A/N: so while derping around on Tumblr, I found something about the boys making friends online before the series begins, and finding April, Casey etc. familiar but not making the connection, and being sad because they thought their online friends would reject them. Obviously that got me thinking about how happy they'd be if they made the connection

You can probably tell this is set in the 2012 series. I'd like to officially apologise beforehand, though, as I consider myself somewhat new to this fandom and I've been trying to watch episodes on YouTube but there aren't many, so if I haven't got my facts and characters straight it's because I'm mostly running off fanfictions and seasons 1 through 5 of the 2003 series (yeah, YouTube)

Additionally, this IS an Apritello one-shot because I fully support and adore this pairing in the 2012 series, and I kind of couldn't resist the Donnie Darko reference. Free cookies to anyone who understands Casey's internet username

Enough of my ramblings though, guys. On with the show!

Username A-Darko73

To be honest, it was embarrassing how obvious it was.

The Hamato brothers had always been allowed to communicate with the human world through the internet, because nobody could find out who or what they really were; nobody could track them down; nobody could see what they really looked like.

Leonardo was mostly on the internet for fanboy purposes: namely the fanfiction and fanart. He was always leaving reviews of Space Heroes fanfics, and though they didn't mention it, his brothers knew he was writing his own (and occasionally read them, in Mikey's case mostly. They weren't too bad). They steered well clear of the M-rated stuff, though. They didn't want to know what went on inside the more… hormone-driven part of Leo's mind. They never mentioned it in conversation, either, but Raphael had been tempted once or twice to make a wise-crack about the daughter of the enemy being involved.

Speaking of Raph, he and Mikey always seemed to be on DeviantART, usually reading through comic strips. Mikey also frequented funny and meme-based websites, and made friends with everybody, whereas Raph got himself into irritatingly long arguments with somebody whose username was TellHimHe'sGretzky (some big-shot hockey fan. Raph sometimes asked what kind of hockey, to annoy the guy).

It was rather embarrassing, also, when they couldn't figure out why Raphael's arguments with Casey Jones felt so familiar. Or at least, it was when they finally found out.

The most embarrassing part, though, was that they were all online friends with a girl called AON15. Dear God, they should've realised the reason why April seemed so familiar! She'd used her initials in her username, for crying out loud!

All those times April and Casey had come over to the lair, typing away on their laptops while one of the turtles typed away on Donnie's laptop and he procrastinated building one for each of his brothers because the parts were tricky to find and he'd had a hard enough time building his own (not to mention getting the Wi-Fi to work)… they must have been having entire written conversations with one another and they hadn't even noticed!

April and Casey, if they ever caught on, didn't mention it (and they would have mentioned it if they caught on), so that at least made Donatello feel better. Especially since he was the one who talked to AON15 the most.

Looking back, the one time he really wished he'd caught on was the night they accidentally mutated April's father. She had yelled at them, told them she never wanted to see their faces again, and stormed off. All four boys had been crushed. Donnie was the most devastated. He had a good reason, of course: the girl he was crushing (somewhat madly, although he wouldn't admit it) on had said she never wanted to see him again. Obviously, it left a sting.

Right where his heart was.

Still, he opened his laptop later that night – figuring if he could just escape to the internet for a while, he could pretend this wasn't happening – and cheered (marginally) when he found AON15 had sent him a private message.

AON15: I feel like hell right now, Terra. Cheer me up?

Donnie was almost tempted to try to smile. He liked it when his online friends named him after his usernames; it was fun. His was InTERRAgent, a bad mash up of the words terrapin and intelligent, and the only thing he'd been able to think of at the time. Funny how the brains of even the most intelligent people could be relied upon to shut down exactly when they were needed the most.

Thinking gladly that at least he wasn't the only one whose day had sucked, he swiftly sent his reply:

InTERRAgent: Same here. You wanna talk about it?

AON15: I had a bad day, it ended up with me yelling at this guy I kind of like. I don't think he wants to see me again

InTERRAgent: That sucks

AON15: Yeah

Donatello imagined AON15 had been given a hard time at school or something, and had ended up snapping at the guy by mistake. If he'd realised how far he was from the truth, he would've changed his reply from That sucks to He definitely wants to see you again, he just thinks you don't want to see him anymore.

AON15: So what happened with you?

InTERRAgent: Same really. Fell out with this girl I like. Pretty sure she wants to hurt me even though it was an accident

AON15: What was?

Obviously Donnie couldn't admit that he'd accidentally mutated April's father to AON15, since he didn't know who it was at the time, so he invented a half-truth.

InTERRAgent: Spilled something. She got mad. You get the idea

AON15: Yikes. Good luck fixing that

InTERRAgent: Thanks. You too

Then the conversation seemed to have ended, so Donnie opened another tab and browsed a couple of science websites. Ten minutes later, he got another message.

