Chapter 4

Sweet Sleeptalker

"You don't have to do this," Alex told him, walking into her bedroom in her shorts and tank top. She was pulling her hair down from her ponytail as she plopped down onto the bed, crossing her legs. She looked up at Raph, who was laying back on her bed, arms behind his head. He seemed all too comfortable on her bed. She scoffed in a rather unladylike manor and said, "Make yourself comfortable, why don't ya."

"I want to, holding this in isn't healthy." Raph scoffed back at her. "Thanks, I already am."

Alex rolled her eyes. "It doesn't mean you have to be here to make sure I fall asleep," she told him. She moved herself in a way to get the blanket out from under her, though Raph was still laying on top of half of it. "Oh, would you get off the blanket?" she asked. "I mean, if you're going to be a creeper and watch me sleep, you may as well get in."

"Relax Alex." Raph rolled his eyes. "It's all good. 'Sides, we sent Don over to watch Kerry so it's not just me." He chuckled and slipped under the blanket. "Poor guy was red in the face when he asked."

"Hm," she hummed, thinking as she laid back onto her pillow. "I wonder if they'll cuddle, or if he's just sit there."

Raph raised an eyebrow at her. "This is Donatello we're talking about here..." he said pointedly.

"Yes, be he loooooves her," she giggled. "He'd so take any chance he's get at being close to her. You know that."

"Yeah, but his brain might implode." Raph chuckled wrapping an arm around her.

Alex moved in closer, her face red as she placed a hand on his chest, her head on his shoulder as she laid on her side. "Maybe for once he'll just feel," she thought. "Maybe Kerry will. She needs to feel close to someone right now, you know? And speaking of the two of them, we haven't been doing very well with operation Korny."

"No we haven't." Raph sighed a bit. "Kerry's the problem," he grunted. "She's fighting it tooth and nail."

"You're preaching to the choir, babe," she muttered. "I'm the one that's working with her."

"I don't understand why she refuses to even think about being in a relationship with him. You don't think she got over her crush on him do you?" Raph asked.

"Hell no," Alex scoffed. "She's head over heels for that boy and there is no way she's falling out of it."

"Good. Don got hit hard with that arrow too. It's almost painful to watch him pine over her."

"And it isn't Kerry?" she retorted. "I have to listen to her talk about him, and try to convince her to go for it. And every time I do, she shoots it down. I'm about ready to just shove them both into a closet and not let them out until they're together." She sat up slightly, her hand still resting on his chest as she leaned over him ever so slightly to look at him more straight on. She didn't realize she was practically half way on top of him. "What do you think?"

"Tch," Raph fought back a laugh lifting a hand up to running fingers through her hair. "I don't know, I hear stories of foxes chewing off their own limbs to get free of traps," he joked.

"Hm, but Don isn't a trap. To her, he's appealing," she thought, tilting her head subconsciously into his hand as she enjoyed the feeling of him playing with her hair.

"She's a runner though. He's going to have to catch her first before she gives in." Raph pointed out.

"Don's a fast boy, quick thinker, quick reactor," she said. "And boy, does she want to give in." And shifted once more, back into her resting position with her head on his shoulder, hand still resting on his chest. However, now she shifted a leg,wrapping one over the closest leg of Raph to her. She normally laid with her legs pulled closer up to her, so she was trying to figure out a more comfortable way to sleep. "Have I ever told you that you smell good?" Alex asked, diverting off topic.

"I think so? If not thanks." Raph chuckled. "I shower regularly."

"Wow, a boy that actually showers regularly," Alex gasped playfully. "Who knew!"

"I know right?" Raph pretended to gush.

Alex rolled her eyes but chuckled, burying her face into the crook of his neck."You smell like cinnamon," she told him. "It's a warm smell; welcoming, comforting. At least, to me it is."

"Thanks, you smell pretty nice too...I guess," Raph mumbled, unsure how to say it without sounding stupid.

"Thank you," she chuckled, rolling her eyes. She was thankful that it was dark in there, otherwise he would see her pink cheeks."I aim to please."

"Well you do a good job." He rolled his eyes a bit.

"Raph, can I ask you something kind of personal?" she asked a moment after the silence. "W-Why didn't you like me when we first me? Did I, I don't know, say something or do something that gave you the wrong impression?"

