Scutes

by Remi_Drew

Summary:

Shedding scutes is normal for turtles, even mutant ones!

One of Leo's scutes is beginning to fall off and he's willing to do anything to avoid the inevitable embarrassment that would follow if it falls off at school. That's not to mention the possibility of April seeing it.

Chapter 1: A Mental Health Day

Notes:

Rated Teen for swearing. Content warning for a mention of vomiting.

 

It always started with Leo. Maybe it was because he was the eldest or just plain bad luck, but that morning, he found himself hogging the bathroom. He knew he was way past his allotted bathroom time but there was no way in hell he was letting anyone see him like this, not to mention April.

The two had made plans for him to help her film another segment of April Tonight, after school that day so there would be no avoiding her. Not that he would ever want to–it's just he didn’t want her to see him when something this gross was happening to his body.

Dad would tell him that it was completely normal for his scutes to fall off and he shouldn’t be embarrassed about it. Which was true it was normal and Leo never really cared about part of his shell shedding, before.

However, now was very different from before. They were officially a part of human society and he had some sort of an image to uphold with his peers at Eastman High. He quickly learned that growing up in a sewer with only his dad and three brothers for company did not help one develop the best of social skills. Not to mention, after the fanfare of them saving the city had worn off, the boys had quickly realized most people weren’t exactly interested in being real friends. They were more interested in hearing about the fight with Superfly, what they knew about TCRI, and how they came to be, which involved a lot of agonizingly personal questions about their bodies that Leo hoped no one, who wasn’t a doctor, would ever ask again.

The boys started avoiding the awkward questions and soon they became old news. Leo was fine with that. Being popular probably wasn’t all it was cracked up to be anyway. He was fine blending in with the crowd, as much as he could at least. Even with his lack of social skills, he wasn’t completely oblivious. He’d caught people staring at him or his brothers and he was sure he’d heard a few quiet mumbles about them behind their backs. It wasn’t anything bad. Not really so Leo was fine with it. Nevertheless, it still did make him feel really other in the society he was now supposed to be a part of.

Raph banged a fist on the door. “Leo, hurry up! Other people live here too, ya know.”

Right, he really was taking up all the bathroom time. He just needed a few more minutes. The lateral scute on the top left side of his carapace was loose and flappy. He pulled at it gently, hoping it would come off with ease. Leo was not that lucky.

He took a deep breath to center himself. He was going to be wearing a shirt, it wasn’t like anyone would really notice a part of his shell was itching to fall off. But even if it was covered up that did little to ease his fear of it falling off and someone finding it. A large piece of keratin shaped-suspiciously like his own scutes. Nope, not mine. Never seen it. Must belong to some other suspiciously large turtle.

Leo tried to take another calming deep breath but it didn’t work this time. Instead, it came out shaky and staggered. His brothers always teased him for being a “teacher’s pet” but he felt the farthest thing from it, currently. He could feign illness easily. Then he wouldn’t have to go to school and show the student body just how nasty his body could be. Honestly, with how nauseous he was beginning to feel, faking it wouldn’t be hard.

Raph banged on the door again, “LEO!”

“I’m almost done, Raph,” he called back.

“You should have been almost done twenty fucking minutes ago!”

“I promise, I’m for real almost done this time!” Leo frantically pulled at the scute. He knew forcing it off would do more harm then good, but he was desperate. Shit, it really hurt to pull at these things.

“I’m coming in! You better be decent!”

“What!?” Leo darted to the door, using his body weight to hold back Raph from opening it. “Raph, no! I’m almost done, I swear!”

“Yeah, well your version of almost done, and my version seem to be very different.”

Raph being the taller and heavier of the two, won the battle with the door. Leo fell back on his shell when the younger boy finally managed to push it open. Raph stared deadpan at Leo on the floor, his eyes immediately landing on the flared-out loose scute. It looked even more obvious than before thanks to all Leo’s poking and prodding. He really only made it worse, great.

Raph pinched at the bridge above his beak, shaking his head in what Leo couldn't tell was frustration or aggravation. “I’ve had to piss for like half an hour and you’ve seriously been in here picking at your dumb scute!?”

Leo felt all the blood rush to his face, “Yeah, well what if it falls off at school?”

Raph shrugged, he clearly didn’t think this was as big of a deal as Leo felt it was. “So some janitor will probably pick it up.”

“And you don’t think that’s gross? What if other people see?,” he paused to catch his quickening breath, “What if April thinks I’m gross?”

Raph helped Leo up, then set a hand on his shoulder, “Look man, we live in a sewer, I’m pretty sure April already thinks we’re gross.”

Leo nudged him in the side, pushing Raph’s arm away in the process, “You are not helping,” Leo seethed.

Raph groaned, “Well, maybe I’d be in a better mood if you hadn’t kept the bathroom all to yourself for forty minutes!”

Leo rolled his eyes and headed toward the kitchen. He heard Raph call back to him about something, but Leo didn’t care to listen. He really wasn’t up for dealing Raph anymore that morning, especially if he was going to be this unhelpful.

Leo found exactly who he was looking for in the kitchen. Splinter and Scumbug were standing side by side as they made sandwiches for the boys’ lunches, while Mikey and Donnie sat at the table eating some sugary cereal. His two brothers greeted him. He replied back with a quiet, “Morning.” He kinda hoped they would think he sounded off to help with the little white lie he was about to tell their dad.

He felt a little guilty and he hadn’t even done anything yet. “Hey, Dad?” He tried to keep his voice small, kicking himself for not paying closer attention at Mikey’s last improv night. He was probably bombing.

Splinter looked up from the sandwich he was bagging and smiled back at him. Then gave a confused furrow of his bushy brows, “Why are you not dressed for school?”

Right, he was currently only wearing pants. It probably looked pretty strange. Leo raised his fist to his mouth and gave the most pathetic fake sounding cough imaginable. “I don’t think I should go to school today,” another terrible fake cough, “I think I’m coming down with something.” Mikey and Donnie burst into fits of obnoxious laughter but apparently Splinter bought it completely because he dropped what he was doing as soon as Leo muttered his first fake cough.
Splinter cupped Leo’s cheek, “What happened?” He had officially gone into overprotective Rat Dad ™ mode. “When did you start feeling sick? Do you need to go to the hospital? I can get you–”

“Whoa, Dad,” Leo cut him off, “I’m fine.” Splinter had always been one to worry too much. It was a wonder where Leo had picked it up from.

Splinter narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously, “I thought you said you were sick?”

Leo glanced up at the ceiling, his heart beginning to pound a mile a minute. “Well, I am-but–”

“He’s faking,” Raph said as he entered the kitchen, catching everyone’s attention. Damn it, Raph. “He doesn’t want to go to school because his scute is loose.”

Splinter turned his attention back to Leo, giving him his famous disappointed dad expression. Leo could feel his dad’s eyes on the loose scute. “Have you been picking at it?”

Leo wanted to lie and say no but lying clearly was not one of his strong suits. “Just a little. It’s fine though,” he muttered.

“Why did you say you were sick?” Splinter was still staring at him with that same disappointed face. Leo couldn’t help but crack.

“Dad, I am so so sorry,” he pleaded. It all came flooding out after that. Leo wasn’t even sure what he was saying was totally comprehensible but he couldn’t stop once he had started. He just needed to get his dad or just anybody to understand. “I’m supposed to help April after school today and I can’t tell you how embarrassing it's going to be if she sees this. She’s gonna think I’m–” he paused.

Leo felt like the words were getting caught in his throat or no it was more like something was coming up his throat. Before he had a chance to react, his stomach convulsed and yesterday’s dinner came spilling out all over the floor. Leo stood there just staring at his own mess on the floor. He could feel his dad’s hand on his back. He knew he was saying something to him but all Leo could do was stare at the mess on the ground. It was as if he was completely frozen. Was this what April felt like when she had her little incident on the school’s morning announcements?

Mikey broke the silence, “Guys, I think this makes Leo Puke Boy.”

Donnie but in, “Omg, does that mean he and April are meant for eachother?”

Mikey nodded, placing a hand on Donnie’s shoulder, “Sounds like soulmates to me.”

Raph smirked, “We better be invited to the official wedding of Puke Girl and Puke Boy.”

“Invited?,” Mikey scoffed, “We’re family we better be in the wedding party!”

Donnie pushed his glasses up, “Oh man, I’ve got tons of ideas for the Aprilnardo ™ wedding. I say instead of alcohol we serve Pepto Bismol in fancy wine glasses with little packages of TUMS on the side.”

“Oh-oh, and the only food we’ll serve will be bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast,” Mikey waved a hand above his head, “We’ll call it the BRAT Bar!”

They were showing no signs of stopping and Leo couldn't help himself when he finally burst out laughing, “You guys are so dumb!,” he panted between fits of unruly giggles.

“If we’re so dumb then why are you laughing?”

“I’m laughing 'cause you guys are idiots!”

Mikey pulled Leo into a tight embrace, “Idiots who you love.”

Leo couldn’t hide the dumb smile on his face as Mikey nuzzled his head against Leo’s shoulder. “Yeah-yeah,” he said, fondly.

Donnie lightly punched his shoulder, “You feel better though?”

Leo gave a hesitant nod, “Yeah, a little.” And he really did feel a bit better. Nothing drastic, his chest still hurt from his frantic breathing and he still felt a little nauseous after getting sick but his head no longer felt jumbled with thoughts and as if any little thing could make the world end in that moment. It felt good to laugh like that.

“Leonardo?,” Splinter had reentered the kitchen after helping Scumbug clean up the vomit, which Leo was trying not to think about.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have any tests today? Big assignments? Anything that would be hard for you to catch up on if you missed a day?”

Leo could not believe what he was hearing come out of his dad’s mouth. Ever since they had started High School Splinter had been quite strict about their studies. They were no longer allowed out as late as they used to and he expected to find them studying for at least an hour after school, after which they were expected to practice ninjutsu for at least another two hours. Which none of the boys minded. They even kind of missed the hours of training they used to do during the day, back before they went to school. Leo was really looking forward to all the training they would be able to get in over the coming summer break.

“No, Dad,” Leo replied.

Splinter looked to Scumbug then back to Leo and nodded, “If you need the day off from school today that’s fine but–”

Before Splinter could get the words out Leo jumped to pull him into a hug, “Thankyouthankyouthankyou! This is why you have that #1 Dad mug!”

“So Leo just gets a day off,” Raph grumbled. “Try to argue he’s not the favorite now.”

Splinter sighed, clearly not in the mood to get into what was clearly an old and tired argument, “I guarantee that I do not have a favorite son, Raphael.”

“You didn’t let me stay home that day I wanted off.”

“You just wanted off 'cause you didn’t study,” Donnie argued, which only made Raph glare at him.

