Donatello had a specific location already in mind for the eclipse that night, but later in the afternoon Luke had offered the use of his brownstone in Chelsea. The man had been smart enough to make his suggestion in front of Jenna, and she was excited before Donatello could start to object.

His brothers were careful to avoid him for most of the day. Even Jenna had disappeared somewhere with April for a while, leaving him alone to get some loose ends tied up with his project from the night before. When the finished product popped out he put the disc in a protective case, and stared at it for a long moment.

He was tempted to give the gift to her tonight, but some part of him wanted to hold off. Instead he dropped the disc into a manilla envelope with the sheet music, and left it by the computer.

There was a knock at the partially open door, and Donatello got to his feet to see Jenna waiting.

"Hey. The sun's down. Do you want to get going?" she invited.

"Did you have a chance to eat anything? I didn't even think about it."

"I've got it all handled."

"Do you now?"

"Yup. I think we should leave already."

Donatello couldn't help but look in the back of the van as Jenna shoved a backpack onboard, in addition to what had already been loaded up.

"What's all that?"

"I told you - I've got everything under control."

"You're really not going to explain anything, are you?"

"Just that you need to go upstairs for a few minutes when we get to Luke's place. I'll call you to come down when it's time."

He was genuinely surprised by her thoroughness. "You've put a lot of thought into this."

"Get in the car, mate."

When they got to Chelsea, Donatello brought his own equipment inside the house, and turned to Jenna as she came in the back door.

"Can I help you with anything else back there?"

"Only the guitar cases - then go upstairs so I can get to work," she teased firmly.

"You brought the acoustics? Nice."

"I figured the electrics might get us more attention than we want. Hurry up. We're on a tight schedule "

He didn't argue - he ran outside through the backyard and grabbed the two cases out of the van, then closed up the garage. Don left the guitars in the living room, and shifted his own equipment over his shoulder to take upstairs. It was where he needed to set up the telescope anyway. Luke had suggested using the back balcony for the best view.

The eclipse wouldn't be complete until around 2am, so he'd been a little surprised when Jenna asked to go early. In light of whatever "plans" she had in mind, he guessed it made sense. Donatello busied himself for several minutes putting his telescope back together, and then booting his laptop so he could check a few angles. He'd just finished another set of calculations when he heard the doorbell ring and shot upright from his computer.

Donatello rose slowly and walked through the darkness of the bedroom back out to the hallway. He stood out of sight of the stairs, listening as he heard Jenna answer the door, and talk to what sounded like a delivery person. The turtle waited patiently until he was sure the transaction was done, and he distinctly heard the door close.

"Jen?"

"It's all right, Donnie. That was only dinner. I set it up earlier, before we left the Den. I need a little more time. I'll call you, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

He leaned heavily against the wall to wait out of the way. He could smell what she'd ordered as he sank to the floor, but couldn't identify it yet.

Another seven or eight minutes passed before Jenna went to the bottom of the stairs, and called for him to come down.

He jumped to his feet eagerly and trotted down the steps, stopping short when he saw Jenna. He couldn't remember exactly what she'd been wearing when they left the den - but he was certain it wasn't the same as she had on now.

The normal clothes - the only one's he'd ever seen her in - were replaced with floor-grazing black slacks and a silver embossed halter top which revealed slender shoulders. Her raven hair hung in loose waves, and looked as if some care had been taken with it since getting there. In all, she looked startling, and he couldn't help staring for a few moments.

"Come on, Donnie." She flashed a half smile. "Dinner's going to get cold. I was only keeping it warm in the oven, but everything is out now."

"Sorry, it's just...um...you changed," he noted dumbly. "You look beautiful. I mean, you always were, but...I'm gonna shut up."

She laughed and linked an arm through his. "Thank you. Right this way please."

The first floor was darker than when they'd arrived. His natural assumption was that Jenna had attempted to make the atmosphere secure for his sake. The theory flew out the window once she led him into the living room.

There he had to stop in his tracks again. The room was cast in semi-darkness, the glow of several candles and a healthy fire casting shadows over the walls which seemed to dance.

Jenna had dragged in a small table from another location, and set it up grandly for them to eat at near the fire. Before he could move, Donatello shook his head.

"Nice fire. You went to a lot of trouble."

"Not really. Luke put in a gas insert. All I had to do was flip a switch. Are you hungry or what?"

"Do I need to remind you I'm a teenager? It smells fantastic." He laughed while she walked him to the table. It looked like Jenna had ordered a small feast "Where did all this come from?"

"Our second night here in New York, my parents got a recommendation for this restaurant in Little Italy, Casa Bella. A lot of the places are really touristy, but this one...the food was amazing. I know you guys have eaten your fair share of pizza. Have you ever had real Italian?"

