Shoutout to Sunflowerspectre (AO3) / Clockwork's Apprentice for beta-reading!

Hope you enjoy the chapter!


Chapter 4: Awkward Endeavors

"Sooooo…"

"So?"

Leo and Raph give each other the eye, unsure of how they should express their opinion on Donnie's gift. Raphael's face is pulled taut, obviously unable to say a word without being brutally honest.
Leo gives him a strained smile, shifting his focus back to his lovestruck brother. "It looks… Great, Donnie, but… Wouldn't it make more sense to put a picture of April in there?"

"Or even a pic of both of ya would work… But Donnie, my man, not just of your face," Raph chuckles nervously, avoiding the nerdy teen's questioning eyes.

"What's wrong with my face?" Donatello whines, thoroughly confused as to why they think it's a bad idea. "Mikey said it was a good picture!" His older brothers eye each other again, making him groan. "Look, the purpose is so she'll always be reminded of me, and–," His face flushes dark as he taps his fingers rapidly on the little wooden box. "–and of how much– how much I–"

"Hey, Donnie? Have you seen–"

"UAGH AH– APRIL!" Donnie nearly drops the gift in his sudden panic, quickly hiding her present behind him as he turns to face her, a too-large smile plastered on his flushed face. "Hi! H-hi. Um, have I seen what?"

She quirks a knowing brow at him, trying to stifle a laugh. "Hi, D. Have you seen the screwdriver anywhere? Mikey needs it."

"Oh! Uh, yeah. Here, I'm done with it," He quickly fumbles with the pouch on his belt single-handedly, grabbing the screwdriver he'd been using to tinker with the music box earlier. He holds it out to her shakily, his eyes squeezing shut at the force of his grin. Normally he'd try to be more suave, but his nerves are starting to get to him.
Will she like it? Are Leo and Raph just teasing me? What if they're serious? Will she hate it? Oh no, she's going to hate it.

She takes the screwdriver gently, her small smile unwavering. "Thanks, Donnie," She says sweetly, trying to pretend that she can't see right through him. His emotions display themselves for her like a neon sign, a sign she can't help but instinctively read.
Surprise, nervousness, annoyance, doubt, love

She hides a wince as the last one crosses her mind, her stomach turning itself over at the thought of another confession attempt from her best friend. That must be why Mikey asked her to go find the screwdriver; it's just like him to play wingman… Not to mention witnessing Raphael yank Leo down behind the couch when she entered; an obvious attempt at giving them "privacy". Smooth, guys. Very smooth.

Should she just suck it up and get it over with? Is she ready to give him an answer, especially in front of her friends? No, she decides, moving to take her leave. I'm not.

"Oh, uh, April! Before you go–" Donnie begins, his voice tight.

She can't hide her flinch. Crap. No escaping this now, O'Neil… She turns, hoping to try and stave off the incoming question, but instead finds a wooden box held in front of her face. Oh. That's what he's been trying to hide! He made her something? Thank God!

"You said to make something pretty, and I wanted to make something useful. So… I did both!" His cheeky, gap-toothed grin shines with such adoration and pride, she can't help but smile back as she sets down the screwdriver and takes the box into her hands.

Ugh, there's a heart on it… And a crank? She gulps and gently opens the box, spying the intricate mechanism held inside. A homemade music box? She unconsciously winds the crank, just as her eyes finish scanning the rest of the open box. A photo of Donatello stares back at her, leaving her speechless for just a moment. Geez, Donnie, this is more romantic than a heart-shaped locket!

She looks back up at him, the music continuing to play as he tries to keep his smile. His fingers tap together like they do when he's nervous. Anxiety, hope, love, panic, worry
Goodness, she is just not used to this, even with how often Casey hits on her. It's a nice music box, but the romantic implication is just too much! This is something you'd give your fiancee, not your crush!

She forces a smile of her own as she tries to express her… Gratitude, not willing to shatter his heart directly. "Uh, wow! That…" Think, April! Think! "... Is just SUPER neat! Thanks so much, Donnie."

