#CRUSHTOOMUCHFIC

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 22 - Finale

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Longing, Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

So, saying you were rushed didn’t even begin to cover it. As your feet pummeled the pavement, you dodged twilight pedestrians on your way to the next subway station. This wasn’t exactly how you thought tonight would go, but when was the last time you’d been able to plan for anything when it came to Donatello Hamato. Barely grazing an middle aged woman with too many shopping bags, you skirted the sudden drop in concrete. Glaring down the hole, you watched as a grouched man around your age sized up your rushing figure with discontent.

“Don’t bother, this one’s down too!” He grumbled.

Your bady sank around your racing heart. “You’re kidding?”

A woman several steps below him, leaned into view. “The line’s down actually.”

“What?” The man spun around, pointing his malcontent at her.

She seemed unfazed. “I got a text from my girlfriend. Someone busted the tracks and they’re scrambling to reroute.”

All three of you harmonized a groan. It was one of the things you loved about New York. They departed and you frowned, leaning against the station’s entrance. Pulling out your phone, you brought open your text chain with Donnie. It had only been a single day since you’d confessed your feelings for one another and the walls of text were boiling over. You had to scroll back with several lengthy swipes just to get to the last message you had seen. It was something you sorely needed to bring up. For him, the love was fresh and ready to be outpoured. It wasn’t as if you weren’t excited to reciprocate, but you’d barely been given time to breath, let alone adjust to this new mindset. A little over 24 hours ago you were agonizing over cutting him out of your life entirely. Now you were his ‘darling’ and attempting to be on time for your first date. That is, if you could get there.

Already, Donnie had cancelled picking you up because of some sort of garage door malfunction. It wasn’t that big a deal, the subway should have been an easy alternative. Skimming the wall of text you had yet to read found a slew of apologies and promises to make it up to you. Giddy at his tooth-rottingly sweet assurances, you touched a hand to your chest. If your fluttering heart was any indications, these worries would soon be long forgotten, but until then you were sorely stuck in the adjustment phase. You were more than prepared to spin his excitement in your favor. It was all about framing. You knew him well enough that this was just like him; jumping headfirst and headlong into passion projects was Donnie at his finest. He just needed to be told directly and in person that that kind of dedication aimed at a person could be overwhelming. It was getting to him now that was the biggest problem.

A quick glance at your bank balance found a taxi ride would decimate your budget. Wanting to eat some time in the future and not wanting to keep a presumably overexcited Donnie waiting, you began to run once more. Thankful you hadn’t gone all out dressing up, you grappled with clogged sidewalks until you spied a rental bike. It’s location outside of a bodega said that it was probably still in use, but you snatched it up anyway. You threw a silent apology towards the business’ door as you heaved the thing up onto your shoulder. Running down a few more blocks, you located its kiosk and checked it back in so you could then reserve it yourself. With payment squared away, you hopped on the seat and took off.

Making relatively good time, you ditched the bike at approximately the closest dock to the garden and made up the rest of the distance on foot. Pressing two fingers to your throat, you attempted to will your heartbeat to even out. It came down with your breath and so began a rapid preening process to make yourself presentable once more. Sighing without a mirror, you squared your shoulders and approached the entrance. There were no signs of purple, but glowy neon emanated from the grounds. You found it hard to tear your eyes away from it as you fumbled for your phone. Its screen read you were 17 minutes late and your lips parted with a frustrated whine. Shuffling in place, you quickly threw up your text thread realizing you’d failed to mention the subway debacle. Sighing, you shook your head as you had to filter through about seven new messages. There was something about a phone call so you swiped your status bar to find three missed ones. Your head lolled back as you slammed one with your thumb and used it to ring your overzealous boyfriend.

“Dearest!” His voice waned with minor irritation. “There you are!”

“Donnie!” You mocked the tone back at him. “I forgot to message you!”

“Yes, I had to look up the track delays. You weren’t on board were you?”

“I doubt I’d get this good of reception if I was!” You didn’t mean to be snippy with him, but after your rush to get over here you weren’t particularly in the mood to deal with criticism. “Where are you? I’m here.” Spinning around, you still found no sign of him.

“You’re there…” He not only trailed off, but his voice dropped off as well.

“Where are you?” You pressed again, a sort of annoyed fear jolting in your veins.

“After locating the travel hindrance and taking into account your lack of response, I thought it would be best to go and pick you up...”

“Pick me-?” You began and stopped. “How far did you get?”

“Your apartment.” There was a sheepish quality to his voice.

You pulled your phone away and groaned loudly.

“It was a romantic gesture?” He offered; the tinny sound of rotors followed.

“I just…” You brought the device back and scooted over to a nearby wall to lean. “Ran so far…”

“That excited to see me?” He crooned as wind rushed around his voice.

“I didn’t want to be late.” You shook your head. “That didn’t really work out.”

There was a pause with only a gusty static coming through the line. “I suppose I am also at fault.”

“Maybe.” You teased as your annoyance began to recede. “I even stole a bike.”

“Dating a criminal!” Donnie huffed. “Say it isn’t so!”

“You got me.” Turning, you kept an eye to the sky. “It was one of those rental things. I did take it from someone who was still using it though.”

“I can’t help but feel you are still leaving parts of your story out.”

You chuckled at his knowing tone and regaled him in your journey. By the time you were both up to speed, you spotted his telltale purple lights. You watched as he descended and walked out of the landing as if he wasn’t the embodiment of mankind’s dream to fly. He strolled up to you and you caught his gloved hands on the way. Heat pooled in your finger tips on contact and you swept your gaze up to his face.

“Hi.”

“Greetings.” His voice was honeyed and you all but melted as it hit your ears. You were further liquefied as he leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead.

Now this part you had no problem with.

“I apologize for the rocky start.”

You shook your head. “It happens. Did you figure out what was up with the garage?”

He turned toward the entrance and offered you his arm. You slotted your hand into his elbow and he lead you to garden with only a minor ticketing stop. “I didn’t have the time, though I suspect there’s a leak.”

“It is the sewers.” You mused, other couples cropping up as you walked a designated path.

“You wound me!” He bumped you as you walked and you leaned into the motion. “That is obviously one of the first precautions taken when setting up a good underground lair.”

“Silly me. It must be my public school education; I missed my lair making class.” 

“That and how to file taxes. When will America learn?” He hummed as lights began to twinkle on the horizon.

You perked up and he quieted. Jaunty music filtered in as the glowing gardens came into view. Your eyes darted around excitedly. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

With only silence as a chaser, you turned to find him staring at you.

“Ravishing.” He seemed to find himself, but the molten look in his eye stayed.

You were caught, but the crowd dictated the necessity to keep moving. With Donnie’s hand atop yours to steady you, he dipped his head down. Your lids drifted shut in anticipation when a large explosion sounded across the garden. You snapped away from each other and looked at a loom of smoke pouring out of the conservatory.

“You’re kidding.” Donnie groaned. Underhand you felt his muscle's tense.

“Maybe… it’s just a heater malfunction?” You offered anxiously. “It’s like a hot house in there, right?”

“Well, yes, but I somehow doubt-”

A burst of flames shot out through a hole in the glass dome.

“It is-!” Donnie threw up an indignant finger at the structure. “-my date night! My night!!” 

A high pitched evil cackling sounded from afar and both of you slumped in response.

“Maybe a different vigilante could handle it? After all these years you can’t be the only ones, right?” You pressed out, the question thin to your ears.

Screams of wayward civilians followed the maniacal laughter.

He gave you a saddened smile. “Regretfully, I am technically always on the clock.” Donnie sighed. “I seem to recall there was a mutant corpse plant here, but I thought he’d moved to a warmer climate years ago.” You slipped your arm free of his and his hand disappeared into his coat.  When it remerged his staff telescoped to full height and purple pixels flickered off of it. You blinked at them wondering if it was a trick of the lights. You’d seen him form objects out of thin air with his ninpo, but nothing like this. “Stay back until I come to get you?”

You nodded dumbly and he took off. The first of the people fleeing from the building finally hit your walkway and you stumbled out of their way. The music cut off in favor of an announcement to take cover. You sighed and teetered off the path and onto the grass. Keeping your eyes to the conservatory, you watched as something round was shot straight through a pane and disappeared into the night sky. You tried to remember if something like that was in Donnie’s repertoire when a different voice seemed to crack through the frenzied crowd.

“It’s over here! Keep that camera rolling!”

Spinning around, you watched as a two man news crew fought against the throng of people. You recognized the field reporter instantly.

“April O’Neil!” You shouted out before you realized what you had done.

Zoning in on her name, April waded through the crowd. “Well, hey there-” She halted and spun around to glare at her camera man. “Dale, cut the dang feed!”

“But y-you just said to keep-”

“I know what I said!” April snapped at him, before turning a sugared smile to you. “Y/N, right?”

“You know who I am?” You wished you could reign in how star struck you were.

“Of course I do!” April slung an arm around your shoulders. “Who would I be if I didn’t run an extensive background check on my little brother’s boo?”

“What?” You swallowed hard.

“Buck up, I didn’t do so hot in geometry either!” She patted your cheek and slipped away, resuming her reporter aura. “What’s the scoop?”

You stared after her feeling tossed around. “The building sort of exploded. Donnie took off a few minutes ago to deal with it.”

“I see…” Excitement flooded her voice before she turned a gritted grin back to you. “Oh…” Her tone dropped heavily with dismay. “Y’alls first date…”

“Yeah…” You mimicked her grimace for a moment before a thought occurred to you. “Wait, you aren’t here to cover whatever's happening?”

“This mess?” She pointed as another round object smashed out of the dome and into the sky. “Nope! We’re here covering all this.” She swung her hand around to the lights. “I’ll just come right out and say it: I accepted the puff piece on the GLOW exhibit opening because I wanted to see how cute y’all were together.”

“I thought there was some deal to not interfere?” Though she was new to you, she exuded such a similar energy to her brothers that you couldn’t help but fold your arms in disappointment.

She remained unfazed. “That was for before y’all got together; statue of limitations.” She gave a punctuated wink.

You stared at her dryly. “I know you rigged the make-up fiasco.”

You watched a tiny crack form in her façade. “Now, now! There’s a fight we should be covering!” She grabbed your shoulders and spun you to face the dome.

“Wait-!”

“Don’t you wanna see Donnie in action!?” She shouted, already propelling you towards the building.

“He said-!”

“He’s a worrywart!” She chirped, speeding into a run and starting to lap your lagging form. “Dale! Camera!”

“Got it!” He shot back, obviously close behind.

“April-!” The conservatory was looming closer by the second.

“Don’t worry! You’re in good hands!” She tossed a wink over her shoulder as she dragged you straight into the building.

As soon as you breeched the dome, you indentified three separate voices and the distinct sounds of a fight. You weakly followed April and Dale as they tucked themselves into a corner.

“Now remember, we scrub turtle footage, but eat up bad guys!” April directed as she got into character.

“Motion blur and shakey cam as necessary!” Dale replied automatically, readying the camera.

Giving them some space, you took several steps to the side and realized there was a break in the greenery. Your little foliage frame was empty until it wasn't. In a split second, two orange forms in garish tights slid in with their backs to you. You got to watch with near front row seat as Donnie spun into frame. Your heart shot up into your throat as he spun his tech-bō  around him with ease. During the skirmish he had sonehow lost his sweater, coat, and accessories. It left him in only his boots and winter pants. His muscles rippled as he whipped the staff around, purple pixels flitting off of it. Knowing you were ogling, your breath further left you as you caught the way his markings glowed a similar color. Awestruck, you leaned in closer.

“Come on, guys!” Donnie huffed, dropping his heroic stance to flop to an annoyed side. “I’ve basically won so can we just call this a night?”

“No way! We didn’t get our first course yet!” One of the orange figures stomped with frustration.

“And you haven’t seen our new regeneration skills!” The other form, flicked out an arm and you got sight of an enormous claw.

“Let it be known I tried reason.” Donnie shrugged and threw his staff out. The purple from him emanated a little brighter as energy swirled along the staff to form an outrageously large huge mallet. “Let’s see just how much you can regenerate!”

You felt like shrinking down. If anyone was to view this fight at this exact instant, they’d definitely peg Donnie as the villain. He reared back and the two mutants readied their claws. You tensed and all other sounds seemed to fall away as Donnie pivoted. The purple hammer came around, but a bright shine of blue light drew your eye away. A portal opened up just to the side of both parties. You watched as, within an instant, Mikey's shell rocketed out of it and collided with his brother who, in turn, was sent flying into the vegetation. Your jaw dropped as Mikey's limbs pipped out and he landed on his feet in a readied stance. 

“Alright, whoever you are!!” Mikey shouted, facing the wrong direction. “We’re gonna wipe you out so fast, Donnie won’t even know what hit him.”

“I’ll know EXACTLY WHO HIT ME!!!” Donnie screeched from somewhere deep in the dome.

“Donnie? Wha-?” Mikey got out before one of the orange forms fired four claws straight into the younger brothers back which sent him flying as well.

Your shoulders dropped at the absurdity. You had watched what you now pegged for crab mutants fire off their hands like they were guns. It was almost as ridiculous as their circus outfits.

Raph and Leo stepped through the portal in near sync.

“For the record, I don’t think blindly throwing Mikey in was the best plan if we’re trying to keep on the DL.” Leo snapped as the portal closed behind him. 

“He wouldn’t stop asking!” Raph sighed, catching a glimpse of the crab mutants. “You guys, seriously?!”

“What is with the reception tonight, geez!” One of the crab mutants rolled his shoulder.

“You happen to be interrupting something very important.” Leo turned and though his tone read amused, there was a burning rage in his eyes that you had yet to see from him.

“We gathered as much.” The other crab mutant raised his claw and fired off a few shots that the two brothers you could see dodged with ease.

“Just pack it up then!” Raph growled. The older brother spun around and instantly locked arms with one of the crab mutants.

The two grappled as Leo skittered a new line of shots from the unencumbered mutant. “Mikey, any day now! Let’s wrap this up!”

“Great covert work!” Donnie appeared out of a bush, dragging Mikey by his shell.

“I told you!” Leo turned on Raph who was still in a grapple.

“Hey, Don….” Raph nervously elongated the greeting. “We… were, uh, hoping to clear this up and not interrupt your date!”

“Next time try to be 11 minutes early.” The purple brother gripped, hoisting Mikey around and onto his feet.

“I feel like I’m getting unfairly blamed for everything!” Mikey pointed out, shrinking down as Donnie loomed from behind him.

“I was about to crush them!” Donnie shouted causing Mikey to hunker down more.

“Date, huh?” A hushed voice ask from your side.

You nearly jumped out of your coat. “W-wha-?!”

“This is a cute place for a first date, I get it.” The crab mutant folded his claws and gave a genial nod.

You rose a shakey hand to point at him, your skin growing paler by the second. His size dwarfed you to an intimidating degree.

“Where ya going after this? Dinner?” He looked at you with an excited gleam in his eye.

You gave a single fearful nod.

“You know I was craving Italian, but I had a bad time the last time I ate it, ya know?” He shook his head. “I ate a few things, but I feel like it was the calzone that did me in. You think I’ll be good if I get it again? Should I avoid calzones? Maybe it was just where we ate?”

“You’re not… going to hurt me?” You finally managed to string some words together.

“Huh?” He seemed utterly taken aback. “No way! We’re not interested in that! We came here to get a nice salad going, but Ben couldn’t stop thinking about this charred caesar he heard of and got us caught!”

“Salad?” You parroted, some color returning to your face. By all accounts, it really seemed like this guy wasn’t going to use you for leverage. You remembered your earlier comment about a heating malfunction and your shoulders drooped further at how ridiculous this all was.

“Duh, the salad is pinnacle to Italian because it offsets all the carbs!” He threw out his arms and gestured around the dome. “But places around town always have the worse lettuce. I’m sick of iceberg! And since it’s winter, the co-op doesn’t have any good alternatives!”

“You’re apart of a co-op?” Your fear was all but forgotten and all that was left was your incredulous husk.

“Uh doy.” He turned to you as if you were the ridiculous one. “The freshest foods and you only have to put in some time to get them? It’s a no brainer.”

“It’s good for the community too.” Leo used one of his blades to peel back the bush you were both standing in front of.

“See, even he gets it!” The crab mutant gestured to the blue hero.

“Hey, Carl.” Leo raised a hand and shifted his hips to one side.

“What do you think about calzones, Leo?” The being you now knew as Carl turned his attention away from you.

“Wouldn’t touch ‘em!” Leo stepped forward and up to you.

“Dang!” Carl probably would have snapped his finger if he had thumbs.

“I have no idea what’s going on.” You told the blue hero weakly.

“Yeah, this is not how we were hoping to preserve the evening…” Leo grimaced and looked over his shoulder. There seemed to be more infighting amongst the brothers than with Ben who only seemed to be stoking the flames. Turning back to you, he gave a lopsided grin. “When you give your big wedding speech about how integral I was to your union, you can leave this part out.”

Carl immediately perked up and started excitedly looking between you two.

“Wedding!?” You screeched, red exploding on your face.

“I thought this was a first date?!” Nearly prancing, Carl gushed.

“It would be, but…” Leo spun his sword around and gestured between the two crab mutants.

“Ooooh!” Carl winked as he seemed to grasp what Leo was getting it. “Ben! Let’s bounce!!”

The alert not only signaled his brother, but all the other brothers not party to what was happening. Donnie immediately spied you and nearly fell over.

“We getting calzones or what?!” Ben turned and started heading towards the conservatory door.

“Leo says no!” Carl called back, shuffling around you to head in the same direction.

“Are you just letting them go!?” Donnie hissed, stomping over.

“They wanted a salad…” You told him, nearly enfeebled.

“What?” Donnie’s head shook with confusion.

“Oh, April!” Leo sang out. He crossed between you and his brother, passing you a glance. He winked as eye contact was exchanged and mouthed what you were sure was a ‘leave now.’ The haunting phrase left you especially confused as he then skipped away.

“’How we spinning this one?’” April responded, knowingly. “I got a few ideas! Dale!! Playback!!!”

Over Donnie shoulder, you noticed as Mikey zeroed in on you. There was no malice there, but something about the look sent a chill down your spine.

“Let’s run.” You snatched Donnie’s hands to telegraph your urgency.

“Run?” Donnie began to turn his head to look.

“No!” You gave a small tug. “I already heard from April! They think the ‘no meddling’ agreement is over since we’re together now!”

You were thankful at how fast Donnie took in this information and processed it. “Tell me where and we’ll go.”

Already in motion, you pulled him as you pointed towards one of the holes in the dome.

“Hey, guys…” Raph called out a warning.

Donnie nodded and in a flash you were both airborne. You held on tightly as you rocketed straight through the opening.

“They’re getting away!” Mikey’s shout was the last thing you heard as the icy night air bit at your cheeks.

“We’re getting away, scoff.” Donnie’s voice grumbled from above you.

You shifted in his arms. “You think they’ll really let those guys get off that easy?”

“The Sando Brothers? They would if we had stuck around.” Donnie huffed, pulling you tighter. “Where is our next destination anyway, darling? Shall we go ahead with dinner?”

Your lip pursed at the nickname. Not only had you not been able to talk to him, but everything about the evening had been a sheer disaster. You shook your head and wondered where it had all gone wrong. It seemed to be so much larger than just a malfunctioning garage. You blinked, clarity washing over you as the cold had. You turned to look up at him and in turn he gave you a patient smile. You softened at it. “Lou, Mike, Tony, Tony's Pizza.”

The tender look disappeared from his face and was swapped with distaste. “Are you-?”

“It has to be there.” You doubled down on your look to make up for the lack of his.

It brought the faintest blush to his cheeks and he adjusted course. “If you’re sure.”

For the most part the flight over was quiet and the city sparkled below you amongst the darkened sky. When you landed, the street outside of Bro’s Pizza was nearly empty. You wobbled as you adjusted to dry land and Donnie looked at the darkened pizzeria’s door with a sneer.

“10:59pm.” He clicked his tongue as he checked his phone. “This place never closes on time!”

“It’s perfect.” You whispered tenderly.

The warmth oozing from your tone immediately caught Donnie’s attention and he turned to approach you. “I’m confused, dear.”

“Enough of that.” You shushed him and shucked off your coat. He watched with tempered curiosity as you slung the fabric around his shoulders. The fabric barely came around his arms.

“I don’t know if I can thank you for this.” He was near laughter.

“We need to start over.”

He froze and looked down at you, stunned. You stared back at him evenly and your hands left his person. Instinctively, he reached up and caught the coat to keep it from falling away.

“I…” He searched your face and you watched fear creep up his.

You wanted to brush it away, but you needed to make sure you had his full attention for this. Anything less and it wouldn’t stick in that overworking mind of his.

“I know tonight was less than ideal, but that doesn’t mean it has to set the tone for our relationship!” Fear gave way for desperation and you took a few steps back as he tried to reach out to you.

“Donnie, listen.” Folding your hands behind your back, you leaned forward to garner his attention. “Take a deep breath.”

He watched you with an anxious gaze, but his chest lifted as he followed the command.

“This is moving too fast. I know we’ve been at this for way too long, but the pet names, the date expectations, Leo joking about our wedding reception…” You trailed off and watched as a similar explosion of red painted Donnie’s cheeks as yours had.

His arms darted out in a set of rapid movements your eye couldn’t keep up with. “I swear to you that I've plotted no such thing at this time!”

“I didn’t think that, but good to know.” You beamed him a smile and it seemed to ease some of his nerves. “So, I think we should start fresh. Obviously we can’t erase all the time we’ve had together, but let’s rethink of our relationship as one just starting out!”

You watched as he churned your words over in his head.

“I’m calling a do-over.”

Realization dawned on him as he looked back to Lou, Mike, Tony, Tony's Pizza’s darkened door and then back to you. He opened his mouth, but you held up your hand to stop him. He gave a nod of understanding and you could see the watery endearment in his gaze.

You could feel your eyes mirror his so you squeezed them shut to precent any happy tears. Building up your courage, your heart raced wildly. As your meter maxed out, you opened your eyes with wide determination. Staring Donnie down, you took a few tentative steps forward and did what you should have done all along.

“Hi. I have a crush on you. Can I have your number and also will you go out with me?”

Donnie lunged forward and scooped you up in a fervor; your coat forgotten on the sidewalk. You both giggled, your cheeks red from the cold.

“Yes. I'd love to.”

THE END

[unknownfanartist]

Crush Too Much Chapter 7 (aka my heart breaking)

Had to draw the 'scene' from @afreakingdork 's fanfic, #crushtoomuchfic

I made it so it was insertable or you can leave it as it is.

[shylentladylilac]

I finally revisited a sketch of Donnie from last month. It's him in his techwear outfit in @afreakingdork's wonderful fic Crush Too Much. I'll probably make it into a more finished piece at some point later on.

I also wanted to have some fun figuring out other versions of the red tulip/ forget-me-not hybrid in part 16. So I did that after doing some flower studies and drawing afreakingdork's versions of it, which is just so pretty. So pretty.

[chop-zulyzulyyy]

visual representation of Readers + Turtle Bros + the DJ + Bartender + security + Ch. 15 Donnie:

[imma-draw-things]

You hit me in my weak spot...fluff

NO joke I was floored when I read this boi had a love sick look in his eye

[tmntxthings]

txt! (can i call you that?) TXT!! CH 21 'Crush to much' GO GO GO READ IT RN GOOOOO

- 🐭anon

you can call me that if you wish heheh, that’s cute & I know a band of the same name as well, you can also call me grace c: whichever u prefer !

i read that chapter approximately 24 minutes after it was posted mwahahhahahaa, 👀💜 such a lovely chapter and it is so bittersweet to know we only have one left!! are you ready my dear 🐭 anon? idk if I am 😭😭😭

[sweaterrat]

GIRL I RELATE SM TO THAT PIC WITH UR DAD 👀👀 Can I ask what happened next???

BESTIE I WAS JUST GETTING MY HAIR DONE AND BOY WALKS IN THE SALON AND WAS LIEK “Gimmie your phone.”

