The Bravery in his Eyes - A TMNT Leo X Reader Story

Chapter 50 - One Year Later

Leo's POV

I didn't let Y/N out of my sight once. She switched her classes to go online when she didn't feel safe enough to be on campus, and she worked limited hours at the pizza shop. I was always around to keep watch of the area, just in case. We ended up making the shop our parole meeting area so she didn't feel alone.

But when she was at the lair with us, we were inseparable. I constantly held her hand or had an arm around her, and she was always leaning against my chest or shoulder. We shared my room at night and cuddled until morning, always respecting each other's boundaries. I would never admit it to her, but I was always afraid that I would wake up one day and she wouldn't be there anymore. But every morning, we woke up together.

It looked like Shredder was actually dead this time. We noticed Karai and the rest of his stupid henchmen pack up their things from his lair in the city and leave one day, just like that. Donnie placed a tracker on one of their moving vans and saw it stop in Michigan, much farther away than we thought they'd go. Some roach cameras picked up Bebop and Fishface playing Just Dance at their new place, so we assumed everything was good with them. It never hurt to keep the tracker on, though.

Y/N and I were watching a movie with the guys in the living room, her head resting against my shoulder and eyelids fluttering closed. I placed a gentle, featherlight kiss on her temple and sighed. We really made it past everything. She was alive and well, my family wasn't in mortal danger like always. Her being there next to me was my paradise. I couldn't believe this was real.

"You good, bro?" Raph asked from across the couch.

I nodded. "Yeah."

He glanced at Y/N, sleeping against me, and smiled. "She really loves you. You got lucky."

"I did. I really did."

My heart felt this connection to her, one I couldn't shake. I knew I was meant to be with her for the rest of my life. She was everything to me, my whole world.

A year passed. We were living comfortably together, the guys stayed as goofy as ever, and Splinter was happy to see that we were happy. The city had gotten quiet after Shredder was actually gone this time, so I found myself sitting on a rooftop looking over the entire city skyline a lot, just to think. I looked down at the flower crown I was making in my hands and smiled. It was just like the one I'd made for Y/N when we were first getting to know each other. I was a real wuss when it came to talking to her back then. But I'd grown up since then.

Well, maybe. Kind of. Can't forget Space Heroes.

I wished I could do more than a flower crown, though. It was one of at least twenty I'd made for her over the year, and I wanted to do something special. I'd been doing some work for a dumpster company without her or my brothers knowing on some nights, where I'd clear out their walkways of the debris and trash without them seeing me and they'd leave me cash in an envelope under a brick in the back the next night. It was a sort of unspoken agreement. Maybe they thought I was a broke college kid who needed the work, but I didn't care. It was a way for me to make a little bit of money.

I took out the growing envelope I kept everything in and counted the bills, hoping I had enough for what I wanted to get her. It just might be enough.

Your POV

I was always busy with online school. There were so many papers to write, textbooks to read, tests to take. I managed to get everything done eventually, at least when Mikey wasn't begging me to play video games with him or Leo wasn't being his distracting yet handsome self. I couldn't count the number of times he got me away from the computer to hang out with him. But I think everyone was trying to get me to take a break. I was so busy between school and work.