(Little side note! I am not doing the whole Christmas gift ordeal, because I have no idea what to get them all and seeing as they are mutants it would only be harder to think something up. I'm sorry! I tried, but my brain is complaining too much! Hope you guys won't mind too much!)

The best kind of Christmas.

Christmas was something everyone loved to celebrate using trees, lights, decorations, dinners, etc.

Unfortunately for Master Splinter, he did not have the money nor the form to gather any of these things. Instead, he and his 4 mutant turtle sons would steal one small balding tree that no one would notice missing and decorate it with all kinds of scavenged items. Other lights and decorations were either homemade or scavenged from the dump, but decorations none the less.

The turtles themselves who had grown up with this tradition didn't know any better than that, Splinter however, did and he cursed himself every year for not being able to give his sons the Christmas they so rightfully deserved. After everything they have gone through so far to save this planet and the dimension, it would have only been fair.

Yes, they have gone through a lot and their lives had changed dramatically, in ways none of them could have imagined. They had gone from feeling locked up and useless to free and valuable. They had gone topside, meeting their many friends as well as their most dangerous enemies, they overcame every challenge thrown in their way and now with Christmas on the way, decided to take a well deserved vacation.

With the snow covering the city it wasn't very easy for the brothers to run around New York anyway, let alone fight arcos the ice, but that meant the same for their enemies. So with nothing left to do, the little family decided to enjoy their little vacation as much as possible.

Though that little vacation was thrown completely off kilter when April showed up a couple days before Christmas. She could not help but feel sad, seeing their little tree again and she had left as quickly as she came, leaving the small clan to watch her in confusion.

She had come back a few hours later, apologized as she grabbed the tree and dragged it outside. She disappeared around the corner again and the turtles, too shocked to run after her, had merely stood there, slightly confused, hurt and angry. That quickly worn off though as slash an LH walked into the lair, carrying an impressive and beautiful pine tree, followed by Dr. Rockwell who had been mentally carrying a few boxes filled with all kinds of decorations.

The turtles, immediately forgotten about their old tree, quickly ran over to them, helping April organize the boxes and put the tree in its respectful place, while Pete, Mondo and Casey set out to unpack everything in record time.

It had taken them hours to redecorate the lair and the tree, only to realize the tree was still rather bare. Casey easily solved the problem, by both volunteering and annoying Raph into making wooden figurines and ran off to get supplies before said turtle could either decline or punch him.

Naturally April had loved that idea and invited everyone over to celebrate Christmas Eve in the lair, glancing at Splinter to make sure he wouldn't mind and told everyone to bring something to do as well as their Christmas spirit.

Splinter had never been so glad for his sons to have found such wonderful friends.

It was early when Leonardo made his way towards the kitchen, smoothly stealing his father's empty mug from his hands, who had been watching his shows on the couch and continued to the kitchen for a refill and a cup of his own.

He filled and set the kettle to boil on the stove and quickly turned on the coffee pot for Donatello who would be coming downstairs in a matter of minutes. He grabbed the special winter tea blend April had given them and patiently waited for the water to boil.

Just as he was pouring the boiling water into the cups, Donatello appeared in the living area, half carrying his mostly asleep brother Michelangelo. The youngest was whining and yawning, still no fan of waking up so early and Donny easily dumped him onto a beanbag. Mike snuggled into it and dramatically whined about 'seriously freezing my tail off' so Don threw a blanked at his head as he made his way to Leo in the kitchen.

"Really? You two wake up the same time every morning and he keeps refusing to stay in bed without his 'heater'. He still hasn't gotten used to it, after what? 4 months?" Don grimaced, thinking of all the mornings his boyfriend had whined about him getting up 'waaaaaaaay to early~' and he either had to stay put or drag him out with him.

"I know! I am totally leaving him to get 'pneumonia' as he called it, next time. Or I might just find some sort of heating pad. It might give me some peace in the morning!" Leo couldn't help but chuckle at his brother going stir-crazy about his boyfriends sleeping habits, only to full out laugh as the genius found his precious coffee, calling out to it like a zombie.

Both eventually made their way into the living area, Don taking a seat on the couch near the beanbag and Leo, handing Splinter his cup of tea, took a seat next to him.

"Raph awake yet?" It was a stupid question seeing as the red banded turtle wasn't around yet, but then again, Don wasn't fully awake yet.

"I don't think so. Mike said he'd start breakfast in half an hour, but I think he set his alarm. Should be going off in about 40 minutes." Donny nodded and patted Mike's head who had captured his leg to use as a cuddle plushy, earning a laugh from both Leo and Splinter.

"Yeah, Yeah. Laugh all you want! It won't make him any less cute." It was said half serious, half mocking and half a minute later a growl and a smash came from Raphael's room, snapping poor Mikey right out of dreamland and face first onto the floor.

"It's a good thing you managed to make that poor alarm clock Raphael resistant or that would have been your cue to either fix it or find a new one." Donny laughed and picked the shell shocked turtle off the floor and up on his feet.

"Yeah, it has been a good decision to make that a priority, the last one had been unsalvageable. Say love, why don't we go and get breakfast started now that everyone seems to be awake?" said turtle nodded and cheerfully skipped his way into the kitchen, Donny following closely behind.

Master Splinter thought it was about time for some meditation now that his show was over and silently retired to his room, right before Raph stomped his way down the stairs.

The hothead was muttering curses and threats, growling slightly as he made his way across the living room. He snatched the remote Splinter had left behind and began changing the channels, stopping at some boxing match, crossed his arms and sulked.

