarcastically.
"I don't mean it like that," Holly scolded him, "what I mean is that if it feels like love, then it probably is. There is no right or wrong way to love someone... Unless you turn into a stalker" She added as an after thought, mostly to herself.
"I don't get it." April said looking at Holly.
"Well," Holly said turning a little pink, "Romantic love is not the same as platonic love. Like, I love you because you're my best friend. I love my mom, obviously, because she's my mom. But romantic love feels different, because there are different chemical responses going on in your body."
April looked confused. Holly winced slightly but continued. "When you're with Donnie, does it feel like there are butterflies in your stomach?"
"Yeah," April admitted.
"And when you kiss, can you feel you heart pounding in your head, enough to make you dizzy?" Holly asked, turning a little pink in the cheeks.
"Yes," April said and glanced at Raph. He was staring out at the lake trying not to look bothered by this conversation.
"And when he touches you, does it feel like your whole body is on fire?" Holly asked in a lower voice.
April nodded.
"Then at the very least, you are physically reacting to him." Holly said with a laugh, she brushed her hair out of her face, her ears were bright red, but she was trying her best to be nonchalant.
"That can't be all it is though?" April said with a skeptical look. "Isn't there a non physical component to it?"
Holly shrugged, "Look, I don't exactly have the best examples to look to, my parents are divorced after all. But personally, its nice to have someone who I could call on to be there for me no matter what. Someone who I want to be there for too. Who doesn't care that I'm the biggest looser in school, and likes me for who I am. If that isn't love, I don't know what is."
"Maybe you're right. I might just be overthinking it." April said.
"If you wanted, you could probably go talk to my mom. I know she and my dad loved each other at some point, maybe she has another point of view that makes more sense to you." Holly said and leaned back on the grass. She was still pink in the cheeks, but didn't seem too wound up about Raph being there.
"We'll see. Its one of those conversations I would have liked to have with my own mom at some point."April hugged her knees close to her chest.
"I know," Holly said and sat back up to give April a hug. "You could always talk to Carol when we get home. At least she's family."
"You guys are my family now too." April said and squeezed Holly's arm.
"Yeah, but Its not the same." Holly said out loud for her.
They sat holding each other for a few minutes, watching Mikey do flips and spins on the sand.
"How do you guys make that look so easy?" April asked.
"Because it is easy." Raph finally spoke up. They had almost forgotten he was there. They both looked at him a little surprised and burst out laughing.
"Where you there the whole time?" Holly asked suddenly, apparently she had forgotten he was there.
"Yeah, I asked if you wanted me to leave." Raph said, worried that he had invaded some private girl conversation he was not supposed to.
"No, don't worry about it. Its no worse than my mom asking if we had sex." Holly said.
"SHE WHAT?!" He shouted, looking mortified.
"Oh, weren't you there for that?" Holly asked with a shrug while April rolled on the grass laughing.
"No, I wasn't!" He shouted at them.
"What is going on over there? I'm trying to concentrate." Leo shouted from a short way off.
"Nothing!" Raph yelled back about a half octave higher than he usually would.
Holly and April were almost in tears laughing now. Once they caught their breath April jumped up walked over to Michelangelo. Holly stood and held out her hand to Raph, "Come on, you can show us how to do flips if its so easy."
"You're not a looser." Raph said taking her hand and letting her pull him to his feet.
She smiled, "I am, but it doesn't bother me because I know you don't think that."
His frown deepened, worried what was happening at her school. "You're not a looser." He repeated, squeezing her hand gently.
"OK, I'm not a looser." She repeated back to him leaning in and kissing his cheek. "Thank you. Now come on, teach me something!"
They spent the rest of the day, trying to teach the girls how to do back handsprings, among other things. Even Donnie abandoned his work when he saw what was going on. They all spotted for the girls so they could try to tumble with out hurting themselves. April caught on pretty quickly and was even attempting to do one with out the support of one of the boys.
"I think I'll go see if mom needs help with dinner." Holly said after dropping her glasses for the fifth time.
