I Need Courage

Chapter Nine

Before anything else I wanted to say thank you every single person who is still reading my story, I was reading through the comments yesterday and just started flailing around happy crying <3 Special thank you to Shay_MJ and Cartoonlover2016 for being completely amazing human beings!

Also go check out my doppelganger IncandescentDreams and absolutely amazing story 'Here to Stay' which I am absolutely loving right now <3 Thanks friend

Although Mikey offered, Raph rushed me back to my apartment once I had started freaking out about the fact that I had been gone for three days. My mom was going to be so mad.

"Kittredge Andra Howells! Young lady do you know how long you've been gone?" She screams at me and I'm thankful to see that Rose isn't here to yell at me too.

"Three days?" I answer hopefully.

"That was a rhetorical question!" She growled, "Do you know how worried I was?"

She paused and I tried to answer, "Pretty wor-"

"That was also rhetorical!" Mom was being confusing. "I was so freaking worried about you that I closed down the shop and went out looking, I called the police when I found out Rose lied to me. Do you know how I know she lied to me?" She is fuming.

I stay quiet this time pretty sure it was one of those 'rhetorical questions' and I'll have to ask Rose what that means later.

"Well?!?" My mom demands and now I was really confused.

"I don't real-"

"Your dog came home!" I can see Dragon cowering against my door at the end of the hallway. "Rose said y'all took him with you when you went on your little sleepover at her house. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LIED TO ME! That you asked Rose to lie for you, that you abandoned your dog, what the hell is wrong with you Kit?" She looks at me expectantly. "Are you on drugs?"

"No!" I immediately tell her and bite my lip. "But I can't tell you what happened, I'm really sorry." 

"You can't tell me?" My mom asks icily enunciating each word. "Why the flying frick not?"

"I made a promise and I haven't even told Rose." Raph's words echo through me You Need Courage. I repeat the phrase in order to make it through my mom's yelling with ending up a sobbing mess. 

"Go to your room, Rose is waiting there for you," She says walking into the kitchen and collapses on one of our rickety chairs that my dad made. Just seeing her like that makes the tears I'd been hiding fall down my cheeks. 

I turn away and walk down the hall to my room letting Dragon in as well. I sit on the bed next to my friend. We stay in silence for a while until I break it, "Are you going to yell at me too?" 

"No, your mom did enough of that." She sighs and runs a hand through her hair, "But is it worth it? Being friends with these people has made your mom miserable and I am constantly worried about you."

I think about that but being with them makes me feel brave, and if I can stay with them I eventually won't have to worry about my mom or my best friend getting hurt. But which is more selfish. Being able to protect them at the expense of their feelings or being with them at the expense of the turtles time and other peoples lives. 

"I really need to tell you something." Rose starts but I don't let her finish.

"Can we talk about it tomorrow, I just... I'm tired."I say flopping back on the bed and running a hand through my greasy hair.