Falling For Red

Chapter 6

Darby's POV

"Darby! Darby, wait!" I hear April call from behind me. I just keep walking though, no matter how much I want to turn around and run back to her. To give her a hug and apologize for being so harsh and not understanding. But I just keep walking, and try to prevent tears from flowing.

It just makes me so sad that April couldn't trust me. Sure, I understand this is a huge secret, but still. She knows that I can keep secrets and take them to my grave if I'm asked to. I've been friends with her longer than those mutants, but she seems to trust them more than me. And that hurts.

"Hey, wait!" I hear a different voice call. It doesn't sound like Leo or Raph, so I get curious and stop walking. One of the turtles, who I recently learned is named Mikey, drops down in front of me and I shout in surprise.

"Ah! Dude, what's wrong with you?! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I yell at him and he gets a look of hurt on his face.

"I-I'm sorry. You just scared me." I apologize and Mikey smiles brightly.

"Sorry, dudette! Didn't mean to scare you so badly." he says and I gently smile at him.

"So, Mikey, why are you scaring me?" I ask.

"I came to make sure you're ok and apologize for what Raph said. He's a hothead sometimes and he didn't mean it, I promise." Mikey says and I smile.

"Oh, that's good. Um, are April and your brothers still following us?" I ask and look behind me.

"Nah, I convinced them to go back to the lair and let me come talk to you. 'Cause I'm the funnest one." he says and I laugh.

"Um, 'funnest' isn't a word, Mikey." I tell him.

"Well, we just made it one!" he says with a wide grin and I can't help but laugh at his face.

"Anyway, will you come back with me and give us a second chance?" he asks and puts on a pouty face. I can feel my anger fading and I'm not sure if I can say no to his face.

"I don't know, Mikey, Raph might still be pretty pissed." I say and Mikey waves a hand as if to say 'don't worry about it'.

"Eh, he's always mad. And April really wants to apologize and talk to you." Mikey says and a wave of guilt hits me for how I treated April.

"...Ok. Sure, let's go." I say and Mikey cheers, then leads me back to the lair. When I walk in, April and the other three turtles run over to us. April grabs me and pulls me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my gosh, Darby, I am so sorry! I know it was terrible to keep this secret from you, but it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that so many people would want to capture the turtles and Splinter if their secret got out and I-" I cut her off by returning her hug.

"Neilly, I understand. This isn't some ordinary secret. It's a huge one, and you obviously really care about these mutants. Don't worry. I'm not mad. I get it." I say and I hear her breathe a sigh of relief. We break our hug and I see Leo push Raph forward.

"Um, I'm...sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you, I just...hate being called a freak because I know we'll never be accepted, so...yeah." he mumbles and I smile, grateful for the apology. I walk over to him and gently give him a hug. He's a little taller than me so my head is resting on his chest or shell or whatever it's called. He tenses up in surprise but then I feel him hug me back after a couple seconds.

"It's ok. I shouldn't have called you guys freaks. I didn't think about your feelings or consider what you guys go through since you're...ya know. I'm sorry too." I pull away from our hug and look at his brothers.

"I'm sorry to all of you. I got mad and I didn't think before I spoke." I apologize and all four of the turtles smile.

"Yay! We're all cool now! Darby, come play video games with me!" Mikey cheers and grabs my wrist, then pulls me over to the tv. I pick up a controller and sit down on the floor next to him.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." he says and I smirk, seeing that the game is Super Mario Bros., which I happen to be awesome at. Not to brag or anything.

Mikey and I play a round and I win by a long shot. Mikey drops his controller in surprise and turns to me, his mouth open in shock.

"You beat my high score! How is that possible?!" he cries and his brothers and April walk over to us.

"You...beat Mikey? How did you do that?" the turtle in the purple mask-Donnie, I remember-says in surprise.

"I'm really good at video games. Especially this one. It's how I spend most of my free time." I say with a shrug.

"Oh yeah, she's amazing. I refuse to play any video games with her because she kicks my butt every time." April says and I proudly nod.

"Hey, April, it's getting late. Should we go?" I ask and April checks the time on her watch, then nods.

"Oh yeah, it's 5:30. We better head home before it gets too dark." April says. 5:30 already? Geez, time flew by. When I checked my phone while walking back to the lair with Mikey, it was only 3.

"I'll walk you guys home. The Purple Dragons will be coming out of their holes soon." Leo says. April and I say goodbye to Mikey, Donnie, and Raph, then leave the lair with Leo. The three of us walk to the nearest manhole, and climb up the ladder.

"I think we'll be ok from here, Leo. Thanks." April says and hugs him.

"Ok, just call if anything happens." he says, then he surprises me. He walks over to me and gives me a hug, too. I stand there for a couple seconds then hug back.

"Nice meeting you, Darby. Sorry for all the trouble we put you through." he says as we break our hug.

"Nice meeting you too, Leo. You and your brothers. Even Raph. And don't worry, I'll keep quiet about this." I say and he waves goodbye, then climbs back down the ladder, pulling the manhole cover closed after him.

"I'm glad you like them, Darby, because they definitely like you. Well, I mean they like any human that accepts them, but you know what I mean." April says and I laugh and hug her tightly.

"Yeah, they're cool. Just promise me one thing, Neilly?" I ask and she lets go of me and gives me a look of confusion.

"What's that?" she asks.

"Promise you'll tell me everything now? No more secrets?" I ask and hold out my pinkie. April laughs and links her pinkie with mine.

"Promise."

A/N I feel like this chapter stunk. Idk, I wasn't totally in my zone for this chapter so I hope it doesn't stink too bad. Anyway, let me know what you thought and next chapter will be probably tonight or tomorrow! ~Marissa