Donnie's Ranting Mind: Stolen Love (1)

Chapter 13: Truth Came Out

There was a long silence between the siblings.

Donnie's brothers were quite shocked- and confused, really. Brandon and Logan looked at Donnie, then at their brothers as well. Brandon pried himself away from Logan and stood next to Donnie.

"What was that?" Raph asked, breaking the silence.

"To start off, I wanted to come out to you," Donnie said. Raph's face contorted in confusion.

"What?" Raph asked. Donnie took a deep breath.

"I'm non-binary," Donnie responded.

Another silence.

"What the hell does that mean?" Raph asked, getting visibly frustrated with Donnie.

"It means I don't identify as male or female, and I use they/them pronouns," Donnie responded, much calmer than anyone else would have been.

"You're not my brother, then? You're my sibling?" Mikey asked innocently. Donnie looked at him, a smile growing on their lips.

"Yeah, that's basically it," Donnie said. They looked back to Raph, who was calming down.

"How long have you known?" Raph asked after a pause, looking to his feet then back at Donnie.

"Um... Since we were sixteen. I... I told April and dad first, the Leo just the other day."

"Five years..." Raph muttered under his breath.

"I... You always seemed uncomfortable when I referred to you as a guy during training," Mikey noted.

"Yeah, well..." Donnie said.

There was yet another long pause. Raph and Mikey looked between themselves and Donnie.

"Does any of this have to do with him?" Raph asked, gesturing to Brandon.

"Simply, yes. It involves him because I made a promise to him," Donnie said.

Donnie silently asked for Brandon's hand by opening and closing their own a couple of times. Brandon got the message and took their hand.

"This is Brandon Carter. We... I met him when we were 14- that night we went out and got sent to the Ha' shi for 10 hours; he was 15. We've been dating since he turned 18, and I was 17," Donnie said. "I promised I would tell you guys once I came out to you, and I was procrastinating. I was just scared, honestly, and waiting didn't make it better," Donnie admitted, bowing their head to hide that they were near tears. "I wanted to tell you, I did."

All three of Donnie's brothers remained silent. They looked back at their brothers, starting to choke up.

Leo looked almost disgusted at Donnie.

"Say something, anything!" Donnie pleaded, taking a step toward their brothers. Leo took a step away from them. Donnie huffed sadly. "Yell, scream, something!"

"You've been dating for four years?" Mikey asked. Donnie looked at him and saw he was more curious and had taken a step toward them.

"Yes," Donnie said.