AON15: Teenage hormones suck. Whoever invented crushes can bite me

InTERRAgent: Agreed. Emotions stink

They went back and forth like that almost all night. Why hadn't one of them noticed it? They were supposed to not even be thinking about each other – April because she was angry and Donnie because April was mad at him – and yet here they were, complaining to each other about… well, about liking each other!

And, okay, they hadn't realised that was what they were doing yet. But that wasn't the point.

Then there was the overly happy private message Donatello received the day he and the others had made up with April. Both of them could be forgiven for not figuring it out this time, though, because neither cared. They didn't hate each other and were still best friends!

AON15: Remember that guy I like who I got in a fight with?

InTERRAgent: Yeah?

AON15: I MADE UP WITH HIM!

InTERRAgent: THAT'S GREAT! And that girl I like doesn't hate me anymore, I made up with her too

AON15: AWESOME! Perfect timing, right?

InTERRAgent: I agree

AON15: Crushes still suck though

InTERRAgent: Yeah

Donnie and the others finally got suspicious the night they decided to invite April and Casey over for a movie night followed by a sleepover. Casey told his family he'd be with friends overnight, and April did the same with her aunt and Irma (who was not too pleased because she'd been planning to hang out with April that night, but the turtles had asked first and not only was April constantly ditching her for them, but she still wouldn't tell Irma who they were).

They watched three movies: a horror, at Casey's insistence; a comedy, to take their minds of the horror movie; and the final one was called Donnie Darko.

Donatello sighed. He was going to be subjected to jokes about this for weeks. He could tell.

All in all, it was an enjoyable night. There was pizza, heckling, banter, and April sat next to Donnie on the couch, not Casey.

Eat it, Jones.

"I don't get it," Mikey said when the movie ended.

"He went back in time to save everyone," Raph said, unimpressed. "What is there not to get?"

"Maybe," Casey said. "Or was he dreaming it all while he was dying?"

There was a brief pause as Raph thought it over, before he and Casey broke into argument. Not a debate. An argument. Or maybe a debate in the style of an argument. Who could tell, really?

The rest of the night was really just spent watching Raph fight with Casey and Mikey (who Casey had tagged in at the request of Mikey himself); throwing popcorn at the argument (Mikey had tagged himself back out because he decided it would be fun); watching cartoons and typing away on keyboards. Splinter had told them to feel free to stay up late and train in the afternoon the next day, instead of the morning, so long as the electronics were off by midnight, so around that time, Leo shut down Donnie's laptop (he had been role-playing with another Space Heroes fan. Donnie would later begin to suspect it might be Irma) and Mikey said:

"Let's tell scary stories!"

Donnie was not even remotely surprised when Casey looked him in the eye, announced that he was going to tell the Bunnyman story, and Raph said, "Is his real name Frank?"

"Dude, you're the one who told me this story!"

"It was a joke, goon-zilla!"

When Raphael and Casey were pulled off one another, it was decided unanimously that they would have to save that story for another time. In the end they just went to sleep on the floor and the couch.

Five of the teenagers were woken up by Mikey (the sixth) announcing, "Hey, guys! I think AON changed her username!"

Donnie didn't bother asking how Mikey got past his computer password; just made a mental note to change it from being April-related because it was clearly too obvious. Everyone else rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, Raph threw his pillow at Mikey's head to shut him up, and April's eyes shot open and she exclaimed, "What?"

This was when Donnie's eyes shot open too, because he suddenly realised he had fallen asleep sitting up on the couch and had slumped to one side, and April had fallen asleep with her legs curled up next to her and had been leaning on him. He had even wrapped one arm around her in his sleep. He felt his face heat up and didn't notice that April had been using that I'm-totally-not-lying-about-something tone of voice that people always use when they totally are lying.

Donnie decided he wasn't going to move until April did. Why would he? He wanted to savour this moment.

Another wave of groans rippled through the room as Mikey laughed and said, "Oh wait, I get it! Darko!" He continued laughing.

April began to sit up and Donnie reluctantly let go of her. He grabbed his laptop back from Mikey and verified whatever Mikey was saying by checking his own private messages from AON15.

There: a message which previously said it had been sent by AON15 now read:

A-Darko73: Teenage hormones suck. Whoever invented crushes can bite me

He didn't notice April reading the conversation over his shoulder. Mikey was the only one who noticed, as she read it, that her eyes widened and her face turned red with horror and… something else.

He grinned to himself. Dude. April was AON15. And the guy she'd fought with who she liked was Donnie. It had to be. He'd seen that expression on Donnie's face plenty of times.

Needless to say, Michelangelo earned at least a month of bragging rights for being the first one to figure it out. He couldn't wait to see the looks on the others' faces when they found out, too. Especially Donnie's.

Donnie wasn't paying attention to the sly grin growing on Mikey's face, though. He was busy sending a new private message.

InTERRAgent: Nice username. Reference to anything?