"It was." Raph paused for a minute before sighing. "It was nothing you did. I've always been rather...over protective and shrewd when it came to my family. I mean, each of us grew up in an orphanage before finding each other, do you know how many times we were almost separated? How close we came to losing one another? Mikey almost got adopted once but he threw such a tantrum that the couple backed out. Don got beat up pretty bad by some older kids that he was almost sent to another home, Leo and I had to track the kids down to put an end to it. We all had close calls until Master Splinter adopted us when we were seven, but we still have this fear of being separated," Raph confessed the most honest he's ever been.

"I-I'm sorry, Alex, I didn't mean to tell you all that. I just want you to understand it was nothing you did, it was just my protective nature coming out. I'm sorry," he apologized, hold on her relaxing as if he were to let go.

"Hey, don't worry about it," she told him, her thumb rubbing a soothing circle on his chest. "It's not important right now. And I'm really glad you told me that. I never really knew anything about your lives before you moved in with Master Splinter. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. You guys deserved far better than that."

"We got that went we found eachother. It was like finding a home," Raph mumbled.

"It's been far too quiet around here," Alex sighed. "The guys aren't themselves. And obviously that's understandable, but it's not making this place making it feel like a home anymore. It makes me not want to be here."

"It's going to be like that for a bit, but it will get better. Besides you can always go stay with Kerry, I'm sure she'd like the company."

"I couldn't leave my brothers alone though," Alex said. "They're scaring me right now. I've never seen them like this. I'm afraid they'll hurt themselves, you know?"

"They wouldn't betray their parents memory like that, at least I don't think."

"I don't either," Alex answered honestly. "But it still scares me. And I can't help but think it, you know?"

"Yeah, but you also can't be a million places at once for them." Raph sighed.

"I know," she sighed. "I just, they're, you know, they're my brothers and I worry. I love them and I hate that they're in pain."

"They have to work through their own pain, that''s the only way." Raph told.

She nodded with a soft sigh. "Right," she muttered. "And I just wanted to thank you again," she told him. "Thanks for being here with me, Raph. If it wasn't for you, I don't know how I'd be."

"I told you a million times, Alex. I'm here for you," he said seriously.

She sat up just enough to place a lingering kiss on his cheek. "I know," she said softly. "And I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks." Raph smiled and kissed her forehead.

"My brother's extremely piss at us for this," Alex laughed.

"Me staying here. Oh yeah I bet," Raph snickered slightly.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Alex told him. "I don't think I've been this comfortable in a long time."

"I'm glad to be here." He smirked.

"Let me know if your arms starts to fall asleep though," she told him. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I'm fine, Mikey was a cuddler as a kid so I woke up more than once with no feeling." Raph chuckled.

"Huh, I never knew you were the kind of guy to cuddle with your brothers," she said. "Was it nightmares or something?"

"When we were really little on stormy nights we'd all gather in the living room and build forts out of blankets and cushions and all sleep in there. After all, for the longest time, we were the only comfort for each other."

"That's so cute," Alex said, a small smile on her face. "My brothers and I would do that too, but not exactly with the whole comfort thing. Though it seems more meaningful with yours." She sighed, rolling over to to her other side, her back to Raph. She moved off of his arm, and he too rolled so that he could put his arm around her, pulling her back to his chest. She blushed slightly from that. "I kind of miss those days. No cares at all. Just playing and having fun."

"Innocence is bliss, I guess, or something like that." Raph shrugged.

"I can't wait to do it with my kids someday," she muttered without thinking. "I love kids."

"You got a little while." Raph chuckled.

"I know," she laughed. "I'm not in a hurry. It's just one of the things I'm really looking forward to, you know? I always wanted a family. I mean, not that my brothers aren't my family, but you know what I mean."

"I get ya," Raph chuckled a bit more rolling his eyes.

"Is there anything you look forward to?" she asked. "Anything at all? It doesn't have to be a family or anything."

"I want to say teaching my kids sports, especially hockey," Raph said. "We'd make it a family thing you know?"

"You'd be great at that," Alex told him. "Oh, hey. Did I tell you I got Elliot tickets for the rest of the season for Christmas?"

"Really? Man if he liked me more I'd ask to go with him," Raph laughed.

"Hey, I'm sure if you asked he'd say yes," Alex told him, turning over to face him. "Bonding time and all that."

