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Why? Why her of all people?
You had just finished watching Raph’s latest TV interview, where Mona Lisa decided to announce her and Raph’s relationship with a big ol’ smooch. She stared tauntingly into the camera, like she knew you were watching. Ever since the guys had agreed to take up Chief Vincent’s offer to step out of the shadows and into the light it’s been chaos.
Photoshoots, interviews, commercials, it had been complete and non stop bullshit for your four friends. The guys had expected backlash, disgust, and especially fear when they appeared on that first interview. Instead; however, they ended up bringing out a whole other type of attention.
Monster loving attention.
They had girls drooling over them, throwing themselves at them, while Leo and Donnie never paid it much mind, Mikey and Raph soaked it up.
And then there was her.
Mona Lisa, super attractive, curves in all the right places, and the confidence you wished you had. She sauntered out of nowhere and sweeped big red right off his feet.
God you hated her.
But deep down you knew you had no right, he wasn’t yours, he was only your best friend. You never told him how you felt, didn’t have the confidence to. You were too plagued by the fear of him rejecting you and losing him all together. So you kept it to yourself, and watched your heart be ripped in two as someone else did. You shut Raph’s TV off, he was supposed to hang out with you today, you were in his room in the lair waiting for him, but after that…you just wanted to go home.
Suddenly you heard his voice, and your heart twisted all the more, you had to get out of here. Quickly, you grabbed your things, and left his room, heading into the main area. You saw him, Vern, and Mikey laughing together in their “Living room.”
Mikey saw you first, calling out a hey. Raphael turned to you, green eyes meeting yours, “Hey, softy!” He smiled, calling you by that nickname that made you feel precious. He started calling you it after you had managed to convince him to nap with you after you had seen he had been through a particularly rough day. He had said you were the most comfortable pillow he had ever slept on, and started calling you softy ever since.
You gave a tight lipped smile, and heard Vern say, “Hey Hey Casanova, congrats on the new girl, very smooth” he gave Raph a wink, making a kissy faces teasingly. Raph chucked, “Hey ixnay on isskay man that’s private, that’s private” he winked back. You scoff.
“Private?, please the entire city saw that!” You sat on the couch, crossing your arms, staring up at the three.”
“Whoa, hey. What’s with the scowl softy?” Suddenly you were up in his arm, sitting in the crook of his elbow, and his fingers prodding at your lips, “C’mon babe, let me see that smile, show me the smile!” he laughed. You growl, swatting at his hands, and forcing him to put you down.
“Knock it off Raph!” you snap, you didn’t want to be near him, especially knowing who he was with not too long ago. Raph arched a brow ridge, and Mikey and Vern gave each other yikes looks, stepping back.
“What has gotten into you?” Raph asked, looking at you with a concerned face, your heart almost melted, but the jealousy was burning bright right now. You growl, “Me?! oh I swear sometimes I wanna take your big dumb…dummy head and just!” You pound your fist against your other hand, letting out a noise of frustration.
“Baby what is the problem?” He reached out to you again, but you backed away, letting out a pained laugh.
“Problem? there’s no problem! I don’t have a problem…miss perfect is the one with the problem!” You laugh again, turning your back to him.
“Uh, hey, you guys?” Mikey spoke, trying to ease the tension. You both ignore him, and Raph spoke up, letting out a scoff, “What do you have against Mona?”
You whirl on him, “Not my lips!, that's for sure!”
“Oh.” you hear either Mikey or Vern squeak, but you were too angry to tell or care.
Raph looked even more confused, “Okay okay, what’s going on?, why would you even care about Mona anyway?” He tried to grab for you a third time.
“I don’t!” You shout.
“You don’t?” Raphael asked, sounding anything other than convinced.
“No!”
“No, what?”
“I don’t know!”
“Hey guys maybe we should just-” Mikey tried once more to break this up before you both said something you’d regret, but once more the two of you sent him a nasty look, he raised his hands in surrender and took a step towards Vern.
“Just tell me Raph, cause I’m curious. Why do you think she’s interested huh?” You took a step towards the red banded terrapin. You’ve had enough. It was clear she was a gold digger, and a clout chaser, and you couldn’t make heads or tails on how he couldn’t see that!. Raph may be a muscle head but you knew he wasn't that blind and stupid.
“Do you think for one minute that she would even be with you if you weren’t the rich and famous hero you are!?” Your voice got increasingly angrier as you spoke, and you could feel tears threatening to spill.
