WHAT A TWO MONTHS IT HAS BEEN! For everybody who lives in America at least- I envy you if you don't. Now, I'm not going to get political because even I am sick of hearing about it. But, if you're of age, I hope you voted and if you're not I hope you enjoying the new episodes of TMNT, kind of getting dark huh? How many times does Master Splinter have to die, am I right? He's probably okay though... I'm here to spread love and I think this chapter helps.

Nekura Ookami- I think all will be cleared up in this chapter. Sorry for the long wait but college and adult life sucks a bit. Next chapter coming soon though, I promise!

rybkakoi- Thanks for reviewing! I'm really happy you like Lilly's story- everything may be blurry right now but in time it'll all be laid out on the table.

To those who favorited/followed: Starlit Storyteller, RPbogal, and rybkakoi- Thank you so much!

Alright...Enjoy

Song for this chapter- Love Mode- Joakim Karud

Suspicious Apprehension

~Lilly's POV~

I rushed into my room without second thought, throwing my bag to the side, not caring if everything flew out of it. "Mom?" I called hoping she'd answer and at least sound alright. I stepped out of the room, my hand pushing Raph back when I saw my mom picking up shards of glass. "She's in the living room. You..." I thought for a moment. We have way too much to talk about before anything were to happen between us. It will take hours before we come down to a conclusion on our relationship. I want him to stay, but he has to leave. "You should go."

Raph shook his head, "I still don't know about us. What are we?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes in annoyance as I shut the door. "Raph, we'll figure shit out another time. Not today but some other time." I said hurriedly.

When I went to push him, Raph grabbed both my wrists. "Don't push me."

"Do you want my mom to see you?" I asked quietly.

"No. But I'm a ninja. She won't see me."

"She will if you stay here. Please just go." I practically begged, my eyes locking and pleading with his stern stare.

Raph's tough demeanor suddenly shattered when he let out a heavy sigh. "Fine... But I'm coming tomorrow and we're settling this." Tomorrow? He must have seen the change in my look, "Whether you like it or not." He said.

I suddenly straightened at the tone of his voice. We gonna start now? I rolled my eyes again and sighed. If anyone is going to start shit it's going to be me and right now is not a good time. "Fine. Fine. Just go now. I'll text you later tonight."

He turned to leave but stopped, "Promise?"

I blinked, caught off guard. My hands reached out for his, turning him back around. I raised my arms up and around his neck to pull him in for a hug, kissing his cheeks softly, his arm lazily wrapping themselves around my waist. "Go..." I don't like being cheesy constantly with my boyfriends anymore. Once in a full moon, that kiss already maxed out my cheesy factor for this month. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Before he left, he rested his forehead on mine, my eyes widening in shock at the look of adoration in his soft green eyes. "Alright," he said before finally leaving my room.

I don't remember the last time I've seen a look that soft on his face. He is always so hardcore and so stiff, to see him suddenly change in front of me. Has he ever been like that? "Jesus..." I cursed under my breath before walking out of my room. "Mom?"

My mother peaked out from the kitchen, "I didn't know you were here." She said normally.

I eyes her suspiciously as she bent over to pick up small pieces of broken glass, "I was. Did you just get here?"

She nodded tossing the shards of glass in the trash. "Like five minutes ago. I'm on a break. I have to go back to work in like 15." She said, rubbing her hands on her pants. "John just..." She chuckled almost, forcing a smile.

"Did he...?" I asked, letting the question linger.

She shook her head, "No. He hasn't since the last time. He was mad because he says I work too much."

"Welcome to life. You work for money and money gets you a place to live and food." I snorted rolling my eyes.

"Yeah... Also, there's this guy..."

I suddenly straightened, a slow smile creeping across my lips. "Mom..."

She immediately shook her head, "I'm not cheating. I swear... This guy just always comes and he leaves big tips..."

"How big?" Not that it mattered.

"Well ever since Christine opened her mouth about how I'm the only one in our family that works, about $100 each visit." My mom said shyly.

"What!?" I yelped. Now it mattered!

