Don't Make Me Fall For You | Raphael x Reader

23 - Heart-to-Heart

Raph didn't say anything after this revelation.

"...okay," you said after an awkward beat of silence in which Chompy made some kind of chirpy-burbly noise. "You, uh. You wanna go into more detail about that, or...?"

"Ah..." He shrugged. "I dunno—maybe I shouldn't have brought it up—"

"I mean, if you want to talk, that's fine." You patted Chompy. "But if you don't want to talk, that's fine too."

You guys sat in silence for a while until Raph cleared his throat. 

"It's..." Raph shrugged again, scratching the back of his neck. "I dunno. She just wants to spend more time together before she leaves. That's all."

"...and that's causing relationship problems?"

"...more or less," Raph replied, avoiding your eyes in way that probably meant "more, a lot more."

"Well okay then."

Another pause. This was awkward.

"It's just—" Raph started, tilting his head back. "I dunno, I do like spending time with Mona, but Donnie said you were feeling kinda lonely, so—"

"...Donnie said what?" you repeated slowly, inching away from Raph a little. Exactly how much had Donnie told Raph?

"Well—you know—we were just talking, and he mentioned that I haven't been spending a lot of time with you lately, and you were feeling kinda down about it, so I thought—"

Something clicked into place for you. "That's why you started hanging out with me again after Mona came over?"

"Well, I mean, yeah." Raph scratched the top of his head.

"So you didn't—" You were scooting farther away from him now, trying to suppress the rising feeling of betrayal and anger. "You didn't hang out with me because you wanted to, but because Donnie told you it might be a good idea?"

"No, that's not—"

"I don't want your pity, Raph," you spit out.

"That's not what I meant—" Raph's eyes were wide with panic, and you felt a twinge of guilt. 

You took a deep breath, reining in the instinct to lash out.

"Then what did you mean, Raphael?" you asked softly. The words came through with an acidic bite to them, and you saw Raph flinch. You never used his full name. "Because if you don't want to hang out with me, then I'll go."

"No. No, don't do that." He scooted a little closer towards you, but stopped when he saw you stiffen.

It was his turn to take a deep breath. He closed his eyes. "Please don't do that," he almost whispered, matching your tone. 

You didn't say anything, but studied him, eyes narrowed.

Raph took in another breath. "I don't—I'm not good with words, but if you want to listen, I'll try."

You wanted to be mad at him. You were still kinda mad at him, actually, for several things.

But Raph wasn't 2D. He was complicated, and he had his reasons. And he wasn't a liar, so he'd tell you the truth, or at least do his best to. He'd been a good friend to you, was still a pretty good friend to you, probably, and you owed it to him to listen. 

Besides, you could relate to not being good with words.

You cast your eyes away from his earnest gaze and said, "I'm listening."