Work Text:
Tap, tap, tap.
It wasn’t exactly summer, but it wasn’t quite winter either. For all Mikey knew, he could be on another planet.
Rain pattered against the windows as Mikey tapped his eraser against his paper, staring at the unsolved problems on it.
Math.. Wasn’t his strong suit. That was Donnie’s thing. Along with science, and history, and english.. Donnie was just good at everything. Well, educationally. Emotionally, not so much.
Normally the rain would cheer him up a little. He’d be able to run outside and jump around in puddles and do whatever he wanted. But now, it only served to make his mood even worse.
Zero down, twenty-three more problems to go.
It wasn’t his fault! His teacher was busy with other kids, and he didn’t want to interrupt to ask for help, so he’d just stuck it out until the end of class and sprinted out of the room.
Taking two math classes was the worst idea he’d ever agreed to.
His phone buzzed on his bed, facedown in the sheets. He barely spared it a glance, knowing full well it was likely Renet yelling about the same homework he was trying to do now.
At first glance, the paper didn’t seem to hard. Not if you barely looked at it. But Mikey had been sitting in front of it for almost three hours now. It wasn’t as easy as it looked.
He chewed his lip, glancing between his alarm clock and the paper. It was almost six. They were gonna have to order in. He was supposed to be downstairs an hour ago helping Leo and Splinter with whatever they had wanted to try. Sucks.
The paper wasn’t going to finish itself, so he resigned to staring at it again, scribbling the equation down three times to fill up space.
The rain continued to fall, picking up speed as he tapped his paper idly. It just didn’t sound as peaceful as it used to.
The numbers jumbled in front of his eyes as the rain became louder and much more prominent. Frustrated tears began to well up as he groaned and swiped the paper off his desk, knocking his pencil off with it. They landed on the ground a foot or so away and he dropped his head into the crook of his elbow.
Math wasn’t always this hard. And it’s not like he was in honors. He was in an average class. But nobody else seemed to have been struggling so much!
He stood and swept both his algebra and geometry textbooks off the desk. They hit the floor with a dull thud. He winced. Too loud.
As if on cue, the sound of footsteps hurrying up the stairs reached his ears and he turned, cramming himself into his closet and shutting the door.
He heard his bedroom door click open. The closet was pitch black. He held his breath and hoped nothing fell on him. It was a bit of a mess.
“Mikey?”
Ah, shit, there was Leo.
Pressed against his box of old stuffed animals and buried behind sweatshirts and coats, Mikey didn’t breathe.
The bedroom door creaked as Leo pushed it open and the footsteps fell further and further into his room. “Mikey.” His brother sounded less and less amused.
He was quiet for a full twenty seconds before he sighed. “In here.” He squeaked, burying his face in his hoodie.
The footsteps paused in front of the closet and the door in front of him slid to the other side, leaving him defenseless.
Leo stood in the entrance, wearing his own blue hoodie and sweatpants, as he crouched down to push the sweatshirts out of the way to see him. “Hey.” He said gently. “What’s wrong, Mike?”
“Nothing!” He snapped, burying himself further into his own hoodie.
“You’re in the closet, underneath all of your clothing. So yeah , I think something’s wrong.”
He scowled. “It’s stupid.” He insisted.
“Try me.” Leo said smoothly.
Jerk.
He yanked his hood over his ears and closes his eyes. “I don’t.. understand.. math..” He mumbled, red staining his cheeks, ears burning.
To his credit, Leo didn't laugh. “Why don’t you ask Donnie for help?” He asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.
“NO!” Mikey’s eyes snapped open as he scrambled to catch hold of Leo’s arm. “Don’t tell Donnie!” He insisted wildly.
Leo lifted his free arm in surrender, keeping his other arm still. “Fine. Why not?”
“Because I always go to him for help! He’s probably annoyed! I don’t wanna keep going back to him whenever I can’t do stuff!” He could feel the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes again.
His older brother opened his mouth and then closed it again before shifting into a more comfortable sitting position in front of him. “Mikey, that’s fine.” He said gently. “You don’t have to ask Donnie if you don’t want to. But you can’t sit here until you’re crying about it either.”
Mikey shook his head wildly.
Leo shifted to his feet, reaching out with one hand. “Come on. The floor can’t be that comfortable.” He smiled.
He hesitated for a second before reaching out, gingerly taking Leo’s outstretched hand. His brother hauled him to his feet and out of the closet with ease and sat them both on the bed.
The bed dipped under their combined weight as Mikey rubbed furiously at his eyes to stop the tears from flooding. Leo didn’t say anything, just hummed as he wrapped his arm around Mikey’s shoulders.
It was quiet, apart from Mikey’s occasional sniffle.
“This isn’t just about math.” Leo said, perceptive as ever. It was getting fucking annoying.
Because no, it wasn’t just about math. It was about everything and nothing all at once. It wasn’t something he knew how to put into words.
It was stressing over MCAS, and losing sleep to finish homework he didn’t understand. Getting up at ass-o’clock in the morning to go to school in negative degrees without a jacket. It was knowing Raph and Donnie were this close to graduating and never coming back, being left alone in high school. It was finding himself drifting further and further away from all his friends.
The thought brought a wave of pain cascading down on him and the tears that had stopped momentarily kicked back into full effect and he sobbed.
Leo didn’t say anything when Mikey buried his face in his shoulder. Just curled his arm a bit tighter.
The lights flickered.
The rain kept falling.