Leo's POV:
"Does anyone know where Raph is?" I ask, looking around the room.
We are all sitting at the table, eating the pancakes, eggs, and bacon breakfast that Mikey has made us. Master Splinter is reading the newspaper, Mikey is rinsing off the remains of the pancake batter, and Don is doing a crossword puzzle as he takes a bite of his food. Casey had come over earlier to give Raph an old punching bag, but he wasn't there. So Casey lies on the couch—still holding the worn out bag—watching T.V.
"I don't know," Don admits, looking up. "He wasn't here when I woke up this morning." He takes a sip of his coffee and Master Splinter clears his throat.
"I think I heard Raphael speaking about attending Miss. Kress's graduation," Splinter informs.
"Wait, Mallory graduates today?" I exclaim, raising my eye ridges.
"And Lexa graduates tomorrow," Casey says, glancing over at me. "Ya miss a lot when you're stuck down here."
I roll my eyes. "Well they forget to send the messenger pigeon to the sewers." I mutter.
Mikey takes this opportunity to plug his video game controls back in and put in the game 'Survival City'.
"Well I've been thinking about it," I begin. "And...I think I might try to tell Lexi how I feel."
"Awesome, Leo!" Don says, smiling. "I'm glad you're thinking like that."
"Yeah, the two of you would be an awesome couple," Casey encourages. I smile and flush a little, but I shake my head at that.
"I'm not thinking that far. I mean, I doubt she likes me back."
"So what if she doesn't? It ain't like that Noah kid has a chance with her either," Casey points out.
I flinch and I feel a slam in my heart. Noah. Noah is the obstacle that I just can't get past. He is like a trench or a crevasse: I can't get to Lexi without somehow crossing over Noah without a bridge or a ladder or anything. I can try to jump my way to her, but chances are, I'll just fall and get hurt.
"I keep forgetting about him..." I say quietly, shaking my head. "Maybe telling her isn't such a good idea."
"No, don't think like that!" Don exclaims, putting his plate away and leaning on the counter. "Please, don't think like that!"
"Yeah," Mikey says, leaning forward as he kills some more zombies with some bombs after doing a code with his controller. "I mean, it's not exactly a secret anymore."
Everyone is silent.
My mouth drops open and I'm not sure if I'd heard him correctly.
"Wait...what?" I growl. "What?"
"Um..." he stumbles. "Well...uh..."
"What?"
"Um..."
"Mikey," Don says, beginning to back away. "I'll remember you during the zombie apocalypse."
"Uh oh..." Mikey says, dropping his controller.
"Donnie, get back in here!" I growl. Donnie swallows and slowly heads back towards the counter. He leans forward, keeping his hand placed on the pots and pans that are set aside, as if it is going to be his next defense method if I lash out.
"Uh..." Donnie begins, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...you see...um...the other day...well..."
"Dude, you are in trouble..." Casey sings, snickering into the couch. I toss a pillow as hard as I can at him. He grunts and holds his chest, where I hit him.
"Shut up, Casey..." I growl, turning back to Donnie. "What?"
"Well...the other day...uh...someone may have let it slip...that you liked her. And...she might...know now," he mumbles slowly and quietly. My eyes widen.
"What?" I shriek, and Donnie grabs two pans from the cupboards. "Don't kill me; it was Mikey who said it!"
"Mikey!" I shout, heading towards him. He screams, and rolls himself up into a little ball.
"Don't kill me! I was in the video game zone! Survival City—I didn't know what was going on!" he whines, rocking back and forth. "Don't kill me..."
"I trusted you guys!" I exclaim. "I trusted that you wouldn't say anything!"
"Come on Leo, it wasn't that bad! She didn't freak out or really even say anything negative!" Donnie tries. I glare at him and turn towards Mikey, crossing my arms.
"You tell me what she said," I order. "You won't sugarcoat it."
"Hey!" Mikey says with a pouting expression. "Why are your expectations for me so low?"
"Mike, I think that was a good thing," Casey points out.
"For Leo it is," Don agrees. "But technically for Mikey is simply means that he says things all too easily even if they aren't meant to be said. He doesn't always have the most brains and when it comes to hurting the feelings of others unintentionally—"
"Donnie!" I exclaim, glaring at him. "Stop. I don't want to hear you stalling right now. What is going on? And when did this happen? And why wasn't I told?"