“Look,” Splinter motioned for them all to gather around. “You boys know you can talk to me about anything, right?” They all nodded. “Then you know you can come talk to me if you need a day off school. It can’t be a weekly occurrence and it can’t be for not doing homework,” he looked at Raph, “But kids your age are going through a lot of changes. This family has gone through a lot of changes in the passed couple of months.” He paused, trying to find his words. “So what I mean is that if things ever get to be too much at school and you need to take a day, just come talk to me, okay?”

The boys all smiled back at him, their eyes shining in the soft candlelights. Mikey moved first to embrace Splinter and the others followed suit. The boys weren’t nearly as affectionate with Splinter as they had been when they were younger so the old rat savored every moment of that hug.

They released the hug each muttering a variation of “Thanks, Dad.”

“Alright, now three of you need to get to school.”

Scumbug, who had retreated deeper into the lair to give the small family some privacy, reappeared carrying lunches for each. The three boys each snagged their own respective lunch from her. Then they headed out toward the manhole cover, shouting their good-byes to Leo and Splinter.

After waving his brothers off, Leo turned to Splinter, “Hey, Dad?”

“Hmm?”

“What was the but about earlier?”

Splinter cocked his head, “What?”

“Earlier you said it was fine for me to stay home but–?”

“Ohhh,” Splinter nodded as he remembered, “If you are going to stay home I would appreciate your help around the Lair. Nothing too intense just some light cleaning up. You boys can be very messy and now that we have several cousins added to the mix this place is only getting messier,” Splinter chuckled softly to himself. “And if you ever wanna have April over for let’s say a possible date you’re gonna want this place looking as little like a sewer as possible. ”

Leo tried to hide the blush on his face as he whined, “Daaad.”

“What?”

Leo let out a deep breath, “Look, I appreciate you and the guys being supportive of my,” he paused, “crush,” he said softly, darting his eyes to the side. “I’m just worried its going to get my hopes on something that could be impossible. I’m not human. I can’t really expect April or any other girl to be interested in me romantically.”

Splinter flung an arm around Leo’s shoulders, “Y’know six months ago I thought our family being accepted by human society was impossible. Sure, things aren’t exactly perfect but you boys get to go to school, we can walk into a grocery store, I can take you to the doctor. Never in a million years did I think we’d ever be able to do any of those things. So if this is possible, then I’m sure it’s possible for someone out there, maybe April or maybe someone else to see just how sweet, charming, and lovable you are,” Splinter gave the boy’s cheek a little squeeze. Leo rolled his eyes but secretly enjoyed the sweet affection.

Leo crossed his arms over his plastron, “I hope so.”

Splinter smirked, “I hope so too,” he rolled the little bit of fur on his chin between his fingers, “Y’know I’ve always wanted grandkids.”

More blood rushed to Leo’s already flushed cheeks, “Dad!”

“I’m only teasing. C’mon, I’ll make us some tea. Why don’t we meditate for a bit, hmm?”

That did sound nice. Meditation felt like exactly what he needed at the moment and as a child of four it was rare he got such precious one on one time with their father. “That sounds great, Dad.”

Notes:

Hey all! Thanks so much for reading! This was supposed to be a quick little one-shot but it was getting too long so I split it up. I'm only expecting there to be one or two more chapters.

Sidenote: I did some research on turtles for this but I am in no way an expert, if you have questions about your pet turtles' shedding please consult your vet and not my fanfiction about mutant turtles. ;)

Leave a comment below if you'd like! I'm curious to hear your thoughts!

I'll have more coming soon. Specifically, I have a few comics in the works that I plan to post here as well as on my Tumblr @artbyremi. Hopefully coming soon, but I am a full-time student with a part-time job. :( So sometimes fandom stuff's gotta take a backseat.

Chapter 2: An Attempt at Relaxation

Summary:

Leo attempts to relax during his day off.

Notes:

Rated Teen for swearing. No content warnings that I can think of.

A day off was really what Leo had needed. 

Since the ordeal with Superfly, the boys hadn’t had a real day off. Becoming real members of society wasn’t as simple as just enrolling in High School. They had to get proper physicals from both a doctor and a vet, then get real social security numbers and birth certificates, and take school placement exams and that’s not to mention a bunch of legal stuff that Splinter was dealing with. When Leo tried to ask about it, he was simply told not to worry and go back to his homework. It felt a little patronizing but he knew his dad meant well. 

Thinking back on it now, Leo had no idea how he’d been able to handle all of that so fast. It’d essentially been two weeks of nonstop appointments and then immediately afterward they started high school over halfway through their freshmen year. There was only about a month left and Leo still didn’t feel like he was completely used to this new normal. 

Leo took a sip of the fresh chamomile tea that Splinter had just brewed for them before they had begun their little meditation session. They were both sat cross-legged in the center of the small dojo with a pot of tea between the two of them. Splinter was deep in focused meditation, while Leonardo struggled to not let his mind wander to his racing thoughts. 

Leo set the cup down and then took a deep breath to center himself. He had been feeling better since his brothers had left for school, but now he was dreading the eventual text from April. He had made plans the day before to help her film another episode of April Tonight and now he would essentially be flaking out on her. He’d totally understand if she was pissed. April talked a lot about the YouTube algorithm and how not posting consistently could mess up how much her channel was pushed into subscription feeds and whatnot. He may as well be ruining her career by missing one day of school. 

Leo set his hands on his knees and took another centering breath. Usually, meditation came much easier to him. He needed to stop thinking and just relax already. 

“Why don’t we get started on some housework.”

Leo snapped his eyes open, “But we’ve only been meditating for like forty-five minutes?”

“And yet I don’t think you’ve been very successful at it, have you?”

Leo glanced down at his lap, “Not really.” 

Splinter picked up the teapot and stood up, “Then there’s no use in sitting here if this isn’t helping you relax.” 

Leo picked up the empty tea cups and followed behind Splinter into the kitchen. He set the cups down next to the sink, then picked up a sponge and began to work his way through the stack of dirty dishes. Splinter gave him a smile, then told him he was going to start in the living room. 

He spent the rest of the morning helping Splinter around the lair with housework. His brothers probably would have complained but Leo found something relaxing in manual house chores and something about a clean living space just helped him relax. If only he could get his brothers to understand that so their room would maybe be less of a disaster. 

Leo sat on the couch with a pile of folded laundry in his lap and his favorite Star Trek DVD playing on the TV. The amount of dirty laundry the family had generated had drastically increased since their integration into society. Leo didn’t mind folding his own laundry but there was something that peeved him off about having to fold Raph’s undergarments. 

He was about a third of the way through the movie when Splinter called him for lunch. He finished folding one of Mikey’s ridiculous tiger t-shirts before he paused the film and then made his way toward the kitchen.

Splinter stood in front of the stove above a pot of hot ramen noodles. “Smells good, Dad!,” Leo said as he took a seat at the table. Splinter poured a serving of noodles into a bowl then set it in front of Leo along with an old pair of chopsticks. 

“I appreciate your help today.”

He picked up some noodles with the chopsticks and blew on them. “I’m happy to help besides it got my mind off things at least for a little bit.” He shoved some noodles in his mouth. Dad’s cooking was the best . Leo wondered where he had learned to cook. Growing up a rat in New York City didn’t seem like the place to learn authentic Japanese cooking. Maybe he’d found it YouTube like how he’d learned ninjutsu? It didn’t matter where he had learned it as long as Leo could continue to indulge in his father’s cooking. 

It was 12:45, the guys would be in their lunch period. Leo picked up his phone and sent a photo of himself to the group chat he shared with his brothers. They were gonna be so jealous. Dad hadn’t cooked ramen for them in ages. 

 

 

 

Leo took a deep breath. She didn’t seem mad at him for flaking. She seemed genuinely concerned. That thought made his heart race. April is worried about you, Leonardo!

 

 

Leo could feel his heart beating against his chest. April specifically wanted him to help her record. Not just anyone him. He wiped his sweaty palms on the edge of the table then texted her back

 

 

Leave it to April to point out the logic of a situation. Now, Leo was concerned about one of them actually getting sick. It’d been a few months now and they’d been fine thus far, but anything could happen. Leo was pretty sure he saw Mikey lick the bottom of an auditorium seat after Raph dared him. It was honestly a miracle that none of them had gotten sick since their acceptance from society. 

Leo looked back down at his phone.

 

 

AGGH. She missed him.

Was she trying to get his heart to pound its way out of his chest? If she was, she was certainly doing a good job of it. They saw each other yesterday at school like usual and yet she still said she missed him. He was probably overthinking things. Friends miss each other. Just because she said she missed him didn’t imply anything more about her feelings toward him. 

But what if it did? 

He should say he missed her too, but before he had the chance to reply he received another text. 

 

 

Yeah, he was definitely reading too much into things. 

 

 

Leo rested his phone against his chest as he let out a deep breath. He felt a slight weight lift off his chest. April wasn’t mad. He should’ve known she wouldn’t be. April wasn’t like that. She was sweet and understanding and pretty. Okay, maybe that last one was a little unrelated, but it just wasn’t in April to be upset over something as little as him missing out on one day of filming for being “sick”. Now, he just needed this damn scute to fall off already so he could go back to school worry-free. He could still see it from the corner of his eye sticking out like a sore thumb. He could tell it was looking even worse than earlier, which hopefully meant it would fall off before school the next day. 

“You’ve been doing a whole lot of texting and not a lot of eating. You don’t like it?”

Leo snapped his head up. He hadn’t realized Splinter had been sitting at the table with him. “Wha- Dad -no of course I like it. Tonkatsu is my favorite!,” he glanced back down at his phone, his cheeks reddening ever so slightly, “It’s just–”

Splinter gave a knowing look, “Texting April?”

Leo placed his phone face down on the table, somehow his face getting even redder, “How’d you know?”

“You had that look.”

“What? Look? I get a look!?”

Splinter chuckled, “I’ve known you for fifteen years and you don’t think I'm attuned to all your little quirks?” 

Leo picked at the ramen with his chopsticks, “I thought she was gonna be mad at me.”

“What for?”

“I was supposed to help her film today,” he tossed the chopsticks down maybe a little more aggressively than he intended. “If only my damn scute wasn’t peeling.”

Splinter narrowed his eyes, “ Language.”

Leo muttered a quick, “Sorry,” then took a deep breath, “I just don’t want April to think it’s weird or gross or abnormal or-”

“But it is normal," Splinter cut him off. 

“Yeah, for me but not for humans. What if it falls off while I’m filming with her?” 

“Do you really think she’s gonna care so much?”

Leo stared down at the ramen, “I don’t know,” he mumbled. He took a quick breath and then looked back up at his dad. “Can we please just drop it?”

Splinter took his empty bowl and carried it to the sink, “Okay. I didn’t mean to upset you. Clean up after you finish okay?”

Leo nodded, then began to eat his now lukewarm ramen. It was always better hot. 

