Right after I eat breakfast in the morning, there's a knock at the door. Before I can even get anywhere near the door, Mom swings out from behind the wall, a gun drawn.

"Mom!" I exclaim, looking at her like she's crazy.

"What? You can never be too careful! It could be a Dark Angel!" she insists, loading up her gun. She motions her head at Rose towards the door, indicating she could open it.

I cross my arms. "I don't really think the 'knocking on the door' technique is a Dark Angel method," I say dryly. I drop onto the couch next to Benj, glaring at the television screen.

Benj laughs. "You need to get used to the fact that they're gonna be a lot more protective than usual now that there's someone out there who wants to kill you."

I turn to him. "You aren't going to be protective though, right?"

He chuckles. "You can take care of yourself just fine. I'll keep an eye out for you but I'm not gonna install a GPS into your veins."

"That is why I love you the most," I say, squeezing him into a hug.

When Rose opens the door, Noah walks in. He grins and holds up some papers.

"Look what I've got!" he says, coming closer. I look closely at the tickets, and my eyes widen.

"Concert tickets to the Spring Radio Festival?" I exclaim. "Noah!" I attack him into a hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him. "When is it?"

"Today at noon," he replies.

I pull away. "That's in two hours!" I grin. "Thank you so much, Noah! You're so great!"

"Well, I already knew that," he jokes. "But it's nice to hear it again."

As I turn on the engine of the car, Noah looks at me and comments on how we haven't hung out in a while.

"Yeah..." I mumble. I don't know what else to say.

"You've been...uh...hanging out with Leo a lot," he notes. This time, I turn and look at him.

"I don't like him like that if that's what you're thinking." Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. Who am I even trying to convince? He doesn't say anything, so I shake my head and try again.

"You and I are going to have the best time at the Festival," I say. "Nothing is going to change that, Noah." And this time, I can look over at him without worrying about him seeing through my lie. Because I'm not lying. I am going to have an awesome time listening to music with my childhood best friend. Nothing is going to change that.

We arrive at the festival twenty minutes before it starts. Noah and I push towards the stage area. The entire plaza is a chatter-box. He hooks his arm with mine and I grin up at him.

"Lies" by Marina and the Diamonds plays.

"You're too proud to say that you made a mistake; you're a coward 'til the end. I don't wanna admit that we're not gonna fit. No, I'm not the type that you like. Why don't we just pretend? Lies...don't wanna know, don't wanna know oh...I can't let you go, can't let you go oh. I just want it to be perfect. To believe it's all been worth the fight. Lies...don't wanna know, don't wanna know oh."

After that, Sara Bareilles is up.

"Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave!"

Soon, one of my favorite artists is up, Imagine Dragons. They sing "Demons", which is one of Benj's favorites.

"When the days are cold and the cards all fold and the saints we see are all made of gold; when your dreams all fail and the wounds we hail are the worst of all and the blood's run stale. I wanna hide the truth; I want to shelter you; but with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide. No matter what we breed, we still are made of greed. This is my kingdom come. This is my kingdom come." Everyone in the crowd is swaying their hands back-and-forth to the music. I laugh as Noah grabs my arms and does the same.

"When you feel my heat, look into my eyes! It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide. Don't get too close, it's dark inside. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide."

"Fall Back Into my Life" by Amber Pacific plays. This is the song that the turtles are constantly playing in the lair (by the turtles, I mean Raph and Mikey). As much as the two brothers don't have in common, this much they do.

"I know it's not enough to say I'm wrong. You know that I will miss you now you're gone. I know it's not your life to see this through; just know that in my heart, it screams for you! So leave a little note for me behind; I swear, I have to know the reasons why this won't survive."

"But if you fall back into my life, I'd spend every night waking up to the beat I hear inside telling me to be your only one. But if you fall back into my life, I promise you I would never let another day just pass us by. I could never leave this world undone... I want to be your only one."

Artist after artist, song after song...and I'm having the best time. More than once, Noah reaches over and holds my hand or puts his arm around me but that doesn't bother me much. By five, the festival is over.

"Hurry," Noah ushers. We push through the crowd. "I don't feel like being in the middle of a ton of traffic."

I laugh. "You know," I begin. "The Noah I used to know wouldn't be the one trying to best traffic. He would be the one trying to sneak backstage."

He laughs. "Nope. Nothing illegal this time."

I start the engine. "This time..."