"I told him stop. It's inappropriate. He shouldn't be doing that. And he comes in at least once a week to get a trim from me. I don't even know how to do hair but apparently I do his right." She explained almost seeming uncomfortable. "He's cute, he's nice-"

"Not to mention loaded. Go mom!" I chuckled, throwing myself on the couch.

"John found out about him and got mad. He suddenly thinks I'm cheating."

"Why aren't you?"

She glared at me, "Lillian, I'd never do that to John."

I let my head roll back along with my eyes once again. Jesus Christ, I know they say love is blind but is love stupid? Like this stupid? "Mom, get rid of John."

"You make it sound so easy." She snapped. "I've been with him for almost six years of my life. You think I can just toss him away?"

"Well, David and I broke up. I cared at first but then I didn't. It's called 'moving on'." I sighed, rubbing my face.

My mother grunted, "You're a high schooler. I'm almost 30. I have to settle down."

"No. You want to settle. You're settling with what you think you deserve. And you definitely don't deserve him. You deserve someone who wants to settle down with you and wants everything you want." I explained in the best way I could, even though I knew that she would never get it through her head.

"Sometimes..." My mother said with a small shrug. "Sometimes you have to settle."

Mom... I was never going to get through. And I hate the fact that she thinks that but I can't change her mind. I can't force her in anything I want. And yeah, I may be selfish by saying 'hey mom, leave him' but I care about my moms safety and mine. He's dangerous. He's abusive. And the only person that can obviously do something is my mom and she's not doing anything.

I don't know what to say at this point. "So... You working late?"

My mother sighed, "Yes, we have a line full of people. They all know each other. There's like some big party tomorrow and everyone wants to do their hair and sleep on it. I don't know how that works but... I get paid." She said finally cleaning up the rest of the broken glass. I'm guessing John broke some dishes.

If my mom was just going to leave, I don't know why I sent Raph away. He's obviously still confused about our relationship and I knew I could have just told me we were together, at least to me we are. But then we would have had a talk about the rules and blah blah blah. Here I thought someone was attacking my mom when really it was just a temper tantrum from John.

I could be making out with Raph right now...

"So you and... David are over?" My mother asked when things got silent.

I sighed, "Yeah... A while ago actually. He thought I was cheating. So he left..."

I watched her sort of...freeze. Did she believe me, did she not? I couldn't tell. But she froze. "Really?"

"Yeah... I mean... I wasn't. He was just insecure. I didn't deserve to suffer because of that." I shrugged. "But, I had people to talk to. Help me get over him and I did and I'm looking forward to meeting other people."

"Are you already looking?" She said slowly.

"No... I don't have time for guys. Like you said, I'm in high school." Of course I'm going to lie to my mom. How am I going to explain my boyfriend that she'll most likely never see?

"You're just like your father..." She chuckled softly.

I almost didn't hear her, "What?"

"Nothing." She began to wrap up whatever food she made for herself and placed it in a plastic baggie. "Lilly..." She said, walking over to me. "I'll tell you something..." She grabbed my hand, inspecting my nails. "I'll give you a manicure and..." She took a deep breath. "I'll think about doing something about John. If you can do it, I can too..." She said before turning and heading for the door. "I'm getting real tired of him anyways." She growled angrily shutting the door behind as she left.

I was left stunned at the sudden change of opinion, of heart. I've never heard her say anything like that. I don't think I've ever heard her say anything bad about John. I don't even know if she meant it, or if she was just trying to get me off her back. I was completely...in shock.

I hope she was being honest. And you know what? I hate cheaters, wife beaters, abusers... So fuck John, he doesn't deserve to have happiness. He doesn't deserve my mom. Definitely doesn't even deserve to have a civil conversation with me. My mom could do whatever to him now, cheat for all I care. Just end this unhealthy relationship. After 5 years, she deserves a break from the madness, the tears and bruises, the black eyes and arguments over nothing. My mom deserves to start over.

I scoffed, "She won't do it."

Donnie was right, I should just stop caring.

The next night...

