Felicia walked slowly down the alleyway as the crisp city wind washed against her red face. She pulled her mustard yellow scarf up hide from the breeze as she rounded the familiar corner to the street entrance of the lair. She had been fighting with herself all morning thinking about the last conversation, real conversation she had had with Raphael at Willow's mothers almost two months ago. She was angry at herself for getting that drunk. She was annoyed that he could just think she'd be like his ex. That sorry excuse for a woman.

Felicia stopped before the large metal door and sighed. She looked back to where she came and back at the door again. She couldn't back down now and it had been long enough. She needed to do something. With a final deep breath she pressed in the code that Donnie had given her years ago and the loud, stubborn door opened. She bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet as she watched the metal slowly go out of sight and looked into the darkness of the boy's garage.

It was empty and quiet. She was almost suspecting Raph to be waiting for her, pretending to be working on his motorcycle so he could avoid her eye contact. He had gotten very good at that over these past months. But, how could he have known she was coming over? She didn't exactly tell him. Maybe she should have called him? Maybe she should have at least checked to see if he was home? She sighed once again, reaching into her bag for her cellphone. She wouldn't have been able to call him anyways. She had tried it at least a thousand times before, picking up her cellphone and finding his number. She'd click on it ready to press the green button to send the call and then shut the screen off. What could she possibly say over the phone? No, this had to be done in person.

"Hey Licia!" Donnie exclaimed from the street as he and Raphael entered the garage. "What brings you here?" He said wrapping his free arm, seeing as though his other was holding an old computer monitor around her shoulders bringing her in close for a hug. Raph had a plastic bag in his fist with what looked like DVDs.

"Uh, I was just in the neighborhood..." She shrugged and avoided Raph's glare as best she could. She could feel his eyes on her even before he entered the room. He was baring his gaze into her like she could burst into flames from it.

"We were actually just talking about you, right Raph?" Donnie said looking up at Raph and nodding his head towards Felicia with a glare.

"Y-Yeah, I guess we were." He sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"Neighborhood..." She stammered out as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh yeah?" He looked up at Don who was down to the elevator already, calling it up from the lair. "Where you goin'?"

"I need to get this thing taken apart. You guys need to talk." He shrugged as the elevator beeped and opened. Before either of them could speak the doors shut with Don on the other side.

"I guess we do..." Felicia said under her breath.

"What?"

"We need to talk." She said a little clearer looking up at his glaring stare. She didn't want to faltered from it, she wanted to stand her ground and remind herself what she had been reminding herself all morning. Stay calm. It's only Raph. You've kissed. You know him. He's a friend above anything else. But, it was too intense and her eyes quickly and cowardly averted to her shoes.

"About what?"

"About..." She sighed softly running her hand through her short hair. It had gotten a little longer since she had been keeping up with Maid of Honor duties that Izzy insisted she needed to do. She hadn't had the time to go get it cut. It was nearly past her shoulders now. "We need to talk about what we talked about before."

"Before when?" Raph said going to the street entrance door and closing it. He flicked on the garage lights as the Autumn sun slowly seeped out of the large room.

"Before when... At Willow's mom's. We were talking the night after the 'pre-wedding' thing and I was..."

"You were drunk." Raph finished for her, leaning against his workbench littered with tools and grease covered rags.

"Yeah, I was..." She sighed again taking off her scarf and bag she had over her shoulder. She twisted the dark brown leather of her purse strap in her hand. "...I was also stupid and I have been stupid for a couple months now."

"I've never known you to be stupid." Raph shrugged as Felicia looked up at him. "I didn't exactly... Ya know. Help." Raphael shrugged out of his leather jacket placing it on his old metal chair taking a seat and bending down to untie his heavy boots.

"W-what are you doing?" She asked confused as he started to kick off the boots and stood up undoing the belt of his pants.

"Don and I have been out all morning. This is gonna wear off soon." He sighed looking down at his shell cell he took out of his pocket and flipped open the cover. "About two minuets left."

"Oh, well I can... um go?"