---

After lunch, Leo found himself in their small dojo running through katas he’d had memorized since he was a kid. They didn’t come as easy as they used to. It had been a while since any of them had been in there to train. They’d just gotten so busy with school that they had begun to neglect a very important aspect of their previous life. Leo would be lying if he said he wasn’t frustrated. 

Before their integration into human society, Splinter had them on a pretty strict training regime. Leo assumed he’d been letting them take it easy so they could get used to their new lifestyle. 

Leo wiggled his toes as he prepared to do a backflip. He took a deep breath and then pushed himself into the air, doing a perfect 360 before landing sloppily on his feet. That sucked. He was glad he was alone so no one had seen it. 

If Leo was this rusty, he wondered how his brother’s skills had been fairing. It wasn’t as if since their acceptance all their threats had disappeared. TCRI and Cynthia Utrom had their blood and who knows what they were planning to do with it. Probably reverse engineer it to make those mutants Cynthia had mentioned to them when they were hauled up in her lab. 

Leo wasn’t against the idea of more mutants being created, but he doubted that Cynthia and TCRI had good plans for their mutants. What if the blood they had wasn’t enough? What if they started to hunt them down because they needed more? Either way, Leo and his brothers needed their skills more than ever. He was their leader. Maybe he could convince them to make time for some training at least once a week. They’d have more time in the summer. Then they could really start getting rigorous again, but once a week would at least help them maintain their skills. 

Leo landed another sucky backflip, his form was slightly better but still not anywhere near what he was usually capable of. 

---

After a hefty training session, Leo was lying on the couch, snacking on a family-sized bag of Doritos while he finished up the Star Trek movie he had started earlier. 

He could hear loud shouts coming from the sewers. It was nearing 3:00 so it was probably his brothers coming home from school. 

“Hey, Guys,” he mumbled not taking his eyes off the screen. 

“Hey, Leo!”

The teen snapped his head toward the opening that served as the front door. He had been expecting to see his brothers. Not his brothers plus April. Were they trying to embarrass him? Was this some kind of payback for telling on Raph that one time he was out way past curfew? 

Leo tossed the bag of chips at his feet and quickly reached for a blanket to wrap himself in. He forced a smile on his face, “Hey, April," he tried to sound composed. 

The girl approached him with her messenger bag swung over her shoulder. She gave him a soft smile as she gripped tighter onto the strap of her bag, “Are you feeling better?”

“Mmhmm,” he nodded, glaring at his three brothers when she looked away. Donnie mouthed something to him but Leo couldn’t tell what he was trying to say.  

“That’s good,” She smiled at him. Leo stared back trying to think of every possible way to get out of this situation. They were just staring at each other. This was so awkward. “I’m glad you're feeling better. I don’t know why I was so worr—“ 

“Um,” he frantically stood up with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, “I gotta go!”

He rushed off into their bedroom, if there had been a door he would have slammed it. He hadn’t paid much attention to what she had tried to say to him before he ran off. He just needed to get out of there. 

Leo dropped the blanket to the floor and then collapsed in his bed to bury his red face in his pillow. He was prepared to bombard his brothers with a slew of angry texts when he saw their previous messages. 

Leo felt so dumb. Why hadn’t he checked his phone? 

 

 

Leo smashed his face into his pillow. Why couldn't his brothers understand how hard this was for him? Sure, he probably could just throw on a shirt and go out there, but he just couldn't stop thinking about the scute on his back. It was dumb and he knew it, but something in his brain was telling him it was the biggest deal ever. 

 

Leo set his phone down and buried his face in his hands. 

This was all his damn scute’s fault. He considered attempting to rip it off his carapace. He didn’t care how mad his dad got or how much it hurt. He just wanted it gone so he could go out there and talk to April like normal. He sat up and then took a deep breath to center himself. He wasn't gonna rip it off. He would talk to April tomorrow at school. Hopefully, she would just assume he was acting strange because he was sick and not because he was trying to ignore her. 

Tomorrow. He would talk to her tomorrow.

 

Notes:

GUYS, did you see the tottmnt teaser?! AHH, I'm so excited. I need people to scream about it with because I think my roommate is already sick of hearing about it hahaha.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading! All artwork is by me. I thought making these text messages would be easy. Yeah, no. I spent way too much time on them so I hope they look okay.

I've already begun the third and final chapter so hopefully, it will be out very soon! But I think I wanna draw a bigger art piece for it. Hmmm, should I post the chapter first then add the art later, or wait until the art is done to post?? Let me know your thoughts.

Chapter 3: Communication

Summary:

Leo and April are both seemingly avoiding each other at school.

Notes:

T for swearing! No other content warnings that I can think of.

School the next day wasn’t as much of a disaster as Leo was expecting. He had taken Mikey’s advice and taped his loose scute to his carapace. To be extra safe, he stuck the roll of scotch tape in his backpack and wore a baggy zip-up sweatshirt to further hide his shell. Sure, he didn’t exactly look as clean-cut as he usually did but at least no one would be able to tell if any of his scutes started sticking up.

The day had been going on as usual. That was until he ran into April on his way to third period. She was looking a little disheveled, but Leo took little notice of that. He was too focused on admiring her outfit. Leo loved April's fashion sense. Today she was wearing an oversized yellow sweater with a pair of dark ripped jeans. Yellow was definitely her color and it helped her dyed red hair pop out. 

Leo hugged his math book to his chest and greeted her by bumping her shoulder with his. “Um, hey.”

April stared at him with wide eyes. She looked shocked to see him. Not exactly the reaction he was expecting. “Hey,” she muttered back, gripping tight to the handle of her messenger bag. She adjusted her glasses with her thumb and then glanced at her feet. Maybe she was upset about him running off yesterday. It wasn’t exactly his proudest of moments. In the future, when they were married with three kids, they would laugh about this. 

Leo squeezed the book tighter. Please help me through this Algebra I. He cleared his throat, “Look April, I’m—“

She looked back up at him covering part of her face with her hand. “Sorry, Leo, I’m gonna be late,” then ran off in the other direction.

Shit. He’d really messed things up hadn’t he?

---

Usually, Leo had no problem paying attention in class. He loved being a student and he loved all his classes. So much so that his brothers would constantly tease him for being a Teacher's Pet. However, currently, he was having a very difficult time staying focused on the algebra demonstration his teacher was giving.

He set his textbook on his desk and then placed his phone beside it, on the opposite side of where his teacher was lecturing. Please don’t see, please don’t see. I never text in class. I’m usually such a good student. Which was something Leonardo took great pride in, but this was more important than his reputation amongst his teachers. 

The teen took a quiet deep breath, glanced up at his teacher then back down at his phone. He pulled up his texts with Donatello. 

Leo took a shaky breath, then glanced back up at the smartboard. Shit. What was a Binomial, again and why were they talking about foil in a math class? Oh, he was definitely lost. Leo wasn’t terrible at math or anything but he needed to pay attention to really grasp the information. He would definitely be bugging Donnie to reteach him this later when they were doing homework. Speaking of Donnie, why hadn’t he answered yet?

Relax, Leonardo. Don was also in class. He would answer when he could. Maybe his teacher had noticed him texting and taken his phone away. He hoped not; he would feel so guilty if he got his brother in trouble. He was about to get lost in another onslaught of anxious thoughts when his phone finally buzzed.

That was a weight lifted off his shoulders. Sure, things weren’t exactly fixed but he felt better knowing Donnie would at least try to talk to her. He shut his phone off and snuck it back into his school bag, then tried to zone back into the lesson. Yeah, he was definitely gonna need Donnie to reteach this to him after school.

---

Leo was on his way to lunch, with his backpack swung over one shoulder. He had managed to make it through his last two classes without his mind wandering too much. Which was much easier said then done. He just couldn’t get April off his mind. Which wasn’t abnormal for him but instead of his mind racing with happy, bouncy thoughts about that time they accidentally touched hands or that time he noticed her face light up when he entered the room, his mind was stuck running through all the ways he could have possibly ruined their friendship forever.

It had been a huge relief once Donnie had texted him that April wasn’t mad at him. However, even with the reassurance, there was still something inside of him that wasn’t sitting right. He needed to talk to her himself. Dad always said that good communication was the basis of any healthy relationship.

Leo entered the cafeteria and found the usual table he, his brothers, and April occupied. He set his school bag down and then began to dig around for the lunch Splinter had packed for him. It would never beat Splinter’s ramen but there was still something special about homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Raph and Mikey sat down as they loudly rambled about something. Mikey threw an arm around Leo’s shoulders to greet him, “Hey, Bro!”

“Hey.”

Raph leaned his elbow against the table, eyebrows raised, “How’s the scute? You realize you were being ridiculous yet?”

Leo glared at him then he paused. He couldn’t feel the tape anymore. The scute was definitely still there but there was now a noticeable hump on his back, where the scute was now sticking up. He turned his head toward the front doors to the cafeteria; he could see Donnie and April walking in. Shit. 

Leo frantically swung his backpack back over his shoulder and ran toward the door. He stopped in front of April and Donnie. “Hey!” He bit down on his lip as he awkwardly waved.

April glanced at Donnie then back to Leo, “Hi.” She squeezed her messenger bag handle then glanced back at her feet.

“Um, I’m gonna be right back!,” he started walking backwards out the door, “Don’t wait for me!” As soon as he was out the door he made a run for the nearest bathroom and into the handicap stall. He threw his stuff to the ground then pulled off his jacket and polo shirt.

Leo stood in front of the mirror, craning his neck to get a look at his shell. From what he could see, the scute was still attached but not yet loose enough that ripping it off wouldn’t be painful.

Leo gripped onto the sink then took a deep breath. Calm down, Leonardo. You got this. You got this. Leo reached into his bag and pulled out the scotch tape he had tossed in there that morning. He pressed his scute down flat then carefully placed several small pieces of tape to his shell. The tape was sticky and felt gross and uncomfortable against his carapace but it was worth it if it meant keeping this a little embarrassing secret. He stared at himself in the mirror. The tape seemed to be holding for the time being. There were only three more periods after lunch; he could make it until then.

Leo threw his clothes back on, zipping the jacket all the way to his chin, before he made his way out of the bathroom and back toward the cafeteria. He could see his brothers at their usual table talking.

“Guys, where’s April?,” Leo asked as he set his backpack on a chair.

“Said she was going to meet with her english teacher to do some extra credit work,” Raph said between bites of his lunchable.

Leo frowned, “April has straight A’s in that class. What’s she doing extra credit for?”

Mikey shrugged, “Dunno. Maybe she’s just an overachiever?”

Donnie smirked, “No wonder you like her so much, Mister Teacher’s Pet.” The other boys snickered as Leo rolled his eyes.

Leo sat down in front of the lunch he had abandoned earlier. “Has April been acting odd to you?”