God, she's a terrible liar, she knows she is, and the drop in Donatello's expression only solidifies the heavy feeling of guilt in her gut. Okay, time to abort mission.


She watches as three of the four brothers waltz into the forest, one a bit more mopey than the rest, probably for another one of Raph's training exercises. He's been mimicking Leo's style of training, choosing to turn their lessons into games.
I wonder if he's told him about them all?

She leaves her hiding spot from beside the house, quickly jogging up the steps of the porch and opening the door to–

"Leo! What. Are. You. Doing?" The hiss rolls off her tongue, her protective instincts taking over at the sight of Leonardo attempting to climb the stairs by himself.

His head snaps her way, his face like a deer caught in headlights. "Uhhhhhhh–" His eyes dart this way and that, trying and failing to come up with a good excuse. "Training?"

"Uh huh," She sneers, crossing her arms. "And do you have explicit permission to train on, oh I don't know, a literal death trap? Imagine what could happen if you fall!"

He hangs his head low with a small growl, already feeling himself give up the attempt. "I know, April."
The things that could happen to him are endless. He could hurt his neck. He could hurt his leg more. He could get a concussion. He could break an arm.

Most physical activities have been put on hold for him, allowing him nothing more than short walks and small arm exercises whenever he gets the chance to be alone. His first arm exercise today was, laughably, the game with Raph he'd finished a short while ago; something to help him regain his once powerful grip strength.
And despite its success, his "training" only serves to leave him feeling unfulfilled, like he hasn't done enough to earn a break or rest his eyes. No burning muscles, no sweat; just restlessness.

Even with his body yearning for a nap, something he hates needing, he ignores it. He's already sick of sleeping in just a little longer than everyone else, sick of being unable to even walk too far past the treeline, sick of not being able to use stairs
Sick of being stuck.

April's eyes soften as she watches her friend shrink in on himself, his frustration growing as he glares longer and longer at his leg. "Listen, if you're still feeling restless, how about we walk around the house a bit outside, and then another game after?"

Leo's dejected expression turns contemplative, appreciating her attempt at a compromise. "You don't mind? Especially after…"

She sighs and rubs her face in exasperation. She was hoping he wouldn't bring that up! "I knowwwww, I just never know what to say to him! This was never a problem before!"

Leonardo cocks his head to the side and turns, slowly making his way back down the stairs. "Before when? Donnie's terrible at being subtle, surely you're aware he's liked you since the beginning?"

Her pale face turns red at his bluntness; hearing such words said aloud makes her stomach do flips! "Look, I don't know how else to say this… But Donnie is the first guy to openly like me, okay? Can you blame me for being weird about it?"

"What about Casey?" He questions as he heads towards the front door, not passing up her offer to walk with him. "He hits on you all the time, like, directly. Does that not bother you?"

She groans and follows after the limping teen, "Since when did this become an interrogation about my love life?"

Leo chuckles as he cautiously makes his way down the porch steps. "Since you caught me breaking Donnie's rules. I need to blackmail you somehow," He jokes, but scowls when she reaches the bottom of the porch before him. "Psh, show off."

She scoffs in reply as she waits for him, secretly feeling thankful for his casual demeanor. She's never really had a chance to talk about her romantic life with anyone besides…
Oh my God! An alien knows more about my love life than my friends do! That's so wrong!

She sucks in a breath at the awful thought, figuring that this would be as best a time as any to get her feelings about it all off her chest. Besides, Leonardo is honorable, good with secrets, and probably has a whole bunch of Sensei-like wisdom hanging out somewhere in his head. Maybe she can get some real advice for once?

"I don't actually like it when Casey hits on me, but at least he does it… Casually?" She rubs the back of her neck, trying to put into words how differently her and Casey's dynamic worked. "With Casey, it's always just banter, so turning him down doesn't feel as serious. It's more like an inside joke than a love confession, even if he really does like me. Donnie though?" She sighs, hoping that her words won't come off too harsh. "He just… Doesn't get that lots of the stuff he says and does is too much. And I can't even blame him for it! I know none of you have really ever had the chance to get crushes, so rejecting or brushing off his advances actually makes me feel bad."

