My eyes slowly began to open. I took in my surroundings to find myself in my bedroom. "Ugh…" I groan. My head is killing me! I look to the clock on my nightstand only to find the numbers all blurry. I reach a tired arm over to my nightstand and fumble my fingers for my glasses. I bring the glasses up to my face and look at the clock.

10:22am.

I groan. How did I sleep in so late? And what did I do last night?

I squint my eyes in pain as the light in the room penetrates through my eyes. I look over my bedside to find a bucket by it filled with puke. I wrinkle my nose in disgust before glancing towards Raphael's bed.

He was sitting there, an irritable look on his face. "Finally awake, sleeping beauty?" He asks in his gravelly voice.

"Ugh," I groan, squinting my eyes in Raph's direction, "Raph? What happened last night?"

"Oh?" He laughed bitterly. "You don't know?"

I shake my head, but I immediately regret it as my head begins to spin. "No, I don't."

"I'll tell you what happened."

"I had been at the same party you had been at. I just don't know why you didn't tell me you were going. If you had told me I could have helped you. Anyways, while I was there I had been out in the backyard.

'Hey, man,' my friend Kyle had told me, 'isn't that your twin in there?'

I had been alarmed at what he had said. I knew you were better than these types of parties. 'What are you talking about,' I had asked. 'He doesn't come to parties like this.'

'Well, he's here,' Kyle told me, 'and he's wasted.'

'What?!' I had yelled in shock. That's all Kyle had needed to say before I darted off inside to find you. You weren't that hard to find. You were practically passed out on the floor.

I had run over to you 'What the hell did you guys do to my brother?!' I yelled at them. They all just sniggered.

'C'mon, Raph, we were just having a little fun with him. We didn't think he'd actually do it.'

'Bull honkey!' I had yelled at them all before supporting you up. I practically had to drag you all the way home."

I looked to Raph in shock before cradling my head in my hand. "Gosh, dang it. I knew I shouldn't have gone."

"Yeah, about that," Raph said as he sat next to me on my bed, "why did you go? You know better than to go there. You fall too easy under pressure."

I sigh before rubbing my hands together. "Spencer, that's why."

"Pardon?"

"He kept asking and asking and asking. So to get him off of my back I said yes. I didn't think I'd fall under pressure."

"Well," Raph said with a snort, "you did."

"And I'm paying for it now." I groan.

"I bet," Raph said in slight anger. "You didn't have to fall under the pressure, you know. You could have just left."

"I tried!" I shot back, but immediately cradled my head in my hand once more. "I tried, but they surrounded me and wouldn't allow me to get to the door. They kept telling me to do it, so I caved in."

"I don't think that's much of an excuse." Raph told me.

I sighed. "I know it's not, but it's my excuse. And I'm already expecting punishment."

"Oh, yeah," Raph said with a nod of his head, "big time. Leo was ticked when he saw you like that last night. Especially since I had to tell him that you were drunk. So…yeah…I'd say he's pretty mad."

I groaned lightly as I plopped my head gently against the pillow. "I don't know how much worse this can get."

"Oh, I think you're about to find out."

"What do you…" I immediately stopped and threw a hand over my mouth before taking the bucket into my hand and retching into it.

Raph smirked. "That's what I meant."

As I continued to empty the contents of my stomach, Raph snatched my glasses off of my face so that they wouldn't fall into the bucket. I smile up at him in thankfulness before I feel my stomach lurch once more and I direct my mouth back towards the bucket.

Raph patted my back. "Congrats on getting your first hangover." He said sarcastically.

OoOoOoO

"With your intelligence, Donatello, I expect more from you!" My eldest brother yelled at me. I flinched lightly. He was extremely stressed from having to take the responsibility of a parent, so the pent up stress was more than likely going to go towards me in this instant. "Honestly, what were you thinking?!"

I look up at him with sorry eyes. "I'm sorry, Leo. I haven't a good excuse. There is no excuse as to what I have done."