"I take it you woke up way before your alarm was supposed to go off, again?" His response was a small grumble and a twitch of on an eye.

"It's funny how you either wake up way before it goes off or fall out of your hammock when the alarm screams at you." Leo snickered at the growl he received and turned his attention to their beautiful tree.

Leo thought back to their old little tree and smiled sadly. He remembered his brothers asking Splinter why their tree was so much different than the ones they saw on TV and he told them theirs was just so much more special. They believed it at first, but eventually they realized there had been no other choice. There was no way they could steal a good tree with people running around 24/7, much less try and push it through a manhole or drag it to the lair from another subway station. Chopping one down in the woods was a no go as well, the brothers may be strong, but a hike that far with lights lightning up the streets was rather stupid.

But this tree was special, not because it was an actual pine tree or because it has real decorations, but because their friends had given it to them. Thanks to their friends they'd be able to Celebrate Christmas with more than just their father and brothers. This was going to be their best Christmas yet.

Leo snapped out of his trance when mike yelled at everyone to come and eat breakfast, admitting a large growl from Raph's stomach who apparently hadn't realized how hungry he was until that moment.

"And that is why you woke up early again, well at least this time." Raph scoffed and glared at the kitchen, hoping and failing to hide his blush.

"Ya wouldn't feel very hungry after one of ma workouts either Leo!" The leader just laughed and stood up, motioning for him to do the same and made his way to the kitchen.

"Then you should have learned to eat before practice or change your training schedule." Entering the kitchen with a growling Raphael, they came across their two little brothers making out in front of the stove.

"Or maybe tha two of em could stop ruining ma appetite?!" The hothead growled at the two who slowly pulled apart and mike flashed him a sneaky grin before grabbing a plate with pancakes and dumping it in front of the hothead. He gave Raph a quick kiss on his forehead and jumped a few feet backwards as a fist came his way.

"C'mon Raphie, we all know you're just jealous. How's your mate hunting going?" Raph glared at his youngest brother for teasing him and dropped himself on his chair with a huff.

"Don't be mean Mike, were still young, we've got plenty of time." Leo patted Raph's shoulder as he spoke then slid down into his own chair and smiled as their father entered the kitchen to join then.

An hour later found the turtles, April, Casey and master Splinter in the dojo, finishing up their morning training with a friendly sparring match.

Casey charged at his opponent, stick up high in the air and slammed it down with all the force he could master, only to have Leonardo step aside and kick him against his shoulder. The force knocked him backwards, right into Raphael's back and the two of them toppled over. The hothead managed to catch himself on his hands and knees, but Casey falling onto his shell had him sprawled out on the floor anyway.

"Tha hell Case?! Get offa me!" Said human merely scratched his head, a little dizzy from his fall and looked back at his crushed and flailing friend. He laughed.

"Dude you should see yer face! It's epic!" A growl escaped Raph, he was about to seriously try and buck the guy off when his weight disappeared. The ruffian had jumped up and held his hand out to help his buddy up.

The hothead smirked and took the hand, letting his friend pull him up. The second he got a good grip on the ground though had Raph tightening his grip on Casey's hand to throw him over his shoulder. The ruffian groaned as he landed and was about to get up for revenge when Master Splinter announced the end of their training. Mike cheered, fleeing from the dojo, quickly followed by Don and April.

Leo was about to put his swords on the weapon shelf when Casey, who had yet to stand up, grabbed onto his ankle and pouted. Startling the poor turtle.

"Leo, I want a rematch! Raph ruined my balance!" Casey was a sour loser, especially when he fought Leo, who always managed to beat him without even making a real effort. Leo rolled his eyes and took a couple steps backwards, drew his swords and waited for the human to stand up and make the first move.

The guy smirked and jumped up, immediately going in for an attack Leo had already anticipated.

Raph just rolled his eyes at his best friend and left the dojo, he had other things to do. Like finishing those fucking figurines!

He grabbed a cushion from the couch and dropped himself on the floor next a small pile containing his blocks of wood. He scanned over the blanked he'd spread out over his little work station which was covered in small pieces of wood, dust and his half-finished figure. He has made a lot of progress in 2 days but he only had another 2 days left to finish the other ones. He hated working with a time schedule, he hated to rush these things.

His eyes slid over his left where he had proudly set his finished figurines. All his brothers were finished, including himself seeing as he used his own figure for practice before starting on the ones for his brothers. The copies of April, Casey and Karai were also finished and are proudly standing next to the others.

He looked back down to the Splinter figure in his hands and cursed as he contemplated on how to carefully cut out the ears. The human figures were much easier to make than this one, even those of his brothers were done quicker than this! He didn't even want to think about how he was even going to finish those for the Mutanimals!

He also had to figure out how to color them, because the figures looked rather odd without any real color and the details he spent hours making were very hard to notice without them.

"Damnit Leo! That was totally cheating!" That's when an idea struck him, he himself sucked at painting or anything having to do with pencils outside of writing, but he knew someone who definitely could. And no, he was not thinking about Casey, the only thing he could paint was on his face and even that was terrible.

"Of course Casey, blocking your attack is cheating." That's right, Leo sucked at being creative, but if you gave him a topic or a guideline, he'd draw the most amazing things. Having him paint the figurines would give him plenty of guidelines and Raphael was stupid if he'd ruin his work by doing it himself.

But since he was in a good mood and wasn't rude enough to drag Leo out of his spar with Casey, who definitely needed the extra training, just because he needed help so he opted on waiting for them to finish before he'd ask him. He grabbed his half finished figurine and went back to figuring out how to not ruin it and having to start over.