"Why?" He said taking off his shirt. Felicia put her head down quickly trying to not look at his amazingly beautiful form. "Oh..." He said nodding his head with a smirk. "Yeah, if you want I can take another dose tomorrow, I just need a night off from his shit." He said motioning towards his body.

"I don't need to talk to you because you're in this... form Raph." She said crossing her arms over her chest in offense.

"Then why do you need to go? It ain't like you haven't seen me shirtless before and you're the one coming over here wantin' to talk to me. I didn't ask you to come ova." He scoffed and she glared at him.

"It has nothing..." She growled under her breath and walked over to him. "It doesn't have to do with..." She stopped as he put his hand up.

"Wait." He groaned, sitting back in the metal chair and leaning heavily against the workbench.

"A-are you ok? Do you need me to get Donnie or..."

"No, shut up for a minuet." He hissed out putting his face in his hands. "Step back." He said waving his hand out towards her. She did as he told her and he groaned once more before his body slowly started to change in color. It went from a tanned flesh to an olive green, darker and darker to the color she was used to seeing. His shell formed behind him and she winced at the small groan he let out as his hand clenched the underside of the metal chair. With a stretch it was over and he stood up, snatching his crimson bandana from his rack of tools it was draped across and tied it quickly over his face.

"Are you ok?" She said softly, breaking the silence between them as Raph slid down the rest of clothing putting them in the pile with the others.

"Yeah, the change back stings a bit." He shrugged with a sigh, rotating his shoulder in his hand.

"I thought there weren't any side effects?"

"Well, not death threatening ones. We're used to a bit of pain, it ain't nothin' big." He shrugged again. "You wanna talk in the lair?" He asked thumbing towards the elevator and Felicia nodded.

"Yeah, that would be nice, more comfortable." She said grabbing her bag and scarf from where she set them and walking towards the elevator pressing the button. Raph followed holding his human clothes.

They stood too far from one another, nearly on other sides of the metal box they traveled in. Felicia looked at the space between them and felt her heart ache. She wanted two months ago back. She needed his touch again, she missed it. Before she could open her mouth to tell him the doors to the elevator opened to the upper level or the guy's lair.

"So... uh, you're room... Or?" Felicia asked sheepishly as Raph shrugged walking in the direction of his room. "Ok..." She said rolling her eyes and following him.

He opened the door and waved his arm for her to go in first. She smiled quickly at him before it grew wider to the site of his room. It was a little different than before. He had a dresser in the corner with the draws open slightly to cloths sticking out of it. His barbells and weight bench were on the opposite side of the room and his bed sat in the middle with two night stands on either side and a new plasma TV set against the brick wall at the foot. She hummed to herself in approval to the new sight.

"You changed your room." She smiled as he placed his clothes into a black hamper that was already over filled with dirty clothing.

"Yeah... Couple months ago now." He shrugged. She noticed the button up shirt he wore to the Willow and Leo's pre wedding party at the bottom of the hamper. It was a deep red matching that of his bandana and had black stitching. The sleeve stuck out from between the plastic slits of the hamper, wrinkled. She frowned with a sign as she leaned against the black wrought iron bed frame at the foot of the bed. "So, you wanted to talk, then talk." He said taking a seat on his bed and relaxing against it. His shell propped up against the headboard.

"I am sorry Raph." She said softly, looking back down at her feet, rolling a weight that peeked out from under his bed back and forth with her shoe.

"Sorry about what?" He said picking up the remote from his side table and clicking on his TV. She turned towards it and back to him, reaching her arm out and pressing the power button.

"No, I want to say this without any more distractions." She said glaring at him as he shrugged dropping the remote against the mattress. She was getting annoyed with his demeanor. What the hell was his problem? She was trying to be honest and nice and he was just being a... dick. "Do you have anything to say?" She asked waving her arm out. He shrugged again and she threw her arms in the arm as they slapped heavily against her thighs. "Fine, what, are you regretting ever even being my friend? Do you hate me now? Do you regret the kiss? Because I don't! I think about that friggin' kiss every night for the past two months and this is killing me Raph. It's literally killing me. I can't think without you at least being a fleeting thought. I just..." She sighed again and he got from the bed, slowly walking towards her almost as if he didn't want to scare her. "Raph I..."

