Chapter 19 - Into the Chaos

It hadn't really taken all that long for April to demonstrate for Splinter some of the lessons that Raphael had taught her. After all, it was more of a hands-on style of learning, so it wasn't as though she had any new katas to show. They sparred for a short while after April had finished and Master Splinter seemed somewhat impressed with the progress she was making. He did manage to sneak in a slight air of disapproval since she had been going around his carefully laid out instruction path.

Even after his gentle scolding, her excitement to return was contagious and within a short amount of time they had gathered their things and headed back for the lair.

Trudging their way down the dark and dirty tunnels of the New York city sewage system, April hiked up her knapsack on her back before glancing over at the tall rat walking silently beside her. Master Splinter was not one for small talk, which she didn't really mind since her own thoughts were far away.

She had no idea how to start her apology or what exactly to say to Donatello, but somehow she also knew that he was going to be the easy brother to approach. She had promised Raphael and herself that starting a relationship with Donnie wouldn't throw off the balance that the four brothers had grown to depend on in their lives. And she had been the very cause of this disruption. She was positive that after her hasty departure, the fact that she and Donatello had been secretly dating wasn't very secret anymore. If Donnie's reaction hadn't given them away, she could imagine that a pissed off Raph had taken care of it.

She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. What was she going to do with him? Raphael had become her friend over these many weeks that she'd been living down here. He seemed to have already come to terms with his own growing feelings towards her, but she knew he'd never allow for his brother to get hurt, even if it was by her.

A little shiver caused goose flesh to spring up on April's arms. The tunnels near Splinter's sanctuary were full of sticky humid air, and she hadn't thought to change into something warmer than her stretchy yoga crops and light weight hoodie before heading back. As they neared the lair, the air became increasing cooler and oddly still. The tunnels seemed darker and lacking the usual bustle of life that can be felt within its walls during the day.

Suddenly Splinter came to a stop. Silently he put out his hand to indicate that April should stop as well. His ears stood tall and twitched as he focused in on something.

"Why is it so quiet?" April whispered, picking up on the uneasiness now that she had stopped her wandering thoughts.

"I am unsure, child." His posture seemed to relax a little, but he still seemed on guard. "Wait here, while I investigate."

April opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it. It's one thing to disagree with any of the brother's, but when sensei gave you an order, you better darn well follow it.

Having left April a short distance from the main entrance to the lair, Splinter approached the large opening that revealed the line of turnstiles. He glanced around for any indication of his boys, but the entire room was eerily quiet and it made an uneasy feeling creep over him. For a moment, he assumed that the electricity must have gone out, but a quick glance at the lights flickering on the pinball machine told him otherwise.

Something caught his attention from the far hallway and he spun around, poised for a fight. His heart had been in his throat and he was relieved to see his eldest son standing across the way.

"Leonardo. You startled me, my son. Why is it so quiet in here?"

The blue masked turtle approached the tall rat without a response and as he got closer, Splinter quickly realized that something was wrong.

"What is going on Leonardo?" Splinter asked, his eyes narrowing to focus on the boy in the dark room.

"We weren't expecting you back so soon." Leo finally spoke, in a voice that was low and gravelly and almost unrecognizable.

Splinter took a tentative step back, but before he was able to realize just how bad things were, Leo had lifted a blow dart to his lips.

Splinter gasped as he reached up, his thin and nimble hand moving quickly to his neck where he felt the pin prick. He turned with wide eyes at his son, as if questioning it had really been him. But as Leo crept closer to him, the faint light in the room hit his face and Splinter gasped as he caught a look at his black eyes.

"What has happened to you?" Splinter all but managed to whisper before falling to his knees and letting the darkness wash over him.

April stood waiting for Splinter, every possible worst case scenario running through her head; what if the Kraang attacked the lair? What if they've been ambushed? What if some bad guy had just been biding his time, waiting for Splinter to be lured away?

A sound caught her attention and she looked around quickly to try and determine where it had come from. Seeing no obvious source, she took a few tentative steps down the tunnel, and realized she was right outside the mini dojo where she and Raph had been training.

"Raph?" April called out, feeling an overwhelming sense of uneasiness. She peeked into the small room and listened for any sound of the boys, but without any luck.

"Ok, ok, April, chill out." She whispered quietly, stepping back into the main tunnel. "They're probably just out on patrol."

