Hello hello hello! Okay I know I said I would have another chapter posted soon, but I have so much going on with my finals for school that I haven't had the time to do any. I apologize for the very long wait, but I am happy to say that I do have one ready for you this time. As always, I do not own TMNT only my OCs. Please enjoy:).

Chapter 5: A Trip to the NYC Beats

Verena's P.O.V.:

It has been a few days since the girls first saw the guys and Master Splinter, and I can tell that my friends are trying to keep themselves discrete as much as they can aside from their jobs and school. They are really taking my father and grandfather's advice seriously, aside from their own worries. For the most part, it's almost like the three of them have disappeared into thin air. More importantly, there is no way the Dark Benders will be able to find them now since I also put a protective barrier around the girls. Just a little personal touch I learned in one of my books a long time ago. So for now they are safe.

The guys, however, are a different case; well most of them anyway. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey have been asking me so many questions about the girls since I came back to the Lair when I took them home, and they just keep coming. One question that I really notice them asking is when are they going to see them again, and I can honestly say it will be sooner than they think. All three of them seem to have a connection with the girls in a way that Leo and I have, they just don't know it yet and we can see it in their faces. They have been struck with Cupids arrow, as they would say, although they won't admit it. I think they are trying their best to hide their feelings since it is knew to them, and I can understand that because that was how Leo was to me and the other way around. As long as they know to take everything slow and really get to know them, then they will be perfect.

Since we won't be seeing the girls until later on I decide to pay Donnie a little visit to his lab to see how the new scanner he built is holding up. He especially made it for detecting any dark energy in the entire city, so in lamest terms it tracks down Dark Benders. I get inside the lab and see him typing away at his computer.

"Hi Donnie." I greet him with a big smile on my face.

He turns to my direction in his chair and smiles back, "Hey Verena, I didn't expect to see you in here so soon."

"Is it a crime that I want to pay one of my friends a visit?" I ask him rubbing his shoulder.

"Of course not, and I actually enjoy it very much." He said and stands up going to the scanner, "I take it we're checking for more signatures right?"

I nod, "Yes. Hopefully if it's anything like yesterday the numbers should still be going down."

"Well we're about to find out right now. Let's just hope it is the answer we want." Donnie said and turns on the scanner.

The machine takes a few seconds to load up and starts to scan the entire city. During the past few days we noticed that the number in Dark Benders has been decreasing rapidly, which means the barrier is working in our favor. Whether they will continue to decrease, I do not know. All we can do is pray and hope for the best. Five minutes later the scan finishes and the picture of the city appears along with some red dots in some areas, but not as many as before. The number has drastically decreased from fifty yesterday to fifteen Dark Benders in total still here.

"I don't believe it." I finally break the silence and just stare at the screen in shock.

"Verena, your spell is working. They seem to believe the girls have disappeared and are now leaving to look somewhere else." Donnie says and is super happy by the giant smile on his face. "Does this mean that… the girls…"

"It certainly seems that way." I tell him and look at him, "They won't have to hide that much once all of the Dark Benders are gone."

"Hey guys!" We hear Mikey come in along with Raph, Leo, and Master Splinter. "What are you doing?"

"Verena and I just finished doing another scan and the numbers are just what we wanted it to be." Donnie says and shows them the picture, "The number of Dark Benders still here has changed from fifty to fifteen in one day. If Verena can keep her barrier up for a few more days then all of them will be gone from New York."

"That's great and all, but what does it mean for the girls?" Raph asks his brother.

"It means they will be able to come out of hiding sooner then we expect." He answers him.

"And if any more Dark Benders show up then all we have to do is put the barrier up again. So as of now our friends are safe." I tell them.

"This is great!" Mikey shouts out and is so happy, "Now we can see them again!"

Everyone is so pleased with the good news and they start talking about what they are going to do for our friends when they see them. Seeing them smile and get excited makes me smile bigger and get just as excited as them. All of a sudden I start to get really dizzy and light-headed that I put my hand out on Donnie's chair and my other one on my forehead to steady myself. I feel like I am about to faint.

"Verena what's wrong?" Leo instantly notices and rushes over to me and holds me in his arms.

"You okay there Princess?" Raph asks before the others do.

I nod and take a deep breath, "I'm alright. It's just the spell is stronger than I thought it would be." I start to feel another wave of dizziness and shut my eyes tight and breathe in deeper, "I think I need to lie down."

"Come on." Leo says and picks me up bridal style in his arms and I wrap my arms around his neck, "I'll take you to your room."