"Shut up for a second." He said shaking his head before he reached up and cupped her face in his large green hand. She smiled to the touch. It was so familiar and different at the same time. She could feel the familiar callousness of his palm but, his fingers now reached up around to nearly the back of her head. He leaned in and she could feel her heart starting to beat faster. She could feel her palms start to sweat and knees start to tremble. "Me, like this how does this feel to you?" He asked looking her in the eyes as hers flickered back and forth over his.

"It feels... good." She smiled. "Raph, I told you. This, you... You, you is what I... want." She finally breathed out, placing her small hand over his large one against her cheek.

"You want me?" He said his eyes boring into hers as his body moved closer into hers. She could feel the hardness of his plastron against her sweater. That was new too, the feeling of his body, his real body this close to hers was different. Good different. She didn't mind it and she couldn't think of a reason why she ever would. She reached her hands up to his large arms, one bent to her face and the other hanging loosely at his side. It was familiar again. The same scars that she traced before she traced again. Her fingertips falling into the gnarred skin and back against the smooth green bicep.

Her body reacted the same to him. His closeness. She couldn't think clearly. She couldn't see or hear anything around her, just him. His ragged breathing and the smell of his skin. Musky but, almost sweet at the same time, but all Raph. She smiled again and nodded her head, finally answering his question.

"I do Raph. I want you." His face was straight and serious for a moment before a flicker of a smile played on it. He leaned in, still agonizingly slow to her lips. He had to tilt his head, his beak brushing against her small nose before his mouth touched hers. This was all different. The way his mouth left a little more rough than the softness of his human lips, but it almost made sense. Her mind was able to decipher the two feelings and made her like them both. She pushed up against him more, kissing back harder than he had and his arm that hung loosely clenched at her back, gripping her corduroy jacket in his hand.

They both pulled away, panting as Raph pressed his forehead to hers. "You want me?" He smiled, almost giddy and she nodded her head with a giggle of her own.

"So you found a dress?" Leo asked as he made himself a cup of tea in Willow's kitchen. She smiled at the cup in her hands, twisting the handle back and forth. "What's it look like?"

"None of your business." She laughed looking up at him as he took a seat across from her.

"C'mon, not even a little hint?" He chuckled as she shook her head.

"Nope. You'll find out in six months." Her smile quickly faded. "Wow, six months." She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders before releasing it. "It'll be fine. We have nearly everything done."

"Right, you have the invitations." Leo said reassuring her and going through the metal list he could see playing out in her mind. He knew she was stressed and it made him confused. She did want this didn't she? Donnie said that woman always gets a little stressed out before the big day with the planning but this all could have easily been avoided. Why stress yourself out for something that you want? It barely made sense to him, however he wasn't going to bring it up and start an argument about nothing. That was the last thing they needed.

It wasn't as if he wasn't stressed either. His Dojo was coming along nicely but, posting flies throughout the city got little to no response from anyone. Donnie mentioned advertisements online, in magazines, and the paper. Leo just couldn't wrap his head around it all. He left a lot of that to Don and he felt horrible about it since the whole thing was his idea but, Don, Raph and himself were all co-owners of the Dojo. It was their dream too. Mikey agreed to be a trainer and that was all. He told them he had no idea what business this would entail and it was important to all of them so, he didn't want to mess it up.

"...Cake, oh and I have to check up on Felicia and see how the center pieces are looking. We're doing them at her place since she has all those arts and crafts crap." Willow rushed out from over near the sink. Leo barely noticed her move since he was stuck in his own head.

"Yeah..." He nodded softly. Willow turned to look over at him, noticing the furrowed expression on his beautiful green face.

"Babe, what's wrong?" She asked taking a seat closer to him as he sighed and shook his head.