The other boys stared wide-eyed for a second before Raph and Mikey started talking over each other. Donnie sat deadpan just shaking his head.

“PFFT. April acting weird? Nah man.”

“Yeahh, April’s not acting weird?”

“Do you think April’s been acting weird?”

“Nope, not at all!”

Leo wasn’t buying it. “Now, you guys are acting weird.”

Donnie sighed, “April should be back soon, ‘Nardo. Just eat your lunch.”

Leo couldn’t eat. The teen just stared down at his half-eaten sandwich, Squeez Applesauce, and Gatorade. He wasn’t hungry. Logically, he knew he was definitely hungry; he’d only eaten a Gronola bar for breakfast but he just couldn’t convince himself to eat.

The rest of the school day was slow going. Leo couldn’t bother to pay attention in any of his classes. All he could think about was getting home and collapsing in his bed and definitely not crying himself to sleep. On the way to his last class, he had another awkward encounter with April in the hallway, where they both just stared at each other before darting off in opposite directions.

Leo was sitting in class, about to doze off if he was being honest when his phone buzzed. Was April texting him? Was she gonna tell him why she was acting so strange? Reassure him that their friendship was not over?

D: Meet at library after bell

Oh, it was just Donnie. He typed back a quick response, then shoved his phone back in his pocket. He was getting far too comfortable with this whole texting-in-class thing.

“Leonardo?”

Shit.

Leo shot his head up to look at his teacher. The older man was standing in front of the smartboard holding out his hand. Leo forced a grin onto his face, “Yes, sir?” The teacher motioned the hand he had been holding out. Leo sucked in a breath, “Right,” he muttered.

Leo reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, then took the walk of shame to the front of the class, trying his best to ignore the snickers from his fellow students. He could feel his face heating up, no doubt it was bright red by the time he was face to face with his teacher. All Leo could muster up the courage to say was “Sorry,” as he placed the phone into his teacher’s waiting hand.

The man nodded, the same disappointed expression not leaving his face, “I expect better from you.” Leo apologized again, then walked back to his seat as quickly as he could, not glancing up from the floor.

Back at his desk, he stuck his hands in his pockets and did his best to pay attention to the rest of the lesson. He just wanted this day to be over with already.

Once the bell finally rang, Leo went right to his teacher to retrieve his phone. The man gave him a short but still too-long lecture about the benefits of paying attention in class and how his phone was rotting his brain. Leo apologized again and promised to not use his phone in class again. Apparently, that still was not enough for this teacher as the man kept on jabbering about the dangers of cell phones and how today’s youth wouldn’t survive a second in the good ol’ days. To be honest, Leo had zoned out once he had started talking about how the government was using the microwaves in their phones to brainwash them.

Once his teacher had finally stopped talking his ear off, Leo raced down the hall toward the library. School had ended fifteen minutes ago and Donnie was not known for his patience, especially after an exhausting day of school.

Leo had expected to find Donnie, sitting at a table maybe reading some manga or doing homework. He was not expecting to find April.

“Oh, um–hi,” Leo stammered, trying his best to act cool, which was to say not cool whatsoever.

“Hey,” April replied, using the book she was reading to hide part of her face.

Leo pulled out a chair at the table she was sitting at, “Is it alright if I sit here?”

April nodded, not looking up from the book, “Go ahead.”

“Cool,” He took a seat. Leo set his hands on the table twiddling his thumbs together. This was so awkward. Where the hell was Donnie? Leo glanced up at April then immediately back down at his hands, once their eyes accidentally met. Was she staring at him? Definitely not.

The silence between them was unbearable. He should take this opportunity to ask her what was up. “So I’m just waiting for Donnie. Um, so what’re you doing here? You don’t usually hang out at the library after school,” Leo attempted some small talk.

April finally looked up from her book, a confused expression plastered across her face. “Wait, you're waiting for Donnie,” she pointed to herself, “I’m waiting for him too. He said he needed my chemistry notes and specifically needed them in person.”

Leo frowned, “Huh, well we usually walk home together on Thursdays. Mike’s got Improv and Raph’s got Hockey. I just figured he was taking out a book or something.”

“You two!”

Leo and April both simultaneously snapped their heads toward the entrance to the library, where Donnie was entering. The teen pointed an accusing finger at both of them. “You both have been driving me insane all day.” April and Leo both exchanged looks but before either could try and argue, Donnie continued, “So instead of blowing up my phone asking why the other is avoiding them or acting weird. Could you please just talk to each other!?”

“Wha-? Donnie–,” Leo started.

Donnie nudged Leo toward April, “Nuh-uh, talk to her.” When Leo glanced at her, April hugged her book to her chest and glanced back at her feet. Donnie spun back around toward the door, “I promised Mikey I’d help with the tech rehearsal for his Improv club. Be done by 5:00. That gives you plenty of time to talk to each other!”

With that Donnie left, leaving April and Leo to stare at each other, dumbfounded. They sat at the table, both not saying a word until Leo finally broke the silence.

“April, I’m sorry!”

The older teen looked up, “Wait, why are you sorry? I was trying to muster up the courage to apologize to you!”

Leo shook his head, “What for? I thought you were mad at me. That’s why you’ve been ignoring me.”

“Wait, but I thought you were the one ignoring me! I thought you were mad at me all day.”

They stared at each other for a second, then laughed. “Okay, I guess we can’t be too mad at Don. We could have probably worked this out hours ago if we had just talked to each other!”

Leo nodded, “Agreed.” He took a deep breath, then settled back into the chair, “Sorry, if I made it seem like I was avoiding you. I promise I wasn’t trying to. I was just overthinking something.”

April smiled back at him, “Yeah, same here.”

“So?” Leo awkwardly shuffled his feet.

April grabbed at the edges of her oversized yellow sweater, “So?”

They both stared at each other. Leo quickly glanced back down at his feet, when he felt his face heat up. He hadn’t realized just how close they were.

“Um, Leo?” April spoke up as she played with a loose string on her sweater. “Have you ever played Battletoads? It’s this old NES game,” she began to ramble, “I’ve been meaning to play it but it feels kinda silly to play a multi-player game by myself so you know if you aren’t doing anything maybe,” she paused to catch her breath, “Maybe we could play together?”

Leo felt his heart skip a beat. Was April inviting him to her house alone? Was this like a date? Slow down, Leonardo. She just wants to hang out. He was about to say yes when he felt the tape against his carapace. Right, dumb scute. What if it fell off at April’s house?

This wasn’t fair. April was asking him to her house to a not-date and his stupid peeling shell was gonna make him say no.

But what if April didn’t care?

This was April, he was talking about. She was very well aware that he was a humanoid reptile so having a peeling scute should be expected. She’d never judged him before. If anyone would understand it was her.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he forced himself to say, “I’d love to!” April looked relieved as if she was the one nervous about revealing a peeling scute. Leo pulled out his phone, “I just have to let my dad and my brothers know.”

Leo shoved his phone in his jacket pocket, then swung his backpack over his shoulder. He gave April two thumbs up, “I’m ready!”

“Cool,” She adjusted her messenger bag on her hip. “I think I have a spare helmet back at my locker.”

Leo cocked his head, “Spare helmet?”

“Well yeah, you’ll need a helmet to ride on my moped,” she explained as they walked down the now-empty hallway.

Leo felt his cheeks heat up. He was gonna be riding on the back of April’s scooter, holding onto her? Deep breaths, Leonardo. “Oh, yeah no problem. That’s cool–that’s cool.”

Once they reached her locker, April mindlessly put in her combination and then reached inside. Leo leaned against one of the lockers on the opposite wall, trying his best to appear cool because he was definitely very calm on the inside and not freaking out at all.

The hallway was dead quiet with all the students gone, so of course it was at that moment that Leo’s stomach took the opportunity to grumble. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty hungry. He’d barely taken a bite of his sandwich at lunch. He'd been too focused on April. Speaking of April, he really hoped she hadn't heard that. He didn't need more things to be embarrassed about. 

The older teen pulled out what appeared to be a brand new blue helmet, then turned back toward Leo. “Was that your stomach?” So much for April not noticing.

Leo rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t exactly eat lunch.”

April stifled a laugh as she rolled her eyes, “Don’t apologize,” she tossed him the helmet, “C’mon, let’s get going. My mom’s gonna insist on feeding you anyway.”

Right, April’s mom. Even having known April for several months, the boys had still not formally met her mother. If she was anything like her daughter, Leo knew he would like her.

Leo followed April outside to the school parking lot, where she had parked her scooter. April adjusted the chin strap of her helmet and then climbed up on the seat. Leo took a deep breath. Oh, wow. This was really happening. April smiled at him then motioned for him to climb on. Leo adjusted his own helmet strap and then climbed up on the seat behind April. She scooted as close to the front as she could to give him more room. It wasn’t exactly a perfect fit with Leo’s shell being so bulky.

April craned her head to look him in the eyes, “I’m gonna need you to wrap your arms around my waist and hold on tight.” Leo nodded, trying to ignore his increasing heart rate, sweaty palms, and most definitely red face. The teen wiped his hands on his pants then wrapped his arms around her waist. Was he supposed to rest his chin on her shoulder? It made more sense then shoving his face into the fabric of her sweater. “Um, is this okay?” Leo asked when he finally built up the courage to set his chin on her shoulder. He could have sworn he noticed April’s cheeks redden ever so slightly as she nodded. 

The teen girl gripped the handlebars of the scooter. Then turned her head to look at Leo one more time, “Ready?”

Leo nodded, “Yeah!”

“Hold on tight!” she shouted as she started up the scooter.

Leo hadn’t realized just how fast the moped could go. He squeezed his arms tighter around April’s waist and dug his face into her shoulder. Oh, wow. This felt nice. He had never been so close to April that he could really take in what she smelled like. She smelled nice, like vanilla and aniseed. Was it creepy to be thinking so much about how someone smelled? The last thing he wanted was for April to think he was a creep. But she really did smell nice. Leo begged his brain to shut up. But oh wow, she looked so cute. Yellow was such a pretty color on her and yellow looked so good with blue and blue was his color. He was definitely smiling like a dork as his mind ran through a plethora of April-centric thoughts.

This was really nice, even if it was a bit overwhelming. He hoped the two of them could hang out like this more, even if it was just for the ride on her moped.

Notes:

This was getting long so I decided to split it into another chapter! Coming soon! Along with more art. I may or may not have started making a very small comic for the last chapter...

Chapter 4: Platonic Feelings

Summary:

Leo and April talk about their completely platonic feelings.

Notes:

Rated Teen for swearing. No other warnings I can think of.

“You must be Michelangelo!,” April’s mother, Carol, greeted as soon as she saw the two teenagers enter her home. The older woman almost looked exactly like April, but much taller and with a few more wrinkles. Her hair was loose and natural with a few grey streaks and pulled back by a yellow bandana. She was staring at him with that same warm smile that April had. Leo liked her already. 

