I tossed and turned the entire night but the noise of the city was too loud for me to doze off. Sighing resignedly I got off the air mattress and flipped on my bedroom light. I tiptoed to my window and peered out at the city. I scanned the building next to ours, looking for any sign of the ninja brothers. Nothing. Just twinkling lights from the skyscrapers and the street below. The apartment was really quiet. Everyone was most likely asleep. Continuing to tiptoe I left my room and entered the kitchen. It seemed it was time to pour myself another glass of wine. I slipped back onto the bar stool and sipped the sweet red liquid. It burned mildly as it traveled down my throat. Feeling incredibly bored I lay my head down on the island. I wished in that moment that my mom was with me. I wished she could see the city with me. She had never been out of Louisiana either and had always wanted to visit her sister, we just never had the money for a trip. I had never really had a problem with never leaving the swampy town I grew up in. I had her and that was all that mattered.

I let out a shaky sigh and turned my attention back to my glass of wine. I finished it all and put my head back on the counter. My eyes were starting to feel heavy and I finally let sleep claim me.

It felt like I had only just dozed off when I heard voices and shuffling feet in the hallway. I kept my head down and barely opened my eyes. In case it was the ninja brothers I had yet to meet. Maybe they would assume I was sleeping and step into view. I heard a male voice speaking and then heard Clara talking as well. Was it morning? I glanced at the living room window and sure enough the sun was beginning to rise. I wasn't accustomed to being up this early, preferring to sleep until noon or one. I closed my eyes again quickly when I heard their voices getting closer to the kitchen.

Someone gasped and I heard Clara whisper, "Go back into my room. I'll put her in bed."

When I heard her door close I shot my head up and Clara gaped at me in confusion.

"I was awake. Why can't I meet them?" I questioned.

"Uh…I…can't explain it now. But I promise you will meet them soon."

I shook my head and laughed a little bit. "I am so confused."

"It'll make sense when you finally do meet them." She replied.

"Yeah, Whitley said that too." I slid off the bar stool and made my way back to my bedroom. Quickly I hurried to my window and tried to see if I could see them one more time.

There on the building next to our apartment was a silhouette of a person on the roof. I could barely make out what they looked like because even in the light of the rising sun they were shrouded in shadow. I watched the figure intently, hardly blinking. But then, right before my very eyes they were gone and I could see no more of them. I stomped out of frustration and left my room to shower. I was much to awake to go back to bed.

Once I was out of the shower I got dressed and attempted to fix my hair. It just fell flat to my head. The weight from the length of it kept it from having any type of volume. Whitley was in her room but I could hear music playing inside so I knocked a few times on her door. She opened the door and her beautiful smile was so contagious I smiled too.

"You're up early." She stated as I entered her room and went to sit on her bed.

"I fell asleep at the island in the kitchen with a glass of wine in hand." I laughed.

"Oh. Rough night?" She questioned as she stood in front of her mirror putting on her makeup.

"Yeah. It's too noisy outside to sleep. Plus, I was really missing mom last night." I replied.

She looked at me pitifully and I quickly shook the frown from my face and changed the subject.

"I tried to catch a glimpse of Donatello this morning but Clara told him to go back to her room so I wouldn't see him once she found me pretending to sleep in the kitchen."

Whitley laughed loudly, "You little sneaky sneak."

"Yeah, well, I'm desperate. Not knowing is making me crazy and I typically don't concern myself with being nosy so I feel very unlike myself." I continued to laugh at how silly I was being.

"Well, I have some news. Leonardo stayed the night with me last night."

"I figured as much."

She smiled wider, "He told me that he spoke with his sensei, they got his permission to meet you."

"Really!?" I felt so excited.

"Yeah, they're going to come over tomorrow night and introduce themselves."

"You have no clue how excited I am for some reason." I replied, laughing more.

I loved being with Whitley. Her fun loving sweet personality could shake me from any bad mood. It had always been that way. When we were little we had a pet snake. Just a small little guy that was green and stayed in our garden. We would search him out every day and pick him up so that he could slither around our arms. One hot summer morning when we ventured out to the field he typically resided in we found him dead and pecked to pieces by crows. Both of us distraught at the sight and loss of our reptile friend we wept on each other's shoulders. That afternoon as the sun began to set we held a funeral for him and buried him right there amongst the flowers. The little make shift cross we made still stood there to this day. She had comforted me in such a way that by the time night fell we were giggling and talking about all the things he was probably doing in snake heaven.