"We've both been stressing out too much. The wedding, the Dojo. Maybe I should hold off on that until after the wedding?" He said with a shrug as Willow sighed placing her head against his large shoulder.

"Tiger, if you're stressed out about it and the wedding and I know I'm not helping anything with my craziness then maybe it would be best to put it on the back burner for now. Just six little months and I can help you focus on that and the boys will help too with everything. I hate that the wedding is stealing the thunder from the Dojo. You were so excited and the guys were so excited..." She sighed again, giving his shoulder a kiss. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You're right. The Dojo for now, can wait. The wedding is important and it's just for one day and then after all that we'll settle down and start brainstorming about the Dojo." He smiled giving her cheek a kiss.

"You sure? You're not gonna hold this against me when we're like 50 are you?" He laughed pulling her body onto his lap.

"Of course not."

Riley pulled her cellphone out of her pocket as she stepped out of the Subway station onto the busy street. She was almost to the street entrance of the lair and had about 10 minuets before eight. She balanced the pizza against her palm for a moment as she slid her phone back into her purse, grasping the hot cardboard with both hands now. She was nervous, extremely nervous and she couldn't figure out why. It was just another night, hanging out with Mikey. But, he did seem as though he wanted to drop something big on her, something she maybe wasn't ready for? Something, she didn't want to ruin their friendship over.

Would it really be that horrible if he says he likes you? I mean it's not as if you don't like him. You do. You have for awhile and you've known him for years. You think about him constantly. He's funny and sweet, and... That body...

Yeah, but that body only lasts so long and are you sure you're ok with him? The real him? You can't break his heart. You cannot do that to Mikey. He's too special.

She sighed reaching up to the pin pad set into the brick wall beside the large metal door of the street entrance. She set the pizza down for a moment digging her phone back out of her purse and entered to code Mikey had texted her early that afternoon. She lit up the pin pad with the light of her cellphone and the door groaned and opened. Picking up the pizza she entered the large black room. She hadn't been here before by herself, she was always with someone and it seemed a lot more ominous in pitch black and quiet.

The elevator beeped and she nearly jumped out of her skin as Mikey exited with a large smile.

"Hey Rye." He said softly walking over to her and grabbing the pizza. "I was gonna come up and meet you but you made it in just fine." His large smile still in place over that adorable green face. Riley smiled back walking with him to the elevator.

"This place is a little freaky without lights." She admitted softly as they road down to the lair. Mikey chuckled nodding his head.

"Yeah I little I guess. Of course ya know, Ninja..." He shrugged pointing to himself. "So, I can find my way around pretty easy." The elevator doors opened up to the lair and Mikey started for the stairs. Riley followed after, taking in the large cement space. She had been down a few times to the lair but, it all just seemed different somehow. She noticed things more, like the lighting was a yellowish florescent glow around the small, wooden kitchen table set at the bottle of the steps. Donnie's lab was closed off by large, glass white tinted windows and a metal door. She could just make out the shape of him inside. He too was in his normal attire. The living room was the largest space in the open area. The TV sat against a huge cement wall that climbed up to the opened banister that circled the whole lair. She could just make out all the doors that lead to the guy's bedrooms behind the metal railing. The couch was an old sectional that April had given them years ago and it had definitely seen better days.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?" Riley asked, almost as if she couldn't help it anymore. She needed to know she or was gonna explode.

"Oh, that." He laughed nervously snatching at the back of his neck. "Uh, well... C'mon and sit." He motion towards the large ratty couch in the middle of the living room and Riley followed slowly taking a seat. Mikey opened up the pizza box on the coffee table in front of the large TV. "I thought it would be easier to do this with me like... This." He sighed waving towards his body. Riley nodded slowly her leg bouncing up and down against the cement floor. "Riley, um..."

"Mikey, before you say anything." She stopped him placing a hand against his knee pad. "I just, I like you. I like you a lot as a friend ya know and..."

"Yeah, no totally. A friend." He nodded and smiled wide and she noticed a slight wince to the word friend.