“Actually, I’m Leonardo,” he finally replied, “but just Leo is fine.” 

The older woman looked slightly embarrassed, “Right, sorry, Leonardo, like the actor! Sorry, these long names get easily mixed up in this old brain.”

“It’s cool!,” he put a fist in an open palm and bowed, “It’s such an honor to finally meet you, Mrs. O’Neil!” He stood back up only to be met with a shocked expression on Carol’s face. Did he do something wrong? He was just trying to be polite. But then again maybe doing a Tai Chi salute was acceptable in a martial arts setting but maybe not the best choice of action when meeting your crush’s mom. 

Carol smiled, “It’s nice to finally meet you too!,” she reached for his hand to shake it. Oh, a handshake! That’s what he should have done. Leo took her hand in his and shook. Once they released the handshake, Carol looked at both the teens. “Are either of you hungry? I just finished heating up some pizza rolls.”

“Yes, please!” Leo immediately answered, an arm wrapped tightly around his plastron. Skipping lunch had really come back to bite him in the ass and by the headache that had begun to form in his temple, he was probably a bit dehydrated too. 

Carol laughed at his eagerness and then motioned for the two to follow her into the kitchen. 

Leo sat down beside April on a small bar stool at the small island that was in the center of the small kitchen.  He was practically frothing at the mouth as Carol set down a plate of food. Leo wasted no time in shoving a steaming pizza roll into his mouth, quickly followed by a second and a third, table manners seemingly forgotten. 

“Haven’t you eaten today, Baby?” 

Leo swallowed, then wiped at his mouth with his sleeve, his face heating up when his eyes met with April’s mother’s. He hadn’t realized Carol had been staring at him. What a great first impression you’ve made, Leonardo. You’re really giving off that raised-in-a-sewer vibe. “I am so sorry,” he blurted out. “I didn’t eat lunch today and I guess I didn’t realize just how hungry I was.”

Carol set a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, don’t stress over it, Hon.” Leo let out a breath. There was something just so intrinsically comforting about her. “But if you're still hungry, please let me get you something else to eat.” 

Leo frantically shook his head, “It’s okay, Mrs. O’Neil, really!” But she was already digging around the kitchen. Leo looked to April for advice but the look she gave said “Just let this happen.” 

“You really didn’t have to do that, but thanks so much Ma’am,” Leo bowed his head as Carol placed a cut-up apple and a tall glass of cranberry juice in front of him. 

“Aren’t you such a little gentlemen, it’s no wonder April–” 

It was April’s turn to be embarrassed. “Whoa, okay! That’s enough, Mom!,” April frantically cut her off. 

---

Leo struggled to carry two full grocery bags as he followed April to her bedroom. “Your mom does know we have food at my place, right?” 

“Yeah, she just tends to go a little overboard when she thinks people are hungry,” April said as she opened the door to her bedroom,” It’s how she shows she cares!” 

Leo set the two bags down by April’s bed and that’s when reality began to set in. He was alone with a girl in her room and not just any girl, April, and honestly, that was terrifying. His body suddenly felt stiff, his palms sweaty, and his stomach unsettled. He crossed his arms over his plastron. They were just hanging out, nothing more. There was no way to mess this up if they were just hanging out as friends. 

April’s room was homey and full of personality. Leo wondered what it must have been like to have your own bedroom. He had very little square footage in his own bedroom to decorate. Having three “roommates” meant any decor not touching the wall your bed was against, had to be unanimously agreed upon and Leo’s tastes didn’t seem to line up so perfectly with that of his brothers. So Leo had about three posters and a dream board against his wall and that was it for his self-expression in his bedroom. 

April, on the other hand, had her room filled to the brim with decor to express herself. There were band posters, cardboard cutouts, fairy lights, and homemade protest signs. All of it screamed April. Leo loved his brothers more than anything but was it wrong of him to desire his own space at this age? 

April was knelt on the ground connecting her NES to the small box TV that sat on the floor in the corner of her bedroom. “You can sit on my bed, y’know,” she said without turning her back. “

“Right,” Leo muttered then took a seat on the edge of the bed. Her sheets looked so clean, even if the bed had been made rather sloppily. He didn’t dare ruin it with his clothes. Sure, they were clean but he did live in a sewer after all. 

“Sorry, it’s kinda messy. I would have cleaned up more if I had known you’d be coming over.”

“It’s way cleaner than my room back home!” Raph was surprisingly clean, it was Donnie and Mikey who were the true slobs of the family. Leo tried to keep his own space as neat as possible but it wasn’t exactly easy with his youngest brothers finding new ways to destroy the place daily. 

“I don’t know if that’s saying much if my room is cleaner than a sewer.” 

“Well, it’s much much cleaner than any sewer I've been in and you also don’t have three younger siblings breathing down your neck. It must be nice to have your own space.”

“That’s right, you guys share a room. Damn, it must suck not to have any personal space. How do you get me time?” 

“Usually just go to our dojo to meditate or find a quiet place to read.” Way to make yourself sound boring, Leonardo. Did you forget to mention how much you love watching paint dry too? “I also do a lot of really cool stuff!” he racked his brain for anything that sounded cooler than rereading Go Rin No Sho for the umpteenth time. “I-uhh practice backflips–off of buildings!” Nice save. April chuckled to herself, shaking her head. 

Once April had the game system all hooked up, she turned back to Leo and rolled her eyes fondly. He was still sitting at the very edge of her bed, hands politely folded in his lap and looking stiff as a board. She jumped on the bed beside him, “C’mon, ‘nardo! Relax a little!” 

“Don’t you start with that,” he moaned. 

April smiled up at him, “What you still don’t like ‘nardo? We could just call you ‘nards!”

Leo buried his face in his hands, hiding his red face and the semblance of a smile. “That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid!” 

April feigned innocence, “What its just a harmless little nickname.”

Leo poked his face out from behind his hands, “You’re one to talk, Puke Girl!” 

April did an overdramatic gasp, then whacked his knee, “You little jerk. I’m gonna call you ‘nards from now on just for bringing that up!”

“Nooo.” 

“Oh, relax! I doubt anyone our age knows what it means.” 

“Well, now I know that you do!” 

This felt good, just the two of them laughing at their terrible nicknames. Leo was less stiff and actually properly lying on her bed, his head propped up against a pillow funnily shaped like a loaf of bread. April was laying opposite him her chin pressed against her forearms.  All was right until April glanced up at the window. 

Suddenly she sat up, covering part of her face with her hand. She looked down at Leo, who looked rightfully confused. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah!,” she nodded, then peered over at her door and back at Leo. “I’ll be right back!” Then she darted out the door, leaving Leo alone in her bedroom. 

Leo wrapped his arms around his plastron, laying back on the bed. He hoped he hadn’t done anything to upset her. Maybe it had been too soon to joke about the whole “Puke Girl” thing. He rolled over on his side, pulling out his phone to mindlessly scroll social media. It was weird to have a public Instagram account, not to mention a verified one, but as the “saviors” of New York City there were weirdos out there who had tried to impersonate them online. Donnie was immediately on top of that and the fake accounts were gone in under an hour. 

Leo scrolled through his page; he hadn’t posted much, it was mostly just pictures of him and his brothers goofing around, some reels of him demonstrating some Kenjutsu, and then at the very bottom was his first post, a group shot of his three brothers, himself, and April at prom. They were all huddled together. Raph was in the middle with his arms thrown around Mikey and Donnie, a frenzied smile on his face. Donnie was to his left holding up peace signs with his hands and Mikey was on his opposite side holding up a corny sign that read "Prom Squad." Standing in front of them, were Leo and April. Leo was wearing a navy tux with a royal blue bowtie and a nervous smile plastered across his face.

April had gone all out for prom. She was wearing an elegant yellow ball gown with sequins covering the corset. Her red locs that she usually wore down were neatly tied up in a high ponytail and on her wrist, she wore the corsage that Leo had painstakingly picked out. It had a large yellow rose in the center surrounded by smaller purple and white lilacs. 

Suffice it to say she looked gorgeous. Leo had to keep his jaw from dropping. He had never seen her look more beautiful. Not that she wasn't always beautiful because obviously she was. But Prom night was–wow, just wow. 

“Hey,” April said as she reentered the room, “Sorry about that. Just had to help my mom with something.” Leo thought that was odd. It was a small apartment, he definitely would have heard if Carol had called for her. “Anyway,” she brushed her palms against her jeans. “Ready for me to demolish you in this game!?” She stood in front of the TV, holding up the two controllers. 

Leo smirked, “You’re going down!” He moved to grab the controller from her, the cord could just barely reach when they sat on the bed so they opted for pushing April’s pillows to the floor and sitting there. 

April started up the game and then rejoined Leo on their little mountains of pillows. Leo gripped the controller. At home, he wasn’t known to be the best, and video games that was more up Donnie and Mikey’s alley. 

“Have you ever played this game before?” April asked as the game began to load. 

“No, I’ve never even played on the NES before.”

April patted him on the knee, “Don’t worry this game has a pretty easy learning curve.”

---

She was a liar. This game did not have an easy learning curve. Leo was certain there was nothing easy about this game at all. Leo had never been the best at video games so at first he thought it was just a skill issue but he quickly noticed that April wasn’t doing much better.

“Leo, if you die one more time, we’re gonna have to start all over,” April said, not moving her eyes from the screen. 

Leo replied with a deadpan voice, “You're kidding?” his eyes also remained fixated on the screen.

“Have I steered you wrong before?”

“You were the one who told me this was gonna be easy!”

“No-no, ‘nardo, I told you it would have an easy learning curve. I never said this was an easy game.” 

“See, I’m still gonna disagree with you there.” 

They only lasted a few more seconds before Leo died and they were greeted with a big Game Over screen. April wasn’t a rage gamer like Donnie or even a nonchalant one like Mikey. Instead, she was laughing, “Dude, we are so bad at this!”

Leo couldn’t help but laugh with her. She just had that affect on him. Sitting here alone just laughing together. This felt amazing. He didn’t even feel anxious and he hadn’t even thought about the–Leo froze. 

The scute. 

He couldn’t feel it anymore. 

Shit. 

Leo frantically glanced around the room to see if he could find it but it was to no avail. He knew the scute had still been attached when they came inside so it had to be in the apartment somewhere. He was so stupid for coming here. Of course, it would fall off at April’s apartment. That’s turtle luck for ya’.

“Leo? Are you okay?” April set a hand on his knee. Leo felt his face flush as their eyes met. She looked so concerned and was that glitter on her nose? 

“I–,” Leo jumped up, “Need to use the bathroom!” He walked backwards sending finger-guns toward April as he walked out the door. What was he doing?  They weren't even here and Leo could hear his brothers cringing. 

