Raph sat on the front porch swing and used one of his feet to keep the swing moving as he watched Leonardo move through another set of katas down by the water. His heart swelled in an embarrassingly sappy way as he watched Leo's perfect movements.

Raph preferred to take a break from training on their weekend trips to the farmhouse whereas he knew better than to suggest to Leo that he do the same. He was pretty content to sit and watch Leo anyway.

He pushed off and got the swing moving again. It reminded him of swinging himself to sleep in his old hammock. He preferred sleeping with Leo but still missed his hammock. He'd managed to get Leo in the hammock a few times over the past year that they'd been together, but it wasn't really big enough to allow both of them to sleep comfortably.

He would've let himself doze off there on the moving swing if he wasn't waiting for the rest of their clan to arrive. He and Leo had arrived a few days ago to have some time to themselves as part of Raph's request for his birthday this year, but they were about to be joined by their father, brothers, Woody and Sadie and April and Casey.

Raph frowned as he thought of Casey. Things hadn't been normal between him and Casey for a while. He'd met up with Casey on one of their nights out last year and had finally decided to tell Casey that he was in a relationship with Leo.

"What do you mean you're with Leo?" Casey asked, staring hard at Raph. This seemed like a prank that Mikey would pull, not Raphael. "Like yer bangin Leo? Yer overly-bossy, pain in the shell big brother?"

Raph cringed a little but kept eye contact with Casey. "He's not overly-bossy. Well, not all the time," he attempted a smile. "And he's not technically my brother."

"You hate Leo. He drives you crazy," Casey said, incredulously. "Most of the time yer out here with me just get away from him!"

"I don't hate him. I've never hated him. I was just avoiding him because I've always loved him."

Casey swung his hockey stick at nothing and then glared at Raph again.

Raph leaned back against the edge of the roof they were on, crossed his arms and scowled back. This wasn't going as well as he would've hoped. But he was willing to give Case a bit of time to adjust to the news.

"Is this gonna be a problem?"

Casey stared off over the building tops next to them. "No."

"Then what are you upset about?" Raph asked. He thought about Casey's reaction so far and realized almost everything Casey had said only centered on Leo.

Casey turned suddenly and practically marched up to Raphael. Raph stared at his friend as he invaded his personal space. Casey placed one of his hands on one of Raph's upper arms and seemed to stare at the emerald bicep under his fingers for a minute before his eyes rose to meet Raph's eyes. He leaned forward but was stopped by a strong hand on his chest pushing him backwards.

"What are you doin, Jones?" Raph growled out at him.

"I had no idea you swung towards guys," Casey said, catching his feet under him to remain standing after Raph's push. "I just think you should consider all of your options before settling for one of yer brothers."

Raph stared hard at his friend. "It's not that I swing towards guys. Or girls," he bit out. "Just Leo."

"I still think you should think about it," Casey said, before turning and taking off for another rooftop.

Raph had watched him leave and instead of chasing after him, he'd turned and gone home. He hadn't talked about it with Leo. And he hadn't met up with Casey more than a handful of times over the last year unless he could casually talk one of his brothers into joining them.

Leo had noticed the change and when he brought it up with Raph, Raph would just squeeze him to his side and tell him he'd rather hang out with Leo in his free time, which was true, even if he did miss his old friend.

Raph's eyes narrowed on the end of the farmhouse's long driveway as Casey's motorcycle and the shellraiser came into view. Master Splinter had requested this time away for all of them and with April's college classes out for spring break, she had happily volunteered to host them all at the farmhouse for a long weekend.

He stood and stretched, glancing again at Leo whose head had turned in the direction of the vehicle although it hadn't interrupted the rest of his movements.

Casey parked his bike next to Raphael's and he and April hopped off as the shellraiser''s doors flew open as soon as the vehicle was put into park. Mikey jumped out, dragging Woody quickly behind him, talking faster than the words could come out of his mouth about the top five best things about the farmhouse. Raph managed to nod a greeting to Woody who could only grin at him before Mikey had them dashing across the field towards Leo.

Raph reached forward and helped Master Splinter out of the van, giving his father an uncharacteristic side hug as he heard his father mumble something about Michelangelo and his incessant chatter during the entire trip.

Don and Sadie were still sitting in the front of the van but Raph could hear them laughing together about something so he left them to it and went to the back of the vehicle to begin collecting the luggage and groceries. Casey met him back there. Raph watched his buddy out of the corner of his eye. Casey didn't say anything to him, but Raph noticed that he looked relaxed. He lifted his hockey bag out, grinned at Raph and then headed into the house after April and Master Splinter. Raph let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding and felt relieved. Hopefully this meant Casey had adjusted and maybe they could go back to normal. He was willing to forget Casey's strange behavior if it meant getting his friend back.