We drive and laugh as we talk about things we noticed.

"Did you notice the ring on Sara Bareilles' finger? Is she engaged?" Noah asks.

"You're talking about the ring when I'm over here freaking out about the loose string on Carly Rae Jepsen's dress. Ugh, it was so frustrating!"

We stop for a bite to eat and then head towards the apartment complex. We sit in the car in a nice, peaceful silence for a few moments. I take a sip of water.

I look up to see him staring at me with a thoughtful expression on his face. He smiles and reaches over, gently taking my hand. My heart stops. This is not happening again. I can't let him kiss me again.

"I had an awesome time today. It was so great to be able to just hang out-just you and me." He pauses for a moment and I know exactly what's going to come next. He leans in, but before he can kiss me, I turn my head.

"Don't kiss me," I say, and there is a silence. I look up at him nervously. He looks slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," he says, shaking his head. "I just assumed..."

"Assumed what? That just because we went on a date to a concert, that we're automatically dating?" Am I hurting his feelings? I want to search his expression to find anything that maybe could be found apologetic, but I can't look at him. I stare in front of me, suddenly finding the dashboard the most interesting thing in the world.

"You kissed back," he says slowly. I feel his gaze lingering on me, but I can't find myself to look up at him. "Doesn't that mean something? Or were you just doing that because you felt bad? Because I'm really, really confused." He's hurt. I've never heard him sound like this before. Without thinking, I look up at him.

Now it's my turn to be shocked to see that he's looking at the dashboard like I had been. He's avoiding my gaze. I inwardly groan. What have I done? I should've just let him kiss me. If I had done that, I wouldn't be in this situation.

I take in a breath. But I don't regret it.

"Noah," I say softly. "Do you like me?"

"Yes," he mumbles, shifting his eyes so that he's almost looking at me. "I was scared. I mean, I've never been romantically attracted to you before. I always knew you were pretty but I never had a crush on you when we were younger. But when I came here, I started feeling different." He pauses. "The reason nothing ever really worked with my other girlfriends was because they weren't you. I didn't know that at the time, but I had been searching for you. How do you feel?" He answers so quickly and honestly, that I want to do the same. But I can't. I have to think about my answer.

"I've been hurt a lot in the past, Noah. I had a boyfriend before and that didn't end well," I explain quietly. I feel him gently place his hand on mine. I look up and see he's looking at me with understanding eyes.

"I understand, Lexi..." he says, nodding. "But you know I'd never hurt you, right?"

"I'm in love with Leo." I don't even know what I'm saying before it comes out of my mouth. My eyes widen when I hear myself say it. I feel a shock run through my body. Both because I'm surprised that I'd said it out loud (to Noah of all people) and the idea of how easy it came to me.

I really don't want to look at Noah anymore; not after that. But my body and mind aren't working together right now. Noah has his mouth slightly open, like he's trying to say something but the words won't come out

"Noah-"

"I had my suspicions." His voice sounds soft and quiet-or maybe it's super dry and bitter.

"Really?"

"Yes," he mutters. "But I didn't think anything of it."

"Why not?" I ask, feeling myself get defensive. "Did you think I'd choose you over him?"

"I just thought that maybe we could become something. You can't really have a life with him."

"Noah!" I'm hurt that he would even say that.

"I'm sorry." And he sounds sorry. "I'm really sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm being a jerk." He pauses. "I'm just hurt, you know? Hurt that all this time, I thought you liked me. I really, really like you, Lex. And I guess as stupid as it sounds, I didn't expect rejection. I mean, we were best friends as kids...I just thought...I don't know."

I feel my heart soften. I sigh and enclose his hand into mine. He looks at our hands with a hurt expression. He knows that I don't like him like that, and small actions like this are not comforting anymore. I bite my lip and instantly release it. I feel like crying.

"Noah," I say firmly. "I'll always have special memories with you. And you know that I love you too. Not in the way I love Leo, but I do love you." I pause. "I love you because you helped me through elementary school and middle school. You stuck up for me when people were teasing me and you stood by me. That's something that will never change."

He looks me in the eyes. He still looks hurt, but in a way, he seems better. Like he hasn't completely accepted the fact that I love Leo, but he's on the road to acceptance. I squeeze his hand and smile softly. He smiles back and nods.

"I know," he finally says. "It's okay. There's nothing I can do about you being in love with someone else."

"I really hoped you would get it. I knew that you would. You're smart and you deserve the best girl out there."