~Raph's POV~

I entered her room, praying that she wasn't asleep- it was 10 after all, not to mention it was a school night. Hopefully I'd find her awake. I knew I was supposed to come early, but I kind of got side tracked when April came back and the Krangg needed their asses kicked. I'll tell her all about it, but only if she's awake.

It took me a while to convince the guys that all I was going to do was take a breather before bed. Donnie knew where I was going.

"Are you guys together yet?" He asked me quietly before I left.

I just shrugged and told him it was 'complicated' only because that was the truth. Lilly and I have so much to talk about. I'm going to see a side of her that I have never even thought about seeing till recently and she's going to see a side of me that no one has ever seen. I don't even think I knew I even had that kind of 'side' to me.

We also have a lot of rules we have to discuss... Like how no one can know about us. Right now at least... But I'll tell her all that if she would just open the window.

I tap the window again for about the third time. Then I let out a puff of air and just came to the realization that she's probably asleep. Or just not there... She's gonna be pissed next time I see her.

Just when I was about to leave, the window opened. Lilly looked just as I expected, angry. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lillian. Really? You should have told me what time instead you had me waiting all day for you to come." She growled. I didn't answer, too distracted by her face... She looked different. No...make up? "Come in!" She shouted, pulling me in by my arm.

I stumbled in, pulling my arm from her grip already annoyed. "Sorry, kinda busy. Not like the Krangg don't exist."

She rolled her eyes, "You always use them as an excuse."

"No, I did one time. Once. And it's a valid excuse." I said, throwing myself on her bed. "You look weird by the way."

"That's because I have no make up." She mumbled, sitting right next to me. "You've never seen me without make up. I probably look tired."

"You always look tired." I joked, giving her a slight push. "But, you look nice. I like 'no-make-up-Lillian.'" I laid down for a sec, my whole body suddenly becoming very heavy. I yawned.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it." She chuckled. "Are we going to talk or are you going to sleep? If you are, you're sleeping on the floor." I felt her elbow my side.

"Alright, let's get this over with so I can go home." I groaned, sitting back up. "Hey," I said, pointing at her door which was open. "Your mom home?"

"No," she shook her head. "She's...out with Christine."

"Where? Bar?" I chuckled. Her look suddenly changed from a soft one to a very serious one. "What's wrong?" My mind suddenly flashed to all types of circumstances that could have happened and none of them were good. "What happened?" I grabbed her arm and inspected it for any markings or bruises, or even the tiniest of scratches. Anything to give me a reason to beat his ass.

Lilly blinked, "What are you doing?"

I moved to her other arm and found nothing. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She chuckled, grabbing my hands. "I'm fine."

"Oh... Then what's up?"

"My mom decided to kick John out." She said flatly.

"That's great." I said with a smile. "That's amazing."

"Yeah... But I have no idea for how long. But for now, I'm happy." She was quiet, she didn't seemed as happy as I thought she would be. She seemed ecstatic when John showed up beat and nearly broken. Now he's out and she doesn't seem as contempt. "I am." She reassured when she saw the suspicious look on my face. "I just... I think it's all fake. But we'll see."

I nodded, it's obvious that she doesn't want to talk about it. I won't push. "Alright..."

She suddenly turned to face me entirely, crossing her legs and slapping my leg. "Let get to talking. First things first, we are together."

I sighed, "Okay," that's a weight lifted off my shoulders. "So we can do stuff now right?"

She scoffed, "You mean...?"

I jumped away from her, feeling my entire face burn with embarrassment. "No! Jesus Christ!"

"What you don't want to do it with me?" Oh no no no...please don't do this.

"I never said that."

She laughed, "If you mean kiss and stuff like that, yeah. We can do stuff. I think it's too early to talk about sex though."

"You think?" I said, suddenly feeling myself start to sweat. "Um... Change the subject. So, the rules."

She nodded.

"Obviously we can't go out together." I said softly. And I really want to apologize for that.

She nodded, "I know."

