Fifty Reasons to Stay (Book Three)

Chapter Forty Two- Unity

(Leo's POV)
"And you say it's on September 5th?"
"Yeah... sorry for getting to you so late about this.. uh.. so I understand if you can't come on such short notice." I laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating on how expensive this call to Nagiso would be.
"It's a month away. We can manage. We'll arrive a few days early too." My uncle Hiroshi responded, voice chipper. He seemed to always be the happiest of his brothers.

"Alright, at least let me help pay for your flight over here..." Could I do that? Probably not.
"Nonsense!! It's your wedding. We've got more than enough, but housing will be an issue for fifteen people.."
Fifteen? I had to recount. He was right.
"My brother has plenty of room in his house. Don't worry about that." I hoped Raph would approve of that.

"Wonderful. Thank you, Leonardo-san. I'll see you then."

After hanging up, I just decided to stay in bed as opposed to going out to the living room where things were growing more awkward by the day. Mikey would come in the house, take a few things, walk around the house for a while, talk on the phone, make everyone uncomfortable, and then leave.

He'd done this for several days now, and he was in the kitchen at the moment with Donnie. I wasn't really worried though, as Donnie wouldn't put up with hate or anything at this point. He was too busy looking for a job.

Yes, I was proud of him and made sure he knew I was every 5 minutes or so. I'm exaggerating of course. He would kill me if I did that.

I heard my name being called and knew I couldn't hide out in the bedroom any longer. Damn it.
I opened the door and walked into the kitchen where Mikey and Donnie were standing by the stove looking less than amused. "Yes, dearest?"

Donnie's cheeks were flaming red, and his fists were gripped at his sides. "I'm going out. I need your keys."
"Well.. where are you going?" I fished into my pockets for my keys.
"Doesn't matter." He grabbed the keys, heading towards the elevator. "I'll.. come back later."

"You can't just leave without telling me where you're going! Isn't that what your doctor said?" I tried to follow him, but kept my distance. I know how he gets when he's mad.

He froze. "I.. promise I'll come back."
And just like that, he was gone.

"What did you do Mikey..." I crossed my arms, stepping back into the kitchen. "What did you say to him?"
"I told him something he needs to know. And I also should let you know that pretty much the entire city is talking about your return after so many years. Since you're proven innocent and all, they like you."

It was hard to pretend like this was news for me. I'd known for weeks about all of this; people requested interviews, a few pictures were taken, and that was all there was. I was still broke. That wouldn't help me.

"So, is that what Donnie is upset about?" I opened one of the cabinets and grabbed a bag of pretzels.
"Not... exactly. You see Leo, once your name comes back to the biggest business company in New York, people do their research. Now.. this hasn't been shown yet, but.. I'm just saying, if people wanted to, they could probably find out about Donnie's little hospital trips. He's going to make sure that doesn't happen. That's all."

Because having your entire extended family know you tried to kill yourself and damaged your brain is one thing, but having the whole world know is something entirely different and incredibly worse, considering what kind of ableist society we live in.
"Well that's just great. How can we stop people from finding out?" I took a few nervous bites while I waited for a proper response.

"He's going to have to seal his medical records and also, there's this thing some popular people get now where people aren't allowed to get any personal records from those they're searching for. For instance, all of Donnie's information; where we grew up, where he lives, how old he is, how much he weighs— is off limits to the public. Anyone who tries to access it gets sued. It's pretty great." Mikey grabbed a box of ramen noodles, starting to prepare it.