"Why do you two always sleep in weird places?"
"Hm?" I lifted my head from the kitchen island.
"You!" Raphael's eyes shot open.
"I take it you've gotten the news?" Donnie held a soft and happy look on his face. He was cutting himself a slice of yesterday's dessert.
"I can't be mad at you when you make that face." I muttered. He grinned at me.
"That's mine! Paws off!" Raphael slammed his hand onto the rest of the banana bread loaf and held it to his chest.
"Him, on the other hand..." I laughed.
"You used to tell me everything! What the hell, D?" He pouted.
"It was a surprise, Raph. You would've snuck in if you knew."
"No, he wouldn't have." I put my hands on my hips. "Would he?"
"Well, yeah! Who wants to miss that!?" Raph scoffed.
"Contrary to popular belief, big brother here is a sucker for romance and happy endings." Donnie leaned on the counter.
"Shut up! I let you have a piece of my banana bread and you out me to my..." He gestured to me, red in the face.
"Not willingly. Your?" Don bit into his piece and rolled his eyes.
"Your what?" I egged him on.
"Birdie." He shot me a look. I snorted.
"Ew. Who's is this?" Donnie picked up my now shattered phone.
"You leave him alone! I had him for years."
"What, a decade?" He nudged it with his pinky.
"Three years too many." I huffed. "He's been with me through my worst times."
"Seven years?" He coughed. "Come with me. Bring your hunk of junk."
"The disrespect is real." I clutched the broken phone to my heart and followed him into his lab.
"You're lucky big bro Donnie is here for you." He batted his eyes at me.
"Big bro?" I mused.
"I'm your brother in-law." He sneered. My eyes widened.
"Ah god! No more family, please. Mack, April, and Kirby were great!"
"Get used to it, tiny. We all take care of you like you're family. It's pretty much canon." He pulled something from a drawer and plugged it to his computer.
"Canon?" I shook my head. "I can barely deal with just you. I don't think I'm ready to be family to everybody right now."
"Any reason?" He gave me an assuming look, holding his hand out.
"You insinuatin' something?" I returned the look, giving him the parts to my phone.
"Only if you give me something to insinuate."
"Then it's nothing." I quickly crossed my arms.
"What's going on?" Raphael asked, leaning in the doorway. He took a rough bite of his bread and sipped on a mug of coffee. Black. Fitting. His blanket was draped over his shoulders and he still held his drowsiness.
"I'm her brother in-law now."
"That's great." He almost spit out his mouthful. "W-Wait!"
"Yes, Raphael?" Donnie already seemed exhausted. He was making handiwork of taking my phone apart and plugging pieces in.
"Does that make me related to her?" He asked, striding toward Donnie's desk. For some reason, that question struck me with a bit of unease.
"Is he?" I pointed my thumb at him.
"Pft. No. That's not how that works. Technically, you're not related. If it ever occurs to you how oblivious you two are, you could safely pursue a relationship." He lifted his gaze from the technology and spared a glance at the two of us. My jaw dropped.
"Huh." Another voice cleared his throat. What have I walked in on this time? Leo. He put his hands in his pockets and backed out of the lab.
"I'm not-" My voice cracked.
"It's not like that and you know it!" Raphael got red in the face.
"He's like my best friend." I muttered. Both of their eyes widened.
"Aw." Donnie snickered. Do I?
"I am?" He asked, a small, stupid smile on his face.
"Don't." I covered my mouth, noting how warm my face was. "Donnie. I could hurt you, but for the sake of your engagement photos with April, I'll spare you."
"Hey, as his little brother and your new big brother in-law... I figured bothering the both of you would go faster if I did it at the same time."
"So, you said that just to fuck with us?" He put his hand to his chest and sighed in relief.
"Mhm." He shut the back to a familiar looking object. God, lying to him is so easy. He froze and looked to me nervously. I pretended not to notice. You heard me. I rolled my eyes. "Here is your new, better phone. Courtesy of your new b-"
"Yeah, yeah. How do I work this absolute unit of a phone?" I leaned over his desk.
"Well. It's simple. It's icon based. Each icon pertains to what app it is. This polaroid picture icon, you'll find all of your old photos. The music note has any song you can think of. You get it, right?"
"Where are the buttons?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh geez. Poor you. You're practically a cave woman." He laughed. "These two are volume. Up and down. On the other side is power. Bottom middle is home. On the top center of the phone is the emergency button. Life, death, or injury emergencies only. I don't think you need to be told this, but being lonely does not mean push the button so we'll come running."
"April?"
"April." They both responded in union.
"Hey. You chose her." I put my hands up. "I've not known her long, but I know Mack, and he might as well be her twin."
"What makes you so different?" Donnie leaned on a hand.
"I can't turn my telepathy off and it keeps me up at night. I have both mommy and daddy issues, whereas April only has mommy issues and Mack only has daddy issues. And, I feel lonely constantly, even around people that very clearly care about me." I stopped once I felt concern enter the room. "So, I'd say my trauma is maybe a bit spicier than theirs."
"Whoa, Robin." Donnie sputtered.
"Hey. I function decent, so most people don't worry too much." I waved it off and began . "Thanks for the phone!"
"Rob-"
"Leave it. It's just word vomit. She didn't get upset about it, so neither should you. It's just how she vents." Raphael gave me an understanding look. I smiled and looked through my new phone's gallery. The first picture that greeted me was a photo of Mack, April, and Kirby. Raph was in the background leaning against a wall with his eyes closed. I set it as my wall paper.