"You've got that right," He scolds. "As for your punishment," the words sounded so terrible coming from my eldest brother's mouth, "you're grounded for five months. You're completely confined to your room. When you get home from school you go to your room. That's where you're going to stay for the next five months."

I look at him calmly. You deserve this, I remind myself. But then my face contorts into one of hopefulness. "But I have a Robotics competition next week. Can I at least go to that?"

"No, Donatello. You cannot." Leo scolds. My breath hitches. Because of my stupid mistake my team is going to have to pay for it.

"Please, Leo. Our team is really small. If I go out the team won't be able to compete."

"Donatello," He says in a low voice, "I said no."

"Leo, I can't let them down. Ground me for a year, just don't let them miss the competition because of my mistake." I try again.

"I said no, Donatello."

"But, Leo-"

"I said no!" Leo yells as his hand collides with my mouth. I stumble backwards from the blow and even trip over one of Mikey's toys that are on the floor.

I place a finger against the bracket of my braces and bring it back down. There's blood. I looked back up at him, my breathing heavy, my eyes wide. His eyes were stone cold. If he were Medusa, I'd be stone.

I stand slowly and back away from him. "Sorry." I whisper as I turn and run up the stairs. I run into the bathroom and look in the mirror, shutting the door behind me.

Blood practically soaked my braces, my once purple bands now a dark crimson color. I sigh as I rinse the coppery liquid out of my mouth. I spit the disgusting mixture of blood and water out into the sink and watch as it stains against the white sink.

I look back up into the mirror and curse quietly. Tears had penetrated their way into my eyes. I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand.

Stop crying, Donatello. What are you, a baby?

I take in a deep breath, the oxygen stinging against my cut up gums. I walk to the door and open it, running down the hallway towards my room. When I open the door I see Raph sitting on his bed looking through a Harley Davidson magazine.

He looked up at me and immediately went into big brother mode. "Did he take it that hard on you?"

"It's not the punishment." I tell him as I plop down onto my bed, covering my face with my hands.

"Then what is it?" Raph inquires. I don't answer. I didn't trust myself to talk. I wasn't even sure if what had happened, happened. I hear Raph move off of his bed and he sits next to me on mine. "Hey," He says, "what's wrong?"

I uncover my face and open my mouth. I hear him gasp. "Don," He says as he inspects my mouth. My gums hadn't really stopped bleeding, the coppery liquid once again returning, "what happened?"

"Leo," I say, "that's what happened."

Raph's face contorted into one of shock. "He…hit you?"

I sigh and nod, relaxing as I allow my head to sink into my pillow. "Yeah," I say, "he did."

Raph growled as he stood on his feet, walking towards the door. "He can't hit you. That's not what brothers do to each other."

"Raph, wait!" I cry as I jump up from my bed and grip his wrist in my hand. "It was only one time. Don't worry about it. He's so stressed, Raph. He can't help it."

"Just cause he's stressed," Raph argued, trying to pull his wrist away from my hand, "doesn't give him the right to hit you. And he sure can help it. He's seventeen. I think he can control his actions."

"Raph," I protest desperately, gripping his wrist even tighter, "he's being forced to grow up to fast. Just…let it go."

"What if he hits Mikey?"

"He wouldn't do that, Raph."

"What if he does?"

"Raph!" I exclaim. "He would not take it that far! It was an accident! Just let it go!"

Raph sighs, kicking his backpack with his left foot. Another opposite that we had inherited. While I was the common right hander, Raph was the rare left hander. "Fine. But if this happens again-"

"It won't," I assure him. "It was an accident, and even if it wasn't he probably didn't mean to make me bleed."

"It better have been an accident or I'll-"

"You'll do nothing, Raph."

He just grumbles and moves back towards the door, waiting for me to do the same. "You coming?"

I shake my head. "Can't," I reply, "I'm confined to my room for the next five months."

Raph's eyes widened. "But what about your competitions?"