It had been half an hour when Raph thankfully finished the damn Splinter figure and decided he was done waiting for them to finish sparring already. Casey hadn't been able to win yet even if they must've had at least 10 matches. It was time for the ruffian to give up already! He needed the blue banded leader to give him a hand!

The hothead got up and stalked over to the dojo to find Leo stealing Casey's Hockey stick and use it to kick his feet out from under him, having the idiot fall back onto the mats again. "Are you kidding me?! How the hell did you do that?!" Casey growled out in frustration and pitifully tried to kick Leo with his feet.

Leo laughed and give him a hand to stand up before he handed the stick back. "With ease." A snicker left him at Casey's glare. "Come on, let me help you." He motioned for Casey to hold the stick up and mimicked the motions with his hands, giving advice on how to properly use it in means of a fight.

In the meantime Raph just stood at the entrance of the dojo, watching them interact and frowned. Leo seemed to actually enjoy kicking Casey around the dojo, none of the usual annoyance and frustrations were there. It was a little weird.

Seeing them have a good time sparring in the dojo, made him mad for some reason. Which confused him immensely. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted, they were friends as well, right? It was usually a little strained, but it seemed like they've found a more common ground?

Then why was he feeling so mad? It wasn't as if Leo was trying to steal his best friend. It's not like he was jealous of them, was he?! Leo better not be stealing his best friend! Casey was his, damnit!

"No Casey wait! You're all out of balance when you swing it like that." Leo's voice pulled Raph back to the matter at hand and he stalked up to them, grabbed fearless by his arm and dragged him off.

"Trainin's over Case, go see if yer girlfriend needs ya. I got somethin Leo has to do fer me." With that he dragged a confused Leo after him, snatched a pillow from the couch as he passed it, dumped it next to his blanket and pushed Leo onto it. Then turned around and went to Leo's room, coming out with a box filled with Leo's paining supplies and carefully set it next to his brother before plopping down on his own cushion.

Leo blinked in confusion and tilted his head slightly, but before he had the chance to ask what was going on, Raphael decided to cut to the chase. "I need yer help. Ya gave em nough time ta beat yer ass an ya got better things ta do than throw em round tha dojo." His blue banded brother glared at him and was about to get up and leave when the hothead gabbed his arm and handed him the freshly finished wooden Splinter figurine.

"An I suck at paintin, so ya might as well do somethin usefull an help a brother out, Cuz these look just weird all brown." The little Splinter looked amazing and very realistic, though it did look rather off without any real color. He could see why Raph would want them painted, but these were his creations, not Leo's. He was about to protest, but Raph wasn't having any of it.

"C'mon Leo! Please help me? Ya know I'll fuck em up if I do tha paintin an it will take me too long an then they'll never dry up on time. Mike and April will be so disappointed!" Raphael had shot him a pleading look, which he knew the leader would fall for. And he did, almost.

"I know, it's just that you've put a lot of work into these, wouldn't you rather finish them yourself? Besides, what if I ruin them?" Raph shot him a look, his brother always found a way to put himself in the background so his brothers could shine. Made himself out to be less impressive than he is. Not when it came to fighting though, because there is no denying how impressive he is in a fight, no matter how hard he tries to make his brothers look better.

Less important stuff like painting or drawing were things he'd never brag about, it was something he did for fun or to help him relax.

"Are ya kiddin me? No I don't, if I finish these myself they're gonna stay this way, cuz ya know how awesome ma paintin skills are." His brothers took every opportunity they got to ask Leo for help so he wouldn't pull himself away from them and so he'd have a little fun instead of burying himself in his fearless leader duties. Not to mention make him feel as important as he knows Leo is. "Ya can't ruin them Leo, yer pride won't let you."

Leo chuckled at him, reached for his tools and after carefully picking out the colors he'd need, started on the base colors for the figurine. Raphael could easily notice how carefully Leo was painting the little Splinter, obviously wanting to make sure the colors would be perfect.

The leader had given up pretty easily, knowing his brother was right. He loved spending some time with his brother, without all the fighting and bickering, they were rare nowadays.

Leo couldn't help but compliment his brother at least twice on how incredibly detailed the figurines were, only to have his brother awe at the now realistically colored face of their sensei. The both of them smiled proudly and refocused on their own handy work.

The two of them worked like that for a couple of hours, not counting when one of them had to go fetch something or when they decided to take a little break. Raph couldn't help but feel happy, sitting here with his brother while actually talking for the first time in a week.

The hothead decided to keep the conversations light, in fear of starting some sort of argument and ruining the moment. Though he couldn't help the growl and curse after his Rockwell figurine broke for a second time and he threw it across the lair, missing Leo's face by a mere inch. Uh oh….

The two of them froze and looked at each other with wide eyes, Raph couldn't believe he almost hit Leo and mentally yelled at himself for ruining the moment anyway. He sat frozen as he watched Leo turn to look at the broken figure behind him.

"Jeez Raph, give me a heart attack why don't you!" The blue banded turtle turned back to his brother with a mock scowl. "And here I was going out of my way to help you out and you repay my kindness by nearly killing me." Leo wasn't able to keep a straight face with the dear-in-headlights look Raph had going on and burst out laughing.

Raph soon managed to pull himself back together and dropped his face in his hands with a laugh. "I am so sorry!" He had honestly not expected that reaction at all. He had been prepared to get scolded, having to continue their work in an awkward silence, but this reaction? This was way better!

"Its fine Raph, your terrible aim saved me." At that the hothead snapped his head back up, narrowed his eyes at his brother and growled. He grabbed a fist full of wood bits and smirked as he threw it at his brother.