Even as she tried to assure herself, something just didn't seem right. It was more than a sense of foreboding, it felt as though she'd swallowed an ice cube and the cold uncomfortable sensation in the pit of her stomach was radiating out from her middle. She couldn't stand to wait any longer, something had to be wrong for Splinter to have not yet returned.

Not wanting to be hindered, she dropped her knapsack against the wall. Pulling her tessen from a pocket, she picked up her pace towards the lair entrance, listening for familiar sounds. "Sensei? Donnie? Guys?" She called out again, hoping one of the brothers would appear and ease her mind.

Still seeing no trace of life, the stillness of the tunnels were making her nervous. Splinter had been trying to train her to listen to her intuition and not ignore the things that one often writes off as just over-thinking. And right now every fiber of her being was sending off warning signals.

Just as she rounded the next corner, she was roughly grabbed and pulled aside. Flicking her wrist to open her fan, a large hand grabbed her mid-movement and bent it back in such a way that she dropped it. Before she could even let out a scream another large three-fingered hand clamped over her mouth.

"Shhhhh." A voice urged, pulling her back into a dark niche in the wall, a half-tunnel that had long ago caved in and didn't really lead to anywhere.

Panic began to trickle up as April was practically shoved into this dark hiding place. Her captor was clearly one of the turtles, but why was he behaving so strangely? She squinted her eyes, trying to allow them to adjust to the lack of light, and by the time she was pressed up to the cool uneven brick wall, she was able to see the red of Raphael's mask.

"April?" Another voice called out from the direction of the entrance. It sounded like Leonardo, but his voice was rough and scratchy as though he had been yelling.

April's eyes went round in surprise at hearing her own name. Why was Leo calling for her, did he know she was out here? Had he seen Sensei? From beneath his large hand that was keeping her silent, she met Raph's intense gaze. His eyes narrowed as he shook his head slightly, and brought one finger up to his lips, indicating that she not answer.

By the count of her hammering heart, April knew that a couple of minutes had ticked by over what felt like hours. She wasn't sure why they needed to hide from Leo, and as much as she trusted Raphael, something about the way he had appeared from the shadows and pulled her into this corner did not feel right.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He growled in a whisper. "Donnie said you were away."

He moved his hand slowly away from her mouth allowing her to talk.

"I just got back." She whispered, taking in the warning from his glare. "What's going on? Why are we hiding? Where are the other guys?" Her voice started to rise in panic as the questions tumbled from her. Raph's hand quickly came up to shush her again.

"April?" Leo called out one last time, sounding a bit further than before, and not as confident that he'd get a response. In return, Raphael leaned in more towards April, pushing her flat and using his dark shell to help blend them into the shadows of the wall. Holding them in a still silence for another minute or two, until Raph had apparently been assured that Leo had left.

"Something's happened. You can't be here." He whispered back cryptically. "Leo was stung by this mutated wasp… it's… making him act crazy."

"Oh my God." April shuddered at the thought, knowing that her feeling of apprehension as she had approached the lair was legitimate.

"Donnie was working on a cure, but Leo bit him and now he's acting weird too." April's eyes grew even larger in shock as she took in what Raphael had said. What had happened in the day-and-half she and Splinter had been gone? She quickly regretted letting them separate, what had become of him?

"Splinter just headed for the main entrance, we've got to warn him." April pointed in the direction.

"I don't think that's necessary." Raphael replied under his breath.

"What… what do you mean?" April questioned, feeling the hair on the back of her neck raise in alarm.

There was a sound in the tunnel that made them both jump and Raph snapped around to look for the cause. When he turned away, a flicker of light reflected off something in the distance and illuminated the stoney dead-end they were pressed into. The small glimmer was just enough to allow April to barely make out a bruised bite mark on Raphael's shoulder.

Panic rose in her chest and she could feel her heartbeat speed up in fear. She had let herself be pushed into this corner, by a walking brick wall of muscle. There was nowhere for her to go, except past where he stood. And even on her best day, she couldn't compete with Raphael's strength.

"What about Mikey?" She asked, trying to think of some kind of a distraction to get them out of this corner.

"He's locked himself in the lab." Raphael's voice had somehow managed to drop even lower than normal, and when he turned back around to face her, his eyes were a dark black.