"Because we knew you'd react like this!" Mikey complains, crossing his arms. "You're acting really mean and scary."
"Well I wonder why!" I retort, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "It's not like you told the girl I love how I feel, and you've kept it from me for how long now?"
"We didn't tell her that you loved her—just that you liked her!" Mikey corrects, like it makes any difference.
"You aren't answering my question," I growl. "When did she find out?"
"You never asked that!"
"I've been asking that for five minutes, idiot!" I argue. I feel anger boiling up inside of me and I don't know how long it will be until I explode. If I haven't already.
"No you didn't! I never heard you ask specifically when she found out!" Mikey complains.
Donnie sighs. "It was an indirect question."
"It was a self-explanatory question," I say, glaring at Mikey. "Now answer it!"
"I don't know," he whimpers. "Like...a few days ago." I am about to ask how many days ago, when Donnie pipes in.
"She found out on Tuesday night, right after you headed back to your bedroom. She wanted to know why you left so quickly and she seemed really worried about you. She asked how you were doing and it went from there. Mikey let it slip that you liked her and after lots of questions, the truth came out." He pauses. "Any more questions?"
I cross my arms tightly around my chest.
"Yes; what did she say?" My voice is bitter.
"Well," Mikey begins, glancing over at Donnie. "When I first realized that I wasn't supposed to tell her, I tried to stall and change the subject. Then Donnie tried to run off and she tackled him to the ground." He laughs and sits up. "It was actually kind of funny how important it was to her. She was like ripping his brains out piece by piece."
Don rubs his head and glares off into the distance. "She kept punching me and telling me to tell her what was going on."
If I wasn't so angry at my brothers right now, I would have laughed. That sounds like Lexi when she wants to know something. But why was it so important to her? Maybe it's because I'm her best friend. And she already hates the fact that Noah likes her and they have been best friends. Maybe she never wants to see me again.
"Then, Raph pulled her away and Donnie ran to his room like a scaredy cat. Then Raph admitted that it was all true and that you were gonna kill him when you found out," Mikey explains.
I laugh without humor.
"He is so lucky he isn't here right now..." I mutter, shaking my head. "Then what?"
"She wanted to go and talk to you, but she never did," Mikey says.
Donnie nods. "I saw her look towards your room multiple times before she left—like she was debating with herself whether or not she should go talk to you. She ended up just leaving after a while."
I'm silent. I don't know what to think of all of this. When I'd texted her just yesterday, she'd acted completely normal. In fact, she was making me laugh and I was making her laugh. But maybe that's it: maybe she was texting me just to avoid actually talking to me. What if she never wants to talk to me again?
"Leo," Don says gently. "I know you're mad. And we know that you probably hate us right now—"
"I don't hate you guys," I admit, shaking my head. "I'm your older brother and you're pretty hard to hate." I pause. "But I'm just kind of hurt, you know?"
"I'm sorry, Leo..." Mikey says quietly. I look over at him. He is sitting on the ground, looking up at me with his big blue eyes. "I'm really sorry." I can't stay mad at him. I can stay mad at myself for telling them—but I can't be mad at them for telling her. Because what else did I expect?
I sigh. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day, guys..." I mumble, shaking my head. My chest still hurts, but I don't think that it's because of my injury: it's because I feel hurt inside. And scared...and rejected even though I haven't even been rejected yet.
I feel my Shell Cell buzz.
Lexi: I just embarrassed Mallory soooooo much! Raph mystically showed up and it was weird but I took him to the graduation and it was AWESOME! Well...it IS awesome: I'm still here. In fact...it just started an hour ago, but you know. We're gonna be eating soon. Raph's hat almost flew off and it was hilarious because he like grabbed it dramatically and the people around probably thought he was some crazy trench coat guy who was overly attached to his fedora hat. That sounds like me in the 6th grade. :/ Well, anyway. Sorry this is such a long text: I can't have much of a conversation right now, but I just wanted to fill you in on what's up. I'll talk to you later—I gotta go. :)
"You look incredible, Lexi," Mallory exclaims, shaking her head and smiling.