"Nice try. But your brother doesn't exactly like me, remember?"

"He likes you," Alex said. "He's just protective. You know that. But I was going somewhere with mentioning that. He can't make it to the next game, so he gave me the tickets. You want to go?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, I really would." Raph nodded.

"Cool," she said, resting her head against his chest. "It's a date."

"It's a date." He agreed. "Now go to sleep." he ordered.

Alex groaned. "Okay," she sighed. "Goodnight, Raph."

"Night Alex," he replied to her quietly.

Alex jolted from her sleep, gasping to catch her breathe. Panting, the girl sighed, wiping sweat off of her forehead and sitting up. Her face was soaked from tears and sweat. Raph's arm was wrapped around her waist, causing her eyes to retail up his arm and to his peaceful, sleeping face. Alex sighed, gently rubbing his arm that was wrapped around her. The contact was comforting.

And with the nightmare she had just had, she needed to know that Raph was okay. She had dreamt that the gang members had tracked her, her family and the Hamatos. They held a gun to her and shot, but Raph, much like Alex's father, had jumped in front of her. He died in her arms before she woke up.

Raph groaned a bit as she shifted, not awaking at her movement.

Alex sighed, glad that he was okay, as well as asleep. It was more than she could have ask for just having him there with her, she didn't want to make him lose sleep over her. As much as she loved talking to him, she didn't want to cause him any trouble. She moved her hand up to his face and moved a piece of hair away from his forehead. Her hand when to his cheek after that, gently caressing it before she moved it back to his arm.

"Don, keep it down. We can hear you from the living room," Raph mumbled in his sleep. "She's not even that hot," he grumbled.

Alex blushed, realizing what Raph was talking about. It was rather uncomfortable to think about Donatello doing something like that. He was practically her brother, and anything like that just creeped her out.

Kerry is too that hot, Alex thought with a small huff, moving her hand up into Raph's hair, playing with it as she watched him bury his face into the pillow slightly. Huh, I wonder if that actually happened, she wondered. She shook her head, fingers knitting into his hair. Uh, I really don't want to know that.

"Alex," Raph mumbled, leaning into her hand.

Alex jumped slightly, not expecting him to say her name. Had she woken him up? "Yeah?" she whispered, thinking that she had woken him up. As he continued to nuzzle into her hand, she could see his eyes were still closed. He was still asleep.

"Come sit with me, I don't like you being so far away," the boy mumbled sounding a bit sad in his sleep.

Alex blushed again. Her lips turned upright slightly. He doesn't like to be away from me? she thought. She gently massaged his head, her stomach feeling ten time warmer than it had several moments before after waking up from her nightmare. "I'm right here," she told the sleeping teen soothingly. "I'm not going anywhere, Raph. I promise."

"Good. Mine."

His? But that would be we're actually dating and we're not! We're not dating. We're faking and he doesn't like me, she thought. But she couldn't deny that hearing that come out of his mouth got her hopes up. If only he actually called her his while he was awake. She would have melted right then and there. She really wanted to be his and she wanted him to be hers.

"Always," she muttered, leaning down to place a soft kiss on his forehead. She rested there for a moment, her nose on his forehead, her head slightly buried in his hair. "I love you, Raph," she told him.

Alex blinked, eyes going wide. Oh crap! I can't believe I just said that! She moved back, placing the hand that had been in his hair over her mouth. What the hell did I do that for! Shit, I hope he didn't actually hear that!

Raph smirked and mumbled incoherently before burrowing his face into the pillow more, pulling her a little closer by his arm around her waist. His arm dug into her injured side, causing her to wince and hiss.

Okay, there's no way I'm going to be able to sleep after that little confession, she thought, gently removing Raph's arm from around her to slip out of bed. She turned to Raph and pulled the blanket up more to make sure he was still warm and comfortable. The girl turned and quietly made her way out of the room and to the kitchen. It was time for breakfast.

Alex hummed softly to herself, making her way back to her room with the tray of food. She backed into her door, pushing it open with her rear. After she entered, she kicked the door shut with her foot before turning to her bed. She placed the tray down on her bedside table before sitting down on her bed. She had made everybody eggs, toast and bacon for breakfast.

Raph was turned over, laying flat on his stomach with his face buried in the pillow. He snored evenly, causing the girl to smirk and roll her eyes. She placed a hand on his arm, gently rubbing to to try and wake him up. "Raph," she softly sang. "Time to get up, Pumpkin."

