Raph's POV

I couldn't help but stare as Lea got up from my lap and started walking away. When I tried to reach for her hand, she was already out of reach. As she walked past Leo, I could see her tense up. Then she was gone. I was left alone with Leo. He was giving me his 'what-just-happened-you-better-tell-me-now' look. Man, I hated that look. It reminded me of Master Splinter's disappointed look. But it bothered me more now. Coming from Leo. Our 'fearless' leader. The perfect brother. We have always had our differences. Mainly because of our clashing tempers. He was always so calm and indirect. I was always ready for a fight and very, VERY, direct.

But our discussions had gotten worse when I realized that he and Lea where getting too close. At first, it was mainly because she was my friend, not his. But then I started to get this weird feeling when I was around her. I started to notice her more. I started to notice how she looked when she was concentrating. Or how her eyes looked when she was angry. I started to love her smell ; roses mixed with rain. I also began to notice that it was harder for me to concentrate when I was with her. She's my best friend. Sure we have our fights. But we always make-up. We're both passionate to the extreme and loyal. I don't want to lose her as a friend, SO WHY THE HELL DID WE KISS?

"Raph, what did I just walk in on?" asked Leo. He was standing over me with a look. How I hated that look. I hate it even more now that I know you like her. I hate you even more. I knew he liked her. I found it insulting that he thought I didn't know. I mean, he could just tell me. I wouldn't hurt him. Sure I'd get mad, but I wouldn't hurt him. But why would I be mad anyway? It's not like I like Lea. We're just good friends, that's all. Leo is my brother and he should tell me if he likes my friend. I would tell him. Wouldn't I?

"Raph?"

"What Leo?" I got up and retrieved my sais. I could feel his gaze on me. He was trying to read me. I bet he was thinking, "What the hell was he doing with my girl?" Well, she's not your girl Leo!

"What? Who's not my girl?" Shit, I said it out loud. I turned back to a curious faced Leo looking at me. I sighed. Man, I didn't think that talking about this was going to be so…. awkward. I mean, I've never had a problem talking about what I felt before (everyone knew that). So why was it so hard now? Because it was Leo? Because we were talking about Lea? Or maybe because…

"I like Lea." I heard myself say. I turned my back to Leo. "And I know you do to."

Silence.

I knew Leo must have a shocked look on his face. He should also have a pissed look on his face because, I just discovered his little secret. But not even pissing of Leo made me feel better. I had also given to him/admitted to myself my own secret. I like Lea. She was more than a friend to me. She was the person I could tell anything to. She was there when I needed to blow some steam. She was there when I was scared and to embarrassed to tell anyone else. Likewise, I was there when she cried(which was a rare sight), or when she had a fight with her dad. We had each other's backs. And I had to go ruin all that with my stupid emotions.

"Raphael, I don't like Lea that way."

"Oh, come on, Leo. You so do. You guys have spent a lot of time sparing and talking… I see how you look at her, everyone does. She probably likes you too…."

Leo chuckled. "Raph, you couldn't be more wrong."

"So you're telling me that all those 'privet training seasons' and the 'privet talks' have been just…a…"he struggled to find the word, "not meaningful?"

"Oh, they were meaningful, all right. But, not in the way that you think." Leo headed for the door.

I can't believe this! Even though I caught him in his little…. Scheme, he is still denying it! Why does he have to act so perfect? Why can't he just admit that he has feelings for Lea? It probably because he thinks I might hurt him if he admits it. I wouldn't. Well,Maybe just a little.

"Oh, and by the way," he paused at the door and looked back at me, "every one, including Splinter, knows that you like Lea. The Only person know that doesn't know is Lea." He mummers something under his breath that I didn't quiet get, and then he was gone.

I'm confused. I have no idea what to do with these feelings. When did this start? Thats a dump question, I thought. This obviously started when we first met.

It was about a year ago; It had been a normal day. Me, Leo, Mikey and Don had been out patrolling. So far we hadn't met any trouble. I was beginning to get board. I was so board that I asked Don how his invention was doing. To be completely honest, I didn't listen to even half of what he said. Something to do with fire and the pressure building up, I think it was jet packs. And just when I was about t o smack the green of him, we heard someone below us.

"Purple Dragons." Said Leo. We examined the situation; there were six of them. Three of them were strong-looking. The other three were scrawny and weak. Between them,being help by the arms, was a seventh person. Squinting, I realized it was a girl. She wasn't struggling, so she must be either knocked out or too scared to try. Just when we were going to jump down and save her, the girl reacted.

She stood on the feet and planted herself to the floor. The other two idiots stopped and looked at her long enough for her to head but one of them and shove the other with her elbow. When the other four turned around, she had already run off. "HEY! Come back!" One guy whistled to call for back up . Two goons, much stronger than the last two, blocked her escape route.

"You're not going any were." The girl didn't say anything, she just stumbled back and ran towards the ally below the building were we were. The ally was a dead-end. She was cornered by goons. "We have to help her." Said Mikey. And yet aging, when we were about to spring into action, she reacted. She side kicked the nearest guy in the gut hard enough to make him stumble backward towards another guy. As another guy came at her, she punched him in the face. And so it went on. She was on the defense. But the Purple dragons just kept coming. There seemed to be an unlimited supply of them. And she was getting tired. She was going to lose. I saw a guy come up behind her and wrap his arms around her, trapping her arms completely. He was too strong. She could not get loose. Thats when I decided to jump in.

Me and my brothers took out the guys no problem. They were Purple Dragons after all. I don't remember much of the fight, but it was short. After the last one got away, I turned to look at her. From the moment I saw her, I thought she was beautiful. She had short black hair and green eyes. Even though it was dark, I could see a look of panic and confusion in her eyes. My brothers and I were still hidden in the shadows, so she couldn't see us. Leo stepped a little closer. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." She stepped towards us and we stepped back. "Who are you?" She asked.

"We're nobody. Answered Don. With that we started to walk away, our backs turned towards her. That was a bad move, because we didn't see her take out a flashlight (Were she was keeping that and why she didn't use it before is still a mystery) and shine it towards us.

We heard a gasp and turned around. The girl's eyes where wide, yet not from fear, but surprise. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, either I'm completely delusional, or you people are real. And if you are, you can't be that bad."

After that we brought her to the lair. She was convinced we were real and agreed to keep the secret for us. April was overjoyed that someone else knew about us. When we told Master Splinter what happened, he wanted to train Lea in our ancient art. She has helped us stop bad guys and save the world ever since.

I sighed. Ever since I met her, I knew I could trust her. I began to open up to her. I told her my secrets. She told me hers. She really was a remarkable girl. So why would she waste her time with me? I know that she's probably the most popular girl in her school. A lot of boys are probably chasing her around, their heads in the gutter, thinking about her body and not her.

She had other talents too. Aside from kicking ass, she could sing. She often wrote songs in the lair and we would be her critics. Her voice was hypnotizing. She played with your emotions when she played her music. You felt happy if the song was happy and sad if the song was sad. She wrote about how she felt, so you always knew what she thought. Thats how she expresses herself.

I must be thinking about her too much, because I actually hear her voice. Wait…. I'm over her apartment building….