Tragedy Ever After

Letters

        ~Normal POV~

     I woke up curled up next to Don. I didn't even remember coming in here last night. No alarm. . . was it too early? Or did I not have class today? I patted around for my phone, finding it and checking the time.

     It was early, only a little past 8 am, but I also didn't have class today. Great, a day to recover and sit around watching cartoons. I wanted to fall back to sleep, it was too early to be up and it was possible it could set off my schedule.

     I laid my head back down and closed my eyes. A few minutes passed and I couldn't feel the tug of sleep drawing me back in. "Don," I spoke quietly, gently shaking the turtle's shoulder. He stirred but didn't wake. "Don."

     "What?" he let out a quiet groan but didn't open his eyes.

     "I can't fall back to sleep," I told him, watching one of his eyes peek open to look at me. "It's really early and I don't want to have another meltdown from setting off my schedule," I said slowly. 

     "All right," he sat up, stretching with a groan. He crossed his legs and patted his thigh. "C'mere," he said sleepily. I shifted to rest my head on his lap and he began running his fingers through my hair. It was a comforting feeling.

     "Y'know, when we were really young, me 'n my brothers would sleep in this turtle pile. If one of us couldn't sleep, we would go find Raph. He always knew what to do," Don hummed.

     "Really?" I wore a tired smile as I glanced up at the mutant.

     "Oh, yeah. All the time. One time Mikey woke me up in the middle of the night to go find Raph with him because he was scared to walk through the lair alone at night," he recalled with his own sleepy grin.

     "Don, do you ever miss them?" the turtle didn't look at me.

     "Sometimes I do," his gaze met mine. "I miss Mikey keeping me company when I was up late working on a project. And how Raph would always try to protect us, no matter how dangerous something was. I guess I might miss Leo's horrible corny jokes. . ." he let out a sigh.

     "Do you think you'll ever go home? Or just have some kind of reunion with each other?" I asked another question.

     "Let's just focus on getting you back to sleep," Don's free arm rubbed at his face before he glanced back down at me. "Let's see," he hummed. "In my room, I used to keep an essential oil diffuser. . . April had told me about them and she was actually the one to give it to me."

     "So, you and April used to get along?" I butted in again.

     "We did, we were like two peas in a pod. I don't remember how we really fell apart. It was a long time ago. . . I could have Shelldon retrieve mine. They do help," Don's hand ceased the petting motion to type away on his tech gauntlet.

     The drone awoke and Don opened the window for the bot to fly out before he resumed the hypnotic motion. We were both silent for a few moments, not knowing what to say to the other.

     "So, when you told me April would bully you, was that a lie?" I spoke up.

     "No," my mutant replied, shaking his head gently. "No, it started out as friendly teasing. Y'know, a joke here, a jab there. But, then it started getting so mean. Suddenly, the jokes didn't seem like jokes anymore."

     "I'm sorry," the apology slipped from my lips.

     "Why are you apologizing?" Don asked.

     "Force of habit," I looked away from him. "I apologize for a lot of things that I can't control or change. I never really know when the appropriate time to apologize is."

     "It takes a lot for me to apologize," Don admitted. "I don't like to admit when I'm wrong about something or admit fault. Y/n, we really are much more alike than I had first thought."

     "I noticed it when you were sick," he looked at me curiously. "When you were watching cartoons. I saw myself in you. I wanted to protect you the way I needed to be protected. I still do."

     Shelldon flew back in through the window that Don closed most of the way, but seemed to be enjoying the slight breeze that entered the room. There was now a small crate attached to Shelldon tied on with a rope. The brothers must have spotted him.

     Don sat straighter, on edge from the new accessory. He quickly untied it and began digging through the bin. He pulled out the diffuser and different essential oils but didn't let me see anything else that was in the crate.

     "Here," he gently helped me off of his lap, covering me in the weighted blanket and moving to set up the diffuser on his desk. Shelldon set himself back on his charger and Don moved the small crate from the bed to his desk.

     "What else is in there?" I asked curiously and Don brushed it off.

     "Nothing important, just some other things from my lab. Don't worry about it," he gave me a small smile. He seemed more awake now than he was before.

     "I'm sorry I woke you," he ruffled my hair while I stared up at him. "I don't feel like I'll fall back to sleep now."

     "You don't need to apologize for all these little things, Y/n," Don said. "You needed me, and I want to help. Just let the diffuser and weighted blanket set for a bit and you'll be asleep in no time."

     "What about you?" I could feel my eyes drooping a bit. Maybe I was more tired than I realized. The turtle took my hand, leading it under his chin and I began to scratch at it, earning small chirrs from the mutant.

     "I'll be here the whole time," he sat on the ground beside me, a sign he would move to work once I had fallen back to sleep. His head tilted to rest on the bed while he enjoyed the chin scratches as much as I enjoyed giving them.

     The churring noise mixed with everything else was enough to lull me back to sleep. I loved this mutant.

        ~Donnie's POV~

     Once I was sure my human had fallen back to sleep, I stood up to go through the crate that was attached to Shelldon. I pulled out a letter that had a few stickers placed on it, reading over it while a smile grew without me realizing.

     Hey, D. I was in your lab drawing when I noticed Shelly come in, so I packed up for him. I miss you being here so I could show you my drawing after, so I put this one in before Shelldon left.

     We also got Chinese food, and I know this was your favorite, so I stuck some in as well. I know Y/n is good to you, so I'm sure you've been eating all right, but I wanted you to have some anyway.

     I stuck some tools in, too! I thought it might be hard to work if you didn't have any of your old stuff. Don't worry, no one else saw Shelly, so this can be our secret. If it isn't too much, do you think we can write letters to each other? If not, that's okay, I know you're a busy turtle. -Mikey

     I picked up the page that was on the bottom of the crate. Mikey had drawn me and Y/n, even if it was a bit messy. On the opposite side of the page was a drawing of him and my brothers, also a bit on the messy side. I was in that picture too, a bit more distant from the rest of them. There were also dried-up splotches. . . Had Mikey been crying while he drew this?

     The last thing I pulled out of the crate was a small container that held the Chinese food. It was just fried rice, nothing too special, but it meant a lot that Mikey remembered my favorites.

     I pulled out my notebook and turned to a fresh page, tapping a pen lightly against the page as I thought of what to write back. My baby brother had been kind to me, who would I be to deny him such a small wish?

     Word Count: 1,430. I honestly didn't know what I wanted to write for this chapter, so this is what I came up with. I think that writer's block has finally decided to come for my ass, but we'll find out by tonight. This is the only one for now, I'm a bit tired. Enjoy!