Raph snorted, but didn't wake up. Alex huffed, realizing that Raph wasn't going to be an easy fellow to wake up. Alex took a piece of bacon off her plate and held it in front of his nose, hoping it would wake him up. He moaned in delight, but once again, did not wake up. Deciding that she didn't want the food to get cold, Alex went directly for Raph's hair, grasping it a little roughly and gave it a sharp tug (though not enough where it would hurt the slumbering buffoon).

"A-Ah!" Raph said sitting up eyes opening up wide, he rolled over, running one of his hand through his hair where Alex had grabbed. "W-What the hell!"

Alex turned and picked up the tray. "You wouldn't wake up," she told him, blushing slightly at his red face. "And I figured I'd be forgiven for doing it since I brought you bacon."

"...Bacon is an acceptable apology in my house," Raph mumbled once his brain registered the smell and sight of the food in her hands.

Alex chuckled, handing him a plate before moving into a more comfortable position on the bed. She leaned up against her headboard, resting against her pillow with Raph doing the same right next to her. "I figured you'd like it. It is bacon, after all."

"You figured right." Raph mumbled as he began to scarf down the food. "Thanks, but what's with the special treatment?"

Alex shrugged, taking a bite of her buttered toast. "You stayed the night, so I figured the least I could do was feed you."

"Thanks," Raph mumbled, honestly thankful for it.

"Hey, did you know you talk in your sleep?" Alex teased.

"Hm?" he asked as he took another bite. "Uh yeah, my brothers say I do when I'm restless."

"Restless?" she asked. "You didn't sleep well?"

"No I did, but as a ninja in new surroundings my sense won't completely shut down, you know? Did I wake you up?"

"Nah," she told him. "I only heard because I had already woken up."

"Oh, nightmare?" Raph asked worriedly.

"Yeah," she muttered, glancing up at him. There was no way she could admit that it was of him dying. "But it was a better night sleep than I've had in a while," she told him honestly. "I think that's because of you," she admitted, blushing as she looked down at her food. "Thanks for staying last night, Raph."

"My pleasure if you keep making me food." He smirked slightly.

"It's the least I could do," she muttered with a shrug.

"So what did I say anyway?" Raph asked.

"Huh?" she asked, glancing up as she ate a piece of bacon.

"You know, what did I say when I was talking in my sleep?" he pressed.

Alex started to smirk, but quickly hid it. She shrugged and said, "Oh, you know. Nothing special," she said. "You just professed your undying love for me and said you wanted me to bare your children. Nothing big."

Raph blushed slightly but scoffed, guessing her bluff. "Geez that's all. Phew good thing I didn't get too deep down into my subconscious, huh?"

"But to seriously answer your question, you did tell me some things about Donatello that I didn't need to know," she told him. "Like how you can sometimes hear him all the way in the living room while he, uh, yeah.."

"O-okay!" Raph breath blinking, cheeks turning redder. "That should never leave this room. Don would kill me if he found out you knew..." he groaned, head going into his hand. "Did I say anything about him alway trying to stand close enough to Kerry to be able to smell her shampoo?"

"Uh, no, but I can honestly say that I could totally see Don being the type of guy to do that," she giggled.

"Shit, forget I said anything." Raph grumbled.

"Eh, it's just me," she told him, waving it off. "Don't worry about it."

"You are basically his sister, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want you to know."
"Oh come on! It's not the worst thing I could find out," she told him. "Let me tell you, I've found out some pretty gross and disturbing things about my brothers the past couple years and, uh, I could have lived very happily not knowing."

"Stop right there! I don't need to know!" Raph said plugging his ears. "I already deal with Don and his little issue with Kerry!"

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to tell you," she said. "I was going to spare you the cringe attack. But everybody's got that one weird thing they do, right? You can't say there isn't something you'd do that you're kind of embarrassed about."

"Nothing I want to say out loud!"

Alex groaned. "Oh, come on! Just tell me! It's not like we haven't admitted embarrassing things to each other before."

"Yeah but as a group!" Raph grumbled. "My bros are way more embarrassing than me."

"Don't forget about you came over for dinner the first time," Alex reminded him. "We talked about embarrassing things then too."

"I wasn't in my right mind." He excused.