Bro appeared as if he was a star guest in a sitcom 👩‍🦯

He is a big grown ass black man. i said my prayers 🕊️ I’ll tell you the truth I was shaking like a leaf on a winter afternoon in the salon and deal or no deal was playing on the tv. 😭 He looked through my phone for a good hour and I was just PRAYING he didn’t see too much lemlav art (he knows abt my crush on Donnie and its already embarrassing enough). All I could do was to pretend to watch deal or no deal and try not to CRY. After a while he gave me my phone back and I saw my ao3 tab was open. Imma be so fr I almost fainted. (Shout out to Crush too Much by @/afreakingdork I love it so far!! <333) He drove me home in PURE SILENCE and I was just waiting for him to mention my shifting script bc notion was open too 😭 (The stuff on my script stays between me and GOD.) Anyways I’m home now! I stopped shaking abt 30 mins ago 💀 happy Valentine’s Day 🕊️

[chop-zulyzulyyy]

Literally the whole time in Crush Too Much

Donnie: I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. Maybe I’m coming down with something.

Mikey: Oh, ho-ho, I know what you’ve got. The L-word.

Leo: Yeah, leprosy.

Mikey: No, Leo, no. It’s four letters, starts with L, ends with E.

Leo: Aha! Lice.

Mikey: No.

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 10

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

Brooding wasn’t the right word for it. Donatello preferred to think of himself as in a tactical retreat for the sake of lucidity. He’d already thrown himself into his work for three days. Why not make it six? With dimmed pride he recalled how he’d been able to dodge his seemingly ever-present brothers’ questions. They were worried about his wellbeing for whatever reason. On one hand, it was touching. On the other, it was tiresome. He had calculated out the bare minimum amount of calories required to sustain himself which quelled Mikey. Though forced, he slept the base quota necessary to keep Raph calm. As for his fourth brother, he refused to pander at all.

He could acknowledge his relationship with Leonardo was the most antagonistic of the bunch. They both knew how they cared for one another, but they also understood each other’s boundaries and how to push them in a way that the other two didn’t seem to comprehend. They acted like it was cruel. Pausing the soldering he was doing, Donatello grimaced. Cruel was now a word that rubbed him the wrong way. It brought up things he only allowed himself to categorize during feigned slumber. It was an equation solved in the blackboard of his mind. No matter how many times he reviewed it, it was the resolved. The question of what he was going to do about it was not one he cared to consider at this time. These unfathomable dilemmas were often relegated for so long that they seemingly solved themselves. Revenge was something to plot, tribulation was not.   

The mental review was tenuous enough so Donatello set his tools down. As if on cue, an alert popped up on a nearby monitor. Looking over at it, he found that it was time for his scheduled ration appearance. Pushing back from his chair, he took a long moment to compartmentalize all the disagreeable sensations that had cropped up. With them squared away he opened the door to his lab. He made it an estimated 6 feet away when he heard a voice.

“Oh no, he is NOT going to get away with it for another day!”

Stomach dropping fear was something he only felt in the face of tangible bodily harm. He’d looked Shredder in the face. He’d looked Krang in the face. The sensation that passed over him was something he’d relegate into the 'loathing' category. It didn’t quite fit, but there wasn’t a better facsimile. He’d turn, as if he had to perform the act, but he knew for a fact he’d never make it back to the lab. Finally executing the motion, a blue portal appeared. He steeled himself as the final nanoseconds ticked by.

Leonardo stepped out of it with a scowl on his face. “Hey there, Don. Long time no see.”

Even though his calculations were sound, Donatello still flicked his eyes past Leonardo to the entrance to his lab.

“Nuh-uh, don’t even think about it.” With his sword already drawn from the portal, Leonardo held it out to further block an escape. 

He could work with that. Giving Leonardo a flat glance, Donatello turned and headed towards his intended destination: the kitchen.

“Are you kidding me?!” Leonardo hissed.

“I told you it wouldn’t work!” Mikey called out from across the lair.

Approximating his voice set the location identical to Donatello’s target. Having a party to his eating meant a longer reprieval time; he could work with that.

“Not helping!” Leonardo called back before a telltale metallic swish followed.

Donatello deviated his path a foot to the left and a portal appeared right where he previously would have been. Leonardo appeared and, out of the corner of Donatello’s periphery, he could tell his brother momentarily fumbled with his target not in sight.

If he wasn’t having to suppress the full spectrum of emotions, he might have allowed himself to bask in the success.

“Fine.” Leonardo ground out, spinning around to follow. “We’ll do this the old fashioned way.”

Donatello continued his trek to the kitchen. He’d ignore his brother for as long as it took for him to lose interest.

“Don, Don, Don, Donnie, Don, Don-bon, Donnie-" Leonardo continued to drone on, his feet centimeters from stepping on his brother’s heels.

It was almost disappointing that his brother had deployed repetition as his first tactic. They had a lifetime of shared experiences and yet he picked a way to annoy him that’d he’d been using since they were five.

The sound yammered on as they both entered the kitchen. Giving small glances and solitary nods to his two other brothers, Donatello regarded the spread on the table. Mikey seemed to be heading something so Donatello approached him.

“Why hello there, stranger!” Mikey gave a salutary wave.

While all three brothers were usually pretty good at dealing with his non-verbal states, Mikey was the best at it. He’d often be so compelled to fill silence with his own voice that he’d unconsciously make up for any lacking on Donatello’s part. Folding his arms, he signaled that he was curious about the laid out food.

“We’re making sandwiches!” Mikey chirped in a sing-song voice. “I took the liberty to make yours.” He shifted side to side as if he were shy. “I hope you like it!”

Clapping a hand on Mikey’s shoulder as a sign of appreciate, Donatello turned and opened the fridge. There was a wrapped sandwich on a plate with a trademark smiley face card propped on top of it. It didn’t hurt less, but there was something comforting about the care taken. As he retrieved the food, he could hear Mikey start to list the ingredients, but nothing past ‘emerald greens’ could be heard as Leonardo turned up the volume.

“Knock it off, it’s obviously not working!” Raph griped as he spread something on a slice of bread.

“Why am I the only one who seems to notice there’s a problem here!?” Leonardo broke his mantra so slam his hands down onto the countertop. Several plates clattered and brought pause to everyone in the room.

Donatello never thought he’d feel so much relief from not hearing his name. He would have relished in the silence longer had the eyes in the room not flashed from Leonardo and then back to him. This was the exact kind of attention he’d gone out of his way to avoid.

Mikey was the first to break the peace with a drawn out shrugging of his shoulders and a noncommittal whine.

“He’s sulking! Look at him!” Leonardo threw his arms out to reinforce his point.

Donatello straightened slightly and regarded the other two with his ever calculated neutral expression. He’d practiced it for years; there was no way they’d glean a thing.

“He’s been busy working on something.” Raph shrugged and returned to sandwich construction.

“Yeah, it’s not really anything new.” Mikey added, observing.

“Not anything-!” Leonardo smacked a palm to his face.

Donatello began to remove the plastic wrap from his plate. He had started a countdown of how long his presence was necessary before he could slip away without further incident. If Leonardo kept up his fight any longer, Raph was sure to intercept.

“He hasn’t been on a mission in six days!” Leonardo dragged the hand down his face and flicked it at the offender.

Donatello paused and brought his attention back to the gallery. That point might cause some contention. He needed to be prepared.

“Almost a week is a pretty long time…” After depositing his bread, Raph craned an arm behind his head and scratched.

“Has my remote attendance not been satisfactory?” Donatello despised that he’d been forced to speak. The words felt thick in his throat. When was the last time he had spoken aloud?

“The TELLO-bot did locate those bombs faster than us…” Mikey offered, but there was a hitch in his tone that said he wasn’t as content as his statement.

“It’s not the same as having you there, D.” Raph added, giving a restrained look.

“I see…” Donatello spoke again. The timer was inching closer to zero. He had to evacuate soon. “I will take your notes into account.” He turned to depart when Leonardo slid in front of him.

“Hold it right there!”

Donatello wanted to continue to avoid eye contact, but there was something in Leonardo’s face that held his attention.

“Look, you know I hate pulling rank as leader-"

“You really don’t.” Raph chimed in, swinging his knife in a long swoop that caused Mikey to duck.

Leonardo’s eye twitched but he continued. “Attendance is mandatory. You’re coming tonight and that’s final.”

The air shifted and it was unmistakable aura of a standoff. Donatello’s mental clock ran out, but he was now trapped in the official staring contest with the brother he’d most wanted to avoid. Prolonged exposure to Leonardo’s face forced open every compartment he’d carefully packed away the last few days. Images of his brother pouring over you assaulted Donatello’s mind. A bile clawed up his throat that was far worse in comparison to speaking. Backed into a corner, the first retaliation he could come up with was a petty one. He wasn’t proud of it, but it felt like all he had.

“Make me.” He steeped the command with all the venom he’d been holding back. The sound of it must have been more lethal that he intended because Leonardo jolted at the sound. Using the lapse in his resolve, Donatello ducked past his brother in a swift bob. Unfortunately, his brother had the same years of training under his belt and was able to partially counter. Trading places, the plate dropped to the floor with a loud crash as it split away.

“Noooo!!!” Mikey cried out, pointing to the lost sandwich like a fallen comrade.

“Guys!” Raph barked, starting his move to pick up the broken ceramics.

“Uh, I’m sorry.” Leo pretended to stick a finger in his ear and flick away phoney blockage. “Ha. Yeah, that must be my hearing because it almost sounded like you just challenged me?” Stepping into Donatello’s personal space, Leonardo scowled.

Unable to research the expression fully, Donatello caught a glimpse of that strange secondary emotion in Leonardo’s otherwise set features. If there weren’t a hundred other things demanding his attention, he might have asked. Instead, he was faced with a challenge. His escape window had long disappeared, but a new timer had begun in its place; he needed to get out before his carefully constructed veneer split. Already stretched thin, Donatello hadn’t considered that his mental armor had a breaking point. It was unfamiliar and unwelcome territory.

“Nardo, enough.” Donatello refused to swallow the nervous knot forming in his throat. He abhorred ignoring the call to arms, but he had little choice in the matter now.

“No.” Leonardo brought his voice down. “Let’s step outside and talk about this. We can leave the other two out for now.”

He knew.

The first crack in the façade formed as Donatello’s eyes reflexively grew wide.

He knew he knew.

“Back. Off.” Donatello needed to double down. He needed to get away.

Of course, he knew. Why wouldn’t he? He was co-conspirator.

“No, I’m not letting you go hide in your cave again.” Leonardo narrowed his gaze. It was a clear sign that he was readying himself.

“One last chance.” Donatello was veritably steaming. His brother never knew when to quit.

“Look.” Leonardo broke from the machismo and lesser emotion took full reign.

Donatello immediately pinged it for pity. The second crack formed as twisted dismay tugged at the corners of his lips.

“I know you’re going through something and I can see that bottling it up isn’t going so hot for you right now…” There was sadness in Leonardo’s eyes as he gestured up and down.

It was as if he’d swallowed lead.

“Why don’t you go ask your partner then?” Donatello hadn’t meant for that to come out. Was that the third crack or had he already lost count? Either way the words sounded just as bitter as aftertaste they left.

“My…?” Leonardo drew his head back in confusion.

Donatello took two sliding, cautious steps backwards. An unintentional opening was an opening all the same.

“Parnter, what-?” The ignorance seemed genuine.

It was his curse to need to clarify. “Partner, lover, significant other…!” Donatello’s jaw was so tight from forcing the words out, he thought it might pop. “You know what I mean.”

“Love-” Leonardo started and stopped as realization struck him.

Donatello waited for the guilt to flood in, but Leonardo’s lips twitched with something else.

Leonardo started laughing. Uncontrollably.

This time the few more steps Donatello gained were not consciously planned.

“T-that! Y-you!!” Leonardo choked through the every flowing giggles. “You think that I have-” A chortle throttled him and he had to grab the fridge for support. “A-and just who do you think this person is, huh?” He couldn’t keep the wrinkled smile off his face as he forced the question out.

How could he play this dumb? He knew. He admitted it!

“I know you know!” Donatello hissed. It felt like his muscles were locking up.

For a moment Leonardo stared back incredulously. Then a bud of understanding bloomed. “Don’t tell me you’re talking about Y/N?” It was followed by a cool takeover of his body language. He traded holding on the fridge for dear life to leaning against it nonchalantly.

Donatello stiffened. His brother had the audacity to act arrogant. After everything. He did know. Everything he’d done. Everything he’d put him through. He was still playing him. The fool.

Whatever passed over Donatello’s features gave Leonardo the answer he was looking for. “Wait.” His brother’s face dropped into disbelief. “You think that Y/N and I…?” He pointed a finger into his own chest.

Everything slowed down. It started as Donatello watched the digit tremble. Like a shockwave, the vibration spread up Leonardo's arm, then his neck, before finally worming its way into his face. As the corner of Leonardo’s lips upturned, Donatello could see it. His brother was going to laugh again. That high pitched guffaw. The one that played him. The one that tricked the others. He couldn’t stand it. Leonardo’s lips began to part, but the way he inhaled said otherwise.

“Oh, Donald.” Leonardo sliced through snicker with a sharp mocking tone. “With all this theatrics you’d think you were a duck and not a turtle.” The words were steeped in how ridiculous he found the whole thing while also punctuating them with some sort of compassion.

Insult to injury. Leonardo was trying to joke.

It was like the plate had shattered a second time. He could feel the well-oiled machine of his mind shutting down. The kind of sort of reactor meltdown he hadn’t felt since he was a child; a long forgotten reason why he shunned emotions. He’d lose control. He’d be locked away as a frustrated bystander as his body raved of its own accord. It was too late to stop it. The counter reached zero.

Donatello’s fist connected with Leonardo’s jaw.

The blow caused Leonardo’s head to slam into the fridge.

As he dropped to the floor, Michelangelo was the first to move. “Leo!”

“Donnie!?” Raphael was the next.  

Mechanical arms sprouted from Donatello’s battle shell.

“What the heck are you doing!?”

In one swift turn, Donatello departed from the room as his battle shell dethatched from his body. Every arm extended out and buried itself deep into the walls, floor, and cabinets; creating a webbed caged that trapped the brothers in the kitchen.

“Donnie!!!” Raphael yelled after, grabbing one of the arms and pulling at. “When did these things get so strong?!” 

Leo groaned. “What happen-?”

“Donnie hit you and you hit your head! Oh and Donnie’s gone nuts!” Michelangelo worried, his hands hovering over his brother.

Leonardo pushed one of the hands away, taking stock. “Ugh!” Pulling both his swords out, he sliced open a portal and hurled himself through it. “I told you!” He leapt out in front of the open lab. “You aren’t getting away anymore!!!”

“What about us!?” Michelangelo’s voice called from across the lair.

Leonardo stared down the recesses of the lab. Pitch black darkness greeted him. Dropping down into a readied stance, he called out. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you turn your precious computers off!”

Silence followed. Then a spark of purple mystic energy illuminated a newly battle shell suited Donatello with his tech-bō ready.

Just as the inky gloom draped back down, Donatello shot forward. Leonardo blocked the attack.

“A bit much don’tcha think?!” Leonardo grit his teeth as Donatello pushed backwards off the force and skidded to a halt.

Spinning the tech-bō around, Donatello dropped down and launched himself once more. Strike after strike came with Leonardo blocking all of them.

“Donnie!” Leonardo pleaded, the sheer force of the attacks pushing him to the edge of the walkway they were on. “I’m not-!” Twisting around under the next tech-bō swing, Leonardo used two portals to swap their positions. “-going to fight you!!”

Donatello twisted over the edge of the platform and landed on his feet on the ground floor.

“I get it: you’re mad!” Leonardo shouted from the high ground. “Just-!”

Without looking up, Donatello brought the tech-bō to his side and opened his palm. Purple mystic energy split the components apart and reassembled the staff into a supercharged version of its engine-propelled mallet.

“Aw nuts!” Leonardo paled as Donatello rocketed up to his position. The impact completely destroyed the walkway and Leonardo barely skirted collision.

Spinning down through the debris, Donatello came back up and swung again.

“Would-!”

Leonardo twisted backwards, the mystic fire from the engine singeing the tails of his mask.

“You-!”

Under the guise of dodging another strike, Leonardo back flipped over Donatello and kicked out at battle shell.

“Just-!”

A mechanical arm sprouted in time and wrapped around Leonardo’s foot.

“Chill!”

A scream ripped its way out of Leonardo’s throat as Donatello used the force of the rocket to spin around and launch him across the room.

Leonardo choked on the debris kicked up from where his form now indented the wall. Just as he wearily brought his head up, Donnatello appeared midair and poised to strike again. “Since when-” He disappeared into a portal as the tech-bō made contact with the crater.

“-do you think you can beat me?” Leonardo appeared in the middle of the room.

Donatello lolled his head around to the voice. The tech-bō reassembled around him into two blocks of missile launchers.

“We are INSIDE, young man!” Leonardo balked and disappeared in a flash of blue light just as the missiles took off.

Dust flooded the atrium.

Donatello stilled.

A metallic swing came from the right.

Donatello struck, but nothing connected.

Another twang echoed from the left.

Tech-bō sliced through dusty air.

Grinding his teeth, Donatello brought his staff above his head and started spinning it rapidly. Using the momentum, he brought his weapon down and dispelled all the soot in his immediate area. Twisting around, Leonardo nowhere to be seen, the tech-bō loosened out of Donatello’s hand to rearrange itself once more.

As soon as contact was lost, a portal appeared.

Donatello dropped his weight in an attempt to catch his weapon, but it disappeared into the light.

Leonardo shot out of the last of the dust cloud and kneed his Donatello in the side, flipping him over. Landing on Donatello’s chest and held his sword out. “That’s enough.”

Donatello grabbed at Leonardo’s foot, but the latter’s weight kept him rooted in place.

“I know you’re upset about Y/N, but let me explain!”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Donatello’s voice cracked.

Leonardo’s stern expression withered at the sound.

An explosion shook what was left of the atrium.

Rubble shot forth and Leonardo stumbled back as some struck his shoulder.

“Are you guys ok!?”

“What the heck happened?!”

“Donnie was-" Leonardo looked down to find his brother gone. "Was."

“Donnie…?” Michelangelo spun around, scanning the room wildly. 

Raphael approached Leonardo and put a hand on his arm. “Where’s Donnie, Leo!?”

Leonardo reached to his side where a telescoped tech-bō was attached to his belt. He held it up to Raphael who looked at it with growing concern. “We need to go after him.”

-

You wondered to yourself if it was too late to switch to that upscale bartender position you'd always imagined for yourself. Realistically, with only a couple weeks left until your internship, there was no way any company was going to hire you for such a short time frame. You sighed and rolled over in your bed. Your phone, ever ready, glowed 2:19am against a grey lock screen. It looked so dull, but for now you needed a bland reset. You would have done one for your whole life if the Pizza Bros hadn’t offered to hold your position just in case the internship didn’t work out long term. They were far too kind. That’s probably why the Hamatos were long time customers. Grumbling at the thought, you placed a blanketed hand over your device to block it from view.

You’d somehow lost two of them in the span of a week. The proximity of the loss was what caused you to doubt yourself. Logically whenever you ran through the scenarios, Donnie and Leo were the ones that acted erratically. It simply didn’t make any sense. Worst yet, it felt like you’d never know why. Teetering on a full week, you had doubts that Donnie would ever come forward and speak to you again. Alternatively, if Leo did come forward with an apology, you couldn’t see yourself continuing to hang out with him. You hadn’t thought you were sending him the wrong signals. He never seemed like he liked you. You screwed your eyes shut. It was like running on a hamster wheel; it got you nowhere. Your brow had just started to smooth, when your hand started to shake.

As soon as you lifted the appendage, your phone glow and shook with a phone call. You squinted at the caller: Leonardo Hamato.

Glaring at his intrusion into the real world from your thoughts, you pinched the device to silence it. You watched with a furrowed brow as the call timed out and the phone darkened once more. You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in. It was strange. You sat up, keeping your eyes glued to the black screen. Leonardo had never once called you in the entire time he’d had your number. Tilting your head, you wondered if it was some sort of accidentally dialing. You were debating the logistics of where on his person that could be activated when your phone lit up with a text this time.

‘EMERGENCY’

If it weren’t so alarming, you would have been even more angry with him for continuing to read your mind. As soon as you started to reach for the phone, another call came through. Swiping the green icon, you brought the device to your ear.

“DON’T HANG UP!” It sounded like he was running.

“Fine.” Just because something was wrong didn’t erase your feelings.

“You’re still mad and you should be, but we have a huge problem!”

“What?” The venom rapidly left your voice as you started to consider the possibilities.

“Yeah. No! I checked there already! The Bronx is next!” He sounded like he had turned his head away from the phone to yell at someone else. The static from his rapid movements kept you from hearing the other party.

“Leo, what’s going on?”

“We lost Donnie!”

Your heart sank. “You… what?”

“OH! Wait! WOAH THERE!” The fuzz stopped as he seemingly came to a halt. “I know how that sounded. He’s not dead!”

“He’s not…?” You shook your head. 

“Ahhh!” Leo groaned with frustration. You could just picture him tearing at his nonexistent hair. “It’s a long story!”

“Leo.”

“I don’t… Ugh, how do I put it?” There was a whoosh of static from him presumably turning around in thought. “He… ran away?”

“Leo!”

“What do you want me to say!?” He sounded so frantic.

“I don’t know! You tell me!?”

“I-!” He went so silent, you pulled the phone away from your head to see if the line had gone dead. Your phone brightened at the movement and continued to tick away at a call timer.

“I messed up.”

You brought the phone back to your ear.

“I drove you both away.”

“What do you mean?” Worry brought you to your feet, but his cryptic messages weren’t getting you anywhere. 

“Look, I’m sorry.” There was a shuffling sound to the audio as he moved. “That night… I really screwed up.” You heard the sound shift and he made a gagging noise that sounded far away before his voice rushed back to the receiver. “Sorry, I really hate admitting that.”

“Uh huh.” You rolled your eyes and paced. He was still him, no matter what.

“It was a spur of the moment thing. I could just picture the moment with the two of you and I thought ‘why would you put up with that?’ ‘Why should you?’ ‘Why don’t you demand more?’ What you’re worth.” He paused and sighed. “Then I got it in my head if I recreated that kind of moment then you’d see how wrong it was with someone else and how right it was with him? If that makes any sense?!” You could just sense how he threw his hands up in dismay.

“But he’s the one who ran away…” It was the first time you had said it out loud.

“Ok, but why?”

“Don’t you think I’ve been trying to figure that out?” The ice was back in your voice, but you couldn’t help it.

“Either way it was stupid and short sighted…”

“I guess it did work how you intended.” You kicked at a shirt that had been on your floor for an unknown amount of time.

“How so?” He sounded genuinely curious.

“Leo.”

“Yeah, I know! Donnie! Just tell me fast so I can get to that part!”

“It affirmed… him.” You wrapped your free arm around yourself as you took to pacing again. “I want to be with him.”

The phone hissed as Leo blew out a loud sigh of relief. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. It really helps the flow of the story for this next part…”

“About Donnie?” 

“Yes!” There was more rustling and the sound of light wind. “So.. uh, let’s just start by saying that you weren’t the only one sulking…”

You paused at that. You’d tried to picture what he was doing over a dozen times, but none of the imaginary Donnie’s had moped about. “Ok…?”

“I mean, six days!? Come on! He wasn’t even going on missions! He built this dumb little robot that he’d remote in to!” Leo was teetering on exasperated again.

“Why not send S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.?”

“Right!?” He shouted in commiseration and you pulled your phone slighty away from your head. “So… tonight… I may have…” He whistled.

 “What did you do?” You had to be stern. How could he be messing around at a time like this?

“I… put my foot down!” There was a modicum of faux authority in his voice. “He did not take it well and we got into a fight and he ran away.”

“What kind of fight?!” You had a bad feeling.

“A full on…” He hesitated. “You know: ninja, weapons; it was nasty. We may or may not have destroyed half the lair.”

“Leo!” You put your phone on speaker so you could get dressed.

“I didn’t fight back, but he went ballistic! I don’t know what his deal was! One minute I’m, ok this doesn’t sound great but just, pushing his buttons. It’s natural ribbing. We do it all the time and then the next minute-”

You froze, halfway into your shirt. “What was it about?”

“The time? I have no idea-”

“No!” You shoved the garment down and stomped over to your phone. “Right before the fight! What were you talking about?”

The phone went silent.

“Leo?” The screen was still counting dutifully.

The audio cracked as Leo belted out a scream of frustration.

“Leo!?” You picked up your device anxiously.

“He was there!!!”

“What?” Your hands felt clammy.

“He was there! At the gallery!” He was bordering on manic now.

“At the…?” You parroted back, trying to figure out what he meant.

