Authors Note: Hey guys, thank you for following, and adding this story as a favorite. Every time I see that I get so happy. It makes me want to update faster, and just makes my day. If you have any questions about this universe let me know. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. So here's the second chapter. Hope you enjoy it and remember that I love feedback of all types.
The next morning Mikey woke up, and groaned as his, and Donnie's alarm clock went off. It was on Donnie's side of the room because it got Mikey motivation to get up. He slowly got out of bed and shut the thing up before grabbing some clothes, and heading towards the bathroom. He waited for both Donnie, and Raph to take their turns.
The bathroom had a first come first serve rule, and Mikey was often last since he hated mornings and Leo was almost always first. There was a fifteen minute shower limit, and a four minute grooming limit. This was mostly for Raph who would sometimes hog the bathroom.
Once it was his turn, he showered, and brushed his teeth before heading downstairs to get breakfast.
As the brothers ate Leo spoke. "Mikey do you want us to wait for you after school?"
Mikey did his best not to roll his eyes, but he didn't succeed. "No dude. I can take care of myself. You don't have to hover over me all the time. It's just math. I doubt that's going to put me in harm's way unless the numbers come alive off the page and try to kill me."
His brothers looked at Mikey like he was crazy Mikey shrugged. "It could happen."
Raph snorted while Donnie and Leo rolled their eyes. They finished breakfast and grabbed their backpacks before heading out the door. When they got to school they all headed to their homerooms.
Donnie was a junior even though he was supposed to be in his sophomore year. He'd skipped a grade and could have graduated early, but choose to stay. He wanted to enjoy high school, and all the social things that went with it.
During homeroom Mikey doddle for a bit, and tried not to think too hard about his tutoring session with Leatherhead.
When Mikey came out of his homeroom he headed to his locker. He looked to his left, and noticed that Leatherhead was only a few rows down. Mikey wasn't really surprised he'd never noticed. He wasn't the most observant of people.
As he looked at Leatherhead he realized the guy had to be 6'4, making him a whole foot taller than Mikey. He had dark brown hair that was cut short, and when he turned away from his locker Mikey saw he had light green eyes.
Mikey slowly realized that Leatherhead was kind of hot.
As the thought entered his head he was both surprised at it, and yet not. He knew he was gay since junior high. It shocked him because he couldn't remember the last time he'd thought a guy from school was hot.
Well, actually he could, but he really didn't want to think about his first crush. It had ended badly for him as well as almost revealing he was gay.
He normally didn't keep secrets from his family, but he could only guess as how his family would act. Donnie would probably be cool with it. He'd know that Mikey couldn't change who he was and accept him for him. Leo might be a little shock, but he'd probably come around. His biggest fear was Raph and Splinter.
While Raph had never expressed any dislikes of gays he was a tough guy and Mikey knew those types of guys often had problems accepting gays. Master Splinter had also never verbally expressed any dislikes of gays, but he was pretty old fashion. Mikey had a hard time believing that he'd accept Mikey's sexuality. He didn't want to cause any riffs in the family so he never told anyone.
It meant that while his brothers drooled over girls, Mikey had to play along. It was hard sometime when his brothers would play who would you rather date, and brought up girls that he never really gave a second thought to.
Donnie could get away with not playing because he was dating April, but Raph had this fascination with asking Mikey who was hotter, and while he usually just picked one to satisfy him he never really cared.
Still, he was getting to the age where his brothers were expecting him to start dating. While Mikey was loud and annoying at times he was considered cute. He was still kind of baby faced even with all the training he did. That seemed to make girls like him even more.
Since starting high school he'd been asked out almost three times and he turned them all down. He was sure to be nice about it, but it was getting to the point where he felt if he didn't go on at least one date the rumor mill would start up, and he'd have to give an actual answer to why he didn't want to date. Mikey could lie, but not for long. He never could keep his story straight and his face was often an open book.
Mikey heard the warning bell ring and realized he'd been standing in the hall probably looking like a freak. He shook his head and quickly made his way to class. Luckily he got there just in time. He did his best to pay attention, but he kept thinking of Leatherhead. He started played with the orange wristband he always wore, and often messed with when board or distracted. His brother wore their own colors, and it was one of the things they were known for around school.
He got through his morning classes with a little trouble, and hoped that he'd forget about Leatherhead during lunch. He always ate with his brothers along with Casey and April.
Casey was on the schools hockey team, and they met when April had started to tutor him. It hadn't been on the best terms since the first time they saw him he was flirting with April.
Donnie hadn't been jealous so much as insecure.
He and April had only just started dating at the time and it was hard to tell if things were going to get serious. Luckily it turned out Casey was just kind of a natural flirt and didn't mean any harm. He'd joined them at lunch one day and found they got along pretty well. He'd been joining them ever since.
When Mikey got to the cafeteria he got in line, and grabbed some food. He sat down next to April who was next to Donnie, with Raph, Leo, and Casey across from them. Mikey poked at his food and realized he wasn't really hungry.
