Chapter Text
There was a knock on your window.
You groaned, shoving your head under the blankets. There was another knock. You snorted in your sleep.
Then the knocks turned into a loud banging.
"Shut up!" you shouted, throwing your pillow at the window. There was a startled shout and then the sound of something falling into a dumpster.
That's when you decided to get up. You slowly slid out of bed, yawning loudly.
There was the sound of a fist slamming on the glass of your window.
Who needed an alarm clock when you had a pissed off turtle to wake you every morning?
You walked over to the window and opened it. Your turtle friend scrambled inside, snarling angrily.
You plucked the banana peel off his head and threw it out the window and back into the dumpster.
"I see you woke up on the wrong side of the bed." You grinned to yourself. You lived only to piss him off. Donnie growled, barging into your bathroom and slamming the door shut. The shower turned on moments later.
You put on a random set of clothes and got ready in the bathroom when Donnie eventually slinked out.
Donnie put on one of your hoodies and grabbed the backpack he kept in your closet.
"Ready?" you asked him, already excited for the adrenaline rush of—
"I'm not running today." He had sensed your excitement and decided to squash it.
"What?!" You grabbed his shoulder, ignoring his grimace at the unwanted touch. "Come on, we always run!"
His eyes slid to the side. "I'm not in the mood."
"Uh, okay." You let your hand drop off his shoulder. "Lame."
"Scoff."
You led him out of your house and the whole way to school, neither of you wanting to make conversation. It was too early and you both spoke too often anyways.
But before you got to first period, you wanted to tell him something.
"So, you're really going to be joining the school play...?" Your tone gave your opinion away but you didn't care. "Donnie, you're a turtle and—"
"And what? I'll be in costume."
"Listen, Donnie." You stopped him with a hand on his arm. He looked back at you. "I don't know how to say this but..."
"Then don't say it," he said stubbornly, eyebrows furrowing. "I don't care and I know you're not just talking about my appearance. I am joining the drama club. It is my passion."
You sighed as he brushed your hand off of him harshly. "Just don't come crying to me when it happens."
"I don't cry." Donnie huffed, crossing his arms. You frowned at him and opened the door for him. He stalked into the room and you followed in after him.
Math class was your first period because of course your counselor would screw your life over like this. Your worst subject being right when you were still asleep was definitely a deliberate move by him.
"Pop quiz," the teacher said as soon as the bell rung, evoking groans from the entire class. You could almost imagine her with horns on the top of her head and a forked tongue.
"Maybe you can finally check off another item on your list." Donnie smirked, watching you pout and roll your eyes.
Sometimes you liked to pretend that he was already your boyfriend and that you were not on a mission to make your 50% boyfriend become your 100% boyfriend. But he always broke your daydreams when he said stuff like that.
For the past few months, you had worked tirelessly to complete the endless list he had made for you. You took him on dates, learned all his favorite things like he wanted you to (which you would've regardless, dating him or not), and tried to experience each other's lives for day. It had went horribly. You lost a tooth from it.
There was also a minimum time you two had to spend with together while 'not dating.' He never specified how long it would be and always dodged your questions when you asked. You two spent lots of time together, so you weren't too worried about it anyways.
He even joined you at school, despite obvious concerns from his brothers and you.
You didn't want to tell him straight up that it was better he didn't come. You kept saying it, but never to his face. Everyone should have the right to come to school and have the opportunity to learn or whatever Donnie or Raph or a founding father would say, but somehow people just knew he did not belong there.
Especially when he was forced to interact with people he probably wouldn't have normally. Like in gym class today when the coach forced you into bigger teams instead of sticking with a partner like usual.
Donnie wasn't unathletic by any means. He was super fit and muscular, you could almost drool over him sometimes, but he was just super uncoordinated during sport related games.
"Donnie," you caught his attention, the turtle covered in a purple hoodie to conceal his identify, "pass it to me."
He hesitantly bounced the basketball across the floor, but he hadn't done it hard enough. It rolled on the floor, reaching your foot before stopping.
"Why'd you pick him to be on our team?" Some rando threw an arm over your shoulders. You side eyed him harshly, recognizing him after a few moments of staring. "It's embarrassing to even watch him try."
"It's embarrassing to watch you try so hard in gym class because you're always on the bench for your real games," you snapped at him, watching as he crumbled back.
"Since when did you get all touchy?" He slid his arm off your shoulders. "You used to be cooler, man."
You rolled your shoulders, as if you were chasing the feeling of his touch away. You picked up the ball and passed it to some chick in glasses, watching as she also fumbled the ball.
You sighed. You should've taken a different gym class than this one.