"Right mind?" Alex laughed. "Raph, we were just eating pie!"

"Fine!" Raph groaned. "I like sleeping in hammocks more than beds okay?"

"Hammocks?" Alex muttered, raising an eyebrow. Once she thought about it, in the way they were talking about Don, sleeping in a hammock would mean that if there were more than one person in it, Raph would have to sleep extremely close to them. It made sense once she looked at it that way. "Yeah, you're definitely a cuddler when you sleep."

"I don't cuddle!" Raph argued forgetting he told her of his past with his brothers and certain mattress forts.

"Yes you do!" Alex told him, calling his lie. "You told me about when you were little and last night just goes to prove my point even more. You barely let go of me!"

"B-because you were warm! So what?!" Raph looked away with red cheeks.

"Why are you so embarrassed?" she asked. "You know I like cuddling. So what if you do? It just means you like to be close to people. You said that yourself."

"J-Just don't say it were other people can hear okay. I don't want to get any flak for being soft."

Alex laughed, leaning against Raph's side as she continued to eat. "Weren't you the one that said your street cred wasn't really important or something?""

"People who put their rep above their loved ones don't really have a rep," Raph corrected.

"So don't worry about it," she told him, bumping his shoulder with hers. "And I'm always open for some cuddling," she teased.

"Quiet you," he grumbled a bit, red in the face from embarrassment. "Thanks again for the food." He smiled slightly.

"Of course," she said. "I know how much you like my cooking."

"Now it's your turn to tell me something embarrassing." he said slowly.

"Uh," Alex muttered, trying to think of something to say.

"Come on, I fessed up and now you have too."

"No, I'm not trying to get out of it," she told him honestly. She had become extremely close to Raph. He knew a lot of embarrassing things about her, which made her more comfortable telling him things like this now. "I'm just trying to think of something."

"There has to be something," Raph probed.

"Oh, I've got one," she said. "I-"

Alex's bedroom door burst open and Elliot walked in. "Okay, enough alone time. Time to come into the living room to socialize."

Raph jumped a bit, but at least they weren't still cuddling in bed. "Hmmm, but I don't want to get infected with stupid." He joked with her brother.

"It's not nice to talk about Alex that way, Raph," Elliot said. "Though, you've been hanging out with her alone in here, so you've most likely already caught it."

"Dick," Alex muttered, getting off the bed with her plate in hand.

"Buttmunch," Ellie retorted.

"Such love in this family, I swear." Raph pretend to sigh happily.

"Shut up," the two O'Neil children told him simultaneously.

"Plus," Alex said, "You're basically part of the family so…"

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," Ellie finished for her.

"Why do I feel a sudden sense of dread." He snorted a bit.

"Oh, come on," Alex said, pulling Raph up off the bed. "Let's watch a movie or something."

"Don't let Zack pick," Ellie said. "He always picks Titanic."

"There is nothing wrong with Titanic," Alex said.

"But not every since time," Ellie complained. "I want to watch action!"

"Zack likes Titanic? Huh...Leo likes the Little Princess." Raph snorted.

"Really?" Alex asked. "That's not something I expected."

"He read the book and liked it so he fell in love with the movie or some crap," Raph grumbled. "He gets emotional at the end."

"Oh don't get me started on how much Alex is a sap when it comes to movies," Elliot exclaimed, plopping down on the couch. Alex sat down next to him, while Raph placed himself on the other side of Alex. The triplets were nowhere to be seen. Alex assumed they were all in their ro

"Babbler or out right crier?" Raph asked him.

"Crier," Ellie told him.

"Okay, so I get a little too into the movies, so what?" Alex whined, shrinking down into the couch.

"Okay so bring tissues on movie dates?" he joked, receiving a smack on the arm from Alex.

"I thought you two were fake dating," Ellie said, fishing for information.

"Doesn't mean we can't hang out." Raph shrugged. "We have fun together so why not?"

"But using the term date makes it seem more like your two are actually dating," Elliot said.

"So?" Alex said. She really didn't want to get into that. Ellie knew she liked him, bringing this up was just kind of like picking at a scab. "We're just kind of used to using dating terminology," she explained. "You know, from keeping up the whole gig."

"Okay," Ellie drew out.

The triplets walked in and immediately Zack asked, "Can we watch Titanic?"

"No!" everybody exclaimed.