He starts to walk out of Donnie's lab and into the rest of Lair heading straight towards my room. All of my dizziness seemed to die down a little bit, but I still feel so tired to the point where I can barely keep my eyelids open. Leo steps inside my room and gently lowers me onto the bed and pulls the blanket over me, as soon as he's done Leo sits next to me on the bed having a slightly worried look on his face.

"How are you feeling Beautiful?" Leo asks me holding my hand and rubbing it with his thumb.

"I'm still a bit light-headed, but feeling alright. I guess I underestimated the strength of the barrier spell." I tell him.

"You know the last thing I want you to do is hurt yourself, right?"

I nod, "I know, and believe me I do not want to either. However, our friends still need to be protected."

"I understand that, Verena, and our friends are protected. And the last time I checked they can also protect themselves."

"Leo-"

"The girls don't want to feel like they are weak; they are strong and skilled warriors that have been taking care of themselves for a long time. We will protect them no matter what it takes, but I don't think they would want to see you like this."

"You're right. I will try to ease up the spell so that way I won't feel so drained." I tell him and smile. "Dear Gods, you are such a worry wart Leo."

"Hey, I have every right to be worried about my girl. Do you know why?" He leans in closer to my face and smiles.

I wrap my arm around his neck as he's still holding on to my hand, "Why?"

"Because I love her more than anything." Leo says and kisses my forehead.

"And she loves you more than anything in the world." I say and kiss his cheek.

Leo and I stare into each other's eyes for a moment and kiss each other. My Gods, I do not know what it is but Leo is such a great kisser from the way he does it or how much pressure he uses on our lips; it is just perfection each time. He angles his head to the right and we deepen the kiss more until it feels like our lips are dancing together. A minute later Leo lifts his lips away from mine and smiles down at me, stroking my cheek with his free hand.

"Try to get some rest now, okay?" He says sweetly to me in almost a whisper.

I smile and nod, "Alright."

"Thank you." Leo pecks my lips and gets up from the bed, "Call me if you need anything."

"I will, Leo." I tell him and once he is gone I close my eyes and fall asleep.

In The Evening…

Layla's P.O.V.:

After I don't know how many days of hiding around we finally get to see the guys again. To tell you the truth I am so happy to get to their home and see Mikey again. I haven't told any of the girls this but Mikey and I have been texting each other since we were given the Shell Cells, and we have had great conversations together. It's kind of like two friends that have not seen each other in ten years or something like that, but even better and we can talk about anything and everything. He really listens and makes me laugh. The best part of it all is that we have so much in common, which is even better.

Anyway, Sasha and I are walking are short distance in the sewers to the Lair and the whole walk there we have these big smiles on our faces. I can definitely tell she is just as grateful to see them as I am, although she likes to hide some of her enjoyment.

"It's going to be so great to see the guys again, don't you think Palms?" I ask her.

"Absolutely. Ever since I got the message from Donatello that is all I have been thinking about is seeing our friends." She says and walks faster.

"Geez, where's the fire?" I ask Sasha as I catch up to her.

"I just want to get there and see Donatello."

I stop and get confused, "Donatello?"

Sasha stops also and turns around, "What about him?"

"You said you want to see Don." I tell her.

"What? No I did not."

"Oh yes you did." I said and have a grin on my face, "Don't even bother denying it, Palms."

"You can say all that you want, Kea, because I did not imply wanting to just see Donatello at all." She said being so stubborn.

"Yeah right. Admit it, Palms, you like him."

"You're right I do like him, but as a friend. Nothing more than that."

"Denial." I think to myself and just keep grinning at her, "Whatever you say."

Gods Sasha is such a liar. There are many things that Sasha is, but being a liar isn't one of them. For one she's too honest all the time, and when she does try to hide the truth she looks around and tightens her fists into balls. Even though she isn't going to admit it I can tell she has a slight crush on Don, especially since I can see the light blush across her cheeks at the moment. However, that's another conversation for another time.

We get to the Lair entrance and the giant doors open before I get the chance to knock. Sasha and I slowly walk inside, looking around to see where everybody is and see not one person in sight. Where is everyone? Right as I am about to take another step I feel a hand on my shoulder and jump in complete surprise, making Sasha freak out too. When I turn around to see who it is I see Mikey right there with a giant smile on his face and laughing.

"That's not funny, Mikey." I said and smack his shoulder as he's still laughing at me, "You scared me."

"I'm sorry, Layla, I just couldn't resist." He said and gave me a hug making me feel better. "It's great to see you gals again."

