When April stepped out into the lair, she found herself staring into the eyes of three Turtles and one very confused-looking human. She could feel Leo's concern as he saw her reddened eyes and tear-streaked face. Raph, who was sitting on his weight bench, was still eyeing her fiercely — she could tell from his expression that he wasn't going to forgive her if she broke Don's heart.

"April, are you all right?" Leo said, putting a hand on her arm.

"I'm fine," April said, smiling at him. "I just need to go talk to Don again for a little while."

"Do you want me to accompany you up there?"

"No, I'm fine, Leo. Don and I have a lot of things to discuss."

Still, she walked slowly up the stairs, turning over half-formed sentences in her head as she tried to figure out what she could say to Don. What she should say. She thought back to his face when she had last seen it — the sorrow in his eyes as she had said that she couldn't make love with him, that it wouldn't be right. He must have seen it as a rejection, she thought miserably. She had to tell him that she wasn't rejecting him — that she hadn't realized that he had loved her all along.

The desk lamp was still shining, sending dark shadows looming up the stone walls. For a moment, April thought that Don had somehow slipped out of his bedroom without his brothers noticing — he wasn't in his bed over her, and he wasn't visible at any of the desks or tables scattered around his room. But then she saw the curve of a shell on the futon couch — Don was lying face-down on it, motionless.

Her heart almost stopped at the sight of him, crumpled forward and unmoving. She dashed forwards and seized one of his arms, desperately tugging him onto his side — only for him to moan softly, as if in protest, and rest his head against her knee. Relief flooded through her as she saw that he wasn't hurt, only asleep.

His face looked oddly peaceful, but April wondered what he was dreaming about and when the dreams of Racer would begin tormenting him. She lightly touched his face, looking down at him — and suddenly she felt her eyes being drawn to his lips. He had been so unsure, but so eager when he kissed her. Even though he had clearly known little of what to do, he had held her with a kind of shy passion that had drawn her in.

April smiled slightly. She hadn't thought much about it before, but she had probably been Don's first kiss. Then her smile died as she remembered when she had first kissed him, with the Dragons' taunts ringing in their ears.

For a moment, she was tempted to kiss him again, but she fiercely pushed away the momentary impulse — the last thing she wanted to do was force attentions on him, after all he had suffered. Instead, she curled up on the edge of the futon, resting her head against Don's plastron, listening to the faint thudding of his heart. Her hand rested in his, gently curving his fingers around her own.

She didn't know how long he would be asleep, but it would probably be a while. He must have been so exhausted, she reflected, if he was awoken by nightmares whenever he slept. No wonder he had just slumped over and fallen asleep where he sat… although she wondered if he had been depressed over being rejected…

"April?"

She raised her head, and found him looking down at her quizzically, his soft eyes searching her face. "I'm getting mixed messages," he said quietly. "You told me it was wrong to kiss me, then you come back to my bedroom and lie on me."

April felt a flush coming over her face as she sat up, straightening her shirt. "Sorry, Don," she said softly. "I was just coming to ask — when you kissed me before —"

"No," Don said quietly.

April hesitated, her question dying on her lips.

Don hunched forward on the futon, resting his arms on his knees. His eyes were fixed on the floor, and his voice was tinged with shame. "I wanted to tell you… you were right, April. When you stopped me. When we — when we had intercourse, it was the only thing in that place that hadn't hurt me — that had made me feel anything good." His eyes flickered. "When I kissed you and — and tried to do more — I was trying to recapture that feeling. It was selfish and wrong, and I hope you can forgive me, and we can just—"

His voice faltered as April's arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him close to her until his head was resting against her shoulder again. Her fingers squeezed his shoulder fiercely, and her head dropped down to rest against the top of his head. Hesitantly, Don raised his hands to rest against April's back, awkwardly hugging her close.

"Why didn't you tell me how you felt about me?" she whispered, stroking his shell.

He stiffened, and his eyes widened. For a moment, he seemed unsure what to say. "Did Mikey tell you?" he said at last.