Later in the game, when you went to pass to Donnie, you realized he had at some point left. You quickly shoved the ball into the rando's chest and walked out of the gym, ignoring the gym teacher's calls for you.
You walked around the halls, checking every storage closet you came across before you saw a familiar purple blurb outside a window.
You walked out into the courtyard, shivering at the cold breeze that swept by.
"I thought Othello Von Ryan detested skipping class?"
"I guess you're rubbing off on me," Donnie muttered, rolling a rock around with his foot. "Besides, it's just this one I'm skipping."
You frowned, crossing your arms over your chest to try and fend off the cold.
Donnie had come here to share his intelligence with others. He wanted to have sophisticated conversations with others his age and learn. However, high school was not all that he had thought it would be.
The only conversations he enjoyed were with the AP teachers or the few teachers that weren't about to tear their hair out because of the rowdy and horny teenagers surrounding them. Not like you weren't apart of that group though. Ms. Jumio hated you.
Your classmates at this high school did not appreciate Donnie, so he couldn't talk to most of them either. To put it more simply, they didn't like him. At all. He felt off putting to them, so they pretty much ignored him or pushed him away with nasty comments. Whether it was just how he acted or how his skin was literally a shade of green, you still didn't know. It could well be either.
The few friends he had gained here were not smart enough to satisfy Donnie. When Donnie asked for some more intelligent humans to speak to, you had to tell him that the person who had just called him a freak had the highest grade in the class.
Not even your friends, ones with low and somewhat embarrassing grades, welcomed him. Not even after he offered answers to the homework. Not even when he tried to talk just like them or act like them. They always teased you for your weird new friend and asked why you were hanging around some freak that couldn't even juggle a ball if he tried. Which was weird. Most people probably couldn't do that if they didn't practice. Either way, they didn't like him.
"Listen, Donnie," you took in a deep breath, not knowing how he'd take this, "you don't belong here."
His shoulders tensed and he looked away.
"But I don't think you have to leave completely. Just watch from the shadows like you always did. You don't have to sit in a desk and have people know you're there. They'll only bother you that way."
"But... MORP."
"MORP? What?" You rubbed your one eye, tiredly looking around the courtyard.
"It's a dance they're hosting soon. I thought... I could go. To get used to school dances before Prom."
"Nobody goes to MORP, Donnie." You sighed, turning to look at him. "Only the freshman do. Then they realize how horrible it is and leave."
"Do... you not want to go to Prom with me?"
You jolted at the sudden question, watching him turn away from you. You sighed. "Listen, D. You're a turtle. It's Prom. I'll go to Homecoming with you next year. We can just get there late and go into the circle and no one will see us. But Prom is different."
You were lying to him. You two wouldn't be able to go to Homecoming. It was dark, but you still could see. You two could never go, not together.
Donnie sighed, pressing his hands to the front of his hoodie. "I suppose I was just hoping to try and simulate a normal year in high school."
"Well, you're doing pretty well. Getting viciously bullied is apart of the experience. Even I had to go through it in middle school when I wore fake Adidas by accident. Everyone gets bullied, D."
Donnie rolled his eyes before shivering as a memory crossed his mind. "Someone poured lasagna down my hoodie."
"A miracle that it covered up your green head though." You remembered it vividly. You laughing at Donnie gagging at the lunch table. "But that kid wasn't bullying you."
"What? He poured food into my clothing!" Donnie seethed.
"Nah, that's normal teenager behavior. Everyone does that."
Donnie shivered again, swallowing thickly.
"Do you just want to go hang out at the lair?" You brought up suddenly, the boredom making you need to run. "You wanted to show me something, didn't you?"
"But... we still have classes..."
"You'll never have a normal high school experience if you don't skip an entire day at least once."
Donnie looked at you skeptically but he quickly gave in.
You two made your way out of school, ignoring the blaring of the alarm that you two triggered by opening the door without the office's permission.
You two quickly walked, eager to get some distance in case one of the security guards went after you.
It wasn't long until Donnie suddenly bolted. You grinned and ran after him, joyfully following him as he took twists and turns throughout the streets of New York.
You soon lost him, so you slowed down, taking this as a chance to catch your breath.
You stalked down through the alley you were in, silent as you could be. You peeked around the corner, your breathing slowing by a considerable amount when you spotted a familiar turtle looking around warily.
You lunged forward, tackling him to the ground and gripping his shoulders to keep him down flat on his back.
"Ha!" You grinned down at him, all feral. "Guess who won? Me, baby!"
Donnie's feet planted on your chest and pushed you off of him. Your back skidded against the ground before you came to a stop, a good few feet away from him.
You groaned and remained still on the floor.