"We could say the same to you too, Michelangelo." Sasha says and hugs him too.

Soon the others come in and I see Sasha's eyes light up when she sees Don.

"It is a great pleasure to see you young ladies again in our home." Master Splinter says and bows to us and we return the kind gesture.

"The honor is all our Master Splinter." Sasha says and looks at Don, "Hello, Donatello."

"Hi, Sasha." He waves at her and rubs the back of his neck, "Uh, h-how are you?"

"Good. How about you?" She asks him.

"Uh great! Never better." He stutters out being completely shy in front of her.

"Well that is nice to hear." She says and they just smile at each other.

"Hey, where's Cheryl?" Raph asks us.

"She's at the shop doing her job." I answer and look at him with a grin, "Don't worry though, Raph, we actually came by to not only to see you all but to take you to the NYC Beats to surprise her."

"No way! We get to see it?" Mikey asks us.

"Of course you do. After all it seems only the fair thing to do, and we want you all to see her place." Sasha adds.

"Which is why I had you guys pull out your disguises for tonight so we can go." Verena tells the guys and they stare at her.

"You knew didn't you?" Leo asks her with a smile on his face.

"Oh sure I knew because I was the one who planned it, with their help." She points to Sasha and I and we smile.

"Well what are we waiting for? Christmas? Get your clothes on and let's go blow Sovi's mind." I tell them and we waste no time.

Cheryl's P.O.V.:

Ugh. Good Gods, I didn't think the day was ever going to be over and done with. Why is it that having a slow business day makes everything else drag? The next time I want to close the shop early and debate about it, I'll just do it and not have a mental argument with myself. Seriously, whoever said slow days were better is a damn liar. They really, really, really suck. Oh well, at least I don't have that much to clean around here that's the good thing.

Right as I go into the back of the shop I hear the bell on the door ring and I groan in complete annoyance. Hello, can these people not read the sign?! I march out there ready to bite someone's head off.

"Excuse me, but we're c-" I stop my rage and see Sasha and Layla standing there near the door smiling at me, "Palms, Kea, what are two doing here?"

"Oh we just we stop by and show our friends here the place." Layla says and motions for someone to come in.

The next thing I know I'm seeing Verena and the guys stepping into my store in their disguises, looking like some kind of hip-hop group.

I try my best not to laugh as I'm just too happy to see them, "Oh my Gods, you guys look hilarious."

"Nice ta see you too, Soviano." Red says and he's even come up with a nickname for me.

I raise my eyebrow, "I don't you see you guys for a few days and that's the best you can come up with, Red?"

"Hey, it's different tryin' ta nickname a girl." He answers and crosses his arms on his chest.

"But seriously it's great to see you guys again. Oh, and welcome to the NYC Beats, the best record store in all of Manhattan." I extend my arms out to share my store's fame and glory.

They look around at the walls and see all of my collected records that I have hanging from Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Journey, The Backstreet Boys, etc. In case people haven't noticed by now I collect records. They also see my giant stereos and radio that I use for the music I play in the shop all day. All of them even look at the rows of CDs stack by year and genre and of course alphabetized.

"This is a nice place you have here, Cheryl." Leo compliments my shop so kindly.

"Thanks. I try my best to make it look perfect all the time." I tell them and remember I had to put something away in the back, "Feel free to look around the place, I'll be right back." I said and walk back to what I was doing.

Sasha's P.O.V.:

With Cheryl gone all of us look around her shop, scrolling through the genres and looking at the CDs she has. I immediately go to the Pop genre and finally find the Adele CD that I listen to all the time, and every now and then I sing along with it. I have always loved Adele and her music and I have even been told that I sing like her too, which I think is not true because there is no one who can sing like her. Adele's music is so rich and moving and I love everything about it.

"I take it you like Adele?" I hear Donatello say as he stands near me.

I nod, "Yes I do. Her music is wonderful." I tell him and put the album back.

"I agree with you. I especially like "Skyfall" from the 007 movie."

"Oh, I do too! I even like the ending to the song." I tell him and then out of nowhere I start singing it. "Let the sky fall. We will stand tall. At skyfall. Oh."

"Wow. Sasha," Donatello just stares at me in shock and a smile, "your voice is beautiful. You know you even sound like Adele."

"Really?" I ask him and he nods, "I do not think so."

"I'm serious. It's so warm, rich, and so incredibly beautiful." He says keeping his charming smile on me.

I blush madly at his compliment, "Oh… well… thank you. That is very sweet."

