Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 22: Don't Hide From Me

Destiny wakes up slowly. Her body feels weighted with drowsiness and she's pretty sure she's never been more comfortable. Leonardo lays at her side, his plastron cool and hard against her skin, and she exhales as she snuggles closer to him, her eyes drifting shut.

For a few blissful seconds, she feels okay. She feels sane, collected, like everything that was driving her up the wall has been taken care of. She didn't even have any nightmares last night.

Her eyes snap open and her breath hitches. Wait, did they...? She peeks under the blanket, confirming that she is indeed nude, and then she looks at Leonardo. He's less obvious, as he always sleeps without any gear or his mask, but their situation says enough.

Her heart pounds as she gazes at him and all too soon, her brain's gone back into overdrive. She wishes she could stop it and just sink into his arms and forget the world, but it won't let her. It screams at her, demanding that she listen. She screwed up.

The second she heard the word "heat" from Donatello and Sarina, she made a personal vow to just muscle through it. She was going to lock herself in her room for the entire duration if she needed to, but she couldn't resist him. It was hopeless.

She remembers everything, but last night feels like a dream. She said yes. She can't deny it. She wanted him so badly that it hurt and because of that, all her common sense abandoned her.

This is bad. This is so very, very bad.

He stirs, letting out a tiny groan before his eyes close even tighter. His arm shifts from where he had it draped over her stomach as he rolls onto his back and yawns. His lips smack together sleepily as he blinks once, twice, then too many times to count.

He looks at her and she feels such an intense surge of emotion that it brings tears to her eyes.

"Hey," he greets, voice deep and raspy. He shifts back to his first position, one hand dropping to her waist and caressing it. He smiles sleepily. "How are you feeling?"

That's the worst question he could possibly ask her. She opens her mouth, closes it, and looks away. His idle stroking stops and she can almost sense how his expression falls. It's like the air itself grows tense.

"Des?" he asks. She feels the bed shift as he comes closer. "What's wrong?"

She covers her face, unable to focus when he's looking at her with those royal baby blues. "I feel better," she says.

He exhales. "Oh, good! I'm happy to hear that." There's a pause, then she feels him grip her wrist and gently pry one hand from her face. He smiles at her, but it's nervous, hopeful. "So..." He clears his throat. "You, uh...enjoyed yourself?"

What a dork. What an absolute freaking dork, she thinks. She wants to kiss him so bad when he's like this, confident one second then a rambling sweetheart the next. He's so worried about her and...god, she isn't even sure how to explain what she's feeling. She doesn't regret a thing and yet she totally does. This is great and this is so, so awful.

"I..."

Her throat feels tight, choking the words before she can spit them out. She should have told him about this long before now, but there was never a good time. There was never a reason! She thought it didn't matter, that it was something she wouldn't have to worry about. What a stupid, childish way of thinking.

A few tears roll down her face and before she can wipe them away, Leonardo's eyes widen with alarm. He sits up and leans over her, hands cupping her face and thumbing away the tears.

"Woah, hey, Des," he says. "What—"

She pushes herself up, sinking into his arms and pressing her forehead to his shoulder, trying desperately to stop crying. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she keeps telling herself.