Chapter 12 - From Behind Green Eyes

"There you are." The redhead whispered after crossing the soft carpeted floor and sneaking up behind his shell.

He spun around, surprised at how close she had gotten without him noticing, there was barely a foot between them. "April! Where did you come from?"

Her only response was a wicked smile as she closed in her distance. He backed up nervously, feeling too out in the open in the middle of the dojo. "April?"

He took one more step back, before feeling his carapace scrape up against the cement wall, she had effectively cornered him. Reaching out, she ran her palms down the front of his plastron, gently fingering the prominent crack in the front.

"What are you doing?" He managed to choke out in a rough voice.

"Shhhh." She urged quietly, as one finger went up to his lips to hush him. A split second later, her finger was replaced with her own lips; soft, supple and pink.

His eyes fell shut and any continued thoughts of protest quickly slipped from his mind. A soft pleasurable sound escaped her and his instincts took over as he wrapped his thick arms around her petite frame, pulling her flush against him. He felt her plump breasts press into his front.

The kiss deepened and their tongues began to dance. April's arms wrapped up around his neck and he could feel her scraping at the top of his shell as she attempted to pull them closer together.

Raphael let out a moan, before feeling something smack against the back oh his head. He attempted to turn to see what it was, but April's grip was on his face, keeping him from turning away. Before SMACK, it happened again.

"What the hell!?" He roared. His eyes opened, and he found himself, face down in his bed, a soft pillow being thumped against the back of his skull.

"Mikey!" He yelled, as he yanked the pillow from his grasp.

"Geez dude, I couldn't get you up. Looked like you were kissing your pillow or something." Mikey laughed, ducking out-of-the-way as the pillow was projected across the room at him.

"Leave me the hell alone Mikey!" Raphael shouted, and his little brother quickly darted out the door.

Raph dropped his face back down into the pillow. He was sprawled out, laying on his stomach in his own bed. Not nearly as magical feeling as the dojo he had just been in moments earlier. Noticing that the lower half of his anatomy felt rather strained in his position, he rolled over, staring up at the dark ceiling above. The lingering memories of his dream began to fade, and he shook his head at the imagery of April's lust filled eyes.

"God damnit." He muttered.

The dreams had started a few nights ago after catching a show he hadn't meant to walk in on. He and April were due for a late-night training session. For several days after the run-in with Karai, April had been less excited about training, and she had vowed that she'd take it easy and slow down her regime. However, she had expressed interest in picking up a night session once a week and she was 10 minutes late for that particular practice. Raph had hung around waiting for a bit before quickly concluding that she had simply forgotten.

He'd stomped down the short tunnel back towards the lair, becoming more and more irritated that he didn't run into her on the way. He slipped into the quiet living room, the others having headed off to bed, and down the hallway towards her room.

Looking back, he realized it was unlike him to enter without knocking, and really he shouldn't have been surprised at what he walked in on, but at that very moment he was completely shocked to find his brother and the girl he was trying very hard to not think about caught up in a heated make-out session on her bed.

Raph was frozen to the spot in the doorway where he had flipped the heavy curtain aside. He realized after a second that his mouth was gaped open, but he hadn't actually made a sound. The room was darkened and the two on the bed were so caught up in each other that they were completely unaware of the intruder in the room. He wasn't sure why he didn't announce himself or at the very least turn around and leave, but for some reason he just let the curtain fall back into place, mostly hiding him behind the thick fabric, but not quite closed enough to prevent his view.

His brother was sitting up with his shell towards the door and April was straddling his lap facing him, the credits of a movie flickering on her computer screen behind them. Her warm ginger hair was out of its usual ponytail, and appeared to glow with the small amount of light in the room. Don's arm shifted as he reached up to push a wayward strand behind her ear, no longer blocking Raphael's view of her, and he felt somewhat relieved that she was still fully clothed. It was going to be hard enough to get this image out of his head.

April let loose a soft giggle, after Don had apparently tickled her side. She playfully smacked his hand away and then reached up to tenderly stroke his cheek. Raph couldn't look away as he took in her soft gaze and the way she comfortably caressed her hand across his brother's olive skin, not a single drop of fear or apprehension in her eyes. And then she smiled and leaned in to kiss him full on the lips.