“Ugh! This is why Raph is always nagging me about exits. ‘Leo, don’t forget to check for surveillance.’ ‘Leo, what about your blind spots?’ ‘Leo, did you change your underwear?’ Nag, nag!”  His Raph impression wasn’t even good.

“Focus!” You hoped the urgency in your voice would get him on track.

“He saw us. He saw what I did to you!” The dire tone in his voice put the final piece of the puzzle in place for you.

“Wait… are you saying he attacked you up because you manhandled me?”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” You could hear the soft sound of him bopping a fist to his head. “I asked what was wrong with him and he told me to ask my lover, which is a wild way of asking that, and I asked him if he meant you, but that was just to get a rise out of him! I didn’t think he would seriously think that!”

“You…” Leaning back, you had to take a deep breath to keep from yelling. If you were with him, you would have strangled the blue hero. “You did what?!”  

“Oh stop! Donnie already beat me up enough for the both of you! I messed up! I’m dealing with the consequences.”

“If you thinking that your little apologies are going to make everything better you-!”

“I know.” There was an honest, exhausted resignation in his voice. “I know, but right now we need to find Donnie before I can even start.”

You closed your eyes in an attempt to quell the anger.

“You didn’t see him, Y/N. He lost control.”

You couldn’t even picture that. Though Donnie got swept up in things, he always managed it with an air of composure. “Where have you checked?”

“Dad’s got the lair covered in case he tries to sneak back in while the guys and I have been scouring the city.” His audio warped as he seemed to jostle his phone. “April is monitoring news feeds…” A small groan escaped him as you heard the sound of typing. “This is just like when he disappeared during the power outage. We never did figure out where he went!”

Your eyes widened. “I do.”

“Do what?” Leo wondered, obviously distracted by something.

“I know where he went!” You started to furiously scroll through messages.

“You’re joking?” His voice was thick with doubt.

“It was extremely unlikely, but we ran into each other.” You couldn’t help the small smile that graced your lips. That seemed like such a fond and faraway time now.

“Riiight.” He responded still not convinced.

“I don’t know the name of it…” You clicked your tongue. “But here’s the building that’s nearby!” You copied and sent the address over text. “You can’t miss it. It’s like this little food truck plaza between buildings.”

“Ok...” Leo trailed off, obviously checking the message. “I’m not far from there.” Static picked up as he started moving. “Where else?”

“Where else?” Finally fully dressed, you checked for your wallet and keys.

“Where else have you two gone?”

You stopped just short of grabbing your door handle. “You think he could…?” You stopped and ever-present heaviness in your chest bobbed. “Why would he want to go back to a place like that?”

There was a thump as Leo presumably landed on something. “Oh, I don’t know…” His sarcasm was almost palpable. “Maybe it’s Saturn’s prominent position?”

You opened your door roughly. “Not funny!”

“It’s hard not to riff when you’re the one who started the joke. It obviously has something to do with you! As soon as we find him, I’ll make sure you’re the first to ask, but until then we’re accepting suggestions because, and somehow you can’t tell, we haven’t had much luck!” 

Even though what he was saying made technical sense, it wasn’t something you could emotionally accept. It was an oversimplification, but for the time being you’d let Leo off the hook. Everyone was on edge. You began to list off the places you’d met with Donnie as you finally exited your apartment. Banter was exchanged as you locked the door behind you and rushed down to the street. Shuffling you stared up and down the desolate road, unsure of what direction to take. You looked down at your shoes and found them to be the same pair you’d worn when the Dream Van broke down. The helpless you felt now was nothing compared to then.

“Oh this place is cute!” Leo suddenly tittered.

“Where are you?”

“That outdoor plaza. I’m so coming here later.”

“Is he there?”

“No, Mikey’s on route to the Laundromat and Raph is sweeping the Bronx.”  

You turned left and right, utterly torn. “I want to help.”

“Ah.” You could already hear negative note to his voice. “You are helping. We’ve got more places to look that we wouldn’t have before, but it’s late and we don’t want to lose you to, ya know?”

That also made sense, but was equally not something you could accept. Tipping your head back, you stared up at the sky helplessly. Only the brightest stars twinkled dimly overhead. Your eyes slowly widened. If this was a movie it’d be terribly climatic. You brought your gaze back to the street and frowned. In a city with great public transportation, you wished you had a car for the first time.

“Did he take a car?”

Leo blew a raspberry. “Yeah right, I think we would have heard him taking off!”

“Did you check?” You tilted your head.

“Did we-” He started and stopped. Then there was a rhythmic thumping as he typed something into his device. “Did we check?” There was a harsh note of insecurity to his sarcasm.

“Did you find him?” A second, garbled harsh voice echoed from Leo’s speaker.

“No, dad, can you just check the garage real quick?”

“I have been keeping watch. There is no way he got past me.”

“S-Splinter? Are we in a three-way call?” You pulled your head away from the phone and saw the note about a third line.

“Can you just check?!” Leo ground out. “And, yes, it was faster than hanging up.”

“Who is that?” Splinter’s voice wondered.

“Hey, Mr… Master? Splinter, we met once when I, uh, watched all your movies? It’s Y/N…”

“Ah, yes, Purple’s love interest”

“That’s not-” You choked.

“Dad! GARAGE!”

“I am going! So ungrateful. You boys get into a fight and I am not allowed to watch my program.” There was clattering from the warped connection.

“Your son is missing.” Leo whined.

“And whose fault is that?” Splinter’s voice carried quite the fatherhood authority.

Leo grumbled something unintelligibly.

There was the thud of a heavy door. “Tacky van is gone.”

“What?!” There was a rush of air around Leo’s voice as if he stood up suddenly.

"It would not be my first choice to search in.” You could hear Splinter’s dismissal.

“Leo?” You jumped in.

“Yeah, I’m thinking.” His voice was strained.

“No, I think I know where he might be.” You added.

“What?!” Leo croaked.

“Did you not think to ask love interest first!?” You could envision Splinter shaking his head with disapproval.

“Dad! Just!” There was a hiss, like pressure through teeth. “Free pass to berate me later if you just hold off. Y/N!”

“Yes?” You jumped slightly from the distraction of trying to plot a course.

“I’m assuming there’s some reason you haven’t sent the address?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s not really an address. It’s where we watched the meteor shower…” You rocked on the heels of your feet.

A silence followed before a small snicker came from Splinter. “I see one of my boys has a romantic bone in his body.”

“I will hang up on you, old man!” Leo shouted so loudly he partially cut out. “So, how do we get there?”

“I mean, we don’t know he’s there for sure! It’s kind of a long shot and the search area is going to be much wider knowing he took a vehicle. I could probably retrace the route, but I don’t have a car and again I don’t want to impede-” You could feel yourself rambling, but the words just wouldn’t stop pouring out of your mouth.

“Ahem, Y/N, was it?” Splinter interjected and the sound caused your mouth to snap shut. “Blue, send out one of those silly looking motorcycles. Y/N will check the lead and you boys will continue to comb the city.”

“Do you have a class M license?” Leo asked.

“Uhh…” You swallowed hard before both other parties started to crack up.

“Oh man, gets ‘em every time!” Leo’s chuckles tapered off and there was a slap sound that was presumably his knee. “They have auto pilot. Dad can you activate it-Wait! Don’t touch anything! I’m returning to base!” Static crinkled as he took off. “Y/N, hang tight. We’re shifting gears!”

“S-sure!” You rushed to respond, but the call had already terminated. You stared at the grey wallpaper until your phone went back to sleep. You held it close to your chest and looked out at the empty street once more. Your long shot guess was rapidly sinking in as a reality. You desperately hoped that your memory of the route was accurate. There was also the matter of the motorcycle. You paced several steps back and forth as time ticked by mercilessly. The anxiety was just starting to crest when you heard a revving on the horizon. Turning, you watched as an audacious, oversize wheeled motorcycle rode up beside you with a soft screech. Atop it, Leo flicked down his sunglasses to look at you.

“Come here often?”

“It is literally the middle of the night!” You squawked, already flustered enough without his hijinks.

“It completes the look!” Leo turned up his nose as he hopped off the bike. “Get on.” He took off his shades and folded them.

Feeling pale, you looked between him and the Shell Hog.

“Just swing your leg over.” He gave a swoop of his arms to hurry you along.

You frowned and failed to exert any grace as you mounted the vehicle. Once you were on, you nervously grabbed the handlebars and looked back to see Leo holding a hand over his mouth to contain his smile. “Really?” You would have injected more disdain if you weren’t mildly petrified.

“No one let’s me have nice things.” Leo remarked and reached over to a small display. With several flicks of his fingers, he navigated to a map. “Just select about where you’re going and you can adjust when you get there. The AI is pretty sophisticated, I mean the man of the hour did write it, so…”

You nodded and swallowed hard as you drug your finger down the approximate roads. “Leo, this is feeling like a crazy idea…”

“You wanted to help, right?” His eyes were still glued to the map you were navigating.

“Yeah.”

“You still want to help, right?”

“Yes.” Even under the unbridled weight of your worries, it wasn’t a question. You slowed your finger and pictured the moment of the turn off from that night. “It���s here.”

“Then go get him!” Gently pushing your hand out of the way, Leo punched the screen a few times and the bike’s engine roared to life. Before you could process what was happening, a helmet came down around your head and the buckle snapped under your chin. Your heart leapt into your throat as Leo stepped back and the Shell Hog started to lurch forward.

“Have fun! Safe Travels! Oh-”

You watched as several sensors and a dashcam analyzed the street around you. The bike turned out onto the road and you reflexively knuckled the handlebars.

“Hit the home button to get-”

You didn’t hear the rest of what Leo said as the motorcycle suddenly accelerated to top speed. A scream died in your throat as you dropped your body down to hug the vehicle as best as you could. Wind whipped around you as the bike maneuvered streets at a breakneck pace. As your body adjusted to the force, the implications of your actions began to sink in. You were riding wildly in the middle of the night to the woods on a vehicle you did not know how to operate on a sheer hunch.

Lifting your head incrementally, you watched as the display ticked through colors. A red light was coming up and the bike lurched left onto a side street. You hugged the chassis and decided that lifting your head was no longer viable. Your heart continued to race as the bike wildly took turn after turn. You opened your eyes sporadically only to see a blur of pavement cycle by. Adrenaline warping your sense of time, you didn’t realize the bike had slowed until the rhythmic tick of a blinker started. Rising up, the Shell Hog took a more leisurely speed as it turned onto the road you had marked. It was dark, just as it had been that night, but it was also somehow unmistakable.

Rolling halfway down the road, the bike came to halt. You frowned. It hadn’t quite made it all the way to the dirt path Donnie had pulled over to. Unsure of how to move the bike further, you all but fell off of it. Brushing dirt off as more of a means of saving your dignity, you unlatched the helmet and placed it on the seat. Swallowing hard, you turned down the road and started to run. You thanked the stars as you soon located the correct path and took off down it. It felt like dispelling ghosts as you ran through visions of your past self that had walked this trail. Pebbles skittered underfoot as you spied the small trio of rocks. You became very aware of the real possibility of him not being there.

Shoving it down, you pulled back the branches and wove your way through the trees. This was the part of the journey you had the vaguest memory of. Without a guide, twigs snapped against your forearms and vegetation nicked at your shins. You had just about lost all hope when you spied the night sky through the trees. With your heart beating out of your chest, you shoved your way to it and stepped out onto the clearing. Hunched over, with his legs dangling off the side of the cliff was the unmistakable figure of Donatello.

You stared at it, unblinking, until tears stung your eyes. Screwing them shut against the moisture, you opened them again to see him still there. He was really there.

Though he was facing away from you, you could tell his head was tilted upwards. You watched as it slowly fell and he let out a breathy sigh.

“So.” The syllable hung in the air. “He sent you.”

It hurt. The tone of his voice stung so much, but you also hadn’t heard his voice in days. “Donnie.”

“Wasn’t it Donatello?” He asked the forest that stretched out before him.

The stinger was traded for the sensation of a blow. “That’s not my-”

“Fault?!” Donnie voice rose with disdain.

“No, I-”

“You what?” He was practically seething, though his body still sat slack.

“Stop interrupting me!” The command snapped out of you against your heavy heart. Silence followed and you screwed your eyes shut. “Look, I think there’s been some mass confusion so if we could just-”

“Confusion?” His voice almost cracked. He got to his feet with a considerable effort. “No, I think I have a crystal clear picture of what’s going on now.”

“Donnie, you don’t-”

“I know!” His voice soared straight to the stars above. He stalked over to you and you shrank before his anger. It was totally different then the night the van broke down. “I know all about this screwed up prank you all have been planning on me! Stop lying! Stop chasing me! I broke free, but you won! So just leave ME ALONE ALREADY!”

“It’s not a prank.” You couldn’t pull your gaze away from his eyes. More emotions swirled there than you had ever seen.

“No, it’s just Leo, right?” He threw his hands up in disgust. “Let’s say I give you the benefit of the doubt and say what was true, hm?” He leaned back, bitterness steeping his person. “So, it’s not prank? I’ve considered that. I’ve considered ever single aspect! Maybe it’s that he’s not enough? I can see that. Not much room for others when you’re so in love with yourself??” He sneered. “So he pedals you off on me. Why me? Angelo would have been the better choice, but he picks me. I fill your emotional quota while he gets the fun of the fling without anything holding him down. How about that? I have several more if that one isn’t quite to your liking.”

“You’re wrong.”

“I just addressed that.” You watched as his lip quivered. “Fine, let’s see, what do we have next? Leo-”

“It has nothing to do with Leo-” The shackles of the initial shock were wearing away as frustrations at his obtuseness was setting in.

“It obviously does-”

“Donnie.”

“You have no motive to act alone-”

“Donnie!”

“Why are you covering for him, do you like him that much-?”

He just wouldn’t stop. You shoved him with all the force your weakened body could muster. “I don’t like Leo!”

You watched in slow motion as the information entered Donnie’s ears and began to twist to fit the warped scenario he’d decided was truth in his head. You could only think of one way to break the spell.

“I’m in love with you!!!” 

Already quiet, it was like the forest went deadly silent at your proclamation. Even in the dark, you could see that color was rapidly draining from Donnie’s face. All the angry wrinkles smoothing out in favor of blank confusion. He had completely shut down. Burdened with emotional and adrenal fatigue, the small flicker of fondness brightened your otherwise darkened mind. You imagined he looked like anthropomorphized version of a Blue Screen error.

“Wha-?”

The sound surprised both of you.

“What are you…?” He reanimated and swallowed hard. 

“I’ve probably loved you since the moment I first saw you.” Exhausted, the words came easily. “The in love part is something I can't pinpoint as easily. It was more like a series of moments that cultivated it.”

“That long…?” His brow wrinkled woth recollections.

“Yeah.” You wished you could sit down.

“But that doesn’t-” Two fingers went up and massaged his forehead. “Leo-”

“Not Leo.” You shook your head as you corrected him. “You.”

“Then I-?” His eyes started to widen and you could tell he was recalling what he done over the course of the night.

“For now, let’s just put that aside.”

“Y/N, you don’t understand…” Realization continued to dawn on him so you began to approach him. He tensed up instantly at the action and you brought your hands up in amity. His eyes darted around you wildly as you closed in on him.

“I don’t.” You brought your voice down low. “We’ll talk about it, but first, your family is waiting for you.”

His hands fisted hesitantly as his chest. He looked so much like a spooked animal; it broke your heart. Slowly and methodically, you reached out your hands. He switched between studying them and your face carefully.

“I can’t reciprocate.” The phrase came out and it felt a little like being stabbed, but having been watching him closely, you could tell it didn’t have quite the meaning that it otherwise would.

“Don’t worry about that right now.” You shook your head and dropped your gaze to your awaiting hands. “I rode a motorcycle here that I don’t really know how to drive and I’m guessing you took the Dream Van?”

He bobbed with a single nod, his veneer cracking ever so slightly.

“Will it fit in the back? Because there’s no way I’m gonna be able to ride that thing home.” You brought your head back up and beamed him a smile that was utterly riddled with every ounce of fatigue that you’d been masking.

It swayed him in the way you'd hoped. Donnie’s hand slipped into yours. “It won’t fit in the van, but I’ll set it to trail behind.”

You gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Whatever works.”

He returned the gesture. “I’ll set the van to autopilot too.”

Your conjoined hands dropped under the slack weight of your bodies, but held tightly. “Good idea, I don’t think either of us should drive right now.”

Though it had no energy behind it, his throat sounded a single dry chuckle. “Let’s go.”

NEXT

A/N: A few more questions I thought of and answered while writing that other people may have too, part 2:

Where/What is this lair? It’s definitely not the one from the series since it was destroyed in the movie. I sort of had this thought when I added a couch to the ‘TV room’ from part 7 (There’s no couch in canon, just a La-Z Boy and beanbags). I’m guessing this is probably the third lair they’ve been on. I have no real floor plan other than vibes. Them still living together is because The Economy™ 😂

What’s a TELLO-bot? The Foster-Miller TALON is a real military bomb and mission robot. I just added Donnie’s name to it.

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 20

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Longing, Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

“So…?”

“Need I remind you that you called me?” Donatello huffed. Glancing up, he watched as the last orange hues of the sky were swallowed up by inky purple.

“Oh, I know.” April’s snarky snap crackled through the receiver

“And…?” He mimed her earlier drawl.

“Come on now, I know you know what I’m getting at!”

“That you are calling dangerously close to my meeting time with Y/N to inquire if I am going through with your seemingly bland idea of a walk? Then, yes. I am currently waiting at the Southeast entrance of Central Park. I could send you my coordinates if you are so inclined.” Finally dragging his eyes away from the sky, Donatello perused the gaggle of people milling about. 

“That would be very helpful-No, fool! I’m trying to find out how the last few weeks have been!”

Though he’d never tell her, he always secretly marveled at how April’s tone could shift wildly between words.

“Satisfactory! I recently moved into beta with a new bouncy compound I’ve been working on with Mikey-”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” April’s voice cut through with a sigh.

“I absolutely am.” He gave a satisfied smile to himself.

“Tell. Me. How. It’s. Going. With. Y/N!” He could hear what he identified as a pen in her hand being clicked with each choppy line.

He debated continuing his petty teasing, but instead turned away from the proverbial crowd. He lingered there, staring into the darkenrd tree line before speaking. “It’s been… good, I believe.”

“Yeah?” Her voice softened as well. He also enjoyed how she could usually read subtle tone. They had always understood each other better than the rest.

“While I’m still unsure of your methods, I see what you meant about enjoying one’s love.”

“Is it fading?”

He paused.

He’d had a million and one thoughts on the matter. They jumbled into a roiling mess that was drowned out by the white noise and sheer elation when he thought of you.

“I would say there hasn’t been an increase or decrease.”

She made a little noise of understanding and for a moment they were both silent.

“Are you happy?”

He didn’t need time to process that one. “Very much so.”

“Good.” April clicked her pen once more and then a shifting squeak of a rolling chair followed. “You deserve that, D.”

“I suppose…” He tilted into the phone.

“Suppose nothing!” She griped. “Did Mikey style you like I asked?”

Shifting on the new line of thinking, he looked down. His typical winter coat was unzipped which seemed terribly inefficient for its functionality. Underneath it, a cashmere black v-neck sweater could be seen beneath the open strip of coat. His trapper hat had been exchanged for a pale purple beanie, but the rest of his winter attire remained unchanged. “Yes, but I don’t see the necessity when a child could have done this.”

“And after I spent my hard earned money on that sweater…” April trailed off in a feigned forlorn manner.

“You bought this?” Donatello reached up and ran a finger over the fabric.

“A little early gift for completing all our tasks.”

“I do enjoy a fine fabric.” He hummed contentedly.

“Good, sounds like your mentally and physically ready for the final battle then.”

“I doubt it will be anything like that.” He clicked his tongue and turned back to survey his surroundings just in case.

“I think you’ll find everything has been leading up until this moment.” She practically sang the sentence.

“You are the cause for concern at this point.”

“Uh huh, don’t want to keep you longer! Oh, is that my boss? What? There’s a fire at the water factory-!” She rambled out quickly and he could visualize her pulling the phone away to end the call.

“Before you contend with your impossibilities, I have one question.”

“Shoot?” The way her voice came back to the receiver meant his deduction was correct.

“There won’t be any interference on any of your parts, will there?” He narrowed his eyes and scanned the crowd with excruciating care.

“No, Donnie. It’s all you tonight.” Her voice was so earnest, he stopped dead in his sweep.

“I see.” He said lamely.

“Good luck and text me how it went!”

“I’ll queue up ‘we walked and it was fine’ now to save myself the trouble.” He tucked his free hand into his pocket.

“We’ll see how that confidence holds up, bye!” She strung out the last syllable all the way through her voice fading and hanging up.

Donatello rolled his eyes as he watched her contact information time out. Swiping over the time, he then stuffed both his phone and other hand into their respective pocket and continued to survey the crowd. It wasn’t as if the newness to meeting you had worn off, but instead his confidence in not imploding everything had leveled out. It was especially bolstered by his save during the ice rink debacle. He was almost willing to trust his instincts once again. It left his mind free of the usual clutter and, in turn, he felt as though he would enjoy this evening to the fullest. Falling in line with the thought, he spied you coming up off the road.

You were hunkered down into a chunky scarf that was wrapped around your neck and you weren’t looking where you were going. He watched with a itch of anxiety as you narrowly dodged a speed walking pedestrian with your eyes glued to your phone. He was about to call out when he felt his phone ping. A lopsided grin came to his lips as he assumed what the message could be. Unearthing the device he glimpsed the preview from you commenting on your attendance and how many people were around. The smile broadened as he replaced the device and headed straight for you.

You greeted him with a glimpse of your nose poking out above the wrap. “Vigilant as always.”

“It’s part of the job description.” He hummed with appreciation. “You look cozy.”

“We’re gonna be outside for awhile. I had to dress accordingly.” You held out your arms to make the bouncing of your shoulders more prominent. The tightly coiled scarf shuffled, but otherwise didn’t budge. “Speaking of…”

Maybe there had been some necessity.

You reached out and passed him a glance. He nodded amicably and you felt the fabric over his chest.

“That’s nice.” You mused.

“It’s cashmere.” He gave a little flourish and gestured down the path.

“I didn’t realize this was such a luxe occasion.” You tittered, falling in time with his steps.

“It was a gift for celebrating what will hopefully be deemed a job well done.” Through closed eyes, he opened one at you as if it were a sly hint and not a outright statement of his intent.

“We’ll see.” For a moment your genial attitude dropped, but was quickly eclipsed by a bounce in your step.

Figuring it a blunder, he was glad he wasn’t the only one in a jovial mood.

“So, what’s the plan of attack tonight?”

He evaluated the statement, steering towards Center Drive. He debated a litany of responses before settling on the simplest one. “We walk.”

“That’s…” You seemed to turn the simple sentence over. “…it? No crazy surprise? No cake or light show?”

“Yes well, I did fail to mention the mariachi band I hired to follow us along. Unfortunately, they got hung up.” He tilted his head towards you in amusement.

“Dang, Volver Volver would have been a bittersweet match for all this too.” You pulled your hands out of your pocket just long enough to snap before burying them back into warmth.

“Alas.” Donnie murmured.

The two of you walked in comfortable silence, taking in deposits of light bubbled from rows of lamps. There were others out, strolling and running, but otherwise keeping to themselves. Donatello would sneak a glance at your every so often and frequently found you gazing softly at your surroundings. You caught his eye at one point and your smile forced his away. It was like enjoying the best version of a classic; when done right, it’s better than anything you can imagine. The only thing, he decided, that could make the perfect evening better was if he were able to hold your hand. He hadn’t considered himself one to do so for long periods of time as the prolonged connection seemed awkward, but if it were now, he could walk the entire perimeter of Central Park without a care in the world.

“We’re not doing the Loop…” You suddenly spoke as if reading his mind.

“Observant.” He responded dryly.

You shot him a rueful glare. “Did you have a route in mind?”

“We’re heading towards The Mall currently.”

You bobbed with an idea. “It’s gonna be almost empty, isn’t it?”

“I’m certainly not going to tell you before we get there.” He swayed to the side, but kept his feet on course.

“It’s so peaceful.” You sighed comfortably.

He nodded with agreement and the stroll continued. You both watched in amusement as a jogger almost stepped on a rat and stumbled a fair amount of feet without ever falling over. Further down the way, an elderly couple got up from one bench only to shuffle down to sit on the next. Tilting on a curve a group of teenagers belted by in some sort of race out of the park. Closing in on The Mall, a crow, seemingly unaware of the hour, stood in the middle of the walkway and cawed angrily at the passersby.

