TMNT x reader one shots part 3

Rise! leo x reader

The lines between us

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You weren’t sure when it had started — that flutter in your chest every time Leo looked your way. Maybe it was the night you met the turtles, crashing into a Foot operation with nothing but a crowbar and adrenaline. Or maybe it was the night he jumped in front of a blast for you and winked afterward like it was no big deal.

But if you were being honest?

It was the stripes. Those glowing red stripes across his arms and legs that pulsed with energy and swirled in mesmerizing patterns. You tried not to stare, but the way they moved with him, tracing over every curve of his muscles — it made your brain short-circuit.

You had a crush. A deep, stomach-twisting, face-heating crush. And that was exactly why you avoided him like the plague.

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“Dude, what did you do to her?” Mikey whispered from the side of his mouth.

Leo leaned back against the lair wall, arms crossed, eyes following your retreating figure as you practically bolted out of the living room with a muttered excuse. Again.

“I didn’t do anything,” Leo replied, voice low and tight. “I said hi.”

“Well, maybe your hi was too powerful,” Donnie added with dry sarcasm as he pushed past, tablet in hand. “Or maybe you burned her with the fiery intensity of your desperate pining.”

Leo narrowed his eyes. “I don’t pine.”

“Bro, you pine,” Raph deadpanned from the couch.

“I’m just saying,” Mikey piped up again, “she hangs out with all of us — even Donnie when he’s in gremlin mode — but whenever you walk in, it’s like she gets hit with a smoke bomb and vanishes.”

Leo stayed silent, jaw tight. He’d noticed, of course. Every time he tried to talk to you, you’d get jumpy or make an excuse to leave. He thought maybe he’d done something wrong, or maybe you didn’t like him like that. But even when you were avoiding him, you looked. He could feel your gaze, warm and lingering on his arms or his legs when you thought he wasn’t paying attention.

He wanted to believe there was something there. But whatever it was… it was buried under a whole mess of awkwardness and confusion.

And he was done dancing around it.

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You were in your usual hideout on the rooftop of your apartment, curled up with a sketchbook in hand. The cool breeze rustled the pages as you tried to distract yourself with doodles — anything to keep your brain from replaying the way Leo had smiled at you earlier that day, those glowing red stripes flexing against his biceps as he stretched.

God. Why did he have to be so cool?

“Hey.”

You nearly screamed.

Your sketchbook flew up as you jolted around, eyes wide. Leo stood at the edge of the rooftop, arms folded, his face unreadable.

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding entirely sorry as he stepped closer. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

You tried not to panic. “H-Hey, Leo. What… what are you doing here?”

“You’ve been dodging me,” he said bluntly. “And I wanna know why.”

Your stomach dropped. Your throat suddenly felt dry. “W-What? No, I haven’t—”

“Yes, you have,” he interrupted, his tone sharper than he intended. “Every time I walk into a room, you leave. You barely talk to me anymore unless it’s about a mission. What the shell did I do?”