The hothead grinned as he saw Leo's eyes widen and raise his hands in hopes of blocking the pieces.

His brother eventually lowered his arms and looked at him with mock betrayal. Raph would have felt bad if it weren't for the devious smirk crossing Leo's features and the second he realized his mistake, it was already too late.

Leo grabbed a little brush and tackled him, causing them to roll away from the figurines as he pinned his brother. He told a frozen Raph to stay and grabbed his chin to turn his face sideways before drawing a little blue smiling sun on the hothead's cheek. "There, now were even." Grinning, Leo released his brother and returned to his pillow to observe the little Mickey figure to make sure he hadn't accidently ruined it and smiled happily when it seemed to be perfectly fine.

Raphael just sat there and stared at his brother for a minute. He felt strange and it confused him, why did it suddenly feel different to have his brother so close to him? He's never felt it when they had been sparring! But just then, having his brothers face so close to his, was different. He didn't know what to make of it, but as he touched the paint on his cheek, he knew he wanted to find out.

With a last glance at his brother, Raph picked up a new block of wood and restated on the figure.

It had been a couple hours later and the duo had finally decided to quit for the day. They've made a lot of progress and were confident the figures were going to be finished by tomorrow night and just as they started cleaning up, their little brother appeared next to them.

"Look what I've got, you guys!" Mikey jumped up and down as he held a little mistletoe above his seated brother's heads. "You know what that means, right? You gotta kiss!" The orange turtle gave them a kissy face and snickered.

The two brothers glanced at each other before glaring at the youngster. Raph felt the strange feeling come back at the mention of kissing his brother, but he couldn't understand why. "Not gonna happen Mike!" He crossed his arms as Mike pouted slightly.

"Naaw come on guys! It's just a little kiss! It's not like you have to make out." He was grinning from ear to ear instantly, wiggling the little weed above their heads threateningly.

"You have to, it's a tradition." Leo chose to ignore them and went back to his task of cleaning up, but Raphael did not feel the same way. He needed some time to process what had happened earlier today, he doesn't know what would happen if he'd kiss Leo, would that make that strange feeling worse?!

He stood up and slapped mike's hand away. "Tradition my ass!" Raph was ready to push his brother aside so he could leave the room, but his best friend decided to bud in.

"Yeah man, tradition." Casey grabbed Raph's shoulder and turned him around to face his partner. He was all too happy to have a little revenge on Leo for continuously throwing him around the dojo earlier. "They are very important and must be kept, by all means."

"Just do it. You know they are going to keep pushing until you do." Donnie's amused voice piped in from behind Mikey, smiling sheepish. April, who was standing next to Don, was ready to snap a picture with her phone, finger already on the button.

Mike grinned at Leo, motioning for him to get up. "And remember! It has to be on the mouth!" Raph never liked being put in the spotlight, especially when it involved being teased and Leo knew this very well. So just to get it all over with, Fearless relented and stood up. He grabbed the edge of Raph's plastron to pull him forward and kissed him. It had been a mere peck on the lips, but at the same time it wasn't. The little contact was electrifying and left Raph feeling unsatisfied as fearless pulled back.

Leo immediately let his brother go and pushed him back onto his cushion, grabbed Mike's wrist and forced the little plant out of his hand, pushed him towards Casey and wiggled the little mistletoe above their heads. "Go ahead little brother, I know you want to." He winked at the youngster, who looked rather uncomfortable.

He knew revenge was a bitch, but he did not expect Leo to make him kiss Casey. He knew he had no choice now that Leo and Raph did it though, so Mike reluctantly grabbed Casey's cheeks and kissed him.

They immediately pulled apart and mike ran over to Donny to 'Kiss the bad touches away' and Casey furiously wiped his mouth, trying the same with his girlfriend who just burst out laughing.

All the while Raph was staring at Leo, who wasn't meeting his eye, and wondered just what the hell that feeling was… The kiss had only intensified it and the strangest thing is, the need to do it again was intense…

After that, Raphael had spent hours mulling over that kiss, what did it mean, what was that feeling, what was he supposed to do now, is he supposed to talk to Leo about it or is he supposed to ignore it? He needed to know if that kiss could have meant something, something he failed to have realized before.

Not that he could, Leo is skillfully avoiding the topic, even when they're working on the decorations.

The figurines had been finished the next day and looked pretty much real if it hadn't been for its tiny size. Raphael had been very happy to have asked Leo to color the figurines, it made all his hard work so much more detailed and he loved it.

So, as a proud pair of turtles, they left the little clones to dry overnight and immediately hung them up when they were dry enough. The figures hung nicely in the now complete Christmas tree, but Raphael could not help his gaze from wondering over to the little Leo one.

Leo and Raph had gone around the day like nothing was wrong, but the memory hung thick in the air and Raphael had trouble ignoring it. He hasn't had the time to ask Leo about it either. It's not easy to have a private conversation with their brothers and father around. The only thing the hothead could do was wait for Leo to start talking about it, because Raph himself seemed to be getting nowhere.

And wait he did… right up until Christmas Eve.

Michelangelo, Donatello and April spend hours in the kitchen that day, preparing snacks and appetizers to keep everyone happy throughout the day and made sure to have everything prepared for dinner that night.

They didn't have enough space for everyone to eat at a table so they improvised and turned dinner into a buffet so everyone could just eat on the couch or pillows instead.

