Tragedy Ever After

Meltdowns

        ~Normal POV~

     I didn't want to wake up again to texts and missed calls from April, but I did. I boredly scrolled through her messages, most of them about meeting up or just needing to talk in general. I really didn't want to, we didn't have anything else to discuss.

     Don wasn't in the room anymore, and I figured he went back to his room to sleep so he could rest without anything being able to touch his overly sensitive shell. It was still pretty early in the morning, but I didn't think I'd be able to fall asleep so I opted to take a shower instead.

     I grabbed clothes from my room before I got into the shower so I could change immediately after without tracking water across the house. The hot water felt so nice against my skin. It made my brain feel more clear as if it could wash me and April's fight from my mind.

     I got out after maybe half an hour and wrapped my hair up once more before I inspected my outfit. It was a tank top and a pair of purple joggers. I hadn't realized how much purple I owned before this point.

     "Don, anything you want for breakfast?" I asked through the door but didn't receive a response. I knocked on it as a warning before opening it. The turtle wasn't inside like I suspected, so I checked my room to see if he had wandered in there in a tired daze. Still nowhere to be found.

     Where could he be? Did he suddenly hate me and just move out? I messed up, didn't I? I didn't like this feeling of being alone. After the whole week being spent in the apartment with Donatello, this felt wrong.

     I stepped further into the room. The weighted blanket was messily placed on the bed and his battle shell was missing. He was gone. Gone, gone, gone. I fucked up. I drove him out. Fuck. My nails began digging into my skin as I forced my hand to not punch myself.

     My body, instead, chose to start grabbing things and throwing them out of frustration; the blanket Don would use, the pillows, anything I could reach. I screamed out before my body dropped onto the floor. My fists clenched and unclenched and my breathing huffed out, my body was rocking in a poor attempt to calm down.

     "Stupid, stupid," I continued to repeat the word to myself. What was wrong with me? Why did he leave? Was it because I was different? Everyone was the same; everyone left when this happened.

     When did I grow so attached to him? Why was I freaking out over him not being here? I didn't care, I just wanted him back. I needed him to come back so I would feel normal. His presence had become part of my routine. Either seeing him or talking to him was a daily thing, but now it was interrupted.

     Was this a test? Was he watching me so he could make fun of me when he returned? No, no he wasn't like that.

     "Y/n?" the voice caught my attention as it called out from behind me. Don was crouched on the bed, his arm still hooked behind him on the window that he was climbing through. "Hey, what's the matter?"

     My face flushed as I looked around at the mess I had created of his room. "Don," I breathed as I glanced up at him. He dropped an old, worn-out bag on the bed and slid the window closed.

     "I'm sorry, I tried to be quick," he apologized, something I never heard him do before. "I wanted to pick up some scraps so I could work on my tech. I was trying to get back before you woke up."

     Tears pricked at my eyes as I tried to glare at him to show him how upset I was. "Let's pick up, okay?" his voice stayed gently, he wasn't teasing me for how I had acted. "It'll be all right. I'll let you know next time," he assured me.

     He carefully helped me back up and I let him. We picked up the pillows and blanket, we cleaned up the pages I shoved off the desk, and collected the pencils that were scattered across the room from my episode. Donatello was sweet the whole time. He didn't call my acting out childish, he wasn't upset at all with how I reacted.

     "You feeling better?" he asked me as he sat me on the remade bed. I nodded, too embarrassed to speak at the moment. "I didn't mean to upset you. I should have told you I would be out."

     "I overreacted," I looked away from the mutant who made me look back at him.

     "You didn't," he told me. "It's normal to react like this to a break in your routine. You're up earlier than usual as well, so you were already stressed even if you hadn't quite noticed it at first."

     "Why don't you hate me?" I didn't mean for the question to escape, but it did anyway.

     "How could I? Y/n, you gave me a home, you provide for me when you don't have to. You could have left me out on the streets, but you didn't. I don't have a single reason to hate you," he kept his voice gentle the whole time. What did I do to deserve this turtle?

        ~Donnie's POV~

     Rarely did I feel bad for something, and this was one of those rare occasions. I had woken up early and slipped out my bedroom window to retrieve my old scraps in hopes to get back before Y/n woke up. I hadn't been fast enough.

     I got back and saw the room a mess with my human in the middle of it. Their back was turned to me and I could see their figure rocking and they were muttering something to themself. For the first time in a while, I felt awful.

     They were growing dependent on me because I had become part of their waking routine. They would either greet me or just see me, but that wasn't the case this morning.

     The sight made me apologize, yet another rare occurrence. They looked so embarrassed when they saw me, and I knew better than to tease them for being in such a pathetic state. I knew what it was like to have a meltdown.

     I was gentle with them, coaxing them into a calmer state as we cleaned up and tried to get back on some sort of schedule. I didn't know what a normal weekend looked like for them, only a weekday where they went to school, did homework, and slept.

     "Wanna go watch something?" I reached back to let my spider shell release from my soft shell so the two of us could be more comfortable. Y/n nodded silently and let me guide them back to the living room. I put on a random cartoon and watched them get absorbed in it. Their body still swayed gently as they kept themself calm. 

     I sat a bit away from them, giving them the distance that they needed. I knew it wasn't fun to have a meltdown, so I was doing my best to help them get back to a sense of normalcy. They jumped a bit as their phone began to ring, a picture of April appearing on the screen.

     Y/n glanced between me and the phone as if giving me the go-ahead to answer it for them. I grabbed the small device and walked to a different room with a smug grin sprawled over my lips.

     "You are conversing with Donatello," I greeted the unsuspecting human on the other end.

     Word Count: 1,297. I wanna get one more out before I pass out for the night. I love the almost back-to-back spice and sadness, I think I'm hilarious for it. Anyway, enjoy!