Raph lugged some of the bags inside and when he came back out he heard loud yelling followed by a splash. He turned and saw Mike laughing by the edge of the pond and then saw Leo and Woody break the surface of the water and start yelling at him.

Raph debated. Should he carry the rest of their heavy crap inside, or go join his mate in the water?

He began running towards the water, past Donnie and Sadie who were headed that way, and hit Mikey's legs before Mike even knew he was a target, causing him to go flying into the water with Raph.

Raph broke the surface laughing. Mike came up sputtering with a hurt puppy dog expression. He made his way to Woody for comfort only to be splashed.

"You may get to walk around naked, Mikester, but I'm fully dressed! My clothes feel like they weigh 100 pounds!" Woody said, splashing him again before allowing Mikey close enough to pull him into a hug.

"I won't let you sink, Woody," Mikey said, grinning at him.

Leo pulled himself out of the pond and winked at Raph before heading up the farmhouse to help unload the rest of the bags and say hello to their father. He greeted Sadie and Don as he passed them. He watched Sadie sit at the edge of the pond as Donnie dove straight into the water, then laughed as Mike and Raph were both pulled under by their ankles.

The group of them played in the water until April called them all in for dinner. The kitchen table only sat so many so they all sprawled out across the kitchen and living room with plates of food. Leo leaned his shell against Raph's shell as they sat on the ground eating off the coffee table.

"Woody brought that surprise you requested, Leo," Don said. "If you guys go outside and start the bonfire, I'll go get it."

Leo's grin in repsonse made Raph immediately nervous. But he didn't get to ask as he was dragged to his feet to go outside.

Raph and Casey were charged with collecting firewood and the two walked towards the woods together. Raph glanced at him again from the corner of his eye.

"What?" Casey asked.

"Just tryin to see what kind of mood yer in," Raph said.

"I'm in a great mood," Casey said. "I really needed to get out of the city."

"Why? You love the city." Raph started loading up his arms with firewood.

"Just needed a break."

"From?"

"Don't worry about it, man," Casey said. He added firewood to the pile in Raph's arms. "That should do it for tonight."

"Think you can handle your part of the firewood?" Raph asked, eyeing the one stick Casey had while he had an armful.

"Don't hate just because I'm smart enough to bring a strong friend on a firewood run, ya loser," Casey said, laughing as he ran back towards the firepit just in case Raph decided to heave the firewood in his direction.

Raph brought the firewood back and began stacking it in the pit before he settled down next to Leo. "Alright, what's the surprise, Fearless?" Raph asked, watching Leo's small grin grow as he tried to avoid making eye contact with Raphael.

The rest of their group had come outside and were all starting to encircle the firepit as well. Casey pulled out a box of matches and began lighting some newspapers to get the fire going.

"You're going to like it," Leo said, pulling Raphael closer to him.

"As much as I liked my egg-surprise breakfast?" Raph grumbled.

"Oh, dude," Mikey said, laughing. "I told him not to cook for you!"

"You too, Woody?" Leo asked, watching Woody's face turn red with the effort of not laughing.

"Sorry, Leo," Woody managed through his chortles. "But I was there when you made the practice batch. I've never seen anyone set a kitchen on fire using just a whisk."

"He didn't even have the stove top turned on?" Sadie asked.

"We hadn't made it that far in the lesson!" Mike said, practically falling over with laughter.

"It's not that funny," Leo said, dryly, trying to ignore Raphael's silent laughter which was making the entire emerald body next to him shake.

"Raph!" April said, "I told you that you guys could come out here alone only if you kept Leo away from the kitchen!"

"Hey!" Leo said. He even heard Master Splinter try to stifle laughter.

"What'd he break?" April asked. "You know Don's going to be pissed."

"He actually managed to not break anything," Raph said, hoping Leo appreciated him sticking up for him, even if he was laughing almost too hard to get the words out. "Although, he did waste some eggs."

"I'm right here," Leo muttered. "And yes, you will like this more than your omelet. I asked Donnie to bring your birthday present since I couldn't secretly fit it on the bike when we came out."

Raph perked up and smiled at Leo, earning himself a rub on the back of his neck from his mate.

Donnie came outside then and it was dark enough that Raph could see he was carrying something awkwardly behind his back although he couldn't tell what it was until Donnie stopped in front of him and handed the guitar case to him.

"What?" Raph said, taking the guitar case and shooting his eyes to Leo.

"You play enough Guitar Hero with Mike," Leo said, "I thought you might like to try the real thing."

"How did you –," Raph said, feeling too shocked to finish his sentence. He pulled the wooden guitar out and ran his fingers over it.

"Woody helped," Leo said. "He brought his own guitar this weekend too. Said he could give you some lessons."

