Always Be There

Reassurance

Casey dragged Donnie to the roof, holding both Ice cream cones on hand.
Donnie sat, feet hanging over the ledge and kicking lightly as Casey sat beside him.
"You find any excuse to have coffee you can, don't ya?"
"W- whaaat? No-" The scientist chuckled in embarrassment.
"Says the one with the cappuccino ice cream." The boy grinned, handing the turtle his ice cream.
"F- fair point- But I've also never H- had Ice-cream."
"Hey, at least ya didn't get vanilla."
"What's s- o wrong with vanil- la?"
"It's the second worst one ever dude! So basic!" Jones laughed.

Donnie chuckled lightly, shaking his head in amusement. "Oh? A- and what's the fir- rst?"
"Pistachio."
"F- fair point. So, W- what'd you get?"
"Birthday cake! With some birthday cake chunks inside." Casey responded confidently.
"S- sounds like a s- ugar high if I've ev- ver heard of it."
"Worth it." He grinned.
The turtle chuckled lightly. "S- so- how do you e- eat it? D- do you just-" He bit into the frozen treat, eyes widening and instantly pulling back in a fit of hand-fanning and freaking out. "Cold! Cold! C- cold!"
Casey broke out into laughter, making sure his own ice cream didn't drop. "Ha! You dumbass! You don't bite it! Weirdo!"
"S- sorry I've never H- ad ice cream bef- fore!" Donnie snapped, scowling at him. Though there was no hostility in his tone.

"Apology accepted nerd." He grinned, receiving a punch in the arm and laughing harder.
"Sh- shut up!"
"Nah, I'm good. Y'know, for a nerd, you sure don't know how to do a lot of things, huh?"
"N- no-"
"That's aight, t's kinda cute." The boy stuck his tongue out playfully.
"W- what?"
"You heard me."
"I-"
"Awww, getting flustered already? You're so easy to embarrass, you know." He lightly punched the terrapin in the arm, scooting closer.
"No-! N- not true!" He scowled, face turning redder by the minute.
"Says the one with the tomato face right now." He ate his ice cream.

The genius didn't have a response, so he just looked away in embarrassment, mumbling some inaudible stuff.
"Sooo, remember when April asked who else ya liked besides her in the group?"
". . Yes-?"
"Who was it?"
"I- I said no one!"
"C'mon man, you suck at lying."
"I was able to lie a- bout my- self all these years. ." He muttered.
"Hm?"
"N- nothing! A- nd I'm not-"
"Yes ya are. C'mon man, just tell me. I'll tell ya who I like if ya do." He grinned.
"I- . . ."

He could never love a monster like you.

. . .
"N- no one- honest. ."
"Oh. . Alright- Same here-" Jones deflated a bit, looking down at the busy city below and kicking his feet lightly.
"Sorry-" He muttered, looking down as well.
"We- we should probably go back to the lair. They might get worried if we don't get back soon."
"Yeah- I gue- ess you're r- right. . ." Donnie stood, suddenly losing his appetite and staring at the half-melted treat in his hand.
Casey stood as well, finishing his ice cream and beginning to go back towards the lair.

They both walked in silence, refusing to even look at each other. When they arrived, Donnie had gone to his lab and Casey went into the pit. None of them talked about it the next day.

-----

Donnie didn't end up sleeping that night. He felt bad for making Casey sad. Yet he was also confused as to why he was so upset. C'mon- You're supposed to be smart how can you not figure out why you made him upset?! He mentally snapped at himself. It doesn't take a fucking rocket scientist to figure out what you did! So why can't you? How can you not figure it out? Are you THAT incompetent?!

The terrapin just sat against the wall, knees pulled close to his chest as he mentally screamed at himself. The lab was pitch black, so it looked as if he was asleep from the outside.