Chapter Text
April O’Neil was something else, she’s been in your class every year since you were little, and without fail, every year she always perplexed you. She always seemed to be talking to herself or sneaking off to who knows where during school hours. It was almost like as soon as she got a seemingly frantic call on her phone she was gone before you could process what had happened. One minute she was at her desk next to you and the next second she wasn’t. She was weird that’s for sure but you didn’t mind, you had no problem with weirdness.
You had thought she’d go to a big-time college her grades were always above average and her writing was phenomenal she had all the potential to make it big. Yet, here she was sitting in your sophomore college chemistry course right in front of you. Although she had always been in your classes you didn’t know her personally, in fact, you were pretty sure she didn’t know you existed. You were primarily quiet during school, keeping to yourself meant keeping out of trouble and your parents always said that you were a magnet for it. But Chemistry was the one course you just couldn’t keep to yourself in, between reaction experiments and your knack for balancing equations you were always pretty vocal. Answering questions the professor would propose and spout off your own theories that left a pleasant buzz in your chest after a correct answer. It was your guilty pleasure, as a creative writing major you didn’t exactly need to take level 100 chemistry but the opportunity was too good to pass up.
So that’s how you found yourself sitting behind April and her friend, continuously getting distracted by their ‘quiet’ whispering. The man beside April had joined her in class a few times before, usually leaving halfway through the lecture in a rush and always wearing the same purple hoodie and mask. It seemed today he decided to stick around much to your (and seemingly April’s) displeasure. You could pick up bits and pieces of what they were saying,
“April come on it’s just this last one I promise.”
“Donnie you know I can’t get caught sneaking you into classes again.” April hissed back, trying to keep her voice a low whisper, “last time you were caught I almost got kicked out of school! That’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
“It’s just this last time, please Professor Eisenhower was just getting to the good part of his theory about astrophysics when I was caught last time. Plus need I so helpfully remind you that if you didn’t rat me out I wouldn’t have gotten caught in the first place.” He argued back, waving his hands around…did this dude have three fingers?
“My fault?! Oh boy, I know you did not just blame me. We were taking attendance and you weren’t on the roster! What did you think was gonna happen?”
“What college course takes attendance anyway,”
“Most of them Donatello! Most of them!”
“Excuse me.” You finally decided you had just enough of the lover's quarrel going on in front of you and you not so graciously stuck your head in between the two of them. The purple man, Donnie, reeled back at the intrusion of your head and April flushed seeing you look directly at her. “Sorry for intruding April but I’m trying to pay attention so I can ace this next test, can you and your boyfriend argue outside-” Donnie made a strangled sound in the back of his throat and April’s jaw dropped open before snapping closed.
“Not her boyfriend FYI. She wishes, she’s like my sister. Alas, my love belongs to another and-” The man stated holding his finger up in the air, you glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow, a frown on your lips. “Er…I mean my apologies. Even though it was mostly April’s fault.” April clicked her tongue in distaste before smiling at you sheepishly,
“I’m so sorry (Y/n)!”
Oh…she knew your name…that was surprising.
“It’s…alright.” It was your turn to flush, maybe it was an overreaction you were never too good at judging these types of scenarios. “Just keep it down please, balancing chemical equations is my favorite part.” You said in a softer tone, heat creeping up the back of your neck,
“Of course, I get it sorry again. Er…very weird segway…could you be my tutor?”
“Huh?” Both you and the purple boy blinked in surprise, you reeled back a little and April turned to face you with a shy smile. Purple looked almost aghast and insulted at the notion,
“Oh come on girl, I think everyone knows you have the highest grade in the class. What do you have like an 85 or something?”
God. Oh GOD, this was mortifying do you correct her?
“Scoff,” you know he didn’t just say scoff out loud, “An 85 isn’t that impressive April,” Donnie argued back “I could tutor you and boost your grade in a matter of seconds.” He snapped his fingers, you frowned at his oversized ego.
“You hate Chemistry Don.” April huffed, “also maybe there’s a reason I didn’t ask you ever think of that-”
“I have a 98% actually.” You blurted picking at the skin of your fingers, a nasty habit you really needed to break, once more you seemed to leave the pair speechless.
“Oh.” Donnie squeaked, and April nailed him in the arm letting out a laugh,
“Yeah oh. Holy shit you’re a genius, Is this your major or something?”
“Er no. I’m a creative writing major.”
“What! With a grade like that, you should be majoring in this field!”
“Donnie enough.” April scoffed with an eye roll, “Not everyone wants to be an ultra nerd like you.” You covered your mouth to stifle a laugh and April’s eyes were shining, “You know I think this will be the start of a beautiful partnership and or potentially maybe friendship.” She said that last part rather fast and the look she gave you was devastatingly hopeful. Did…Did she not have other friends?
“Yes!” You blurted rather fast, “Yes I’d love to be your friend.”
“Oh, hells yeah!” April shouted throwing a fist into the air before the gruff voice of your professor cut through the air like a knife.
