Miss Beauty And Her Beast

Chapter 3

Summary: Now that you're more or mess trapped in the lair, you take it easy for a day and soak it all in, trying to get enough sleep and coffee to keep you sane. To your surprise, Raph spends a lot of that day with you.

Deciding what to take with me and what to leave was the hardest part. I had just narrowed down all of the things that I couldn't live without when I moved to the city and ow I had to do it again.

My phone charger, laptop, and laptop charger were the first things to be packed. Then was my one suitcase with all of the clothes that I could fit and imagined that I would be wearing at least in the next week. Then it was to the bathroom.

I stared longingly at my bookcase and sighed, grabbing a well-loved copy of Twilight and tossed it into my school bag that held the rest of my school textbooks.

I looked at the sad three bags and sighed again. It would have to do for now.

With both Leo and Mikey with me, it wasn't hard to get everything back to "the lair" as they called it. I settled in, the little of what I had was placed in Splinter's meditating room, until further notice. I was shown around the Lair and then bid goodnight. I trudged in and went back to check on Raphael.

"Hey," I offered a small smile as I leaned against the door jamb.

"You came back." He seemed surprised as he tried to sit up again to see me. Rolling my eyes, I walked back over to him and pushed him back down.

"Stay down." I half whined. "And of course I came back, I promised that I would, didn't I?" I raised my eyebrows and leaned against the wall beside his bed.

"Well, yeah but..."

He didn't have to say it. I had my share of empty words and broken promises. Closing my eyes I tipped my head back against the wall.

"You're tired." The turtle stated.

I made a face keeping my eyes closed. I was exhausted. Whatever adrenaline that I had, was long gone and the day, night, was wearing on me. All I could think of was my bed, and my weighted blanket, and all of my soft warm pillows. The dream was shattered when I remembered that I couldn't go home.

"You are staying here, aren't you?" His voice was almost pleading. Someone must have told him what was going on. He was worried about me.

"Yeah. I'm staying. Probably on the couch or something." I was not looking forward to that at all, but it was safe, at least.

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He watched you leave, hesitating to call out to you, to stay with him. If he were honest with himself he was terrified to let you out of his sight. The fear in your eyes when he found you on that sidewalk will be something that he will never forget.

It was worse than the fear that was on your face when he scared you out of the lair that had made you run in the first place. And as much as he hated to admit it, you were right. None of this would have happened if he could control his temper.

And now Shredder was after you. You of all people. An insignificant girl. Why did it have to be you? He was furious on your behalf.

Why couldn't Shredder just leave him and those he cared about alone? ______________________

And the couch it was, with my own pillows and blanket. I made sure to bring them, knowing that they might help me sleep ever so slightly better. It was a false hope, but it gave me some comfort. With headphones in and a soft playlist on, I drifted off to a night of restless sleep.

Even though I had been through hell and back in the past few hours, my dreams were non-existent. I supposed I was too tired to even dream. Which was great, because I didn't want to see what my brain could conjure up to scare me.