"No, no... That came out..." She sighed brushing her platinum blonde hair back from her face, her choppy bangs falling haphazardly over her forehead. "I do like you. You, you. Not just human you. And this is incredibly new to me. Like, I can't even find the word of how new this is." She said swinging her hand back and forth between them. Mikey just listened to her intently. She smiled up at his serious blue eyes that are normally so happy-go-lucky. She'd never seen them so intense before. She felt her heart leap in her throat and her leg start to bounce again. "Ok, so... What were you going to say? I mean, you're the one that wanted to talk right? So, uh, yeah. Go ahead."

He laughed to himself for a moment. "Well, I do like you Riley." He said softly, reaching out and placing his large hand over hers. The familiar feel of it over the softness of the back of her hand felt good. Felt normal. She smiled and opened her hand to his grasping it. "I want this to work, you and me and I don't wanna mess up anything, like friendship wise ya know? But, the way we talk and the way you look at me sometimes... I mean, like, you seem as though you do like me. I could be wrong..." He shrugged shaking his head. "I don't exactly see many woman looking at me but, when you do it's so different and I feel... Unstoppable." He finally breathed out as Riley felt tears start to well in her eyes. Never once has any man said anything so heartfelt and beautiful to her. Something so real.

"You're not wrong." Riley whispered softly. "Not wrong at all. I do look at you like I like you and maybe that was wrong of me because I didn't wanna lead you on, but maybe I'm just kidding myself." He tensed a bit and she could feel it. His hand started to pull away from hers and she grabbed it tighter. "No, Mike. Just hear me out." She said looking up to his beautiful, sad blue eyes. "I like you. I do. No matter how many time I try and convince myself I can't, or won't, or will not, it doesn't matter. None of that shit matters because when I see you like this. This you, and you're cute face..." She smirked reaching up to his round green face, tracing the light dusting of freckles against the bridge of his beak across his cheeks. "And those beautiful blue eyes... Mike..." She sighed out his name and looked down. Before she brought her head back up to his he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. She leaned back for a moment almost as if she wanted to fight him but, her body wouldn't. Her hand slide from his face to his shoulder as her other hand gripped his familiar bicep. She squeezed the tough skin in her hand and whimpered as he pushed his body harder against hers.

He had been waiting forever for this and he thought for sure it was going to be in his human form. He actually didn't ever think of doing this until he heard her say he was beautiful. She thought him to be beautiful as he was now? Hearing the word come her mouth made his heart swell. He pulled away from her and her breathing was heavy, her eyes dark with lust and he held her shoulder against the back of the couch as she tried to leap at him again.

"Wait..." He panted and her body loosened against his hand and her face fell a little. "I still have more I need to say." She nodded and crossed her legs under her and faced him on the couch. "There was this girl." He sighed feeling his throat clench to the thought of her name. He hasn't said it in years. It was such an uncommon name, especially for him not knowing too many girls. "Amber..." He breathed out and Riley's face furrowed in confusion.

Willow never mentioned a girl with Mikey. She knew of Raph's and Donnie had one before and apparently Leo with this crazy ninja bitch one night stand but, she thought this was all new to Mikey. She never asked, because she just assumed really that he didn't have anyone in his past.

"Willow never mentioned..." She breathed out as Mikey nodded.

"No, I don't like talking about it." He sighed as she placed her hand back over his.

"Mikey if this..."

"No." He interrupted, quickly and little louder than he wanted. "No... I need to say it." He cleared his throat. "She was my girlfriend a couple years back. She was beautiful..." He sighed and shook his head. "Not that you're not, I mean it's different..."

"I know Mike, go ahead." He nodded and sighed again, getting up from the couch and starting to pace in front of the TV.