“O’Neil, (l/n) and friend would you kindly keep it down or leave the class? Some of us are trying to learn.”
“So sorry,” You squeaked, “Won’t happen again!” He nodded at you specifically before turning back to the board, you glanced back at April who was wiggling her phone out in front of you. With a smile you input your contact information, April looked like she wanted to kiss the phone out of delight.
“What about you?”
“Eh?”
“What’s your number?”
“Me?” Donnie asked looking around,
“Well duh.” You laughed fondly, “you’re the only one here dummy.”
“Not a dummy.” He said rather pointedly but took your phone from you, hesitating for a brief moment before inputting his information. April’s smile only seemed to grow in size nudging Donatello slightly and he muttered something under his breath. Once you got your phone back you almost laughed aloud, for some unknown reason he input his contact name as Bootyyyshaker9000. You texted him a brief hello, and he input what you assumed was your name although he didn’t let you see what he decided your contact name to be.
What a bizarre day…
—
Your apartment wasn’t too far from campus, about a twenty-minute walk which doesn’t sound so bad objectively, but when you throw in the fact that your last class ends around seven at night and it’s not in the safest part of town, it’s a bit of a problem. But you had your pepper spray and you always had your roommate's numbers on stand-by if you ran into a problem. They always insisted you call if you were worried about walking home but you never did for fear of bothering them. Plus you were a big girl, you could handle yourself…mostly. You’ve been friends with most of your roommates since before college, Blux was the youngest out of your roommates, just a freshman art major but she was ready to fight tooth and nail for any of the girls you lived with. In two words you’d describe her as small but scrappy. Then there was Ari, she was your age and the literal definition of a mom friend™.
Remember when earlier it was mentioned you were kind of a magnet for trouble well that’s about to come into play while you daydreamed about your girls.
Hot air tickled the back of your neck, causing you to snap out of your daydream and a large hand clasped around your mouth as you were pulled back into an alley. This was it. You were so going to die. Your hands instinctively reached up to claw at the hand around your mouth, the grip tightened as your fingers dug into the hand.
Three Fingers.
“Ow! It’s me!”
“Hm-ie?” You tried your best to speak with his hand muffling you, you tried to look up to get a good look at his features but it was too dark.
“Okay, I know how this looks but you totally just walked into a shit load of trouble-”
“Donnie we could really use your help out here man!” Another voice you didn’t recognize screeched as what looked to be a blue flash came from the entrance of the alleyway. “Like NOW broski!”
“Don’t call me that!” Donnie shouted back as he cursed under his breath, “Look just stay here until this blows over. I’ll…I’ll send you a single when it’s good to leave. Promise me.” He slowly peeled his hand away, another flash of blue and you swore you could see green skin.
“Promise.” You murmured, and you heard a breath of relief,
“Close your eyes and hide.” You listened to him, another breath and you felt the air stir beside you then stop, “Hey!-” You had grabbed onto his wrist and he tensed under your hold,
“Please be careful.” The concern in your voice was sickeningly sweet, dripping with pure genuine worry, you could feel him shudder in your grasp.
“Scoff.” An embarrassed, high-pitch laugh came from his mouth, “No need to worry about me I got my tech on my side and all.”
“Tech?”
“Oh yeah, I’m kind of a technological genius. I’ll show you sometime.” You could hear the pride in his voice,
“I’d love that.”
Another startlingly genuine statement that had him gaping and floundering for words, or that’s what you assumed by the empty sounds he was making. Should you be stroking his ego? Probably not, but hey when he was about to save your life you figured he could use the boost.
“Kay!” He squeaked his voice cracking slightly, “Anyway got to go look out for the signal.” He pulled his arm out of your grip and he was gone, you cracked your eyes open as soon as you heard the voice from before and let out an exasperated,
“About time!”
You weren’t sure how long you waited by the trash piles but it felt like forever, it seemed like you weren’t any closer to seeing Donatello’s signal and it was abundantly clear that whoever they were fighting wasn’t too keen on giving in. You glanced up at the apartments eternally wondering how no one in those rooms was waking up to see the ruckus outside their homes. Your breath was stolen from you suddenly as a hard, heavy body crashes into you. It sent the both of you tumbling head-first into a pile of trash, with only a grunt the body looks up at you. It’s a turtle. It’s a giant turtle with a blue bandana around his eyes and red markings peaking our from beneath it.
“Heh, guess you could say I really fell for you.” He winked up at you, his cheeks a deep dark green.
That voice was the same one trying so desperately to get Donatello’s attention from earlier, but you found yourself laughing. You were unsure if it was in disbelief that a giant turtle was speaking to you or if the fact that his man told a killer pun in an effort to flirt with you.
“Guess you did.” You shot reaching forward and tapping your fingers against his cheeks in awe, he's a Red-Eared Slider. His cheeks glowed a darker green under your touch and you smiled in delight, “thank you for fighting whatever is out there hero.”
