Actually I was very happy to return to the lair to be with my friend Lea again. Believe me, she was very happy to see me! This made me feel kind of feel better. I thought at first everything would be okay with me back with her again. Course I think I was wrong. Before I get into this, let me just go ahead and make a confession. I like Donatello. I mean really like him! Kind of like your average crush, but a little bit more! But then again I felt that I didn't have a chance with Donatello and I felt like he didn't really like me in the same way that I liked him. I mean Donatello after all was a turtle, not a human, so I mean that's scientifically impossible! Another thing is that Donatello is very smart! I mean extremely smart! I could never be as smart as him so what interest would he really have in me? Plus I wasn't the hottest human girl either! I mean I really need to lose weight. I mean Donatello DID tell me he loved me, but I think he only said that to get me away from Saki. How could anyone like him find any interest in me? I knew that he was worried for my safety, but silly, Melinda, that's all! Nothing else!

Well Donatello came into the room to check on me since I figured Leonardo must have told him I was there. But as soon as he saw me, he seemed to be quieter. I then realized that I was standing in front of him with my nightgown on! How embarrassing! I didn't know what to say! I wanted hide and cry! All he did was gawk at me! Ugh! Way to go, Melinda! I am standing in front of the guy that I really like in my nightgown! Even he MADE a comment about it! He said something like, "Sorry…you must be indisposed of...I'll be downstairs if you need me." Then he left! He almost backed into the doorframe as he left! I felt so bad for what had happened. I scared the poor guy! To make things worse after this happened, Lea fell onto the floor laughing hard. I was a little confused on why she was laughing.

For the rest of the day I tried my best to avoid Don. Don't get me wrong, he's really sweet, but I didn't want to give myself false hope about him. You see, years ago in high school, I use to like this guy who was really smart, probably not as smart as Don, but really smart! Well when the guy found out that I liked him, he started to act differently away around me. He hardly spoke to me and constantly made fun of me. Those last 3 years of my high school life were terrible! I didn't know how long I was going to be staying here with them and Lea so I didn't want to make things depressing for me. I mean the only option I had besides here was going home. I really didn't want to go home yet. Well I could find a way to go back to Saki, but I couldn't. For one thing that would hurt Lea and she seemed so much happier with me here and the fact that it would be pretty stupid of me since they knew I had ran away.

For the most part during the day I mostly stayed in my room, pretending to be reading or napping to avoid any contact. If anyone asked me I just told them I was tired and needed some rest; luckily Don didn't even come to check on me so I assumed that he wasn't all that interested in me. I think the only people that I had spoken to were Lea and Master Splinter. I often retreated to Master Splinter's room to meditate with him because he never asked me about anything unless I brought it up. Later on that day Lea told me that they were about to eat supper and asked me if I had wanted to join them. Of course, I declined and told her that I wasn't hungry. I just didn't feel comfortable around them like she did. I don't know if it was because of that the fact that I have been with Saki for so long and I still haven't trusted them yet or because the fact that I found them too weird for me to associate with? Or was it only because of Donatello?

I sighed hard as I stared down at my feet as I sat on the floor in Leonardo's room. I hated to be in this situation. I started to grow sad and depressed. I could hear them talking amongst themselves down below as they ate, talking lively among one another. I knew for sure that Leonardo had liked Lea. I could tell by the way he looked at her sometimes when I snuck around. I envied her. She was so much prettier than me. I let out a sigh as I sat there, pushing my back up against the wall. Something inside me was telling me to go back to Saki or try to find my friends, Amanda and Tina again. Believe me the urge was strong,

but I tried to shrug off and just sit there. I didn't know what was wrong with me! I let out a groan and pressed my face into my pillow and began to cry, muffling any noise that I may make as I cried. I felt the tears soaking my pillow.

