Ch 2 A Rift Between Brothers

The four turtles made their way home in complete silence, each of them having the same thought, or person, on their minds. As they walked into their apartment, they were met by Splinter.

"Ah, there you are my sons," The tall brown rat said as they walked in, "How was your excursion to the store?" He looked at them curiously when they did not respond, "Was everything alright?"

"What? oh, uh hello Sensei," Leo said stoically as he handed him the box with the new teapot inside, "Here's your new teapot, sorry about the old one."

Splinter took the box and watched as each turtle sat on the couch with a heavy sigh and being strangely quiet. He waited for a short moment before clearing his throat and standing in front of them, "Did something happen on the way to the store?" He asked with concern, "Is there something you would like to talk about?" He pressed.

"Not really Sensei," Leo responded as he leaned himself back against the cushion.

"Something obviously happened," Splinter noted. "You four look rather destressed," He stroked his beard, "Maybe I can be of some assistance?"

"Don't think so Sensei," Raph told him with his eyes down-casted.

Splinter continued to stroke his long beard and look from one turtle to the other before finally deciding they would come to him when they or at least one of them was ready to, "Oh well, as long as there is nothing to talk about I guess I will go into the kitchen and make some tea with my brand new tea pot." He looked back at the turtles who were still sitting silently on the couch in deep thought, "As long as you are sure there is nothing you wish to talk about?" He asked one more time as his sons continued to stare down at the floor. After a moment he shrugged and walked away while shaking his head, "Kids," He muttered.

The turtles looked up and watched him walk into the kitchen then glared angrily at each other, "Seriously bros," Mikey looked from one brother to the other, "We just met the most beautiful girl in the world and you don't want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about?" Donnie said smugly, "Did you see the way she added up those items, she's obviously intelligent which means she's my type therefore I should be the one to ask her out."

"Your type," Leo scoffed, "She's a 'take control' type of person so that makes her more my type."

"Hah," Raph elbowed his brother, "The way she was able to pick up that heavy box like it was a box of feathers," He thumped his chest hard, "She's strong and determined, and did you see her red hair?" He looked up at the ceiling dreamily, "Now that's my kind of woman."

"With your anger she'll be running from you, not running to you," Mikey said as he stood and glared down at Raph, "But the way she smiled and laughed," Mikey sighed dreamily, "She's clearly a girl who loves to have fun and that's my type of girl," He looked back at his brother and frowned, "Besides, don't you think you're a little short for her?"

"Who are you calling short little brother?" Raph angrily retorted back as he stood and pushed Mikey away from him, "Besides with your attitude, April will see you more like a child than an adult."

"Okay that's enough," Leo now stood and got in between the two bickering turtles, "We're brothers for goodness sakes, we shouldn't be acting like this over a girl." He sat back down with a huff and shook his head, "Especially a girl we don't even know" He looked from one brother to the other, "And one who doesn't even know us," He shrugged, "Who knows what she thought of us after the way we acted when we first saw her."

His brothers nodded in agreement as they continued to sit on the sofa in contemplating silence. A moment later, Donnie's face lit up and he stood and headed toward the door, "You know," He began, "I just remembered I needed to get some new equipment for an experiment I'm working on," He nodded nervously at his brothers, "I think I'll run down to the store, uh the computer store that is," He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "And see about getting some new equipment for that…um…that experiment I'm working on."

The other three turtles watched him walk toward the door, banging into it a few times before finally getting it opened and nervously laughing at them as he finally walked out of the apartment.

After a few minutes, Raph suddenly stood up and also walked toward the door, "You know, I just remembered I needed to get a new punching bag," He told them as he purposefully walked toward the door, "I better get down to the sporting goods store before it closes."

Leo and Mikey watched as he quickly walked out the room, slamming the door behind him. The two looked at each other in bewilderment before Leo suddenly jumped off the couch, "You know what I just thought of," Leo said excitedly, "I just thought of how much I enjoy training," He started jogging around the living room for a few seconds while punching his fist in the air as though he were fighting an imaginary foe, "In fact, I need to do some roadwork and maybe even go to the dojo and get some sparring in," He started jogging toward the door, "Catch you later Mikey!"

"What is going on out here?" Splinter asked as he walked out of the kitchen, "I have heard that door slam more than once within the last fifteen minutes."

"Well Sensei," Mikey looked up at him, "Donnie's gone to the computer store to get some equipment for an experiment he's doing, Raph says he needs a new punching bag and Leo decided to do some jogging and maybe go to the dojo to do some sparring."