I sighed. "Don't get me started on that. That's why I got hit. Because I pressed the matter too far. Because of me, my team isn't going to get to go to that competition. You have to have at least five kids on the team, and-without me-the team only has four. What am I going to do?"

Raph looked thoughtful for a moment. "What about that Fang girl? If you can get her on your team, the team can go to the competition."

My face brightens and I smile in Raph's direction. "You're right! I completely forgot about her! I already offered her to be part of the team! The team can go to the competition!" I say in ecstasy.

OoOoOoO

I hear a faint knock on my door. One that's faint enough to belong to Mikey. I look to the clock sitting on my nightstand.

9:56pm.

I furrow my brow in confusion. It's Sunday and Mikey has school tomorrow. He should be in bed at this time.

"Come in." I call from my sitting place on my bed.

I am not ready for who comes in.

In comes Leo, his eyes holding an apologetic look. I look at him in shock before sinking back down on my bed and continuing the plan for the competition. I'll have Cody scan over it and see what he says.

"Hey, Don, can I talk to you?"

"There's no booze in here if you're wondering," I tell him, not looking up from the piece of paper. "I may have gotten drunk, but it was the worst tasting thing ever."

"Yeah," Leo says as he leans back against the wall, "why did you do that anyways? It just seems so unlike you."

"Peer pressure," I tell him. "It got the best of me. I tried to fight it off, but I was literally cornered. They kept chanting 'do it, do it, do it' until I finally did it," I shake my head at the terrible memory. "It was terrible."

Leo sighed. "Don, I'm sorry that happened to you, but why didn't you tell me that there was going to be alcohol? If I would have known, Raph wouldn't be leaving your side. When you said you were going to a party, I assumed that it was one of those parties you and your team make."

"Spencer wouldn't leave me alone about it," I tell him, sketching my pencil across the paper in my note pad. "He was literally begging me to go."

Leo sighed. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I still can't let it slide."

"And I don't expect you to."

Leo shook his head and walked closer to me. "My punishment still stands. But I really am sorry for hitting you."

My pencil freezes. Leo could sense the pencil's movement stop so abruptly. The tension grew. The tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

"Donnie?"

I gripped my pencil so tightly that it snapped in half in my hand.

"Donnie?"

I shake my head, finally snapping out of the trance like state I had fallen in.

"Donnie, I really am sorry. I don't know what had come over me. Can you forgive me, bro?"

I look to him, my finger unconsciously reaching up towards my mouth. "I know you're stressed and that you have a lot on your plate, but it still hurt."

"I know," Leo said, his face contorted into unimaginable guilt, "and I'm terribly sorry."

I sighed, closing my eyes gently. "I forgive you, Leo."

"Can I see?"

"What?"

"Can I see your mouth?"

I nod lightly before opening my mouth wide. He came over and looked inside, my irritated gums protesting the easy action. Leo's eyes teared up.

"I'm so sorry, Donnie."

I sigh and wrap my arms around his waist. "It's ok, Leo. I'm fine. Everything's fine. I'm not mad."

"I hurt you. I made you bleed. I hit my own little brother. I'm so sorry, Donnie."

"Leo, listen to me," I tell him. "I'm not mad. It's ok. You're just stressed."

"That's not an excuse to hit you!" Leo cried.

I sighed as I leaned my head into his chest. "No, it's not, but I know you'd never intentionally hurt me."

He sobbed a bit harder. "I…I'm so sorry."

OoOoOoO

I moaned lightly, shivering violently under my blankets. My stomach flopped, and I knew what was coming. I move my blankets and kick my feet over. I try to stand on my feet, but I immediately fall to my knees, releasing the contents of stomach on the floor.

"Donnie?" I hear someone ask. The next thing I know is that the lights are turned on. I hear feet running towards me and someone's knees come into my view. They must have slid on their knees. "Donnie, what's wrong?!"