"But you don't want to give him false hope either," Leo nods understandingly, easing April's earlier tension. "That actually makes a lot of sense, but there's something else I'm curious about…"

Her shoulders tense up again, his tone sounding more serious than before. "About?"

He glances over at her, spying her form go rigid. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," He starts, hoping to ease her nerves. "But do you think you could ever like Donnie? And are you one hundred percent sure that you could never like him?" He turns his head slightly towards her, gauging her expression as best as he can. She quickly avoids his eyes. "I won't blame you if you don't, obviously, but dodging direct answers like that will only leave him confused. He has an easier time understanding bluntness. If you don't like him, tell him. If you like him, tell him. If you aren't sure where you may wind up, tell him. Leaving him hanging will only leave you both feeling awkward and embarrassed, you know?"

She keeps her head low, her heart beating fast as she mulls over his words. "I get it, I do, but it's not easy! It blows my mind that Casey or Donnie could want a relationship right now, especially with how chaotic our lives are all the time!" Her head rolls back as she groans, finding herself picking apart the pros and cons of what dating either man would entail. "And don't even get me started on how they fight over me! It's so childish! They're my best friends, and I like them for different reasons, but to actually get serious with either of them sounds so… Permanent, and I'm scared that choosing one of them will make me lose the other. How do I even begin to explain that to them?"

Leo hums to himself, trying his hardest to really grasp her feelings. This was probably his most serious talk with their human friend, and so far the first time in a while that he's involved himself in something more than his brothers' issues.
In a way, maybe this is just his way of helping Donnie, but he can't lie to himself and pretend that April's feelings on the issue don't matter to him.

From the shambles he's slowly been nailing back together, just as they do their best to mend him in return, he's gathered some groundbreaking information about his place on the team and in his family this last week. His role as both a leader and big brother are crucial to the team's balance; a fact that fills him with both pride and pressure.
One thing at a time, he reminds himself. If I want to be of any use, I need to pull my weight… Even if it's just helping with relationship issues.

"I think I see where you're coming from," He reassures her with a tight smile as they round another corner, his body already starting to ache from their walk. Endurance training is going to suck. He groans mentally, trying to put his mind back on track– April's track. "Is there anything else that bothers you about all this?" He presses, hoping to cut their exercise short after giving April his two-cents.

"No, but thank you for listening to all this," She answers softly, breathing a sigh of relief. "That's really all that's been bothering me about it," She crosses her arms and gives him a grateful smile as they near the last corner of the house. "Why? Got any advice for me, dear leader?" She asks, only half-joking.

"I do, indeed," He laughs, holding a single finger up. "First, you should be a little more forward with Donnie about where you two stand. Set some boundaries, like whether or not you enjoy receiving gifts and compliments. If you're unsure what the future may hold, maybe just say that you prefer spending time with him? That can help avoid a lot of embarrassment, for both of you," He holds up another finger. "Secondly, maybe we can convince Raph and Mikey to get in on this, and we can all subtly encourage Casey and Donnie to work together–"

April barks out a laugh and rolls her eyes, "No no, I don't think that's possible, Leo. Not with those two."

"Why not? It could work!" He frowns, surprised that she has such little faith in the idea. Surely she has a good reason?

"Leo, you have not seen how they've been around each other these last few months," She argues. "They spent almost every day together in the barn whenever we weren't working, and I'm genuinely surprised they never burned the place down with how often they'd come in complaining about each other. I think that's as good as they'll ever get."

Leo sighs as they round the final corner. Yeah, that's a pretty sound reason.
"I guess you have a point," He comes to a stop in front of the porch steps, turning to give April a tired shrug. "Just keep in mind what I said about Donnie, then. He may have a big crush on you, but you're his best friend first and foremost. He'll understand whatever choice you make," He jabs his thumb behind his shoulder, giving her a tired smile. "Now, I'm gonna go rest. Hate to say it, but I'm beat."