As soon as he was out of the doorway, he dashed down the hall with as quiet feet as he could muster, which was pretty damn quiet thanks to lifelong ninjutsu practice. He had to find this damn scute. He’d already made a pretty awkward impression on April’s mom, this was just going to make things weirder. How was he supposed to explain why he was wandering around and without April? 

Focus, Leonardo!

Leo folded his arms over the front of his plastron and took a deep breath to center himself. He was going to find that scute and everything was going to be fine. He would find it, dispose of it, then he could go back to April's room and resume their game. 

Now to find the damn thing. 

He hadn’t found it in April's room or the hallway. He just needed to keep retracing his steps. Leo quietly crept toward the kitchen, stopping to listen for Carol, then proceeding once he was certain no one was inside. Okay, now he just needed to search this room as fast as possible. He could only be in the “bathroom” for so long. 

After searching everywhere in the kitchen, he moved on to the living room and the foyer and then back to the kitchen again, just in case. He was still coming up flat. Leo’s breathing was growing ragged. Just breathe, Leonardo. Everything’s fine. Even if April does find it, she probably won't care. That doesn't make it any less humiliating. 

The teen stepped back out into the living room. He was running out of options. Maybe he was overreacting and it had fallen off but was stuck underneath his shirt.

Leo ripped his jacket off, tossing it to the ground, then untucked his polo shirt. He paused for a moment considering ripping his shirt off completely but quickly decided against it. This was mortifying enough, he didn't need to make things worse by risking April walking in on him stripping in the middle of her living room. Leo reached his hand up the back of his shirt and felt along his carapace, where his lateral scutes were located. He could feel some of the scotch tape still there but the scute itself was completely gone. Running out of options, he decided to check under the coffee table that he was positive he hadn’t set foot near. Hurry. hurry. He had already been gone at least ten minutes; April was going to get suspicious sooner rather than later. 

“Leo?” 

The young teen jumped back to his feet, slamming his head on the coffee table in the process. Damn it. He rubbed the back of his head as he forced a pseudo smile onto his face. “Sorry, April! I um, got kind of lost on my way to the bathroom and,” he turned back to face the coffee table, quickly deciding to kneel in front of it, “I saw this coffee table, and uh-!” He rubbed his hands along the surface of the table, “I love this woodwork! Is this birchwood?” he peered back up at April, who was staring back at him with the most dumbfounded expression she could muster. 

The older teen pinched the bridge of her nose, “Leo,” her voice was serious, “What is going on? Why are you acting so weird? And don’t spew some bullshit about my fucking coffee table. You are literally the worst liar!” 

The jig was up. 

Leo took a seat on the couch, his head bowed. “I’m sorry, April.” She took a seat beside him, her arms crossed. He quickly wiped at a tear rolling down his cheek, hoping April didn’t notice it. He was quiet for another moment until, “I lost a scute,” his voice barely above a whisper.

“What?” 

He finally looked her in the eyes, “I lost a scute!” He couldn’t help a few more tears that dripped down his face. He tried to scrub them away but he was well past April not noticing.  He crossed his arms over his plastron and fixated his gaze toward his feet. He couldn’t bring himself to keep looking her in the eyes. “I know it's probably gross and weird but it's just a thing that happens. I can’t help it,” he sniffed, pulling his knees to his chest so he could hide his face in them. “It's so embarrassing.” He was preparing himself for an averse reaction but it never came. Instead, the older teen wrapped her arms around him, enveloping him in a hug. His cheeks flushed when her locs brushed against the side of his neck. Oh, wow as if he wasn’t overwhelmed enough already. He wished he could hug her back but he just couldn’t get his body to move or his heart to stop beating so fast.

“To be clear, I don’t think it’s weird or gross. It’s natural and there’s nothing gross about that.” She released the hug so she could look him in the eyes, “You–you don’t think I’d ever judge you for something like that do you?” her voice broke in a way that Leo had never heard from her before. 

Leo glanced back at the floor, he couldn’t stand looking at her when she looked that heartbroken. He should have known that she would have been understanding. She was April and she hadn’t been anything but understanding since the day they met. Did he not trust her? Did he really think she was that shallow that she’d not want to be friends for his body doing something that was natural for it?

Leo pulled his knees up to his plastron and buried his face in them. He wished more than ever for the mutation to have given him superpowers so he could just disappear. “No, of course not! I’m sorry, I was just being dumb.” 

“You’re not dumb!!” 

Leo immediately shot his head toward her. April blushed, once she realized how loud her voice was. “Sorry, I–it’s just it’s not dumb.” She motioned to all of him, “This whole situation doesn’t bother me but I can’t imagine how stressful it was to try to hide something like that from everyone at school.” 

Leo gripped tight onto the edges of his polo shirt, eyes fixated on the floor. His shoulders felt lighter and his heart was no longer attempting to beat its way out of his plastron. A small smile appeared on his face, “Yeah, it was.” 

“And you’re not like obligated to tell me about this kind of stuff but if you ever do I’m never gonna judge. I don’t want you to ever have to feel uncomfortable in your body when you’re around me.” 

Leo’s guilt melted away. He was so lucky to have met her. He wished he had the courage to hug her as she had him, but all he could do was smile while holding his arms close to his plastron. “So you’re not upset at me for hiding it from you?”

“Nah,” April stood up, reaching for a tissue from the box on the coffee table, “Besides if I was upset with you, I would be like the biggest hypocrite on the planet.” She took a deep breath, then wiped the right side of her nose and cheek, revealing an array of red cystic acne. “I always break out pretty bad when I’m on my period and it never really bothered me before but,” she looked away once their eyes met again. “This month something about you seeing my face all spotted and ugly–it really bothered me. That’s why I kept running off at school. I was putting on make-up to cover it. I know it’s dumb and–” 

“It’s not dumb,” Leo cut her off. “I think it's fine if you wanna put make-up on to cover it but,” he turned to her, “I still think you look beautiful either way,” it came out so naturally, he hadn’t totally comprehended what he had said. It felt so right in the moment but once he’d said it, he slapped a hand over his mouth, his face flushing a bright red. “I mean platonically! I think you're really beautiful in a completely platonic way!"

April’s face dropped, “oh,” she almost sounded disappointed.

Leo continued blabbing, twiddling his thumbs together anxiously. “Cause I mean it’d be totally weird if I had anything other than platonic feelings for you, right?”

“PFFT, yeah, totally,” April said with a phony smile, then pointed to her chest, “Cause like I also only have platonic feelings for you, and like it’d be soo weird if I didn’t, right?”

“Yeah, right!”

“Awesome!”

“Perfect!”

“Glad we’re on the same page!”

Once the two had stopped blabbing, they turned away from each other, staring off into the space in front of them, a noticeable gap that hadn’t been there before separated them on the couch. They both sat in silence for a moment. 

“Hey, April?” Leo said still staring off in front of him. 

“Hmm?” 

“What if–what if, I had some not-so-platonic feelings for you? Would–would that bother you?”

April kept her head focused on the nothing in front of her, “Not at all. I guess–,” she started then stared down at her hand in her lap, “I guess I’d just be shocked that someone as amazing and cool as you would even consider liking someone like me.”

Leo finally turned back to her with a swift movement of his waist, “What are you talking about?” he burst out. “You are literally the coolest person I know!” 

April laughed, bashfully, pushing a stray loc behind her ear, her cheeks flushing slightly. “I don’t know. I mean you’re the one who's a professionally trained ninja.”

“Is it really professional training when it’s your dad teaching you in a sewer?”

April laughed at that, pulling anxiously on a loose string on her sweater. Leo continued, “Besides you are a total badass!” April pushed her head up to stare at him with wide eyes, a deep red hue making its way across her caramel skin. Leo kept on blabbing, “You broke into TCRI with my dad, you found that gun, and then you went on live TV even though you were super scared just to tell everyone that we were the good guys. Like the whole city could have turned against you but you still stuck up for us!” 

 April glanced up, giving a little shrug, “Okay, maybe I’m a little cool,” she turned back to Leo, a fire in her eyes. “But you’re the one who fought all those jerks to get back my scooter, then you fought all those mobsters, and even when it looked like society wasn’t gonna accept you–you still wanted to save the city! You're so-so,” she racked her brain for the right words, “so noble!” 

They went back and forth hyping each other up until their faces were merely inches apart. They both backed away ever so slightly, but Leo couldn’t help but glance at April’s lips. Oh, wow. Her lips looked prettier than usual. They were more red and there was a certain gleam to them. Was she wearing lipgloss? Their faces were so close; that he could faintly smell cherries. I wonder what cherry lip gloss tastes like. Holy shit! Shut up stupid hormonal teenage brain. Now is not the time for ludicrous ideas. Leo would have felt more bad about it had he not noticed April staring back at his mouth, in an almost daze as if she was lost in thought about something too. 

Was she having the same idea, he was?  

Leo looked her in the eyes, “April?” Her attention immediately snapped back to him. “Um–,” he started but paused to take a deep breath. 

Just go for it, Leonardo!

Leo wiped his sweaty hands on the fabric of his blue polo shirt. “I’m gonna try something crazy and I want you to tell me if you want me to stop.” 

April’s eyes widened and she nodded. Leo took another deep breath and then squeezed his eyes shut. You got this, Leo. You got this. He barely leaned in before their lips touched. Had she leaned in too? 

It was surface level and probably clear to anyone watching that they had no idea what they were doing. Both teens had their arms awkward and stiff by their sides as if they didn’t know where they were supposed to put them. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t the most passionate of kisses because it was both of their first, which made it passionate in its own way. 

Finally, when the two released the kiss, their faces were flushed and their bodies shaking with anxiety. The kiss had been simultaneously amazing and overwhelming. Understandably, both the teens needed to take a moment to comprehend what had just happened. All that was running through Leo's brain was the confirmation that cherry lipgloss tasted really good.

When he finally mustered up the courage to speak, all he could say was, “Wow.” 

April stifled a giggle, “Yeah, wow.” 

Leo squeezed her hand. Her hand; when had they started holding hands? It didn’t matter. This was actually happening! Leo cleared his throat, “Hey, April?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you–do you-I dunno-maybe–”

April rolled her eyes with a fond smile on her face, “I’d love to go out sometime, Leo.” 

“Oh my god–,” Leo caught himself, “I mean, cool. Yeah, that’s cool.” 

April stifled another giggle, “You’re a dork.”

Leo looked at her nervously, “But you like that?”

“Yeah, I do.” 

They sat beside each other on the couch still holding hands but with a small space between them. 

“Hey, Leo?” April asked releasing her grip on his hand.

“Yeah?”

“We can take this slow, right?”

“What?”

“This,” she motioned to the two of them. 

A knowing expression came across his face, “Ohh,” then came nervousness, “That kiss wasn’t too much too fast was it!?” 