The kiss was enough to break Raph from his spell and he quickly looked away, ducking fully behind the curtain. He stood, dazed and a little shocked. Until that very minute, he truly didn't believe that it was possible for a human to care for them in such a way. That a normal person could look past what they were and accept them shells and all.

"Oh no! Is that what time it is?" He heard her surprised voice through the curtain. "I am so late!"

Raph shook himself from the daze he was in and darted out into the hall and took off for their mini dojo. That night their practice had been an embarrassment to Raph's ego. Any time her skin made contact with his own, he'd leap aside, like some bumbling idiot. One time, even managing to trip over his own feet.

For some reason, seeing her entwined with his brother had completely pushed him over the edge, simply ignoring his crush on her, no longer felt like an option.

Of course even before that night, Raph had begun to noticed other things. While April and Don were trying their best to keep their relationship status a secret, it didn't take much to realize things had changed between them.

The first thing that had tipped him off was April's behavior. Her mood had shifted. While she tried to keep it hidden, Raph knew that her wit and sarcasm was often there to cover her loneliness and sadness from missing her father. Almost overnight, she had become bubbly and bright and generally happy more often than not. She was also more confident and brimming with a glowing smile. It was about a million little new things that made her seem even more sexy and attractive than ever. As if that didn't make him feel guilty enough on his own, it killed him to know that it was his own brother that was making her feel that way.

At breakfast, a couple of mornings earlier, he had made the unfortunate mistake of sitting directly across from the couple. Every time Donnie would pass her a bowl, her gentle hands would cup around his own in a none-too-subtle amount of physical contact. April would smile at him as she thanked him for the item and Donatello's cheeks would turn pink so fast it was ridiculous. And while the reaction of his brother's insta-blush was nothing new, that he didn't awkwardly jump back from her touch was.

And somewhere in this last week, the dreams has started.

He'd been trying his best to avoid the redhead when he could, and found himself hiding out in the main living space, thinking she had been otherwise occupied with his brother back in the lab. But somehow, it hadn't taken long for her to stumble upon him.

Book in hand, April entered the living room and noticed Raphael reading one of Mikey's horror comics. Knowing he wouldn't talk books in front of his brothers, she glanced around to verify that they had the room to themselves before dropping down onto the sunken bench beside him.

"This book is AMAZE-ing!" She whispered in a none-too-quiet voice. "I mean, it's so much better than the movie. I know what's going to happen and I still can't wait to read it!" She chuckled a little to herself from sheer excitement.

Raph had to look at which book was cradled in her hands, to understand which one she was talking about. She had borrowed several and he wasn't sure which she was currently reading.

"Oh yeah, I figured you'd like that one. The next two get even better."

"Please tell me you have them?" She asked with a gigantic puppy dog look. She was sitting on her knees facing him, and her soft hand had grabbed at his bicep as she talked to him. He could feel the warmth radiate through her skin and tried very hard not to find it so pleasing.

"Uh…" He stammered for a moment. "I uh, I think I still have the third one in my stash, but the second one died a horrible death when Mikey spilled an orange soda in my room."

"Oh no!" She rolled her eyes back in a playfully over-dramatic fashion. "Well, you'll have to keep an eye out for one."

"Yeah, I'll look around next time I go on a dump run with Donnie. It's pretty popular, the best sellers are easier to find." He tried to be nonchalant about it, and not reveal that finding that book for her had just become a personal mission of his.

"Thanks Raph." She smiled from ear to ear, and he could feel his heart twinge at the sight of it.

Damnit. He thought to himself. Is this how it felt for Donnie every time he'd see her smile for some random reason? He was starting to feel bad for having given his brother such a hard time in the past.

April turned in her spot and nestled into his side, trying to make herself comfortable. The sewers were consistently on the cool side this time of year, and April was well aware that her cold-blooded friends enjoyed the warmth her body provided and went out of her way to sit closer to them. Her arm and leg were pressed up along the side of his own, completely oblivious to how uncomfortable it was making the young turtle beside her. Raphael's mind was at war with itself, yelling at him to move away from the girl, while simultaneously enjoying her soft skin pressing up against his own.

The room fell quiet, April having obviously been pulled back into her book, and Raphael sat, staring straight ahead, unable to think of anything besides the gorgeous, very much taken red-head beside him.