I am not sure how long I stayed like that with my face against the pillow. Eventually I did stop crying, but I am not too sure what all happened after that. Did I fall asleep or just completely zone out? I looked up from the dampened pillow and listened carefully. I could hear a variety of noises downstairs so I figured they were done with the dinner. I walked downstairs and saw that Lea was still there eating some of her rice that she must have had. I smiled some to her, hoping that she could have not realized that I had been crying earlier. But as I looked at the food, I didn't feel hungry at all. I watched her get up and start to clean her plate so I walked over with her and helped her clean up the rest of the dishes. Not many words were expressed between us, not that I could remember. All I remember was Lea mumbling about getting her shower. I wanted to go first, but I decided to be nice and offered for her to get hers first. She was actually pretty excited about going first, which confused me, but I guess she was tired or something. I sat in the kitchen and forced myself to try to eat some of the rice at least knowing if I was hungry for too long that it would make me sick and that's all I needed. I was surprised that I didn't get sick already from the way that my nerves were shot. After forcing down 12 spoonfuls of the rice, I cleaned my plate and made my way up to Leonardo's room again to retrieve my bathrobe that I managed to pack with me. As I walked up to Leonardo's room I noticed that only Michelangelo was sitting there on the couch, watching television. I figured that Leo must have been with Splinter and I had no clue about Raph and Don. But what really kind of creeped me out was as I was walking, I saw Mikey looking over me, grinning from ear to ear really big. "Hey, Melinda! Where ya going?" He chimed at me. He seemed way too happy and it kind of spooked me.

I got back up to Leonardo's room and got my bathrobe. Lea walked back into the room, finishing drying her hair with the towel that she brought with her from the bathroom. "All done, sis." She said at me. "You going to take yours now?" I nodded and walked with her to the bathroom. I noticed that now Don was downstairs again, working on something and Michelangelo seemed to be around him. I hurried my pace, hoping that Don wouldn't notice me. "Have a nice shower, sis." Lea said as she smiled and turned away. This kind of confused me. Everyone seemed to be way too cheery! I thought it to be nothing and went into the bathroom.

I just had taken off my clothes and put them in a nice little pile on the floor when I walked to the shower to turn on the water. Suddenly something caught my eye towards of the floor where a stack of towels was. I glanced over to see what it was! I swear I must have done several double takes! Because I couldn't believe what I had seen! It was a snake! I am not too sure if it was real or fake, but I didn't want to find out! You would think someone who lives in an area where she sees snakes; she would be accustomed to them. Not me! I am petrified of them! My heart was beating fast! I let out a scream and put my pink silk robe on and tied it around me fast! I ran to the door and opened it up. I ran out of the bathroom, only to run into Donatello. I was so scared that I didn't care! I don't like snakes! "What's wrong?" He asked with concern as he stood there.

"I saw a snake in there, Don!" I said again, I felt myself crying. I hate snakes so bad. "I don't like them, Don!" I clutched him tighter to me, trying to find some sort of comfort in him. "Can you kill it?"

"Sure," Don said as he walked into the bathroom first. "Now where is it?"

I followed behind him. "It's right there!" I squealed and pointed to the towel mass that was on the floor. Don tiptoed further and then let out a groan.

"It's only a fake one, Melinda," He groaned. I don't think he was peeved at me though. "I bet Mikey put it in here. He likes to play tricks on people. That chucklehead!"

I felt relived, but my heart was still pounding from the scare. Don pulled me to him again, holding me to him. "You okay? I am really sorry for that. Don't worry, I'll let the lame brain know."

I sniffed some again as I rubbed my face against his chest, trying to calm myself down. "Yeah. It just almost gave me a heart attack." I giggled some and sniffed again.

Don chuckled too, but then I felt him gently caressing my back with his hands. I THEN realized that I was standing here next to him in my bathrobe! I knew he was hugging me to only comfort me, but I wanted more. Then I realized I was giving myself false hope again so I quickly moved away from him. "Please, don't touch me," I said. I was so angry inside. Immediately for some reason I started to think of my past experiences with men. How the first guy I was with, tried to force himself on me. How my ex wanted me close to for his pleasure, then left me and blamed everything on me. How guys at my work always made crude comments to me. I didn't want to deal with this again! I felt so angry again, thinking about all of them.

"Melinda, what's wrong?" Donatello asked me as he looked at me. I could tell he was confused by my action, but I just looked at him as if he was just like them. I felt so angry inside. How could he be any different from them?

"I said, 'Don't touch me!'" I screamed really loud and then stormed out of the bathroom passed him. I didn't care about my shower. I could get one the next day. I felt embarrassed for everything that I just wanted to get away from it all. I made a dash back to Leonardo's room and slammed the door hard.