"Hey Mikey you okay," April asked?
He nodded. "Yeah guess I'm just nervous about being tutored by Leatherhead. He'll probably think I'm a dummy," Mikey hadn't been really thinking that, but now that he'd brought it up he realized Leatherhead probably would see him as a dummy.
"You're being tutored by Leatherhead," Casey asked in confusion.
Mikey nodded. "Yeah Miss K. suggested it, she's hoping we'll become friends."
April patted Mikey's shoulder. "Don't worry Mikey. I'm sure he won't think you're dumb. If he's a tutor that means he's got to understand that not everyone gets things like he gets them. If he's a good tutor he'll be able to teach you in a way that you'll understand."
Mikey looked at April and slowly nodded. "Yeah I guess you're right."
Mikey was still worried about how he managed to get an instant crush on someone who he was now going to be spending a lot of time together. At least he'd have a reason to be around Leatherhead. He again thought of his first crush and how hanging around him had almost landed him in hot water. Surely Leatherhead wasn't as mean as everyone said. Mikey just hoped if his temper was as bad as everyone claimed, and that Mikey wouldn't be the one to piss him off.
Mikey was kind of good at doing that, sometimes without even trying. He'd ticked Raph off more times than he could count. Leo and Donnie usually walked away, but Raph didn't have the same level of restraint they had.
Mikey took a bite of his food and it must have been clear that he had a lot on his mind because Raph brought up the exhibition Master Splinter wanted them to enter. He wanted them to each to do a solo routine and then to pair up, and fight.
Donnie and Mikey normally got paired together because they weren't as skilled as Leo and Raph. It made for a better show when the pairing was even.
"Mikey didn't Splinter finally give you the okay on your routine," April asked?
Mikey brightened at the thought of how Splinter had praised him. "Yeah he said it was my best yet."
Mikey was the most creative of the bunch. When Splinter had first allowed them to make their own routine Mikey had been the first to come up with one and the first to be approved. This meant that Splinter had a higher expectation of Mikey and this most recent routine had been giving him trouble.
Still last Saturday when he'd once again showed Master Splinter his routine he'd been given the approval to use it. Mikey just had to polish it and it would be ready. He'd been so happy when Splinter had given both his approval and praise.
The brothers talked about the upcoming exhibition and recalled a few memories from past ones. Like how the time Mikey had tripped during his routine and had so flawlessly incorporated it in that no one not even his brothers had realized it until afterwards. Or the time where Leo and Raph were both so good that their match had to be called a tie because it went on for so long.
It was fun, and recalling some of their screw ups made Mikey laugh and relax which was what he really needed. By the time lunch was over he'd cleared his plate and was feeling much better.
He headed to his math class and as he listened he realized that he understood a few things he'd missed the other day. He recalled how Donnie would often listen to music or mediate when he was stuck on a project. He wondered if being relaxed was helping him. Maybe he could ask Donnie about it after he got home. Heck maybe he could ask Leatherhead.
He did his best not to go down the same path that left him stressed out and while a few thought popped into his head he did his best to work around them since they were stubborn about leaving.
When class was done he felt he'd done better today and Miss K. reminded him about meeting with Leatherhead. He saw a few kids give him looks, but he ignored them. It wouldn't be the first time a rumor about him got started.
Chris Bradford had started one in junior high that claimed Mikey was actually a girl pretending to be a boy. Bringing up how he had a somewhat feminine face and that he was pretty short.
He didn't let it bug him until Chris had started calling Mikey Michelle. Mikey had fixed things by climbing on top of a table in the lunch room and getting everyone attention before stripping down to his boxers to show that he wasn't tapping his chest down like Chris claimed.
Master Splinter hadn't been happy that Mikey had gotten an in-school suspension, but did give some praise for the creative non-violent action. Still it had gotten the rumors to stop even when Chris tried to say that he'd already had surgery to get rid of his breast, but by then people had just lost interest and most started talking about how toned Mikey was. It had been what started to flood of female admires that while flattering held no interest for Mikey.
Since he joined his brothers at high school a few rumors about them as a whole had started. Nothing too big really just people speculating about their background and how they were raised.
The rest of the day was fine and when the last bell rang Mikey took a deep breath before heading to the school library.
He looked around and found Leatherhead already sitting at a table in a far corner. He walked over and stood in front of the table.
Leatherhead looked up with a stoic expression. "Michelangelo," he asked?
Mikey put on his brightest smiled and nodded. Part of him wanted to correct Leatherhead. Very few people called him by his full name. Splinter was the only one who called him that or his brothers when he really made them mad. Still he liked how his full name sounded coming out of Leatherhead and he decided not to correct him
"That's me, do you want me to call you Luke," he asked?
Leatherhead smiled. "Leatherhead is fine, I kind of prefer it."
"Awesome," Mikey said smiling happily and sat at the table.
He was still nervous, but he did his best not to show it. He also tried to forget that seeing Leatherhead smile made his stomach feel like it was full of butterflies.
