HESITATIONS: Donnie & April

Prologue – Doing the Stupid thing.

"You talk too much"
April, "Target: April O'Neil"

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"O-FAHK'ing-PAH!" April snarled as the dinner plate careened into the concrete wall of the Lair's kitchen directly beside Donatello's quickly ducked head. The ninja Turtle could feel as if in slow motion the thousand tiny ceramic shards ping off the back of his shell and thick purple headband. The discomfort was nothing compared to the million shrapnel butterflies lashing the inside of his stomach.

"Now, A-April…", Donnie stuttered, back-peddling like it was a stage in the Tour de France, "We say things when we're angry…"

"Shut it, Donatello", April interrupted, "When were you gonna tell me that you decided to forget to reh-" – her voice hitched on the last word – "to remember?!", she finished.

'Oh GOD', April thought to herself, 'do I have to sound so desperate?' She felt out of control. If Donatello's choice not to acknowledge the best day of her life – a day spent making love with him – wasn't a clear invitation for her to move on, then surely it was a hand-delivered, arsenic-laced note from The Shredder.

April's shoulders slumped. The room started to spin. She braced one hand on the wall: inhale – exhale; pull it together… Then all of sudden a single word projected itself onto the canvas of her brain:

FUKKIT

Paradoxically, Donnie's lasting impression of his argument with the only person, and the only human, he'd ever adored was the strawberry-spiced scent of April's hair as she swept past him, a terrifying red-headed Fury, and out of the Turtles' lair into the city above.

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A/N: To riff on a fictitious slogan for an airline, "I'm not happy unless my characters are unhappy". But full disclosure: I love the Donatello-April pairing, for many reasons.

The main reason is probably that when Donnie and April come together, it's this small, bright reassurance that any of us can find love despite our foibles and flaws; a tiny testament (ok, ok, albeit fictitious) that any of us can be wanted and known, really known, by someone else.

But where I enjoy exploring Apriltello the most (aside from the romantic, sultry, pelvis-warming stuff) is tipping the tables on standards and presumptions – such as: April's lucky that Donnie loves and accepts her, not just the other way around; and April's character is much more than a love interest, and she's got her own sh*t to take care of.

Lastly? Healthy conflict = growth. And for these two very intelligent, ambitious characters, change and growth is their MO. It just doesn't mean that the growth is always is the same direction. And that sets the stage for the (I hope) delicious tension in this next story of my little Apriltelloverse.

Sweet, Sweet Readers I hope that you enjoy and –gasp!– pleasepleaseplease review!