“Guys c’mon don’t fight” Vern tried this time, but you both waved him off.
“Are you that blind!?” You snapped, throwing up your hands in exasperation.
“At least she treats me like I'm somebody!” Raphael yelled, angry and frustrated, not knowing why you were acting the way you were acting. He had just wanted to come home, order a pizza and cuddle you in his room, and have you give him those shell scratches that had him churring so loud he vibrated the walls.
“Yeah, but would she love you if you were nobody?!” You yelled back, tired of hearing how he felt like a nothing before they were finally recognized for what they did. You felt like you weren’t good enough, you had tried everything you could to make him see how much he mattered to you, but it was never good enough, and you were tired of it.
“Nobody loved me when I was a nobody!” He yelled again, those green eyes you loved so much filled with pain. You finally screamed out what you’d been holding back, not able to hold it in anymore.
“I did!”
The tears started to fall, Raph’s face softened. He opened his mouth to speak, but you weren’t done.
“Before the money, and before the fame, before everything!” Your voice started to sound pained, “To me you were a somebody Raph!…now you’re nothing. You’re just like the rest of those small town; turned big stars, celebrities who forgot who they were and forgot the people who loved them first, and let the fame go to their head.”
You wiped at your face, ducking your head from his gaze, you didn’t want to see his face now that you’ve told him how you felt.
“Softy…” he finally spoke, reaching for you again, but you pushed him away. You knew if you let him touch you, you’d break, and you wanted to keep what little dignity you had left.
“Just forget it!, I’m going home. I’m tired of hearing how everything you had in your life wasn’t good enough…including me” You let out a shuddering breath, and turned to Mikey, he stared at you with sad eyes. “Can you take me home please?” you asked him, Mikey nodded and held his hand out for you.
“Sure babycakes…I’ll take you home”
You hiked your bag onto your shoulder, following Mikey out of the lair, keeping your eyes downcast, feeling those eyes that hurt you so much follow after you until you disappeared from view.
———————————————————
When Mikey dropped you off at your apartment, he gently lifted your head by your chin.
“Hey c'mon dudette, cheer up…he’ll come around, he’d be a dumb ass to not see how great you are for him. If you want I’ll date you!, we can rub it in his face!” Mikey tried to cheer you up. You smiled weakly, “Thanks Mikey, but that’s ok…don’t think I want to date anyone at all right now”
You opened your window, slipping into your room, you gave Mikey one last bye, and flopped onto your bed. You laid on the plush softness of your bed, it took a moment, but you finally let yourself cry. You curled up into a ball, and cried yourself to sleep.
——————————————
Weeks passed since that day, you avoided the turtles all together. You felt bad, they were your friends, but right now, it hurt. It came out a few days later in the news that Raph broke it off with Mona, and she wasn’t happy about it. Apparently she had glitter bombed his entire room in retaliation. While you were glad he came to his senses, (and got some karma) it still didn’t make everything else better.
You shoveled another thing of your favorite ice cream into your mouth, when you heard a tap on your window. At first you thought that maybe it was nothing, but then you heard his signature rap against your window… You froze, setting the now empty bowl aside, and crept over to it, you peeked from the side, and jerked away when you saw him.
Why was he here?!, he had tried getting to you for a couple of days after your fight, but after you made it clear how you felt by icing him out, he left you alone.
But now he was here again.
“Softy…open up, please I know you’re in there I can see your shadow” Raphael tapped again. “Let me just talk to ya, and if you still wanna kick my ass to the curb after I’ll let ya” that Brooklyn accent that made you melt pleaded with you. Despite your better judgment, you opened the curtains, just hear him out yeah?, hear him back out, then kick his ass out. You unlocked the window, and he dove in, standing up and facing you.
“Talk.” You crossed your arms, almost like you were trying to guard your heart from him again.
“Baby, I’ve been an idiot, I was so wrapped up in no longer having to hide, no longer havin people stare at us in fear, finally being recognized for all the shit we did for this city that I was starting to let it all go to my head” Raph picked at the skin around his nails, shifting on his feet.
“I was neglecting all the shit that really mattered.” Raph looked at you, “Softy, I’m sorry, I know that shit ain’t gonna excuse how I’ve made you feel, and trust me when I say that I’m kicking myself for that.”
He reached out for your hands, you hesitated for a moment, but the pleading look he gave you had you placing your smaller hands in his much larger ones. He lifted your hands, leaning down to press soft kisses to your fingers. “These past few weeks really put shit in perspective, I’ve been a dick, a complete ass. I’m gonna do better. Starting by saying this.”