"You are the best girl out there."

I have to blink back tears. "Noah..."

"I know. There are plenty out there. But none of them are you, Lexi. Not a single one." He is silent. I want to say something, but I don't know what to say. "I'll see you soon, Lexi. Please don't feel bad about not liking me back. To be honest with you, I'm actually really glad we had this talk. It definitely beats not knowing how you feel at all."

He is starting to get out of the car, when he stops and looks over at me.

"And Lexi?"

"Yes?"

"Don't give up on Leo," he says. "He may surprise you." Before I can ask what he means by that, he's gotten out of his car and headed towards his apartment. I bite my lip and sit there in the car for a long while, just thinking.

When I can no longer see Noah anymore, I decide to bring the turtles some pizza.

LEO'S POV:

"Leo," Mikey whines, crossing his arms. "Tell Raph to give me my pizza coupons back! I want to get a pizza!"

I sigh and glance over at my brothers, who are arguing.

"Raph, stop teasing him; he's just a kid."

"I'm not! I'm almost nineteen! I am not a kid!" Mikey defends.

"Come on guys," Don says from his workspace. "Leo can't do everything right now. He's still recovering."

My plastron is decorated with the bandage wrap. I'm leaning on the couch, finishing up a smoothie that Mikey had made me. Apparently, it's supposed to help me recover. I don't believe that though, considering how wonderful it tastes.

The pain has been getting easier and easier to manage. Donnie says that in a few days, it will simply feel like a bruise. But although it won't hurt as much, I won't be allowed to go on patrol for a long while. He says that the injury could rip and become larger.

"Leo, do you need more of the smoothie?" Mikey asks. I smile. Although Mikey is the youngest, he's been very helpful during this time. I feel bad for taking him for granted all this time.

"No thanks, Mike. It was really good though, by the way."

He grins-obviously proud-and grabs my cup, rinsing it out in the sink.

"So where's Lexa today?" Raph mutters, rubbing his eyes and slamming Mikey's pizza coupons onto the coffee table (cue Mikey squealing). "I thought she had a day off of school today."

"Rose texted me saying Lexi went on a date with Noah to a concert. It ended at four." A date?

My heart sinks and I feel an emotional punch in the stomach. She's been spending so much time with me; I'm positive that it isn't fair to Noah. I shouldn't be so selfish.

"It's five-thirty now," Mikey says. "Can you ask if she got home safely?"

"If Noah didn't bring her home. I really hope he didn't kiss her again," Raph mutters.

"He's not a bad kid, Raph," Don defends. I'm considering getting up and going back to my room. What's the point of sitting here if they're going to talk about Lexi and Noah?

The lair wall opens up and Lexi walks in, holding three boxes of pizza. She looks happy to see us. Mikey screams and runs for the pizza. He accidentally shoves her and the pizzas go crashing.

"The pizzas!" Mikey cries, diving down and catching them. While the pizzas are saved, Lexi falls to the ground.

She snorts. "That's all you care about." She rubs her head. "As my skull is shattered into a million pieces right now..."

Mikey looks down at her. "Oh, hey, Lexi."

I hold out a hand to her. She smiles and takes it. "Thanks, Leo." Before I know it, she has embraced me into a hug. As emotionally hurt as I am, I still manage to hug her back. She instantly pulls away and looks at me worriedly.

"Oh my gosh," she stumbles. "Does it hurt your chest when I hug you? I'm sorry, I totally forgot about your wound."

I look at her confused, and then shake my head. "What? No, I'm fine." I shift my eyes from hers to the floor a few times. "I'd rather you not stand ten feet away from me like I have a chronic disease."

"Well eat up," she says.

"I'm not that hungry actually," I admit. "Mikey made me a smoothie and that pretty much filled me up."

"So Lexi," Mikey begins, stuffing a few pieces into his mouth. "How was your date with Noah?"

"It was fine," she says quietly, shrugging. She looks like she wants to say something else, but she shuts her mouth.

"Did he try ta kiss you again?" Raph asks, crossing his arms. "'Cause if he did, then I'm gonna-"

"I'm going to bed now. Goodnight," I say quickly, heading down the hall.

"Wait," Mikey calls. "But it's not even six!"

LEXI'S POV:

"Why'd he run off so fast?" I ask, looking down the hallway. I feel hurt and disappointed that he would leave so quickly.

