storm || r. hamato

Part 9

You and Raph remain in the embrace for a few more seconds before the turtle releases you from his grasp.

You look up to him once again. "I..." You pause, thinking more deeply on what you wanted to say. After a brief moment of silence, you figure it out. "I don't care if you're sorry. I need you to prove it. No more going back and forth with what you tell me. I can't take it, no heart can take it. I can't sit here and listen to you calling me a burden while you also try to comfort me. I can't do that. That shit hurts, Raphael."

He nods. He wanted to apologize more, but he couldn't. Raph was left speechless. He continuously opens and closes his mouth in attempts to say something in response but he continues to fail. He wanted to be mad because he didn't quite know what he was doing wrong. A turtle gets angry and says some things. You just gotta move on from it, right? Why stay stuck on the words when you know they aren't filled with meaning? It didn't make sense to him.

You sigh. "Say what you mean 'n mean what you say." Those were the words you left with him before returning back to the dojo. Raphael remains in his spot completely speechless still. All of his questions remained in his head.

Master splinter caught you watching the training intently. He pauses Leonardo's exercise and says, "(Y/n), care to join?"

You smile, nod and walk over to the two leaders.

Raphael watches as you train with the leaders. This fills him with envy. 'Now that I think about it, why doesn't she train with me as much as them?' Raphael asks himself. Maybe it was because he was too abrasive with her in recent days. There would be no other reason; there can't be any other reason. It was at this moment that Raphael had realized how horrible he had been to you. He had no reason no matter how hard he dug for one. It was just who he was. 'But that doesn't make what I did to her right.' He points out to himself. "I'll make it up to you somehow." He says to himself as he walks away from the dojo.

———

The days passing turned into weeks. Everybody was rather calm. There would be moments where the turtles came home from patrols injured, but it was never horrible.

You kept your distance from the clad turtle, but he did try to initiate a few conversations a day. It was obvious to you that he was trying to gain your trust, but it was definitely going to take a lot more than a few conversations to do that. You took into consideration that he was trying though, so you didn't give him a cold shoulder when the two of you talked.

———

You lie on your bed silently. Ugh, I really don't feel good. You think to yourself. You were curled in a fetal position, clutching onto your stomach in pain. You were dizzy and extremely nauseous.

Maybe I'm just hungry. You try to convince yourself. Slowly, you stand to your feet. You quickly lose your balance and collapse to the floor with a loud thud, rather than landing on your bed.