I smile at her and although I try to refrain, I can't help but glace at myself in the mirror. My hair is down and natural, and my eyes are looking more blue-green than usual. It's weird to think that I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little girl, and it's finally here.
"Thanks," I say, smiling at myself in the mirror. "I look so different." Rose had offered to do my makeup for me. My normal makeup consists of mascara, eyeliner and sometimes lip gloss. I like to keep things simple.
I slide my phone into my pocket. "It even has pockets!"
"That means you can shove all the after-party snacks into your dress and you can leave," Mallory adds, grinning. "I mean, that's what I did."
"Your dress didn't have pockets."
"That didn't stop me," she says, her eyes lit with mischief.
I roll my eyes and laugh. "Taking all the food and leaving early. That couldn't sound more like you."
"Well if you do that," Benj says, fixing his tie, "remember that snickerdoodle is my favorite."
I laugh. I feel genuinely happy and slightly nervous. The weather has already reached 70 degrees and it's only 7:20. I obviously didn't get the best of luck today when it comes to the weather.
"You can thank me for making all your makeup waterproof," Rose says. She puts her hands on her hips. "Do you know how difficult it was to find waterproof liquid eyeliner? Close to impossible!"
"Well at least you won't have to worry about ruining your makeup when you fall on your face," Benj says, grinning.
There's a knock at the door, and Mom rushes to open it. When she does, there's an energetic-looking April, with a discombobulated Casey Jones. His hair is sticking up at the back and he's trying to fix his tie, which looks like it's about to fall off his shirt.
I laugh, and my eyes lock with Leo's. He averts his eyes from mine and brings them to the floor instead. I scrunch my eyebrows. What's wrong? I inwardly sigh and try to brush it off.
"Alright, there are two cars-" Mom begins, and Mikey cuts her off.
"I wanna be in the King car!" he screams, jumping up and down like a little kid. I laugh and look over at Leo.
"I'll ride in the other car," he says, and turns to his brothers. Again, he doesn't meet my gaze.
There's a stinging sensation that comes from deep in my chest, and directly into my heart. But I can't show that-not on my graduation day. All these people have come here to celebrate, and I'm not going to pout. So I blink back the tears that are threatening at my eyes.
"I'm gonna go down to the car," I say quietly, and without a word, I slip out of the room.
My head leans against the window of the car. When I hear the door open, I don't look over. I'm so lost in thought-but I don't want it to show. I don't want it to show how much Leo is hurting me. Yet, at the same time, I want him to know.
The car engine starts, and I sigh. I'm not going to pout on my graduation day. I've been taught better.
"So," I say, letting out a breath. "Are you guys sweating yet?" When I look over, I see that Mallory is driving, Mom is sitting behind the driver's seat, and Rose is behind me. In the further back, I can see Benj, Mikey and Raph. Our seating arrangements are always so unpredictable and I love it.
After about five minutes, we've arrived. I glance at the clock, which reads 8:10. Mom looks and rolls her eyes.
"We're ten minutes late to when they originally wanted us to be here," she states. "Typical."
Mallory grabs my arm, and drags me along and soon enough, I'm not being dragged. I'm afraid of being late, so I pick up the pace.
"Daniel Karringway," a man in a suit and tie reads from the paper. A boy raises his hand and says, "Here."
"Michael Karr," The man says, and another hand goes up. Mallory shoves me forward.
"They're in the K's," she says. "Good luck. Don't trip." After her last bit of advice, she makes her way off into the crowd. I turn towards the group of teenagers and wait for my name.
The ceremony goes as slowly as any graduation would. I almost laugh when I remember how boring my elementary school promotion had been. We'd sat there for almost two hours, listening to poorly written two minute speeches by ten year olds who didn't know what half the words they'd said meant. I remember Noah trying to mouth phrases like "Get me out of here" or "I'm hungry". He even started singing songs underneath his breath. He had been the only reason I hadn't fallen asleep.
"These young people are going places. They are our future. Our-" The headmaster of the district is cut off by a vibration on the ground. There's a brief silence. "Our hope. Our-" Another shake of the ground, harder this time.
And then there he is.
He looks like a nightmare come to life. Something that I've seen in my dreams, but always woken up to, telling myself that I'm fine and safe.