Other than that there wasn't much to prepare so the others were off the hook pretty easily and with Leo going out for a quick run around the unfrozen sewer tunnels, Raph had the perfect opportunity to talk to Leo. Until, of course Karai showed up before he even set foot outside the lair and challenged Leo to a race, which Raphael quickly joined with the excuse of 'Lair is suffocatin me!'.

The run was quick, filled with them trying to pass each other, trip each other and change direction to shake the other off. It was rough and intense, but Raph had been able to keep up and bypass Karai multiple times. He had even managed to enjoy himself, though he preferred to stay in between her and Leo, but could not understand why.

Later when the three of them had made it back to the lair, they had merely dropped onto the couch to catch their breath, earning a steaming mug of hot chocolate from April a minute later.

It seemed like everyone managed to make it to the lair while they had been out for a run and mike had dragged Mondo, Casey and Pete over to play twister with Splinter spinning the arrow and calling out instructions. Donny and Rockwell were playing chess at rocked speed, while Slash and LH sat on the ground to watch a Christmas thriller in front of the TV.

April just dropped herself on the couch next to them with her own hot chocolate, trying to ignore the movie playing a few feet from them. She smiled happily as everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and jumped as Karai addressed her.

"Thank you for inviting me April." She gave April a small smile and turned her attention to the man who called himself her father and grinned when the rat used his tail to tickles Mike's feet.

The turtle had been trying to trip Casey only to lose his balance and fall himself thanks to their fathers watchful eye.

"No problem! It's nice to have you celebrate with us. I was a little afraid you wouldn't be able to get here witch the shredder looking for you and all." April had fallowed her gaze and smiled sadly, hoping Karai would get the chance to spend some much needed time with her father.

"It was not that hard. He is pretty confident I'll come running back to him soon. So he is not really looking for me, not that the foot soldiers can get very far with all this snow." Her gaze didn't leave Splinter's form as she spoke and she stumbled off the couch as April pushed her off.

"It's the same for the guys so we can all enjoy a few days off, no fights or patrols, just some fun!" April smiled at Karai and gave her a deck of cards, grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the kitchen table, asking Splinter to join them as she passed him.

Finally alone with Leo, Raph would finally get the chance to talk and hopefully get some answers. So just in case Leo decided to avoid the subject or run away, the hothead grabbed his wrist and turned around in his seat so he could face his brother better. Addressing him with a 'do-not-mess-with-me' look.

"Leo, we gotta talk." Leo's startled eyes flickered to him, caught in his stare and absently tugged at his hand. He knew where this was going and he didn't like it. He did not want to talk about that kiss, especially not at that moment! He glared.

"You mean now? With everyone here?! Rap-" His eyes flickered around the room, making sure no one was paying attention to them, only to find Casey making his way over to them. Pointing his finger accusingly at the blue turtle.

"There you are Leo! I still want my revenge and since I can't beat you in a fight, I'll just have to beat you another way!" Raph reluctantly released his brother's wrist as Casey dragged a glaring, but secretly very grateful Leonardo over to the others to play monopoly.

The ruffian grabbed a cushion, handed it to Leo and dropped himself onto the floor next to Mike. He looked over at the pieces and grabbed the iron shoe and handed it to Leo, who had taken a seat in between Mondo and Pete with a grin, while grabbing the little car for himself and proudly placing it on the 'start' line.

"Ready to lose Mr. Leader?" Said turtle shrugged, not at all competitive when it came to board games and turned to Mike, asking him to explain how the game worked before placing his piece next to Casey's.

Al the while Raph sat on the couch trying to watch what was left of the movie as well as keep an eye on the others playing monopoly. He growled as Leo laughed at Casey when the car landed on his property and the ruffian pouted, stole his card in a vain attempt not to pay.

He watched them interact for a while, growling low enough not to be heard by anyone and glared at Leo's face.

"Stupid Leo, stealing my best friend!" He hadn't noticed Don and Rockwell quitting their umpteenth match of chess in favor of playing cards with Splinter and the girls, but Don had noticed Raph's tenseness and excused himself instead so he could join him.

"Really Raph?" He yelped, it was high, very unmanly and Don couldn't help but laugh. Especially when everyone turned to look at them. Raph blushed, yelled 'Ya got nothin better ta do?!' and then glared at Don after they all went back to what they were doing. "Tha hell Donnie?"

The purple Turtle wiped his grin off his face and coughed, trying to refocus on what Raph had said. He ignored Raphael's growl and nodded towards Leo's direction.

"Leo is not trying to steal your best friend, though they seem to be actual friends now rather than just tolerate each other. Anyhow! He's been giving Casey advice on how to keep April happy and it seems to work. This is just how he is thanking him." Raphael was surprised, not expecting that at all. Was it really that simple?

Leo would help anyone should they ask for it, but Relationship advice? The guy's never even been in a relationship! How could he possibly know how to help with something like that?!

Donny easily figured out what Raph was thinking, because it did sound rather odd for someone who has never been past flirting/teasing to know more about relationships than Don himself did. Seeing as the genius has a habit of studying every possible subject there is. Though he was partly to blame for Leo's expertise on the subject.

"I know, But Leo knows a lot about it, especially after he consoled mike and I after a couple fights, so I told Casey he'd be better off talking to Leo when he asked me." It still struck Raph as odd for Leo to understand matters of the heart so well, especially after he refuses to talk to him about that prank Mike had pulled on them. He was pretty sure Leo felt the electricity as well. He would have talked to him otherwise.

"You went to him after a fight? Why not ask splinter?" It was a logical question. Splinter was their father, the rat has helped them with every problem they had when they were young. It would have made a lot more sense to ask him for advice, he has had a wife after all.