"Let's go get him." April tried not to let the panic in her voice sound through.

"He's not my concern." The unfamiliar voice growled back.

"Raph," April tried to push back on his plastron. "C'mon, let's go get Mikey." But her efforts seemed to make no difference. His focus seemed to land on her face and he stared blankly as she struggled.

The brother who was usually the closest to her height now seemed to loom over her. His dark eyes were lifeless and unrecognizable. Slowly he leaned back in toward her, pushing her flat up against the uneven wall behind her. The cold and jagged stones that had walled off this path jabbed uncomfortably into her back as he pressed in even more.

"Raphael! Let go!" She shouted before his hand came up again to muffle her. Squirming beneath his grasp, she felt him lean his snout down, pressing it into the side of her neck. She struggled against the large hand over her face, trying to turn away as he moved in. Squeezing her eyes shut in fear, waiting for the feeling of his teeth to break into her skin, she was shocked when he moved his snout, running it up along the side of her neck. His tongue darted out, dragging behind, running a line of warmth across her skin, before turning and rubbing his snout back down the other side.

The unwelcome sensation of his pebbled reptilian skin, roughly rubbing along her own caused her to shudder. As he moved up past her ear and into her hairline, she could hear him sniff loudly, taking in her aroma. The sensation causing gooseflesh to sprout down her arms.

"LET HER GO!" A voice rang through the tunnels, so loud and fierce April could hardly believe she recognized it as her kind-hearted Donatello.

Raphael tore his attention away from her and whipped around to see his younger brother approaching. Staff held firm in his grip.

"Move away from her, Raph." Donatello ordered in a stern voice.

"Mine." He snarled in return, a low rumbling deep within his chest carrying the words.

"She's not yours!" Donnie responded, his voice was laced with anger. "She doesn't belong to anyone." Spinning his bo across his body, he shifted it to one hand. "Step away from her now!"

From her place behind him, April could just barely see the edge of Raphael's lip curl up into a snarl. He dropped his hands that were still pinning her against the wall to turn fully around and let out a low rumbling growl at his brother.

Donatello stood tall facing his opposition, peering past the empty stare of Raphael's eyes and catching April's attention. His focus narrowed and with only a curt nod, barely even noticeable, April knew he was promising her that he would get her out of this situation.

Raph took a great pounce forward and let out another growl, and Donnie leaped back in return, his staff spinning between the two of them like a shield.

"Awww, did I scare you?" Raph taunted, his frigid voice sending chills down April's spine. "No wonder she dumped a coward like you."

Despite the darkness of their surroundings, the look of hurt that crossed Donnie's face could not be hidden from the girl he was attempting to save.

Even knowing that Raph had no control over his behavior, that his words were not this own, Donatello couldn't help but feel the sting behind them. His face crestfallen, he took a swing of his bo and Raph dodged it with no effort.

Edging another step forward, Raph chuckled at the frightened look staring back at him. Slowly he reached back and unsheathed his sai, spinning them in each hand with such speed, they were a blur of silver.

Donatello readied himself for the attack and his bo veered up to meet the twin sai as Raph brought them down with force. The weapons clanged and rattled against each other, the sounds echoing off the narrow walls around them. Raph pulled back and struck again and again, his attack strong and fearsome. Donatello blocked and dodged, attempting to hold off the attack without having to return a hit.

Looking past his brother's advances, he strained to see where April was still cornered behind him, hoping that she was able to obtain her weapon.

One of Raph's swings broke through and his tight fist balled around the small handle of his weapon connected with Donnie's chin; knocking him another step back. Quickly shaking off the ringing in his ears, Donnie righted himself and glared a warning.

"Too afraid to fight back?" Raphael cackled.

"You're my brother! The venom is making you act like this! I'm not trying to hurt you!" Donnie replied, just as he swung his bo like a baseball bat, the wide arc connecting with Raph's plastron. The hit barely even slowing his movements and mostly just angering him.

"As if you could ever compete with me!" He shouted back. "Look at you, you're cowering away from me!" Raph leaped, using the force of his limbs to rotate gracefully in the air, before bringing one knee down hard towards Donnie. Barking out a curse when he collided with the wooden staff blocking his way.

"Actually," Donnie flipped back once, displaying his own fluid movements, as he used his bo as a sort of prop to guide his landing. "I was just luring you away from April."