I was shook from my reverie when she started talking again, now that she was finished applying her mascara.

"They would come tonight but they have business to attend to. One of their friends called Leo this morning and said they needed to speak with them tonight so I'll be alone."

She looked down at the prospect of being alone so I stood from the bed and put my arm around her shoulder.

"Well then, I guess when we get home from the bar tonight we should definitely watch Dirty Dancing."

"Yes! Oh wow, I haven't watched it in so long!" She perked up immediately. "Remember when we would wait for our mom's to go to sleep and then we would sneak and watch it?"

"Of course I remember! Ugh, Patrick Swayze is so dreamy in that movie." I sighed.

Whitley snorted, "I thought for sure I would grow up and marry that man."

We left her room and made our way to the front door. It was already time to go and get ready to open the restaurant. Once behind the bar I began setting up my things for the night, which included only a few things like, preparing a salt bowl to dip margarita glasses in, slicing lemons, and restocking napkins. The whole process took a total of twenty minutes.

Now with nothing really to do, I wiped down the already spotless bar. I was completely lost in thought when a tall man with shoulder length black hair approached me. I would have never even acknowledged his presence had he not cleared his throat to catch my attention.

"Oh sorry, we're not quite open yet." I told him.

"I know. I'm here to see Whitley. Is she around?" He asked looked all around the restaurant.

"She's in the office, who are you if you don't mind my asking." A part of me wondered if it was Leonardo and at the thought of that I felt almost disappointed. He wasn't at all what I imagined.

"Names Casey Jones." He stuck his hand out for me to shake. "I'm a friend of her fiancé."

"Ohhh…" I nodded and shook his hand. "I'm Sarah, Whitley's cousin."

"Yeah, I've heard of you." He smiled.

"You have?"

"Raph and I are pretty close, he said he saved you from being mugged the other day."

"How did he know it was me?" I questioned, "I didn't tell him my name or anything…"

He didn't reply this time, he only shrugged his shoulders and went to walk for her office.

"Catch you later, Sarah."

"Yeah..you too." I muttered. Why is everyone so secretive about everything!

After my introduction with the man named Casey Jones, the night passed by incredibly fast. If I thought my first night was busy, it had nothing on Thursday night. I made so many drinks that my arms were tired from reaching to pull bottles down and shaking margarita shakers. Not to mention my back ached from the constant bending. The restaurant stays open later Thursday-Saturday and two A.M. couldn't come fast enough. Whitley came out of her office at midnight. She was finally done with everything.

"Mind if I head home? The guys will make sure nothing happens to you when you're going home tonight." She said.

"Sure, I'll see you when I get there."

She waved bye and pushed open the front door.

Around one forty five I was washing down all my glasses when a rather attractive guy came and sat at the bar.

"Got time to pour a shot for you and me?" He asked smoothly.

"Sure, I have the time. Do you?" I smiled at the stranger. What? Was I flirting?

He was incredibly attractive. I studied the features of his face as I poured the two shots of Patron that he requested. His skin was smooth and a small amount of black stubble covered his chin. His hair was dark and short, with an almost messy look to it. He was dressed very well, in a suit and tie. But I could see that his hands had tattoos on them. Which only added to the appeal of the well-dressed man.

We both knocked back our shots and I leaned on the bar to study his tattoos. One on his right hand was an intricate little symbol with twisting vines making five triangles into a shape almost reminiscent of a star.

"What does this symbol mean?" I caressed the back of his hand. What was wrong with me? I'm never this forward.

"Nothing really. I just liked it. Picked it off the wall of the shop." He replied. "What about you? Got any tattoos with meaning?" Oh wow, his smile was breathtaking.

"I have one…it's a snake." I lifted up my shirt just a little to show him the green snake tattooed on my hip.

"Very nice." He replied. "What's your name bartender?"

"Sarah." I smiled, "And yours?"