He completely lost his focus when she shifted a bit, and the sensation of her touch gently gliding along his thigh brought a fierce blush to his cheeks. Without explanation, he turned away from her to sit sideways, allowing his shell to act as a shield between them.

"Good idea." April murmured softly, and shifted herself to mirror his position, so that she could lean back on his shell, the two using each other as a back rest.

Raph could still sense her back pressed up against him and her body heat through his thick shell, but it was less of a distraction. He was able to focus on his comic and return to his reading, though he found himself having to backtrack a page or so.

The two sat in companionable silence for quite a while before the sounds of his brothers entering the living quarters began to trickle in. At first he was grateful for it, because it made him feel less guilty for being alone with April when he could hear the humming of Michelangelo coming from the kitchen. But after another few minutes, Donatello entered.

"There you are!" He announced to the woman leaning against him, and while he wasn't actually doing anything wrong, he was still concerned what his brother would say. But if their proximity bothered him, he didn't let it show, and instead he joined them on the bench, placing himself so close to April that she had to drape her legs across his lap. He booted up his laptop and his soft typing filled in the silence as they continued to read.

Raph was unsure what they were doing, but April's back pressed against his own, vibrated as she giggled about something. He tried his very best to ignore it, but the gentle sensation of her movement against him was distracting him more than he cared to admit.

"Knock it off." He heard her playfully toss towards his brother. Whom clearly didn't seem to actually be bothering her.

This went on for a few more minutes; he'd feel her shift and she'd whisper something to Don, or he'd ask her a question. Either way, it was clear that their quiet reading time was now over.

"Donnie!" April suddenly whispered in a shocked kind of manner. Raph really didn't want to think about what his brother had done to make her react in such a way, but he was positive he wanted to leave before he had to hear it again.

"Arrgh!" He loud out an exasperated huff as he stood abruptly from the couch, causing April to lose her balance and almost tumble backward, had it not been for Donnie, grabbing her arm.

"Raph?" April asked as the grumpy turtle stomped from the room with no response.

"What was that all about?" Donatello asked.

"I think we were being too loud." April explained, feeling bad for ruining Raph's reading spot.

Donatello shrugged, completely used to Raph's angry outbreaks. "He could have just said something."

In actuality, Donnie was not at all sad that Raph had left the two to themselves. He reached out, wrapping one arm around his girl and pulled her into his side.

Life with April was even better than Donatello could have imagined. I mean sure, there was a lot of things that hadn't really changed, due to the fact that April was living with them, and that they were keeping their relationship a secret for now. But when it was just the two of them, and he was finally able to express his feelings for the girl, instead of bottling them up inside, it was truly amazing.

It was late in the evening, and Don had sneaked into April's room long after they had all said their 'goodnights' to the household. They were cuddled on April's bed watching a movie on her laptop. Don was sitting up, lounging with this shell against the rough brick wall, and the girl of his dreams was laying comfortably across him, snuggled in a pillow on his lap. He was idly running his fingers through her loose hair, not really paying much attention to the movie that was playing. Something about a princess and a bandit, or giants and pirates maybe? His focus was entirely on April. The way the light from the screen would dance across her freckled cheeks, the way she would smile during an uplifting scene and silently mouth all her favorite lines. It was the happiest he had seen her in a long time, and he sure hoped that at least part of it was because of himself.

Just a few days after April had confessed her feelings, the two had been caught up in a pretty steamy kissing session up against the side of the Shell Raiser. It had started off innocently enough, as April and Mikey had been on duty to scrub down the vehicle, while Donatello was making some repairs to a smashed headlight.

As soon as he as finished, and had apologized to Don for the fifth time or so for having been the one to break the light, Mikey had left, and like a moth to a flame, within seconds April had rushed Donnie and practically knocked him down with an eager kiss.

"I thought he'd never leave." She mumbled between smooches. "I've been trying to get you alone all day!"

"Well if I had known that, I wouldn't have made him help!" Donnie chuckled as the girl kissed him again, and his insides melted with joy.

The heated kissing started to wind down and that nagging doubt in Donatello's mind started poking at him again. It's not that he didn't like kissing April, because he absolutely LOVED it. He didn't even know it was possible to feel that alive. He just couldn't help the part of him that started asking questions like, Why did she choose me? Is she just lonely? Is it pity? Is this really what she wants?