Raph's alien black eyes shot wide with disbelief and he swung back around to the niche he had cornered the red headed woman into, but it was filled with nothing more than shadows.

"Where did she—" But before he could finish his thought, a new attack came in from his other side. The sharp sting as a metal fan sliced the edge of his chin before he could fully dodge.

"I'm right here!" April shouted with a twist and a kick, causing Raph to jump back again to avoid it.

"Arrrghh!" He let out a cold snarl, and spun his sai around deftly.

April took another few sidelong steps to finish her path around the red masked opponent. As she approached him, Donatello slid one foot over to subtlety move himself between April and his brother.

Raph bent forward, readying himself as though he were about to charge at them like a bull, but something seemed to distract him and for half a second his membranes slid back and April caught sight of his bright green eyes looking lost and confused.

"Where'd you hide the egg?" Donnie shouted, at this brief sign of consciousness.

Immediately his membrane snapped back in place, the black orbs burning with anger. "Nowhere you'll find it!" He spun on his heels and took off running down the tunnel.

The two left standing exchanged looks, but Donatello put out a hand to still April before she could take off to chase him.

April spun on Donnie, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. "What was that?!" She practically shouted.

Donatello grabbed her wrist and pulled her in the direction of the lab. "No time to explain, we need to get the hell out of here!"

"But what about Raph? And Sensei! He was just ahead of me when I got here, we need to look for him." April tried to protest, but could not even pretend to pull away from his grasp.

The lanky terrapin looked down, "I hope you aren't offended by this, but we're leaving now!" and before April could protest to what Donnie was doing, he had scooped her up in his arms and took off running for the lab.

Safe inside the confines of his lab, Donatello gently set April down on her feet, before flipping back around to help Mikey who was already bolting the door behind them and placing a heavy metal bar across it.

Any other time April probably would have protested being carried when she was perfectly capable of running on her own, but something about being in his arms as they made their way to safety had comforted her in a way she hadn't realized she needed.

She felt unsure of how Donatello was going to behave around her, now that there was no immediate threat. The last conversation she'd had with him had been basically a break up, and she was expecting him to stammer or avoid her. And honestly, she felt she deserved whatever he felt like dishing out. But whatever hesitations Donnie might have normally had, they were gone in this moment.

As soon as the door was secure he came right up to her, his hands quickly finding their way to either side of her face, cupping one cheek as she leaned into it.

"Are you alright?" He asked, with concern in his eyes.

Her heart still racing, she nodded as best she could within his grasp. "Yeah, I'm ok."

"He didn't hurt you did he?" He was visibly looking her over for any trace of injury.

"No, no. Just… freaked me out. What the hell is going on?" She placed her fingers over his wrists and made a motion to take his hand, but he quickly let go of his hold from her and took an exaggerated step back.

"It's… it's a long story." He wrapped his arms around himself in what looked like an effort to keep his hands preoccupied.

Mikey burst between them like a ball of energy, talking so fast there was hardly any space between his words. "There was this crazy mutant wasp and it stung Leo, making him act like this zombie that wants to protect wasp eggs instead of eat brains!" He took in a large gasp of air to continue on. "And then Raph went to fight him for the egg, but got bit by Leo in the process and now he's turning into a wasp-zombie too!"

"Or maybe it's not that long of a story." Donnie muttered, looking over at his brother quizzically.

"It was true!?" April muttered, clasping a hand over her mouth in shock, having hoped that Raph's frightening explanation had been wrong. "You can cure it though, right?"

"What do you think I'm doing over here?" Mikey gestured to the equipment lined up across the counter. The young woman followed him over to see what he was working on.

"I'm totally a scientist now." Mikey grinned, pointing a thumb at his chest as he puffed it up. "I could probably work faster if I had a lab coat, but Donnie said he didn't have time to find one."

"Yeah ok, professor Mikey." April joked as she turned around to smile at Donnie, but was surprised to see that he hadn't moved from his initial place over by the door.

April walked back to him slowly, noticing the way he was standing, hiding one arm casually behind the other. The wraps from his right arm had been removed and replaced with a large bandage around his wrist.

She let out a gasp and pointed towards the gauze wrapped around his forearm. "You HAVE been bitten." Somehow she had hoped that Raph's mention of it couldn't possibly be true.

