He Changed My Life || Book One

Chapter 8 || I Can't Love Her

It was 6am, at this time Leonardo was already awake. He got up from the couch he was sleeping on, Belle wanted to sleep on the couch but Leo refused and let her sleep in his room. Just thinking about her made his cheeks heat up. He sat up and facepalmed. "Stop thinking about her damnit." Fearless whispered to himself before fully standing up and walking towards the dojo.

Leonardo was sitting indian style, his muscles relaxed as he steadied his breathing. His mind had been all over the place, his thoughts always wandering back to the black haired girl. Suddenly, his meditation was broken off when he felt a presence behind him. He stood up and turned around to see Briar standing behind him. She was wearing a white hoodie and black sweatpants.

"What are you doing up so early?" The blue clad turtle asked his best friend. She giggled and crossed her arms. "Leo, you should know by now that I always check up on you this early when I'm spending the night here." She snickered. Leonardo facepalmed. "Right."

"Alright, fearless, what's wrong?" She raised a brow, she could tell he was thinking about something. "Nothing." He mumbled. Briar sighed as Leo's breathing sped up. "Leo." She was unamused, her arms were still crossed. "Fine. I've been thinking about Belle lately. Every time I'm with her, I feel a spark, a connection with her. I don't know how to express it." He said, rubbing the back of his head.

Briar smirked, like she knew that he was in love with the young girl. "What?" He asked, raising a non-existent brow. "I fucking knew it." She simply stated, leaving the blue clad turtle even more confused. "Leonardo, you're in love with Annabelle." She giggled. Leo's eyes widened in shock, he couldn't be in love with her. "Shit." He cursed under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Briar asked her best friend. He facepalmed at himself, he can't be in love with her. "Briar, I can't be in love with her. I don't want what happened to Maisie to happen to her too." Leonardo's voice was filled with sadness and guilt. Briar knew that he was still guilty about his previous girlfriend's death.

"You can't let Maisie's death get to your mind. I know you'll do your best to protect Belle." Briar gave Leo a reassuring smile while placing her hand on his shoulder. "You don't understand, Karai has been after her for a month. I don't want her to get hurt." Leo said. Briar sighed, knowing she won't be able to get through to him. This is something he has to deal with on his own. Briar exited the dojo with a defeated sigh. "What the fuck am I going to do?" Leo muttered under his breath.

Annabelle always had a warm feeling spreading through her chest when she woke up in Leonardo's bed. She always welcomed the feeling most of the time, but sometimes she questions why she feels like this. "Why the hell do I like sleeping in his bed?" She sat up while the navy blue blanket was still hugging her body. "Maybe because you love him." Annabelle froze when a familiar Brooklyn accent spoke up.

"How long have you been standing there?" The young girl asked the red banded turtle who was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "I just got here." He chuckled. Annabelle let out a slight giggle before completely standing up. Her black hair was a mess, she wore a black tank top and grey shorts.

"Raph, how in the bloody hell did you know?" The girl asked, raising a brow. "It's obvious that you two have a thing for each other. Why won't you tell him?" Raph asked, making the girl blush. "I don't know." She mumbled, slumping her head while crossing her arms across her chest. "You gotta tell him at some point Anna." Raphael put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. Annabelle only allowed Raph to call her Anna.

~~~

Young Annabelle let out a sigh of relief when her shift finally ended. "Damn, business was great." She whispered to herself before walking out the door of the restaurant. She then pulled out her phone from her apron pocket to check the time, 8:30pm. She sighed and then stashed her phone back into her pocket.

After crossing the street, she took a left. Once she rounded into the alleyway, she was stopped by a boy. "Where do you think you're going sweetheart?" He then shoved her, making her land on her back. She let out a slight hiss of pain before the boy pinned her down to the ground. "What do you want, Kade?" She snarled. Her eyes held anger as they slowly turned purple. He then leaned closer to her, his face was now inches from hers. "You." He whispered.

Annabelle shivered at his words. His face leaned down towards her neck, his lips were an inch away from it. Oh hell no. The girl kicked Kade right in the crotch before punching him in the nose. Blood was now trickling down his face, he growled at the girl before kicking her in the stomach.

She let out a growl of frustration, she couldn't feel any pain in her stomach. She then threw another punch, but this time Kade blocked it. He then shoved her back down to the ground harshly. She immediately got back up, charging at the boy before slamming him into the wall. He hissed in pain, causing the girl to smirk.

Kade swiftly pulled out a dagger and slashed at the girl's knee, causing her to let go of him. She yelped in pain as she grabbed her right knee, blood spilling out of it. The boy chuckled as he gripped his now bloody dagger. He walked over to the girl who was now kneeling down, still gripping her leg.

Before he could do more damage, a pair of nunchucks knocked the dagger out of the boy's hand. Annabelle peered upwards to see Michelangelo standing in front of her. His eyes were not the baby blue ones she remembered, they were now completely white. He then pulled out what looked like some kind of egg and threw it onto the ground.

Both Annabelle and the orange banded turtle were in the sewers. The girl was still in the same position as before, still gripping her leg. Mikey turned around to face her, his eyes were now back to his baby blue ones. Annabelle's eyes were also now back to her neon green ones. "You okay dudette?" He asked, kneeling down where his baby blue eyes met her neon green ones. "I'm okay." She muttered before losing her balance. Michelangelo caught her before she could make an impact.

"Guys! Belle needs help!" Mikey shouted from the entrance of the lair. His older brothers got up from the couch they were sitting on and rushed to Donnie's lab. "Set her down." Donatello instructed his younger brother. Raph had already rushed out of the lab to grab pillows and blankets while Leo grabbed a bowl of warm water and some rags.

"Mikey, what happened?" The genius turtle asked his orange clad brother. "I didn't see much but Kade slashed open her leg." Michelangelo replied, causing Donnie to let out a slight growl. Raph and Leo both came back from getting the things Donnie needed to help the girl. Leonardo couldn't help but feel his heart break, staring at her bloody leg.

Welp, Leo and Belle are in love and poor Leo is scared that he'll lose her. Tbh this was one of my favorite chapters writing so far. There will be more Leo x Belle moments next chapter ;)