“Not at all! I just-,” she paused, “I just really want this to work and I don’t wanna mess things up by moving too quickly.” Leo nodded, “Right.” As nice as the kiss had been it had been a bit overwhelming for the two of them.

Leo could handle taking things slow. He held out his hand to her, “Is holding hands okay?”

April nodded, as she intertwined her five fingers into his three, “Yeah, this is perfect.”

Notes:

I had not originally planned for them to kiss but then it just sorta happened and...I'm not sorry XD

Thanks for all your lovely kudos and comments! They all made me smile!

Definitely, expect more tmnt content from me in the future, both Aprilnardo and gen stuff. I have a little one-shot about prom that I'm gonna post somewhat soon so if that interests you be on the lookout!

Chapter 5: Guess What? I Kissed a Girl

Summary:

Leo shares some exciting news with his family.

Notes:

Rated teen for swearing. No other content warnings.

This was supposed to be a short epilogue but I think it works better as the final chapter. I hope you enjoy!

 

Shit.

Leo hadn’t meant to leave his phone in April’s room.

After the whole ordeal with his scute, he and April got comfy on her couch and began a binge of the original Star Wars Trilogy. At some point during the first film, April had rested her head against his shoulder and Leo had wanted to savor it for as long as he could.

It wasn’t until about about halfway through The Empire Strikes Back, that April got up to use the bathroom that Leo thought about checking his phone or the time for that matter.

Leo let out a deep exhale. He was really dreading the incoming conversation. Maybe Splinter would go easy on him. Leo was usually the most punctual out of his brothers. He was never late when they were given a curfew. The teen took another deep breath then answered the call.

“Hey, Dad,” he forced a smile onto his face, hoping his relaxed demeanor would rub off on his dad. Being late for curfew one time wasn’t that big of a deal. He couldn’t even begin to count the number of times Raph had strolled in hours after they were told to be home.

“Leonardo?” Splinter’s voice sounded frantic, but not angry. That was a good sign; maybe he wasn’t too mad.

“Sorry, Dad. I just left my phone in April’s room and I didn’t see your texts or your calls or—.”

“Home. Now.”

Never mind on the not mad thing. He was definitely in trouble once he got home. He just hoped he wouldn’t be grounded for too long.

---

Leo was riding on the back of April’s moped clad in the blue helmet he had borrowed from her earlier. He had his arms wrapped around her waist as she drove through the busy streets of Manhattan. Luckily it was after rush hour so the traffic wasn’t any worse than usual.

Leo leaned forward and with a moment of confidence, he pressed his chin into her shoulder. This had felt so terrifying to him just a few hours ago. Not that it wasn’t still at least a little bit scary. Now, there was just something that felt so much more natural about it.

“You should have said something sooner,” April said, once they stopped at a traffic light. “I could have had you home ages ago.”

Leo adjusted his grip around her waist, “Don’t worry about it.” (He prayed she didn’t notice how his voice cracked just then). “I was having a good time and I just lost track of time.”

April smiled at him over her shoulder, “Me too. We’ve gotta finish our movie marathon!”

“Absolutely!” He said maybe a little too excitedly. He cleared his throat, “I mean–yeah, I’d love to.” Nice save.

April turned her head slightly to look back at Leo. “Well, If you're not busy after school tomorrow maybe you could come over again.”

“If my dad doesn’t ground me for a year, I’d love to.”

April turned her attention back to the road as the light turned green, a stupid grin plastered across her face.

The older teen pulled into an alleyway and parked the scooter off to the side. The manhole cover that led almost directly to the sewer home was only a few feet away, in the center of the road. Leo slid off the moped, then held out his hand for April. He knew she was fully capable of getting off herself but he was itching for an excuse to hold hands again. 

April took his hand with a shy smile, pushing her weight onto him as she slid off. Even once she was firmly on the ground, her grip on his hand remained.

They walked hand in hand over to the manhole cover, swinging their linked arms as they walked. As much as he didn’t want to release her hand, he needed to get home before his dad had an aneurysm.

Leo unbuckled the blue helmet he had borrowed from April. “Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem." She gripped nervously onto her left forearm, "I know you can defend yourself and all but no one should be walking through this city alone after dark." 

That was so sweet. 

Leo smiled back at her warmly, "I appreciate it." 

"Well," April wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans, "I hope your dad goes easy on you.”

Leo shuttered, “Yeah, me too. I’ve never been late for curfew before.” He unbuckled the blue helmet from around his chin and then went to hand it to April, but she pushed it back towards him.

“Keep it. You’ll need it for when I give you a ride next time.”

Leo’s face lit up, “Next time?”

April smirked, “Well, yeah, I mean you’re not exactly old enough for a license so I’ll be our designated driver!” She patted her chest proudly.

Leo huffed, puffing his cheeks out like a child, “I’ll be sixteen in May!”

April pinched his cheek with a teasing smirk, “Don’t you worry, Kiddo. I’ll take you to get your permit on your birthday!” she mocked.

Leo scoffed as he pushed her away, “Don’t call me Kiddo I’m not that much younger than you!”

“Oh, yeah? What should I call you then?”

Like a nickname?

Lots of couples had cute nicknames for each other. They were a couple, right?

Leo’s brain raced with all the cutest couples' nicknames he could think of. The thought of April calling him “Honey” or “Sweetie” or “Babe” made his heart race. As nice as the thought was (and man was it nice), it was still a little too overwhelming at the moment. “Just Leo,” he finally replied.

“Well, okay Just Leo,” she rolled her eyes, mockingly.

“Oh, you think you're so funny!”

“I do actually!”

Leo kept his eyes fixated on her as they both laughed. Her laugh was so cute. He loved the way her nose twitched between each high-pitched giggle.

“What are you staring at?” April asked playfully.

Leo glanced at his feet, face flushing. “Sorry, I um–I was just thinking-,” he looked back at April. “Your laugh is just really cute.”

It was April’s turn to blush as she brushed some hair out of her face, “Oh-um, thanks.”

Shit. Did that make her uncomfortable? He hoped that little comment wasn’t weird. Was it weird to think about someone’s laugh? It was weird. Definitely, weird. Great going, Leonardo. You haven't even gone on an actual date and you're already scaring her away. 

Leo crossed his arms over his chest, glancing at his feet. “Sorry, was that weird?”

April frantically shook her head, “No-no! Not at all!” She glanced to the side, rubbing her left arm with a hand. “It was really sweet,” she unsuccessfully tried to hide the big grin appearing on her face, “I’m just not really used to those kinds of compliments.”

Leo really couldn’t fathom how. She was beautiful, gorgeous, a Goddess. Damn, he was so lucky.

“You’ll let me know if I ever do make you uncomfortable, right?”

“Of course,” April nodded. “And the same goes for you. Let me know if I do something that makes you uncomfortable.”

“Absolutely!”

Leo looked back toward the manhole cover. He really needed to get home. Dad was gonna kill him. “I should probably get going.”

“Right.” April gripped at the edges of her jacket.

“Thanks for today.” Leo nervously pulled on the strings of his jacket, then glanced back at April. “I had a really good time.”

April smiled, “Yeah me too.”

Leo bent down to pick up the manhole cover. Even though he picked it up with ease, April still came to his aid. She knelt down beside him and tried to hold up the cast iron cover with shaky muscles. He appreciated the gesture, even if he was doing all the heavy lifting.

Leo crawled inside, placing his feet on the rims of the latter and holding up the cover with one hand. “I’ll see ya at school!” He was about to put the cover back down and head further into the sewer, when he noticed April hadn’t replied back and she was staring. Specifically, her eyes were fixated on the single arm that was holding up the cast iron manhole cover. “Um, April?”

The older teen seemed to snap back into reality and by the blood rushing to her face, he could tell she was embarrassed. “Sorry–sorry,” she repeated, then looked him back in the eyes, “It’s just–Leo, that thing’s like a hundred pounds. Doesn't your arm hurt?”

“Oh, not really.” He peered at the arm holding up the cast iron cover. “I guess I never really noticed how heavy they are. We’ve pretty much been lifting them for our whole lives,” he said rather nonchalantly.

April looked a little ashamed as if it should have been obvious. She glanced off to the side, “Oh, right.”

Their first goodbye as a couple could not end with her looking so sad. Leo curled his toes to hold onto the latter, then reached up with his other hand to grab hers. Her head popped up once they touched. Leo was smiling up at her with a soft expression. “Wanna walk to class together tomorrow?” Their fingers intertwined, “ I think your third period is on the way to mine.”

April smiled, “Yeah, I’d love to.” She gave his hand a final squeeze, “Now get home before your dad completely loses it!”

“Bye, April.” They released their hands and Leo crawled down into the sewer. Letting the manhole cover fall into place. He jumped down the last few pegs of the latter, letting water splash everywhere as he landed. Then he listened for the sound of April’s scooter pulling away before he allowed himself to do the most uncool happy dance as he squee-ed like the girls from one of the anime Donnie watched. His brain was on a major high from all the events that had transpired that day. He and April were a couple. A real one. This didn’t feel real. 

A bright grin was plastered across his face as he ran gleefully through the sewer. Nothing could ruin this day. He didn’t care how much trouble he was in for missing curfew. His dad could ground him for a month and he wouldn’t care. As long as he got to go to school tomorrow and walk hand-in-hand with April to class. 

“I’m home!” Leo shouted as he entered through the archway that led into the main room of their home. He tossed his school bag to the side then kicked off his shoes, before stepping further into the home. Splinter, who had been tending to a pot over the makeshift stove, immediately ran toward his eldest son to embrace him.

“Ohh, thank goodness!”

“Daadd,” Leo whined as Splinter attempted to squeeze the life out of him. “I’m fine.”

“Fine?” Splinter released the hug, placing both hands on Leo’s shoulders so he could stare him in the eyes. “You had me worried out of my mind, young man!”

Seeing just how frantic Splinter was, did make Leo feel a little guilty. He hadn’t meant to cause the old rat so much stress. Leo gripped at the edges of his sleeves, “Sorry, I made you worry.”

Splinter let out a relieved breath then pulled him into another hug, “I’m just glad you're home.” He released the hug again this time giving Leo a glance over. “You must be hungry!”

Leo pulled at the strings of his jacket, “I ate a little at April’s. We were sharing some popcorn while we watched some movies.”

“That’s not dinner.” He set a hand on the back of Leo’s shell, guiding him toward the dining table. “I made ramen. I'll prepare you a bowl. Be right back.”

Leo sat in his unassigned assigned seat beside Mikey. His brothers were each still eating their own bowls of warm ramen. They never ate this late. Splinter must have delayed dinner, while they waited for him. “Hey, guys,” he greeted.

“So what’s the Golden Child doing strolling in—,” Raph turned to Donnie, “How many hours passed curfew was it?”