Donnie nodded solemnly. "I've already started to feel the effects."

"I don't understand, what is it even doing?" April asked, her eyes locked on his, begging for more information.

"I'm not 100% sure how it works. But by the time we realized something was really wrong with Leo, he would sooner attack us, than let us get near that wasp egg. From what I've researched, the wasp sting controls its victims, making them protect their eggs until they hatch."

He shook his head as he seemed to mull over the little information he had. "The egg must emit some kind of chemical signal, and something in the venom heightens our senses so that we can detect it." He paused, a strange thought occurring to him. "It must also be lowering our inhibitions, probably to make it easier to accept suggestion."

"I definitely don't feel like myself right now, my thoughts are… not completely in my control." He added as an after thought.

"The egg is already calling to you?" April asked, as she watched him nervously look away and fidget in his place.

"Not quite... let's just say that resisting the urge to give into certain, 'desires', feels more difficult than usual…." He looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed of his admission, and wondering why he was even sharing them. "Especially with my senses heightened, I'm finding you very hard to resist right now."

"Ewwwww, gross!" Mikey complained from across the room. "I can hear you, you know?"

Donnie pressed a palm to his face, half hiding in embarrassment and also hoping he could somehow physically stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth.

April could see the pink in Donnie's cheeks peeking out from between his fingers and knew he was mortified to be admitting this out loud. While it was clearly the work of the venom that was making him feel this way, she couldn't help the little flutter in her stomach knowing that she was the subject of his desires.

"It's not just that," Donnie closed his eyes and shook his head. "it's like my feelings for you have transformed into this overwhelming urge to be near you; to protect you for myself."

"I guess that helps explain Raphael's weird behavior too." April failed to hold back a small shudder at the uncomfortable realization.

After her first couple of steamy make-out sessions with Donatello, she had noticed his fondness for rubbing his "nose" on her neck. Having asked him about it, he had shyly said it was an animal trait left over from before the mutation, and looking very embarrassed, never did it again. Her curiosity had lead her to read a few articles about animals "marking their scent". Having this knowledge and knowing of Raphael's growing affections toward her, did not make the memory of what he had done to her any better.

Donatello's hand slid off, revealing narrowed eyes. "What did he do to you?" His voice was low and venomous.

April put up her hands in defense. "Nothing terrible, it was just extra creepy that he didn't seem to be in control of his actions."

"WHAT DID HE DO?!" Donatello suddenly roared, in a way that was so uncharacteristic that both April and Mikey froze, staring at him with open mouths.

"He was rubbing his snout on me…" April hesitantly explained. "…Licking my neck."

Mikey let out a long low whistle, his brows arched as high as they would go. "Whoooaaaa."

Donatello scowled and huffed, his reticulated membranes clicked into place as his instinct to beat the crap out of his brother took over his very core. Just as she feared, the fragile membrane had begun to turn the inky black color April had seen in Raphael's eyes just earlier.

The redhead took a step towards the seething turtle, but he deftly moved past her and bolted for the door, grunting as he pushed the large crossbar up and out of the way.

"No, dude!" Mikey shouted, running over to stop him before he could get the bolt undone.

"Donnie no!" April shouted running over to pull at his arm, desperately trying to get him away from the door before he escaped.

"STAY BACK!" Donnie shouted and he flicked his arm as though trying to remove a pesky insect, his adrenaline only adding to his strength as he knocked April back onto the floor.

"UFF!" April let out a grunt as she hit the hard sealed concrete floor, her soft cotton pants causing her to slide a few inches from the sheer force. She cursed herself for having not seen it coming, she'd have a nice bruise on her hip and thigh tomorrow. Raph would have her head if he'd seen her miss her chance to roll out of that fall.

Fortunately, the impact of her hitting the ground seemed to knock Donatello out of his momentary daze. "April! I'm… I'm so sorry." His soft brown eyes were back in view and he collapsed to his knees a few feet in front of her. "Did I hurt you?"

April sat up cautiously, and watched his eyes for any sign of the trance, but felt relieved it wasn't there. Only pain for having caused her harm.

"It's okay, I'm fine." She smiled up at him reassuringly. She slowly reached out for him, and all at the same time, Donnie seemed to flinch back, just as Mikey propelled himself between the two of them, his arms spread wide in an effort to keep April protected behind him.