"But you nearly have it." Leo protested. "A few more tries and I know you can do it."
"Oh, I'll get it, but maybe when I am wearing contact lenses." Holly said and jogged off up to the house.
April was attempting another handspring solo.
"Remember, keep you chest up and open, and really reach this time." Mikey was saying. While Donnie stood behind her, just in case.
April nodded, and took a breath. She did a little hop to giver her self momentum and reached as far back as she could. Her hands sunk into the sand, and she engaged her core to pull her legs over and back underneath her. As her feet touched, she wobbled slightly and nearly lost her balance, but Donnie was there to offer a hand.
"That was awesome!" Mikey shouted and grabbed April around the middle. He swung her in a circle before depositing her back on her feet.
"Yeah you pretty much got it." Donnie agreed beaming. "A little more practice and you'll have it no problem."
April was laughing when Holly appeared on the deck calling for them all to come inside.
Stacey and Splinter were cooking up a whole bunch of pizzas for them all, but they needed something else from the teens. "I need to get back to the city no later than one o'clock for a call to Europe, so we need to be on the road by 8. Could you all please help get most of the house cleaned up tonight before bed?"
"You just tell us what to do and we'll get it done," Leo said and everyone nodded their agreement.
"Yeah, we got this." Mikey agreed.
"OK then, if we could leave it cleaner than when we got here, that would be wonderful." Stacey said clasping her hands together, "I always try to be the best guest I can when I rent someones home."
"What can we do first?" Donnie asked.
"Why don't we start with sweeping and mopping the floors, then we can start on the bathrooms." Stacey said.
"On it!" Leo said, "Raph and Mikey, you sweep, Donnie and I will follow you with the mops." Leo started shouting orders.
"What should we do?" April asked.
"I've seen your room." Stacey said lightly scolding the girls, "You should tidy up your stuff."
April and Holly shared a grin, and knew they had been slobs this weekend. They ran upstairs to tidy up before Raph and Mikey came in to sweep.
They all pitched in to clean the house before they ate and they all helped to wash, dry, and put away the dishes. They formed a sort of assembly line with the rest of the cleaning, everyone doing their part to make sure the house was clean and tidy before they departed in the morning. Raph pushed the beds back into their proper place in his own room while Donnie straightened the towels they had washed and dried so they looked perfect.
By the time they were all done, everyone was tired, but satisfied. They all flopped down on the sofas and looked around at their work.
"Nice job guys!" Stacey said, "Can I hire you to clean my apartment?"
"So long as we can come over after dark." Leo said.
"You can come over anytime you need." Stacey said with a soft smile. "But, we have an early start tomorrow, so I am going to head up. Goodnight everyone."
A cacophony of replies from everyone ushered her up the stairs, and not too long after, the rest of the group turned in too.
The morning was a rush to get out the door. Everyone was tasked with stripping their beds of sheets and loading up the van early. It was much cooler and frost crunched under their feet and they locked up the house. Stacey popped the keys into the lock box before they left.
"Bye cabin, its been real fun!" Mikey said looking out of the tinted back window as they pulled away.
"I can't wait to be back in the city." Raph said, "I miss the sounds of the subway."
"Yeah, but I bet you'll miss this more." April said and flashed him her phone. On the screen was the picture she had taken of him and Holly snuggled up asleep two nights before.
"Where did you get that?!" Raph said and tried to snatch her phone from her.
"Don't worry, I won't keep it." April said, but did show it to Mikey who had clambered over the rows of seats to see what it was.
"Awe, that's adorable!" Mikey said, and showed Holly the picture who was sitting in the front seat.
"You creeper!" Holly yelled at April, "Send me that though."
"No way!" Raph protested.
"I will delete it," April said, and made sure to let Leo have a look over her shoulder as she did.
"Who knew you were such a snuggle bug?" Leo said mockingly.
Raph sat back and sulked for a good few hours as they drove, while the others laughed and spoke happily about their weekend.
