Hello all!

First off I want to apologize for taking so long to update. Stupid life getting in the way:( Anyway, things have calmed down a little so hopefully the updates for this fic will be more frequent.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this fic and to everyone who has taken the time to review! Thank you so much!

Also a giant thank you to Amonraphoenix for beta reading this chapter for me! XD

And now, please enjoy!

Chapter 16

Donatello banged his head against the hard surface of the kitchen table three times before hitting his head a fourth time –just for good measure.

He was such a coward and not only this, he was a horrible friend too. He had sworn to himself that he would warn April about Raphael's determination to be more physical with his 'girlfriend' as well as letting her know that he could smell her desire for his brother, and that the scent was only encouraging Raphael's advances, but he hadn't.

The first part of this conversation should –in theory- be easy and simple. He wouldn't be telling her anything that she wasn't already aware of. But he couldn't seem to figure out a way to approach April about the fact that her actions and now her body seemed to welcome Raphael's attentions without it coming off as either accusatory or judgemental.

Every time he had tried to talk to April, her worried green eyes turned to him with apprehension, as if she was anxious about what was going to issue forth from his lips, and he lost his nerve and asked her something mundane and innocuous instead.

It was obvious to him that his friend seemed to be struggling with herself; though whether this inner turmoil was the result of guilt or some other emotion, he wasn't sure. But he felt that if he broached the subject, he was only going to somehow hurt her more or add to her already heavy burden.

For three days now Raphael, had behaved himself and was following Donatello's instructions and had –as far as he was aware- not become overly physical with April. But he knew that with each passing day, Raphael's patience would begin to thin and it was only a matter of time before Raphael decided to take matters into his own hands, push his body to the limit, and decide to claim what he rightfully believed was his.

"Donny?" a hesitant voice inquired from the doorway and he looked up into the concerned, emerald gaze of his friend. "Are you okay? I heard banging."

"Uh…" he looked into April's earnest gaze and felt his resolve melt away. "I'm just stuck on a line of code for the security program," he lied.

April stared at him in stunned incomprehension for a brief moment, as if his words were so foreign to her that she couldn't quite grasp their meaning before her lips turned down in a frown.

"I didn't know you were working on the program," she said to him in surprise as she moved further into the kitchen and sat down with him at the kitchen table.

Adding to his lie, he said, "I saw you working on it the other day and I realized how much I had been neglecting it." This last bit of observation was true, but he hadn't done anything to rectify that particular situation either.

The security program they were working on hadn't been on his mind in months, but he had allowed April to continue on, even though she had been run ragged with looking after Raphael.

He was lying to her by telling her he was working on it when he wasn't and allowing her to teeter on the cusp of a perilous situation regarding Raphael because he was too uncomfortable to bring it up.

Worst. Friend. Ever.

"It's not your fault, Donny," she said soothingly, apparently mistaking his obvious guilt for something else. "You've been keeping Raph alive and I can't even imagine having-"

Donatello took April's hand in his, cutting off her words with his sudden, insistent grip.

"April, I-"

"Hey, babe?" Raphael's voice interrupted.

April pulled her hand quickly from Donatello's grasp and looked over at his brother who stood in the doorway of the bedroom, leaning heavily against the door frame.

"I'm bored as hell," Raphael grumbled.

April stood up, her eyes narrowing as she pursed her lips in irritation. "You are supposed to be resting," she said, completely ignoring Raphael's complaint.

Donatello wondered if this was the moment when the other shoe dropped and Raphael would rage against the strictures that had been placed upon him.

"All I've been doin' is resting," Raphael griped in irritation. "So I was thinkin'," he interrupted whatever April had been about to say, "how 'bout a movie?"

April paused in thought and seeing her hesitation, Raphael pushed his advantage. "I can plant my ass on the couch, still restin', but at least I got something to do. I had a nice long nap and I've blown through all the magazines and comics I've been given. Hell, I've even read the articles. Come on, babe, please?" Raphael begged with gentle pleading and Donatello felt his mouth fall open in shock.

Raphael was asking for something…nicely.