"Splinter is our father, he accepted us for who we are, including this relationship, but it is rather odd to ask him advice on something that clearly makes him uncomfortable. So we went to Leo. He is smart, he knows how to help others calm down and he is very good at listening. He is a natural I suppose. Took him a while to get used to it though." The hothead frowned, understanding Don's reasons. He'd forgotten, but Splinter had accepted their relationship even though it was obvious the whole thing put him on edge.

"I know you want to talk to Leo about that kiss, but before you do. I want you to think about something that happened before mike decided to pull that prank on you." Don looked Raph straight in the eye, making sure he understood what he wanted him to understand. "I saw you pull Leo out of the dojo the other day when he and Casey had been sparring." The hothead raised an imaginary eyebrow at that, not understanding what that had to with anything. He needed Leo's help and Casey was taking too long in giving up so he did the only logical thing and dragged the turtle with him.

"If you would accuse Leo of stealing Casey from you, don't you think you would have made an excuse to spend time with him? Instead of Leo? You were, after all, jealous of Leo for stealing your best friend." Raphael growled as he realized Donny had a point. If he had been jealous of Leo he would have pushed him aside and sparred with Casey himself, instead he had dragged Leo out of the dojo for no real reason.

Said genius patted his shoulder with an easy smile and stood up, he still had a point to make. "So, just a question, Raph. Who exactly were you jealous of?" With that the purple brother left his side to try and find where his boyfriend has gone off to. Leaving Raphael alone to realize the obvious.

The genius was right, he wasn't jealous of Leo spending time with his best friend, he was jealous of Casey for having fun with Leo. Something he rarely managed to do himself.

Then there was that Karai thing earlier as well. He had been jealous of Karai having Leo all to herself and that had forced him to go with them. Especially with the flirting background the two had and that is why he felt the need to stay in between the two instead of trying to outrun them. He needed to make sure she wasn't going to try something.

He already knew following them just because they would be out there alone was a strange thing for him to do after all this time, considering this wasn't the first time those two had gone out for a run before.

Raph had spent the rest of the night mulling over the relationship between him and Leo. At least until Casey and Mike had forced him to play a stupid infuriating game called trouble.

Everyone managed to have fun after that and eventually the party moved to the TV where April had set up a Christmas movie for all of them to watch, only to have everyone comment and have fun at the cliché's. Raph still couldn't keep himself from glancing towards his brother every now and then, watching those sapphire eyes train to stay focused on the movie.

It had gotten pretty late after the movie and it was about time for everyone to head home for the night. Promises were made to celebrate New Year's together as well and with that everyone left.

Well everyone except Karai, who was standing just outside the lair. There was something she needed to do before she headed to her little hideout.

"Raphael! A word?" She had called him over, walking back to the entrance of the lair to wave said turtle over.

Confused as to why she needed to speak to him, the hothead went over to her, glaring slightly.

"What do you want?" It was more of a demand than it was a question as he was not in the mood to talk to the kunoichi.

"I was just wondering why you were so stubborn on keeping ahead of me, but not Leonardo. Are you so used to following his lead that you'd rather stay behind him?" She was baiting him. Why, he wasn't sure but he did know she figured something out and now she was trying to get more information by getting him riled up. Raphael cursed himself to realize it was already working.

"Tha hell?! No I ain't! If he thinks he can lead me he's got nother thin comin!" It was true, he fought many of Leo's decisions, but only if he thought the plan wasn't perfect or just to make sure Leo knew what he was doing.

"Is that so? Then why follow him? Why not take matters into your own hands?" This was not about their run from earlier anymore, that was just bait. This was about something totally different, he just didn't couldn't understand exactly what. Karai was their friend and she knew no one could lead them better than Leo, a fact Raphael had grown to accept. So what else could she mean by that?

"Tha hell are ya talkin bout?" The hothead growled at her. He was not in the mood for riddles especially after his talk with Don and his failed attempt to talk to Leo. He just needed her to hurry up and make her point so he could get this night over with.

"It is pretty obvious Raphael, something happened and you are waiting for him to start talking about it. Which he obviously will not. He can be quite stubborn, or selfless if you want. He is mulling over something, obviously conflicted, but will not act upon it. For the sake of his team, perhaps." He growled again, it would be so like Leo to bottle everything up and pretend it never happened just to make sure his family wouldn't suffer because of him.

"You should talk to him soon, he has forgotten how to let go and be selfish." Raphael Looked at Karai suspiciously. That explained exactly why Leo refused to talk about that kiss. The thoughts of his team, his position as leader, the oldest brother and the pressure of their father's opinion kept him from thinking about that kiss. About what it might mean.

He never went after something he really wanted if it meant he would be changing the dynamics of their team. He would just suppress the desire and forget it had ever been there, but a kiss is not easily forgotten. Especially when the other was not as keen on forgetting it happened. Besides, if Leo felt the same kind of electricity as he did then forgetting it with be impossible. He himself could still feel a slight tingle at the thought of it.

"Just so you know, I have given up on Leo a long time ago. We were just not meant to be." The confession didn't shock him, but it did relax him.

It had never been said out loud, but he knew that. His brother hasn't been so loves truck at seeing her for a while now. Leo and Karai had some sort of history, but it obviously hadn't gone past flirting, but they had always been rather close. The brothers had thought the two of them would have gotten together in time, though it seems the teasing between the two had been nothing serious.

So with that forgotten issue out of the way, The Hothead said his goodbyes and went to his room to wait for everyone to turn in and get ready to confront his annoyingly selfless brother.