"Xander."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you Xander."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Sarah. It seems I'll have to make this little place a regular place to get my drinks." He winked at me and I swear I felt my heart leap from my chest. I had never met anyone so suave.

"May I walk you home, Sarah?" His voice was rich and the sound of my name on his lips made me quiver unwillingly.

Shit.

"I'd really like that. Give me just a minute to shut off the lights and put these glasses away."

Fifteen minutes later Xander and I were walking from the restaurant to the apartment.

"So, Sarah. Tell me where you're from."

"Louisiana. I've only been here in the city a few days."

"Lucky for me then." He replied and I felt a blush creep to my cheeks.

"What about you? You have a wonderful accent." I stated without looking up at his face. I'm sure the blush on my face was bright red by now.

"I moved here a few years ago from London, England." He replied.

"I thought it sounded like a London accent."

"How do you like the city?"

"It's so beautiful. Very, very different from what I'm used to. I truly enjoy my new job too." I finished.

I stopped walking when we arrived at the apartment building. "Well, this is me."

"Thank you for offering me your company tonight, Sarah. I hope to see you again soon."

"And I hope to see you again soon. I'll be at the restaurant all weekend if you find yourself wanting someone to talk to." I replied uncharacteristically smooth. I was never this good when it came to talking to guys.

"Good night then, Sarah." He said, and turned to walk back in the direction we had came from.

"Good night." I stated almost breathlessly.

When I went into the apartment Whitley and Tori were sitting on the couch talking about something and Clara was in the arm chair completely absorbed in a book.

"Your home!" Whitley yelled from the couch.

"Yep, I'm going to go change. I'll be right back."

I changed quickly. My mind still completely preoccupied with Xander. The most dashing stranger in existence.

I snuggled down into the couch in between Tori and Whitley.

"What are you so smiley about?" Whitley questioned, her smile mirroring the size of mine.

Dirty Dancing started up on the TV and I answered her question, my face burning with a blush.

"I talked to a guy at the bar tonight."

Whitley almost looked disappointed. "Oh."

"Oh? Don't you want to hear about it?"

"Yes of course I do." She smiled again, "I guess I just got my hopes up about you and Raphael."

"But Whit…I haven't even met him yet." I laughed.

"I know I know. Just never mind, tell me about this guy."

Clara put her book down and Tori scooted a bit closer to hear about Xander.

"He was such a gentleman, tall dark and handsome. Oh, and he has tattoos. Not to mention his gorgeous English accent." I sighed, "But what am I saying, he only just walked me home. It's not like it was a date or anything."

"Do you think you'll see him again?" Tori asked.

"He said he was going to become a regular at Lush."

"So, it sounds like he plans on pursuing you." Clara concluded.

"Maybe, maybe not. I become almost like a shrink to some of my customers." I laughed, "People tell bartenders all their problems. He probably just needs someone to talk to."

"Yeah, talk. I'm sure that's the only thing on his mind." Tori chortled.

"Oh come on, I have no clue. I only just met the guy."

"I guess we'll see then won't we?" Whitley said simply.

We all turned our attention back to Dirty Dancing. The movie quickly sucking us all in.

When the film ended we all said our goodnights and retired for the night. Of course I had trouble sleeping again. Because now not only did I have the anxiety of meeting the brothers in a few hours, but Xander was also taking up a large portion of my thoughts. Never before had a man had such an effect on me. It was bizarre.

Eventually I fell asleep and when I woke up I could hear a vacuum going in the living room. I quickly slid my pants on and left my room. Whitley had her hair in a bun on top of her head and she was cleaning furiously. I almost laughed at the look of determination on her face. She noticed me and turned off the cleaner.

"We're not going to open tonight. Leonardo told me that you will also be meeting their sensei. I have got to get this house clean."

"But…Whitley, it's already clean. Like spotlessly clean. I'm going to meet their sensei?"

"Yes. I was really surprised, but apparently he wanted to meet you for himself."

"Oh..Ok. That's exciting, I guess. I really am anxious to meet your lucky guy."

"He's simply wonderful." She smirked.

"Is there anything I can help with?" I asked, hoping with all hope that she would say no.

"Actually yeah, could you scrub the shower please?"

Damn. "Sure. I'll get right on it."