"You won? You're the one on the ground," he haughtily said, standing over you.
You blinked at him and said nothing.
"Let's go before you have to go to practice." Donnie held his hand out. You grabbed it and he pulled you up.
"We ditched remember? We have hours to waste now."
"I just want to get home," Donnie's tone was urgent. You frowned and followed after him as he had already took off in the direction of their favorite designated manhole.
He lifted the grate out of the way and let you go down first. You two made it the entire way to their home before you two got stopped by Raph.
"Aren't you two supposed to be at school?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips and looking over you two. Donnie smiled nervously and you quickly nudged his side to stop him before he dug you two into a hole.
"Hey, Raph." You stepped forward confidently. "I wasn't feeling good so Donnie brought me here to get me some pills."
Raph's gaze immediately softened and his arms fell from his hips. "Aw, okay. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just nauseous. And you know if I puked, Donnie would've been like ten times worse."
Raph nodded gravely, knowing this to be true. You looked at Donnie, smirking at his annoyed look.
"I'll go wait in your room, bring me some pills, won't you, darling dear?" You patted his arm affectionately, snickering when he whacked your arm away with a hiss.
You quickly walked to his room, collapsing onto his new wider mattress with a groan. You couldn't help but glance at the poster taped to the wall, the one you frequently looked at it. You bit your lip.
It was a replica of Donnie's checklist on everything he wanted you to complete before you were permitted to date, except it was enlarged and had boxes beside them. Some had checkmarks while others didn't.
The bastard even added more items onto the list.
He wanted to go to prom with you but wouldn't be your boyfriend until you walked through hell and back. You scoffed and rolled your eyes halfheartedly.
You planned on completing that list a month ago, but it was taking longer than you thought it would. Donnie also seemed eager for you to complete it, even helping you out more than he intended to at first.
But despite him also wanting you to complete it as much as you did, he didn't want to skip any of them. Not even the "Get an A on a Math Test" one.
You had even went to extreme lengths and bought him a kitten to see if he could be buttered up before you showed him the 89% you had gotten on your math test. It was a mistake your teacher had made, as she had mixed you up with another student, but you planned on showing him it alongside the cat before she could change it. Unfortunately, the cat immediately attacked Splinter and Raph and was banned from the sewers completely.
You had to take it home and despite your dad shouting for an hour and a half, Proto the 'silly kitty' had become a permanent resident at your home. It could've been nice if the cat didn't cough hair balls on you while you slept.
"Get up." A hand prodded you in your waist. You jolted, flipping over onto your back to try and elude Donnie's jabs. "Come on. I have something to show you."
He sat at his desk, pulling his laptop towards him to open it up. You kneeled on the ground next to his desk, leaning your chin on the desk to watch him.
"I wanted to try and see what you are interested in."
"Soccer," you said immediately but he shook his head.
"I mean career wise. I decided to start with things that I'm well versed in so that I can help you if you're interested in them."
"Professional soccer player is a career."
"Be serious. For five minutes." You rose an eyebrow, motioning him on with a hand. "Fine. If you focus for more than a few minutes, I'll increase the limit I have on physical affection for today and tomorrow."
Your eyebrows raised. "Wow, Don. If it weren't for that frown on your face, I would've thought you're in a good mood."
Donnie scowled.
"I don't know. I guess coding looks cool. You do that, right?" As if you didn't know that he codes. That's all he ever did in school when he was done with the busywork they handed out.
Donnie excitedly pulled up a program. "I was hoping you'd say that."
You lazily kneeled there as he set a few things up. Then, to your surprise, he scooted over in his chair and patted the small space next to him. There was no way you were going to fit, but there was also no way you were going to miss an opportunity of Donnie allowing you to sit in his chair. He usually never let anybody sit on it. Not even Mikey was allowed.
You quickly stood up and shoved yourself in between the arm rest and Donnie's side. You both groaned in pain from your elbows jabbing each other as you tried to move into a better position.
"This was... a mistake," Donnie wheezed out painfully when your elbow stabbed his plastron again.
"Ok, so what are we doing?" You decided to pretend that you felt comfy. Donnie rolled his eyes at you.
"You are going to follow the directions on screen and code this picture on the left."
"I'm going to code to draw a picture?" You repeated what he said, eyebrows furrowing. "Why would I do that when I can just do it on a piece of paper?”
"Paper is archaic. Computers are the future."
You sighed. "Alright. Teach me."
"Okay, so it gives you a bunch of options at the top of the screen. You'll drag whatever looks right to wherever you think the right spot is. It's like a puzzle."
You hated puzzles. "This is how you code?"
