Author's note:

Thank you all SO much for your reviews, messages, follows, and likes. Your support and enthusiasm for my story makes me so happy. I really have no words. Also, thank you for being patient with me for not updating in a while. This summer has been really busy for me, and I just got back from a huge camping trip where I had no service. I have every intention of getting back to a regular schedule of updating! We are closing in on Part Two of this story, where everything will change. I have been toying with the idea of writing part two from Raphael's point of view. Would you all like that? Or would you prefer it to remain from Lily's point of view? Let me know in a review or message. :)

Thank you again, and enjoy.

~ Kaija.

When I woke up the next morning, I was trapped.

Somehow during the night, I had curled up next to Raphael. He was on his stomach with one of his large arms curled around my waist. I had no blankets covering me, but his body was warm against mine. Although most of my skin was touching him, I could feel the hard edge of his shell brush against my arm slightly. I was overwhelmed with sensations, the most shocking being that he was actually touching me - and not just in the I'm-obviously-trying-to-touch-you-as-little-as-possible way that he usually did. No, he was gripping me, tightly, and I couldn't move an inch even if I had wanted to.

I didn't want to. Not at all. At least, not until I had laid there for about a half an hour, enjoying the closeness and the comfort, but then I suddenly had to pee. I sighed. There were two ways to go about this: wake Raphael up and risk a really awkward moment of him realizing how intimate we were being, or trying, somehow, to get free from his grasp. I chose the latter.

First, I adjusted myself slightly and rolled onto my back. His hold on me loosened just a bit, and thankfully it was enough for me to slide myself down and out from under his arm.

Success.

I was getting used to the darkness of his room. There was a slight glow coming from his clock, which read 5 AM. I assumed he too would be waking up soon to prepare for practice with his brothers. I couldn't help but smile at how refreshed I felt as I went to the bathroom. I had slept deeply, the kind with no dreams, and no tossing or turning.

That last part really wasn't so shocking though - who knew how long Raphael had been holding me firmly in place.

When I exited the bathroom, I was so overwhelmed with normal, giddy girl thoughts that I didn't even notice Mikey lurking behind me. I only became aware of him standing there when he loudly cleared his throat. I flipped around quickly.

"Nice leopard print." He commented, a devious smile already spread across his lips. "You stay the night here, Lil?"

"Uhm..." I replied stupidly.

"I didn't see Raph on the couch when I went to see if Splinter was awake yet." He continued.

"Yeah, we uh... I came over and... I couldn't sleep. So... I came here." I explained, completely mortified.

Mikey's eyes widened in excitement. "So does that mean that you and Ra-"

"Mikey." I cut him off firmly, already knowing where he was about to go with that sentence. "That's none of your business."

He just laughed. "Whatever. I'll get the truth out of you eventually."

"Oh, geez." I groaned. "It's too early for this. I'll deal with you later."

I couldn't help but give him a quick smile before I raced back to Raphael's room. I assumed Raph would be mad at me for getting caught by Mikey, since I was sure Mikey had probably already raced off to tell Leonardo and Donatello about our little sleepover.

Raphael hadn't moved since I left, so I climbed back into his bed. It was only a moment before he reached out and pulled me, quite forcibly, closer again.

How odd.

I froze, unsure if he was still asleep and just didn't know what he was doing, or if I was somehow dreaming all of this. I laid there for another few minutes, pondering what could possibly be the cause of his sudden need to be all touchy with me. It wasn't that I minded...

"Are you awake?" I finally whispered when I couldn't handle staring at the dark ceiling anymore.

"Mmph." He mumbled in response.

That didn't exactly settle my suspicions.

"Raph." I said a little bit louder than before.

"What?" He answered, this time in a completely normal tone.

"So, you are awake."

"Yeah, now I am." He grumbled.

He still hadn't moved his arm away from me.

"Sorry. Uhm... Mikey saw me when I went to use the bathroom a minute ago." I admitted.

"So?"

"So... I just wanted to warn you. He is probably telling the others all kinds of things right now..."

"I don't care." Raphael replied.

I actually believed him. He sounded completely un-bothered by what I had said. Now I really was starting to think that I was dreaming.

"You... don't?" I repeated.

"Nah."

"Oh..." I said, now utterly confused.

"I'm not fightin' this anymore." He continued.

Even in the dark, I could tell that his eyes were still closed. His voice was even, not angry or annoyed. Raphael seemed... relaxed.

Relaxed?!

"Fighting... what?" I questioned.

"You and me."

"Wait, what?" I squeaked.

Raphael sighed, a little bit of his usual manner coming back as he got frustrated with my questions. "I thought 'bout it last night. And I'm done."

"When last night?"

"While you were sleepin'. You know you snore, right?" Raphael replied, chuckling.

I'd been focusing on the ceiling again, but I turned to look at him in shock and was met by his now open green eyes. I almost choked as I swallowed heavily.

"Well, you hog the covers." I snapped defensively when I had regained my composure. "And I don't understand what you're trying to say."

"If you wanna be with a mutant-turtle-freak, then fine. I'm not gonna try an' stop you anymore." Raphael said.

"And you just... decided this?" I clarified.

"Yeah."

I quickly sat upright, my sudden movement taking him by surprise, his arm falling away from my body. He let out a long sigh and sat up as well.

"You've got to be kidding me right now. You stomp around for days, acting like the idea of you and I is some horrible thing, but then one night you just decide that you're over it? How the hell does that happen?" I asked, my voice getting louder and louder as I talked.

Raphael shrugged. "It's just how I am."