April nods understandingly as she easily climbs the few steps. "Alright, Leo. Is there a time you want me to wake you?"

He shakes his head, once again envious of her ability to climb, steadying himself for his first step, "Just come get me when you see my brothers heading back, if you don't mind keeping watch?"

She waves him off, moving to go sit on the porch swing. "I've got you, go ahead and nap. Their training games can last up to an hour sometimes, you've got time."

He stumbles the first porch step at the word "games". Raph did mention something about a 'Turtle Hunt' before they left. "Games? They train with… Games?"

April looks at him in surprise, "Uh, yeah? Raphael said that's how you'd make training fun for them, so he made more for all of us to do," She leans back and kicks off the ground, making the swing move. "With a little help from Mikey sometimes. Who do you think came up with your grip training with a controller?"

"It's-it's not that, it's just…" He closes his eyes and breathes out a content sigh, a soft smile on his face. "It's nice to hear that you all managed to have fun."

"Yeah, there were some fun moments," She replies, leaning against the armrest. "Would've been funner if you were there, though."

"Heh, yeah," He says with a half-hearted laugh as he reaches the porch deck. "Sorry about that. I feel like I've missed so much."

"Don't worry about it, we're just glad you're here now, you know?" She stops the swing and turns fully towards him, pointing a harsh finger at the door. "Now go sleep! You've got 40 minutes max, don't waste it."

Leo rolls his eyes with a small grin as he walks through the front door, "Thanks, April."

As his eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting inside, they refocus on the staircase. That damned staircase. He glares at it, absentmindedly shifting his weight to test his knee. Not too bad… He surmises. Is it worth getting scolded by Donnie, though? He hobbles his way over to the first step, pausing to look up towards the top. Or maybe he won't notice?


He plops down on the single mattress, panting harshly as he tries to get comfortable. His muscles twitch repeatedly, not even having the strength to pull the blanket on top of him. Now I get why Donnie didn't want me doing that.

How strange it is for him to look forward to falling asleep, in the middle of the day, after climbing a set of stairs on his own.
A short walk made him sore and tired. A flight of stairs left him wheezing and shaking at the exertion. Such simple things suddenly feel impossible to do easily.
He used to scale buildings! He used to leap across apartments and balance on wires! He can't even be sure when he'll be able to walk normally again, much less jump.

He shuts his eyes tight, hating how instantaneously his mind can spiral. Positive thoughts! Positive thoughts! He takes a deep breath. Today was a good day. You helped April, and maybe that will help Donnie. I managed to climb the stairs without falling, that's an accomplishment. Raph makes training games like I used to do for them–

He can't keep the wide, warm smile off his face as he sighs. He may be wrong, but that tidbit of information makes him feel as though it was their way of remembering him. Raph had said he'd taken over training their team every day, but Leo didn't know what a Raphael-led training session could possibly entail.
He assumed lots of combat, and he might still be right about that.

Yeah, today's a good day, He thinks to himself as he slips off into a deep sleep.

That is, until someone slams open the front door, forcing his eyes to snap back open. April's yelling for him downstairs, babbling nonsense as she runs to the Master bedroom. I stand corrected– today was a good day.

Her final shout echoes throughout the farmhouse, "LEONARDO! You better not be upstairs! I thought you were joking about blackmailing me!"

He can't help but crack a smug, exhausted smirk.


Donatello resists the urge to slam his face onto the kitchen table. He really didn't mean for any of this to happen, but Leo's just a little more than peeved over having BigFoot in their current home.
So peeved, in fact, that the leader in blue has yet to explain to him why he came home to find a dead-tired, sweat-soaked, and shaky Leonardo walking down the off-limit staircase. To be honest, he hadn't even noticed at first; not until Leo turned to glare at Mikey for mocking him.