"I don't know," Raph says after a moment. But he won't look me in the eyes. It's like he knows something, but doesn't want to tell me. I feel my eyes begin to tear up but I blink back the tears. I can't cry. Not right now. I just nod.

"So how was your date with Noah?" Don asks. He screws in the last few things into the keyboard he's fixing. Wrapping the cord around it, he looks up at me.

"It was great." I pause. "Noah tried to kiss me again. I stopped him though. We kind of struggled for a while, but eventually solved it. I guess I know that he does like me, and he knows that I don't like him."

"How did he take it?"

"He was hurt at first," I begin, rubbing the back of my hands. "But I told him that I like you-know-who." Don and Raph know about my feelings for Leo, but not Mikey.

We all turn towards the youngest turtle to see if he'd heard. Each of us let out a breath of relief when we see him leaning forward as he intensely tries to beat zombies on Survival City.

"Come on! Why won't you die?" he screams.

"They're zombies, Mike. Zombie's ain't supposed to die; they're already dead," Raph points out.

Mikey rolls his eyes. "In real life, maybe. But in the game, there are hundreds of ways to kill them."

"How many have you discovered?" Don asks.

Mikey is silent for a moment. He then mumbles something under his breath.

"What?" Raph and I both ask in unison.

"Two..." he repeats.

Raph snorts. I whack him and shoot him a look.

"Which ones have you discovered?" I ask Mikey softly.

"Hiding..."

"What's the other?" He doesn't show any sign that he's heard me. "Mikey."

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?" I don't want to tell him that I know all 107 ways to kill the zombies. If I make that mistake, he'll never leave me alone.

"Raph's gonna make fun of me," he mutters.

"No he won't," I say. "I promise."

"Hey," Raph defends, holding up his hands. "Don't make promises about me that I probably won't be keeping."

"Throwing watermelons at them..." Mikey mumbles. Without even looking away from the turtle, I chuck at pillow at Raph. I hear an 'oof'.

"That's really creative, Mikey. Even I didn't know that one," I comment, smiling.

"It doesn't kill them. It just slows them down," he responds.

"In a real zombie apocalypse, where are you going to get a life supply of watermelons? Where would you even put them?" Raph teases.

"Raph, don't," I warn.

He snorts. "What are you gonna do? Throw a watermelon at me?"

There's a silence, besides Mikey's game.

"So...how's Leo doing?" I ask, clasping my hands together.

"Honestly," Mikey begins, looking closer at the TV. "If you ask me, he's really bummed about you not liking him. He is in love."

We are all silent. I stare at him.

"Hm?" I mumble. "What did you say?"

"He's literally bummed out all the time-especially since Noah came along," Mikey responds. "Dang it...where'd my last watermelon go?" There is a pause, and he jumps back at a zombie "Oh crap, where'd he come from?"

"I mean, I know I've been spending more time with Noah..." I say, but I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall.

"Where's my watermelon?" On the screen, it shows the zombie picking up the melon. "Oh crap, no, that's mine! Don't you dare go about stealing my defense mechanisms! I don't care how dead you are, I don't show sympathy!" The zombie smashes it to pieces and tosses it into a lake nearby. "NO! Bad zombie!"

"I mean," I begin. "He's still my best friend. I don't want him to feel like Noah's replacing him..."

"Oh," Mikey laughs, shaking his head. "He's definitely not afraid of that. He's afraid of Noah becoming your boyfriend."

"Mikey, don't," Don growls, shooting him a look.

I look from Donnie to Mikey to Raph. "What's going on? What are you hiding?"

"Nothing," Don says, too quickly.

"Something," I state. "Mikey, what are you talking about?"

"Leo likes you," he mumbles, eyes glued to the TV. "Ugh! I have no defense methods left!"

I groan and take the remote, guiding him to a tree nearby sprouting watermelons.

"Yes! A watermelon tree sent from the heavens above!" Mikey exclaims.

"Now tell me what you're talking about. Are you still teasing me about that whole Leo thing? Because we aren't dating," I say, crossing my arms.

Mikey laughs. "He sure wishes you were."

My mouth drops open and I look at the others.

"Is this true?" I ask them.

"Um..." Don says, looking nervous for the first time ever. He makes a break for the hallway, and I chase him down.

I tackle him to the ground. "Stop trying to find an easy way out of this! There isn't an easy way out when I know something I don't know and I don't even know if I'm supposed to know what I don't even really know!" I pause. "And why am I not supposed to know?"