"But the dojo is downstairs so where is he going to jog," Splinter stroked his beard in bewilderment, "And besides that, it's closed right now," Splinter pointed out, "And Raphael's punching bag is intact so he should not need a new one and what experiment is Donatello working on that he would need to run down to the computer store for more equipment at this hour." Splinter looked at Mikey curiously, "Perhaps they are up to something else," He mused.

"I guess so Sensei," Mikey shrugged his shoulders, "But what could they be up to?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with what happened when you went to the store earlier today?" He looked at Mikey intently hoping his youngest son would finally tell him what had happened.

Mikey looked up at him and nodded, "Maybe," He mused, "You know everyone's gone out to do something I wish I could think of something to do," He suddenly snapped his fingers and jumped up from the couch in excitement, "I know; I'll go see April."

"Wait! Who is April?" Splinter called out but Mikey had run out of the apartment before Splinter could get an answer.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Donnie walked into the O'Neil Antique store and smiled upon seeing April sitting behind the counter thumbing through a book. He looked around and noted there were not as many people in the store as there had been earlier and he figured now was a good time to try and talk to her.

April looked up as the bell above the door jingled. "Hi," She greeted him with a bright smile as Donatello walked in.

"Uh, Hi," He said nervously.

"So your back, was everything okay with your purchase?" She asked him.

"Oh, uh yeah, I, uh, I" Donnie pulled at the collar to his purple shirt nervously; "I just wanted to say thank you for your help earlier and, um, apologize for the way my brothers acted," He laughed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head, "And the way I acted too of course." He added when April cocked her head and looked at him expectantly.

"That's okay," April told him with an understanding smile, "I'm just glad you found what you were looking for," She watched as he slowly made his way over to her, "But um, it's almost six o'clock and we're about ready to close so if there's something you need?"

Donnie nodded at her as he attempted to think of something to talk about, he finally noted the book she was reading, "Oh, that looks interesting," He said as he pointed to her book, "What's it about?"

April laughed and lifted the book so he could see the title, "It's a thesaurus," She told him with a wide smile that made Donnie's heart pound hard in his ears, "I'm in college and working on my thesis."

"Oh, of course," Donnie said as he felt the heat rising in his cheeks. He was just about to question her about her college courses when the bell above the door jingled and they turned to see Raph walking in.

The red clad turtle frowned upon seeing his purple clad brother already there, "What are you doing here?" He demanded, "I thought you were going to the computer store."

"Decided it wasn't necessary," Donnie answered, "So now if you will excuse us, April and I are having an intense discussion about College," He narrowed his eyes at his brother, "Besides, what are you doing here?"

"Yeah," Another voice chimed in and everyone looked up to see Leo walking in behind Raph, "I thought you were going to the sporting goods store to purchase a new punching bag."

"Well, I…." Raph rubbed the back of his head nervously as he attempted to come up with an excuse, "I decided it wasn't necessary after all and thought I'd come here and see what kind of exercise equipment they might have," He frowned at Leo as the blue clad turtle walked up to the counter," What's your excuse for being here?"

Leo looked from one brother to the other, "Uh, Welllllll…." He began slowly, "I was jogging by and saw Raph walking in here and decided to find out why?"

"What business is it of yours why I'm here?" He demanded, "And since when do you jog at this time of the night," He looked from one brother to the other and shook his head, "But now that you know you can leave and take the genius here with you," He stated pointing to Donatello.

Before Leo could respond, Donnie quickly jumped in, "You mean take Raphael with you," Donnie told Leo, "I'm sure this college stuff is just going to go right over both of your heads."

"Everything goes over Raph's head," Mikey's voice rang out as he opened the door. He stepped to the side allowing customers to walk past him and out the door, "What courses are you taking April?" He asked as he joined his three brothers at the counter, "I'm sure it will interest me."

April smiled as the four turtles leaned closer to her, "Well, I'm studying to be a reporter," She told them as she put the book down and picked up her laptop, "I'm currently working on my Doctor's Thesis."

"Why can't your doctor work on his own thesis?" Mikey asked, clearly puzzled.

April laughed while Donnie, Leo and Raph rolled their eyes at him. She was just about to continue when footsteps sounded behind them, "The store is closing in five minutes," Kirby O'Neil's voice sternly said behind them, "I suggest if there is nothing you four boys are looking to buy, then you should leave so we can put things away and close the store on time."

He tapped his foot angrily and crossed his arms while the four turtles, once again feeling very embarrassed, said a hasty goodbye to April and walked out the door. As soon as the turtles were out, April assisted the few customers that were still there and after they had left, Kirby put the 'Close' sign out and locked the door. He turned to April and huffed at his daughter in annoyance while April chuckled and turned a bright red.

'Oh well, ' He thought to himself as he walked toward his office, 'Boys will be boys.'