The reply came after April and Casey had gone home to shower and change.

A-Darko73: Maybe :P

InTERRAgent: Just watched that movie last night

A-Darko73: Yeah, it's a good movie

InTERRAgent: Loved it. It confused my little brother, though

The next reply was a short while in coming.

A-Darko73: Haha, there's always one. Gotta go, hanging out with that guy I like today. I'm gonna tell him I like him, wish me luck

InTERRAgent: Yeah, always. Good luck, have fun. Not too much fun though

A-Darko73: You little troll. Ttyl

InTERRAgent: Ttyl

When April returned, the first thing she said was, "Hey Donnie, can I take a picture with you? I want it for my computer," with a blush on her face.

A blush.

She looked so freaking adorable he didn't even stop to think about it.

"G-go for it," he said, stammering slightly. And hoping she didn't catch it.

"Great. I'll send it to you, too."

April took the photo and opened up her laptop. Donnie smiled to himself. She'd taken a picture with him. Just him. That had to mean something, right?

A private message popped up.

A-Darko73: Can I send you a picture? I need you to check it for me

InTERRAgent: Sure, go for it

April clicked about on her laptop, typed something, got up and walked out of the room without a word. Donnie briefly wondered where she was going, but then he received the next message from A-Darko73, which puzzled him.

A-Darko73: Great. Meet me in your lab when it goes through

… what?

Did she send that last message to the wrong person or something? Donnie looked up from his laptop to think about it, only to be greeted with Mikey's face, about an inch and a half from his own, and wearing the most disturbing grin Donnie had ever seen. Donnie would have jumped backwards if he wasn't already sitting against the back of the couch.

"What the shell is wrong with you, Mikey?"

Mikey let out a giggle, like he was telling a joke Donnie wasn't in on. "You talking to A-Darko73?"

"How is that any of your business?"

"Because, dude. Look at the picture."

Donnie didn't know, nor did he want to know, how Mikey knew A-Darko73 had sent him a picture. Still, if it would satisfy Mikey, then fine, he would look at the –

Holy shell.

No, really. Holy shell.

It was the picture. The picture. The one April had taken.

Holy shell.

Donnie glanced up at Mikey. He had backed off a bit, the disturbing grin still on his face. "It's obvious once you get it," Mikey said smugly. "AON; April O'Neil. Then April Darko. Dude, that one was subtle. I mean, I knew we'd be joking about that movie for weeks, but –"

Mikey suddenly realised the couch was empty and the door to Donnie's lab was swinging shut. He wondered if it would be worth fraping Donnie or April… then he realised neither of them was currently logged into FaceBook and decided to use Don's laptop and go on DeviantART. It wasn't like he'd be using it any time soon.

Donnie was in shock. His mouth was dry and he wasn't sure he could form a full sentence.

"You were…"

April nodded.

"A-and the guy you fought with was…"

"Yeah," April almost-whispered.

"I… wow. And the new…"

"April Darko, yeah." Another adorable blush. "I couldn't resist. So I was that girl who…"

Donnie nodded mutely. "I can't believe none of us figured it out sooner."

"I'm kind of glad," April said. "I mean, after my dad got mutated it was really tough and if it wasn't for –"

She cut herself off by reaching up to place a gentle kiss on Donnie's mouth.

"I, uh – yeah," she finished awkwardly.

Donnie almost didn't hear her. That had just happened, right? His mind almost wouldn't accept that it was possible, but the tingling sensation where she'd kissed him and the heat spreading across his cheeks indicated that, yes, April had just kissed him.

Oh, he was so not prepared for this situation. What was he supposed to do?

Well, really, there was only one option.

He kissed her back.

InTERRAgent: So how'd telling that guy you like go?

A-Darko73: It went great. He likes me too

InTERRAgent: Good to hear. I think I've got a date with that girl I like

A-Darko73: Really?

InTERRAgent: Well, I hope so. I mean, she kissed me

A-Darko73: Sounds like you've definitely got a date. What's the plan?

InTERRAgent: Going to the movies might be difficult. I was thinking we could just hang out without the family

A-Darko73: I was thinking of asking the guy I like to come over to mine tomorrow night and watch a couple of movies with me. My aunt's at a work thing for the weekend

InTERRAgent: Sounds good. I might have to borrow that idea

A-Darko73: Go for it. How'd you like that photo, by the way?

InTERRAgent: It's great. I've set it as my desktop background

A-Darko73: Me too. See you tomorrow?

InTERRAgent: It's a date

A/N: hopefully the ending doesn't seem too rushed. I didn't know how to end this but at the last minute I thought I'd add another quick little chat in there. The way I did the ending is actually inspired by the end of Blood Ties by Sophie McKezie, if anybody's interested

But hey, I had a lot of fun with this. Please leave a review if you can, I've got a couple more stories I've thought of but I want to know I'm doing things right first