I was so angry, hurt, and confused inside that I immediately put on my clothes and slammed my bag onto my makeshift bed. I checked to see that all my clothes were still in there, then zipped it back up. I noticed my sais lying on the floor nearby and walked over to retrieve them. I just had to get out of here! I didn't know where! Suddenly I heard the door open and immediately, I whirred around angrily, expecting it to be Donatello, but instead it was Lea. "Mel? Are you okay? What's wrong?" She asked. She seemed very concerned.

I said nothing to her and turned back around and walked back over to my bag with my sais. I didn't want to discuss this with her. I unzipped my bag and started to put my sais in it, I felt her grab my hand. "Mel, talk to me. Please," she said. I sighed and looked at her, her eyes were filled with worry and I knew I couldn't just say anything to her. But I didn't know how to tell her. I looked at her, then at the door and bit my lip. She followed my gaze and then asked, "Is it about Don?" I looked over at her I felt the tears come to my eyes and turned my head away and felt tears sliding down my face. "Listen, sis, is it about running into him? He just wanted to see if you are okay. Don's not a bad person, he just cares for you that's all." I sighed and wiped my eyes. "Sis, do you not like him? I mean if he's bothering you then just let me know."

I sat there and sighed. I knew I had to tell her. "Sis, listen. I do like Don…a lot," I sighed hard and then lifted my eyes up to the door, not keeping them on her. "I just feel like there's no point in me even liking him."

"Why's that?" Lea asked, I could tell she was looking over at me. "There IS a point if you like him, especially if your heart likes him, sis."

I giggled some trying to calm myself. "I know THAT for a fact, sis. Every time I am around him, my heart skips a beat."

"Well why don't you talk to him? Are you that shy around him?" Lea pressed on.

"No, sis," I sighed hard. "I don't want to give myself false hope."

"False hope?"

"Yeah. Don has no interest in me, sis. I mean sure he cares about me, but that's about it. He's a turtle, sis. He wouldn't find me attractive at all. I am not that pretty for starters and he's so smart, he wouldn't find me his type at all." I let out another sigh. "So I figured if I don't talk to him, then I won't get any ideas that he likes me and I would be happier."

"Sis. You got it all wrong though. Don likes you…actually quite a bit. He's just very shy around you and I think he thinks the same things as you are about this."

I looked at her, my eyes went wide, but I managed to stay calm. "Sis, you don't have to say that to just cheer me up."

"Melinda, come on, you know me. You know I just don't tell people to tell things to make them happy. I only say things that I know are true. Another fact is that I know also from what Michelangelo told me. Mikey is Don's brother and even HE says this. You just need to talk to Don. Don has trouble coming out openingly with his emotions. I bet he likes you even more than you realized." She smiled warmly at me, she frowned some as if something else was bugging her as she was telling me, but whatever it was, she quickly pushed it out of her mind.

"So y-you're telling me the truth?" I asked as I looked at her, deciding not to question what was bugging her since she was trying to hide it for the time being.

"Of course," She smiled at me. "You just need to give Don a chance. You two would be so cute together!"

"Lea!" I said as I felt my face grow hot. I picked up my pillow and threw it out her. She let out a laugh as the pillow hit her and then fell to the ground laughing. I couldn't help but to laugh with her.

Later on that night when everyone was asleep, I lay there on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. The entire place grew quiet. I heard the distance sound of a television so I figured someone must have been up downstairs. I knew it was late, but I wasn't too sure how late. I couldn't sleep at all. I kept thinking on what Lea had told me. I felt so bad now for yelling at him. Earlier that evening after Lea had talked me, I peeked outside the door and saw Don working at his worktable. He seemed to be working hard on something, but I could tell by the expression on his face that he was sad. I knew I had to talk to him. I heard got up from the floor quietly and looked around. Luckily the door to our room was cracked open so there was some light shining through. I tiptoed out of the room and walked my way towards Don's room. It was kind of cool in the lair, but fortunately I had on my cotton PJ pants and a long sleeve shirt. I made a glance at the television center and saw Mikey on the couch with one arm draped over. He was snoring really loud, but it seemed almost as if his snores were in unison with Raphael's snores. I shook my head. How THAT sounded familiar! At my house, my dad snored so loud that sometimes it would keep me up if I stayed up too late! I crept and looked around to make sure no one saw me then gently opened the door to Don's room. His bed was against the wall in a little like loft. It tended to be around 8-10 feet in the air and there was a ladder at the end to climb up. I groaned. I hate ladders! I walked in quietly and looked around. He had a small fish tank against the wall as you walked in and a computer monitor near that. On a table near the middle were some plants.