Raph walked past his old bedroom door and grimaced at the memory of why he had been forced to move into mike's old room. His two youngest brothers started sharing a room after they had gotten together and moved most of mike's stuff into Donny's. The room itself was turned into a storage room, seeing as mike had way too many things, most of which he hardly ever used.

Things had been fine for a few days after that… Until Raph started to hear 'noises'… The hothead had immediately left his room and ran straight for the living room to sleep on the couch. Don't get him wrong he loves his brothers… There are just certain things one does NOT want to hear or know.

That very morning Don had found a terrified Raphael huddled up on the couch in a blanket, who immediately yelled at him for his sleepless night. With a red faced Don and a laughing Mikey, they had immediately switched Raph into mike's old room to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

Shaking himself out of the memory, Raph walked further down the hall, past his new bedroom and towards the very door housing his avoiding brother. It was a good thing Master Splinter slept on the other side of the lair, it made sneaking into Leo's room a lot easier.

It also made confronting him easier, especially with his brothers 3 rooms over. With that the red banded turtle silently opened the door, stepped in and closed the door behind him.

He found his brother sitting on the bed, a hand covering one of his eyes as he rested the elbow on a knee. The other hand was holding a captain Ryan comic and it almost looked like he was reading it, if it weren't for his eyes looking past his comic and staring straight towards the candle on his nightstand. He looked pretty caught up in his thoughts, at least he did for a split second until his brother waltzed in.

Well more of a case of stepping in and carefully closing the door. Still, he didn't knock nor ask permission so Leo counts it as barging in.

Leo send him a glare as he leaned on the now closed door. The hothead closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself for what he came here to do. One of his hands was still gripping the door handle tightly behind his back and he absently moved it towards the little key below it, contemplating on whether or not he wanted to lock the door. It would give him a better chance at keeping Leo in here while also making sure he wouldn't easily get kicked out, but he couldn't corner him too much or he'd freak out on him.

It wasn't until he heard Leo shift that he locked the door behind him in panic. It sounded a lot louder that he anticipated and it seemed to echo horribly around the room. The sound itself had Leo's eyes widen and Raph pushed himself off the door, taking the key with him, to stand in front of him, emerald eyes piercing into sapphire.

"Leo! We gotta talk!" Raphael glared at him without any actual anger, just frustration and determination and it seemed to put the blue banded turtle right on edge. It was obvious he knew why Raph was there, knew that he had waited until the others had gone to bed before coming here, knew exactly what he wanted to talk about and knew he wasn't going to willingly leave until he was done. Thought that did not mean he was going to just accept it.

"Raphael! You can't just barge in here! Get out!" The leader growled at him and pointed towards the door. His glare seemed to intensify, but Raph could see the panic, could sense Leo was trying very hard not to panic. Maybe locking the door might not have been the best idea, he had obviously cornered Leo and now he was silently panicking at the loss of control.

"I aint leavin till we've talked this through!" Raph growled at himself and took a step back. He pressed his lips in a thin line, sighed and closed his eyes to calm himself down. He needed to keep his own temper under control or this was not going to end well. He carefully set the key down on the nightstand so Leo could easily get to it, not that he liked the thought of him running away, but if he needed this to work then he needed to give Leo some sense of control.

"There is nothing to talk about Raphael!" Leo laid his comic down on his nightstand and grabbed the key as he stood up and pushed it back into Raph's hand before once again pointed towards the door in a silent command. "It did not mean anything! It was just one of Mikey's stupid pranks." His glare never wavered and Raph shook his head, placed the key back into Leo's hand and wrapped his own hands around his in a lose grip.

He seemed to freeze for a moment, a flash of emotion flashing through his eyes and then Leo quickly pulled his hand back so he could step away from his brother, whose eyes were calmly watching him.

The intensity of Raph's calm expression and intense eyes quickly becoming too much for the leader. He averted his eyes and focused of the door behind the hothead instead.

"If that's true, then why ain't ya lookin me in the eye?" Raph knew it wasn't that simple, something had defiantly changed because of that kiss. Not to mention, Leo never lost his cool this badly unless it was personal, that and Leo refused to look him in the eye which was a clear sign of it definitely meaning something. Leo always looks you in the eye, it lets you know you have his attention but it is also easier to persuade others that way. Not to mention creep you out if he's mad or irritated. So, for Leo to not look you in the eye, means it's bad.

"Of course it's true! And since when do I have an obligation to look you in the eye Raphael?" He watched as Leo turned his glare back towards him before turning to glare at his bookcase and then the door again, he could see the hand tighten around its key, weighing his options. A quick glance back at Raph's direction had Leo make his decision and he moved towards the door.

He pushing the key into the lock and Raph knew he only had one more option. One last resort that would force Leo to face him, force him to stop ignoring what was happening between them. He knew Leo struggled being the leader and their big brother, but that shouldn't matter! He couldn't keep forgetting about himself, especially not when Raphael was involved. Leo may be stubborn, but they all knew Raph could be a lot worse.

Before he even knew what he was doing, his hand was on Leo's shoulder and he was turning the blue banded turtle around to pin him against the still locked door. He idly noticed Leo's arm bend back awkwardly to keep its iron grip on the little key. Leo's other hand came up in a quick reflex and pushed against Raph's chest.

Sapphire eyes widened as a three fingered hand leaned against the wall next to him and he closed his eyes tightly as the other hand cupped his cheek. The hand gently tilted his head upward and rough lips softly pressed against his.

It was merely a press of lips, but Leo could already feel his head spinning. He pushed against Raph's shoulder, hoping to gain a little distance so the leader could clear his head, he couldn't think straight.

