Alright, time to find out which brother it is, if you were actually trying to guess, that is.

Chapter 3

Standing on the stoop of Leo's home, was Don, his wife Stephanie and his two sons, fifteen year old Warren and twelve year old Ethan. Stephanie had brown skin and dark brown eyes. Her dark brown hair was in long, tight twists on her head. Stephanie was a childhood friend of the brothers so when Raph fell apart, Mikey, Don and Leo weren't the only ones heavily affected by it.

Donnie knocked and waited. Seconds later Jayden answered. "Hey Uncle Don, Aunt Stephanie, come on in." he greeted solemnly and moved out of the way to make room.

Once the family of four was inside, Warren immediately sat down on the couch while Ethan went to go find his Aunt and Uncle in the kitchen. Don and Steph noticed something off about their young nephew.

"Jayden, are you alright?" Stephanie asked.

Jayden yawned and rubbed his eyes "I'm fine."

"You look exhausted." Don said "You sure you're alright."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved it off. "I'm okay."

"When was the last time you got a decent amount of sleep?" Don asked. "I'm worried about you."

"Well stop it, okay. I'm not the one you need to be worried about." Jayden snapped. "I've got homework to finish up now." he walked back to the coffee table where he left papers strewn about. Don and Steph gave each other a look and shrugged before heading to the kitchen to talk to Leo.

Ethan and Warren walked over to Jayden at the coffee table. "Need any help, cuz." Warren asked sitting down next to Jayden. Warren had much darker skin than Jayden with deep green eyes. He had purple tipped dreadlocks reaching just under his upper back, pulled back in a ponytail. Ethan sat on the other side of him with a lighter tint to his skin, compared to his older brother. Short, spiked, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Both were fortunate enough to gain their father's smarts.

Jayden looked up to his older cousin and shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" he questioned, curiously.

"What is with the third degree from everyone?" Jayden snapped. "I said I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."

"Jayden..." Ethan spoke softly, realizing that his cousin was a bit off topic. "he just wanted to know if you wanted help with your homework."

Jayden exhaled softly and looked up at his older cousin. Warren merely raised an eyebrow at him "Sorry..."

Warren gave him a sypathetic smile. He knew how hard this was for everyone, especially Jayden. Ever since they were younger Jayden always considered Raph to be his "favorite uncle." And he always spent so much time with Raph's twin sons. When the incident happened, naturally Jayden asked a bunch of questions. Trying to explain to a kid that he would never see them again and that Raph won't be the same anymore was one of the most difficult things his parents had to say to him. Even then, Warren knew that they didn't tell him the whole truth. "It's okay, cuz. You want help now?"

"Yeah, I just really need a little help focusing."

"Don't worry, I got you."

"Hey Don, hey Steph." Leo greeted when Don and Stephanie.

"Hey, how is he?" Stephanie asked.

"I think he's getting worse." Leo responded with a shake of his head. "He hardly gets out of bed for anything, he barely eats, he hardly talks. When he does decide to talk to me, it's only so he can tell me to go away."

"I should go check on him." Don offered heading to Raph's room.

"Try not to wake him, this is the longest he's slept in a long time."

Don nodded his head before entering the room. It was completely dark inside, Raph was facing away from him, curled up in ball. He moved to the other side of the bed and turned on the bedside lamp revealing his brother's face. He winced when he saw Raph stir slightly, but he didn't wake up. Slowly he peeled the blanket away looking over his thinning body, a result of his lack of nutrition. Most of his muscle build was gone too since he refuses to get out of bed. Every time Don checks him over it always worried him. It's not healthy for him to stay in bed all the time, but after his loss, Raph felt like there was nothing more he had to live for. He felt responsible for what happened. He hasn't been able to forgive himself and Don wasn't sure if he ever would.

He covered him back up and stood. "Don..." Raph rasped. Don looked down to see that his older brother was awake and staring up at him.

"Hey Raph," Don spoke gently "Sorry, did I wake you?"

Sad, dull amber eyes met with sympathetic hazel ones for a brief moment before staring back out the window with a blank stare. He shook his head. Don knelt down beside the bed. "Then what is it?"

"Why are you here?" he asked.

Don swallowed back a lump in his throat "Raph..."

"What do you want?"

"I'm just checking on you."

"Don't..." Raph stated simply. "Just leave me alone."

Don shook his head. "Raph, you know I can't do that. You're my brother and we have to take care of each other." Don watched as his brother's glazed over expression seemed to aim toward a random corner of the room. "Now go back to sleep."

Raph's eyes snapped back to meet Don's gaze. "I wasn't sleeping."

Don was confused when he heard this. "Why weren't you...?"

"The nightmares." was all he could say and Don immediately understood.

"I'm sorry, Raph."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not like you failed to protect your family. This is payback for failing to be a father and a husband."

"Raph..."

"Go, Don, go be with them."

"You're my family, too."

"But they're more important, they need you."

"So do you. You're my brother, we've been looking out for each other since we were kids. Nothing will change that."

Raph's eyes went right back to the corner of the room. Anything to avoid that pitiful look his brother was giving him. "... Go, Don."

With a heavy sigh, Don stood and headed for the door.

"Did he wake up?" Leo asked him once he was out of the room.

"He told me he wasn't sleeping to begin with. Leo, I'm worried. He's not getting enough sleep..." he paused. "Because he's afraid to go to sleep." Don explained. "He said he's still having nightmares."

Leo sighed heavily "I figured as much."

There was another knock at the door and Leo went to go answer it.

Don looked back at the door to Raph's room. 'I wish there was a way that I could help you bear your burden, bro.'

So sorry Jenasisity, but you were wrong.

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