Donnie groans. "Lexi...get off of me..."

"Not until you tell me what's going on! What did Mikey mean? Tell me, brain-boy!" Don groans and his eyes flicker to Raph.

"Raph, a little help here, please."

"Wait, what?" Raph picks me up. "Put me down!"

Donnie looks at Raph for a moment and then hurries down the hall, entering the lab and shutting himself in.

"You let him get away!" I exclaim. "Raph!"

"Fearless likes ya," Raph mutters, shutting his eyes and covering them with his hands. "He's gonna kill me for tellin' ya..."

Leo likes me? Leo likes me. Leo likes me.

"How long have you guys known?" I ask.

"A while."

"How long has he liked me?" I ask.

Raph stares at me. "I'm gonna leave that to him to tell you."

"He's never gonna tell me!" I complain. "Never! Not unless he knows that I know. And if he knows that I know, he's gonna wonder how I know. What am I supposed to tell him?"

"Ya aren't gonna say anythin' right? Ya aren't gonna tell him that Mikey told ya?" Raph asks.

"Why? I thought you wanted to see Mikey pummeled to the ground," I say.

"I do," he responds. "Just not by Leo. Trust me, Leo ain't gonna be happy. He'll ever tell us anything again."

"You know that Mikey is probably gonna let it slip that I know, right?" I predict, crossing my arms.

"I will not!" Mikey defends, pausing his game. "You people have really poor expectations of me!"

"Do whatever ya feel like you should do," Raph says. The three of us hang out for another hour or so. I say my goodbyes to Raph and Mikey, and I find myself peering down the hall. Leo's room is so close. Maybe I can just say goodbye. Maybe I can tell him how I feel.

I stand there, debating whether or not I should talk to him.

Leo or leave.

Leo or leave.

Leave, or see Leo.

I sigh and exit the lair.

A/N:

OH MY GOSH I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOREVER TO POST THIS. FINALLY LEXI KNOWS (and of course, Mikey was the one who told her. Big surprise)

Now, we've got a lot to dissect here. First of all, now you can kind of see why Noah had been pursuing Lexi. It was because not only did he like her, but he thought she liked him back. She had kissed him back when they kissed (because she was confused), so it makes sense why he would be confused about all of that. Again, he isn't a bad guy! He just really likes Lexi. And I know he sounded really rude when he was telling Lexi she can never have a life with Leo, but think about it, this is Noah: he's only being logical. He knows that she'll never be able to have a real life out in the world with Leo. He's also hurt too - it's a defensive mechanism.

And listen, it's REALLY hard to friend-zone someone. So this isn't easy for Lexi. Believe me, I've friend-zoned so many of my guy friends before and it is HARD. So it's difficult for Lexi, just as much as it's difficult for Noah.

It's also difficult for Leo because he doesn't know that Lexi just friendzoned Noah because he doesn't know that SHE LIKES HIM BUT NOW SHE KNOWS THAT HE LIKES HER WHOA ALL OF THAT HAPPENED SO FAST.

Speaking of that, I really want to say this: that whole scene about Lexi finding out about Leo's feelings was actually inspired by a scene from one of my FAVORITE fanfictions I've ever read. It's a Leonardo love story on called "Opposites Attract" by Aster Sapphire. If the scene seemed familiar, then that's why. I am by NO MEANS AT ALL trying to steal Aster Sapphire's ideas! I want to first off, recommend her story because it is AMAZING and I literally never get tired of reading it. Secondly, I want you all to know that i try my very hardest to make my work as original as I possibly can. But reading other fanfictions gives you ideas, naturally, to contribute to your own story. But i feel like since that one scene was so similar to the one in "Opposites Attract", I just wanted to call some attention to that and let everyone know that I am not stealing her work and that I by no means want to take credit for that idea. I obviously did write the scene myself but as schemas often do, I wrote it, inspired by the scene from her story that I had scene. Clearly, they have their differences because they are two different stories from two different authors. But I was inspired by that story. So I recommend reading it and i just want everyone to know that I am not trying to take credit for the idea, but rather take credit for my writing. I got the idea for that scene from her story, but I did write the scene myself. This is my book and everything in here I write myself. But naturally, I am inspired by other things.

Good? Good.

I'm so sorry for the long A/N...and for the long chapter in general. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading...and we'll see soon how things turn out for Lexinardo(: