Master Splinter emerged from his room the following morning to discover that both of the girls were on their couch today. They must have had a rough night dealing with Baxter Stockman since both April and Holly were still in their jeans and tanks from the previous night. Splinter moved quietly to the kitchen and start the coffee that he knew would be needed by more than just Raphael today.
Holly woke up to the smell of fresh coffee, she looked around through groggy eyes and realized she had fallen asleep at the turtles' lair. She grabbed her glasses hastily and made her way into the kitchen.
"Oh, hello Master." Holly said through a yawn. "How did you know we'd need coffee today?"
Master Splinter just chuckled, "You must have been exhausted to sleep in the same jeans you had on yesterday."
Holly looked down at herself. "I suppose your right, how was your night?"
The old rat looked at her carefully, "I had rather an interesting conversation with Raphael yesterday that got me thinking about my old life."
"Hopefully they were happy memories." Holly said innocently as she poured herself some coffee.
"They were for the most part yes." He smiled slightly, "They were of my family."
Holly was about to take a sip of her coffee, but stop before it touched her lips. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know." She stuttered.
"It is alright, it's not something I would expect my boys to tell you." He waved it off, clearly, there was another point to this story. "I lost my family because I was stubborn, I let my own pride get between myself and them." He paused for a moment watching her reaction.
"And the conversation you had with Raph made you think about this?" Holly asked, putting one and one together. They had been talking about love and relationships.
Master Splinter remained silent, he was watching her over the top of his tea. Holly just sat still for a moment, deciding how to phrase her next sentence.
"We both know he is unbelievably stubborn. But, I know he is more caring and sensitive than he would ever be willing to admit." She looked at the old rat who just smiled back at her.
"Apparently he is quite comfortable too." April said walking into the kitchen. "Good morning Master Splinter."
"Good morning Miss O'Neil." Splinter said.
"What are you talking about?" Holly watched April walking over to the coffee with a big smirk on her face.
"You totally fell asleep against him last night." April laughed as Holly choked on her drink. "Yeah, I was awake just long enough to see it happen."
"Oh god." Holly buried her face in her hands, then sat up straight again, maybe there was hope. "Did he at least push me off, or get up?"
"Nope." April smiled and sipped on her coffee.
"Why did you tell me that? What if he thinks I meant to do that?" Holly's head was back in her hands.
"Meant to do what?" Leo asked from the archway.
"Sleep on Raph." April said before Holly could deny anything.
"Oh that." He said like it wasn't a big deal. "I thought you looked cute."
"I'm going to kill you guys for this." Holly groaned, turning red in the face. "So everyone knows about this? I was the only one who woke up thinking everything was normal?"
"Oh yeah." Leo said smugly. "Just wait until Mikey gets up, he's going to have a field day."
The three teens laughed together, even Splinter chuckled quietly with them. Holly was so embarrassed, but she had to admit that it was pretty funny. If it would have been April and Donnie she would be giving them just as much grief.
"Hey everyone." Mikey walked in yawning rubbing his eyes. "What's for breakfast?" Mikey stopped when he saw Holly, a smile grew across his face. "How did you sleep?" He emphasized the "You" to make sure she knew what he was asking. Holly just smiled, she wasn't going to take the bait.
Donnie and Raph walked into the kitchen together, they were having what looked like a serious conversation. The little group was still laughing when they rounded the corner.
"What's so funny?" Raph asked, he looked around everyone and noticed that Holly was red in the face and avoiding his gaze.
"Everyone seems to find it hilarious that I fell asleep on you last night." Holly admitted. "I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I didn't mean to." she finally looked at him, she was beet red in the face and was clearly just as uncomfortable as he was.
"Oh, um, that. It's no big deal, don't worry about it." He waved his hand and walked past everyone to the coffee pot. He stood facing the counter with his back to everyone. The conversation turned to Aprils' aunt and what she was going to tell her about last night, but Raph wasn't paying attention. His heart was racing and his eyes were wide. Why did they have to tell her about last night? He was perfectly happy pretending he hadn't enjoyed it. Even if everyone else knew he did, Holly hadn't known.
A ringing phone caused a lull in the conversation, Holly jumped up when she recognized the tone as hers. She ran into the other room to answer the call, so Raph decided to ask the others some questions.
"What did you tell her for?" He hissed at them.
"Calm down dude," Mikey said around a mouthful of food. He swallowed it before he continued. "She was totally cool about it."
"Yeah, she even cracked a couple of jokes herself." Leo added.
"I wouldn't worry Raph," April said, "She was banging here head against the table earlier." She had a huge grin on her face, and everyone else was laughing again.
"You all suck." He grabbed his coffee and walked out of the kitchen, he was stomping across the living area towards his room when he saw Holly sitting on the sofa with her head down. He looked back towards the kitchen to make sure the others were preoccupied, then back over to Holly.