Normally his red-masked brother would just demand to be able to watch a movie. Actually, that would only be if someone stopped him. Usually Raphael would just take his battered and broken body to the couch and flop down upon it without consulting anyone on if he should or not.

Casting a quick glance at Donatello, who offered no objection, April reluctantly consented. "Okay," she agreed and Raphael beamed brightly at her, a wide, Michelangelo-style grin crossing his features.

April stared at Raphael a moment as if stunned by the look he was giving her before she gave a warm smile of her own, her eyes gentling and Donatello felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach as a sudden suspicion entered his mind.

Walking forward, April helped Raphael limp into the living room. With their bodies pressed together, April's head almost lying upon Raphael's shoulder, they looked as if they were both happy and in love.

They looked like a couple.

Donatello's mouth snapped shut and he shook his head back and forth as if to dislodge this disturbing thought.

April is just getting better at acting as if she is in love with Raph, he tried telling himself, even though the excuse felt hollow -even in his own mind.

Settling Raphael on the couch, a sudden knock on the door had everyone tensing in wary trepidation.

They all shared a silent look of anxiousness before a key was inserted into the lock and the door handle was twisted, the door opening to allow Casey to stride in.

"Hey, Apes, Donny, Raph," Casey nodded to each in turn as he greeted them.

"Hey, Case." Raphael greeted his friend. "When'd you get a key?" The words were casual, but there was an underlying edge to his voice, which seemed to go right over Casey's head.

"I've had it-"

"Since you were hurt," April swiftly answered Raphael's pointed question before Casey could possibly forget himself and answer something stupid like: 'Since me and April been dating'.

"It just seemed….easier," April finished with a slight shrug at her explanation.

Casey stopped walking towards the kitchen and looked uncomfortable, a flash of something like irritation crossing his face before he dragged his hands through his long, dark hair. "Right," he agreed awkwardly.

Raphael relaxed, accepting April's answer.

"Casey," April began. "What are you doing here?" she asked uneasily.

"Figured I'd stop by and say 'hi'. Haven't seen my bro here in a few days," Casey replied.

"We were just about to watch a movie." Raphael told their friend. "Wanna join?" Raphael asked.

April paled and Donatello felt himself stiffen.

"I'm sure Casey has other things he's got to do today," April interjected apprehensively as Donatello stood.

"I got time," Casey replied, waving away April's reluctance to have Casey stay any longer than he had to. "Whatchya gonna watch?" Casey wondered and Donatello shared a frightened look with April.

Like an ominous cloud settling across his shoulders, Donatello felt that Casey staying in the same room as Raphael longer than necessary was a bad thing. Casey staying for two hours in the same room as Raphael and April was a disaster of epic proportions just waiting to happen.

"Mad Max," Raphael replied to Casey's query. "The original."

"Awesome!" Casey said with a jubilant smile spreading across his face as he took a seat at the other end of the couch. For a moment, it appeared that Casey and Raphael's friendship was good, until Raphael turned his attention back to April.

"Babe," Raphael called out, patting the empty cushion beside him, oblivious to Casey's flinch at his red-masked brother's epithet for her.

April's shoulders straightened as if she was preparing for battle. Striding into the living room, Donatello following behind April, she took a look at the space offered between Raphael and Casey and wisely veered off to the side towards the loveseat.

Donatello agreed that the best place for her to be was as far away from the two males as possible. Unfortunately, it seemed she had no choice after Raphael gave April a confused, worried look and Casey frowned in speculation and Donatello knew that there would be too many questions if she didn't sit between them.

Giving April a commiserating and apologetic look, April grabbed the quilt off of the cushion and folded it before throwing it across the back of the loveseat and allowing Donatello to sit down.

"Does anyone want any snacks or something to drink?" April asked as she wandered back to the kitchen. Donatello declined anything but both Raphael and Casey asked for a beer.

Rifling through the cupboards and the fridge, April came back with two bags of potato chips, a beer for Casey and a Cola for Raph.

Raphael grimaced and April pointed out that he was not allowed alcohol. Placing everything on the coffee table, April settled between the two larger males; sitting stiffly while trying to keep herself from touching either of them.