I am not sure what Donatello is doing to me, but for some odd reason I seem to enjoy it. He makes me feel so calm and loved… loved? No I cannot be, can I? Am I feeling something more towards him?

Mikey's P.O.V.:

"You know I feel really bad about scaring you earlier, Layla. I didn't mean to." I tell her as she looks at the albums ignoring me. "Come on, what do I have to do to make it up to you? Beg for forgiveness?"

She looks at me, "You know that wouldn't be a bad thing."

I got on my knees and held my hands out to her, "I am so sorry for scaring you, Layla. I promise that I won't do it to you ever again, and if I do you have every right to knock some sense into me. Please, can you forgive me?"

She giggles and shakes her head, "Mikey, of course I forgive you. I was just messing with you to admit you were wrong."

"So… we're good?"

She nods, "Yeah, we're good."

"Yes!" I yell out and hug her tight to me making her laugh.

I am so happy Layla is here with me. I've really missed her since she and her friends left the Lair a few days ago, but we've kept in touch by texting each other. With Layla I don't have to try so hard to impress her because she already likes me for the way I am, and I like her for who she is too. We are so much alike and have a lot of things in common with one another. It's almost like she is my perfect match, a match that I would want to see how far we can go at some point if she'll let me. I know that someday I will show Layla just how much I care about her, even if we've known each other for a short amount of time it does not matter to me. What I'm trying to say is that I really like her, a lot. I let her go out of my grasp and we continue looking at the CDs together.

Raph's P.O.V.:

I didn't really know what ta do so I went in the back ta see if Cheryl needed any help with whatever she's doing in there. When I step inside I see her tryin' ta lift up a box and put it on the top shelf, strugglin' ta get it up there by herself.

"Need any help?" I ask as I walk next ta her.

Cheryl looks at me with pleading eyes, "That would be greatly appreciated."

I take the box outta her hands and put it on the shelf with no problem, dustin' my hands off when I'm done. Cheryl looks at me with her eyebrow raised and smirking at me.

"What?" I ask her breakin' the silence and smirking at her right back.

"Did you bring enough muscle for the rest of the class?" She asks.

"Always do. Why, you don't like it?" I say ta her flexing my arms.

"Please, having big muscles don't mean anything if you can't use them."

"Says the one that couldn't lift a box." I tease her and she stares me down.

"Okay I deserve that. However, why don't we make things interesting, Red?" She crosses her arms and grins.

"What did you have in mind, Soviano?"

"A little sparring match. Me against you, to see who is actually the strongest."

"Really? And what does the winner get?" I ask her getting interested.

"Bragging rights. Unless you're scared to get beat by a girl."

"Not even."

"So, do we have a deal?" She asks extendin' her hand out ta me.

I didn't even have ta think twice and shake her hand, "Deal."

We step out of the back and head out ta the front of the shop ta join everyone else. I don't know when it will be, but I cannot wait ta whip Soviano's butt in our sparring match.

Leo's P.O.V.:

It has become very clear to Verena and me how much my brothers like our new friends from how friendly they are getting with them. Don seems to be nicer and caring towards Sasha, Mikey tries his best to keep Layla laughing and smiling, even Raph seems to be more playful with his smart remarks with Cheryl. Everyone is getting along so well and it puts a smile on my face. Unfortunately for us we had to head home and we offered to take the girls home, but they insisted on staying with Cheryl for the night and going back to their apartments in the morning. The great thing for us is that the girls will be stopping by the Lair tomorrow, well mostly good for my brothers.

After saying our goodnights we get to the Lair and head off into our rooms for the night. Before Verena comes into the room I open up the nightstand drawer next to my bed and take out a small black jewelry box and open it, revealing the engagement ring that I will give to her when I propose. The ring is just perfect, the sapphires and diamond are there in the exact same spot, the band is shiny and smooth, all of it is just right. As soon as the Dark Benders leave New York I am going to take Verena out somewhere where we can be alone, be romantic to her, and show her how much I love her by asking for her hand in marriage.

I hear her near the door and put the ring back in the nightstand drawer and close it and see Verena coming into the room, smiling at me. We get into bed and just lay there together, holding each other close in complete silence and peace, and just enjoying our time. The two of us kiss each other goodnight and fall asleep together in each other's arms. All I can think about now is wanting to propose to the love of my life and make her my soulmate, forever.

Ta da! So, what do you think? I would love to hear your response so as always you are my judges. Since my semester is almost over I'll have more time to actually post more chapters up and hopefully new stories (fingers cross). Thank you to everyone that has been patient, favored, and followed my story so far. Please R&R, or PM. Until next time:)