"Hey, are you alright?" he walked over to her and stood just behind her.
"Yeah," Her voice was shaky and was breaking as she spoke, "Everything's fine."
"Yeah, I completely believe you." He said sarcastically. He checked over his shoulder one more time, then decided she might like some privacy. "Come on, let's go." He grabbed her hand and dragged her off towards the training room.
"Hey!" She protested, but she let herself be dragged off anyway.
Once they were in the training room and Raph had closed the door behind them, he turned to look at her in the face. She was looking at the floor, and she was holding herself like she was cold.
"What is wrong?" He stood with his free hand on his hip, the other still held his mug of coffee.
"That was my mom on the phone. She's got to go to Europe now for a month." Holly spoke quietly. Her eyes never left the floor.
"I thought she was supposed to be home tomorrow?" Raph was confused, Holly had been happy her mom was coming home. Why would she change her mind so suddenly?
"She got an urgent call from her Paris office, she had to leave immediately." Holly sounded bitter. The tone didn't suit her usual bubbly personality.
"Couldn't she send someone else to take care of it? How urgent could a fashion emergency be?" Raph asked.
"I don't know, but she had to go herself." Holly looked up at him, she had been crying and there were twin gleaming stains running down her cheeks.
"Have you told her that you want her to stay?" Raph asked, his usual harsh demeanor was softening slightly.
"Once, but she played the guilt card so I never tried again." Raph gave her a questioning look. "She said I didn't want her to be happy because I was making her give up her dreams of owning her own fashion line."
"That's terrible, how could she say that?" Raph was horrified, how anyone could say that to their family? Holly just shrugged and looked worse than ever. "You want me to smack some sense into her?" He gave her a grin, she couldn't help but smile.
"I think she'd scream and pass out before you got a chance." She replied. Raph was happy to see she was sounding more and more like herself.
"I think anyone who wouldn't want to spend all of their time with you is crazy." Raph realized what he had just said about a second after it had slipped out. But she just smiled sadly at him.
"I just wish, once, she would stay home. Do you realize I spend more time alone than I do with her?"
Raph didn't have a response for her, what could he say? Instead, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're always welcome here, you know that?"
Holly looked at the person beside her. He was being so nice, it was almost weird, and he really did mean that she was welcome in their home. She and never really been accepted by anyone before, she had always been an oddball at school and she only had shared interests with her father, whom she hadn't seen in nearly two years. It was almost too much, she nearly broke down again. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder.
Raph jumped when Holly sprang at him, he stiffened for a moment then relaxed and wrapped an arm around her waist. He felt her shoulders shaking against him, and she sobbed softly into his neck. He tightened his grip around her protectively. She calmed down and took a deep shuddering breath, detaching herself from him.
"Thanks Raph." She leaned down slightly and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. She wiped her eyes and smiled at him. She walked back towards the door and just before she went back out to the living area, she looked back and smiled at him.
Raph just stood there, not really sure what to do.
"Very smooth, I don't think you have to worry about whether or not she likes you anymore." Master Splinter emerged from the adjoining room.
"Master," Raph span around, sloshing coffee around almost spilling it. "How long we're you standing there?"
"I wasn't standing here, I could hear you from my room." Splinter said with a smile. "You acted honorably my son, and you made her very happy."
"I just told her the truth." Raph shrugged.
"And that was exactly what she needed to hear." Master Splinter turned and walked back into his room.
Raph looked at the coffee in his hand, he was going to have to go back to the kitchen for a fresh cup as this one had gone cold. He huffed dramatically before stalking back out into the living area.
Everyone was sitting around doing their own thing, April and Donnie had their heads together looking at something on Aprils' laptop. Mikey was nodding along to his music and reading a comic at the same time, and Leo was watching reruns of his favorite TV show. Raph walked past everyone and straight into the kitchen on his hunt for coffee.
Holly was also in the kitchen, she was washing her face in the sink and she had set her glasses on the table. Raph decided to just let her be, she had just been through some rough stuff and if she needed comforting she would let him know. He poured himself some coffee and turned to lean against the counter.
"I'm alright now." Holly said without looking up.
"I just came here for coffee." He replied, lifting his mug at her as if she didn't believe him . She was peeking at him from under her arm.
"That may be the case, but you don't have to stay." She pulled the binder out of her hair and let it fall over her shoulders.
"The company is better in here." He grinned as he drank his coffee. Holly smiled back and shook her head at him.
Donnie and April were huddled together in the corner, they were looking up random stuff on the Internet and talking quietly together. They seemed to be the only ones who had noticed that Holly and Raph had been gone for a while now. They had assumed Raph had gone to his room, but when they saw Holly leave the training room followed a few moments later by Raph, they started getting suspicious.
"Do you think something is going on there?" Donnie asked in a hushed voice.
"Oh yeah," April nodded enthusiastically. "I'd bet my allowance on it."