So far, in these first few days, they had never really discussed where they fell in the relationship scale, other than the fact that they both had feelings for the other. Otherwise, it was just a lot of hand-holding and kissing when no one else was around. Don agreed with April that it just wasn't the right time to tell his family, but he also worried that maybe she was a little ashamed to admit what they were doing.

"Don?" April pulled back and asked gently, looking up into his brown eyes that were obviously lost in thought.

"Oh… ah, sorry. I was just thinking…" He answered, he ducked his eyes feeling guilty for his mind wandering.

"What is it? Just tell me." She smiled encouragingly. "It's certainly not the first time I've seen that look on your face.

"I just… I was…" He gulped and took a big sigh. "I know I should just shut up and be happy with this much, but… but I just keep wondering, what are we?" Donatello gestured between the two of them. "Are we just friends that kiss or are we something else?"

"Do you want to be something else?" April started, but a sly smile spread across her face. "Because I don't remember you asking me to be your girlfriend." She lifted an eyebrow as if to say, 'it's your move'.

Don's eyebrows shot up, he loved how forward she could be, it was a perfect match for his more shy nature.

"April… um… would you like to be my girlfriend?" He asked quietly, so full of nerves he suddenly felt a little sick.

She answered immediately, knowing how easily he can over think things. "Of course, you big doofus!" She smiled gently smacking him in the upper arm. "Is that really what's been bothering you?"

"I guess." He answered. "I'm just so afraid to mess with what we have, because this is more than I ever could have dreamed."

April smiled and leaned into him, hugging him around the middle and laying her head on his chest. She understood why he was insecure, and she would just try her hardest to remind him that she has feelings for him, no matter what he may be.

She stood for a moment, her cheek against his plastron and the soft sound of his heart beating below.

"April, you know this is all I will ever be right?" His gentle voice broke the silence.

"What?" She asked confused, but without budging from her new favorite place.

"I just want to make sure you know, that I'm not some kind of 'frog prince'. I won't ever become the handsome knight that sweeps you off to his castle; no matter how many times you kiss me. I'll always be this… this half-human, half-turtle twisted joke of nature."

"Don-" April tried to cut in and stop him from voicing these terrible things, but he continued before she could get in another word.

"I wish I could be normal for you. I wish I could take you on a proper date, and meet all your friends, but this is who I am. And I just have to make sure you've thought this all through because… I care about you more than you know April… but I'd rather walk away now, than months later when the reality of the situation has sunk in."

April pushed back away from his hug and took a stern stance to glare up in into his eyes. "You think I don't know who you are? Donatello Hamato, I know exactly who you are, and what you are!" Her words were sharp, but she quickly calmed down. "You are… a genius, a gentle soul, a ninja master, and an amazing brother and son." She reached up to place a hand on his cheek. "Sure we have a few extra hurdles compared to most couples, but it certainly doesn't change how I feel about you. I know what I'm getting into Donnie, I want to be with you."

And with that, they had become an official couple, and Donatello was able to at least accept that April knew what she was doing and that she has openly chosen him.

He smiled down at her, the memory still vivid in his mind. She was still cuddled in his lap, and she looked up at that moment to meet his gaze.

"I think this is the happiest I've ever been." He stated.

April sat up, leaned in and kissed him softly.

End Chapter 12 - From Behind Green Eyes

A/N
Phew! That took forever to get wrapped up and published! Sorry guys - real life has been a little crazy around here. We're in the process of selling/buying a house and moving this summer, so finding time to sit and write has been hard to do. I promise I WILL finish this story, so please stick around and I will post as often as possible! And a big thanks to those that have stuck around this long! I appreciate every single one of my readers!

Also, I totally illustrated the scene of the three reading on the couch a few months ago - and now I finally found a good place to sneak it into the story. If you are interested in that sorta thing, go check out Queequegg over at Deviantart. It's in my TMNT gallery. :)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I absolutely appreciate every review I get and it's part of the push I need to keep this thing going! I think I would write this even if it was just for myself, but hearing what you all think about it, and knowing there are others out there enjoying it, is a great motivator!

So tell me… did the opening scene have anyone fooled? Was there even a half-second when you were like - "wait? What?"