Hitting the destination proper, Donatello was the next to break the silence. “Not to rush you, but you should have enough information to rate your experience…”

“Can’t go by your usual scale.” You chuckled.

“I don’t see why not.” He feigned a cold shoulder.

You shook your head. “Satisfied or dissatisfied with something like this…” Your steps hitched and then you ran forward, spinning around on the near empty Mall. “It’s not that simple!”

“Indulge me.” He smiled, coming to stop and watching you take large steps in a space that rarely allowed such a move.

“Because our… relationship is so much bigger than just this past month.” You shifted, locking your hands behind your back and walking purposefully forward.

He trailed behind and kept his eyes to you.

“You broke my heart. You confused me to no end. You acted so selfishly at times that I almost hate thinking about it…” You slowed and he mirrored your movements. “You also made me happier than I’ve ever been. You’ve made me laugh harder than I ever have and you’ve shown me things I don’t think I would ever see if I lived this lifetime a hundred times without you.”

He watched as your head tipped back and looked skyward.

The shift hadn't come swiftly, but a gentle dread washed at his feet.

“Did you make it up to me?” You let the question ride the night air.

He stared with bated breath.

“Definition?” You asked another question to the sky, but he could sense it was more pointed.

“To reconcile differences after a fight and become friendly again.” His reply sounded thin to his ears.

“Friendly…” You spoke more softly, but the quiet evening made it easy to hear. “Can I guess who recommended what event first?”

He wasn’t moving, but it felt like every one of his muscles were vibrating. His body was caught by the conufsion of whether any of this strange conversation was cause for concern. “Yes.”

“Can you lay them out for me or should I guess that too?”

He swallowed hard. “Win a gift, geology, crush them, and take a walk.”

You turned incrementally, but not enough for him to see your face. “The skating contest at the rink was the actual plan?”

“Technically, yes.”

“Leo.” You said simply, shaking your head.

“Correct.”

“Jerk.” There seemed a little reprieve to your otherwise somber demeanor. “Unless…”

“He guessed I would lose.”

“Jerk!” You repeated with more fervor.

Despite himself, he smiled.

“I’m gonna stick Mikey with Geology.”

“Is it because he pops up and scares you?”

“You noticed?” You almost turned, but seemed to stop yourself. “Do you know if he does that on purpose?”

“I truly don’t.”

“Was I right?”

“Two for two.”

You gave a puff of satisfaction. “Who are the last two?”

“April and Raph.”

You looked down at your feet thoughtfully. “I never did get to meet April.”

The sense of finality to your statement nearly choked him. “I didn’t realize you wanted to.”

“You didn’t? But…” You trailed off and quieted. “I didn’t tell you.”

He couldn’t help but wonder who you had.

“It’s tough because Raph could go either way and he’s the only one I have a read on…”

The simple guessing game felt like it was closing in around him.

You started walking again so he did as well.

“I’m… gonna guess Raph was for winning a prize…?” You seemed unsure.

“Which leaves…?” He urged you to lock in your answer in an attempt to end whatever was happening.

“April decided tonight.” He watched the way your coat moved around your legs as you walked.

“You got them all.”

“I was right?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

Silence stretched out in the distance between you both. The soft padding of shoes on pavement was the only sound to be heard.

Exiting The Mall into a grid of planters, you finally slowed and turned to him. “You went above and beyond making up.”

He stilled. The content of the statement should have been a positive, but the tone of your voice said the opposite. From where it had settled in his throat, his heart bottomed out. Any confidence he’d approved earlier in the evening seemed brittle and shattered through his fingertips. Where had he gone wrong again?

“It’s just the problem is-” You swept your eyes up to him and stopped.

For a moment he thought he’d simply fallen through some sort of pocket in space and time.

“Do you hear that?” You swiveled your head past the end of The Mall where the stonework marked the street to Bethesda Terrace.

His ninja training kicked in and he became painfully aware at how small his pocket of awareness was. The sphere of self expanded rapidly as he took extrasensory note of everything in the radius. It oddly included the soft plucks of string.

“Where…?” You trailed off, seemingly entranced and started walking again.

On guard, he glued himself to your side and searched wildly for a threat. Crossing the road, the tip of the fountain and lake came into sight. Feeling particularly vulnerable, Donatello slid a hand into his coat and grasped his telescoped tech-bō.

Reaching the top of the steps, you both halted and looked down at a small ensemble of violinists. Though they were turned toward the fountain, they finished their warm-up and starting playing as if on cue. A sweet melody rose from them and several people milling about slowed to a halt.

“What are they doing this late?” You wondered aloud, your hands gently laying atop the stone fence.

He scanned those who stopped. From the thinned smattering of people dotted around the fountain, he surmised that this wasn’t a planned show. Instead, based on their clothes, it almost seemed as if members of the Philharmonic had randomly gathered. “They’re playing.”

Softening as there seemed to be no perceived threat, he turned his head incrementally to watch you. There wasn’t a trace of worry on your face. Instead, he found a small smile on your lips and a quality of sadness to your eyes. The music seemed to caress him and wind around his arm. He brought it up on command until one of his fingertips just grazed your cheek. You didn’t jolt at the touch, but instead slowly turned into it. His fingers rotated with the action until he was cupping the side of your face. You stared up at him unguarded, but there was still that gloom in your irises. He wanted to wipe it away. He wanted to know what the problem was. He wanted to make everything right.

The music crested and soared.

“Donnie?”

He watched as you blinked and he reflexively traced his thumb over your cheek bone. When your lashes ascended there was molten quality of tenderness in your eyes. His heart stuttered at it. He wanted to examine it further, but almost as soon as it appeared, the look disappeared under that dejected veneer.

He couldn’t figure it out.

He dipped down, coming eye level with you and narrowed his gaze. There had to be a clue. Somewhere. Anywhere.

“You said I went above and beyond?” His voice felt thick as it emerged.

“Too good…” You whispered. There was a flash of that heated look again. Why wouldn't you let it stay?

“Then what could possibly be the problem?” He was on to something. He just knew it.

“Donnie…” It wasn’t really a protest, but you brought your hands up as if you were going to push him away. He readied himself to let go, but your fingers instead hit the cashmere of his sweater and tangled up in the fabric impulsively.

“Can I guess first?” He'd let you go if he just knew.

Your eyes widened.

“It’s because I messed up.” He continued without waiting for your reply.

“Messed up?” Your voice was barely legible amongst the music.

“I said we could be friends.” That was what he agreed upon. That was what he’d resigned himself to. It was also not what he'd meant to say. If only his mouth would just stop moving. If only the ensemble would stop playing. He could still reign it in. He still had the shred of a chance at salvaging this.

“We can’t.” It wasn't a question. So you knew it as well. Then your gaze went and shifted again. He couldn’t quite identify the look, but it seemed to undulate between hope and despair.

Even if he misdiagnosed the emotions, the fact that it nearly mirrored his own is what pushed his lips over the edge. “I think I love you too much to.” Impulsivity was its own form of evil. All he could do was hope the moments suffering from this single decision weren’t as great as his previous had been.

As soon as the words hit your ears, he watched as your breath was stolen away. He swore he could see a thousand fireworks go off in the colored core around your iris. Everything felt bathed in a dreamy faded filter. He dipped in closer, mesmerized by your gaze. Then it happened; the moment he ran from in what felt like a lifetime ago. It might have been unconsciously, but your eyes drifted shut. He watched as your tongue darted out to wet your lips and your head tilted incrementally to the side.

He’d dreamed of having another opportunity.

He'd sworn to not waste it again.

Closing the distance, he captured your lips with his own.

A/N: and with that dear readers, we have only two chapters left 💞

NEXT

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 16

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Longing, Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

He had to resist temptation. Sighing, the thick damp air seemed to curl around and mimic his own breath. Peering out from underneath a straw sunhat, Donatello peered up at the humming grow lights. Studying their directionality, he frowned. The topmost leaves of a plant had reached a little too high and were started to scorch. Turning, he headed towards his tool rack to get a ladder. The fringes of his performance review inched their way into his conscious thought. He mentally crumpled a page littered with red marks and dumped it into a wastebasket. His greenhouse was supposed to be a safe haven. It was a zen sanctuary where he communed with living creatures that made the most sense. They were on their little pursuits for water, food, and chemicals to survive. They enjoyed music. They were great listeners and never judged. They were also fascinating test subjects that rarely complained. He adored the camaraderie.

Which is precisely why he shouldn’t still be ruminating over his theatrics at the club from a week ago. Sure, he had run away yet again, but there was higher purpose this time. It wasn’t as if love was completely outside the realm of diagnosable probabilities; it had been clearly established as a possible perpetrator for heart break. He knew as much. It was the timing of the whole thing that had sent him reeling. How could anyone understand how absolutely mortifying it was? The weight of his incompetence? Realizing he was in love was one thing. Realizing he was in love after having gone through a year of flirting, a date, a meltdown, a veritable breakup, and a reconnection all unbeknownst to himself was a humiliation he could hardly bare. So he had locked himself in a dingy bathroom. He had waited until the choppy waters of nausea abated and had left with several texted excuses. He hadn’t even taken the time to make the story congruent.

Never in his wildest dreams did he think he’d allow himself to be so sloppy. Without a doubt, there were thousands of mistakes that had come via his hand due to lack of forethought, but unexpected results were just a byproduct of the scientific experience. He had to test. Tests had a litany of outcomes. That process of trial and error was pure exhilaration. His emotional outpouring, however, was far from it. He valued his intelligence to a degree that was often ridiculed by those close to him. He knew it wasn’t meant to be cruel; they each had their eccentricities. Any family worth their salt found a way to navigate their differences and coexist. It just so happened that with his family, that harmony was also tested on the battlefield where it was a matter of life or death. At first, he had to be smart because that was he brought to the team. As their mystic powers grew, he’d grappled with the shift. His intelligence was what made him worthy to walk beside his brothers and their strengths. He had long come to terms with the fault in that thinking, but it didn’t mean the fringes of the long ingrained coping mechanism evaporated overnight.

He considered the current level of his emotional intelligence to be caustic. He had always been different and that had just been a simple known fact of the world. In Mikey’s words, he was better for it. There were things that brought his brothers to tears while he cast a bored, dry eye, but it could easily be written off to checks and balances. If their emotional labor clouded their vision then Donatello could swoop in and pick up the slack. The thing was, when his brothers were upset, they didn’t leave a figurative body count in their wake. Leave it to him to break another’s heart, his own, and almost physically crush someone else just because his feelings got a little out of hand. Heaving yet another sigh, the ladder creaked under Donatello’s weight. He adjusted the height of the bulb and let his fingers run over the yellow bleaching on the plant’s leaf. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking about this.

Descending the ladder, his thoughts mimicked the move. What right did he have to love you after what he put you through? After coming to terms with his own heartbreak, it was difficult to think back to the fire escape without a thick coating of disdain. He’d tried to open the door for you to admit your confession was a mistake; as if it was a string of words that had come out in erroneous order. Even now it made him wince. It begged the question why you let him near you at all at this point. He’d swooped in and dressed you like a toddler that couldn’t help mismatching patterns. He faltered getting the ladder back on to its hook. He’d acted out in petty jealousy on a night that was meant to showcase Mikey. Turning away from the tool rack, he smashed his toe into a workbench. He’d manhandled you on the dance floor to the point where you’d had to remind him that his actions weren’t strange. Hissing, he doubled over. This was a modicum on the retribution he deserved, not the elated highs of love.

Straightening, he limped the short distance to properly stand in front of the desk. Reviewing his daily checklist, he moved to grab various containers and soils. Even if your tolerance to his selfish actions was opening the door to friendship, that’s all it was. Setting aside whether he deserved to have feelings for you, he certainly had missed the window to act on them. The lingering sting in his foot brought about a metaphor of stomping out of the embers for passion. He had done that swiftly and violently without a second thought. It was a fire safety etiquette that Todd would probably praise, but then again  the capybara rarely spoke in negatives. Following out the formula he’d concocted in his lab, Donatello mixed the soils with gloved hands.

In yet another reason why he wasn’t supposed to keep ruminating on this subject, he’d also made a plan for himself. Just as he was preparing his plants for their autumnal rotation, he had plotted the framework of his own shift. If friendship was what was on the table then he was going to take it posthaste. He would blow any of your other friendships out of the water. Smiling wickedly, he used a dropper to extrude a calculated amount of his own micronutrient cocktail to the dirt. They’d sing the praises of his sociability for years to come. Replacing the dispenser back into its vial, he drooped slightly. His ego might be taking a hold again. He’d have to mind that.

Giving the soil a thorough stir, he ungloved a hand to acquire a pH strip. Testing the mix, he craned an elbow to the table and watched an old clock round its second’s hand. Regardless, he was going to prove that your decision to let him back into your life was not in vain. It afforded him a chance to make up for his past transgressions while also allowing him to keep you in his life. He frowned as the strip turned several shades too blue. Returning to his ingredients, he corrected for the alkaline mix. Maybe it was the accursed affection, but the thought of losing you again was a future he didn’t care to look towards. He was going to salvage and make the best of what he had now. Testing another strip, he nodded to himself. That would be enough. Satisfied with the new color, he heaved the soil up and over to a prepared planter bed. He had to hurry anyway, he’d done what any sensible person in his position would do: he invited you over.

With years of learned practice, he lost himself to the planting process. By the time he had seeded the fresh soil and adjusted the new string of grow lights, his phone was calling out to him. Struggling against the bits of loam that clung to his leather gloves, he managed to free a hand and swipe the message. It was perfect timing as you’d just arrived topside. He grinned and shot off a map directing you to his location. Resisting the urge to nervously tidy, he instead removed his other glove and started watering the seedlings. Friends act casual. Friends don’t need everything to be spick and span. This was normal. He jolted as too much water began to displace the newly laid soil. Applying his gloves once more, he nodded. He could do this.

Having exchanged the light dappling of dirt on his person for outright mud, he tried not to panic as he heard your approaching steps.

“Woah…” Your murmur came from the far entrance. There was the slightest shift in pressure as you opened the door. “Donnie? What…?”

He stood and stared down at his swampy gloves with mild perturbance. “Over here.” Frowning, he used the index finger and thumb of one had to start to pick the other glove off. The process caused a squelching noise that made him want to gag.

“Is this…?” You sounded about 4 rows away. “… did you seriously construct a greenhouse in a sewer?”

“There was the matter of location.” He responded, thankful the conversation could get his mind off the dampness that was started to leak through its barrier. “If you look up, you’ll see there’s a grate supplying natural light which I then constructed an amplifier for.”

“But there’s still electric lights?” You wondered, your voice growing closer.

“The natural light supplies the warmth, but not enough for the kind of growth I was trying to achieve.” Though it almost turned inside out from the operation, he successfully extracted one glove.

“Is that a pumpkin!?” You shouted.

He rolled his eyes. You had already gone off course. “You think I would have learned my lesson about growing superb squash underground, but who am I to step in the way of excellence?”

“How have you kept this hobby a secret?” You drew out the question, no doubt lost in your surroundings.

Even though he’d carefully constructed every inch of this space, he would often find himself in a similar manner so he couldn’t blame you. Finally ridding himself of both muddy gloves, he set them on the edge of the newly finished planter. “You never asked.”

“Because you so strike everyone as a flower guy.” You sarcasm leaked in from only one row away. He turned and glimpsed your form through twisting stalks.

“My true passion is botany.” He announced proudly as you emerged from behind the greenery. He expected curious excitement, but what he got was an ever wrinkling lip.

“Y-you…” You turned your head and tried to abate the laughter. “You look so cute in your little gardening apron and hat.”

“I’ve changed my mind.” He turned away and brought the empty soil container back to the work bench. “You have a map and can show yourself out!”

“No, no!” You chuckled, jogging over to him. “Come on, I don’t even know what you invited me over for.”

He was glad for the hat’s brim because it meant you couldn’t see the amused smile on his lips. He had been purposefully cryptic in his summons. “We’ll have to see about your resolve. I mean if you’re already making fun of my attire, then how will you fare with your own?” He slid around you without a passing glance.

“Wait, I wasn’t making fun-” You followed him, but halted when he spun around holding another, equally large hat. “We’re underground!?” You laughed at the absurdity while still taking the accessory.

“When you asked if I built a greenhouse in a sewer, I don’t think you realized to what extent.” He smirked as you donned the hat and he passed you an apron.

For a moment you turned a creased brow to the fabric and then a soft horror built up in your gaze. “You made everything in here…” You swept that fear up to his face. “Should I be wearing sunscreen?”

“You’ll be fine… probably. If I had enhanced the UV-B too much it would become lethal as most things are in excess.” He hummed in response as your wrangled with the collar of the apron. The strap hooked around your hat and trapped you inside. With you struggling under the guise of a mock scarecrow, he had to bite back budding laughter. He reached out to help and froze just as his hands were about to graze you. Hesitating, he wondered if this was something friends do.

“Uh… Donnie, are you still there?” You murmured and stopped trying to wiggle free for a moment.

“Uh yes.” Shaking his head of the internal argument, he opted for trying to keep his touches focused on fabric only.

You were free in a matter of seconds and seemed more mentally disheveled than physically. “Let’s agree to never speak of this.”

“I only speak of blackmail when it becomes pertinent.” He gave a sly grin that you in turn glowered at. 

After having correctly donned your protection, you gave him an expectant look. “So, I’m gonna venture to say I’m here to help you?”

Though he was sure it wasn’t the same way, he now understood why you had laughed upon laying eyes on him. The hat and apron were quite a pair. He turned away from you. Friends thinking friends were this cute couldn’t possibly be a thing. “Yes, this way!” He cleared his voice by raising it.

“Mhm?” Your tone was dry.

He supposed someone could only be kept in the dark for so long. “I have a crops of chrysanthemums, lilies, and a particular breed of daisy that…” He turned a row sharply and slowed as a  sea of flowers came into view. “…exceeded their growth expectations.”

Having a been a few steps behind, you rounded him and froze by his side when you caught a glimpse of the overflowing beds. “Donnie, what the heck?!”

“So you splice a few genes!” Shuffling slightly away from your proximity, he threw his hands up. “They're finicky. You activate this and it happens to be attached to that and sometimes they release poisonous spores and other times this happens!”

You turned to him slowly with an even gaze.

He wilted under it momentarily before bouncing back. “No one died, there was only minor rashes, and this place is fortified up to code. There is no chance of gene escape!” When you didn’t stop giving him that look he gave a narrowed one of his own. “Do you dare question my scientific authority?”

“I wouldn’t know how…” You turned back to the seemingly increasing number of flowers. “If I, somehow, set all that aside. Why on earth would you want me to help?”

He opened his mouth for what should have been an easy response but snapped it shut instantly. Under duress, his eyes shot wide. Using this as an excuse to prove his friendship skills certainly wasn’t something he could admit and he hadn’t had the wherewithal amongst all the emotional planning to come with a better excuse. He turned his head toward you incrementally and found you you seemingly doing mental math on how best to tackle all the flora. He couldn’t be sure, but he had an inkling that friends might be trusted with more information than siblings. Squinting, an odd realization came to him: almost all the friends he’d ever made had ended up becoming family to him. Snapping his gaze forward, Donatello frowned. How had he spent that whole year knowing you without ever having had to question himself? It seemed like an impossibility at this time. Without much else to go off of, he offered all he had come up with.

“I don’t trust the dum-dums to...” He blinked and bit his lip as joy flooded him. You had inadvertently given him a great out. “… follow protocol. They would surely release these unstable pollinates with one wrong move.” His legs moved in tandem with his mouth as he approached a bed of lilies. “I needed someone who I could trust to follow my instructions to a T.” He’d say he’d passed the audition, but the content he’d chosen to present was still a concern. Clenching his jaw, he waited for a response.  

Slowly, he heard the sound of your footsteps as you approached. “If you think I can do, I’ll do my best.”

He blinked and turned a surprised eye to you. That wasn’t quite the reaction he’d anticipated, but at least it wasn’t a negative one. “Alright, so we just gather them all up and burn them!”

“Burn them?” You parroted, dismay on your face.

He had to clench his fist to keep a hand from reaching out to comfort you. “Well, of course. There’s an errant gene. We need to eradicate it.”

“Right…” You seemed even more dejected.

His heart clenched and he had to grip the edge of the planter to keep himself stable.

“They’re just so pretty and you grew them!” You swept that forlorn gaze up to him. “Even if they are ‘defective’ in some way, it’s just another tick on your insane list of inventions. It’s incredible.”

As soon as the words hit him, heat began to spread in his cheeks. He frowned in a desperate attempt to keep it at bay. “Let me just grab the shears!” With an excuse managed, he robotically moved away. Since when did stroking his ego elicit such a response? He usually ate up compliments with no problem. It had to be the hat he decided. It was accentuating your face is a pleasing manner that seemed totally ridiculous. After procuring two clippers, he returned to find you pouring over a particularly large Nippon Daisy. The urge to wrap you up a huge bouquet of them was absurd.

“Where do we burn them?” You asked, leaning back and brushing back the brim of your hat.

He had to shove his gaze into the petals to keep from babbling incoherently. “There’s a small incinerator on the other side of the greenhouse.”  

“Small doesn’t seem like a good thing.” You chuckled and approached.

He flinched before realizing you were coming over for your shears. “It might seem like it, but they’ll catch fire pretty quick. It won’t take long.” A faster job meant you'd be leaving sooner, another miscalculation.

“Gotcha…” You accepted the clippers and turned to the task at hand. “So… I just cut them?”

“Allow me to demonstrate.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped up to the daisies. He could feel your gaze bore into him. Grabbing a flower by the stalk, he tried to steady his hand before bringing the clippers up. “Just cut it at a growing point, at this case the leaves.” He then snipped the flower and took it over to a plastic bin he’d already set aside earlier. “You can get a few at a time, but don’t jostle them too much. We’re trying to minimize pollinates.”

“Alright.” You mimicked his steps and showed him your first trimmed flower.

Outwardly he nodded approvingly. Inwardly he was collapsed in a puddle of his own design.

“Why not just pick the whole plant?” You tilted your head as you collected a handful of daisies.

“I’m curious about the seed growth.” Donatello turned to dump his first batch into the bin. “Usually not every single solitary seed is viable, but in this case they were. I’m going to see if this extends to regrowth in an off-season.”  

“So even though it was a failure, you'll use it to your advantage?”

“Not really an advantage. It might be good for crop stability with more testing.” He paused to think. “I believe it’s the same thought process as cognitive reframing.”

You both went on to discuss psychology, his other botany experiments, and how your job had been going. The busy work kept Donatello’s distractions to a minimum, but they were never quite gone. You’d say something off the cuff and he’d feel his heart race. Your laugh coaxed his ears and when you’d catch his eye he thought he might have to step away due to his body’s fluctuating temperature. He kept the planter box between the two of you as an impenetrable fortress. If it weren’t for that, he thought, he might give in to one of his delinquent desires to touch you. You finished the daisies and moved on to the lilies. The conversation stayed light and continued to flow as you told a story from a bar one night and he shared another of a mutant he’d met teaching tai chi. Back and forth you made each other laugh until you’d cleared another section. Moving on to the chrysanthemums, your replies grew short. Donatello’s nerves immediately seized. He reviewed the conversation to see if he had let something slip. Finding no anomalies, he panicked and, in a feat he found impressive, he was able to curb his own verbal outpouring. Silence sunk in and he wondered if he should turn on the ambient music that usually floated dreamily in the greenhouse.

“Hey, Donnie?” You mumbled, your voice low.

Tensing around a stalk, he tried to reassure himself of his earlier assessment.

“Our texts go: nothing, the flyer for the fashion show, a thumbs up, and then you asking me to come help you with something.”

“That is correct.” Keeping his head low, his eyes darted around as he tried to guess where you were going. “You also sent your confirmation of attendance and when you arrived. Oh, and I sent you that map.”

“Y-yeah…” You went silent again and the sound of the shears seemed especially visceral.

He couldn’t stand it. The sound was starting to make his skin crawl. “Were you making sure of something…?”

“Sorry... Just working up the nerve." You paused. "That sounds silly when I actually say it out loud.” You gave a nervous laugh.

“The nerve?” He mouthed.

“If we’re gonna go back to hanging out, we should…” You hesitated and turned away, prepared dump your batch of chrysanthemums into the bin. “… finally label this? Get rid of those pesky unknowns and expectations.”