“HAH!” The turtle sent you a lazy grin and a wink, “It’s all in a day's work but please, heroes my full name, call me Leonardo, or Leo, or Leon, or ‘Nardo, or preferably the man of your dreams.” He churred, hearing you laugh once more, the turtle’s eyes were basically little hearts. Leo reached up with three fingers and tapped against your cheek in response.
Three fingers. Wait did this mean Donatello was a turtle too?
“Leon, did you get knocked out?” Another voice this one a little bit higher pitched, a little more stressed with concern,
“Coming Mikey!” He hopped off of you quickly, not before holding out his hand, you took it and he lifted you to your feet. “I got to go, but may I get your name princesa?” His eyes were hopeful,
“(Y/n).”
“Until next time then.” He took your hand within his own and pressed a soft kiss to your knuckles, looking at you and sending a wink your way. You flushed red,
“You sure are confident we’ll meet again.”
“It’s not every day you see a pretty face like yours-”
“Some time today LEO!” Another voice, this one much gruffer,
He grumbled under his breath before he pulled out a katana, he swirled it around a couple of times and an electric blue portal opened up. He sent one last wink your way before fully stepping through, you caught sight briefly of the battle a purple bandana-wearing turtle caught your eye and staff held tight in his hand. That was Donnie, you were sure of it, and all at once the portal closed and everything was gone. You were once more alone in the alleyway, maybe about twenty minutes later you noticed the same staff you saw Donnie holding earlier wiggle in front of the entrance. You walked towards it quickly before hearing a strangled,
“Halt.” Right before you stepped into the streetlights, “I-...” He cleared his throat, “my brothers are headed back will you be able to get home okay?”
“Donatello?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re a turtle right?”
“Hahaha! I laugh at the notion!” You raised a brow, his laugh was tense and wheezy, “Scoff I’m very much a normal human man who attends school.”
“But your brother is a turtle?”
“No your eyes are just bad, you’re hallucinating. Probably shock, yeah absolutely shock. You’re experiencing classic symptoms of shock-” He squeaked as you burst from the alleyway he held his staff close to his chest eyebrows raised into his forehead. “Alright. Okay fine. Maybe I’m a turtle-”
“That’s so cool!”
—
He gaped a little at your twinkling eyes, oh he was in trouble, with you looking at him like that. You looked at him not like he was the freak mutant that he was, but as the coolest person on the street, because that’s how he looked at Atomic Lass the first time he saw her on TV. You thought he was cool, him, not his brothers, him. He wanted to drown in that feeling, he liked feeling wanted. You were stroking his ego more than he’d ever like to admit, not to his brothers and certainly not to you. Donnie now understood why Leo came out of that alley all smiley and goofy he had run into you and you must’ve looked at him like that. Hot jealousy burned through his skin at the idea that once again his twin, seemed to beat him at something. “T-thank you.” He cleared his throat, placing a masked cocky smile on his face, desperately hoping it covered how flustered you really made him. “Will you be able to make it home from here alright?” He asked classic Donnie redirect.
“Yeah I only live a few minutes down the road,” He watched you grip tighter on your backpack, “So long as you think there won’t be any more danger I should be okay.” You held up two thumbs up, but your eyes gave you away. He thinks, that if Mikey were here instead of him, he’d catch the worry in them, take your hand and offer to walk you home.
But Donatello wasn’t, and will never be, Michelangelo.
“Good. I have to get home before my brothers start wondering what’s taking so long. I was able to get them to leave because I started rambling about a new piece of tech I was working on, which I just remembered I promised I’d show you sometime. If you still wanted to, although I get it if this was way too much and you want to just lose my number- WOAH DON’T TOUCH ME!” Donnie shouted unnecessarily loudly, as you reach out to take his hand, you flinched at the level of his voice and he flinched because you flinched. He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck he was also never one to apologize unless someone made him. “I don’t like touch unless I initiate it, it-”
“Is overstimulating?” You spoke shyly, playing with the peeling skin on your fingers, he noticed you did that quite frequently, “I get it no worries. Touch helps me calm down I shouldn’t have assumed it was the same for everybody. Social cues kind of go over my head sometimes.” He watched and gave you a little nod, “I want to hang out with you Donnie and I totally want to see your tech. You have my number just text me okay?”
“Okay.” His grip on his weapon tightened a little more, he watched as you turned on your heel to head back to your living space. “Text me when you get back!” He said it so suddenly it surprised him, he knew he said the right thing to say when you looked back at him and smiled.
“I will Dee!”
Dee…his heart fluttered in his chest, it was a foreign feeling not one he was used to but it wasn’t unwelcomed either. Although it was overwhelming because it seemed as if as soon as you flashed that smile of yours all thoughts of science and tech rushes out of his brain and leaves him mushy and soft.
Now that you were gone and his brain could reboot, it was practically screaming that according to all his calculations, he was absolutely, entirely fucked.