I cough as I continue to vomit on the floor. "Stomach…c-c-cold…hurts…"

I cough harshly as the vomiting slowly begins to stop. I look to the person who is sitting next to me to find it to be Raph. He lies me back gently. "Leo! Hurry!"

"C-C-C-C-Cold." I shiver in Raph's grip. Raph brings a blanket down from my bed and covers me with it. The door slams open and more pitter patter of feet is heard.

"What's wrong?"

"He's sick again."

Leo places his hand on my forehead. "He's burning up pretty bad."

"What do we do?"

"Let's wait and see if it passes. Give it a day. If he's not better, I'll take him to the doctor."

"Leo," Raph says, worry evident in his voice, "the doctors are missing something. I don't care what they say, all I know is that this is not the cause of a weak immune system."

"I'm starting to believe you, Raph. But what can we do?"

I'm a shivering mess as I lean against my older twin. I try to press further into his chest, but it's not possible. "C-C-Cold." I shiver.

Leo places his hand against my forehead one more time before sighing. "I'm going to get the thermometer. From what I can tell, his fever is really high." I felt Leo's hand leave my forehead and I heard as his feet plodded away from the room.

"R-R-Raph?" I stutter.

His grip slightly tightens. "Yeah, Donnie?"

I shiver violently in his grip despite it tightening. "I…I don't f-f-f-feel…w-w-well."

Raph places his chin on top of my head. "I know, Don. Just hang in there. You'll feel better soon. Hopefully." He whispered the last part, thinking I wouldn't hear it, but I had.

"Donnie? Raphie? Raphie, what's wrong with Donnie?" I heard Mikey ask as he ran over to us.

"I don't know, Mikey. He's sick." Raph answered. I felt someone move my arms up. Something slipped in between my arms, and I looked down. I smiled. There was Mikey squeezed into my arms.

Mikey reached a thumb up to my forehead and wiped a bead of sweat off of my forehead. "Can I help you feel better? Tell me what to do."

I smiled as I weakly hugged Mikey to my chest. "Just stay here with me."

"Alright," Leo said as he neared me with the thermometer in his hand, "I need you to open your mouth."

I obediently open my mouth and allow the thermometer to go under my tongue. Mikey places his small hand on my forehead. "You're warm." He tells me.

"Mmhm." I mumble weakly in agreement.

Beep beep.

Mikey takes the thermometer out of my mouth and reads it himself. Or he at least tries. "One…zero…three…period…four?" He tries as he gives the thermometer to Leo.

Leo's eyes widen. "103.4? Dang, Donnie, you've sure got a fever there."

"What do we do?" Raph asks as he wipes a bead of sweat off of my forehead. "A fever that high is pretty dangerous."

Leo sighed. "Let's just see how he is in the morning. If he's gotten worse, I'll take him to the doctor. If there's not much of a change, I'll just keep him home. I can watch him."

"No, Leo, I can watch him. After school you have to go to work. I can watch him for you." Raph offers.

Leo shakes his head. "No, Raph. You're going to school tomorrow, and I'm staying here and watching Donnie. Plus, if something were to go wrong, I'd like to be home if it does."

Raph sighed gently as he hugged my head to his chest, Mikey still lying in my lap, his head buried in my chest. I suddenly push them both away, much to their confusion. I try to stand, but my legs are too feeble, and I sink to my knees once more. Once again I empty the contents of my stomach out onto the floor.

Raph rubs circles in my back shushing me quietly as the vomiting slowly subsides.

OoOoOoO

"Do I have to go to school today?" I heard Mikey whine out in the hallway.

"Yes, Mikey, you do." Leo told him. I can't help but smile. Mikey always got this way when one of us was sick. He would try to refuse any and all departure from the house until the ill stricken family member was better.

He had done that even when Mom and Dad had been sick. Even though Mikey had always been a very docile child, the kid proved not to be very pragmatic when it came to leaving the house when a family member was sick.