He came within millimeters of cutting right through his glove. Rubbing the leather, his ears were swimming amongst his racing heartbeat. “I haven’t properly apologized yet.” His worries manifested in a dozen questions. Out of his depth, he stuck to the truth. 

“Oh.” The sound popped out of you.

Chancing a glance, he found your back still turned to him as you hovered over the discarded plants.

“Honestly, I’d rather you didn’t… At least, not right now. Even if you meant it, it would seem like I was fishing for it.”

He wished he could see your face. “I hear your concern, but I brought it up. It’s something that’s been on my mind, but it can wait if that’s what you want.”

You shook your head. “Yeah, later. For now, what are we?”

His clippers hit the edge of the bed with a little too much force. He watched you jump at the sound. His body moved then. Leaving his flowers behind, he crossed the space. He hadn’t even realized he moved until he was right behind you. “Y/N?”

“Well?”

Now that he was aware of his limbs again, he couldn’t manage to move. “It should be for you to decide. I’ve… done enough.”

“It takes both parties. Don't tell me to do what I want. You should have say.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He frowned and reached out to your shoulder, stopping a hair's breadth away. “I reached out to you. I want to spend time with you. Whatever way you think that’s alright is what I want.”

His heart was so loud it was almost making him dizzy. He knew there were implications to the way he worded it. He’d left the door too open. He couldn’t help himself.

“Can we be friends?”

He urge to wrap his arms around you said no, but his lips said something else. “Yes. We can.”

“Ok.” There was a finality to your voice. “Ok.” The repetition sounded more reassured. “Then I guess we’re friends.”

“We’re friends.” He added to the echo.

You turned then. Donatello’s body seized as he realized you hadn’t yet put down your bundle of chrysanthemums. Instead, you brought them up to your chest and gave him a bright smile. He could feel it. He could feel the mental shutter going off. The image would be cataloged in a special album. You looked ethereal, surrounded by dozens of flowers, a shining beacon in a house of his making. He wished you’d smile at him unabashed like this for the rest of his life. He never wanted you to leave. That was not friendship.

“Right! Now that that’s cleared up. Shall we get back to work?” You gave a passing glance at his still out stretched hand and moved around it to finally discard the bundle of flowers.

“Yes, we need to eradicate the rest.” He stepped aside so you could return to the table. He had far more difficulty weeding to do in his heart. Within his mind’s eye, all he could see was you amongst the chrysanthemums.

He returned to the table and you picked up conversation like you no longer had a care in the world. He pushed to be a competent partner, but part of him refused to focus. It was devastating. Soon the beds were clear of petals and together you brought the bins to the incinerator. He took the lead on preparing and lighting it. Once the fires were stoked, he began to toss in the bundles. It was a brief reprieve where there was little you could do to participate. He vaguely noticed when you had left his side to peruse the greenhouse. Though dampened, he was still glad it was interesting enough to drag you away. Once the flowers were dispatched, he dusted his gloved hands of soot. Adjusting the incinerator to a smolder, he turned to look for you. Instead of calling out, he crept stealthily. Rounding the squash, he found you at the specialty raised planter boxes rowed against one of the greenhouse’s walls. Relaxing his posture, he dropped to a stroll so his presence wouldn’t surprise you. With you occupying his mind, he tried to recall what he had planted in that space.

“What is this?” You murmured, unable to pull your eyes away.

He rounded you and as the flower appeared from over your shoulder, he felt his stomach flip.

Why had you picked that one amongst all others to admire? 

“Tulipa gesneriana crossed with Myosotis sylvatica.”

That was enough to drag your attention away from the flower and to him.

“A red tulip and a forget-me-not. It shouldn’t be scientifically possible; they have a different number of chromosomes, but when faced with an absolute I am sometimes pressed to prove it wrong.”

“It’s like ‘incredible’ isn’t enough of a word to describe it, but I can’t think of anything else...” You turned back to the red and blue flower in awe.

You obviously weren’t aware of the language of flowers and for that he was thankful. For him, on the other hand, it meant that he was plagued with the knowledge.

“I don’t know how long it will survive. The fact that it blossomed is a minor miracle. I haven’t been able to recreate the experiment, however, so I won’t be able to publish my work.”   

Red Tulip: I declare my love.

“So this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience?” You breathed.

Forget-me-not: I promise to always remember you.

“You could say that.” He was no longer looking at the flower.

Chrysanthemum: Friendship in spite of change.

“Wow…” You smiled to yourself and then turned to him. He watched the light dance in your eyes. “And I didn’t even have to pay admission to see it!”

Could he be anymore in love?

If he was going to make this friendship work then he desperately needed help.

NEXT

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 13

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Longing, Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

Heartbreak.

It was strange how an ailment he’d been suffering from for well over a month felt so new with a proper diagnosis. Donatello had grown tired of the constant recontextualizing and recategorization of his memories he had been forced to do as of late. The past week had softened the initial blow and he was left with a single clear frame of reference: he was done with preconceived notions. He patted himself on the back for being having had the wherewithal to admit it. Fiasco after fiasco caused by his failure to make judgments on subjects that were far out of his depth had humbled him. That, though, didn’t mean there wasn’t time for research.

Heart·break

/ˈhärtˌbrāk/

variable noun

Heartbreak is very great sadness and emotional suffering, especially after the end of a love affair or close relationship.

Though there was no trace, Donatello had casually lamented the state of his browsing history. The tricky thing about these types of subjects is there is a true testable physiological response, but there is also a myriad of baseless think pieces. Sifting through them was arduous at best and comical at worst. Outside of the digital world, his brothers had retained some shreds of his dignity. He’d found that they’d placed no bets on his realization timeline and they were mostly just glad to have him present. He wasn’t sure if he would have suffered an indignity if they had tried teased him about his denseness. He felt no humiliation. He akined it to ridiculing a child for not knowing how to read if they had never been taught. He simply had nothing to compare it to. He did, however, feel immense guilt over acting out on half-baked assumptions. He prided himself on being a better scientist than that. In that regard, he’d let himself down.

Which was why, he decided, he was no longer going to make anymore guesses. Unfortunately, that ruling also meant he was stuck with different unsolved question: what was the source of his heartbreak? It was undeniably you, but in what way? The online consciences agreed that heartbreak was felt on a spectrum and he could subscribe to that logic. Where his feelings for you landed on that spectrum was a mystery. He’d warped them through a lens of dismissive science to such a degree, he wasn’t sure what was real anymore. It was yet another reason why he fatigued of pouring over the memories. He needed fresh, untainted data if he were to start the study anew. Though he’d come a long way in acknowledging his ignorance, he knew for a fact that reaching out first would be extremely stupid after everything he had done.

Frowning, Donatello stared down a long stretching rack of garments. Several rows over, he spied Mikey stretching out a blazer and squinting over it.

“Explain to me again what we’re looking for?”

There was a loud metallic clank as Mikey forcefully shoved a hanger back into its spot. “Aw, come on, Donnie! Haven’t I explained it a million times already?”

“Yes, it must be me who is failing to understand.” Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Donatello settled on drooping his lids.

Instead of going around, Mikey simply threaded himself through several racks of clothes until he reached his brother. “I need a fabric for the torso that screams ‘shaaazaa!’ Then maybe a thick retro material that kinda had a ‘ba-boo-roo’ thing going for it and, finally, I need something with that oomph factor!”

Each descriptor had been paired with a matching full body gesture. Mikey’s consistency had impressed Donatello, but that didn’t mean they made any more sense to him. “Riiiiight...”

“Glad we cleared that up.” Mikey punctuated the statement with a confirming wink before a pair of pants caught his eye.

“Does ‘ba-boo-roo’ have a English language color name?” Donatello scrunched his nose up from having to use the descriptor.

“It’s more of a pattern.” Mikey hummed, testing the elasticity of the stitching.

“Exasperated sigh.” Donatello mumbled to himself as he stared at the same rack he’d been standing at their entire duration in the store.

Mikey looked past the bottoms and to his brother. Lowering the garment, he made a move as if to grab something from in front of him, but shifted direction at the last moment to elbow Donnie's plastron instead. “Hey.”

“What?”

“You’re helping.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not, having you here helps.”

Donatello turned to give his younger brother the full extent of his doubtful gaze.

“You are!” Mikey threw his arms up, pants trailing the move. “You got up early to come shopping with me right when these stores open.” Looking around them, only a few older women of poor eye sight were milling around. “I probably should have showed you my sketches so you had more of an idea what we’re looking for, but regardless; it’s emotional support!”

“My strong suit.” He could no longer withhold the eye roll.

“Suit…” Mikey rubbed his chin with the fabric. “Great idea! See, you are helping!”

“Michael, we really need to work on your elaboration.” Donatello raised his hand with the point but Mikey hung to pants hanger on the appendage instead.

“You go find three pin-striped suit jackets or…” Mikey squinted and looked to the upper right. “Any pattern that isn’t just blah in preferably a sack silhouette.” Bringing his gaze back, his eyes shimmered with the idea. “Let’s put 15 minutes on the clock, what’dya say?”

“I’d say that’s probably the most in depth instruction you’ve given me all day.” Donatello responded dryly, hanging the pants back up on a rack.

“Great, then let’s go!” The younger brother then disappeared by diving headfirst into a clothing stand.

Shaking his head at the action, Donatello set a timer on his cuff. He then looked up at the large signs that marked each section. Following them with an upturned gaze, he located suits. To accommodate the various lengths and paired items, this section's racks were twice the height of their companions. Turning down the row, he was met with an ocean of blacks and navys. Sighing audibly at the lack of selection, Donatello headed down the line and let an outstretched finger follow along the garments.

As if sifting files, he came to a halt when his digit caught a subtle brocade that barely stood out due to its similarly dark threading. Pulling the item out and lifting it up to eye level, Donatello activated his goggles. A detailed manifest popped up with notes about the cut. With the piece held high in his right hand, he both brought up his left to compare acquisition to time and deactivated his goggles. One suit in under 5 minutes wasn’t a great start, but he could only work with what the store provided. Prepared to continue to search, he lowered the hanger and like a curtain dropping, you were revealed on the other side.

His heart stuttered in his chest.

He stared openly, wondering if he should run. He watched as you compared the sleeve lengths of two jackets, seemingly not noticing his presence. Torn between choices, Donatello felt stuck. He watched your lip purse, unsure, before finally something seemed to spark in your eyes. He leaned his head back incrementally as you turned to him in slow motion.

“Oh, sorry! Am I in your wa-?” Your words dropped off as you let go to the jackets you were examining. “Donnie.”

It felt like his brain was lagging with a spotty internet connection. The page finally began to load. As the information filed in, his first thought was another summation of the chances. Dismissing the possibility of having run into you randomly in New York City on three separate occasions, Donatello swiveled and stretched his neck out to see over the rack. If his younger brother was the mastermind, he wasn’t watching his scheme unfold which was unlike him. Blinking, he realized he’d ignored you in favor of an errant thought. Donatello turned back to find you still waiting, though no longer colored with surprise. “Y/N.”

“Looking for some new clothes?” You gestured to the jacket in hand.

He watched as each little sign of your discomforting body language seemed to note itself as if his goggles were still active. He couldn’t process the information as he was still stuck on the part about how you ended up running into each other. “Absolutely not, the thought of wearing something that someone else wore even if it’s washed?” His lip curled up with distaste. “I’ll stick to regular stores.”

You stifled a snorted chuckle. “You know people try those clothes on too?”

“Trying on is quite different than schlepping off some garms to a thrift store.” He folded his arms and the suit jacket swung with the motion.

“Hm, maybe.” There was an airy quality to your voice that sounded pleasant to his ears.

“Most second hand shops don’t even wash the clothes! I’m just hoping they were deloused.” Noting the fact caused him to scoot away from the rack.

The laughter couldn’t be held back any longer. As you giggled, Donatello could swear the sound resonated with some unknown harmony. “So what are you here for then?”

“Mikey enlisted me into some project.” Though he had moved his feet, he was painfully aware that he couldn’t seem to keep himself from facing you.

“Mikey did?” You turned your head to glance around. “Is he here?”

“It’s a long story. Presumably, he’s around.” Part of him wanted to accuse you of being in league with his younger brother, but a secondary thought reminded him that he wasn’t going to make those kinds of guesses anymore. Plus, since his gaze was trained on you, he had yet to notice a mimed action. “What about you?”

“Oh.” You seemed to remember something. “I’m, uh, ‘filling out my office wardrobe.’”

He watched as your face shifted from sheepish to quoting and then finally to a bright proud smile. Reaching up, Donatello tucked a hand underneath his hoodie to touch his goggles. They were still clicked into their stationary position on top of his head. If that was the case, why did everything around you look so colorful? “Your internship…?” He trailed off trying to recall the sparse notes he’d gotten before you both parted.

Your gaze dipped as you shimmied side to side. When you returned it, you had a sly smile. “’Full time job’ would be a better way to describe it.”

Donatello also wondered why your eyes seemed to be magnified. “They hired you on.” The information was still lagging. “Wait, they hired you on!?”

“Yep!” You chirped.

He finally pinged the harmony as being similar to a birdsong. “Congratulations are in order then!” He clapped around the hanger in his hands. “It is well deserved though I do hope that the employment comes with a moderately higher salary to afford you more than….” He looked around the store to emphasize his point. “This.”

“It does.” You turned away and ran a hand down one of the suit jackets you had been examining earlier. “Starting out is tough though and, unlike you, I think a nice hot wash will clean these up just fine.”

“Unless they are dry clean only.” Donatello tried to clear his throat stealthily in an attempt to stifle the small dip he felt in his stomach from your movement.

“Those are ‘suggestion’ labels, right?” There was a wry tone to your voice that Donatello pegged as goading.

“I see your comedy remains unchanged.” As soon as the sentence left his mouth, his eyes widened. Something about giving voice to the separation felt like an instant taboo. Looking back to you fearfully, he found your shoulders raised slightly in a move which he read as apprehension.

“Is… this really a coincidence?” Your eyes were cast down.

Though the question pricked like a nettle, it was absolutely valid. “Do you remember how suspicious I was when you found me at the food truck park?”

He watched your gaze raise with recognition. “’A little over 9 million?’”

“I swear to you that as far as I know, this is naturally the third time this has happened.”

“That can’t be…” You shook your head slightly in confusion.

“I agree, for locations that we rarely frequent, the probability of it happening is not incalculable, but the numbers are hard for even me to comprehend.” He nodded, his eyes shutting as his mind unconsciously started to do the math.

“I guess it’s not a coincidence then.” There was a tone to your voice that Donatello didn’t recognize so he brought his lids up to find you smiling to yourself. “It must be fate.”

It was only spoken softly to yourself, but something about the sentence seemed to ring loudly in his mind. “I don’t believe in that. I create my own destiny.”

You snickered. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“And what does that mean?” He leaned forward suspiciously.

“Not a thing!” You clucked and used your other gathered garments to create a barrier between the two of you.

Donatello looked down at them, wondering why he hadn’t registered them earlier. Cataloging them in conjunction with the suit jacket you were browsing, he frowned. “You’re not getting that are you?”

“What?” You shifted, looking at your items.

“Give me a quick rundown of your position.” He nodded thoughtfully as you explained and then shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stand for this. The pieces you selected are both under and over dressed and it doesn’t seem like you’re even taking utility into account!”

“Now wai-”

He heard you begin, but the bandwidth was already being diverted elsewhere. Though Donatello himself hadn’t moved far from the original rack, he had been watching Mikey sift through pieces in rapid succession. From those earlier leavings, a few stood out. “Come with me!” He turned and started walking, trying to plot out the shortest course to said clothes without having to resort to Mikey-type short-cut method. “Here!” He grabbed a top and spun around, remembering something else. “And this.”

“Donnie, are you serious?” Your voice sounded a bit distant and when he looked up he found you a whole rack away.

“Yes, just look!” He held up the top he selected and he watched as your expression shifted from confounded to thinly veiled stubbornness with an undercurrent of intrigue. “Shall I continue?”

“Is that my size?” You looked close to stomping your foot.

Something about that made his chest feel tighter than it should in his hoodie.

“What do you take me for?” He threw his hands up, raising the other item he selected into view.

“Glossing over the fact that you know that, I want you to make a note that I’m not super ok with this!”

“I’m sensing a but…?” He drew out the word, just knowing that his prowess was about to be acknowledged.

“But…” You hesitated before slumping with defeat. “I do want to see what you pick.” The statement came out of the corner of your mouth.

Donnie would have jumped for joy had he not seen another piece out of the corner of his eye. “Allow me to curate the wardrobe of your dreams!” His feet began to move and his goggles dropped down to start a running tally. At one point his cuff had an alert, but from beneath the hangers that had moved onto his forearms for the extra real estate, it was silenced. Once he had grabbed what he deemed a suitable amount of clothing, he made one last glance over his shoulder to make sure you were still in tow. He wanted to verbally acknowledge how well you had kept up, but something held his tongue. Instead he steered both of you to the shoddily constructed changing rooms.

“Alright!” He waited until you got the message to take a readied position in front of him before rifling through the garments. “Here’s outfit one, but keep the pants on because they’re going to be a staple piece you can then pair with the next top.” He thrust the clothes into your unprepared arms and used the confusion to snatch away your previous selections.

You rolled your eyes and pulled back the curtain to the changing room. “Yes, sir, Mr. Fashionista!”

“We shall see how that tone fairs once you’ve seen my work!” He snapped back, preparing the next few choices.

After an appropriate amount of rustling, the curtain drew back and you stepped out. “How…?”

“Hm…” He leaned forward, his goggles noting information about cut and shape as you shifted side to side to get a look from all angles.

“Seriously, when did you take my measurements? These shouldn’t fit so well!” There were dueling notes of astonishment and annoyance in your voice.

“Details.” Donatello waved the question off. “There’s creasing along the back.” He watched as you tried to catch a glimpse and ended up spinning in a circle like a dog trying to catch its tail. He tried not to divide his attention from the task at hand, but a fond smile pulled at his lips.

“I don’t think it's a problem.” You stuck your hands out and waved them.

“How do you feel about getting the pieces tailored?”

“Maybe down the road, but not if I can help it right now.” You stopped shuffling around and came to a neutral stance.

“I see.” He added the entry to his data points and passed you the next items. “Swap the top, keep the bottoms.”

You gave him a mock salute with the clothes in hand, causing them to obscure your face as you headed back into the changing room. Donatello shook his head, the smile growing ever wider. It’s not that he hadn’t realized he’d missed the banter; he’d ruminated on it in slivers of time, but being faced with it actively enforced the point. As you emerged from the curtain again, the repartee resumed. It was as if you had never been apart. After passing off the next selection, the moments where you changed felt like a weight. It was within the fragments of silence that the existence of your separation made itself known. It held the enormity of all his failings and the apologies he wasn’t even sure he could truly recompense. In equal exchange, he watched as your apprehension melted away as his grew. After several more costume changes, he’d twisted inward and focused more on cycling through the digital closet inventory for maximum effectiveness.

“These fit right style wise…” Your voice drifted in, signaling you’d emerged once more. “…but the waist needs….” He looked past his display and watched your nose wrinkle with thought. “Like a belt?”

Lifting his goggles, he squinted as he returned to normal view. “It looks like there might have been a matching piece of fabric that should loop here.” He pointed to a small tailored slit in the side of slacks.   

“Someone probably lost it. I’m gonna go run and get a belt. Watch my stuff?” You tossed the question over your shoulder as you already started to walk away.

He nodded and returned to his catalog. He vaguely heard you return and disappear into the changing room as he put the final touches on his curation. Nodding to himself, he took a deep breath and shifted his goggles to rub his eyes. “With this you should be able to make 21 separate outfits! Did the belt work out?”

“Oh sure, but I think something else got lost in the shuffle?”

“Pardon?” He watched as you emerged from the curtain in full strut. His jaw laxed as he gazed upon the most garish combination he’d ever seen. You were donning a pair of what looked like shiny latex purple leggings that disappeared into slinky neon green leg warmers on one end and the hem of what could either be classified as a sequined mini dress or top depending on the height of the wearer on the other. On top of that, you’d slipped on an 80's blazer that had shoulder pads so high it was skimming the territory of your ears. He watched as you struck a vogue pose causing the oversized leopard print glasses that were taking up most of your face to jostle.

“I was also thinking hat, but I’m not sure if that would be too much?” From behind your back a large church crown appeared with several flowers and a fake bird sticking out of it. You brought it up over your head, but didn’t quite place it as you waited for his judgment.

Several seconds ticked by and your plastered on smile hadn’t faltered. Donatello bent forward slightly before a loud laugh tore from him. “When did you even-?” He wheezed.

“So, that’s a yes to the hat?” You put it on and made another pose eliciting more laughter from him.

Stumbling forward with amusement, he reached out for an anchor point. He found it in the pad on your shoulder and as soon as contact was made, it felt as if there was a sudden breach of contract. He didn’t feel you flinch underhand, but your gaze snapped to his with metered surprise. The sudden feedback painfully reminded him of the paradigm shift that had yet to be addressed in any way. Still high off the endorphins from the outburst, he retracted his hand carefully and brought it to his chest while clearing his throat.

“It’s…” You started, he popped one eye open from where they had closed to recompose himself. “…ok. I’m glad I was able to make you laugh. You were really getting lost in your head there for a moment.”

Giving you his full attention, he cursed himself for being so obvious. “I don’t know where we stand.”

“To be honest…” You hesitated, a vexed smile on your lips. You glanced up and removed the hat, lowering it in front if you. “I don’t either.” A small awkward laugh bubbled up in your throat. “But, what I do know is…” You trailed off again and looked straight into his eyes.

It was as if the fake flowers from the hat were sprouting all around you.

“I missed your snooty attitude.” Any contention on your lips switched to playful as you leaned forward and placed the hat on his head.

His lids dropped with feigned annoyance as you giggled at his appearance. It was a thinly held veneer because internally he was overjoyed that you had at least offered to crack the door to friendship back open. He reached up, feeling heat uncharacteristically pooling in his cheeks, and pulled the large brim down to mask whatever was passing over his face. “I missed you as well.”  

He didn’t have time to analyze the sound you made because another voice emerged.

“I finally found you!”

“Angelo.” Donatello murmured, the memory of his original mission rushing back to him.

“Hey, Mikey.” You shyly responded.

Donatello removed the hat to clear his view.

“Y-Y/N?” Mikey jolted with surprise before taking in your appearance. “Ok, whatever this is is wild, but I am here for it! Are you gonna get those glasses?”

Studying his brother closely, Donatello tried to pick up any traces of nefarious intent. He watched as you waved your hand turning down Mikey’s question before taking off the glasses to pass into his excited hands. If his younger sibling had set any of this up, he was operating on a level of lie that Donatello had never seen. Today really had been an absurd coincidence.

“For the record, your disappearance is forgiven and I’m all for trying new things, but that hat…” Mikey twirled his attention around, bringing a L-shaped hand of thought to his chin.

“Maybe if it were in black and we switched out the sparrow for a motherboard?” Donatello offered wryly as he placed the hat on his brother’s head.

“Crossing styles! Perfection!” Mikey clapped his hands jostling a handful of hangers he was toting.

“I did find one piece.” Donatello remembered the brocade jacket and removed it from the collection of your clothing.

“Woah, look at that design!” There were stars in Mikey’s eyes as he grabbed the piece.

You gave Donatello a small signaling wave and bobbed your head toward the dressing room. He nodded with understanding and you left to change. Gathering up the rest of your clothes, Donatello turned to find Mikey had thrown the suit jacket in with the rest of his picks. “It looks like you faired pretty well without me at least.”

“Can we hit one more store though? I’m looking for a showpiece kind of jacket.” Mikey's gaze was distant as he imagined the garment.

“Sure, but it’s going to start getting busier.”

“This time I know exactly what I’m looking for! Speaking of…” Mikey’s head lead the way as he curved his body closer to the dressing room curtain and raised his voice. “So the two of you are…?”

“Unlabeled.”

“Undiscussed.”

You threw back the curtain in your original clothes and split a smile of agreement with Donatello.

“I see…” Mikey trailed off, his voice thick with understanding.

This time you and Donatello shared a look of skepticism.  

“That means you can come to my fashion show!” Mikey bounced as Donatello handed off your clothing.

“Fashion show?” You wondered trying to heave the sudden load.

“I’ll take half.” Donatello corrected himself, separating the lot of hangers into equal parts before shooting a raised brow to his brother. “Practice elaboration, Mikey."