"She was an amazing person and never once said anything bad about anyone. She was unique I guess is a good way to describe her... Uh, she died..." His voice caught in his throat as he felt tears starting to sting his eyes. "She had cancer, um, lung cancer. She got it from foster homes and being in and out of them. A lot of those people smoked I guess, like a lot and the second hand smoke, she was just sensitive to it I guess? Donnie said everyone is different so, people can be around it for years and nothing and even smoke themselves and nothing but, Amber she was just... Unfortunate I guess..." He took a seat back down next to Riley, placing his head in his hands. Riley moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it in soothing circles. "She, she was everything." He breathed lifting his head to look over at her. "She was everything to me, and I was everything to her. I never had been that to anyone before. My brother's and Father sure, but not someone who wasn't apart of our little world. Not someone so normal. We were together for a year before she said the doctors told her she had maybe a month to live. She didn't want chemo even though Donnie and I both insisted. She said she didn't want to be held up in a hospital bed where I couldn't see her everyday. She didn't want me to see her without hair and sick. She didn't..." He shook his head putting his hands back to his face as tears seeped out from between his fingers. His shoulders shook and Riley moved even closer, her own tears streaming down her face. He cleared his throat again and wiped the tears away with the back of his hand.

"Anyways..." He breathed, sniffing and leaning up against the back of the couch. "She didn't last the month, two weeks maybe. I remember going to her house that night and seeing her gagging herself because she was coughing so hard. Blood was splattered all over her hands and she looked so... Wrong. I felt so helpless. I couldn't do anything but, just wait. I picked her up from the bathroom floor and placed her in her bed. I laid with her for a couple hours, watching just the life drain from her face." He sighed feeling more tears sting his eyes. He closed them tight, placing his large hand over his face and rubbing his fingers into his eyes as more tears crawled down his cheeks. "Before she went she told me she loved me and that there is gonna be another girl out there for me. Another girl couldn't help but fall in love with someone like me. I didn't believe her. How could anyone love me, me as much as she did? I didn't think it would be possible so I just shoved that idea out of my head. I wanted her and only her and that was that. But, for whatever sick twisted reason the universe didn't want to see me happy. I was just..." He sighed again shaking his head. "I was so depressed. I felt like my whole world just ended. I called 911 when she went. I didn't feel anything, it was like everything just died with her when her last breath left her lungs. I told them that she refused treatment and she died. I left before they got there and just watched from another roof as they carried her lifeless body in a plastic bag into an ambulance and left."

Riley was beside herself. Tears kept leaving her eyes as she sobbed quietly next to Mikey, her hand still doing little comfort against his strong shoulder. She never knew any of this and she felt so wrong even considering him not to be anything but amazing. Anything but normal and real and true. He was the most beautiful thing in that moment that she had ever seen. He was raw and open to her and no man had ever let her in this much. No man had ever trusted her enough and she never trusted anyone back. She knew Mikey would do everything in his power to keep her, he would never hurt her or mistreat her. There wasn't a bad bone in this mans body.

"Mikey... I-I don't even... That's so horrible...I-I'm so sorry..." She whispered as he nodded his head wiping more tears from his face.

"T-Thanks..." He said back just as soft leaning forward again and putting his face in his hands giving it a hard rub before standing up. "I'm just um," He cleared his throat from any lingering hurt "...put the pizza in the oven. It's gotta be cold." He picked up the box and walked away from Riley. She watched him move slowly into the kitchen and preheat the oven, placing his hands heavily against the counter. "Ah man..." he breathed out shaking his head and placing the pizza into the oven.

"Hey Mike!" He heard Felicia's cheerful voice say from above him as she started to walk down the stairs. Raphael was close behind with a smile across his face. It slowly faded as soon as his eyes met his little brothers.

"What happened?" He asked, rushing past Felicia to his brother. Mikey shook his head and cleared his throat once more.

"Nothing happened." He said giving a quick look over at Riley still on the couch. "I was just..." Before he could finish Felicia snapped her head towards her friend and stalked towards her with quick angry steps.

"What did you do?" She yelled as Riley tried to clean off the dampness from her cheeks.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her hands still a little shaky from the talk. She couldn't wrap her head around much at the moment. She just kept replaying Mikey's sad face over and over again. The tears and his red, sad eyes. She felt sick for him and wanted to just go to him and hug him but her angry friend was in the way.