He meets Leo's glare across the table with one of his own, hoping his annoyance reaches the stubborn idiot. Meathead.
Leo raises an unimpressed brow, angrily stabbing his mac and cheese with a fork. Do you really wanna go there?

Donnie gulps, averting his brother's eyes as he takes another bite of his hotdog. A simple, cheap dinner– one they're currently sharing with a legendary beast, actually. He thought he'd feel more amazed by this discovery, but at this point, it almost feels redundant.
Now, he's just got to figure out how to get out of this BigFoot situation, because he's not sure how long he'll be able to deal with her crush on him. Great Darwin, that was embarrassing!

He hopes Leo recognizes how much he's already paying for his act of kindness. No good deed goes unpunished, I guess. His troubled gaze lands on the love of his life, his chest fluttering at the memory of their embarrassing interaction this morning. And April's been avoiding me, too.

He looks into the living room, spying BigFoot beaming brightly at him from her spot on the couch. His stomach lurches at the sight of her adoring face; not that he hates being crushed on, no, nor was it her looks, entirely, also no, maybe
His eyes shoot back down to his plate, suddenly feeling guilty. BigFoot isn't terrible or anything, no, but he can name a plethora of reasons for why he doesn't like her back.

Is it wrong of him to reject her so directly? He helped her out with her injury, so maybe she's just grateful? Idolizing him maybe, like Timothy did? Oh, now that's a huge can of worms I don't want to open right now, nuh uh.

He munches on another bite of his hot dog, wishing that such a decision would come easy. If he plays along long enough, surely she'll begin to lose interest? He can last until then, right? It'll be embarrassing, yeah, his brothers and Casey will probably never let him live it down– but he'd rather deal with that than break some poor girl's heart!

Yeah, I can deal with it until then. I'm sure of it!


April watches many of the duo's antics from afar, sensing Don grow more and more irritated as he's obsessively crushed on by her home state's local cryptid. A surprising turn of events, one she's secretly played wingwoman for more than once today.
Does she feel a little bad about it? Yes, definitely. Is it also the perfect way for Donnie to get a slight taste of his own medicine? One hundred percent.

It might be a long shot for him to find the similarities between their situations, but she can get a little help from his brothers with that soon enough. For now, she'll be content with watching BigFoot feed Donnie popcorn, finding the strange scene oddly cute.

Funny, this must be why the boys always spy on her and Donnie.


According to Leo, Raph had been the one to drop the hint to Donnie for her, and as Donatello murmurs his apology and explains his new understanding, one about how she supposedly viewed their relationship, her stomach drops. 'Just a mutant'?

She frowns at his words, not wanting to imply that she's flat-out rejecting him, especially for such a shallow reason! She just wants him to act normal around her! No more gifts, no more poorly worded compliments, and no more confessions! He needs to know that you can like someone without being overbearing about it.

And she has to learn how to be blunt, even if she doesn't quite have a definitive answer for him.

"You're not just a mutant, Donnie…" Am I really doing this? She wonders, moving close to him and standing on her toes. "You're my mutant." I'm not even sure if I like him like that, but… She pulls him down by the top of his plastron and places a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth. Maybe this is forward enough? She doesn't hide her bashful grin as she steps away from his awestruck face, her nerves suddenly getting the best of her as she turns to run inside.

She shuts the backdoor behind her and collapses against it, trying her best to calm her racing heart and tomato red cheeks. I really just did that, holy moly!

"Man..." She jumps, spinning her head to see a curious Michelangelo watching something outside the window, Ice Cream Kitty purring in his arms. "He must be really happy about BigFoot leaving. I would've thought he'd like all the attention, I know I would!"

April sighs, thankful that Mikey had just missed her impromptu kiss– the very one that Donnie is likely yelling about in the backyard. She tries not to giggle as she gets flashes of his emotions, zipping across her mind like fireworks. Excitement. Hope. Love. Acceptance. Understanding.

Mission accomplished. "This may surprise you, but not everyone likes to be romanced," She tells him, pushing off the door to head into the living room. "I know I sure don't."


Hope you enjoyed!