it's you i like! (jonatello)

starting over

casey left donnie's lab without another word. he sat on his bed in shock. really, he didn't know how to react. suddenly, everything he thought he knew about april and casey was completely irrelevant.

donnie went back out into the living room where he assumed casey had gone, but he wasn't there.

"raph, where's casey?"

"he just went home, why?"

instead of answering, he left the lair and went to the surface. donnie knew the directions to casey's apartment from there. he needed to talk to him. casey couldn't just say that and leave.

he approached the window to casey's bedroom and peered inside, only to find it very much lacking in humans. he was about to turn away in disappointment, but he heard the door crash open followed by a very bruised and beaten casey jones being thrown into it. a man whom donnie assumed was casey's father screamed something incomprehensible after him and slammed the door shut, locking it from the outside.

donnie watched in horror and sorrow as casey sat still on the ground, curled up like a sulking child. he could hear the muffled tears through the window, and it shocked him to see casey in such a terrible state.

he knocked gently on the window. casey's soul nearly left his body at the sudden noise. but he got up anyways and opened the window slightly.

"dude, what are you doing here?" casey hissed through tears.

"i only came because i wanted to talk, but i just saw what happened and i wanna make sure you're okay." donnie responded softly. casey's gaze dropped for a few seconds, then he opened the window a bit more and crawled through it.

casey and donnie sat together on the rooftop of casey's apartment building.

"your father won't be mad about you being out here?" donnie asked.

"that's my stepdad. and no," he replied. "he doesn't ever check where i am. not like he cares, anyway."

"oh. i'm sorry." donnie said softly.

"it's not your fault."

"y'know, you can stay with us for as long as you'd like." he told casey after a minute of silence from the two.

casey smiled. "thanks."

"you want me to take you home and get your wounds patched?" donnie offered. casey shook his head frantically.

"no, no. i can't let anybody else see me like this."

"it's okay." donnie assured him. "i know a shortcut directly from the surface to my lab. nobody needs to see you."

the two took donnie's shortcut, and the terrapin sat casey down on the bed and carefully examined his face.

"you've got quite a bit of bruising on the left side," donnie told him. "hold on. this is gonna sting."

he carefully stuck a hydrogen peroxide-soaked piece of gauze tape over a patch of cuts on casey's cheek. he felt the black-haired boy wince in pain but quickly settle.

"have you got any wounds on anywhere else?" donnie asked him.

he nodded softly. "a lot on my torso." casey took off his black t-shirt and allowed donnie to see.

"oh my god.." donnie gasped. casey was covered in bruises and scars. "i can already see you've got a few broken ribs."

donnie pulled over the x-ray equipment. after he ran it, casey and him looked through the images together (after casey had put his shirt back on). he had two broken ribs, but nothing quite deadly. a relief, since they could have come close to puncturing his lungs.

"you need to stay here with me for a few days while you heal." donnie said. there was no way in hell he would allow casey to go back to that place in this condition. or in any condition, for that matter.

"okay. i will." casey nodded softly.

"and no casey-jonesing any kraang faces until then!" donnie said, only half-joking.

casey laughed, but it was different. donnie had always suspected that his laugh was fake most days, or at least insincere. but this time it was like he was really happy, really feeling joy. donnie smiled. he loved seeing casey in a good place emotionally, and he didn't see his rival anymore.

he saw his lifelong best friend.

time skip: two hours later

donnie and casey sat together on donnie's bed, quietly reading through cringey Y/N stories on knockoff Wattpad sites.

"i pull my wispy blonde hair away from my blue orbs into a messy bun," casey read in a melodramatic voice.

"orbs?" donnie interrupted. "the fuck is this, avatar?" which earned him an explosion of giggling from casey.

"what's going on in here?" raph busted into the lab angrily. "it's the middle of the goddamn night!"

donnie looked at the time and realized that he and casey had been sitting together for no less than two hours.

"sorry raph!" donnie whispered.

"you better be.." raph muttered as he walked groggily back to his room.

after this occurence, the two teens had just been sitting there without donnie's laptop because they didn't want to get in worse trouble.

"s-so, casey..." he whispered.

"yeah?"

"uhm, yknow, i had just been wondering... do you really like me?"

"yeah, why?"

"oh, no i'm sorry, it's just, i- WAIT WHAT-"

he was cut off by casey holding his hand over donnie's mouth.

"dude, shut up!" casey hissed. "you're gonna wake everyone, and master splinter won't be happy with you!"

"sorry." he apologized when casey took his hand off. "but.. the only reason i came to your house in the first place was 'cause i wanted to talk to you about that.."

"well, go ahead."

"i guess i was just really tired of fighting over april with you. i really like being your friend, but we could never have had that if either of us were with her. she was tearing us apart, really. so, what i was going to say was, i think it would really just be better if we stopped hanging out with her? i mean, at least until-" donnie was cut off mid-sentence once again. it took him a minute to realize he had been, then another to realize why.

casey had gone and kissed him.
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A/N: sorry for not updating in a while. i have been really sick lately and my body has not been giving me very much time to work on these, so i apologize! i'll try to keep up as best i can, but do be patient if you can!