The hothead reluctantly moved back, his thumb brushing against Leo's cheekbone and he watched the sapphire eyes open once again, they moved to his briefly before focusing on something behind him. Raph himself kept his eyes firmly focused on Leo. "Tell me you didn't feel nothin."

The eyes seemed to flicker to him for a second and he watched Leo hesitate, he could see the pain behind his facade and he knew what Leo was thinking. It is always the same thing, the same reason he refuses everything he really wants. The same reason why he refuses to be selfish. "I-"

Raph cut him off with a shake of his head and he signed. His hand left Leo's cheek and grabbed the hand unconsciously shaking against his chest and entwines their fingers. He stares at them for a moment, going over the words in his head carefully.

"I know ya'd do anything ta keep this team goin, but ya can't push everythin away. Yer allowed ta be selfish, Leo. An I might not exactly know what's goin on, but I know there's somethin between us an I wanna see where it leads us." He moved their entwined hands to rest them against the door, a little above Leo's head, there was only a little resistance before the blue banded turtle gave in and let Raph keep his hand hostage.

Raph knew his brother was breaking, his resistance was dying and he could see him slowly giving in. It broke his heart to push him this way, but he knew it wasn't just for his own sake. Leo had felt the same sensation when they had kissed and he knew deep down Leo wanted this too, but for that to happen he had to convince Leo that it would be alright. He squeezed Leo's hand in hopes of giving him some comfort and raised his emerald eyes back to his beautiful sapphire ones. "I'm pretty sure mike knew there was somethin between us Leo, he'd never pull a prank like that without a good reason an ya know it."

Leo's eyes finally turned to his and he'd never heard anything as heartbreaking as the pained whimper that escaping Leo's parted lips. "Raph-" The blue banded turtle started as he attempted to regain his control. He was failing miserably, the hothead was dangling a temptation before him and he was quickly running the energy to resist.

Raphael couldn't handle the pained expression and he used his free hand to once again cup Leo's cheek before leaning forward to press their lips together again. He felt the others hand squeeze their entwined hands and then another hand gripped his shoulder. It seemed to just rest there as if Leo wasn't sure whether to push him away or pull him closer. Raph decided to make the decision for him and released his lips slowly.

"Please Leo, be selfish, just this once and give me a chance. I know ya want ta." He looked at him with pleading eyes, hoping desperately for Leo to give in, for him to get a chance to find out where this could lead them.

Leo looks at him with wide eyes and absently shakes his head as his hand pushes against the broad shoulder. Thoughts were racing through his head, he felt like he was drowning and he didn't know that to do.

"Mike an Don got the okay from Splinter, why wouldn't we?" Raph was getting desperate and he knew it. He didn't know what else he could say to convince Leo and in desperation, leaned forward to kiss Leo again, but the hand on his shoulder quickly moved upwards to cover his mouth.

Leo bit his lower lip, the thought of giving into Raphael brought a lot of fears and insecurities, most of which were a result of his own failure. He shook his head and banged his head against the door behind him. The one reason why he couldn't give in kept roaring inside his head and he had said it out loud before he even realized it.

"Because I am your Leader Raph, I cannot be distracted." Raphael groaned, he knew that was the main reason he was trying so hard to resist. With a sigh, Raph let his hand drop from Leo's cheek to a slim shoulder and slide over a lean arm to rest over his wrist. He removed the hand from his own shoulder and gently kissed the palm, looking straight at those sapphire eyes.

"An ya won't, ya never let anythin distract ya. That's just how awesome ya are." Leo chuckled softly and Raph smiled. He idly rubbed the knuckles on Leo's hand and gripped harder at the weak tug from its owner.

Leo couldn't do more than stare at the emerald eyes before him, he was giving up, and it was obvious. How did Raph always manage to persuade him?

"See! Yer not denyin it! Ya never let feelins cloud yer judgment, this ain't gonna be anything different." Leo tried not to believe him, but he knew Raph was right. He's never let feelings cloud his judgment, he always made the right decisions even if that required some help from the hothead himself. He never failed to put him back on the right track even when feeling were threatening to cloud his judgment, he just hoped this wouldn't change that.

"Ya know there's something changing between us, so please just give me a chance, I promise yer not gonna regret it!" And that's when Raph guided Leo's hand back to the door key, he let go only to rest his own hand against the doorpost. His head pressed forward to lean against Leo's forehead, their lips inches apart.

"Last chance to walk away Leo, better make your decision fast." Raph had closed his eyes, he didn't want to see the emotions crossing Leo's eyes as he made his decision. His hand tightened around the others, he released a shaky breath and he waited for him to make the next move.

Leo knew he desperately wanted to take this risk, to be selfish for at least this one time. Being a leader could wait until they were out of the lair, for now he just needed to relearn how to left go and take what he really wanted. He closed his eyes and gave in. released the key and cupped Raph's cheek before leaning forward and crashing their lips together.

Raph could feel his heart leap in his chest as his lips moved against Leo's and he felt his pulse speed up as Leo's hand moved to the back of his neck to pull him closer.

Following Leo was alright, but sometimes it was better for Raph to take the lead and that was okay. Everyone needed a time to stop thinking and just follow. Leo has been leading almost his whole life, it was time for him to take a step back and let someone else take charge.

Raph opened his mouth and licked at Leo's bottom lip and groaned as Leo opened up almost instantly. With that Raph slowly turned them around and walked them backwards to gently lower Leo down onto the soft mattress.

Leo was done leading for now.