"Raph."

Don sighed, closing his eyes and pressing closer to April's shoulder, as if afraid she was going to thrust him away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she repeated softly.

"I knew you didn't want me. I didn't want to drive you away."

"How could you ever drive me away?" April said, holding him tighter.

He drew back slightly, looking up at her with wide, deep eyes that held sadness in their depths. April felt her heart twist at the familiarity of it. She had seen it in the cell, when he had been in her arms, still inside her — a look as though his heart was breaking, but he had learned to live with the pain that came with it. She hadn't known what it meant then. She did now.

"I'm a mutant turtle, April," he said quietly. "My mutation has made me much more like a human than an ordinary turtle, but… I still am a turtle. I'm not human, and I'll never resemble one. I knew you wouldn't want me — and if I made you uncomfortable by telling you how I felt, I knew you wouldn't feel right around me."

"Don, I…"

"Please, April… please let me finish. I saw how you interacted with Casey," Don said softly. "I could tell you were attracted to him, even when you weren't getting along. I knew that you would never look at me the same way you looked at him, so I — I accepted that." He swallowed convulsively. "I don't blame you — it's only natural to be attracted to one's own species, and not to people of other—"

Her hand trembled as it touched his face, cutting off his protests with a caress. His eyes closed and his breath caught, and one of his large hands came up to press her fingers against his cheek, as if he was trying to memorize her touch.

"I didn't want to drive you away with unwanted attention, because I — I wanted to be near you. I wanted to be near you so badly." His voice faltered. "So I decided never to tell you the truth, so I wouldn't ruin the friendship we had, and to just… accept what time I had with you. To be whatever you wanted me to be, and be happy with that."

Every word tore at April's heart, and she felt her fingers digging into his flesh, as though afraid he would try to slip away from her. All she could imagine was Don watching her exchanges with Casey, believing he had no chance with her — that the human male was all she wanted, and that a mutant turtle was something she could never be interested in. And then a whirlwind of moments and long late nights flew through her mind — Don in his lab, his face open and shining as they worked together over coffee and stale bagels. That was all he thought he would ever have with her: moments of platonic togetherness, as close as two minds could be without romantic love.

He was wrong, she thought fiercely, rubbing her thumb over the corner of his eye. He deserved so much more than stolen scraps of time with her, hiding his feelings as if he had something to be ashamed of. He deserved to be given love, as much love as he had to give and more. And she didn't care that he was a mutant turtle rather than an ordinary human — he was Don, and that was what mattered.

"So, please… please just forget everything Raph told you," Don said desperately. "Please forget what I did. I just want things to be the way they used to be."

"I can't forget, Don," April said softly. "And things can't be the way they used to be."

She stroked her hand gently down the length of Don's face, feeling his hand shake slightly as it clung to her fingers. His body tensed slightly as he heard her words, and she saw fear flicker to life in his eyes. This wasn't right. She had to show him that she wasn't going to abandon him because of how he felt about her.

Gently she pulled him closer still, murmuring comforting words as she rubbed his broad shoulders and his shell. His eyes closed as her arm moved to rest against the back of his neck, drawing him nearer. They were close — so close she could feel the warmth radiating from him, so close that they could easily hold one another with only a motion of their arms.

She felt his soft intake of breath at her closeness, and slowly let her lips linger on the skin around his mouth, moving them slowly across his face. She waited for some sign that he was uncomfortable, that he wanted the intimate touch to stop — but there was nothing. He stayed still in her arms, his breath coming harder and faster as she moved her lips over his face, his pulse racing against her skin.

"April," Don whispered. "Please — don't do this to me unless you really mean it…"

"I do mean it," April said softly, feeling electricity tingling on her skin as her lips finally slid over his. She felt him quiver at the touch, before his strong arms slid around her and pulled her closer still, kissing her almost reverently. And for a few moments, April didn't think of anyone or anything except Don's arms around her, and his lips on hers.