He looks just as strong.
He looks just as angry.
And he looks just as ravenous as before.
And I have a hunch that he still wants to kill me.
My eyes widen and I grip the sides of my chair. No. No he can't be here. Not at my graduation; not anywhere. There is a machine gun, but it doesn't look like he's planning on using it. His facial expression is stiff and almost robotic. There is a silence.
"Alexandra King." Those two words stab me. His voice is void of any friendliness.
I feel my knuckles turn white as I grip the chair tighter. I want to keep my head down. I want to look at the floor and hope that if he starts looking, he will just scan past me. But I can't even listen to my own orders. The moment I look up, his eyes find mine.
Darkness. All I see is darkness. He wants me dead and he wants to do it. And the scariest part is I don't know why. He wants me dead and I have no idea who he is. Talk about first impressions.
"Away from the stage," he demands. My eyes flicker down to his gun. If he isn't using it now, it will surely be used if I don't obey. I stand, feeling the eyes of hundreds on me. A few whispers even.
"You will come." His voice almost makes me step forward. But I don't.
"You won't hurt my family or anyone here, right?" I say quietly.
"You will come. No questions. I have the authority to kill you."
"Then why haven't you done it?" I'm really testing my luck right now, aren't I?
Before I can do anything, the gun is in his hands and points directly at me. I hear a shot and my agent training jumps in. I swing at him, kicking the gun out of his hands. I roll over towards the back of the chairs as a defense. I don't even hear him get up before the gun goes off again. Some people scream and some begin to run.
The man grabs me by the arm. I feel the shadow of the man rise above me and when I look up, I see the gun has been tossed out of his hands, and he's all the way across the stage. I look over just in time to see a man in a trench coat grab my hand and guide me behind the surplus stacks of chairs. Leo.
He has his arms around me, in a protecting manner.
"Leo-"
"Lexi, whatever you do, don't go with him. He could experiment on you, hurt you, kill you. Just don't go with him, okay? Do you hear me?" Leo speaks so quickly that I can hardly understand what he's saying.
"Wait Leo, what are we going to do?"
"We'll figure something out. April and Casey ran down to the lair to get our weapons-"
"But there are people in danger!" I am hysterical. Leo takes my hands and looks into my eyes with pure determination.
"You are in danger, Lexi. He wants to kill you. This is one of those times where you need to think about protecting yourself. Please." His voice breaks. "For me."
I start to say something, but before I can, something jolts me back.
"Leo!" I shriek. A hard force is pressed against my head and I fall into blackness.
Utter blackness.
Leo's POV:
She's gone.
The majority of the crowd has been ushered out. I see police talking to the headmaster. I'm numb. My wound has reopened but I don't care. She's gone. The girl I love is gone and I treated her like crap his morning.
I didn't mean to. I was scared because she knows I like her. But I'm ashamed of myself for not showing it in a normal way - instead, I just avoided her at all costs.
"Leonardo!" a familiar voice calls. I turn around to see Agent Serena, hurrying towards me. She looks worried. "Where's Alexandra?" I open my mouth but nothing comes out immediately.
"She's gone." Silence. "They took her." I can't cry-not here. Not in front of all these people. I glare into the ground-the same ground Lexi had been standing on just moments ago.
"Leo," Raph says. "We'll get her back. All of us." I swallow and try to nod. But I'm numb.
"I just...I could have stopped him. Now, we're standing here and we have no idea where she is. She could be dead!" I hold my hands to my head. "Dead! And I'm the one who killed her!"
"You didn't kill her, and she's not dead," Emmeline says sternly.
"Leonardo," Splinter says. I set my jaw. How on earth can he be so calm?
"Leonardo, I know you are concerned. We are all very worried. But one thing is known: we will not find her by blaming others; that includes blaming yourself. None of us could have stopped this man, but we can retrieve our friend and bring her back to her rightful place with us. We need to work as a team and make each other stronger as we search." His words should mean something to me.
They have to.
Lexi's POV:
I wake up in a cold, dark room. It's so dark that I can't tell if I'm really awake. When I hold my hand up in front of my face, I can't even see it. My mouth is dry.
The graduation. I've been taken. Leo...Leo is there and I'm captured. I sigh and put my head in my hands. Leo: my protector. Leo: the guys that I feel no matter what will be there.