“Two,” Donnie replied matter-of-a-factly, checking his nonexistent watch.

“Two!,” Raph repeated. “Two hours after curfew!” Mikey shoved some noodles in his mouth to try and hide a snicker.

Any other day comments about being the Golden Child were a surefire way to piss Leo off because he was not The Golden Child, A Goody-Two-Shoes, A Tattletale, or any of the other dumb nicknames his brothers called him. But right now Leo couldn’t care less about what they called him. (Sure, he'd prefer just Leo). “There’s a first for everything, Raphael! And I think I’m finally hitting my teenage rebellion phase!”

“And here I thought Donnie was the late bloomer!" Mikey said, which resulted in an annoyed slap on the shoulder from Donatello.

“Here, Leonardo,” Splinter said as he set down a bowl of hot ramen and a cup of green tea.

“Thanks, Dad!”

Splinter gave him a loving pat on the head, then went to grab his brother’s nearly empty bowls. Leo picked up the hot cup of tea and blew on it before taking a small sip. Maybe Splinter wasn’t mad. Maybe he understood that Leo had just lost track of time and it was just a mistake and wouldn’t happen again.

Leo watched through another sip of tea as his father cleaned up the mess of broth Mikey had spilled while eating. He muttered something about not always being there to clean up after their messes, but Leo hadn’t been listening close enough to make out his exact wording.

Everything seemed normal. It was as if Leonardo hadn’t been the one who had just strolled in two hours after a given curfew. The not knowing was killing him. Splinter had been working on being less strict since they had become official members of society but that didn’t mean he had become totally lax with their household rules.

“So am I not in trouble?!” Leo finally blurted out.

Everyone turned their heads toward the oldest boy. He placed his cup of tea down so he could grip the edges of his jacket. Splinter set the napkin he was using to mop up the broth down, then took a seat beside Leo. “Well, I was gonna let you eat first.”

Leo’s face fell. Why did he even ask? He could hear his brothers’ snickering. He sent them a glare, hoping they’d get the hint to shut up. “You aren’t grounded per se but you are to come home right after school tomorrow and meet me in the dojo. We’re gonna run through some advanced katas.”

“I don’t think that’s the punishment you think it is, Dad,” Raph butt in.

“Yeah, he’s probably looking forward to it,” Donnie said with a roll of his eyes. More snickering from Mikey.

Splinter glared at his younger three boys, pointing a finger in their direction, “Hey,” The boys immediately straightened up at the sternness of his voice. “I’m speaking with Leonardo. I don’t need any advice from the peanut gallery.” The boys nodded then went back to scrolling their phones, but still were clearly listening in.

“Dad, I was gonna go to April’s again tomorrow after school! We–we made plans!”

“April’s again!?” He heard Donnie mutter.

Splinter gave the brothers another look then turned his attention back to Leo, “Just come home, okay? You two can hang out here. April can watch you practice.”

“Dad, I doubt she’s gonna wanna watch me get all hot and sweaty!” Not to mention there were not enough candles in the world that would make their little dojo smell nice.

“I dunno something tells me she wouldn’t mind,” Raph muttered, under his breath. Had Leo been within his proximity he would have elbowed him in the ribs.

”Raphael,” Splinter scolded. The second eldest son muttered a quick apology and went back to his phone, once again. Splinter brushed some dirt off the front of Leo’s jacket, then lifted his chin with his thumb. “Look, I can’t afford a heart attack. Please don’t go dark on me like that again. I need to know if you’re gonna be late. I need to know you're okay.”

Leo sighed. There was no winning this battle. “Okay.”

Splinter squeezed his shoulder, “Good, now hurry up and finish your dinner. Sounds like you haven’t gotten much homework done.”

Shit. He’d forgotten about that. Maybe Raph would let him copy his math homework?

Splinter gave his shoulder another squeeze before collecting the empty bowls and heading toward the kitchen to start cleaning up.

Leo rested his head in one hand then picked up a pair of old chopsticks and began scooping up noodles. Having to come home right after school sucked. Even if he and April couldn’t hang out after school tomorrow, he still had walking to class together to look forward to. They had lunch together too so maybe they could hold hands then.

A big smile spread across Leo’s face.

She didn’t respond immediately. Had he said something wrong? She had been responding fairly consistently up until now.

Oh. A wave of relief overcame him. Leo had been so entrenched in the martial arts world, practically since birth, that it had never really occurred to him that he was speaking total jargon to April.

Leo felt a little embarrassed but also flattered that she seemed so excited to watch him practice. Sure, he would probably make way more mistakes than usual with her watching but he could also show off a bit. Leo liked to think he was humble but he couldn’t deny that he really wanted her to see the stunts he could pull off with two katana, he liked to call Rules and Consequences. 

Mikey scooted closer to Leo, nudging him with his elbow. “So~ you and April?”

Leo quickly slammed his phone flat on the table, blood rushing to his cheeks. “What about me and April?”

Donnie wiggled his eyebrows, “You guys were hanging out for a long time.”

“Alone,” Raph added.

“We were just hanging out.” Leo picked up his phone to resume texting April, dorky smile returning to his features.

“Oh, yeah?” Raph smirked. “Then what had you so distracted that you missed curfew?”

Leo glanced up at Raph and back at his phone, “It was nothing,” he muttered.

“Then why’s your face all red?” asked Mikey.

Donnie started poking him in the side, “C’mon, stop smiling at your phone and tell us what happened!”

As much as their teasing was annoying, Leo had to admit he was dying inside to tell them. They weren’t gonna believe it. After years of teasing him for his lack of rizz, he was the first one to get a date not to mention an official partner.

Did he need April’s permission to tell them about their new status? April had to know that they told each other everything and if he didn’t tell them, they would surely find out tomorrow at school.

After the day’s events, Leo was well aware that April had feelings for him but there was something about her admitting to having a crush on him that made his heart melt. Then another realization hit him.

They knew.

“Leonardo!”

Leo looked up from his phone to face his siblings, “April had a crush on me and you didn’t tell me!?”

“Whoa-whoa,” Raph began.

Donnie set a hand on Leo’s shoulder, “April is our best friend. Just because you're our brother, doesn’t mean we’re gonna reveal her crush.”

“Besides,” Mikey said, setting down his cup of tea, “It was kinda funny to watch you two fumble around each other.”

“You guys are the worst!” Leo groaned, leaning his face against the table.

“So you gonna tell us what happened now?”

“Okay-okay! You just can’t tell, Dad yet but-” He paused to make sure the faucet was still loud so Splinter wouldn’t hear. His brothers had scooted their chairs closer so they could listen in. “April and I were hanging out and some stuff happened with my scute—it fell off by the way and-” he caught his breath, “Our lips touched!”

“I’m sorry what?” Donnie said in a deadpan.

Leo grabbed Donnie by the shoulders to shake him, “We kissed!”

“Maybe we judged you too harshly, Oniichan.”

“Yeah, maybe you do have rizz!”

“It was like that scene from The Empire Strikes Back when Luke and Leia kissed except it wasn’t weird because April and I aren’t related!”

“Oh, and it's gone again

“Was there tongue!?” Mikey blurted out.

Leo’s face flushed, “That’s none of your business!”

“So there was!” Raph prodded.

“NO!” Leo took a breath. “I-I wasn’t even thinking about that. I didn’t really know what I was doing and I was a little too preoccupied with the fact that our mouths were even touching.” Shit. Was he a bad kisser? Was he supposed to use his tongue? Had April been disappointed in the kiss? Was it obvious it was his first and he had no idea what he was doing!? Should he have practiced beforehand? What was he even supposed to practice on? The training dummy in the dojo? Now that would be a weird thing to walk in on. 

Splinter reentered the room, carrying a tray of matcha mochi ice cream. “Boys enough teasing him.” They each eagerly grabbed a powdery ball of green ice cream, muttering thank-yous before taking a bite. 

“You heard all of that?” Leo asked, before taking his own bite. 

“You weren’t exactly being quiet.” He patted the back of Leo’s shell. “I’m happy for you two." He set the empty tray on the table then twirled the ends of his beard between two fingers. He smiled back at the four boys as his brain ran through fond memories. "I can't believe it; your first girlfriend. You boys are growing up way too fast for this old rat." 

"Don't say first. You make it sound like we're gonna break up."

Once they finished their ice cream, Raph proclaimed they were going to the dojo to spar. Leo wiped his hands off on a napkin, "Wait up!" He called back. 

Splinter set a hand on his shoulder before he could run off. "Actually, I think it's about time you and I had another little conversation.”

All the blood drained from Leo’s face. He could hear his brothers cackling in the background. “Dad, no!”

“What? You don’t even know what it's about.”

“I know exactly what it's about.”

“Alright, then you shouldn’t have too many questions." He gave Leo's shoulder a firm squeeze, This is important, Leonardo.” 

Leo groaned, hiding his face in his arms. He could still hear his brothers dying with laughter. He hoped they choked, the bastards. 

Leo wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that he would be having such an embarrassing talk with his dad or the fact that yes he did have questions. He hadn’t had the courage earlier to tell April he didn’t know what a period was. By the way, she was talking, it was definitely something he should already be aware of.

---

Leo returned to their bedroom around an hour later, refusing to answer any questions his brothers had about the traumatizing conversation that had just transpired between him and their father. He collapsed into his bed, smashing his face into his pillow. He groaned as he remembered all the homework he still had to do.

He would probably have time to do his math during homeroom and he'd probably be able to fill out his English worksheet if he read the Sparknotes for the book they were reading. It was tomorrow's problem. Leo closed his eyes. Right now, he just wanted to sleep. It only took a few moments for him to drift off.

Leo snapped his eyes open, to someone poking him in the shoulder. So much for sleep. Leo picked his head up to glare at a glasses-less Donnie. "What, Donatello?" He couldn't hide the frustration in his tone. I just want to sleep. Please, we have two other brothers. Bother them!

"Where'd you put the scotch tape?" 

"Scotch tape?" Leo blinked sleepily. 

"Yes."  Donnie turned his back slightly so he could point to the lateral scute nearest to his left shoulder. "Dumb scute is peeling." 

Leo couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Why hello, karma. 

"Yeah-yeah, make fun of me all you want. Just gimme the damn tape." 

Oh, he would be making fun of him for sure, but coming from experience Leo wouldn't let Donnie go to school with his scute loose like that. "S in m' school bag," Leo slurred sleepily. "I'll give it to you tomorrow," he pushed Donnie back towards his tent, "Go back t' sleep, you dork."

"Fiiine, but you better not hide it."  

Leo smirked. He would never do something as devious as that.

Never. 

 

Notes:

Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments.

I'm still working on a "little" one-shot about prom but I wanted to finish this first. Now that its done I can go full swing into prom mode. I'm so so excited to draw cute prom outfits. I'm still outraged that we didn't get a prom dress for our girl!