Donatello bit his lip, he was dying to know something. "Do you think it could work for them?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't it?" April frowned at him.
"Well, technically, they're not even the same species. I know that we're all part human, but we're mostly turtle, and it's not like they could go out on dates, she couldn't introduce him to her family." He couldn't stop himself, he had been holding onto the doubts for so long now, and although he tried to stay hopeful it was proving more and more difficult.
"Would you relax, geese? None of that matters, love always finds a way." April sighed happily to herself, she really was a hopeless romantic at heart. Besides, who didn't like to see their friends happy?
Donnie wasn't convinced, but he had to admit, it was nice to hear that someone else felt the same as he did. Now if he could just get her to see him the same way he saw her. Sitting this close to April was a rare thing, and he was savoring every minute. He could feel the heat from her body warming his cool green skin, and he could smell her hair. It smelled like her shampoo and some of her natural scent was hidden in there too. Sometimes he wished he was as bold as Raph, he always seemed to do or say whatever he wanted without fear. Clearly, he was getting further with Holly in the few short months they had known each other than he had with April.
Donatello sneaked a quick glance at April, she was back to watching the Internet videos they had been laughing at a moment ago. She might be able to brush off their conversation, but he couldn't. It was different from her point of view, she was human. Donnie needed a second opinion. He stood up hastily and passed the laptop off to April.
"Hey! Where are you going?" She frowned at the back of his head.
"Just to the kitchen." He said over his shoulder. Donnie marched past his brothers into the kitchen, Holly and Raph were talking and laughing together. A wave of jealousy passed through his body, but he let it go immediately. It wasn't their fault that he was shy. "Hey Holly, could I talk to you for a moment?"
"Of course, is everything ok? She asked worriedly.
"I just need your opinion on something." Donnie replied, "Could you give us a moment?" He turned to Raph, Donnie didn't really want his brother in on this discussion.
"What's the big deal? I'm smart too you know?" Raph scowled.
"This is April-related, isn't it?" Holly asked, Donnie nodded. "Get lost Raph." She turned to see him now scowling at her. "Trust me, you probably don't want to be involved in this." He still didn't move, he just intensified his expression in defiance. "Alright, but I did warn you. If you're ok talking in front of him then go ahead."
Donnie was hesitant, he didn't exactly feel comfortable talking about this with Raph present, but he continued anyway. "Well, April and I were talking about, uh, people dating and she seems to think that it doesn't matter if the two people are extremely different, if they really do love each other everything will work itself out." He paused for a moment hoping she understood fully.
"Oh Jesus," Holly rubbed her eyes under her glasses. "Raph, are you sure you want to stay for this?"
"Yeah, why?" He lifted his mug to his lips to drink, slurping his drink down obnoxiously loud.
"They were talking about you and me." She stated it bluntly since there was no way to make this any less awkward. Raph nearly choked, his face lost all traces of humor or sarcasm. He looked between his younger brother and the young woman next to him bewildered. He could stay and hear what her thoughts were on a non-traditional relationship, but it could be something he would not be happy to hear.
He took a deep calming breath, "I'm good right here."
"Alright." Holly also took a breath, why did everyone want to talk about this today? "I would love to be as optimistic as April is, the idea that love trumps everything is a comforting notion, unfortunately, I am far more realistic than that." She took another slow breath, Raphs face remained stony. "Love and relationships take work, they're not easy, regardless of who's involved. Just look at my parents, 12 years of trying and it still didn't work. People have to decide if all the good times together outweigh the bad, and if they do then maybe it's worth fighting for." She stole a quick look over at Raph, he was staring at a spot on the wall just behind her.
"I suppose so." Donnie said thoughtfully. "But don't you think circumstances change when it does come down to the fact that we're not the same?"
"It does make things harder, yes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. There's nothing worse than not knowing what could have been." She watched Donnie thinking, she almost felt bad for him. Clearly, he had been worrying about this for a while and was wrestling with himself trying to make a decision. "Relax would you, you don't have to do anything right now."
Donnie chuckle, he was over-thinking things. "Thanks." He smiled at Holly, then looked at Raph. "I'll leave you guys alone then."
"Actually, I had better get going." Holly said standing from the table.
"What? Why?" Raph snapped out of his little fantasy and back to reality.
"Well, I haven't showered since yesterday morning before training and our little adventure, and I don't have any clean clothes to change into here." She raised one eyebrow at him and gave him a cheeky grin. "I'll see you guys later." Holly said goodbye to everyone else and headed home alone.
Raph sat on the couch with the rest of his family and April. Conversation babbled around him but he didn't pay attention, he was thinking about what Holly had told Donatello. There was no way she actually thought any kind of relationship could really happen between Donnie and April, did she? But if she did, then surely the same logic would apply to him. Raph hid himself behind a comic, and started to think about what could possibly be.