I left the living room for the bathroom. After searching under the sink I found the cleaner and set to work cleaning the already very clean bathtub.

The day slowly dragged on. But finally it was night and we were all just nervously waiting for them to arrive at the apartment. I wondered if they would use the front door, or if they would go in through the windows. Honestly I was hoping for the latter. That would be incredibly fun to witness. A few light taps came from the direction of Whitley's room. She left the living room silently and I heard her speaking just beyond the wall.

She came out alone. "Are you ready? Please don't scream. We don't need the neighbors calling the cops."

"I'm ready. I promise I won't scream." I nodded.

"Ok. Come on out guys."

My heart was pounding. I couldn't figure out why I was so nervous.

One by one these tall green creatures walked out of Whitley's room and into the living room. They were followed by a smaller creature that resembled a rat. I could do nothing but stare at them in bewilderment.

I realized I was just standing there gawking at the five of them when I suddenly blurted out, "What the fuck is that? Is this some kind of joke?"

Whitley look confused, and frowned at me.

"Are those costumes?" I said almost laughing.

"No, Sarah. This is Leonardo." She stated as she put her hand on his green arm. "And these are his brothers," She motioned to each masked creature.

"My name is Michelangelo, it's great to finally meet you, Sarah." It spoke! He had an almost California surfer like accent and he reached his green three fingered hand forward to shake mine.

"Oh. My. God." I mumbled. "This is real. This is really real isn't it?" I said a little too quickly. My vision was getting a little blurry. "I need to sit down."

"Yes of course, please sit down." Clara ushered me to the couch. "The one in the purple mask is my boyfriend, Donatello."

"I just don't understand. How? How is this possible?"

That is when the creature that was the smaller in stature of the five, the one that looked like a rat stepped forward. He came to sit beside me on the couch. There he placed his hand on mine and I didn't flinch away. He had such a calm about him.

"That is why I have chosen to introduce myself to you, young woman. My name is Master Splinter. I wanted to be the one to explain to you who we are and how we came to be."

I nodded and he continued, "Long ago in Japan, I was a man. I haven't always looked this way. I was once known as Hamato Yoshi. I was the Shidoshi of a powerful group called the Foot Clan. One of my own students, a man by the name of Oroku Saki framed me for an attempted murder on a visiting master sensei. I was exiled here, to New York, where I was forced to live in the sewers in shame. Over time I bonded with the rats and found four baby turtles. But I was not left to live in exile in peace. Oroku Saki came to New York with a plan to kill me. He dumped mutagen, a green slime like substance, into the sewer. It did not kill me. But it turned me into what I am. My DNA mingled with the rats and the turtles are who are standing before you." He concluded his story.

After some time of staring at him with my mouth wide open, I quietly said, "Woooow."

He laughed gently at me and I tried to smoothen my facial expression.

"This is literally the craziest thing that's ever happened to me."

Whitley laughed and pulled me over to meet Leonardo. I shook his hand.

"Nice to finally meet you, Leonardo. I was beginning to think I'd never meet the guy that Whit is absolutely crazy about."

It looked like if he could blush, he would be right now. Whitley was clinging to his arm and staring up at him with a smile on her face. It made me feel so happy to see her happy. Even if I was a bit disturbed. I mean, I don't think it was wrong of me to feel disturbed. They aren't exactly the same species. If he can talk and walk and act like a human is it beastiality? I quickly shook the thought from my head. That was an incredibly nasty thing for me to think. I should give them a chance. I'm sure they're wonderful if they make these great girls feel good. They are all obviously very in love. I looked at each of the couples. All of them standing close to one another. That's when I noticed the darker green guy in a red mask standing off to himself looking a little bit annoyed. He noticed me staring and looked even more annoyed.

"What are you lookin' at?" He asked in a gruff Brooklyn accent.

I was taken aback and Donatello hit him on the arm. "Don't be a jerk." He told him.

"She's the one over there gawkin' at us and acting like we're the ugliest things she's ever seen." He stated obviously pissed.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to gawk." I said as I looked down at my feet. My face was on fire.

"Yea. Sure." He mumbled.

An awkward silence hung in the air, and Whitley looking extra perplexed, tried desperately to lighten the mood.

