The next morning at school a few people did come up to him, to ask how he got so good and dance dance revolution. He answered with the cliché, but true 'practice, and headed to his locker. Leatherhead was already there.
Mikey greeted the teen and the two talked for a little bit.
He went to his classes and as the day went on he was still was often approached when someone had something to say about the rematch yesterday.
At lunch he sat with his brothers, and friends. The table talked and laughed like normal and the rest of the day was spent went on like normal.
After school Mikey and Leatherhead went over math. Leatherhead said it was getting to the point where they might only have to meet once a week and then maybe only when things like a test came up. This made Mikey happy though a little sad as well.
Leatherhead seemed to notice. "Isn't that a good thing," he asked confused?
Mikey hesitated before answering. "I'm just worried it means we won't be spending as much time together."
Leatherhead smiled. "We could still do something after." Leatherhead looked around before kissing Mikey on the cheek. "Trust me I enjoy spending time with you"
Mikey smiled, and he felt his worried drift away. The focused on math and like always Leatherhead walked him home only this time it ended with a kiss.
The rest of the week passed by quickly. Leatherhead began to walk home with Mikey even on days they didn't study. At first Mikey began to worry that Leatherhead was going out of his way, but it turned out he only lived a few blocks away. Mikey was surprised by this, but was also confused as to why Leatherhead never thought to invite him over.
"Michelangelo I told you how my parents are dealing with me being gay. My dad's pretty great and my mom's getting there, but not as fast. She knows about you, and about us as a couple as she's not really happy about it. I don't want to force things on her. Maybe if you and your brothers came over as a group with April and Casey things would be okay. Ease them into it a little. I hate it to be honest. It makes me feel as if you're some dirty little secret when you're not. I don't want to have to pretend like you're just a friend, but I don't want to make my mother feel uncomfortable."
Mikey understood. "Okay. Thank you for telling them about us. I know that couldn't have gone over really smooth."
Leatherhead sighed. "I think it might be a good thing. Hearing me tell them about you might have made me being gay more real to my mom. I've never brought up the subject of me actually dating and maybe now she can really start trying to accept me because it's not just me saying I'm gay. I've got someone I'm dating and she can't ignore it anymore."
Mikey nodded. "Yeah I could see how that could work."
When they reached Mikey's place Leatherhead kissed Mikey like always and headed home. He hoped that things with Leatherheads parents got better. Mikey wanted to meet them. Maybe he could convince Leatherhead to at least have him met his dad.
When Saturday came Mikey was excited both to be spending more alone time with Leatherhead and to see some classic monster movies.
When Leatherhead picked him up he again brought a sunflower. Mikey put it in a vase and he and Leatherhead headed to the old theater. Once there they got popcorn and drinks before finding the best seats.
They sat down and Leatherhead put his arm around Mikey. Mikey smiled, and snuggled close to Leatherhead for the movie marathon. By the time the marathon was over it was getting dark.
Thanksgiving would soon be here and Mikey was already planning the meal. They would be joined this year by their uncle Daimyo and April plus her father. Casey would be spending the holiday with his family which was very large. As they walked home Mikey asked Leatherhead what his plans were.
"We'll be flying to Connecticut to spend the holiday with family. All four of my grandparents will be their along with my aunts, uncles and cousins. I'm the only one in high school though I get along with my older cousins pretty well, but my two younger cousins in junior high are brats. There already got the mean girl act down and it's really annoying." Leatherhead said rolling his eyes at the mention of his younger family members.
"Dose the rest of your family know you're gay," Mikey asked?
Leatherhead frowned. "Yeah and they've all got varying degrees of opinions. My older cousins are okay with it as are my dad's side of the family, but my mom's side isn't happy about it. My younger cousins claim to find it gross and unnatural, but I think they do that because along with being brats their little copies of my mom's sister who is really homophobic. I think that she puts a lot of pressure on my mom too. I once heard her trying to convince my mother to send me to a conversion camp. It's kind of scary, but I think it has the opposite effect on my mom. The more they push to having me 'saved' the more she seems to want to accept me. Still I'm worried that while we see them she'll regress from all the progress my dad's made."
Mikey frowned and stopped walking causing Leatherhead to do the same. Mikey hugged Leatherhead hard, and was happy when he hugged Mikey back just as tightly.
"You can call me whenever you need to. Even if it's during dinner I'll be ready to listen. I'll make sure everyone knows I'm on standby. They'll understand." Mikey was sure that if he explained the situation he could get Splinter to allow his phone to be on during dinner, something that was normally not allowed.
Leatherhead smiled and gently kissed Mikey. "Thank you," he said softly.
After one more quick kiss they continued walking. Once home Mikey found his brothers had ordered pizza and saved some for him. They asked about the date, but let the conversation flow freely once Mikey had stated that it had been really good.
Sunday training went great. Master splinter had finally allowed Mikey to practice with the new weapon and he didn't do half bad with it. Master Splinter seemed to think it was a good fit and Mikey was ecstatic when he was told he could continue to learn how to use it. Master Splinter also made the announcement that they would be competing in their first match in March. This meant that they would be training four times a week. He explained that training was not to interfere with school. They were to still get their homework done and keep up their grades. Mikey and his brothers knew this wouldn't be an easy balancing act, but they were willing to do it.