I rolled my eyes. Man, he really WAS a geek! It was like I was walking into one of my science buildings at college. I tiptoed quietly and then looked over up at him. He had one arm draped off the side of the bed and he was lying on his side, his face was towards me. I stood there and looked at him. He didn't seem to snore like Michelangelo and Raphael. Instead he just seemed to breathe quietly and murmured softly in his sleep. It was actually kind of cute! I wanted to go "Awww!" Really loud in the room, but I held it in and just giggled silently to myself. I looked over at the clock on his plant table and saw that it was around 3:30am, I groaned! I didn't realize how late it was but my body did. It was begging me to sleep. I walked over to the ladder and climbed up some of it and gently reached out and touched his blanket covered leg. "Pssst…Don." No movement, I tried it again, shaking him some. "Don…" I whispered. Hoping not to startle him or waking up anyone else in the lair.

He groaned some so I knew he was coming to. I climbed back down the ladder and over in front of the bed where he was. "Donnie…" I said again.

His eyelids fluttered open and he looked over at me tiredly. "Melinda?" I could tell his eyes were still focusing because as soon as he saw that it was me, he sat straight up. "What is it?" He looked at me kind of uneasily as well, I guess since I was in my pajamas.

I frowned some, I still felt bad for yelling at him earlier. "I-I couldn't sleep, Don…" I said as I looked at him.

I saw him shift some uncomfortably in his bed. "Do you want to sleep in here?" His voice was shaking.

"I can…if you want me to," I said quickly, I felt myself growing nervous.

Don looked at me one more time and then crawled over and stepped down from the ladder. "Here go ahead." He motioned for me. I smiled at him nervously and then went back up the ladder and laid down some on the soft mattress that he had for a bed. It was a whole lot softer than sleeping on the floor! I looked over some and saw him going to his closet and pulling out a blanket and extra pillow.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I am not leaving. I am just going to lay here in the floor," He said as he put down the blanket and the pillows.

I then felt bad for making him get out of his bed! "No, no, Don. I didn't mean to kick you out of your bed…" I said as I got up from the bed and was about to make my way over to the ladder once more.

"No, you stay there. I'll be fine," He said as he watched me.

"You are not sleeping on that floor, Don." I then stuttered, "You can sleep up here with me if you want…I have room. Trust me, the floor is not good to sleep on."

He looked up at me with wide eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah…I mean if you want to," I replied.

"Okay if you want," He said as he walked back over to the ladder. I heard him climbing up the ladder. "Uh, does it matter what side you like to sleep on?"

"No…I am fine where I am if that's okay with you," I said quickly. I was still on my side, my back to you; I held the cover tightly to my chest. My heart was pounding really hard!

"No, problem," He said as he moved over and lay down behind me on the mattress. I could smell his scent on the pillow and I nestled my head against it. "Now try to get some rest. You have plenty of cover?"

"Yeah," I said, I then scooted forward some more away from him. "You have plenty of room, Don?"

"Yeah, don't scoot too far. I don't want you falling off the bed," He chuckled some softly. His soft chuckle gave me chills up my spine.

I giggled some softly. "Yeah I always had a fear of falling out of these beds or bunk beds," I said. "I use to fall out of the bed a lot when I was little. I don't like being too high up."

"You want me to hold onto you?" He asked playfully.

"That may help," I laughed some nervously.

I felt Don scoot closer to me and I tensed up gently as he put his arms around my waist, holding me closer to him. I think he could tell I tensed up. "Are you okay?" He asked, releasing his arms some.

"Yeah, I am fine," I said. He then put his arms back around me again but I could tell he was trembling some. "Are you okay, Don?"

"Yeah. Don't worry I won't let you fall," He said as he sighed happily. I felt his nose gently rub against my hair and neck. I felt more relaxed and I nestled back against him. His body so warm against mine. I stayed there for a moment, but I still felt sad for earlier. "Don?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah?" He asked. I could tell he was still awake too.

"I am sorry for earlier…I shouldn't have yelled at you," I said.

"Shhh…it's okay. Just get some rest."

I nodded my head and drifted out to sleep peacefully.