"God, I hate this!"

"I think you've made that abundantly clear." Raph punched the wall over where Spike's bed used to be, glaring at the cold blanket bitterly. "But come on, you have to admit that seeing Master Splinter so happy is great!"

"Of course it is!," he exclaimed, whirling around on her. "I'm not saying it isn't! I'm not saying that I'm not pleased for Sensei and the fact he's gotten his daughter back after so long thinking she's dead! But the fact is, it'll only hurt him worse when she betrays us!"

"What makes you think she'll betray us?," April asked, tilting her head.

"What makes everyone else think she won't?" He stomped up to her, but hesitated at least two paces away. "Why do you trust her, April?," he implored. "She's tried to kidnap you, kill you and just down right insulted you, yet you welcomed her with open arms! I was hoping you would at least be on my side here!" She blinked slowly, watching as he suddenly went rigid, fists opening and closing, waiting for her to either deny or confirm his statement.

"You remember those... feelings I get?" He nodded. "Well, they're telling me that Karai honestly wants to start again. She wants to be with her Father, to mourn for her Mother with him. And I can honestly sympathise." The warrior turtle suddenly looked guilty, eyes shooting to the floor briefly, taking a hesitant step back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"No, it's okay. I know what you meant. You're worried about Sensei. About all of us." April took a step towards him, now only centimetres away. "For all that bad tempered, cursing, anti-social attitude you show off, you love and adore your family. You protect the people you care about so well, Raphie." She cautiously lifted her hand, flinching slightly, but then rested her finger tips against his cheek, running them over that odd spot on his left cheek she'd initially thought was a bruise. She reasoned now that it may be some kind of mole or freckle. "But you have to trust me here. You have to trust me in trusting Karai, in giving her a second chance." His head tilted down slightly, irises seemingly glowing in the dim light of his bedroom. "Can you do that for me?," she whispered. He stared at her for a long moment, eyes searching hers for something she only could have guessed at. Then, he slowly nodded.

"I can. For you, not for her," he stated firmly, but far quieter than usual. "For you." Their lips touched so softly that she wondered if they actually made contact at all. It was only when they leapt away from each other that they actually realised what they'd done. "Oh god, sorry!," he yelped, waving his hands around urgently. "I-I didn't mean to-!"

"N-no, no, it was my fault! W-we just got caught up in the moment!," April exclaimed, pressing her hands over her mouth. "T-too many corny rom-com movies!"

"Right! W-we shouldn't let Mikey choose the films for movie night anymore!"

"Exactly!"

"Right!"

"Good!"

They stood that distance away from each other for a good while, stealing glances at one another, before April suddenly picked up her senses and hurried to the door. "I-I should go!"

"A-alright. Catch you later." He just managed to hear her confirmation, before she shot through the door like a lightning bolt and disappeared.

Suddenly, awkward romance scene! This was supposed to come later on in their relationship, but I wanted to get it down before it got lost in the sea of nonsense in my brain. Now, this was the moment in which they began to question their emotions for each other; Raph tried to keep his distance and even encourage Donnie to try and make a move on April, only hurting himself in the process, and April began trying to distract herself by focusing on Casey, which managed to mess things up even more. There was an entire romantic drama running through my head in which this love square became more and more tangled, while Mikey and Miwa just watched from the sidelines like it was their favourite soap opera and Leo became ever more confused. Then, "Vengeance is mine" happened, and out popped "Turn of events", replacing my motivation to write a complex romance. I hate my brain sometimes.

Hail to the princess, baby!