“Oh.” This time a real and more nervous look of comprehension passed over the younger sibling's face. “I was gonna tell the whole fam about it only after I was sure I was gonna get the pieces done in time…”

“Wait, you’re going to make your own clothes?” You lit up.

“Yeah! I’m usually not super into the concept because I’m more about letting your inner best shine, but I met this artist in my woodworking class that reframed the whole thing for me so I’m treating it like a canvas!”

“That sounds great! When is it?” You stepped forward and the group naturally begin to head towards checkout.

“Two weeks from now. Saturday night, I think…” Mikey tried to shift his clothes to one hand and fish out his phone with the other. One top started to fall from the hanger and he scrambled to fix it. “Actually, D will text you the details!”

Donatello lolled his head back before sweeping his gaze to you regretfully. “Is that alright? Don’t let him steamroll you.”

“It should be fine. I think it sounds fun.” You nodded, but he caught the slight note of reservation in your gaze.

“Now I’ll be forced to make the deadline!” Mikey spun around and in doing so took the first place in line at the cashier.

“You still weren’t sure?!” Donatello scolded.

Mikey stuck his tongue out in response and you giggled at the interaction with that same sweet melodic twitter.

NEXT

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 21

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Longing, Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

Now.

NOW.

NOW!?

Returning the kiss in earnest, you snaked a hand up. Opting for the arm opposite of his cupping your face, you easily outmaneuvered the limb around your waist. Clumsy and unable to open your eyes, you eventually tucked it into his cheek. Feeling the touch paired with the distinct lack of deepening, Donnie incrementally pulled back. You watched the stupefied lovestruck expression paint his features as your eyes met. It was undoubtedly adorable, but you had no time for it. Whatever your own face showed, it caused his to slip. Before panic could claim its place, you brought your other hand up and took his other cheek. He glanced at the appendage and then swept a gaze with increasing confusion back to you.

“When?”

You hadn’t meant your voice to sound so exceedingly threatening.

“W-when?” With your palms skirting his chin, the tips of your fingers could feel the first drops of cold sweat forming through his mask.

Maybe you were overreacting, but he couldn't get off this easily.

“How long?” 

You watched his pupils search your face desperately. “If you could maybe ex-?”

“Explain!?” You cut him off, squeezing his head between your hands. He immediately began to wilt and you could feel his knees buckle.

“Repeat what you just said.”

“I’m…” You squeezed hard and his lips puckered. “…going to ash-ume you don’ mean my las’ sen’ence.”

“Smart.” The sarcasm was probably uncalled for. “Before that.”

“I…” You watched a blush blossom on his cheeks. “I 'hink I love you too much to…?”

“That.” You seethed, your force now crushing.

Donnie’s stance drooped and he crumpled before you. “Y-yes?”

“How long?” He lowered until his knees hit the brick and you used your newly acquired height to tower over him.

“How long… have I?”

“Have you felt that way!?”

If felt strange to have so much power over a being who could overpower you in an instant. You eased up your hold just enough so that it wouldn’t impede his speech.

“That is a difficult question. There are many factors to take into account-”

“Not the cutesy answer! The Donatello answer!”

He blinked with recognition. “At the after party.”

“At the-!?” You hissed and then screwed your eyes shut.

You felt him move and opened your eyes enough to see him anxiously pressing two of his fingers together.

“When you ran away?”

“Yes.” There was a note of shame to his voice.

You released him and threw your head back. “So, when you didn’t contact me after…?”

“I was… sorting the newly, er, found isn’t a good word for it in a larger context, but-”

“Donatello!” You rushed forward to glare over him again.

“I had to process it!” He forced the phrase out so quickly his face scrunched up around it.

“You’ve known for over a month!?” It was less a directed question and more for the night air. The belting forced you to step away from him. You walked a semi circle and threw your gaze back to him. “When you called me to the green house!?”

Now sat in a humbled seiza, his hands gripped his knees. “I aimed to blow you away with my friendship while also making up for my past transgressions.”

You reached up and pinched the bridge of your nose. “Making up! Making up!” Your hands came away from your face and you threw them up into the air. You then completed the circle and blew out all your irritation in one long exhale. “The family plans?”

“What about them?” Though worry still carved out a place on his face, a shell of comprehension had taken over.

At least he knew what you were going for.

“Don’t explain the whole thing, but I need you to be very specific in telling me what their goal was.”

A small dash of fear was added to his emotional melting pot.

You scowled at it.

“The gist was that my… infatuation wasn’t able to subside because I was getting in the way of it with…” He clenched his teeth and looked away. “…my apology obsession. It was tainting my experience so I was to both get the concessions out of the way while… enjoying my love for you so that I could naturally let it go.”

“So that you could…” You parroted back the line and closed your eyes. “That made sense to you?”

“Yes.”

“How’d that work out?” You reached up and rubbed your temple.

His silence brought your lids up. When you met his gaze, he gave you a sheepish grin and gestured between you both.

“Did you ever consider they were playing you?” Your hand fell limp to your side.

“It crossed my mind.”

“And you still-!?” You bit down on the sentence. Seizing all your muscles up in one contraction, you then dropped them to release the tension. Your shoulders hung low and it caused your arms to dangle. Across from you, Donnie’s fingers twitched as he seemed to instinctually reach out. You softened at the movement. “How did I seem?”

“You?” Whatever action he was holding himself back from evaporated as he jarred.

“Over all these plans.”

“The overall reception seemed positive…” He trailed off and you watched as the analytic part of his brain kicked in. The sorting of data gave you a nice little reprieve to collect yourself. “There was an odd variable though.”

“Mhm?”

“Today and at the ice rink, you seemed agitated in some way I was never able to place.”

You took the few steps to the stone railing. Once there you ran your fingers over the stone before turning. Still coming down from your anger, you leaned your back against it. “This is really a rhetorical question so you don’t need to answer, but why do you think that is?”

He watched you with growing curiosity.

You broke eye contact with him and stared at the weathered bricks on the ground. “It…” You swallowed hard. “It’s weird how hard it still is to say even when it’s out there, ya know?”

The watery quality to your voice must have brought him to his feet. You held up a hand as he tried to approach.

This wasn't the emotional swing you were hoping for. You felt mad switching so wildly from one to another, but they'd be stowed and processed with only personal access granted for so long. You'd taken the time to come to terms with yourself, but you'd never been able to truly discuss what had happened with him.

“Do you remember what I was said when we got distracted by…?” You glanced over your shoulder at the soft serenade coming from the violinists.

“I made up 'too well'?” He offered.

It was almost annoying how he astute could be at times and dense at others. “I was going to break if off with you, for lack of a better term, at the end of this…” You drew a circle in the air. “Walk, I guess. I didn’t know what we were going to do when I decided this. Just the end of whatever it was going to be.”

“You-” The pain in his tone was palpable.

You wrapped your arms around yourself. “You’re so infuriating, you know that?”

“I’ve been catching on.”

“I was falling back in love with you and it didn’t seem fair to put those feelings on you again.” As the sentence progressed your voice dropped low.

You listened as his feet crossed over to you. You watched as his hands careful took your arms and coaxed them to unravel. His chest pressed into your forehead as he pulled you close.

Part of you wanted to cry, but that seemed so absurd. The gauntlet of emotions was truly testing you today. Maybe it was because you'd planned on ending things. Maybe it was because you still couldn't believe this was happening. Maybe it was that stupid violin music that seemed to relentlessly play on. Regardless, you both stood like that for several long minutes until you stirred. As soon as you did, he gave you space to move, but his arms hovered around you. When you brought your gaze up to him, you found touched awareness there. Did he really understand what you were going through?

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself.” You mumbled, the tears threatening their presence.

“I'd like to clarify something, if I may?.”

“It’s not to gloat, right?” You tried to steady yourself by gently placing your hands atop his arms.

“In this instance, no.”  

“Fine.”

“When you say I did ‘too well.’ You’re saying that I inadvertently made you love me again?”  The smile on his face was filled with such adoration that you thought you might drown in it.

You could only manage a single nod as your vision grew unsteady. He just had to say it like that.

“That by my enjoying my love for you caused you to fall for me instead?”

“Thanks for not saying ‘make-up’ again. I think I’d scream if you did.” Your voice waned and cracked.

He shifted and bent forward, bringing his face closer to yours. “I believe we can both agree that was a pretense I’d conned myself into to, yes?”

Maybe he did understand. You bobbed again and your chest swelled.

“Do you-?” He began, but shook the notion away. “Since both our feelings align…?”

“Are you gonna make me say it?” He was nothing more than swirled purples and greens.

“Yes.”

“It’s going to make me cry!”

“I apologize in advance, but it won’t be real for me until you say it.” One of his hands came around from your back and its fingers tucked under your chin. The care in his touch and gaze were overwhelming. “With your permission, I’ll kiss every tear away.”

The dam broke and the subsequent flood streaked your cheeks.

“I love you.” There was a grating tone to your voice and you shoved it away by pulling hard on your grip of his coat.

Leaning into the motion, he brought his lips to yours. Mouths moving in tandem, your hands ghosted over him until they wrapped around his neck. This time you deepened the kiss and he smiled into it. The stone guard pressed into your lower back, but arms snug around you had more force. When you parted for air, you watched as he brought a questioning gaze to yours. You couldn’t help the small pout on your lips as you gave a curt nod. Making good on his declaration, he placed a kiss over every errant tear until the tingling sensation brought giggles from your lips.

“You got them!” You tittered, leaning your head away.

“No, no. I see a few more!” He teased. One of the limbs around your back shifted to your shoulders and pulled you in so he could pepper your face with more kisses. Such a silly little action had done so much for your well-being. This was why you always allowed him back in. That, and you couldn't seem to shake him no matter how much you tried. The universe was funny in that way.

“Donnie!” You tucked your face against his chest and he pressed his lips to the top of your head.

“Yes?”

“It’s your turn.”

“I love you.”

You snapped your gaze up, but kept your chin to his plastron. It had been such a struggle for you. It didn't seem fair. “That easily?!”

“I’ve tortured myself enough. I can't be bothered anymore. Over it, done-zo.” He smiled and awkwardly tucked his chin down to watch you.

You shook your head and in doing so nuzzled your face against the soft fabric of his sweater.

“Remind me to thank April later.”

“For what?” Your voice was muffled as you spoke into the sweater.

“She’s the gifter.”

You paused in your prodding, looking up at him again. “You cannot think this sweater had anything to do with it?”

“No, but you seem to like touching it.”

“It’s soft.” You huffed, pushing away a little.

He chuckled and gave you a tight squeeze.

“Donnie!” You rose your voice to combat the cashmere’s shushing.

“Yes, darling?”

“Darling!?” You quacked, wringing yourself free.

“Too soon?” His debonair air was more lethal than his unknowing charm.

“A little!” You shifted on your feet and he stepped back from crowding you. Smiling at him for doing so, you tilted your head. “We haven’t reassessed yet.”

“Of course!” He returned his limbs to his person and curled a hand under his chin. “We have mutual affection for one another, but thank you for reminding me that I swore off jumping the gun.”

“Right.” Your skepticism was palpable.

“Do you still want to ‘break it off with me’?” His posture and diction screamed mocking.

The word was ancient and not one you’d say aloud, but 'rapscallion' came to mind.

“No, against my better judgment and a slew of warnings; I do not.”

“Warnings?” He brought a hand to his mouth, scandalized. “I’m going to need a list of names.”

“Think about what I’ve been through.” You planted your feet and stared him down.

He gave a small nod.

“Remember how sorry you felt?”

Another nod, this time slower.

“Now imagine you’re my friend, you’ve never even met you for reasons that can’t be disclosed, for over a year, and think about it now.” You tipped your head forward with your point.

“Ah…” His hand shriveled away from his face. “That is less than ideal.”

“Tell me about it.” You shook your head, listening to the melancholic violin melodies.

"All in due time then."

You gave a languid nod. You could feel him patiently waiting, but deciding against acting on it. You waited him out with a turned head until he was almost vibrating.

“But… us?”

“You can ask me out.” You replied casually, while internally you screamed. Whatever hormones that had been released when you had cried earlier were potent. You couldn’t believe what an act you could put on.

Not to be deterred, you watched as Donnie seemingly dropped before you. It cause you to straighten out of surprise. You then watched as his bowed head came up with one of the most cocksure grins he’d ever donned. He held a hand out to you and you placed yours in it.

“Accompany me to the Botanical Garden.” In a grandiose sweep, he pulled your hand close and pressed his lips to your knuckles. “There’s no way I’ll be able to truly find a flower that would do you justice, but I will sweep you away with the outing nonetheless.”

It was your turn to put on a dopey lovestruck grin. He was too much.

Breaking his suave charade, you reaction caused excitement to radiate off Donnie.

“What am I going to do with you?” You bit your lip to prevent gushing.

“Is that a 'yes'?” He urged, trying and failing to put up that charming demeanor once more.

“Yes!” You shouted, pouncing on him.

He caught you with ease and folded you into his arms. With the continued momentum, he used it to raise off the ground and spin you around. “It’s a date!”

“A real one.” You pulled one of your arms from his shoulder to poke his cheek.

“Was there ever a doubt?” He kissed the tip of your finger and then your lips.

A/N: One date and one chapter left~

NEXT

[afreakingdork]

Gotta start somewhere 🙃

Donnie's techwear outfit from parts 14 and 15 of Crush Too Much

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 19

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Longing, Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

Mikey's Merriment

Leaned against a trunk and just tucked into a grouping of trees, Donatello stared across the road. Twilight cast odd shades of orange against the concrete exterior of the American Museum of Natural History.  He told himself he hadn’t meant to arrive so early, but there was also no denying his excitement. In less than a week’s time since the successful boardwalk outing, his text chain with you no longer felt abysmal. In fact, it seemingly rivaled a less encumbered time earlier in your friendship. His lips downturned slightly from their neutral position. He wasn’t sure if 'friendship' was the right word for it. At the time he thought it was, but now having himself in the position you had been at the time complicated the matter. It was an odd spot where the seeds of close platonics begged to be sprouted into the romantic. Though the botany metaphor was something he adored, he was unwilling to maintain that headspace.

Flicking his thumb aggressively over his device, the text chain cycled backwards until an image of your key chains appeared. It had been a running joke between the two of you to put the plushes in increasingly ‘dangerous’ situations. The amusing roleplay you had come up with had been a great icebreaker and excuse to continue texting at near any hour of the day. Smiling to himself, Donatello remembered how he’d even convinced Hypno to pose with it mid-battle. There was something to be said about the banter in a long-term hero-villain association. After several rereads of the thread, he glanced across the street again to find the museum closing up for the day. It meant there were exactly 30 minutes until the scheduled meet-up time. Losing focus, he watched as a continuous stream of people filtered by on the sidewalk.

The late October weather made his hoodie a cozy hideaway. With the nights dipping lower, it was almost time to dig out his winter wardrobe. Letting his head gently rest against the tree, he ruminated over the last year. The technical anniversary sat around a month ago, but there hadn’t been time to consider it. Tapping a finger to his phone’s case, he shifted as a thought took hold. Scrolling back through his meticulous calendar he found the date you officially considered your meeting. He then cycled back through to this year and found the fashion show was only a single day off from 365. It was oddly fortuitous to the point where he wished it were just exact. Giving a satisfied hum to himself, he brought his gaze back to the museum and immediately spotted you walking up.

Flicking his eyes to his phone found you 20 minutes early. It wasn’t as if you were late, but your punctuality was predictable. Curious, he dropped his goggles down to watch you more closely. You walked up, vigilantly scanning all the nooks and crannies of the exterior. He smiled as he presumed he was the cause. Having not located him, you seemed to give a long sigh of relief. You then hopped up to sit on a stone ledge and brought a hand up to your chest. He adjusted the zoom as your lips started to move, but you stopped as soon as he did so. Instead, he got a close up of your furrowed brow. Your lashes descended and your lips came together into an o-shape. He swallowed hard. Your body relaxed as you seemingly blew out a stream of air in a focused exhale. Your eyes then popped open and you gave a single tight nod. Lifting his goggles, Donatello wasn’t sure if that was something he should brood over. A shred of his imagination was already running wild with love-struck implications, but he shook them away. Rather than marinate on it for the next 15 minutes, he instead emerged from the park and crossed the road.

You caught sight of him as he reached the opposite sidewalk. “That’s not the direction I expected you to come from…”

“I seem to remember something…” He tried to suppress his giddy smile to make the comment more convincing. He hid what he could through an extended arm and a digit pressed to his forehead as if it could recall his memory. “’Everything is a surprise with you?’” He then removed his hand and pushed the finger against your forehead in a mock show of transferring the knowledge.

“You’ve got me there.” You reached up and gently pushed his arm away.

He might have imagined it, but it almost seemed like you lingered. “We did not exchange salutations.”

“Of course, my mistake.” Into the motion of rolling your eyes you hopped off the ledge and onto your feet. “Hello, humble protector. We meet today in the shadow of a closed museum.”

He was sent right back to the rooftop. The flighty feelings as you’d offered your hand to him were something that he chalked up to patrol adrenaline. He knew far better now, but the fact you were joking about such a time wasn’t something he knew how to handle. “Well, citizen…” He straightened his posture and put authoritative hands on his hips. “The museum before you has closed for the general public.”

“We’re not breaking in so you can keep the cover of night, right?” You broke character as anxiety flooded your voice.

“What, no.” It frustratingly brought him out of the charade as well. “Tonight’s member’s night.”

“Oh, you’re a member?”

“Of course I am!” He crossed the distance to the steps as he nursed the supposed insult to his dignity.

You gave a light jog to catch up. “Want me to ask for forgiveness? How dare I not know that!?” You hopped a few steps and turned to look at him now eye level.

“It’s an investment.” He retorted flatly. “The thinned crowd and late night hours are just bonuses.”

“I suppose that is pretty cool…” You turned to look at the building. “But how do I fit into this?”

“I’m going to assume I haven’t inflated your ego somehow and instead venture to ask if you mean ‘how does this fit into the expiatory extravaganza?’”

“Since I’m not the one with an ego stroking issue, let’s just say with your alternate phrasing works.”

He made a face. “Using such language in front of this.” He cleared a few steps in a single bound and threw his arms up at the museum. “A hall of learning!” 

“I don’t…” You let out a laugh. “Which word?”

He gestured to the building again with a pointed grimace.

“Ah.” You snapped your fingers. “I thought I could get you.”

“Not with that poor excuse of an attempt.” He looked down his nose at you and stepped up to the building where an elderly couple were granted entry. “If you follow me, I can answer your question.”

“Some kind of experiential learning?” You wondered, following.

“If I answer that it defeats the purpose.”

You snapped again.

“Is this going to be a thing tonight? I just need to know how long to keep my guard up for.”

“If I answer that it defeats the purpose.” You did a little impression of him before taking the door handle.

You opened the door as he approached, but he stopped shy of the threshold to crowd you for a moment. “Cute.” He dropped the phrase simply, eyeing you up before straightening and strolling in with his hands clasped behind his back.

The fact that it took you 37 seconds to follow meant the move had its intended effect. He considered it retribution and not flirting. When you’d resumed your place at his side, he checked in at the front desk with reserved tickets before steering you to the Halls of Gems and Minerals.

He stopped just before entering the exhibit and did an about face.

You took careful note of him and then the display above the wing before a little smile played on your lips. “I see now.”

“Yes, well…” He sneered over his shoulder.

“Doing something you hate is a pretty good marker of how sorry you are.” You side stepped him and entered to hall.

He trailed behind. “That is some people’s opinions.”

“It makes me kinda want to guess which brother suggested it.”

“Only partially?” Donnie would latch on to any conversational crumbs that could distract his mind from the rocks.

You approached the first display case on the left and looked over it thoughtfully. “Since I don’t know what the next two events are, it wouldn’t be a good guess.”

He hummed with approval, passing only a glance at the informational placard.

You both moved through three more displays cases and he couldn’t mask his disdain. Unlike the pier, there were no airs to put on. It was just cabinet after cabinet filled with different types of rocks. There was some novelty to their formation and ancient status, but beyond that they were mostly bland, roughly textured hunks. He slouched further and further into himself with the only solace being he was upholding his end of the bargain.

“Psst.” He shifted from the depths of his hoodie to find you looking up at him.

“Yes?” Maybe he’d withdrawn a little too much.

You tilted forward and threw a finger up to your lips. You then pretended to glance around the room as if there were a crowd.

He gave a curious nod.

“You got the stuff?” You whispered, leaning in closer with a hand held up to cover your mouth.

He eyed you carefully and took particular note of how your other hand was jammed into your jacket pocket. He instantly grasped what you were reaching for. “Oh, I got it.” He stuffed his hands into his hoodie.

You mouthed a countdown and at the same time you both pulled out your plushes. You giggled happily as they twisted near each other until the magnets clicked them together. “They had such a hard week apart.”

“The blender debacle was quite the stress on purple.” Donnie gave his head a sympathetic shake. 

“White was caught by a supervillain! That can’t possibly compare.” You released your keychain and Donnie brought the pair close.

“Don’t judge an individual’s struggles.” He clicked his tongue before observing the plushes once more. An idea formed so he laced his drawstring through both key rings and tied it off. The pair happily clung to each other from off his hoodie.

You stopped and bit your lip in an attempt to dampen a huge oncoming grin. “That’s too much. Can I take a pic?”

“But of course.” Donnie struck a pose and you shook your head with amusement as you unearthed your phone. As soon as you lifted the camera, however, he dropped out of the act and put on an aloof expression. 

“Say ‘I’m not having any fun!’”

“Does it need to be said when it’s a simple fact?” He brought up a palm to enforce his point and the shutter went off.

“I must say that while this idea was fine in theory, in practice it’s kinda bumming me out.” You reviewed the photo carefully.

He frowned. He should have considered that fact. It was something his brother’s had grouched to him about on multiple occasions. He adjusted his posture in preparation. “I see, I’ll strive to-”

“Nah.” You held up your phone and took a few more photos of him.

Though his was mostly unprepared, he was able to muster a few different facial expression amongst the series. “You did not let me finish.”

“Because I don’t want you to fake it.” You nodded to your phone, satisfied, and pocketed the device. “How about a game?”

“Color me intrigued.” He agreed as you lead him to the next display.

“Kinda like these cuties.” You poked the plushes. “Let’s find each other’s stone.”

He turned and looked out at the expanse of the hall. “You want me to select a rock that represents you?”

You seemed amused. “There’s also gemstones.”

“Shiny colored rocks.” He brought his gaze lethargically back to you.

“Not even a game can get you into this, hm?”  You tipped your head to one side.

He sighed and reviewed the room again. “Or rather how am I supposed to compare you to some hunk of earth? A flower would do you better justice, something with-” He froze, realizing the connotation of the words spilling out of his mouth. His throat tightened and this time the slow trip his eyes took back to you was done out of fear.

You didn’t seem upset, but instead your were colored with mild surprise in the shape of raised brows and parted lips.

“Are we going to just keep ignoring the absurdly large geodes?” Donnie’s voice was so tightly coiled it almost teetered into laughter. His limbs moved robotically as he waddled over to the closest suspended object. He wasn’t really looking at it as he was through it. Still, he felt you approach.

“Woah…” You breathed.

He didn’t dare glance at you, but instead forced his eyes to focus on the behemoth in front of him. Within the geode was a veritable galaxy of purples bespeckled with reflective stars of white. He felt his blood pressure bottom out as it reminded him of the meteor shower. That night had yet to be fully scrubbed of his transgressions.

“It says it’s a amethyst with purple quartz crystals and it’s 9 feet tall.”

He nodded dumbly.

“There’s a taller one over there, but it’s skinnier.” From the way your jacket rustled you must be pointing. Unfortunately, he was caught in a mix of unable and not wanting to look away.

You stood by him in solemn silence until an exhale was ripped from him. He wasn’t sure when he’d started to hold his breath.

“Guess I don’t need to pick then.” Your voice was warm with understanding.

“What do you mean?” His, on the other hand, sounded far away.

“This one’s you.”

He blinked.

“Funny answer or the deep one?”

He wondered if you looking at him or the geode. “Both.”

“Purple.” You stated flatly.  

Though it didn’t illicit any comedic response, it did give him enough wherewithal to close his eyes.

