That evening at the lair
Raph had been torturing the practice dummy for hours on end without taking a break.
Leo had been in the dojo practicing some kata's for the same amount of time.
Mikey had been in the living room, just watching the floor and letting his mind wonder off.
'Why wouldn't Donnie want us to find him?', he thought 'Leo said mean things, Donnie did something mean. They're even! So why did he leave?!'
He sighed and let himself drop down on the couch. He already had tried to call Donnie several times, but he never picked up. So his phone was on, but he just chose not to answer.
Then, Mikey got an idea. He got his T-phone and went to his room.
There, he closed the door and sat down on his bed. He took a deep breath and called Donnie again. And once again, he heard the same voicemail.
But this time, he left a message.:"Hey bro, it's Mikey. Look, I know why you left and I respect that. We all know you don't want to be found, and that's okay. But it's just not the same without you… But could you do me a favor? Just send me something to let me know you're okay. Can you do that? Anything, I don't care what… I miss you, Don…"
After he left the message, he turned off his phone and started crying. While he was talking, he had barely been able to stop himself from crying.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around and saw Raph standing there, covered in sweat. "What… what are you doing here?", he asked with a voice still full of tears.
"I went to go take a shower when I heard you were in your room", Raph answered "So when I walked past your door, I kind of heard everything you said…"
Mikey sighed: "Go ahead, yell at me for not leaving him alone. But I just want him back..."
Raph sat down next to Mikey on his bed and put his arm around his baby brother: "We all want him back. But pushing him will only result in driving him away. The only thing we can do is giving him all the time he needs."
Then, Mikey's and Raph's T-phone got a text at the same time. "Did you also get a smiley?", asked Raph.
Mikey nodded with a sad smile on his face: "I knew Donnie would react."
Rapid footsteps were coming towards the room.
Two seconds later, a panting Leo stood in the doorway with his T-phone in his hand: "Did you guys also get a smiley?"
Raph nodded with a smile: "Donnie. Mikey left a message asking to send him something. Just to show him he's okay. And clearly he accidentally sent it to all of us."
Leo looked at the screen of his T-phone and shook his head with a small grin: "Donnie doesn't do something by accident. He wouldn't do this if he didn't care about us."
Mikey nodded with a smile on his face: "He loves us! He'll come around, Leo. Just give him some more time. But everything will be fine in the end. I just know so!"
Raph and Leo smiled at the enthusiasm of their youngest brother.
They could think of a million comebacks and a thousand of reasons why it wouldn't be alright.
But they couldn't bring themselves to destroy this picture: their brother so full of joy, just from a text with a smiley.
So, when Mikey asked to go out skating a little in the sewers they agreed. One condition, he had to stay close to the lair so he couldn't get himself into trouble. Mikey promised, took his skateboard and ran out.
None of them could have predicted the consequences of this simple action…
Author's note: Hi! Again, SOOOO sorry about the EXTREME late update! I'm working on something else in the meantime and it kind of took all of my time... Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! :D
Suggestions are always welcome (to continue this story or for antoher story)! :)
Next update will be sooner, promise! :)