I See Through You

Chapter 16.

Leo and I have been a couple for a few days now and things are great between us. Now as for me and his brothers *cough* Raph *cough* things aren't like that very much.

At least that's what I thought until today. I got to the lair by myself, which I've been training to do for a while, and I finally managed it.

"What the-- Val?! What are you doing here?" I heard Donnie asking.

"Oh, hey, Donnie. I just decided to stop by and check on Leo." I said, and for some reason he chuckled.

"Guess Leo really is lucky to have you." He said on a sad tone, which made me frown.

"Why do you say that so sadly?"

"Look, don't get me wrong, but... Can you blame me for feeling a bit of envy of Leo? I mean, we are mutant turtles, Val. We can't go to school, movies, malls, streets without anyone freaking out. Still, Leo manages to find himself an awesome girl like you to love him, while the rest of us don't have anyone like that. I'm happy for both of you, I really am. But I can't help but wonder how long it will take for me to find someone for me?"

I could hear the sadness in his voice. So I let out a sigh and spoke up. "Well, I may not be one to talk, but... I waited my whole life to meet Leo, and I can tell it's the other way around. Maybe you haven't found anyone yet because she hasn't found you. Like my grandma used to say, true love waits. So you need to be patient, Donnie. Your true love will show up eventually. Just don't lose hope. Okay?"

After a few moments of silent, he touched my shoulder. "Can I... Hug you?"

I giggled, then nodded. After that, he hugged me in a kind of embrace that felt like whenever me and one of my cousins hugged. At least the ones that I considered as my brothers in heart.

After a bit, he pulled back. "Thanks, Val. Leo really is lucky to have you."

"And soon enough you'll be the lucky one to have someone for you too. Just don't get envy nor jealous of your brothers if they find their someone before you."

He laughed. "Copy that. Want me to take you to where Leo is?"

"Is he meditating?"

"Yeah."

"Then, no, thanks. I don't want to bother him."

Just then...

"Great, 'cause I wanna talk with ya." I heard someone say from my back, and from the voice, I was sure it was Raph.

"Okay. Right here?" I asked.

"Nah." He sais before he grabbed my hand. "Over here."

After a bit of confused steps, he stopped and let go of me. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Look, I know you and Leo are happy together, and I'm honestly glad for that. But if you ever think about hurting him, I swear I'm gonna--"

"What makes you think I'll hurt him?" I asked as I frowned.

"I don't trust humans."

"Oh, you don't trust humans or you don't trust me? For God's sake, Raph. Why would I ever hurt the guy I love? I don't know if you know it or not since you always manage to hurt Mikey's feelings, but you don't hurt the people you love! Even with that temper of yours!"

I heard him starting to take a deep breath so he could talk, but I cut him short.

"Don't you go telling me to keep Mikey out of this. He's the one out of you four who most shows off his emotions, and you just let your angry side show, at least most of the times. How do you think that makes him feel? Besides, I don't know what's your problem with me, but I will never, EVER, hurt Leo. Because I love him. And I hope that if you don't trust me, you trust him." I said before trying to get out of the kitchen, but he grabbed my arm and kept me in my place.

"What now?" I asked.

"I... *Sigh* Sorry..." My eyed widened with his words. But he kept speaking.

"It's just... *Sigh* I know how much you mean to Leo, alright? All Mikey has to do is to say your name and he breaks off into an idiot smile. But I had to make sure you wouldn't hurt him."

"Because he's family. And you don't want to see him getting hurt, right?"

"Right."

I smiled. "Don't worry. No harm will come to him from me. That I can assure you. Also, I won't tell him nor Mikey about this conversation we just had. Okay?"

He let go of me. "*Scoff* 'Kay." He said before he ruffled my hair. "See ya 'round, kiddo." He said before he got out of the kitchen.

Not too long after that, I heard someone else getting in the kitchen.

"Val! Are you okay? I heard you and Raph shouting. What happened? What did he do to you? I swear, if he did anything that hurted you, I'm gonna--" Yep. It was Leo. And just to make him shut up, I managed to grab his plastron and pull him into a kiss. He got stiff for a bit, but he soon enough kissed me back.

When we pulled back, we leaned our foreheads on each other's. "Don't worry. He was just playing his role as a brother, that's all."

"Really?"

"Really."

"He didn't hurt you?"

"Nope."

He let out a relieved sigh before hugging me tight. "I'm glad. You mean so much to me, I don't know what I'd do if something bad happened to you again."

"I'm glad. But if you ever fight your brothers because of me, you can bet I won't talk with you for at least a month."

There was this dense silent moment before we both bursted out of laughter. "I meant it, tough. I don't want you fighting your brothers because of me."

"Alright. I promise I won't."

"That's my Leo."