Casey casually threw his arm over the back of the couch as if hoping April would lean back, his action seemingly careless, but Donatello suspected the move to be deliberate.

Thankfully, Raphael didn't seem to notice, his attention focused on the TV.

"Hey, Donny, you mind?" Raphael prompted, motioning towards the bookcase with rows upon rows of DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

Donatello shifted, but April was quicker, launching herself from the couch and striding to the bookcase.

After a few moments of scanning the shelves she straightened and said, "We don't…I mean, I think maybe Mikey might have borrowed Mad Max," April recovered awkwardly.

Donatello realized that the movie Raphael had requested was still in the lair, because Raphael owned it, not April and Casey.

"Mikey?" Raphael said, clearly shocked and confused by their baby brother's supposed movie choice.

"It…uh… must have reminded Mikey of you," April stammered. "He really missed you," she added truthfully.

Raphael sighed, but accepted that the movie he wanted to watch wasn't available. April turned back to the bookcase and searched her movie titles before shooting Donatello a desperate, pleading glance.

She covertly pointed at the bookcase and gave a shrug. It took a moment for him to realize that April wasn't sure what movies out of hers and Casey's collection they owned as well.

"Maybe a movie that isn't so…testosterone laden," Donatello offered.

"What!?" both Casey and Raphael protested.

"Raph, your heart-rate needs to stay even," he explained. "You know what you get like when you're watching one of your movies, and that means no sports either," Donatello added firmly.

Raphael let out a groan. "Come on, Donny!"

April gave him a thankful smile and turned back to the movies. "The Notebook?" she asked as her finger skimmed along the titles of the movies.

"No way," Casey protested. "I had to watch that movie once and you promised it would be the only time, and I ain't watchin' it again."

"The Notebook?" Raphael sked questioningly. "I've never seen it."

April's eyes widened in horror and Donatello felt adrenalin prickle against his skin. April tried to unobtrusively motion to Casey to stop talking, but Casey's attention was firmly upon Raphael and completely oblivious to their silent message.

"You're lucky. It's a mushy, romantic, chick-flick," Casey answered truthfully.

April turned a shade of pale that looked almost grey and Donatello felt the blood drain from his own face and his stomach roll in uncomfortable apprehension.

"Why did you-?" Raphael began, his eyes growing dark with suspicious anger as his mind connected the dots and suddenly wondered why his girlfriend was watching a romantic movie with his best friend.

"Casey lost a bet," April blurted out.

Raphael's attention snapped to April as Casey blinked in confusion.

"You guys were supposed to come over one night, but you guys bailed. Casey had showed up expecting to watch the Yankees play the Red Soxs and I didn't really want to watch it so Casey proposed a bet on the outcome of the game," April grasped at straws as she invented the lie. "I said the Yankees would win and he lost. His punishment was to watch the mushiest, most sappy, girly chick-flick I owned. It was before you and I started going out," April explained easily.

Casey remained silent, his face becoming petulant as Raphael looked over at him in offended shock. "You bet against the Yankees?"

Scowling in irritation, Casey crossed his arms over his chest. "Guess so," he answered.

"Huh," Raphael said. "Yeah, if I lost that bet, I wouldn't have said anything either," he admitted.

April had, by this time, turned her attention back to the movies and randomly yanked one from the shelf.

Putting it into the player, she resolutely walked back to the couch and sat upon the couch, spine ramrod straight. Taking up the remote, she pressed the play button.

Donatello reached forward and took April's laptop from the surface of the coffee table.

The least he could do was work on the coding of the security program April had been working on, and keep an eye on both Casey and Raphael while he did it.

Sending a quick look at April, conveying that he had her back and would help in any way he could without arousing Raphael's suspicions, he waited for her slight nod of understanding before he sat back against the cushions and opened the laptop.

April fidgeted nervously as she settled further into the couch cushion and hoped that Casey would remain on his best behaviour.

She wasn't holding out any hope that this would actually happen, but there was nothing she could do to avert the very tense and uncomfortable situation she had been placed in.

The truth was, she was worried about Casey's motives. He had been playing least in sight since the whole farce had begun, which was a relief, and she hadn't even talked to him since she had stupidly run to his apartment three days ago and just as quickly run away from it.