At dinner that night Mikey asked about keeping his phone on during Thanksgiving dinner. He explained Leatherheads family problems, and after thinking about for a moment Splinter allowed it, but only if it was absolutely necessary. He didn't want Mikey to be distracted during what was supposed to be a family dinner. Mikey agreed, and knew Leatherhead would only call him if need be.
The weeks slowly passed by and every weekend Mikey and Leatherhead did something together. Sometimes it was just hanging out at Mikey's while other times they went out to get something to eat. Every time Leatherhead would give Mikey a single sunflower.
Thanksgiving break came, and Leatherhead was off with his parents to Connecticut. They talked and things so far weren't too bad. There was an unmentioned tension about his mother's side of the family, but no one had brought up the elephant in the room. Leatherhead told Mikey he preferred it that way. He wasn't sure how long it was going to last, but so far so good.
Thanksgiving day came and Mikey along with April got to work on dinner. Mikey was really the only one in his family allowed to touch the stove. Sometimes Donnie could help since for him cooking was just chemistry, but that often meant that he had problems improvising. Still he was better than Leo and Raph who had on multiple occasions managed to burn water. Donnie hung around the kitchen to be close to April, but Mikey made him chop something so he wasn't in the way. Mikey had his phone on and part of him was dreading that he get a call from an upset Leatherhead. The more time that passed the more Mikey relaxed.
Once dinner was ready everyone sat down and took turns saying what they were thankful for. As they all began to dig into the food complementing both Mikey and April. It was when dessert was being served that his phone rang and Mikey quickly excused himself.
"Hello," He asked worried.
"Hey," Leatherhead said though he sounded stressed out.
"What wrong," Mikey said though he already knew.
"My family just had a huge argument over the fact that I'm gay. They kept trying to tell me about nice girls they knew and I tried to ignore it, but I finally said I didn't need a nice girl because I already had a nice boyfriend. That got my maternal grandfather talking and my paternal grandmother argued back and soon the whole table is fighting about my love life. It's settled down, but no one's happy. The only good thing was my mom didn't seem to take a side. She was just kind of quiet the whole time. Not sure if that's good or bad, but I'll take what I can get. It' really nothing I just needed to hear your voice. I needed to be reminded that no matter what I've got you."
Mikey smiled. "You do I promise." Mikey decided to change the topic to get Leatherhead's mind off of the fight.
"So I'm your boyfriend now," he asked teasingly. He could almost hear Leatherhead blush
"I hope its okay that I called you that," Leatherhead said bashfully?
Mikey smiled. "Of course it is. We've been dating for almost a month I think it's fair to call each other boyfriends," Mikey said.
"Good. I was going to ask if I could call you that after I got back, but I guess I was nervous. Don't know why, but I was," Leatherhead admitted.
"It's good that you want to take the next step," Mikey reassured.
"Good….I guess I should let you go," Leatherhead said.
Mikey smiled. "Yeah, but I can call you back latter tonight."
Leatherhead was quiet for a moment. "Yeah I'd like that. Thanks," Leatherhead said.
"No problem," Mikey said and found himself having to stop from saying I love you. It just felt like the right thing to say, but he didn't want to say if for the first time over the phone and he didn't want to scare Leatherhead off.
He needed time to think about this feeling he'd been having for a while. He wasn't sure he really was in love, but it felt like he was. He knew saying those three little words were part of taking a big step and he didn't think either he or Leatherhead were ready for that.
"Okay," Leatherhead replied and the two said a last goodbye before Mikey hung up. He went back to the table and after assuring everyone that things were fine he began to eat his untouched dessert. After dessert the O'Neil's stayed for a while and talked before heading home.
After clean up was done Mikey headed to his room, and called Leatherhead. They talked and his boyfriend sounded much calmer. It could be the fact that he and his parents were leaving tomorrow, but Mikey knew the talk had helped.
Soon it was late and Mikey knew he needed to get off the phone because he'd been talking to Leatherhead for hours and he needed to get some sleep because he had training in the morning. He again wanted to say I love you, but didn't and they hung up with I miss you and I'll see you soon.
As he hung up Donnie came into the room. Mikey gave him a smile glad that he'd giving Mikey the privacy he wanted.
Mikey hesitated before asking. "So did you or April say I love you first?"
Donnie who was changing for bed stopped and just stared at his brother. He seemed shocked before slowing answering. "I said it first."
Mikey nodded. "When did you tell her?"
Donnie seemed to be over the shock and sat on his bed. "About after two months of dating her. I would have said it earlier, but every time I tired I chickened out."
Mikey nodded and was quiet.
"You love Leatherhead," Donnie asked?
Mikey frowned and nodded "yeah I'm pretty sure I do."
The room was quiet before Donnie said: "you should tell him soon. I can't guarantee he feels the same way right now, but he will given time. He looks at you like you are the most amazing thing ever. When you got that B- on your last math test you would have thought you'd won the Nobel prize with the way he was looking at you. You mean a lot to him Mikey. I doubt you saying you love him is going to scare him off."
Mikey nodded though he still was unsure.
"Mikey trust me when I say telling him isn't risky. It will change things yes, but for the better. It's important that he knows how you feel about him."
Mikey nodded again this time with a more confident look. "I'll tell him, but I think I'll wait a few days. Give myself time to figure out how and when to say it."
Donnie nodded "sounds good to me." He finished getting dressed for bed and Mikey began to change as well. He was still thinking of all the ways Leatherhead would react to hearing Mikey say he loved him. He mostly pictured positive or neutral reactions and tried not to think of the worst ones.