Mikey, Leo, and Raph were in the entertainment area eating pizza, drinking soda, and watching a martial arts movie. Donny was currently talking with Splinter in the meditation room.
"This movie is awesome!" Mikey exclaimed.
"Too bad Donny's missing it," Raph said.
"He's currently talking with Sensei," Leo explained.
On the screen, the hero was tracking down a couple of criminals. Eventually, he tracked down their hideout and he stayed out of sight while listening to their plan to rob a bank and then a jewelry store.
Several minutes later, the criminals left their hideout, got in their van, and sped off. The hero followed in his car while sending the conversation he recorded to the police.
Chloe entered the entertainment area. She saw Mikey, Leo and Raph watching a movie and walked over.
"Where's Donny?" Chloe inquired.
"He's currently talking with Sensei," Leo replied.
"Want to join us?" Mikey offered.
"Sure, sounds great," Chloe agreed and then sat on the floor.
"By the way, I'm not allowed to do any heavy exercise for the next couple weeks," Raph told Chloe.
"You can still do light exercises," Chloe pointed out.
"By the way, is it ok if Donny and I hang out at your place tonight?"
"Sure, as long as he's ok with it."
Meanwhile, Donny and Splinter were talking in the meditation room. They were also drinking herbal tea and eating rice crackers.
"I keep thinking I should've forgiven Raph when I had the chance," Donny said.
"Sometimes it is hard to forgive when a loved one deeply hurts you," Splinter pointed out.
"Chloe gave me a note from him but I haven't read it yet."
"Perhaps it would be a good idea to do so."
Donny nodded in agreement and then he and Splinter stood up and wrapped their arms around each other. Then they released each other and Donny left the room.
Donny entered the lab and headed straight for his duffel bag. He pulled out the note that Raph left for him and unfolded the letter.
"Donny," the note read. "I want to say I'm sorry for throwing you out of the lair after you fixed my MP3 player. I had no right to do that and I shouldn't have said you were stupid. In fact you're very smart. I turned on the MP3 player and it played music better than it ever did."
I never should've blocked Raph's calls when all he was trying to do was apologize, Donny thought with regret.
"I kept trying to call but I kept getting a message that my number was blocked after my first call was rejected," the note read. "I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to me after what I did. Once Mikey found out where you were, I decided to write this note. I arranged to meet with Chloe so she could give this letter to you."
Donny felt a lump forming in his throat so he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He opened his eyes a few minutes later.
"I really hope you come home soon," the note read. "If you don't, I'll understand. I'm not saying this because Mikey beat me up or because Sensei grounded me even though I'm too old to be grounded which Sensei doesn't agree with. Even though we don't always get along, you're still my brother and I'm lucky to have a smart brother like you. I love you. Raph"
Donny felt another lump in his throat so he closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. Just then, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him so he latched onto his brother, not noticing which one it was, and broke down completely. His brother gently rubbed his shell. Several minutes later, Donny released his brother and found that Raph was the one he'd latched onto.
"I see you read my note," Raph said simply.
"Sorry I blocked your calls," Donny apologized. "I was hurt that you threw me out when all I was doing was helping you out."
"I understand now why you did that. By the way, Chloe is letting the two of us hang out at her place tonight."
"In that case, let's head over."
Donny and Raph wrapped their arms around each other and squeezed tightly. Then they released each other and walked out of the lab.
To be continued…