She wasn't sure if Casey was here to cause trouble, check up on her, or visit. She could only give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he had come just to see how everything was going and to hang out for a bit.

The movie began, but she was too worried about what would happen if Raphael decided to throw an arm around her shoulders and pull her in close to pay much attention to what was playing upon the TV screen.

Peeking over at Raphael, she was almost relieved to see that he was still annoyed with having to watch a chick-flick. His lips were pulled into a disapproving grimace and his arms were crossed over his chest in a petulant pout.

"Case, don't feel like you gotta stay," Raphael grumbled as the opening credits of the remake of Sabrina began.

"It's okay, bro. If you gotta suffer, then I should suffer a little with ya," Casey replied. "Never seen this one before," he admitted. "It's got Han Solo in it though, can't be that bad," he said referring to Harrison Ford.

"Actually," Raphael said in thought, "If Han Solo was in this, I'd watch it."

"Hell's yeah," Casey said as they both fist bumped each other and April found herself smiling and relaxing at the exchange.

She shot Donatello a quick look, but her friend appeared to have his beak buried in her laptop.

It was a little bit of a relief that Donatello had decided to help out with the security program's coding. She could code, but not as well as Donatello could.

Turning her attention back to the screen, she settled back in an attempt to enjoy the movie and not worry that something catastrophic was about to happen.

With a sigh, Raphael shifted, apparently making himself comfortable as Casey put his feet up on the coffee table.

Halfway through the movie, after having been lulled into a contented state by watching the drama unfurl before her on the screen, she found herself having to stifle a yawn.

She hadn't been sleeping very well for the last few nights, the hamster in her mind relentlessly running upon its wheel, and she found herself snuggling further into the couch, her body, of its own accord, searching out the one who she wanted to share the love-story with as it unfolded before them.

It was then that Raphael pulled her the rest of the way in. She hadn't even noticed that she had been searching him out until she found herself pressed against his side, her head resting upon his shoulder.

A frisson of awareness shot through her, her heartbeat pounding against her ribs as she felt her body react to his touch as he skimmed his fingers across her bare arm.

Glancing up at him, Raphael slid a sly, knowing smirk her way and she found herself flushing with a pleased kind of embarrassment, and she shyly returned his smile.

Donatello shifted and her gaze turned to her friend whose face was grim, his eyes speaking as they shot to the man to her left and back.

The spell shattered and she felt the smile fall from her lips, her face draining of all colour.

She had been so caught up in the moment that she had completely forgotten about Casey. Her boyfriend.

Her real boyfriend.

Raphael's attention back on the TV, she shifted her head enough so that she was able to look at Casey and gauge his reaction to Raphael's sudden display of affection.

Swallowing roughly at catching Casey's piercing midnight gaze and noticing the slight whiteness around his pursed lips, she was surprised when he didn't comment or even move.

Like a stone statue he sat; every muscle in his body tense and unmoving. He was angry, and it was obvious for anyone to see, but he was restraining himself, and for that she was grateful.

Some of this must have been reflected in her face because he relaxed slightly as he took a calming breath and gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement.

Turning her head away before he could witness the crushing guilt that suddenly assaulted her, she tried to pay attention to the movie. Only, the more of the movie she watched, the worse she felt.

April realized that picking a romantic comedy had been the poorest possible movie choice for her to have made. She had more than a dozen normal comedies, why hadn't she chosen one of them?

She knew that answer to this of course. She had thought that by picking a romantic comedy, she would be spared from Raphael remarking: 'When did we get that movie?'

Not being able to risk putting in a comedy Raphael had never seen before, and one his family didn't own, she had chosen a romance. But as she watched Sabrina slowly fall in love with Linus Laraby, and fall out of love with David Laraby -the man she had loved since she was a child- she suddenly felt as if a small portion of her life was playing out before her very eyes.

It wasn't as if the movie was a direct parallel to her situation, but it hit a little too close to home. Linus was pretending to love Sabrina, much like she was pretending to love Raphael, but Linus found that the false overtures of his heart had suddenly become all too real and genuine and it was at that moment, that April's heart felt like it was suddenly being squeezed in a vice.

