Teenager In Love

Chapter 5

"H-hey guys." Donnie greeted the three human teens as they entered the lair.
The three gave him a surprised look before returning his greeting. Donnie, who had been sitting near Splinter, glanced at the rat man who nodded in approval.
"How's your day been?" Nina asked, sitting beside Donnie.
"Good," Donnie replied, feeling a wave of comfort wash over him as the blonde looked up at him, "How was school?"
"A little awkward." Nina answered with an awkward laugh as she looked at April and Casey.
"A little." April added with a nervous chuckle.
"I could see that." Donnie said with an awkward smile.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room before Splinter spoke up, "Why don't you boys get us some pizza?"
Donnie tensed, shooting Splinter a pleading look. He didn't want to be alone with Casey, not yet.
"I can go too!" Mikey offered as he entered the room, "I heard something about pizza, so here I am!"
Donnie had never been so relieved to see his younger brother. The feeling didn't last long though.
"I think Donatello and Casey can manage on their own." Splinter said, "Maybe you can help the girls with whatever is in that box."
"Oh!" April held the box out, "We're supposed to make a car out of this junk."
"Oooh!" Mikey grinned, "Lemme see!"
As Mikey began examining the contents of the box, Donnie and Casey gave each other concerned looks. It looked as if Splinter was making sure they had a chance to talk alone.
The way to the pizza place was filled with awkward silence, neither of the boys talking aside from Casey's whistling. It wasn't until they were heading back that Casey finally broke the silence.
"I'm sorry, D." He said, staring at the pizza box.
"Don't be." Donnie replied, "I think part of me always knew it would end up like this, I just..."
Donnie fell silent.
"Yeah." Casey replied, "I get it."
"Do you?" Donnie asked, arching a brow ridge.
"Believe it or not, I don't have a lot of girls taking an interest in me." Casey replied, "Honestly I'm still surprised April's with me."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Donnie asked.
Casey shrugged, "I'm just saying, it's not like I've got a lot going for me, ya know?"
Donnie was quiet for a moment before he spoke up, "When you two first got together, I... I spent a lot of time thinking 'why her?' Ya know? I thought you could have any girl you wanted, so why did it have to be April?" Donnie stopped walking, "But I knew why, cause I liked her too."
"'Liked'?" Casey asked, turning to Donnie.
"...Yeah." Donnie said, "I mean, it still hurts, but not as much as it did... I think... After meeting Nina, and hanging out with her, it helped me get past that and I think at some point, not hanging out with you guys anymore hurt more than April being with you. I just... I didn't know how to face you two. Every time I saw you two together I felt... weird."
"So did we." Casey admitted, "Not to sound all sappy or anything, but you guys are like brothers to me. I felt bad that we hurt you, red did too, we even talked about breaking up cause we felt so bad."
"What?" Donnie turned his attention to Casey.
"Yeah, but we realized even if we did break up, it wouldn't change the fact that we hurt you." Casey shifted awkwardly, "I'm... I'm sorry man."
"Don't be." Donnie said, continuing to walk back to the lair, "I think part of me knew she'd alway choose you, I just didn't want to admit it."
There was an awkward silence between them for a moment before Casey spoke up again.
"We good?" He asked.
Donnie gave him a weak smile, "Yeah."
"Good," Casey grinned, "Then I can ask, what's the deal with you and blondie hun?"
Donnie felt the heat rise in his cheeks, "H-huh? W-we're just friends!"
"That's what she said too, but I don't buy it." Casey replied with a grin, "Not after everything I heard from Raph anyways."
"Oh really?" Donnie replied, arching a brow ridge, "And what exactly did Raph say?"
"Like I'll tell you- what was it you called me that one time? Atomic-something?"
"Atomic-mouth." Donnie said with a small grin as they began their alphabetical insult game.

Meanwhile, in Donnie's lab, April and Nina were watching as Mikey tried putting different contents of their box together. Nina let out a yawn, quickly covering her mouth as she did. That's when April noticed a large bruise on the blonde's forearm.
"What'd you do?" April asked, pointing out the bruise.
"Oh!" Nina quickly covered the bruise, as she shrugged, "I just hit it on something the other day, I can't remember what."
"How do you not remember?" April asked.
"What can I say, I bruise easy?" Nina offered before getting up, "I'm gonna take a nap while we wait for the guys."
April gave her a confused look as she watched the other teen make her way to Donnie's makeshift lab bed. There was something off about the way Nina reacted, but she didn't know her well enough to really know if that answer was out of the ordinary. Should she ask Donnie? She spent the next twenty minutes debating if she should say anything until she heard the familiar sound of Donnie and Casey insulting each other.
"We're back!" Casey called as Donnie walked into the lab.
"Oh yeah! Pizza!" Mickey cheered, abandoning the miscellaneous items on the desk as he rushed out.
"There you are!" Donnie said, seeing April in his lab, "Where's Nina?"
"She's napping." April said, pointing to the makeshift bed.
"Oh," Donnie replied as she started to walk towards her.
"Hey, Donnie?" April stopped him.
"Yeah?"
"Does Nina bruise easily?" April asked.
Donnie gave her a confused look, "It's never come up, why?"
"Never mind," She replied, "I think I'm just overthinking it."
"Overthinking what?" Donnie asked.
"Well, she's got this big bruise on her arm, but she said she can't remember how she got it."
That was strange. Donnie looked from April to Nina then back to April, "It could have happened when she was playing with her siblings?"
"Okay," April said, "She just seemed kinda weird when I pointed it out."
"Hey guys!" Raph poked his head into the lab, "Pizzas getting cold!"
"Coming!" April said, giving Donnie a concerned look before she left the lab.
Donnie made his way to his bed, his eyes scanning over Nina's arms to find the bruise. It was a wide bruise and judging by the placement on her arm, Donnie would have to guess it came from trying to block something. But what? Nina groaned, shifting in her sleep as she buried her face into Donnie's pillow. The purple clad turtle couldn't help but smile as she muttered something into the pillow. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently.
"Nina?" He said softly, "We're back."
Nina groaned again, her grey eyes slowly opening to see Donnie smiling at her.
"Oh geez!" She sat up quickly, "I really fell asleep?!"
"Isn't that the point of napping?" Donnie asked.
"W-well yeah, but..." Nina looked around sheepishly.
"Let's go have some pizza." Donnie said with a smile.
He wanted to ask her about the bruise, but if she already told April she didn't remember, maybe she didn't want to talk about it. The thought of her not wanting to talk about being hurt concerned him though.
"You okay?" Nina asked, giving him a concerned look.
"Yeah, let's go eat before Mikey eats most of the pizza." Donnie replied.
Nina nodded in agreement, following him out of the lab. The others were gathered around the tv, talking about various things as reruns of Space Heroes played. It wasn't long before all seven teens were laughing and joking with each other. Donnie had to admit it, he was thankful Splinter made him face April and Casey. It was still a little awkward, but he had missed being able to hang out with them.

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A/N: sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated this story! A lot of craziness has happened since the last update. Like losing my job, deaths in the family, becoming a mom, Covid, my dad passing away, just to name a few things in the last few years. Anyways, I'm hoping to get back into working on this story, so I hope you all are still reading it! Lol