Before (Part 1)

Chapter Twelve

Jeff was speechless as he stepped inside Madi's apartment with the others. It had been so long since he had been in a building with electricity, let alone stay in one. Madi, April, Jacob, and Daniel all took off their jackets and hung them on the coat-rack. Madi noticed Jeff's look of awe as he glanced around the living room. She walked over to him and stood by his side, putting her hand on his shoulder and smiling warmly at him.

"Why don't you go take a shower? I'm sure it'll feel good to be clean." Madi said as she lead him towards their guest bedroom down the hallway. He smiled.

"Is that just a nice way of telling me I smell?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Actually, no offense, but yeah. It kind of is." She told him with a similar grin as they stepped inside the guest bedroom, her pointing towards a small door a few feet away from the bed. "That's the bathroom in there," she pointed to the dresser on the other side of the bed. "and there should be a few spare t-shirts and pants that will fit you. We'll be in the living room when you're finished." He turned to look at her, staring at her for a moment. She stared back, her smile never faultering, even though seeing him like this was slowly killing her.

Madi hated seeing him like this. She could remember all the amazing times, all the outstanding memories, all the birthdays and other holidays they had spent together. It had always been 'Jeff and the Gang'. But ever since that had ended, their second home had fallen into the river and drowned without a trace. It shattered her heart. He took her hand, his eyes starting to tear-up as he hugged her again. Madi hugged him back, letting her own tears fall.

"You should've called me. You should've let us know what was going on." she told him as she cried on his shoulder, not caring that she was getting dirt all over her face from his old and dusty jacket.

"It was too late, Madi. It was too late. You couldn't have saved me even if you knew." he whispered in her ear.

"What do you mean we couldn't have helped?" she asked, her tears starting to come out thicker and heavier. She let him go, staring up at him in confusion. "We could've kept the place running. We could've kept the peace between the gangs, we could've-" But she stopped herself as she noticed the heart-broken look in his eyes. Jeff, the man she had believed to be the perfect father figure in her life, hadn't told her everything that had happened because he was protecting her. She realized that now. Madi sighed, wiping away her tears. "I....I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Madi. I'm thankful that you still care so much. But you need to understand that I didn't tell you because I was protecting you. I didn't want you guys thinking that you were responsible for it when it was my fault." Jeff explained. At that second, Madi could clearly see the deep bags under his eyes from not enough sleep and the white hairs covering his head from stress. Madi took a step towards the door, her eyes looking at the floor.

"I'll leave you alone so you get cleaned up. We'll be out in the living room when you're done." she told him, then left the guest bedroom. She closed the door behind herself, taking a deep breath as she walked towards her room. She wasn't going back to the living room, at least not yet. If Daniel had seen that she was crying, then he would've freaked out and peppered her with questions about what was wrong and if there was anything he could do to help her.

Madi didn't want that at the moment. She didn't want any attention. All she wanted was to be left alone. After closing the door behind her, the troubled girl looked around her room. She loved all of the amazing blue color everywhere and how her window was right next to her bed so that in the summer when it was hot, all she had to do was open it a few inches. But as she looked at her window, she noticed something that made her groan and fall flat on her bed-spread, grabbing a pillow and covering her face with it. The four turtles outside looked at each other in confusion, then slid the window open and stepped inside the bedroom.

"Woah, dudette, what's wrong? I thought you were all excited about your friend being here." Mikey asked as he sat on the bed beside her. She lifted the pillow up, staring at the ceiling as she replied.

"It's complicated." then she dropped the pillow back down on her face.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! Hold the T-Phone! Were those tears I saw?" Mikey asked. "Tears are something that isn't acceptable in my book." he said and started to tickle her. Keeping a straight face, she didn't move as she lifted her pillow back up.

"I'm not ticklish." she stated simply, then dropped the blue pillow once again. Mikey sighed sadly while the other three surrounded her bed, too.

"Come on, Madi. We don't like seeing you this upset." Donnie said as he sat on the other side of her bed, pulling his legs up and sitting criss-cross. It was true. He didn't like seeing her so sad at all. Madi laughed in a depressed manner underneath her pillow as she lifted it one last time, then threw it at Leo, was was standing with his shoulder leaned up against the wall. It hit his face with an 'OOMPF' sound, then fell to the floor. 

"I could use some cheering up." Madi said as she started to laugh. Mikey and Donnie joined in the laughter as well. Even Leo couldn't help but smile, too. But Raph wasn't as joy-filled as he stood with his arms crossed.

"Seriously?" Raph asked. "You're kidding, right? How childish can-"

Oompf.

Mikey, Madi, Leo, and Donnie all laughed as Madi's other pillow fell from Raph's face. The angry expression stayed plastered on his green lips, though.

"Oh, come on, Raph. Don't you know how to smile?" Madi asked as she stood up on her bed, grabbing her nearest pillow and hugging it against her chest with both arms. She had a smirk on, but there was slightly a sound of true questioning in her voice. In one way or another, she was genuinely curious to see if he could truly smile, not smirk or fake it. She wanted to see a true smile. At least one before she died.

Raphael's arms fell to his side, his hatred-filled expression never changing.

"Yes, I can. I just choose not to." he stated.

"Probably because that gross look is always on your face." Madi mumbled under her breath with a smile. Mikey, Donnie, and Leo all started laughing, trying to stifle their giggles with their hands over their mouthes.

"What was that?" Raph asked.

"Nothing." Madi sighed as she jumped down from her bed, landing less than a foot away from Raph. "You know what?" she started as a smirk began to form. "I think that you like me. You're just too tough to show it."

"I do not!" Raph hissed.

"Well, then you wouldn't mind if I did this?" she asked and pecked his cheek. His face began to turn crimson as the other three burst out laughing.

"Gross!" Raph said as he attempted to wipe his cheek clean, only making them laugh even harder. Madi smiled, happy now as she walked toward her bedroom door. Without saying another word, she walked out of the room, leaving Raph and the other three to discuss alone what had just happened.

Raph stared at the door, his arms crossed once again, and his arms folded as he tried his hardest to fight the biggest, goofiest grin he had ever felt on his face in his entire life. He felt like he was on top of cloud nine. Raphael knew that he was turning into Donnie, but at the moment, he didn't care. All he could think of was how warm and soft her lips felt against his cheek.