"...Yes," Donnie shoved your head away when you turned to look at him, "don't look at me, keep your eyes on the computer. You need to pay attention when you code."
"Listen, Donnie, I'm not about to do some kiddy code thing if this is what this is," you huffed, wanting to bite the hand still on your face. "It's demeaning."
"Even if this was a 'kiddy code' simulator, it wouldn't be demeaning. Everyone must start somewhere. But... yes, this is how I code."
Your eyes narrowed at his shaky voice. He was either not liking how you two were pressed so close together or he was lying.
It was super easy and kind of fun when it'd give you a star when you got something right.
"Man, I'm probably better than you by now," you bragged, clicking rapidly on the mouse. Donnie smothered his laughter with a cough.
The success of a new skill being learnt made your mood skyrocket. You were the smartest person alive.
Then Raph walked into the room, grabbed your good mood and mercilessly strangled it.
"Wow, is that the baby program you tried making us do when we were still in our single digits?" Raph asked, nostalgia coating his voice. "Man, do I miss the days when you tried actually teaching us instead of rewiring our brains."
"Baby program?" you echoed, eyebrows furrowing. Donnie made a slice across his throat, staring at poor Raph who didn't catch on.
"Yeah! He couldn't find a program easy enough for us to learn so he stole a program made for elementary schoolers and gave it to us."
"This is for elementary schoolers?" You asked Donnie.
"No. Well, it was originally. But I changed it. Mostly. Some stuff, I changed." A horrible, horrible liar.
Your inspired mood came crashing down. "I'm going to go take a nap."
"Wait." Donnie tried to grab for you but you avoided him.
"Nope, I'm out." You walked past Raph, angry. Donnie wasting your time on a 'baby program' pissed you right off. Why would he start you down so low when you could've started higher? You were smarter than an elementary schooler.
You flopped onto the couch, angrily reaching for the remote and clicking a random show to put on.
"Yo! I didn't know you were back from school already!" Mikey jumped and perched onto the back of the couch, looking down at you with a happy smile.
You mumbled something out.
"Are you watching the Hunger Games? I love the Hunger Games!"
You hummed.
"Um, anyways," Mikey poked your back for your attention, "um... is Donnie okay?"
"Of course he's not okay!" Leo came barging in. You groaned. "He came home with lasagna on him a few days ago and this asshole didn't even beat up the guy who did it."
"He's a nice kid, why would I do anything?"
"Well, maybe you should, I dunno, defend your boyfriend who is getting bullied?" Mikey leaned over more, giving you the stink eye.
"Yeah, I would if he was my boyfriend, but y'know, he's just a friend."
"Maybe if you passed a single math test, I'd be your boyfriend!" Donnie shouted from his room.
"Anyways, he'll be fine. He said he doesn't care, so."
"The funny thing about Donnie is that he says he has no emotions, but in reality he has more emotions than the average turtle walking around here." Leo leaned on the back of the couch beside Mikey.
"Not my problem."
You two used to be friends, but here you were, five seconds into being near each other and already getting into a spat. That's just how it had been lately. He was always on your case and acting paranoid. He jumped at every shadow but whenever you tried to bring it up to his brothers, they changed topics.
You turned away from him, facing the projector.
Leo scoffed and you could hear him walk away.
"Oh, well, um," Mikey stammered. "You... should try."
"He shouldn't even be going there," you told him. "I know I said he should come like a few months ago, but come on. He's a turtle who didn't have any human interaction until he met April who is yet another weirdo. This is going to happen whether I do something about it or not."
"Not my point," Mikey grumbled.
"Stop bothering them," Donnie said when he walked out of his lab and over to the two of you. "If I wanted it to stop, I would've stopped it. You know, by making them disappear without an explanation."
He crawled onto your back and slowly lowered himself down onto you. You grunted and decided to ignore him. You were still angry.
"So, you want to get bullied?" Mikey asked, confused.
"What? No," Donnie muttered. "You don't get it. You'd have to be there to understand."
"I'm taking a nap," you reminded them loudly, "so could we all shush?" You buried your face into your arms, hearing Mikey whisper a sorry and walk away.
Donnie sighed and you could feel his breath against the back of your neck. He laid his head down onto your shoulder, and you knew this was his silent way of apologizing.
Unluckily for you and your stubbornness, the guy had grown on you. Probably because you liked him or whatever. You rolled your eyes at yourself. So what if you kissed the guy every day? You shouldn't be so soft on him.
But you were. You reached one of your arms back, configuring your arm in some uncomfortable and mildly disturbing position just so the bastard could hold your hand and not feel bad about making you upset.
Donnie huffed out a pleased breath behind you.