"So Michelangelo what are you struggling with right now," Leatherhead asked?
Mikey hesitated. "Well multiplication and division are kind of hard," he felt kind of stupid for having a problem with something so simple.
Leatherhead just nodded and grabbed a piece of paper and picked up a pencil. "Well do a few problems and see what you need to work on."
Mikey watched as Leatherhead wrote five multiplication problems.
"Can I use a calculator," Mikey asked?
Leatherhead nodded. "Yes, but try not to and I still want you to show your work."
Mikey nodded and grabbed his calculator. He slowly went over the problems. He could feel Leatherhead watching him and it made him nervous. He caught himself several times making mistakes and quickly fixed them. When he was done Leatherhead looked over the problems.
"Michelangelo, do I make you nervous?"
Mikey was shocked and tried to laugh it off. "What? No, of course not."
Leatherhead raised an eyebrow and Mikey looked down at his hands. "A little," he said softly.
Leatherhead frowned. "Is it because of my reputation?"
Mikey looked wide eye, but shook his head."No, it's nothing like that."
Mikey didn't say that the real reason he was worried was because he had a crush on him.
Leatherhead frowned. "I promise I really don't have that bad of a temper."
Mikey frowned in confusion. "So you do have a temper?"
Leatherhead bit his lip and sighed. "Kind of… it's hard to explain."
Mikey frowned deepened and he shrugged. "I'll listen if you want me too, can't guarantee I'll understand, but I'll listen."
Leatherhead was quiet for a minute and Mikey wondered if he was going to speak.
"I have PTSD. When I was 9 I was kidnapped and held captive for almost a month. The guy thought I had info on an alien invasion and he beat me when I couldn't give him the info he wanted. It's more under control that when I was younger but I still have problems. My trigger is…..," Leatherhead frowned and grabbed a piece of writing down the word Kraang, and mutant.
Mikey frowned at the words recognizing one as the name for a group of monsters from an old horror movie.
"That's what he called the aliens" he said pointing to the word Kraang and that's what he called me" he said pointing to the word mutant. "I hear those words I use to black out and go crazy. It didn't help when I ended up getting so tall because it means I've actually been called that. I've tried not to hurt people, but, let's just say I've had to be sedated more than once. I've gotten better over the years, and I've never seriously hurt anyone, but I've damaged a lot of things. I still get angry when I hear those words though I've stopped blacking out."
Mikey frowned. "So as long as I don't say those words I'll be fine?"
Leatherhead nodded and looked at Mikey with worry.
"Well as long as we don't talk about a certain comic series, and movie we should be fine. Right," Mikey asked?
Leatherhead hesitated before nodding and seemed to relax more. Mikey found himself relaxing too. He was still somewhat nervous, but not as much as when they started.
Mikey had hoped that learning more about Leatherhead would make his crush fade, but that didn't seem to be happening. In fact he liked Leatherhead even more. He was brave and strong. He'd been hurt so badly that he'd been scarred for life, but he kept going. It was the kind of strength that Splinter probably hoped he and his brothers had.
Leatherhead looked at the piece of paper with the math problems. "Why don't we start over? I won't count this since you were so nervous."
Mikey frowned. "Did I really do that badly," he asked softly?
Leatherhead looked at the paper and shook his head. "No, but you were clearly aware that you were making mistakes and I want to get a good idea of what your problems are. I can't do that if the mistakes you made were due to being nervous. You don't have to worry Michelangelo I'm here to help you not judge you."
Mikey frowned. "Could you maybe not watch me as I do the problems?"
Leatherhead nodded and wrote down five new problems and pulled out a book. He began to read it and Mikey turned his attention to the paper. He slowly went over the problems and found with Leatherhead not watching he felt less pressure and was able to through the problems fairly well.
Leatherhead looked over the problems and circled two while marking three with x's. "It seems you struggle with the bigger problems. Can you show me how you got the answer for this," Leatherhead asked pointing to a problem with double digits.
Mikey nodded and showed him.
Leatherhead shook his head. "No. that's not right, good try though."
Leatherhead showed Mikey the proper way and wrote down a different problem. He slowly walked Mikey through the steps. Once Mikey completed it Leatherhead wrote down another problem and Mikey did it by himself and got the correct answer.
They did a few more problems and Mikey got almost all of them right. By the end he was proud of himself, but he felt tired. Leatherhead seemed to notice.
"Why don't we stop for today? We can meet again tomorrow if you want."
Mikey thought about it and nodded. "Okay," he said figuring that he needed all the help he could get and it would be a reason to see Leatherhead again.
Leatherhead smiled and began to put his stuff away. Mikey followed suite and soon they were both heading for the door.
Mikey smiled. "Bye Leatherhead see you tomorrow," Mikey said happily with a big smile on his face as they parted ways outside.
He took a deep breath of fresh air, and headed home. Even though he felt like his brain had gone numb he couldn't stop smiling.