I suck in a breath. Leo: the one who broke my heart this morning. I want to kick myself in the stomach for remembering that. I've been kidnapped for crying out loud, and I'm concerned about the way he avoided me.
In an instant, the entire room is blasted with lights. I shriek and cover my eyes with my hands, ducking towards the ground. I can feel my eyes begin to tear up from the sudden brightness and I can't see anything.
"Well look who we have here." The voice is unfamiliar but female.
"Are you trying to blind me?" I mutter. I don't trust my voice to say anything after that.
"You're a smart alec, I see. I don't work well with those."
"I don't work well with people who kidnap me," I shoot.
"Who says I'm a person?" I stay quiet after that. "I could just be a freak...like your reptilian friends." I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. "What? Cat got your tongue?" I feel the urge to shoot back with something sarcastic.
"I assume that you're wondering why you're here." I'm silent. "Alright, no answer, no desire..."
"I was at graduation," I retort. "Couldn't you have kidnapped me at any other event? I'm still in my dress!" I just can't keep my mouth shut, can I? She chuckles darkly and I hear footsteps. The sound makes me flinch. They sound human...was she exaggerating?
"Poor you. Now tell me; how sure are you that your little friends will come and save you?"
"110%."
"How sweet," the voice coos. "Are you hoping your little boyfriend will come save you? Little boy blue?" I'm silent. "Cat got your tongue again?" Those have officially become my least favorite words. I dig my fingernails into my palms to keep from saying anything.
"Don't feel bad though. I'm pretty sure he'll be running after you. I don't doubt your positivity." I still don't say anything. "I might as well get to know you better as we wait for your little boyfriend to come."
"He isn't my boyfriend."
"You sound disappointed." I don't reply. "So tell me about this..." She pauses, like she's expecting a name.
"Nice try, lady. I'm not telling you his name."
She sighs. "Fair enough."
"Hey where's that guy with the machine gun? You'd better tell him he scared a lot of innocent teenagers straight out of high school."
"They might as well know what the real world is like," she responds.
It's still a wonder how I'm being so calm. Maybe it's the fact that I know the turtles are coming. I have practically trained myself to think they'll always come to the rescue. It's unhealthy and unreliable but it keeps me calm. At least I'm not screaming and crying. But I know that if they never show up, at least I'll die thinking that they are coming.
I suddenly don't want to talk anymore. I just want to fall asleep and wake up to Leo carrying me back to the apartment. I want him to confess his feelings.
But he can't. I have to sit here in my ripped graduation dress on a dirty, cold floor and wait for a rescue that might never come. I bite my lip and want to look up and ask the lady if she'll turn the lights back off. But I know she'll just laugh and tease me. So I sit with my eyes shut, and listen. I listen to the sound of my breathing, I listen to the sound of my heart beat.
And then I freeze.
I can't hear her breathing.
Without thinking, I turn my head.
I scream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
Leo's POV:
"Mom, I doubt that she has her cell phone with her. And if she does, they probably took it," Rose reasons, but I can hear her voice shaking. I would try to comfort her if I wasn't so scared.
"Plus, she's wearing a dress; where would she even put it?" Mallory asks, but then she pauses. "She's wearing a dress..." She shoves Noah from his seat on the computer and pulls up a file. "Her dress has pockets! And the pockets blend into the dress! They'd never guess it!"
Emmeline types in the info to locate Lexi's phone. "I've connected! She's an hour and a half away in an..." She offers a confused look. "In an Ikea."
"Does it say exactly where?" April asks, getting closer.
"No, but that's good enough for me." Emmeline logs out and grabs her keys.
The drive there takes longer than it should have, due to Friday night traffic. But eventually, we arrive at the Ikea.
"Where is she being held?" There is a silence. Noah gets closer to the building. He looks up and down, like he's trying to measure something.
"She's underneath."
"Excuse me?" April says, raising her eyebrows. "Underneath the building?"
"There's an elevator...stairs...passageway, something. Something that they took her to." Noah pauses. "It could be used as a lab."
"A lab?" Raph and Casey both exclaim.
"What, are they gonna experiment on her?" Raph demands. "They can't! We destroyed the last of the mutagen a year ago!"