"So, anyone up for pizza?" She asked as she pulled out her phone.

"Duh. We're always up for pizza." Mikey stated as he pulled Tori down to sit on his lap in the arm chair. She giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

Me and my stupid facial expressions. I cocked an eyebrow at the scene and Raphael snorted and walked into the kitchen. I settled back onto the couch, farther away from Splinter this time. While Whitley ordered the pizza, Donatello talked to me in length about my last few days in the city. He was extremely interested in just hearing me speak, because he had never heard an accent quite like mine. Whitley had lost all of her southern drawl from living in New York for so long, and the fact that they were mutant turtles assured me that they most likely didn't meet varieties of diverse people.

"So you guys are really ninjas?" I asked after he was done grilling me with questions.

"Yeah, Whitley told you that then?" Leonardo laughed.

"It was like one of the first things she said about you." I remarked, my mood finally starting to lighten up as I warmed up to the mutants.

We all laughed lightly and ate the pizza that must have arrived some time when I was talking Donnie's head off. Everyone was starting to settle in for the night. With blankets on the floor and some of the lights turned down. Each couple was snuggled up as a movie played in the background. Master Splinter was already asleep at the end of the couch. I noticed that the red masked turtle had never returned back into the room after our initial meeting. I felt bad. I must have truly hurt his feelings. Which comes as no surprise to me, I was pretty rude.

I excused myself from the movie and went to find him. He was standing on the balcony that was attached to Whitley's bedroom.

I cleared my throat before speaking, "Raphael?"

"What?" The tone of his voice was still thick with annoyance.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about earlier."

I noticed his posture soften. "It's ok. At least you didn't scream." He chuckled and turned to face me.

I stepped out onto the balcony with him. The air outside was getting cool, but it was a clear beautiful night in the city.

"I miss the stars." I stated simply.

"You can see the stars." He replied as he pointed up to the sky.

"Yeah, but not like you can in the country. No light pollution to dull their shine. I never realized how lucky I was to have that until I moved here."

"There's lots to love about the city too." He replied as he looked out at the lights.

"I know. I really do like it here. But Louisiana will always be my home."

"I get dat." He said. His accent was so thick. None of the other brothers sounded much like what you'd think a New Yorker would sound like. But Raph did.

I smiled, and to my surprise the grump smiled with me.

"Want to go in there? I think I have some cold beer in the fridge."

"Sure." He shrugged and followed me into the kitchen.

I popped the tops off two beers and we both sat down at the island. We talked until everyone else went to bed. I was so surprised at what I had found out about him. He was like your typical bad boy type. With a motorcycle and attitude to match. We discussed our favorite B horror movies and how much we both loved the band Pantera.

"Well, my favorite album of theirs is Far Beyond Driven." I stated as I opened another beer.

"Mine too. Shedding Skin is probably my favorite song but it's really hard to choose."

"Same." I smiled and we both laughed quietly. "I can't believe those party poopers crashed early."

"Yea, they do that."

"Wanna play cards?" I asked as pulled out my worn out deck of cards.

"Sure, what game?"

"Blackjack?"

"I'm down." He smirked.

We played blackjack for hours. I beat him nearly every time and it was hilarious to me to see him get so competitive. Before either of us realized, the sun was breaking into the sky.

"Oh shit, I should probably get some sleep. I have to be at work at three and I haven't gotten any sleep." I said as I stared at the pile of beer bottles surrounding us. "Plus, I'm a bit drunk."

He chuckled at me. "I am too. I should probably crash for a few hours. I can't leave in the daylight anyway."

For the first time since I first met him I realized again that he wasn't just a regular guy I was hanging with, it was a mutant turtle. But I had had such a wonderful night with him, it began to bother me less and less that we weren't of the same species. He was just like any other person. That's when I realized how easily it must have been for Whitley, Tori, and Clara to fall in love with them. Not saying that I could easily fall in love with Raphael. I didn't foresee any chance of that. I almost laughed at the very thought of it. Although, I could definitely see this blossoming into a wonderful friendship.

"Well, good night…er…good morning I guess I should say." And we both shared another laugh.

"Good morning." He replied, and we parted ways.

I fell asleep as soon as I lay down on my air mattress.