"Can't say that I have. You're going to have to walk me through this. What's good?"

"Well, the Ravioli Fritti is like a starter. It's just a handmade cheese ravioli that's been breaded and then fried. I thought it was to die for. They bring it out with Crostini, a crusty bread with tomatoes and mozzarella. You can follow it up with some Gnocchi Napoletani and Tre Colore Greens..."

"Which is...what?"

"The gnocchi are basically mini potato dumplings, and the Greens are a medley of rucola, endive, radicchio, and tomatoes tossed with Italian vinegarette. They're all little bites meant to be shared between people. And then you've got your entree. I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I ordered a couple of different things, and thought you could try some of everything.

"I ordered their specialty dish which is a Veal Chop of Aosta, stuffed with prosciutto, fontina cheese and mushrooms in a Marsala sauce. I also picked the Chicken Fussilli, which includes corkscrew pasta mixed with tomatoes and garlic. I tried both last time, and they're out of this world. I also got some regular spaghetti in case you were feeling more traditional."

Don's head was spinning. "Man, this is almost wasted on me. I know so little about food. Michelangelo would go out of his mind."

She winked at him. "If you enjoy it, then this isn't a waste. I'm sure there will be some leftovers to take to the 'sickling'."

They ate at a leisurely pace, taking time to share and enjoy everything. Once completely satisfied, they took care of dishes together and returned to the fire in the living room. After pushing one of the couches back in place, the couple settled down to relax again.

"I have to thank you. That's without a doubt one of the most amazing meals I've ever had," Donatello told her.

"Glad you liked it, and I'm glad Mike bailed." She giggled.

"It would be nice it hadn't been so painfully obvious, but...I guess I'm glad too. Honestly, it sort of feels like a dream, almost...normal. Is this what a real date feels like?"

"I couldn't tell you. I've never been on one."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm not." She reached for his hand. "Donatello, I've never willingly been this close to anyone."

"Willingly?" he echoed. It was an odd choice of word.

She stared the fire for such a long moment, he got concerned.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it isn't you. I'm just...thinking, about my life." He hated the way she avoided looking at him. "How many times I've been made to do things, that I never wanted to. How messed up my head is." Jenna sighed deeply and glanced up. "There's more to my story, which I didn't want to tell you. I thought you'd see me differently if you knew."

"Nothing from your past will change the way I look at you."

"Don't be so sure." Her laugh was devoid of any real joy. "I've never come out with it before to anyone. But if I'm ever going to be a real person, I have to stop hiding."

With another deep breath, she plunged ahead. "I was set up with my first foster home, a couple of weeks after I got out of the hospital from my mother trying to kill me. It started out well enough. But three or four months down the road, things began to get ugly. That's when the abuse started."

"Abuse?"

"I was molested...from the time I was five, until I ran away, about four years later. They placed me with other homes, but the damage had already been done. I barely lasted more than a couple of months in most places. The only other home that kept me for over a year was also abusive.

"Then the last one...I was fourteen years old, and the couple who took me in already had a seventeen year old son. They'd always wanted a girl. The parents were very nice to me, and I nearly started to relax there. I'd had a little crush on the son when they first brought me in, and we might have flirted a bit.

"But then it turned into something else. He found ways to get me alone. The bloke started talking dirty, tried to touch me. I didn't like it. I'd tell him to stop, but it was a game to him. The more I pushed him away, the tighter he'd hold on. I didn't tell his parents. I had a feeling they wouldn't believe me if he said otherwise. I did my best to put up with it, since the parents had been good to me.

"I was able to hold my peace until one night, when I was in my own bed like usual. Had to be around 2 in the morning. And the son comes waltzing in, wakes me up when he got into the bed. I knew what he wanted, and I told him not to.

"When I started to scream he covered my mouth, and tried to hold me down. I remember shaking harder than you'd believe. I was scared, but I was also angry. I actually slugged him that time. He wasn't expecting it at all, fell clean right off the bed. Of course it made all this racket, and his parents came charging in. Before I could tell my piece, the boy went off about how I'd been coming on to him. He told 'em I'd been begging him to sleep with me, and gotten mad when he refused."

Jenna broke down completely and had to stop. Donatello didn't know what to say or do, so he just held an arm around her while she cried.

When she finally found her voice again, she locked eyes with him. "Needless to say, they dropped me. They believed him, exactly the way I thought they would. It isn't fair, Donnie. I actually liked them. But I was sent away as the black sheep - the girl nobody wanted. It's funny isn't it? The only people who kept me around were the ones using me."

She paused while fighting for composure. "I've honestly never believed I deserve Victoria and Michael."