Her heart, though twisting painfully in her chest, it somehow beat so rapidly that all she could hear was the pounding rush of blood through her ears.

"Ya cold?" Raphael asked softly. "You're trembling," he observed as he threw his blanket around her, pulled her closer to the warmth of his body and rubbed her arm, as if this action could chase away the cold that had suddenly seeped into her very heart and soul.

If she had not been so stunned by the realization that had crept upon her and smashed her over the head with the awareness of it, she was positive she would have curled into a ball and began hyperventilating.

Upon the screen she watched as Sabrina brushed her hand gently across Linus' cheek, admitting that she had somehow fallen in love with him, and April took a deep shuddering breath.

Although she had only ever been friends with Raphael, somehow -over the course of the past week and a half- her feelings for him had drastically changed.

Suddenly, she found that she had fallen hard for the red masked mutant and the realization knocked the breath from her lungs.

With a strange kind of detachment, she was able to acknowledge that she and Casey had been drifting apart for quite some time, and although she still loved him, she had been falling out of love with him.

Being together had become a comfortable habit. Even though they had their problems she knew Casey loved her, and she loved him, but somehow, it didn't feel like it was enough.

Thinking back on it, she could even pinpoint the very moment when she had begun pulling away.

When Casey was supposed to move in just after Thanksgiving and they had one of their fights about where they were going –marriage, kids and Casey's vigilantism- she had still clung to the hope that they would get back onto the same page.

But perhaps there had been some part of her that had known that this was impossible.

After four years of being together, taking the next step in their lives should have been easy, but instead, it felt as if she was now mired in quicksand.

She had to question whether she had been completely altruistic these past three months. Had she been subconsciously using Raphael's accident as a way to distance herself from Casey by letting it consume her attention completely?

April would like to think that she wasn't that kind of person, but she suddenly began questioning everything about herself. After all, why she would her heart recklessly trade one hot-headed, brawling vigilante for another?

She had gone insane.

It was the only explanation.

For the past week and a half, she and Raphael had done nothing but bicker, get under each other's skin and…No. That wasn't true. It felt like it at times, but there had been moments when they had given each other comfort, apologized for slights and harsh words, laughed and shared joy and excitement for his tiny accomplishments and…

…Raphael looked at her like she was the most important thing in his world.

He was restraining his natural tendencies to be a thoughtless ass, for her.

Hell, in his mind he had actually moved in with her, something Casey couldn't even bring himself to do.

But…

She watched the TV as Sabrina's life crashed down around her when Linus confessed that everything he had told her, his feelings for her, had been nothing more than lies. And even though Linus' heart was breaking, Sabrina believed him, and April felt her own heart twist painfully.

Like Linus, she had been stupidly caught up in the lie.

Raphael didn't really love her, he only thought he did. And if…when he got his memories back, he would be nothing short of horrified.

She felt tears well up in her eyes and before she was able to blink them back, they rolled silently down her cheeks.

"Whoa, babe. Pretty sure things are going to work out, no need to start crying," Raphael murmured in her ear and she felt even more tears fill her eyes as she quickly dashed them away and pasted a fake smile upon her face.

"I know," she said in a shaky voice, wishing that real life was like a romantic comedy and there was always a happy ending.

But there was not going to be a happy ending for her. She was currently in the process of jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.

She didn't know what was going on with her stupid traitorous heart. Raphael couldn't marry her, or give her children and he was a ninja sworn to protect New York from harm. He was a vigilante and could not be anything else.

With Casey, at least she had the possibility of marriage, kids and a husband who came home every night after a hard day at the construction site, with Raphael…

But it was again a moot point. According to Donatello, Raphael had never loved her. She was his friend and that was it. The idea of being caught within the vicious grip of unrequited love was a horrifying one, but she wondered if she was too far gone to stop herself from falling hopelessly in love with Raphael anyway.

Glancing over at Casey, she studied his profile, wondering if they would be able to work things out or if the attempt was nothing more than the insanity of repeating the same action over and over again and still somehow expecting a different outcome.

I hope everyone enjoyed!XD