"What did you do to Mikey? Did you break it off with him? Finally realizing you've just been leading him on? God damnit Riley!" Felicia growled as Riley's head cleared up. She was being accused of something and instantly got defensive.

"No. No I didn't..." She said looking past Felicia as Mikey who was softly explaining something to Raph. Raphael nodded his head, placing his hand on his little brother's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"You didn't what?" Felicia snapped. Raph walked over to the two girls giving Riley a soft smile before placing his hand on Felicia's shoulder. "I can't believe you Riley..."

"Babe." Raph said softly, pulling Felicia towards him. "They were having a talk, we should go back to my room and leave them to it." His voice was calm and Felicia glared up at him and then back towards her friend.

"It's not what you think Fe." Mikey said coming up behind Raph and handing Riley a piece of half-warmed pizza. Riley smiled and took the food before sitting back on the couch. Mikey followed clicking on the TV. Felicia eyed them both for a moment before giving into Raph who was tugging on her hand to follow him back upstairs.

"You'll let me know if you need me Mikey?" She called out as he nodded his head with a smirk.

"Yes, I'll be fine Fe. It's not like she's not gonna kill me, I don't think?" He said looking over at Riley with a raised eye ridge. "Right?" She chuckled and shrugged.

"Hey man, I don't make any promises." She said, feeling the pressure of their intense moment dissipate. "Are you ok?" She asked after a minuet of silence between them and annoying commercial that was on.

"Y-yeah. I think so. I've never let all that out at once like that." He said taking a deep breath. "I uh, I've been holding that in for awhile." Clearing his throat he reached for one of the cans of soda he brought for himself and Riley.

"I'm glad you did Mike. It's not healthy to leave all that shit bottled up." She turned towards him on the couch again, tucking her legs under her and placing her hands on his knee. "I am so glad that you think that you can come to me with this and open up..." She sighed with a smile shaking her head. "No one's ever done that. Well, no guy has ever done that. I can't even tell you how much that means to me. Really." She squeezed his leg and he looked down at her hands against his skin. He smirked to himself then up at her as his became wider.

"So, about the other thing..." He said softly, looking back down at her hands and taking them between his. "What...what um, do you think?" She smiled and shrugged.

"I'm not going to lie to you Mikey, not after all of that but," His face fell a little and she brought her hands on either side of his and made his eyes meet hers. "I want to do this slow. I want to be with you like this more. I've only ever seen you for a few hours at a time like this at Willow's. We've never had our own time together with you like this. I want that. I want to get to know you, the real you. I want that." He smiled for a moment before it faded again.

"So, we're not together, together yet?"

"Not yet." She smirked. "But, that doesn't mean we won't be. It's not as if I don't like you. I love spending time with you, I just need to... get used to it I guess." She shrugged looking down at his normal form. He nodded in understanding. They had not spent too much time together other than his human form. She was willing to try, that was much more than he had expect from this conversation.

"Well good. I mean, I just wanted to clear the air and make sure that you didn't turn into some clinging girlfriend over night because ya know, playas gon play." He shrugged placing his hand on the back of the couch and leaned back. She snorted and smack him in the plastron.

"You're an idiot. I'm not clinging. Ass." She said flicking through the channels and taking a sip of her own soda.

"That's what they all say at first. Then they get a taste of the this magnificent piece of mutant turtle and it's all down hill from here." He smiled as she rolled her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. He slowly moved his hand from the back of the couch around her and pulled her in closer.

"You really are an idiot."

So... This is my graceful return to the Fanfiction stage. Please... hold your applause. I have been out of the game for awhile because of personal reasons. Growing up, moving on, becoming my own person and meeting the man of my dreams. That being said. I missed writing. I missed my boys mostly. I needed an out lit again to write as I wanted and create wonderful characters and stories. I will finish this story and I plan on writing more to my others as well. Thank you all to those who have waited and waited AND waited for this chapter and thank you to those who will read it for the first time. I appreciate it! Please enjoy.