Donnie seemed to pull back and scooted himself across the floor away from them, only stopping when his shell hit the wall behind him.

"You need to let me leave!" Donnie shouted, and hugged his arms around his knees, pulling them up tight to his plastron. "I can't be trusted. My behavior is irrational."

April stood up behind her living shield and placed a soft hand on Mikey's shoulder to silently thank him. His posture relaxed, but he didn't move from in front of her.

"We can't let you go out there bro." Mikey gestured to the door. "Or you'll turn into an egg-obsessed nut like the others."

"But I can't stay in here, I can't be trusted." He looked up into April's blue eyes. "If I hurt you… I don't think I could live with myself."

"You won't hurt me." April replied confidently.

"You don't know that. I can only assume that eventually the urge to protect the egg will win out."

"It's making you feel protective, just like Leo was behaving around the egg." Mikey started, and both April and Donnie turned to him with creases between their eyes, as though surprised that he was the one coming up with explanations. "I don't think you'd hurt April, I mean you looked like you were ready to tear Raph apart at the mention of him threatening her. But that's the venom making you act like that."

"That's not the only reason." Donatello grumbled below his breath, reminded of the recent jealous attack on his brother in red, after having found out about his secret crush.

"No, that makes sense." April nodded, a little surprised that Mikey was schooling them in biology.

"Like I said," Mikey pointed to his chest again. "Scientist!"

As if on cue, one of the pieces of lab equipment dinged to signal it had completed a cycle and Mikey ran over towards it. "I gotsta go do me some science!"

Even in his current state, still sitting in a heap on the floor, Donnie couldn't ignore the ridiculous statement and let out a low groan. "So he's the one that's going to save us all." He gestured towards his brother at the counter who seemed to talking into a petri dish. "We're doomed."

"He knows what to do, right? Cause I mean, he was actually making sense… I mean, for the most part." April offered with a shrug.

"Yeah, I…" Without notice, his expression went from sharp and alert to suddenly lost and confused. Donnie slumped forward and hung his head. "I… I don't know. I… I can't…" He let the end of his thought drift off into silence.

"Donnie…" April took a small step towards him, a gentle hand outreached. When he didn't pull away, she crouched down beside him resting her hands on his arm and the back of his neck, massaging gentle circles as his head still hung.

After a few long minutes, he sat back upright, "April?" He asked, his gaze appearing more focused on her. "Why are you back already? I thought you and sensei would be gone another day."

Bright blue eyes looked up into his chocolate ones, concerned that he seemed disoriented, but deciding not to bring it up. "I wanted to see you." She answered simply.

"Really? You were so upset when you left…" He trailed off and looked away.

She rubbed another soft circle at the base of his neck, but he seemed to flinch away from her touch. He looked back at her with fear in his eyes and scooted himself away from her grasp. "Please, I… I don't think you should be near me." He looked around and his eyes landed on his brother working across the room. He gestured in his direction. "See if you can help Mikey with… with the… the…." Shaking his head, he turned his focus back to the ground.

April's heart constricted watching the man she had grown to care so much about struggle. Donatello Hamato was many things, a brother, a warrior, but his mind was the thing he held in the highest regard. He was first and foremost a man of science and logic and to see him struggle to find his thoughts was agonizing.

"Okay Donnie, I'll be right over here with Mikey if you need me." She made slow and cautious movements, so as not to startle him, as she stood and walked away.

Approaching Mikey, the young boy looked up at her. The carefree twinkle was missing from his eyes. "How's he doing?"

"Not good." She answered solemnly. "What can I do to help? The sooner we can cure them, the better."

"Great!" Mikey replied, looking over to read the messy notes Donnie had left him. "What do you know about 'breaking down enzymes'?"

XXXXX

End chapter 19 - Into the Chaos

A/N: Gasp! Things are getting exciting now! Are you liking it? Were you expecting Donnie to rescue April, I'm sure you were, but did you expect he'd have to save her from Raph?

Oh man we are getting close now! Thank you so very much for reading! And a big thanks to my beta-reader Poleepkwana, she is amazing and this chapter greatly benefited from her insight! :D

Please leave me a review! They absolutely make my day! And I love to hear what you did/didn't like! I've definitely taken advice from all of you and made adjustments along the way!