Raph grinned over at Woody before turning his attention back to Leo. He realized he still hadn't said much and Leo was watching him warily with his shoulders slightly hunched forward as if he was trying to decide if Raph actually liked the gift. He forgot about the others for a moment and leaned over and quickly kissed Leo in thanks.

"I thought you'd like it," Leo said, relaxing his shoulders back.

"Yeah, I love it. And you, ya dork."

Woody pulled his guitar out from seemingly nowhere and began to strum a few chords. Leo settled into Raph's side as they listened to the fire crackle as Woody and Sadie began to sing. The rest of the group eventually joined in, although they switched from loud rock songs to quieter songs when Master Splinter excused himself to bed. However, they soon became loud again as they giggled their way through some of the lyrics.

When Raphael realized Leo's eyes were starting to droop and he was leaning more and more into Raph's side, he nudged his partner up on his feet and led him upstairs to their room. One of the perks of being with the clan leader meant they always got to claim a bedroom in the four bedroom farmhouse. Master Splinter had his own room and April and Casey of course had a room since it was April's farmhouse. That left one room which was designated for their "guests" – Woody and Sadie. Although Raphael was pretty sure he'd find Woody downstairs on the couch in the morning slumped together with Mike and he was pretty sure he'd find Donnie missing after sneaking into the fourth bedroom to stay with Sadie. He wasn't really sure why they were making the distinction of designating the room for their guests other than to avoid having Mike and Don fight over who got to claim it.

Leo let Raphael lead them into their room and didn't protest as Raph began pulling his gear off of him. "This day was partly your birthday celebration," he said. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you."

"You've taken great care of me today," Raph said, keeping his voice low as he slid off Leo's elbow pads. "You do so much for me, Leonardo. I hope I do the same for you."

Leo wrapped his arms around Raph's neck and pulled him close. "I need you, Raphael. Don't you know that by now?" He kissed him then and welcomed Raph's tongue in his mouth before he pulled back to say, "I need you to pull me out of my own head." Another kiss. "And I need you to look at me with that smile you save only for me." He kissed down to Raph's neck, shivering from the hands that were running up and down his sides. "I need this emerald skin pressed against mine," he whispered. "I need the heat that radiates off of you."

Raphael flushed at Leo's words, feeling extremely pleased. He shifted his hands to Leo's shell and pulled him hard against him, earning him a small moan from the leader. "Are you trying to sweet talk me into bed, Leo?" Raph asked, smirking as he moved his head to the side to give Leo better access to his neck.

Leo made a sound that was very close to a snort. "I'm pretty sure I just have to bat my eyes at you to get you into bed," he said in a teasing tone.

"Is that so?" Raph said, trying and failing to scowl and not smile.

Leo traced his tongue against an especially sensitive spot on Raph's neck as a churr escaped him, vibrating against the pressure point and resulting in Raphael quickly pushing him down on the bed. He flipped Leo on his plastron and hitched his hips up in the air so he could use one hand to fondle Leo's tail while the other rubbed over the smooth skin of his mate's perfect ass. He heard Leo let out a deep sigh and smiled as he traced his fingers over his entrance. Leo pushed his hips back for more contact but Raph's hand moved to the front of his plastron and began teasing over his slit instead.

Leo had his head resting on his arms and he tried to silence a moan. His breathing quickened as Raph's fingers became more insistent until he finally dropped down into Raph's hand. Raph stroked him until he heard small moans leave his mate. He leaned around Leo and pulled the lube they had left under the pillows so he could cover his fingers before moving his hand back to Leo's entrance. His fingers were teasing, pressing in and out without a consistent pattern, and when Leo rocked back towards him again for more contact, he once again left his ass and moved his hand back to stroking Leo again.

"Raph," Leo whimpered, nudging himself back towards Raph.

"You still think you can bat yer eyes at me to get me into bed?" Raph asked, his tone husky as he began to stroke himself as well as Leo.

Leo grinned into his own arms as he finally realized the reason for Raph's teasing fingers. "Yes," he said.

"Well yer right," Raph said, thrusting himself into Leo's ass. Leo shoved a hand into his mouth to keep from crying out. "Don't make you any less of a smug jerk, though," he said grinning, as he quickened his movements. His ability to speak was lost after that as he was lost in the feeling of being inside Leonardo. He reached around and began stroking Leo again as he listened to Leo hoarsely whisper out his name with each thrust.

He felt Leo began to twitch and he sped up his movements so that when Leo's muscles tightened around him with his own release, he would be right behind him. He collapsed on top of Leo's shell, pressing the leader further down into the bed with a loud grunt.

When he was able to, he rolled off Leo's shell and then pulled the still panting Leo up into his side. "I'm never gonna get enough of this," he whispered to Leo. "Never gonna get enough of you."

"Good," Leo whispered back. "Cause me neither."