"But Donnie's sick!" Mikey whined, dragging the 'I' in sick out further than it should be.

I couldn't help but chuckle lightly only to regret it when a massive migraine passed through my head.

"Mikey, I know he's sick, but you know what you can do for him?"

"What?"

Their voices turned hushed, and I can't help but be curious. What are they planning?

"Thank you, Leo!" Mikey cried as his feet bounded down the stairs.

OoOoOoO

I panted as the wet cloth lied across my forehead. I had been better in the morning, but as the hours had slowly progressed I had managed to get a bit worse.

"L-Leo." I whined. He stroked my dirty-blonde hair gently.

"Sh, I know Donnie. Here," He said as he got the thermometer from the nightstand, "open your mouth so I can take your temperature."

I open my mouth but almost immediately close it from pain from the small action. Leo's eyes soften in sympathy and worry. He strokes my arms soothingly. "I know it hurts, bud, but you have to open up so I can take your temperature."

I close my eyes tightly as I open widely, allowing the thermometer to enter my mouth. I close it and look to Leo with pain filled eyes. He looks to me with sympathetic eyes and a sad smile.

"I think we're going to have to go back to the doctor aren't we?" He asks me as we wait for the thermometer to beep.

I feel tears pile in my eyes. "I don't want to go back." I choke out.

"I know you don't," Leo tells me as he strokes my cheek gently, "but I don't think we have a choice. You're really sick, Don."

"Why?" I ask with tearful eyes.

Leo sniffed lightly as he stroked my arm. "I don't know, buddy. I just don't know."

Beep beep.

Leo took the thermometer out of my mouth and looked at it. His eyes widened, but he forced his voice to remain calm. "Alright, buddy," He told me, "we need to go to the hospital."

"Why?" I ask as I allow a single tear to fall from my eye.

He picked me up in his arms bridal-style. "Because your fever's way too high?"

"How high?" I ask as he carries me down stairs and out to the car.

"106.4 high." He tells me as he dumps me off into the passenger side of the car.

I whimper slightly.

He looks at me sympathetically as he gets into the driver's side and buckles up.

OoOoOoO

"Again, man, that's the fifth time in the past four months." Cody tells me.

"I know." I grumble as I look at the hospital bracelet that the doctor had told me to keep on for the next few days in case something went wrong.

"Let me guess," Cody said wearily, "because of your immune system?"

"That's what they said, again," I grumble. "Oh, well, maybe I'll never know. It's so stupid. I hate going to that hospital every few weeks when I get sick."

"When you get sick, though," Cody reminds me, "it gets pretty bad."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I grumble, "don't remind me."

"Owowow!" I hear Tristen whistle. I look up along with everyone and my eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets.

Fang looked around the room in confusion. "I was accepted into the team wasn't I?" She asks. She's wearing a purple tank-top along with black shorts and purple flip-flops.

I nod. "Yeah," I say feeling as if I'm in a trance, "yeah, we accepted you."

"Then why are you all staring at me like that?" She asks suspiciously.

I shake my head and smack Tristen and Damian in the back of their heads. "No reason. We're sorry if we made you uncomfortable." I tell her.

She shakes her head, a smile on her face. "Nah, you didn't. So, uh…" She said as she looked around the room, "what do I do?"

"Right," I say as I walk up to her, "we just need you to write a summary of the project."

"Well, what's the project?"

"Well, this year," I explain, "the theme was trash pick-up. Make a summary about why we should recycle."

She nods, a smile still on her face. "I'm on it!" She walks towards the computer on the opposite side of the room and I can't help but stare at her.

"Donnie, are you ok?" Cody asks as he waves a hand in front of my face.

"I think I'm crushing…"

"You're what?"

"I think I like Fang." I say in a trance.

Cody looks at me in shock. "Like, like her like her?" He asks me.

I nod. "Yeah," I say, "I like her like her."

Did you like it, love it, hate it? Let me know. Your opinion matters. :)