I tinkered with my damaged battle shells. The damage repair will take an entire week at maximum maybe less if I get started now and drink enough caffeine. I surveyed my latest project. It was almost complete; I could hold it off until my battle shells were fixed.

A portal opened to my left. My blue-banded brother popped out. He blinked as he collected his surroundings. "Well, it's not my room but it's a start. Sorry for the interruption, Dee. I'll get out of here. Night, man." Nardo went to the exit.

My eyes drew to my broken crafts. I should get started. However, my mouth spoke before my brain stopped it. "How do you do it?"

I heard my brother pause. "What?"

"How were you able to make friends with no doubts or uncertainty? How can you put your trust in strangers wholeheartedly? How could you tell the good in someone without researching their background? Just how?" I didn't realize I had so many questions in my glorious mind?" Leo grew silent. I spoke too much. "Nevermind. Go and retire, Nardo", I reflected, "Who knows when you'll get a proper sleep if I keep bugging you." I went back to my work. I started with the hover shell. Minor damage; should be an easy fix.

Leo grabbed my extra-rolling chair and sat next to me. He stared ahead lost in thought. I opened my mouth, but he spoke before I got to say anything. "To be honest, I did have doubts. I didn't randomly approach them and say "Hey, I'm Leo! Wanna be friends?" To be honest, I wanted to be just me and Merrill; just us in secret. Our little group in our little world. I didn't think our little group would get any bigger. See, I snuck out to visit Merrill at school; it was like a week before the Homecoming Dance." Ah, yes. He and Raph got to experience it with April. I heard Hypnopotamus crash the dance. "So, Merrill called Lydia to ask Katie for some clothes-"

"Wait. Why didn't he call Alex? They're the fashion designer", I asked, intrigued in my brother's tale.

"It's funny. Lyds said the same thing, but Merrill said they had enough on their plate, so he didn't bother. Later, Lydia brought Katie who brought the clothes – and before you ask, yes, it was the clothes with the miniskirt, which BTW worth it; seeing Merrill have a massive nosebleed for having a cross-dressing kink is the Ultimate W in my book. Anyway, our first meeting, yeah... that was an accident. Me and Merrill were in the boys' bathroom – I was in the wheelchair stall – he brought the girls in the bathroom; Katie made a joke about having a foursome and I popped out of my hiding spot and that's how the girls saw me. Lydia fainted; Katie was overprotecting her girlfriend, but they warmed up to me.

"We met up with Merrill, who had a nosebleed moment when he saw me, again Ultimate W. Alex came, noticed me, and wanted to use me as their new muse. And we just clicked. We exchanged digits and became friends. I can't exactly say how it just happened; you know?"

I can't really say I have. "That doesn't exactly answer my questions", I stated.

Leo shrugged. "I don't have a real answer. Our meeting was an accident, like our first meeting with April! Remember when we first met her? On Halloween? We got along great! I know it won't work for everyone, but I'm grateful to meet those guys. I guess I took a leap of faith."

"Scoff. That leap of faith only got me backstabbing simpletons."

"I never said it was going to be easy. As I said before, the guys already see you as their friend. They were worried about you, too."

"And as I said, I wanted to make my own friends; obviously, it didn't work well." I thought about Diana, the book-reading goddess. I hope I get to see her again. "What about Merrill? Is he your friend or do you see yourself more?"

I caught Leo's surprised expression with a hint of scarlet blossoming on his cheeks. "I-I-I-I don't want you to say anything, especially to Dad!"

"Ah. It's more of an affectionate compassion."

"Please stop saying stuff like that! It's... different to Merrill."

"How so? Do you have fantasies portraying a life with them such as he rides on a motorcycle and you sitting on his lap?" I might be a bit on the nose on that one. My nerves froze stiff as Leo's face became composed. Leo may be a dumb dumb, but he's a perceptive dumb dumb. When something is amiss, he manages to have seen it with keen eyes.