“But it’s also a kind of sweep you off your feet sort of piece. It has a clarity that means you can see everything, but there’s so much to see that it’d be impossible to catch every little detail in a single lifetime. It’s somehow both uplifting and grounding at the same time…”

The words and their contextual meaning seeped into his brain slowly. As they did, they translated into a rapid pre-heating of his face until his cheeks were fully aflame. When he finally snapped his head to the side to catch a glimpse of you, you were wandering off to the next display. There was no way he could follow something like that up. In desperation, Donatello scoured the space with his eyes as his feet were glued to the ground. He’d already stated his case and point on the stones. You saw something in them, or maybe him, that he certainly didn’t.

Then, as if reading his mind, you spoke. “Guess we’ll have to go to the Botanical Garden sometime.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.” He watched as your rounded a slab of teals and greens. “I expect you to tell me which flower I am.”

He had to wrap a hand around his mouth to keep a confession from slipping out.

-

Leo's Levity

“An often overlooked aspect is the tightness of the laces.” Donatello wound the string around his fingers and gave it a tug.

“Mhm.” You listened above him from your perch on a bench.

He slipped a hand behind your skate and gave the laces another tug. “It helps keep your ankle straight, a folly that many first timers fail to take into consideration.” Satisfied, he tied the strings. “It’s much safer when there’s no wiggle room.”

“Huh.” Out of the corner of his eye he could see your fingers curl around the bench and squeeze.

Pausing he glanced up from where he was knelt down in front of you, tying your skates. “Rambling?” He wasn’t sure why he dropped the full sentence structure.

“No.” You lips wrinkled. “Your explanation is enlightening, I just…” You clinked your one skate against the ground. “…usually tie my own shoes?”

He blinked at you and then down to your other, yet to be tied, skate. Stiffening, the last few minutes flooded back to him. He’d been so caught up in the euphoria of exposition that the skate rental process sort of flew by. After getting a pair, you took to a bench where he continued on in his account and rounded you unconsciously. He then paired his verbal instructions to physical ones without even asking you if that was alright.

His mouth opened and closed.

He brought his gaze up to you and hoped it translated enough regret.

You giggled as you seemingly connected the dots. “You might as well finish the other one?”

Rigid, he began to twist the undone laces through the hooks. “I apologize. I’d say I don’t know what came over me, but…”

“Just another Donatello surprise.” There was a soothing quality to your voice.

He shook his head and similarly tugged on your shoestrings. “For the record, I am confident in your ability to do this yourself.”

“I wasn’t worried. It’s honestly fine.” You shifted your foot slightly to kick up his attention. “You hear that Donnie’s brain?”

He flicked his eyes up for just a moment as he finished tying off a knot. “He hears you loud and clear. It’s the application of said concepts that I can’t attest to.” He stood and slipped his own skates from where they were threaded across his shoulders.

“Sure, sure.” You clinked your feet together, testing their new outfitting. “I’m sure you can guess what my brain is thinking.” He rounded you to take his own seat on the bench and watched you gesture to his skates as he passed.

“I am beginning to think you’re just jealous you do not have a signature color.” Through a single finger he held up his still knotted purple skates.

“I will neither confirm nor deny.” You made a show of rolling your eyes and continued to admire your laces. “I’m surprised you have your own pair. Do you skate often?”

“No. In fact…” Between untying his laces, Donnie sorted through his mental files. “I don’t believe I’ve ever properly skated. Though, there have been a few makeshift "work" sessions however.”

“Some kind of ice mutant?” You wondered.

“Not specifically, no. More like forethought into environmental manipulation.” No longer putting on a show, he made quick work of suiting up.

“So you bought them just for this? I hope that’s not a waste.” You leaned forward at the thought to get a better glimpse at his skates.

“Made.” He corrected, taking to his feet.

“You made them?!” You bent forward until your chest touched your legs to better study the footwear.

“When you compare that to the price of custom skates that accommodate these feet, you’ll find I made the wiser choice.” He took a few steps forward and turned with an outstretched hand.

“I should have thought of that.” You shook your head and rose up to take his offer.

“Not at all. There’s a reason we all prefer to go barefoot.” With a little tug he pulled you to your feet.

You bounced up and down a few times, testing the thin blade you were balanced on. “Barefoot in New York…”

“There are some things better left unsaid.” He pretended to give you the queasy cold shoulder as he headed to the shoe locker. He found that you kept tether to his hand on the way. Pleased that you were behind him, he let the mushy expression as a result run over his features before tucking it away. To access the lockers, contact was lost, but he didn’t let it get to him. He focused as you both headed over to the rink.

The little inlet approached and he took to the side of it. “Ready?”

You brought prepared fists to your chest. “Rockefeller is going down!”

“The titular brothers are long dead, but I am always for dismantling wealth inequality.” He waved you to go first and watched as you carefully set out on the ice.

He hovered behind and you awkwardly waded into the rotation of skaters. Keeping close to the wall, you seemed stable enough so he slid up beside you. You passed him a glance from where you’d been focusing on your feet. “You’re so stiff.”

“Whatever do you mean?” He lifted one of his skates and in a twist of momentum, used it to turn himself around so he was gliding backwards.

“Your body.” You flapped a hand at him and it shifted your balance. You snuck the flub under a more aggressive thrust, which put you a little pace ahead of him. “You’re like a plank of wood!”

“Hm?” He looked down and found his posture impeccable. “It’s easier to balance when your core is tight and the weight is properly distributed.” He used a similar turn to right himself as the first curve approached.

“I have… so many questions…” Your sentence clipped as you focused on maneuvering the semi-circle.

“I have an adequate amount of answers.” He languidly replied, taking the same curve on a single skate.

“This is seriously the first time you’ve skated!?” You squawked as soon as the straight away resumed.

“Your sarcasm is duly noted.” He chuckled. He was quite enjoying the chance to show off. So far, Leo’s ascertain had been completely wrong too, which happened to be wonderful little bonus.

“Oh, of course.” You seemed to throw your hands up, but caught them from going higher than your shoulders. “You probably trained for years standing on the tips of bamboo poles!”

“Stereotypes are unbecoming.” He mused and outpaced you a bit.

“Did you though?” You called out after him, shuffling in an attempt to catch up.

“Not bamboo per say…” He trailed off.

“But definitely the balance training?” You huffed, finally joining his side once again.

“Do you want me to go into detail about our regimes or would you rather pay me the envious compliment that is skating on the tip of your tongue?” He slowed a bit and bent at the knees to redistribute his weight. Once he was cleared, he used the change to bend forward and brought his face close to yours awaiting a response.

A moment of shock passed over your features first and then a tepid glare. He watched as your lips started to part when a young voice screamed out.

“Watch the flow of traffic, love birds! Gross!” A pre-teen rocketed by, purposefully wedging himself in the tiny space between you and the wall. It caused an inevitable drive-by and immediately threw you off balance.

You floundered, your arms darting out wildly. In his bent position, he couldn’t correct you or himself in time. Your skates rapidly clicked against the ice in search of traction before finally sliding out from under you. Hurtling forward, you grasped frantically until your fingers found the first object they could get a hold of: the flaps of his trapper hat. With your full weight a counterbalance at his neck, Donnie’s reflexes kicked in. He dropped down under the load, shifting it to his feet. With them skating on a blade, he then pushed off and against the wall to keep from an outright collapse.

With the crisis averted, he took a moment to breath before surveying the result. He pulled back to find you nestled between his chest and the wall. You seemed alright, though you weren’t quite at the processing stage as he was. He had a hand gripping the partition on either side of you and, as you blinked off the adrenaline, the intimacy of the position seeped into his skin. Through his thick jacket, he couldn’t feel your warmth, but that didn’t keep his body from imagining it could. Regaining your bearings, you looked up at him with owlish surprise.

“Kids, right?” You spoke, your gaze dropping down just as quickly as you’d found his.

“Yeah.” He responded curtly, pivoting around to find the culprit and not in a pathetic attempt to give you some distance from his person. He found the boy already off ice and being scolded by someone. Smugly satisfied, Donnie turned back to find you hunkered into yourself. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah… My hearts just still racing…” You mumbled, your voice muffled against your jacket.

“Let’s take a break then.” He pushed off the wall.

“Wait!”

The smooth ice meant he drifted back incrementally from one of your outstretched hands.

“Yes…?” He was thankful for the cold air on his face as it was a quick tempering solution for his overactive imagination. It almost seemed like you didn’t want him to let go of you. That had to another one of cupid’s tricks.

“W-we haven’t even done a full lap yet!” You were practically buzzing. He watched as you scooted into a turn and pushed off into the flow of skaters.

“You sure you’re alright?” It took him a single stride to catch up.

“Yes! It’s just… scary! It WAS scary, I mean!” You made shorter strides as if you were trying to run away, but it only translated to a treading water motion.

“Gliding is easier and takes less effort.” He offered quietly. Your anxious energy paired with your resistant attitude meant he wasn’t quite sure how to react.

“Would you-!” You started and stopped to give him a passing glance.

He recoiled from the strange look on your face. You then seemingly used that hitch by grabbing the wall and propelling yourself forward in one quick slingshot. He stared after your from as you then took his advice and started making longer strides. Confused and with his own nerves starting to fray, he kept his pace steady. He watched as your gritted form then proceeded to circle the rink, lapping him twice. Each time you passed, he couldn’t quite grab your expression. It took until the third pass for you to finally join his side once again.

The silence between you felt deafening amongst the idle background chatter. 

As another lap ticked by, Donnie could only nervously glance at you out of the corner of his eye. Your face was staunchly out of his view. The looming threat of his first make-up failure resonated on the horizon. As far as he could tell it didn’t seem to be a fault of his own at least. It also wasn’t something he’d stand for, however. He closed his eyes for a moment and practiced a re-centering technique. A calm wave swept over him and his leant himself over to his brain’s processor. It quickly conjured up a hundred or so possible actions. Sorting the data into categories of likely and unlikely to help, he paused when Leos’ suggestion came up. He was about to swipe the offending note to "unlikely' when April’s voice reminded him that he was supposed to be putting his trust into them. Frowning, he came back to the rink and stared you down.

“Let’s race.”

For a moment he wasn’t sure you heard him. Then slowly, you turned to look at him. He took note of your otherwise blank expression. “What?”

“A race; we’ll do a lap around the rink and the winner gets full gloating rights; a much needed release if you will.”

You were again slow to process the information, but you shifted to survey a couple who skated by. “What about them?”

“What about them?” Though his heart wasn’t in it, he put on his best smug smile. “One lap won’t harm anyone.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Probably won’t harm anyone. I suppose that will all depend on whether or not you try to take someone else out again.”

Fire immediately lit in your eyes.

A little bit of innocent chiding wasn’t usually his style in this type of scenario, but Donnie had come to find that a little violent outburst could be a great remedy for a brush with mortality.

“Fine.” You ground out. “Starting line is the entrance.”

“Let’s also put hot cocoa on the line. Loser buys.”

“Doubling down before you’ve even won?” You responded coolly.

“You think you have a chance?” Pushing onto one skate, he did a single twirl.

“Keep it up.” Your voice was still smooth, but your shoulders bunched up.

“It’s coming up.” He pointed, steeling himself. He needed to believably throw the race. Mapping out the rink and its attendants into mental blueprints, he located an older man presumably with his grandson and charted their velocity. Then accounting for his own speed, he marked off an intersection point where he could fake getting hung up by the pair. If he estimated your speed accurately, then it would just cause him to lose. It was foolproof. Parting a final glance to you before hitting the starting line. He found your ever neutral expression unnerving somehow. He tried to brush it off as the last few feet quickly disappeared.

You shot off as soon as the inlet was breeched.

For a split second, he stared dumbfounded at your suddenly Olympic form before his mental alarm bells went off. He dropped his center of gravity and took off after you. Your head start and decisive skating meant he struggled to make headway. He’d almost thought you’d been putting on airs the whole time. That was until you suddenly swung wide in order to avoid the earlier logged old man and grandson. Unequipped for the wide arc, your arms flew out and spiraled as you teetered onto one skate in the sharp momentum. He was about to cut across the rink to help, when the half-moon instead carried you through and back into a straight line.

Staring, he’d lost even more distance. He pushed his legs to their limit, but there just wasn’t enough time to make up all the rink he’d lost. Coming around the second curve, Donnie watched as you hopped right out of the rink at the finish line and took a few awkward steps on dry land. Adjusting, you then quickly spun around and pressed yourself up against the wall just before the door to watch his approach. He forgot to keep his speed when he noticed you’d dropped the indifferent veneer. He snapped back to his board-like stance when a bright smug smile burst out between your cheeks. He drew in close to the wall as he rounded the rink towards you.

“What was that?” He remarked with an accusatory finger as he drew in close. He couldn’t waste time being awestruck. Though he’d honestly lost, he still had a role to play. A shred of your usual self returned and he’d assume any character to keep it that way.

“Vengeance!” You shouted and all but threw yourself over the wall to grab his hand.

His head jerked as you caught hold of him and sharply pulled at an angle. The lack of friction underfoot meant he wasvsuddenly hurtling towards the inlet at an uncontrollable speed. With nary a moment to think, his skates hit the metal separation point and all he could do was force his weight up when they inevitably hooked. You released your hold on him and he, on the tips of his skates, made several clumsy jumps before teetering as his momentum finally slowed. He was just about to blow out a relived puff of air when he felt a finger tap to his shell. It had just enough pressure to cause him to collapse over in a heap.

Snapping up and spinning around in an instantaneous recovery, he found you gloating next to him.

“You’re right. I do feel better.”

You were close enough that he could see it in your eyes as well; you were utterly unencumbered. The feeling was infectious and his own features softened before he grasped what was happening. He only realized he’d let one of his enamoured smiles out when surprise began to steep your featurs. He felt his throat constrict as he forced his lips into a tight line. He was sure you caught the fear in his eyes. He waited for disappointment, but instead you took on what he labeled as compassionate smile.

“I believe you owe me a hot cocoa?”

“Yes. I believe I do.” He mentally blessed the reprieve you’d granted him. He was safe, at least for now.

“Were you really going to make me buy cocoa when you’re supposed to be the one making up?” You held out a hand and he took it.

“I was going to throw the race.” You gave a small tug and he stood.

“What?” You recoiled and released his hand. “That’s terrible!”

He dusted himself off. “Your legitimate victory serendipitous then. You inadvertently saved me from myself.” 

You continued to drill him about his plan as you went back to grab your shoes. He made sure to praise your dodge maneuver as you put them on. The realization that you’d beaten a ninja at something sunk in as you returned your skates. Your glowing excitement ended up warming him up more than the cocoa.

NEXT

[afreakingdork]

Crush Too Much - Part 17

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader

Warnings: Longing, Angst, Fluff, Embarrassment, Overbearing Siblings, Aged-up Turtles

Synopsis:  So you met a customer three times at work and that made a pretty big impression on you? That’s nothing to necessarily get worked up over, but when you’re all prepared to ask for his number the next time you see him and his brother gets involved instead, you might be in for something more than you bargained for.

FIRST 💜 PREVIOUS

“Ahem, my apologies for the delay. I’m sure you’re all curious why I’ve gathered you here today.”

Maneuvering around the couch with his nose buried into his notes, Donatello took a commanding spot in front of the projector. Tossing his head back and adjusting his neck, he prepared to launch into his annoucement when he noticed his family had not taken notice of his appearance.

“And that’s when Mrs. Sidorov’s cat was saved from where he got stuck in the drain pipe!” April had her phone held up high.

“Graham Cracker was really ok?” Raph sniffled as he poured himself over the back of the couch to get a better look.

“Yup! You know, some of my coworkers hate doing puff pieces, but when you’re a field reporter it’s kinda a nice reprieve from all the typical crazy.” From her crook sofa seat, April turned her head and softened at the tears in Raph’s eyes. “Aw, Raph! He's ok! Look, I got another one of him with Mrs. S.”

“Graham Cracker is a terrible name for the cat.” Leo shook his head from where he was taking up a third of the couch.

“No way! Food names are the best pet names!” Mikey waved a hand from where he was twisted with his legs hanging over the armrest in the final sofa position.

“You’re too far away to make that judgment and I didn’t say that.”  Leo leaned over his little brother’s head. “It’s a gray cat.”

“Then-” Mikey started and stopped, squinting. “Not brown or tan or even tortoiseshell?”

“Ahem.”

“When you’re right, you’re right. The cat’s gray.” April spoke matter-of-factly.

“You guys don’t get it! Graham Cracker is perfect just the way he is.” Raph huffed, kneeling down so his chin rested on the back of the couch.

“Cough, cough!”

“More like purr-fect!” Leo chuckled, reaching around to pat his older brother on the head.

Donatello slammed a hand against the projector screen which wobbled against the wall.

Leo turned his attention languidly. "Finally, do you know how long we’ve been waiting?”

“Do you-!?” Donnie hissed before catching himself. He took a deep breath and released it while flicking his hands to rid himself of the irritation. “As I said before, I’m sure you’re all curious why I summoned you!” 

“Actually I was wondering why we’re having a family meeting without dad…” Raph tipped his head from amongst the couch cushions.

“Oh yeah! Where is he anyway?” Mikey wiggled around until his head was butted up against Leo’s thigh.

Donatello thread his fingers and pointed two of them out. "I have distracted our esteemed father with an HD cut of his favorite shows and this isn’t necessarily a family meeting, if you-”

“Wouldn’t he be in here if he was watching his shows?” April leaned forward and motioned to the recliner.

“Raph, dare you to go sit in it!” From where his arm was still slung over the back of the couch, Leo poked his older brother.

“Dad’s chair!?” Raph slunk back further behind the couch.

Mikey snickered. “Maybe by thirty you’ll be brave enough!”

“If it’s so….” Raph’s head popped back up along with an accusatory finger. “Such not a big deal then why don’t you go sit in it!?”

All three members of the couch clammed up.

“I-I’m just so comfortable, I mean look at me!” Mikey cross his legs and gave an awkward smile.

Donatello slapped a hand to his forehead and dragged it down his face. “This was a terrible idea. You’re all dismissed.”

“Sweet!” Leo snapped to his feet until April caught his bandana tails.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She tugged down and he bent backwards at the movement. “I’m sure Donnie has something really important he needs to talk about if he called us all here. Isn't that right, Donnie?”

Frowning, Donatello sighed. “As much as it pains me to say so, yes.”

April kept hold until Leo reclaimed his seat.

With the group’s silence and attention finally garnered, the weight of what he was about to do began to sink in. Donatello cleared his throat and adjusted his posture nervously. The move caused several of his note cards to break free from their brethren and he waffled to pick them up. Crouched over a stray page, he pretended to look it over. “What I’m about to discuss with you is a delicate topic in regards to my person. I would…” He sneered slightly. “…appreciate it if you could exhibit, I don’t know, just an ounce of decorum, if that’s even possible.” He straightened and looked out at his family with a disarmed expression. “Surely I don’t need to remind you that you know me and that it wouldn’t come to this unless absolutely necessary.”

Seeing the display, everyone shifted. April and Leo's backs erected. With minimal trouble, Mikey spun around and tucked himself upright into the corner of the couch. Raph momentarily eyed the newly opened space, but decided not to crowd the furniture. Instead, the older sibling rounded the couch and plopped down cross legged in front of it.

Failing to reorganize his notes, Donatello dropped the arm clutching them to his side. “Though I’m not one to harp…”

Leo rolled his eyes and Raph sent an elbow back into his sibling’s leg.

“This is very very…. very difficult for me to do. That's three verys mind you.” Donatello got the comment out through gritted teeth.

“We’re here for you, Donnie.” April reassured.

“No jokes! Whatever you have to say, we’ll help however we can.” It was Mikey’s turn to snatch Leo’s tails. Leo gave a small yelp as he was tugged down until he was below his younger sibling’s gaze. “Right, Leo?”

Shrinking under Mikey’s intense glower, a brittle laugh escaped Leo’s throat. “Y-Yup! Whenever you’re ready, Don-tron!”

Mikey released his hold and Leo scooted closer to April who casually shoved him back into the center of the couch.

With his eyes glued to the floor, Donatello screwed his eyes shut. “It has recently come to my attention that I’m in love with Y/N.”

Raph was the first to move. The elder turtle sibling nearly bounced with excitement before clapping his hands over his mouth. From above him, April bit her lip and turned to Leo. Leo’s head lolled back and he threw his fists up in silent frustration. Mikey glowered at his sibling with such intensity that Leo brought them back down and mimed out an annoyed accusation at Donnie. Mikey’s cheeks puffed up with further displeasure.

Bringing his gaze up, Donatello saw his family all scramble to resume neutral positions. He huffed as his shoulders droop. “Go ahead less you all pop blood vessels.”

“FINALLY!” Leo groaned, collapsing over Raph’s form.

“What he means to say is, we’re glad you… finally figured it out?” April gave an awkward grin.

“Don’t listen to them, Donnie!” Raph cheered. “They don’t know what they’re talking about! I am so proud! My little bro's all grown up!” He then wiped a tear from his eye.

“No, I think I would know more than any of you!” Leo grumbled, pushing off of Raph’s back roughly though his sibling didn’t budge in the slightest. “If we’re gonna throw anyone under the bus at this point it should be Dr. Heartbreak over here.” Leo jut an thumb back at Mikey.

“I didn’t tell him it was love!” Mikey squeaked at the allegation. “Plus it was you two-" He pointed a finger of one hand at Leo and the other at Raph. “-who were trying to use my fashion show as some sneaky matchmaking op!”

Leo gave a loud fake gasp. “El yo acuso! I would never!”

“Don’t play cute! You knew about it too!” Raph was sweating bullets.

“But I wasn’t going to do it and I told you guys not to!” Mikey rose incrementally out if his seat.

“You invited Y/N to the after party! How is that not participation?” Leo tipped over with narrowed eyes.

“He has you there.” April gave a knowing nod.

Mikey babbled out a series of incoherent syllables before turning a watery eye to the center of the room. “Donnie, tell them! I didn’t invite Y/N cause of that. Tell them!”

Having brought attention back to the focus of the discussion, everyone clammed up.

“Better?” Donatello asked dryly.

Everyone gave a single tight nod.

“The love part isn’t the issue at hand.” Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, Donatello cast his gaze down. “We have decided that we are going to be friends moving forward-”

“You confessed too?!” Leo scrambled forward so quickly that he hooked a spike on Raph’s shell and flipped over onto the floor. Now on his back, he gasped weakly.

“No, I did not.” Donatello responded, unperturbed.

Raph slide his hands under Leo’s shoulder and lifted him up. “Then how did ya come to that conclusion?”

“We finally discussed what we should be.”

“Isn’t it kinda hard to come to that conclusion when they don’t know the whole story?” April asked. 

“They know enough.” Donatello swept his flat gaze to April.

“But you love them?” Mikey jumped in.

"What difference does it make if I do?” Donatello winced and broke eye contact again. Feeling vulnerable, he wrapped his arms around himself.

The others exchanged looks.

“So, you brought us here to…?” Leo wheezed, shaking off a few lingering glares.

“Cutting Y/N out of my life again is out of the question. I agreed to the friendship terms. I need to rid myself of this accursed affection if I am to move forward. I already know the ins and outs of the neurobiology of love and unfortunately used it incorrectly-” Donatello grimaced. “-to talk myself out of my feelings before. I don’t… I don’t think I can handle discussing my misdeeds right now, so let’s just focus on the matter at hand.”

There was another heated exchanging of looks.

Getting to her feet and crossing the room, April placed a careful hand to one of Donatello’s arms. “Oh, Donnie… How long have you known?”

“Which part?” He kept his gaze away.

“That you were in love.”

“Since the after party.”

Mikey counted out on his fingers. “That’s… Nine? Days… I think?”

Donatello nodded.

Finally recovering from knocking the wind out of his own lungs, Leo was the next to approach his sibling. “And when did you and Y/N come to the whole friendship decision?”  

“Three days ago.” Donatello stiffened at the approach causing him to inadvertently leave April’s touch.

“Wait, you saw Y/N Friday?” As the timeline manifested in Raph’s mind, he also got to his feet.

“Yes! I needed help with my plants!” Feeling encroached by his siblings, Donatello took a few wary steps back.

“Hey, it’s ok.” April brought her hands up and moved closer to Leo. “We’re not interrogating you. Remember we didn’t know about this-” She thrust an elbow into Leo’s side when a chuckle started to escape him. “We’re just trying to get the whole picture.”

“Give me the whole picture on why everyone keeps hitting me.” Leo grumbled and retreated to the safety of the couch.

“I’m glad you’ve brought that up.” Donatello tipped his head down and reached behind his back.

April, being the closest, stiffened.

“Because I’ve prepared and in depth presentation to express that very thing!” With a swing of his limbs, Donatello turned on the projector which blinked open to show an active PowerPoint presentation.