"I would hope we kept the relationship to ourselves. Like a secret, just for now. I'm not ready to tell anyone in my family and I don't think they are ready either." I started.

Lilly smiled, "Alright. I'm not going to tell anyone."

"The only person that knows is Donnie. You can tell him anything. But other than that," I said, scratching the back of my head. She seemed weird. She's agreeing to everything. Mostly...

"Alright. Basically, do the same thing we did when we were friends." She said with a small shrug. "Just with extra benefits."

I felt my heart skip in my chest, "Y-Yeah..."

She suddenly raised her brow and smirked, "You done? With your rules, I mean?" She asked. I nodded. "Okay, now mine."

Okay... Can't wait to hear this.

"I know you're nothing like David but I have to say this because I didn't say it to him." She took a hold of my hand and my heart began to beat ever faster. "I don't want to rush into anything. I don't like to be forced to do things and I don't like to explain why I don't want to do certain things. If I say no, it's no."

"Yeah," I took both her hands into my own. "I'd never do anything you don't want to. Kind of defeats the purpose of gaining your trust."

She smiled sweetly, "Good. I also want to say you're going to see parts of me I don't show to anyone. Like deep, dark, stupid parts. So I'd appreciate it if you just stick around." She said.

I chuckled, "Stick around?" That wasn't the part that I thought was ridiculous. The deep, dark and stupid part has to be something to scare me. She even told me herself that I know almost everything about her, the only parts I don't really know about her are things about her dad and her cousin. Things she doesn't like to talk about. I've seen every pet of her except...the extremely vulnerable parts. So...this has to be a scare tactic.

Her eyes suddenly widened, "I don't mean forever! I'm not- I don't think that way. I mean, I don't expect us to be forever."

I blinked, "Why not?"

"Nothing lasts forever, Raphael." She suddenly whined. "I don't like talking about stuff like that. Especially with a guy that I just started dating."

I didn't expect us to last either. I just wanted to hear her reason. Mine was maybe she'll get sick of dating a mutant and dump me. At most I give this relationship a month or two. Maybe two weeks.

"There are some things I won't do now that we're together. I'm not a cheesy girlfriend. I'm not going to confess my feelings every five minutes. I don't like to cuddle, I don't like to be shy around you. So I'm not holding back anymore." She explained with ease almost as if she's done this before.

"O-Okay..." I said with a nod. "I'm not really cheesy either." I didn't expect her to say she isn't all the things I thought she was.

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, you are you big teddy bear." She looked down at our hands, her eyes were just as soft as her touch. She tucked away a hair behind her ear. "Go easy with me... I've never dated a mutant before."

I chuckled, lifting up her chin with my finger. "I've never dated a human. Or anyone."

Her eyes were big with wonder and her cheeks were flustered, she was so adorable. She nodded, "It's a school night tonight. You should probably go now..." She whispered.

I nodded, "I will. But I've got one more thing to say." I muttered softly, leaning in slightly.

"What?" She said expectantly.

"I don't want to ruin the moment-"

She shook her head, "I don't think anything can." Her hand grabbed my shoulder, pulling me all the way in for a kiss. Her lips were different this time. Last time I kissed her, she was very soft. Now, it was like the first time.

Her hand moved to cup my cheek, mine moved to gently grip her neck, pulling her forward. Her lips began to move with such ease, slow at first then she gradually made it deeper, not by a lot but enough for me to nearly jump back in shock, only to have her follow me. I felt her body shift, my eyes opened slightly to see her uncross her legs and lift herself up. She was going to far up so I had to wrap an arm around her waist to pull her back down... accidentally slamming her onto my chest. She gasped, her eyes opening slightly.

She pulled away from the kiss, chuckling breathlessly.

"S-Sorry..." I mumbled.

She shook her head, "It's okay. You're excited, so am I." She kissed me. "It's been a weird day for me."

"Same for me..." Right now I want to flip her over and just keep kissing her. But I don't want to creep her out. "It's getting better though."

She cupped my face, giggling softly. "See? Teddy bear..."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, whatever. Just because I say something nice, doesn't mean-" before I could finish, she kissed me again.