I was quite for a moment, letting that statement sink in.

"I don't understand you." I finally said.

I didn't mean it as an insult. I just wished that I could see the way his mind worked, how one day he could be at one extreme, but then the next day have a completely different attitude.

"Right back at ya." He replied.

A smirk spread across his face and the look in his eyes was one that made my heart skip a few beats. He seemed to actually like the fact that he didn't fully understand me and that I didn't understand him. In fact, it seemed to make him happy which was something I couldn't quite wrap my head around just yet.

Most people don't enjoy taking the time to understand other people. They view it as a chore and not a privilege. Most people let their differences tear them apart from those that they care about. Honestly, most people don't care at all about understanding who you are.

But not Raphael. The way his eyes were currently watching me made me feel like all he wanted to do was explore every detail of who I was. For once, his green eyes were not a reflection of rage, or annoyance, or fear. They went deeper than I had ever thought possible.

It was both scary and thrilling at the same time. I found myself being taken over by the sensation growing in my chest - the feeling of falling, of having no control over your actions or your thoughts. I was caught up in his eyes, the curve of his mouth, the closeness of his body to mine.

Wanting.

That was what I felt. I wanted him and I could tell that he wanted me. Not just sexually, physically, because I knew that was there too, but also emotionally. He wanted to understand me and I wanted to understand him.

I straightened up on the bed, bringing myself up closer to his height so that I could kiss him. I felt the difference right away in his response to my actions. There was no hesitation, no careful placing of his hands on my body. As he returned the kiss, it was what I had always expected from him in the first place: hard, rough, demanding. There was nothing unsure about the way that he touched me now. He held me in place firmly once he had brought me closer to his chest, some of his true strength coming through as he did so. His aggressiveness made me feel a little nervous. This was a whole other side of him that I was seeing. One that was not only passionate, but controlling, fierce. I liked it, but it was nothing that I had ever experienced before.

It seemed like he really had been telling the truth earlier.

He wasn't going to fight this anymore.

Later that morning, I was waiting for Raphael to finish getting ready so he could walk me to the manhole. I needed to go home and get ready for work, which had escaped my mind completely until now. I hadn't wanted to spoil the mood with Raphael by telling him that Sacks was planning a party and I would most likely be working on it. I was still freaked out of course, but a good nights rest had helped me gain a stronger hold on my emotions: the chances of me actually coming face to face with Sacks was slim to none. I would probably end up making a few phone calls, planning a few menus, and then the party would be done with. There was no need to stir everyone up into a panic before I even knew if there was truly anything to panic about.

Donatello came into the living room and gave me a shy smile, his eyes barely meeting mine.

Yep, Mikey had definitely been telling his brothers about how I had spent the night with Raphael.

"Hey." I greeted him, trying to sound casual.

"Good morning, Lily." He replied.

He went into the kitchen and began to busy himself making food. I got up from my spot on the couch and took a seat the table.

"Have you gotten any information about the Foot Clan from the device that I planted?" I asked.

Donatello's shoulders stiffened slightly at my question. "Uhmm..."

I sighed. "Did Raphael tell you not to talk to me about this?"

"Well..." He continued awkwardly, and that pretty much answered my question.

"Look. You don't have to give me a bunch of details, but I think I deserve to know how it's going since I helped." I said, a little more sharply than I probably should have.

"Honestly, there isn't much to tell. I haven't gotten any information about the Foot Clan. It's been quiet." Donatello admitted, giving me a sad look.

"That seems... Odd." I said, chewing on my bottom lip.

"The Foot Clan could have gone there that one time on purpose. Possibly to mislead us, if they thought we might be tracking them. Or they could move around on a regular basis to prevent anyone from tracking them. The possibilities are endless." Donatello shrugged, sitting down beside me with a bagel and cream cheese. He offered me half, which I gladly took.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I admitted. "That was the day they ambushed you. It could have been a trap all along."

"What could have been a trap?"

I turned around quickly in my chair, the piece of bagel I had been taking a bite out of halfway in my mouth as I did. Raphael had appeared and did not look amused by what we had been discussing.

"The Foot Clan leading you to that building..." I clarified slowly.

"You need to leave this Foot Clan business alone, Lily." Raphael said firmly. "We've got it handled."

His eyes settled on Donatello, giving his brother a warning glare.

"Fine." I replied, even though the information that Donatello had given made my stomach grow uneasy, for reasons that I didn't fully understand. "I was just curious."

"Come on." Raphael said, motioning for me to go with him. "I gotta get back before practice."

I gave Donatello an apologetic look for getting him into trouble, then got up to follow Raphael so he could take me home.

My mind was spinning with thoughts of what Donatello had told me. I wasn't upset that the risk I had taken to plant the device was probably all for nothing - if anything, it made me feel better, because it meant that there was an even better chance that the Foot Clan didn't know I was involved with the brothers. However, it still made me uneasy, because it seemed like Sacks was a step ahead. He had ambushed the brothers, then lead them astray, making them think that building was a base of operations, when really it was probably nothing.

A chill went down my spin as I thought about all the guards in the building that I had seen.

Something pulled at my thoughts, making me reevaluate what I had been considering. If the building really was that useless, then why have so many people working there, ensuring that I didn't wander off while I had been inside of it?

I remembered the long hallway with all the doors. What was behind them?

If there was Foot Clan activity going on there, why was Donatello unable to pick up on any of it?

Nothing made sense to me, but I was too afraid to ask Raphael about it.

He was holding my hand as we walked, and I didn't want him to let go.