Author's Disclaimer: I do not claim to know anything about love, nor will I try to say I do. I am basing this primarily on what I've read. This romance fic is being written by a girl who's been in far too many bad/abusive relationships. So DO NOT take too much of Leo's dating advice seriously. Only wrote that in so I don't end up with flames of "I tried to take Leo's advice and it didn't work."

Chapter 9

"Advice"

Leo opened the door to find Don, slouching in a shy, nervous manner. He looked at his brother and stepped aside, opening the door wider for him.

"Don, what's wrong? Come in," welcomed Leo as he watched his brother walk into the room.

Callista saw Don walk into the room as she sat up. She quickly got to her feet, seeing that most likely Don would want to speak with his brother with the mate around. She walked over to the door.

"I'll leave you both to talk. I've got something that I feel I should take care of anyway," she said as she walked out.

Leo and Don watched as Callista exited the room and shut the door. Their eyes stayed at the door for a while.

"She's good," said Don, amazed that she picked up on the fact that he wanted to talk to Leo alone without him ever having to say anything.

"Yeah, isn't she? So what's on your mind, Don?" asked Leo as he brought his attention to his slightly shorter brother.

Don shifted his weight, showing his uneasiness.

"You see, I was wondering…well, actually, I was hoping for advice on…umm…well, I-"

"You want advice on women, don't you?" asked Leo, as if he had been reading his brother's mind.

Don looked up at Leo with amazement. Granted, he and Michelangelo use to make joke about how they bet that Leoanardo and Splinter had telepathy but Don never gave much thought. He nodded slightly. Jeez, Don, calm down, this is Leo, not Splinter, thought Don as he tried to keep his composure.

Leo smirked as he walked over to the chair at his desk, offering a seat on the bed to his brother knowing that this could take a while. He watched his brother gladly take the seat on the bed.

"So what kinds of things do you want to know?" asked Leo, lounging in his chair.

"Well…how did you attract Calli?" asked Don seeming nervous at first but finally looking up at his brother.

"How did I attract Calli? Other than getting hurt and having Calli baby me, nearly dying, and leaving a sketch out that she caught? I have no idea," said Leo, trying to remember how it all happened.

"You're telling me that you have no idea?" asked Don, smacking his forehead.

Leo leaned back in his chair, seeming uncharacteristically relaxed. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed with content.

"To be honest, I don't know. It didn't even seem to be one specific thing that helped me. Sometimes, I think it was because we were meant to be together and that's why I found her in the dumpster almost seven months ago," said Leo almost reminiscing.

"So how did you know that you were falling in love with her?" asked Don, still keeping up with the questions.

"To be honest, Don, love is one of those weird things that hits you without realizing it. I felt as if Calli and I were connected some how, and it wasn't just because I was the one who found her. It was as if this protective feeling came over me that just told me that if anything ever happened to her, I'd never be whole. It even seemed like I was finding my best friend, the one I could tell anything and everything to. Does that make sense?" mused Leo, looking at his brother, hoping that his musing did.

Don nodded. It made sense but at the same time, he couldn't understand it. It was funny in his opinion, to love someone for no exact reason. It was so unlike science which had so many precise answers although it was filled with uncertainty.

"Do you feel anything like that for Elara?" asked Leo.

"Well, yeah. I've found myself being able to tell her almost anything," said Don, just starting his explanation, trying to word it correctly.

"Only almost?" asked Leo.

"Well, are you telling me that it's supposed to be easy to tell a girl hey, I think you're cute, will you date me? I think not," said Don, half glaring at his older brother.

"Okay, you got me there. Continue," said Leo as he held his hands up in defense, trying to keep from laughing at his own memories of stuttering whenever he tried to tell Callista how he felt about her..

"It often feels like there's so much more that we haven't talked about and we can go for hours on just one subject," said Don

"So we've all noticed with your talks about the latest article in Scientific America," joked Leo.

"Do you mind?" asked Don in an annoyed voice.

"Sorry, Don, I'm only busting your shell. Besides, how often have I done that?" asked Leo, half laughing.

Don sighed, knowing that Leo was right about what he had said. He was usually left alone by his brother unless he was asked to fix the computer once in a blue moon since Leo's touch of death.

"Okay. Well, it's just weird; we can almost feel each other's eyes on each other. We can tell when we're looking at each other. Now I don't think it's ESP but who knows what that could be, maybe if I study that a little more."

Donatello saw the lost look on his brother's face the moment that he went on the ESP tangent. He cleared his throat quickly.

"I'm just afraid that I'm forcing myself to love her," stated Don as he hung his head down.

"I don't think so but what makes you think that?" asked the older brother as he sat up and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I let April, Jada, and, well, several others slip through my grasp. Even Callista," sighed Don, not being able to look up at his brother.

Leo looked at Don in surprise. He never knew that Don was in love with Callista at one point. He sat back and wondered just how Elara must feel, being the only single female in the lair with three completely eligible bachelor turtles. He gave his brother's shoulder a comforting squeeze, causing Don to make eye contact again.

"Don, I had no idea you felt that way about Callista. I mean, I never saw you two flirting. I will tell you this though, from my experience with Callista, you and Elara sound perfect for each other. Make a move if you know that she's everything that you could ever want," said Leo, looking at his brother seriously.

"She is. She's everything I loved about April and Callista rolled into one," said Don, looking at his brother.

"Then I think you know what to do," said Leo, patting his brother's shoulder.

Don watched his brother be uncharacteristically relaxed as he lounged in the desk chair. He knew Callista had changed Leo for the better but he hadn't gotten the full effect. Now, he was getting it. The affect relaxed him and turned him into a mellow brother rather than the up-tight leader. Although it almost scared him to see his brother like this, he was happy that he could see his brother in this new way, in the way of the caring big brother, not caring but nagging leader. Love really does change a person, doesn't it, thought Don to himself.

"Anything else that you wanted to ask me?" asked Leo, his hands now behind his head, clasped as if supporting the back of his head.

Before Don could shake his head or speak, a desperate cry for help came over the two shell cells in close proximity. They looked at each other before Don answered it.

"Don here, what's up April?" asked Don.

"Don, big trouble. The Foot's around and so's Shredder!" said April in a desperate voice.

The two brothers sprang to their feet and ran out of the room, flipping down the to bottom floor of the lair, not bothering to use the stairs, scaring both female turtles and the mutant rat.

"Let's go guys," yelled Leo as he and Don grabbed their weapons, soon being joined by Raph and Mikey.

Leo quickly kissed Callista good-bye, like he had gotten into the habit of doing before entering battle, before running towards the exit. The four ran out the door to the sewers.

Elara watched the guys run out of the lair with great haste before looking up at Splinter and Callista.

"Is it always like this?" asked Elara.

"No, only when Shredder and the Foot Clan decide to cause more trouble," said Callista as she watched the four males of their species run out of the lair.