"You talk too much." She said against my mouth.

Her arms wrapped around my neck while mine stayed on her waist. I'm looking forward to maybe having a bad day and being able to come here to Lilly. I know she'd listen to me when I need to vent. But now, she gets to kiss me- more like I get to kiss her. This a great stress reliever. Just kissing her is enough to last me a week or more. I don't want to ruin this moment by grabbing her, I mean my hands resting on her hips is more than enough.

She pulled away, "Phew..." She chuckled, wiping her mouth with her finger. "Gotta catch my breath."

I smiled, kissing her chin then her cheek. My arms moved from resting at her hips to pulling her in and a hug. I sighed peacefully.

"Fucking teddy bear." She laughed, her hands caressing my head. "What was it you were going to say?"

"Hmm? Oh um... April came by today." I felt her tense, then she pulled away from me.

"I was wrong. That did ruined the mood."

I chuckled nervously, "R-Really?" Great job, Raph. Couldn't even do this right. I should keep my mouth shut when things are going right.

Lilly sighed, scratching the back of her head. "Well... Not completely." She leaned back in and kissed the corner of my mouth. "I just would prefer not talking about her."

"Well, as your boyfriend," that felt weird, "I feel like I'm obligated to say that she told us that she was going to talk to you. And it's most likely gonna be tomorrow."

Lilly groaned, her shoulder slumped dramatically. "I don't want to talk to her."

"Why?"

She stood up, scoffing in almost disbelief. "Because! I told her to not talk to me when this blows over. And I was right! It blew over. I don't deserved to be thrown off to the side. I always get treated like that and I'm sick of it." She spat, almost sounding heartbroken. "Do you know how much that hurt? To just have your best friend say 'I don't want you in my life' out of nowhere!?"

"I do... April was my best friend. And," I rolled my eyes "Okay...maybe I didn't show the fact that I was hurt," I stood up, slowly. "That's me. But I was hurt."

"It's different." She sighed, her arms holding out to push me away but I grabbed them and pulled her close to me. "Every friend I had, every boyfriend I've had, they've all just tossed me aside like I'm nothing. And every time, I say to myself 'she won't, he won't' but-"

"She won't..." I comforted as softly as I could. "April was just mad."

"Oh, so take it out on me? On you?" She wrapped her arms around my neck. "You're okay with that?"

I shrugged carelessly, it didn't really bother me. "I was expecting her to leave. And it felt bad yeah, but I knew it was bound to happen."

"Well, I didn't expect it. It fucking hurt and I want nothing to do with her. I told her, you don't just do that to me! I told you! I told everybody that you can't do that to me and expect-"

I shushed her, just trying to shut her up since she was getting kind of annoying. "Stop, just talk to her. And then complain if it goes wrong." I lifted her chin again. "Okay?"

Lilly stared into my eyes, her cheeks becoming red once again. She looked away, "Whatever..." She mumbled with a pout. "I'm still pissed at her."

"That's fine."

Her arms slid down from my neck and rested on my chest, "She's gonna get a lot of shit from me."

"Oh, I'm sure she is."

Lilly groaned like a child, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Hasn't even been a day yet and you're already telling me what to do."

I chuckled, "Get used to it."

"I will not."

"Then don't."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Is this how our fights are going to go? I'm never gonna win, huh?"

"Get used to it." She chuckled.

Alright... I'll get used to it.

Yay! Raph and Lilly are finally together! I hope you guys liked this chapter. Please tell me what you think- now i can finally write some fluff! *fist pumps the air*

One last thing- again, I don't want to get political but let me just say this. If you're from America, you may feel like me- more divided than ever before. But even though you may not like other people's belief-the best we can do is spread love not hate. Listen to each other instead of yell. I hope everyone is happy and I love hearing other's opinions even if thy aren't mine. We all matter, it just maybe harder to see that now more than ever.

Anyways, I don't want to start preaching so I'll just end this by saying I love everyone of you who chose to read my fic. And I'll see you in the next chapter! ^-^