The Secret Life of Taylor - Bonus Chapters

Author's Note: I don't own anything. These were inspired by Febuwhump prompts.

Rated T for minor swearing.

Suffering In Silence

It wasn't as if she could tell anyone. Who would have believed her?

"A giant turtle broke into the flat and kidnapped me because he thought I was my flatmate." If she tried telling a therapist that, they'd think she was insane.

Taylor had never understood what fear really was until that night.

Being abducted was terrifying, and so was knowing that she wasn't the person he was after. He had no reason to keep her alive. Finding out he wasn't human? That was even worse because that meant she knew about him and his family.

She honestly hadn't thought they'd let her go.

"Do not let my son's actions have power over you."

It was one thing to say – or nod – that you won't let someone's actions have power over you. Actually not letting them is an entirely different matter.

The pain from the bruised ribs and stomach? That was OK. Taylor could heal from that. The fear and trauma stayed with her.

She couldn't even tell her mother what had happened, and she told her mother about everything in her life.

Confiding in her flatmate was out of the question too. April knew about the turtles, yeah, but…she liked them, and she wasn't afraid of them. She might have been when first meeting them, but things were different now. She considered Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo and Splinter family.

"Tell them I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"No. But they don't need to know that, do they?"

When pressed, Taylor managed to say that her ribs and stomach were aching worse than they had been before. She couldn't exactly say, "No. I'm afraid because they might consider us a threat and kill us. I can't sleep well now. I have nightmares about them, and I'm more scared of them than I was of the Shredder."

How could she say that to April?

OK, Raphael had apologised. And Leonardo reassured her, April and Casey that they had their backs. The turtles hadn't threatened or hurt them – if anything, they'd been nothing but kind and (in Taylor's case) patient. April had taken everything in her stride, and Taylor admired her for that, but she wasn't like April.

The fear was still there. And she couldn't talk to anyone about it, so she didn't talk about it at all. She kept it inside.

But the problem with keeping something inside is that you carry it around with you. And sooner or later, it's going to come out.