I remember something.
"There's still mutagen," I say quietly. "Lexi told me. It wasn't all destroyed."
"Well what're we gonna do?" Casey asks, swinging his hockey stick up and over his shoulder. "We can't just stroll into an Ikea and say, 'Hey our friend was kidnapped...do you have an elevator?'"
"Or maybe we can..." Rose mumbles.
"What?" Casey looks exasperated. "No, we can't."
"Yes," she insists, shoving our backup trench coats and hats into our hands. "We can. Saving people isn't always ninja and secret. Sometimes, you just need to use your brain."
The next thing I know, we're strolling into the Ikea with trench coats and formal wear. Emmeline catches sight of a few of the workers and she pulls out something from her pocket. She says something and then motions to us. A few moments later, the workers lead us to an elevator at the back.
"What did you say to them?" Don asks Emmeline.
"I told him I was from the NYPD," she explains. "A badge and an assertive persona can get you places in life."
"Okay guys," April begins. "We don't know what's beyond these walls. We need to be ready, okay? Weapons out."
The doors open, and there's silence. Absolute silence. Then, from a distance, I can hear a struggle. And laughter, but not the good kind. The demented kind. The kind that comes from someone who lives and thrives off of causing pain.
Casey sprints to the place where the screams are heard. We come to a door. He tries to open it-it's locked. He growls and bashes to the door with his body, but it hardly makes a difference.
"Ugh..." Rose mutters, pushing past Casey. "You're supposed to use your foot, you dummy." She lifts her foot up and kicks down the door. "If you ever want to impress someone, know how to kick down a door the right way."
We hear another scream. We bash through the doorway and stop immediately. A beast-like figure that looks more like a walking alligator than anything stands there. Next to the reptilian stands a man. I've never hated anyone more than this.
In the grip of the man is Lexi. His hand is wrapped around her throat and he has the gun to her head.
Raph kicks the gator off its feet. That's when the fight begins. The man's gun drops from Lexi's head as the reptile's fall affects his stance as well. He drops Lexi, and Mikey swoops down just in time to catch her.
"You okay, babe?" he asks, and I can see her shaking. She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him.
"I knew you guys would come." Her voice shakes. "We need to get out of here. There's no point in fighting them."
"Raph's already started the fight-" April begins.
"Well we can't let him finish it." She lowers her voice. "We need to leave. Now." Casey gets hold of Raph, and we make a break the other direction.
As we run, I toss back boxes of things to slow our enemies down. We all pile into the elevator and Lexi hits the floor button multiple times. She sinks to the ground and puts her head in her knees. I want to comfort her, but I can't do that very well.
The elevator doors open and I hold out a hand for her to take. She locks eyes with me and then bites her lip before taking it. I want to hold onto her hand for longer, but neither of us does so. We both pull away in an instant and I feel like I'm missing something.
Lexi doesn't make any comments about how she'd been held captive at an Ikea. No jokes, no comments, no witty observations. This worries me.
In the car, I glance back and see she's leaning her head against the window. Her eyes glisten with fear even though we're packed away safely. She knows things that she doesn't want to know. She's seen things that she's never wanted to see.
Multiple times, Mallory takes Lexi's hand and mumbles something to her, but the majority of the ride is silent. No music, no laughter, no conversation. I watch the sky darken through the dim windows of the car. By the time we get back to the apartments, it's late. But before Emmeline parks, she backs out and begins driving again.
"Where are we going?" Benj asks.
"Taking Lexi to the lair," Emmeline replies softly.
"I'm staying with her too," Mallory says. Nobody disagrees. I don't know if it's because we're too tired, or they just know it's for the best. As we drive nearer to the lair, Lexi is placed in my arms. I carry her to the lair in silence.
"My sons..." Splinter says, arms open to us.
"She's a little shaken," Don says solemnly.
"Emmeline wanted to keep Lexi here for the night," Mikey explains. "Then Mal wanted to come."
"We're kind of a package deal," Mallory says, rubbing her neck. "Sorry."
"It's quite alright, my child. I wish you a fulfilling rest. Where do you plan on sleeping?"
"They can take my bedroom," I offer, shifting Lexi so she's lying more comfortably. "I'll sleep on the couch."