“Oy vey!” Leo crumpled into the couch and tossed an arm over his eyes.

“As you can see here-” Donnie’s goggles came down and he positioned himself to the right of the screen. “We need to make sure everyone is on the same page. So let us start back at the beginning…” The slide turned over and a photograph of a store front appeared. “… at Lou, Mike, Tony, Tony's Pizza!”

April dragged herself to the couch in a similar that manner Leo had. Donatello began to drone on about the first time he met you. Raph, who was still standing, glanced between the presentation and his family.

“Data calms him down.” Mikey whispered, seeing Raph’s nerves. “He needs this.”

The older sibling nodded and took his earlier seat. With a furrowed brow, he squirmed until he was half facing the presenter while still able to see his family. Raph then mimicked Mikey’s tone. “This ain’t right. What are we gonna do, guys?”

“Which brings me to our first fated meeting: Jet Fuel Coffee Cart!” Donatello continued on obliviously, having now deployed a pointed extension on his tech-bō to direct attention on the screen.

“Oh, no, no, no.” Leo griped, his voice dipping to the same level. “I’ve done enough. I’m fine with the no meddling rule.”

“I’m pretty sure it was you who started the ‘keep Y/N around after the fashion show’ thingy.” Raph turned a dead stare to Leo.

“You say it was me, I say it was a group effort.” Leo shrugged with a smirk.

“Not this again.” Mikey slumped his shoulders. “No more blame. Are we seriously gonna help Donnie move on?”

Leo’s smile waned.

“New Jersey, enemy to not only to the casual New Yorker, but to Dream Vans the world over!”

“You would know best.” Raph eyed the middle sibling. “Does Y/N still love him?”

Leo twisted in his seat and gave a strained expression. “Nope! Nuh-uh! Not going there! I’ve kept my distance since throwing them a break-up party.”

Mikey cocked a curious brow.

“Don’t worry about it.” Leo waved the matter off without passing a glance at his younger sibling. He folded his arms until the persistent stares of his brothers wore him down. “Ok, fine! They were head over heels for Mr. Smarty Pants forever, but I honestly don’t know how they currently feel. I mean would you blame them if they moved on? It’s not like it was specifically anyone’s fault, bad timing let’s say, but let’s also say I have totally lost count of the number of wrongs Don’s committed. It’s basically criminal, but sorry, what was my point again?” Leo brought fluttering eyelashes to Mikey who pouted in return.

“It means we don’t know how Y/N feels. No matter how wrong we think it is, we can’t plan anything if they’ve moved on!” Raph frowned and gave a little dejected huff.

“We all saw how they were when they danced together.” Mikey murmured after a few moments of saddened silence passed.

Leo clicked his tongue.

“And while I’m not proud of what I did, I will say almost destroying Leo did have a certain level of satisfaction to it!”

“When you put it like that…” Raph hummed with mild frustration. “No, it doesn’t matter. We have to know for sure.”

“April.” Mikey leaned forward to look beyond Leo. The others followed suit. “You’ve been quiet.”

“I’m listening to both of you.” She pointed to Donnie, who was still passionately giving his presentation, and then twisted her wrist back to the brothers. “But I’ve also been thinking about something Donnie said.”

“Which part?” Mikey twisted his head and squinted at the projection in hopes of catching up.

“The part about New Jersey?” Leo croaked to himself.

“He said something about not being able to talk about his misdeeds.” April confirmed, bringing her furrowed brow up. “What do you think he meant by that specifically?”

“He’s got a ton of guilt.” Leo shrugged.

All heads swiveled to the middle brother.

“What?” Leo glanced around the group.

“What do you mean? I thought we went through the grieving process with him?” Mikey asked, dejection in his voice.

“We did.” Leo continued to look for a shred of understanding among his family.

“Then from what he thinks ge did wrong?” Raph looked to April.

“Leo, you’re gonna need to expand on that.” April pushed her hands together and then apart in demonstration.

Rolling his eyes, Leo leaned back into the couch. “Look at it this way, he’s had nine days to totally over think this whole thing. We may have helped him process his heartbreak, but if he’s saying this now then he must not have realized his was suffering was cause he was in love until then. Meaning, depending on how long he’s been in love, he’s probably been tearing himself up realizing all the missed opportunities while also being pretty dang aware of how that must have felt for Y/N.”

“You all became pretty prominent at this point, but only Mikey was present the day of the third fated meeting…”

April pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, Donnie…”

“Then three days ago…?” A spark of understanding shined in Mikey’s eyes.

“I’m gonna bet he invited them over because he wanted to see them and this and that happened before some dramatic tension popping moment where Y/N finally needed to undo the whole, terribly named, 'un-duo' situation. Donald thinking he’d already quacked up the whole thing, probably rolled right over for friendship.” Leo pressed his lips together in a tight line.

“He’s gotta confess.” April decided, determination setting into her features.

“W-wait, what about Y/N’s feelings?” Raph brought his hands up anxiously.

“That’s what you took away from what I said?” Leo turned a arched brow at April.

“I know.” She turned, her lips tight. “It seems insensitive, but think, if they really are over him then this is their chance to formally reject him and hopefully both of them can actually move on. Maybe it’s just me, but if I was chasing some dummy around, even if I had gotten over them, I’d at least want to know if they actually had liked me the whole time! It would make me not always wonder if I was crazy. Plus, and again, might just be me, but these two have fate stink all over them. They basically can’t get away from each other. That’s gotta mean something.”

Raph’s eyes were watering and he brought a knuckle up to scrub at them. “True love always gets to me…”

Mikey gave a soft look to Raph before glancing at the screen. “He’s almost caught up!” Crossing his legs, he took his meditation stance. “What’s the plan?”

The group glanced at Leo who tried unsuccessfully to ignore the attention. “Please stop making me do this.”

“Just don’t be a jerk about it this time!” April slapped his shoulder.

“I’ll give you hints and nothing else!” Leo griped, rubbing the appendage. “What does this whole thing feel like?” With an outstretched hand, he twisted his wrist around the room.

“A family meeting, duh.” Raph responded blankly.

“What else?” Leo rolled his eyes.

“It’s kinda like a mixed up intervention since Donnie’s the one who’s having a ‘problem’ and wants it to stop, 'cept he called the meeting on himself…” Mikey mumbled with a creased brow.

April popped up with an idea. “Exactly! Let’s intervent this intervention!”

“Mhm!” Leo gave an approving hum.

“Huh wha-?” Mikey mouthed in confusion.

“Time for an April O’Neil recap!” She bounced and settled into her newscaster stance. “One. Donnie wants to make up for his mistakes.”

Raph brought up a single digit to count her down.

“Two. He wants to stop being in love so he can be a good friend!”

Mikey shook his head not at April, but the absurdity of the sentence’s content.

“Three. It’s not really tricking someone if they’re literally asking us for help.” She gave a wicked grin. “Good friends try to make up for mess ups, right Mr. Breakup Party?” She turned a knowing brow at Leo.

“There’s such a fine line between romance and friendship when you add a little feelings to the mix.” Leo winked.

“I don’t follow…” Raph stared at his three fingers in dismay.

April leaned over the couch to put a hand on the elder turtle sibling’s shoulder. “We’re gonna ‘help’ Donnie by 'recommending' he ‘make up’ for his mistakes to Y/N, but our 'suggestions' are gonna perfectly set the scene for him to confess.”

“That was a lot of air quotes…” Raph pursed his lips.

“Follow our lead!” Mikey sprung forward and grabbed the top of Raph’s head, pivoting it back to Donnie.

“And with that we are up to date!” Donatello turned to find his family facing him with smiles a little too wide. “Come on guys, I practiced to get the whole spiel under 5 minutes. Are your attention spans really that short?”

“Actually Donnie, I think we got it. We’re just a little, ya know, unsure of how to help.” April offered, shifting on her cushion.

“We are?” Raph looked up as if the ceiling could offer him an answer.

“First off!” The couch creaked under Mikey’s sudden jolt. “Why isn’t Cass here!? I mean, she’s the one of us that has a kid and all!”

“Future and present.” Leo chuckled.

“While she is also family…” Donatello swirled his hands, searching for the right choice of words. “Like dad, I wouldn’t say her idea romance is particularly synonymous with my own.”

April’s lips wrinkled. “That’s fair.”

“And…” Raph could feel the eyes on the back of his head as he began. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page…” The eyes all but bore into him.

“Go ahead.” Donatello urged.

“You gave this whole recap speech, but you need our help to get over Y/N?” The eyes seemed to let up and Raph resisted the urge to blot his brow.

“Unfortunately.” Donatello began and then feigned clearing his throat. “I’ve thoroughly researched the subject and though I appear to have cleared most of the steps. There has been abject failure on my part to actually move on which puts me at a loss.”

“But you didn’t cover those steps just now… did you?” Mikey asked, tapping a finger to his knee.

Lifting his goggles, Donatello narrowed his gaze at his youngest sibling.

Mikey puffed out his cheeks as wide as they would go.

“Hm, I suppose you were listening if you know that much.” Donatello turned and clicked the projector remote to the next slide which was blank. He then brought up his cuff and from it notes began to appear on the screen

With his back turned, the rest of the family squabbled in silence right up until the second Donatello turned around.

“Alright, here is a quick rundown which I will also explain.” Though he had addressed his family, Donatello’s voice hitched so he glanced back at the screen. “I’ve already been through the grieving process, a period of distance, and, as discussed, gone over the neurological components.”

“Woah, there, smart guy!” April called out, leaning forward. “There’s no actual time limit on those things. If you’re still struggling then you obviously didn’t go through the process enough.”

“No time limit, hm?” Donatello turned to stare at this notes.

Leo pulled on April’s sleeve violently. She, in turn, gently put her hand to his cheek before shoving it so far over that he bumped heads with Mikey.

“What I think-!” Leo began and all parties shot back to their respective spots as Donnie turned back around. “-April is forgetting is that you don’t really have the time to get over it, wouldn’t you say!?”

“Y-Yeah!” Mikey piqued. “You said you couldn’t cut Y/N out of your life!”

“Very true.” April bared a vicious grin which she slowly turned on Leo. “We can’t forget that, can we? But, we also can’t forget that letting someone move forward with a bad emotional basis is also gonna screw everything up!”

“I’m sensing something is up.” Raising a brow, Donatello waited for one of his family members to fess up.

Instead the four scrambled together as if they were posed for a yearly portrait.

“What makes you think that?”

“Us? Ha! Never!”

“We’re just here to help…! I think?”

“Why didn’t you use a theme on your presentation?”

All eyes pivoted instantly on Mikey.

“I didn’t want to overshadow the content.” Donatello took a single step forward. “A change in subject is a classic Mikey diversion tactic.”

“To be fair, it’s also just something he does when he’s distracted.” Leo shrugged his shoulders while both removing his arms from where they had snaked around April and Mikey.

“Out with it. Now.” Donatello took a few more steps until he was in the center of the room.

Everyone sent their gazes in different directions. Each with their own boiling point, Raph was the first to start sweating. He was then followed closely by Mikey, who began to bounce his leg. Leo twitched next, his hands shaking minutely. Finally, April, the strongest fortitude of the bunch, turned to look over her compatriots. She shook her head and stood to address Donnie in there stead.

“You got us.”

The other boys stiffened like boards.

“We just…” She gave them all another look, this time telegraphing reassurance. They relaxed slightly, but glanced at each other curiously. “We think you’re going about this the wrong way, D.”

Donatello’s shoulders rose at the claim.

“Being in love is something you should enjoy, not something you should toss aside like a used tissue. Seriously, you said it was nine days, right? And where has that got you? You’ve been miserable for most of it, huh?”

Startling at her question, Donatello looked away. “Not, all of it…”

“When you were together?” She responded with a dry knowing tone.

“But that’s-”

“Inappropriate? Wrong? Not cool? Yeah, it can be, but if you think past all your overthinking, did they ever seen uncomfortable?” April put her hands on her hips.

Lowering his head, Donnie reviewed the footage. “Only when we discussed our status.” Bringing his gaze back up, he remembered something else. “Especially when I mentioned properly apologizing.”

“Speaking of, and let’s table the love bit for just a moment. That seems like a sore subject all around.” April closed the gap between her and Donnie in a few steps.

“I need to do it right.” He responded, eyeing her warily.

“Now, this is just a guess, but it seems like that’s more of a pressing issue for you, hm?”

“I consider the two connected, but not intertwined.”

“Ok, stay with me here, but we all know the scientific lengths you’ve gone to excuse your feelings…”

Donatello’s guard went up instantly.

April shushed him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Here’s something that might not have popped up because it’s more of a ‘you gotta know’ kinda thing, but that crazy passionate love tends to burn brighter when there are obstacles.”

“I understand you’re going for some sort of long point here, but I’ll need you to elaborate on that part.”

“Ok…” She looked to the side and curled her bottom lip up into the corner of her mouth. “So, in a regular relationship there’s all these butterflies and giggles when it’s new and thrilling, yeah?”

“I suppose.” Donnie shrugged.

“This is exactly why you need some normalized love experience.” April gave him a dead eyed stare before shaking it off to regain her composure. “Anyway, when love is thwarted the like lifespan of infatuation is extended! Basically, because it’s not working out is why you can’t move on.”

“Uh huh…?” Donnie leaned away from the touch unconvinced.

“Nope!” Twisting her hand, April snatched his bicep and dug her fingers into his muscle.

“Ow! What are you-!?”

“Bringing the point home!” She shouted before leaning back and using her grip on Donnie to toss him towards the sofa. He stumbled the first few feet and then collided with the cushions. “Get him situated, guys!”

Raph stood on command and picked up his brother to seat him correctly. Leo pretended to dust off Donnie’s shoulders and Mikey stood only to take a seat on the opposite side of the couch next to his Donnie.

“Alright, fools! Listen up! Donnie!” April turned her still outstretched arm into a direct point.

“Yeah?” Donatello paled, at a complete loss.

“I propose that you haven’t been able to get over your love because you’re the obstacle getting in its way! Because you’ve been stumbling around with your feelings, they’ve never been given a chance to breathe or chill! That is compounded by this whole self-imposed apology thing you got going on. So, until you make it up to Y/N then you aren’t even gonna start to move on. Which brings me back to what me and the guys were trying to keep under wraps.”

Donnie blinked and slowly moved to look at each of his brothers individually. Mikey gave him a beaming smile. Leo shrugged with a lazy smirk. Raph passed a sheepish grin between his twiddling fingers. Still stunned, Donnie swept the same owlish gaze back to April.

“The proposition is simple: go have fun with Y/N with some activities we cooked up to make it up to them. In doing so, you’ll get to associate your love with some good vibes and then you’ll be naturally ready to let go. If you’re keeping track, that’s an April O’Neil three-for-one special, you’re welcome!” She then ended her presentation with a sharp snap and a pointed wink.

There was silence for a moment before Mikey started a slow clap. Leo and Raph joined in and kept going until Donnie joined them.

As it tapered off, Donnie leaned forward and stared at the tingling hands in his lap. “Do you really think that will work? I need you all to be honest. I need…” He closed his eyes and winced at the minor headache coming on. “I can’t mess this up.”

“You won’t.” Mikey draped himself over Donnie. “You’ll just have to let that big brain of yours take a itsy bitsy break.”

“Do you even know me?” Donnie shook his head, his voice tight.

“Remember when you were on that dance floor?” Leo bumped shoulders with him. “Let yourself have something like that and it’s a shoo-in!”

“You know…” Raph started with a mumble before he regained his voice. “After you and Leo fought, when I walked Y/N home, we talked just a little bit. I knew how much they cared about you and I wanted to say something like ‘because you guys care about each other it’ll all work out,’ but they kinda took the words out of my mouth. I think… No, I know they just want to keep sharing those happy times with you. That’s probably why they keep coming back for more.” Raph feigned slugging Donnie’s shin. “Even though we’re family and there's a bias, I feel the same kinda way. When we have bad moments, it doesn’t negate the good ones. It doesn’t mean it has to keep being bad. You keep making good memories to chase all the bad ones away.” Raph paused and looked to Donnie with renewed determination. “Rather than being sad about not knowing something, what matters more is how you react when you discover it.”    

Silence followed for a moment and Raph stared into Donnie’s rapidly watering eyes until Mikey sniffled. He then turned to find his youngest sibling outright sobbing.

“Ya big galoot!” Leo cried, launching himself at Raph. “Not a dry eye in the house! Where have you been hiding all that wisdom?!”

“Seriously, I thought I had it in the bag and you totally one-uped me!” April used her sleeve to dry her eyes.

“You all, just don’t listen enough. Raph’s got tons of good wisdom to drop!” The elder turtle sibling twisted between eating up the praise and bowing his head with humility.

“Fine.” Donnie swallowed hard, blinking away any errant moisture that threatened to fall. “I’m convinced. What did you all have in mind?”

“Let’s round table our ideas.” April walked over and leaned against the armrest nearest Mikey. “Mine’s gotta be last, who’s going first?”

“More wisdom!” Mikey hiccupped in a cheer.

“That means you, big guy!” Leo confirmed, giving Raph a final pat before reclaiming his spot on the couch.

“M-me?” Raph spun around to face his family. “We were… pitching what again exactly?”

“Su-wing and a’miss!” Leo chuckled, sinking deeper into the cushions.

“Activity ideas for Donnie to make it up to Y/N, remember Raph?” April widened her eyes at him in an attempt to jog his memory.

Raph tilted his head at her before turning his still confused gaze to Donnie. “A gift is always good, right?”

April slapped a hand to her forehead while Mikey patted her shoulder.

Passing only a glance to the pair on his right, Donnie turned his attention to Raph on his left. “I depends on the content.”

“A gift that says ‘I’m sorry.’” Raph hummed with closed eyes. “No.”

Donnie raised a curious brow.

“A gift that says ‘I’m sorry’ from Donnie! That’s totally different!” Raph perked up and leaned forward. “You’re a big ‘make a gift’ kinda guy and your techy gizmos are… mostly fine, but getting something against character would really show how sorry you were!”

“How does pouring hours and hours into a technological wonder not show dedication?” Donnie scoffed.

“’Cause it’s too big! It’s gotta be something small, off the cuff kinda.” Raph brought an arched finger up to his lips. “You gotta win it.”

“Win it?” Donnie’s head jutted back at the unexpected note.

“Yeah! Bring ‘em to the boardwalk and win 'em a prize! It’s perfect! It’s out of character so it’ll be an awesome surprise and it’s something they can look back on and go ‘that’s the cute thing Donnie got me, oh wow!’” Raph put on a voice and brought his clenched hands up to his cheek with faux fluttering lashes.  

“Y/N sounds nothing like that.” Donnie retorted with a sneer.

“Oh, and it’s gotta be something soft and huggable!” A huge grin spread across Raph’s face.

“Shall I win one for you too?” Donnie mocked Raph’s earlier fist to cheek move.

“I mean… if you wouldn’t mind and maybe saw one that would go with my style…” Raph squirmed in place to temper his excitement.

“We’ll see.” Donnie gave his elder brother a little kick before looking at the siblings on either side of him. “Who’s next?”

“Since Aps got last, I’ll go second to last! Keep ‘em guessing! That means Mike’s up to bat!” Leo waved Donnie’s gaze to the other side of the couch.

“Heh, heh, heh.” Mikey faked a nefarious chuckle with an L-shaped crook of his finger and thumb framing his chin. “You’re in luck because I have just the idea.”

“Skeptical, but go ahead.” Donnie waited with an even stare.

“Kinda like what Raph was saying about out of character, you really wanna show how sorry you are? Then you gotta show that tender belly!” Mikey leaned forward and poked Donnie’s plastron around where his stomach would be.

“I dislike where this is going…”

“Geology.” Mikey turned a wicked smile up to his brother.

Donnie balked.

“You gotta take ‘em to the Hall of Gems and Minerals! If they know anything about you, they’ll know that’s a big deal!” Mikey grabbed Donnie’s arm and shook him.

Swaying back and forth, Donnie groaned. “But it’s the worst type of science! The only boring kind!”

“Exactly!” Mikey snickered.

“I hate all of this.” Donnie slumped.

“Apologies aren’t supposed to be easy!” April mused.

“Ugh, you know it’s bad when I’m almost looking forward to Leo’s terrible ideas.” Donnie swung his head to look at said brother.

“Pfft, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” Leo used the springs in the couch to bounce up and land on his knees with blossoming enthusiasm. “Alright, picture this!” He thread an arm around Donnie’s neck and pulled his brother until their cheeks slammed together. “You totally crush them!”

“When was the last time we had you tested!?” Donnie hissed, trying to wedge his hands between their faces to free himself.

“About five years ago!” Leo’s grip tightened. “Pay attention! We’re talking ice skating! Is the rink open yet? Oh, whatever use Case’s rink! Ping pong! Rock climbing! Axe throwing! Whatever and you try to give them a total beat down.”

“Uh, Leo I don’t think that’s quite what we’re going for…” Mikey worried, his hands out.

“You’re deranged!” Donnie flailed and managed to only partially get his head free which instead locked Leo’s arm around the middle of his face, silencing him.

“You all aren’t thinking of it in Donnie terms though! He’s terrible at sports! He’s gotta go all out, get fully cocky, and then crash and burn spectacularly!” Stars shone in Leo’s eyes and his free arm reached out to some imagined movie screen. "It’ll crack Y/N right up, they’ll end up winning no matter what, and also have the lovely satisfaction of knowing that you went all out and they still beat a ninja!” With his spiel done, Leo released his brother.

Donnie wheezed and gasped for breath while clawing over his body to rid himself of his brother.

“That might actually work.” Raph nodded with an amused upturn to the corner of his lips.

“Can we play ping pong after this?” Mikey ruminated.

Regaining enough oxygen to speak, Donnie shot Leo a seething glare before turning to April weakly. “Please tell me your big finale is better than any of this detritus.”

“Yup.” She closed her eyes and gave a single tight nod. “I’ve got it in the bag!”

Donnie gave a wave of his wrist for her to go ahead.

“A walk in Central Park.”

The four brothers all tilted their heads in sync.

“That’s it?” Leo whined, throwing his arms out. “You stole what could have been my sweet finish for that!”

“It’s a guarantee” April shrugged as if there were no contest.

“In comparison it does seem rather tame…” Donnie rubbed the back of his head, still sore from the headlock.

“I don’t know, it sounds nice.” Mikey shifted, looking between parties.

“Just trust me.” April stood and followed Mikey’s gaze. “Nah, you know what? Trust all of us. You gotta do each one of our suggestions to the fullest and only then will you totally make it up to Y/N!”

“All of…” Donnie mouthed and glanced around is dismay. “Can’t I put my own spin on each?”

“Nope!” April took a single step forward to put her foot down. “Ex-act-ly what we said! You wanna ‘do it right,’ right?”

“I do.” Donnie replied bitterly.

“And you came to us because you need help, right?”

“That is… correct.” Donnie struggled through the confirmation with disdain.

“Because, your way isn’t working?” April bent over at the hips to get to eye level.

At first Donnie resisted the gaze, but eventually crumbled to return it. “It was not.”

“Then give our way a chance. You might be surprised with the results.”

“I…” He broke eye contact to look around. “Think I’d like to lie down and think this all through.” Donnie drooped as he allowed the weariness to show on his features.

“Of course.” April bobbed and took a step to the side, allowing him a clean exit.

Everyone watched as Donnie draggd himself from the couch and kept the slouched posture and he headed for the exit. He paused just before hitting its threshold and spoke without turning. “Thank you all. It… means a lot.” He then continued his trek without waiting for a response.

Quiet settled in for a moment until April shifted her weight from one foot to the other and gave a resounding thumbs up.

Leo leaned forward and fist bumped it with a thumbs up of his own. “Nice save. Respect.”

“Did we do it?” Raph wondered, a nervous edge to his voice. “Didn’t you say there’s a chance he’ll get over it?”

“There is always that chance.” April turned and gave a soft smile to the elder brother. “We set it up the best we could and now it’s up to Donnie.”

“We were never gonna force him.” Mikey clarified.

“Oh, good then.” Raph nodded. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to handle it if they don’t end up together though!”

“Same, but because it’ll mean I went through all that pain for nothing!” Leo whooped in feigned pain and collapsed across the couch with his head falling into Mikey’s lap.

“In comparison to what you caused…” April leaned over him with a cocked brow.

Leo chuckled nervously.

“Yeah… I got a good feeling about this time.” Mikey turned a smile to where Donnie had departed.

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