Raph and Mikey Brotherly Fluff and Comfort Oneshots TMNT 2012

Chapter 18: I'll Always be There for You

    Late one night, Mikey was in the woods some distance away from the farmhouse, sitting on a rock next to the creek with his knees drawn up to his chest, watching the stars with a saddened expression. It'd been some time since they arrived there because of the Kraang invasion in New York, and the bad memories were still burned in his mind:

    1. Said invasion

    2. Leo ending up in a 3-month long coma in a battle with the Shredder.

    3. Splinter being washed down the drain thanks to Shredder.

    4. The whole "April's mom" thing.

    5. Getting yelled at by everyone when he caused a huge mess in the house after playing with Ice Cream Kitty, which resulted in him running away and meeting Napolean and his tribe of mutant frogs.

    He wanted everything to get back to normal, but so far, that hadn't happened yet. At the same time, his feelings were still hurt from everything his brothers negatively said to him, especially Raph. He understood that they were stressed out and everything, but at the same time, it didn't mean that they had to yell at him all the time. Speaking of which, everyone else was asleep, but Mikey was out here because he didn't want to wake them up and burden him with his problems. The more he thought those horrid memories, the more saddened he became. He heard someone else come over to him, but made no gesture to look up at who it was. "Hey," said a voice. "You okay? Want to talk about it?"

    Still, Mikey looked down. At least he recognized the voice, though. "We're a broken family, aren't we?" he asked.

    Raph sighed as he sat down next to him. "No, of course not, bro," he said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

    He then reconsidered his answer. "Well, sort of.....maybe.....a little.....*sigh* maybe a lot," he admitted, running a hand across his face. "Man, I shouldn't have yelled at you, buddy. None of us should've. And I'm sorry for all the stress we've been giving you for a while--especially with what's been going on as of late."

    "It's alright, Raph," said Mikey. "Besides, we're brothers. It's our job."

    Raph managed a tiny smile. "Yeah, well from now on-"

    "I like you better as a brother and best friend than somebody who bosses me around like he's stressed out and everything," Mikey interrupted, now looking up at his older brother, if even for a few moments.

    Raph scooted closer to his baby brother. "Yeah?" he asked hopefully, placing a hand on Mikey's kneepad.

    At that, a lump appeared in Mikey's throat. His bottom lip trembled as he struggled to hold back his tears. His body trembled and shook as if he were starting to get cold. "And you love me the way I am, right?" he finally managed to say with a whimper as he hid his face in his knees, sniffling.

    "Oh, baby brother. My little Sunshine," Raph cooed as he scooped up Mikey in his arms and moved to sit in his spot, placing him on his lap and wrapping his arms around him. "Yes. Yes I do."

    That's when Mikey finally started to sob quietly but openly, his warm tears streaming down his face and soaking his older brother's front as he buried his face in his neck, letting out everything that he'd been dealing with for the past three months and even before that. But Raph didn't care a bit. He just held Mikey close and rocked him back and forth comfortingly. One hand cradled the back of his head, pushing it closer to his neck with his chin atop it while the other hand absently rubbed mindless, soothing patterns onto his shell. He purred and nuzzled him affectionately, letting him know he was there. They stayed like this for a while until Mikey managed to calm down a little. Raph took notice of it. "Feeling better?" he asked.