"Very well." Splinter turns. "I will best be getting my rest as well. I wish you a calming night."
"Goodnight, father," my brothers and I all mumble.
Raph rubs the back of his neck. "Uh...Mal, I'll go get some blankets for ya."
I carry Lexi to my bedroom and place her onto my bed. I can't help but stare at her for a minute. Her face is tear-stained, and that gives me the feeling she'd been crying silently on the way home. I bite my lip and touch her hand.
"Ya never got to tell her, did ya?" Raph says. I glance over and see my brother placing some blankets down for Mallory.
I sigh and look back over at Lex. "No," I say. "I guess I didn't."
After I've said my goodnights, I head into the living room again. I sit on the couch for a few moments because I know I won't be able to fall asleep. I try to watch TV, but that doesn't work. I try to eat something, but I'm not hungry. I read a little, but that only makes me a little bit tired. Not enough to sleep.
"You came for me." The voice is so sudden and so close that I jump. Turning my head, I find Lexi standing there. Her arms are crossed and her eyes seem to glow brighter in the dim light.
"Of course I did," I mumble. "I would never leave you." We are both silent. She knows about my feelings for her, so why am I afraid now?
"Then why were you ignoring me this morning?"
"Lexi, I really didn't mean to. I just..." I pause, scratching the back of my neck. "It's just that...Mikey let it slip that...you knew that...uh..." I sigh.
"That you liked me," she finishes softly. "I'm not surprised."
"What, that I like you?"
"No, that Mikey told you I knew," she corrects, laughing a little.
I chuckle too. "Yeah, I guess I'm not surprised either." We are both silent. She walks towards me and takes a seat on the couch next to me.
"I am surprised that you like me," she says quietly.
"I don't know how someone couldn't." I pause. "I'm surprised you aren't terrified."
"Leo."
"I'm serious." I shake my head. "How long did it take you to get over it when you found out? How many times did you throw up?"
"Leo-"
"I mean, I know you're acting all nice about it now, but I'm sure when you first found out, you were absolutely mortified."
"Leo..."
"I just can't help it, you know? I've never really felt this way about anyone and you've seriously just-" And then her lips are on mine. My eyes widen. Had I kissed her? No...no, she had kissed me!
For a few seconds, I don't know what to do. She's kissing me. She pulls away after a few moments, and I'm left speechless. My mouth hangs open.
"Leo," she says, quietly but firmly. "I feel the exact same way about you."
There is a silence.
"Hm?"
"Yes," she says, chuckling. "I...uh...couldn't find any other way to get you to shut up. Sorry."
"Oh," I say. "That's...uh...alright."
"Not that I didn't want to kiss you! I mean, I did. Sorry if you didn't though..."
"Oh, no, I did! I'm just, uh..." I mumble. Why can't I make words come out of my mouth? Normal words.
"Shocked?"
"Yeah..." I nod. "I mean, me? You chose me?"
"I didn't really choose," she says slowly, enclosing her hand in mine gently. "It just sort of...happened." We stare at each other for a moment. In fact, I don't even know if we are staring at each other or just thinking of ways to savor the moment.
"I'm glad it happened then," I whisper. Her lips twitch into a smile. And then it happens again.
I wrap my arms gently around her waist and I feel her softly place her hand on my cheek. I've waited so long to kiss her. To be able to wrap my arms around her and tell her how I feel. And I can finally do that.
She feels the same way. I smile and hold her tighter. My wound has reopened in the fight I'd gone through to get her back today, but my heart is mended completely. She is worth it. She has always been worth it.
A/N: HEY OKAY YES YES YES I KNOW IT'S BEEN FOREVER SINCE I'VE UPDATED, and from the length of this chapter, you can probably see why.
My life has been so hectic and so busy lately. I've been balancing the stresses of school, life, relationships, and everything else that comes in the package of being a human being. I appreciate those who have continued to support and read this story, especially as I haven't posted in a while. It means so much to me.
Yes: Lexinardo have shared their feelings with one another(: but that does not mean that the story is to end yet. As with any story, there will be more problems and hard decisions to make. But now, Lexi and Leo can get through those together, still maintaining a relationship. I really hope whoever is reading this hasn't lost interest in the story!