"Jen..." Donnie's voice was hoarse and incapable of gaining more volume. "What those people did, it makes them garbage, not you. You deserve your parents, and you deserve to be happy."

"I wish I felt that way. I've read a couple of things about abuse and finding worth again. It makes sense, but I'm not there yet. I can't force myself to feel something, even if I know it's true in my head. I don't know how to put the pieces together," she finished with a sob.

Donatello refrained from saying anything again as she cried, until she shifted closer to him. "I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could say or do, to prove how much you're worth. As a person, and to me."

"It doesn't make me think differently about me?"

"No. Not for a second. Jenna, this isn't something you should be working through on your own. Anytime you need to talk, I'll be here. But you might think about going to a counselor too. Reading books is one thing, yet I believe a real person could help you more. Would you do that for yourself?"

"I don't where to go, or who I'd trust."

"Start with your parents," Donnie suggested. "Believe in them. They're not going to look at you differently either."

They managed to break the heavy mood a few minutes later by toasting marshmallows over the fire to make smores. After dessert they took the guitars upstairs to the back bedroom, and played dueling songs for a while. The music put them even more at ease, and Jenna was finally laughing again as Donatello pushed a ridiculous cover of an old song.

The complete eclipse was nearing around 1am, and the turtle led her out to the balcony where they could see it unfold. For the next hour they alternated between using the telescope and watching with the naked eye. Don did most of the talking for a change, regaling her with a lot of stories about Michelangelo, since they seemed the most entertaining. Every laugh he got out of the teen felt like a victory.

"Raph did all the planning, and he was the one who got the worst of it?"

Don smirked. "He had it coming. It was a great idea for getting through to Mikey. None of us can stand it when he's down, much less depressed. Raph simpy went too far, and we had to punish him for it, in the best possible way."

She tossed her head with laughter. "And Mike has carried on the tradition ever since?"

"He definitely gets into pranks more than anyone else. I won't lie - he's had some hard lessons to learn from them, such as not to involve my lab in any way, shape, or form. He accidentally destroyed the first prototype of my medical scanner. Not a good day. But it got him off my shell for a few months," he finished lighter.

"Honestly, I wouldn't change any of my brothers. No one is perfect, but they're themselves. That's more than enough."

"And you're you," she said pointedly. "That's a good thing too."

He shrugged. "Sometimes."

Her palm smacked his shoulder. "Do I need to start gushing over you again?"

The mere thought made him redden once more. "No, you don't."

"If you don't quit putting yourself down, I'll have no choice."

"It's an unfortunate habit, Jen."

"I'll break you of it," she threatened.

He wouldn't have minded letting her try.

It was the most incredible night Donatello had ever experienced, and he was sorry when the complete eclipse ended.

It took a few minutes to get everything cleaned up and shut down in the house. As they carried their last load out to the car, Don looked back wistfully at the house.

As if sensing what he was thinking, Jenna grabbed his hand in her own.

"It might not be real, but that doesn't mean we're not," she told him meaningfully.

The teen stopped him in the middle of the sidewalk. The kiss she initiated was soft, like how he imagined a butterfly's wings to feel. It still left him standing much warmer in the cool night air than he'd started.

"Thank you for a wonderful night," she said, as if he'd had anything to do with the event.

"Thank you," he corrected.

Her fingers lightly traced his jawline, then drew back. "You're cold. We should go home."

The simple statement felt so natural, it made him smile. But the thought of their impending separation almost made his face fall. It took every ounce of determination not to express his disappointment. Instead he brushed one of the waves framing her face.

"You're cold too. I'm ready. Let's head back."

It was after 3am when they got inside, and finally said their own good-nights. Donnie entered his shared bedroom silently, hoping not to disturb his brother. Yet as quiet as he'd been, the second he laid down, his brother's head popped over the railing.

"Hey, bro. How was the eclipse?"

"It was good. How was the fake flu?"

"Best flu I've ever had." Mike snorted, then exhaled sharply. "Um...I'm sorry for pushing, bro. I just really wanted this for you."

"Why do you sound disappointed?"

"What? Are you telling me something happened?"

"You could say that-"

Before he'd finished, Mike rolled off the top bunk and landed on the floor by his bunk.

"Holy shell, I can't believe Raph was right! Tell me, you have to tell me!"

"I'm trying to tell you." Donatello laughed.

"Sorry, sorry! You were saying?"

"I'm not sure what Raph was right about, but you should know tonight wasn't the first time for the two of us."

"Are you kidding me? You did it on your own?"

"If it had been left up to me, probably not."

"C'mon, Donnie, I need details!"

"Mike, it's late." He groaned. "I'll tell you about it in a few hours. Just be happy, okay? Your conniving worked out one of the best nights of my life."