"That was an oddly specific description", he said with narrowed eyes. compose yourself, Donatello. A single twitch can reveal everything.

"It's a hypothetical question, Nardo. I recalled such a scene in one of Lou Jitsu's movies. Not certain which one but-"

"Oh. My. Gosh! Don, you like someone!" My face overheated like an overuse hard drive. How did he figure it out? "Holy Pepperoni! It's true! You like someone!"

"Pish posh. I do not. You're being ridiculous."

"Yeah. Said the blushing turtle in denial."

"This isn't about me", I groaned.

"I thought it was, but I'll let it slide. Yes, I'm in love with Merrill." Oh. Well, then. Straight to the point. "I don't know when I'll say it to him. I want our friendship to last a little longer. I don't want him to think I'm moving too fast."

I absorbed the information. "How did you know you love him?" Great. I'm starting to sound like a hopeful romantic like Mikey. I'm surprised Angelo hasn't searched for his so-called other half. "Aren't you also in denial of your affections?"

"I can't answer that either. I was doubting my feelings until I had a talk with Raph and Merrill and they both said the same thing. My feelings for my best friend won't change anytime soon. All I can say is follow your heart to your non-realistic crush."

"I swear I'll tell Papa of your infatuation if you tell anyone!"

Leo held his hands up. "I promise! I won't say a peep! What goes in your lab, stays in your lab."

I nodded. "Good... I wouldn't say a crush per se." Nardo's face was inches from mine. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Continue", he said with his smug grin.

I sighed. "Her name is Diana. Loves to read, participate in the library, quite intelligent-"

"So basically, you in a female human form. I smell a match made in heaven."

"Well, did you know she's Merrill's ex?"

Leo's shoulders slumped. "Oh... they dated... fake ex or real ex?"

"I didn't get a real answer from him."

My brother shook his head. "It's in the past. What else about Lil' Miss Bookworm?"

"She was bullied by the Purple Dragons. Despite the treatment, she held her head high and even tried to warn me about them."

"Sounds like a good person. Now that is a friend you can get behind. I approve."

"You haven't met her."

"I don't need to meet her to know she's a good person." Leo stood up. "I'll let you sleep, Dee. Don't overwork yourself. You're a living person, not a machine. Take a leap of faith and talk to her. I'm sure everything will be fine." And with that, he left me to contemplate what I gather.

Taking a leap of faith, huh?

How will I see where I'm landing? This conversation would be better off if Mikey were to give me advice. Would I end up with the same results? Probably Mikey becomes Doctor Feelings and gives me a synopsis of my "condition".

My phone vibrated. I checked a notification; it was from Merrill.

Merrill:

Hey thx for the assist.

Thought I might give u something as a thank-you gift.

Diana - (XXX) XXX-XXXX

I told Di you wanted to talk to her.

That imbecile! How can he give me her number on a whim? What if I didn't want to talk to her?

...well... I kind of do want to...

Damn it, Goth Boy! You piqued my curiosity!

I conceded.

Me:

Diana, this is Donatello. The individual who was the new member of the Purple Dragon. I quit their group after I realized how much of a pawn I became. If you wish to contact me, you can respond. If not, please block this number and continue your life as regular.

What is that too forward? I think it was. Oh no! I was too forward! If I can use that number, wirelessly hacked her phone and delete the message.

Oh, no! She's responding!

Unknown Number:

That's good to hear, Donatello. I'm glad you managed to take the first step. Merrill told me you wanted to talk, but I shouldn't take long. I was too engrossed in my latest book that I forgot to go to sleep.

Me:

Oh? If you don't mind, what book were you reading?

And a conversation bloomed and blossomed between us. We spoke about books, movies, activities, etc. Our conversation was long and exciting. And get this! She also loves Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim movies! She's a woman after my heart! I saved her number.

Nardo was right.

All I did was take a leap of faith.