He pulled you closer, and you let him.
“You are good enough, through all the shit I’ve been through, you were my constant. I was okay goin through what I went through, all the pain n’ everything, because I knew that I had you waitin for me at the end of it all, and that’s all that mattered. That I had you”
Raph kissed your forehead, and you let him.
“You were right when you had said all the people who are fawnin over me now are only doin it cause of what I represent. You…you loved me for me, and I was a dumbass for not seeing it, for not cherishin that, baby please. I’m gonna do everythin I can to make up for how I’ve been hurtin you.”
To your surprise, Raph knelt before you. Your breathing picked up. “Will you let me?” he asked, “Will you let me make up for how much of an idiot I’ve been?, and let me show you how much you matter to me?, how much I adore ya?, being without ya’s been hell. I can’t do it no more, so please. Give me a chance?”
You stared down at him, before ducking your head, “It hurt…each time you talk about how much it sucked before you guys revealed yourself, like you were absolutely miserable…like you were absolutely miserable with me.”
He tried to talk, to tell you that that wasn’t true, but you stopped him, just wanting to say your peace. “I know you were excited, no longer having to hide. I was excited for you too!. But it started to feel like you were leaving me behind, that you didn’t have to settle anymore, and could now go chase the big things. I felt like a toy you didn’t have to play with anymore now that you could go and buy a better one,” shitty analogy, you knew, but it was how you felt.
Suddenly you were swept off your feet, and were wrapped tightly in strong, tattooed arms.
“I’d never fucken settle for ya, because you’re the ultimate fucken goal. I’m sorry it took me so long to see that. Softy at the end of the day I’ll gladly go back to how it was, because so long as I have you, I know I matter. You and my brothas are all I need, going out in the open be damned, I’ll take you and the shadows any day, just so long as you’re with me.” He buried his face into your hair, a deep churr rumbling in his chest. “I’d never leave you behind, because you’re all I look forward to, and always will look forward to…If you’ll let me?”
He looked down at you with hopeful eyes, those sweet green eyes you adored. You nodded your head, “Sure big guy…but slow yeah?”
He nodded, “However you want softy, I’m at your mercy” he chuckled, and you giggled.
“Oh ho ho, I’ll remember that.”
“Ah shit.”
————————————————-
Raph really did make it up to you in the following weeks, he did everything he could to make sure you knew you mattered to him, that you were his fucken queen. Even going so far to announce it on TV, telling anyone who might trash him for being with you to go shove it.
And when his brothers found out you gave him a chance, you found out they had a bet going on on how long it would take for Raph to get the sense knocked into him. Even April, Casey, Vern, and master Splinter were in on it!
This resulted in Raph flipping them all off (Or rather sticking his pointer finger at them menacingly, since, y’know, three fingers) and threatening to get them all back. (Except for his dad)
—————————————-
The two of you were cuddled in his room, you were laid on his chest, and he was churring lowly to soothe you off to sleep.
“…Hey Raph?”
“Hm?”
“This means you're my boyfriend now, yeah?”
“Duh.”
“Cool.” You giggled and looked at him.
“Hey Raph?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
His eyes snapped open, and suddenly you were on your back.
“You little shit, I was gonna say it first,” he grumped, you giggled again and booped his nose.
“Too slow big red.”
Raph nipped at your fingers, causing you to squeak. He looked down at you, his expression intense, he then leaned down, and you sucked in a breath as he suddenly kissed you. Soft yet rough, he had you in a daze within seconds as he drew his tongue along your lips, slipping it into your mouth and deepening the kiss. You let out a soft mewl, and took in a shuddering breath as he pulled away, a shiver running down your spine as you shook yourself from your daze.
He smirked, and caressed your face softly, “Just as soft as the rest of ya, softy. I love you too, and if you don’t let me take you out on a date soon I’ll pitch a fucken fit.” he demanded.
You flushed, but nodded your head, ever the romantic this guy, “I’d love to go out on a date with you, red.”
He hummed, ”Good.” Raph snuggled you back up, you laid your head in the crook of his neck, tracing the swirls of his plastron.
“Hey raph?”
“What now?”
“You have glitter in the grooves of your plastron.”
“For fuck’s sake!, I thought I got it all!”
You laughed, staring at him with stars in your eyes.
Oh Yeah.
This dumb dummy was so it for you.