5

Raphael was watching me closely and I wasn't sure if I liked that. April stood in my line of sight now and gave a gentle shrug.

"So, these are the heroes… you gonna stay or do you want to leave?" she asked and I ran my tongue over my inner cheek in thought. I couldn't believe these… turtles that I was seeing.

"It would be really cool if you stayed and got to know us." Raphael suddenly said and I looked over at him to see he suddenly looked down at the ground. Looking at his hulking size made me uneasy and April grabbed my attention.

"Hey… you leaving or staying?" she asked and I looked from her to the giant turtle who glanced up at me and then at April. Well they hadn't hurt me and I had to keep reminding myself that I trusted April. I nodded.

"Sure. I'll hang out a bit." I replied. Raphael immediately looked up at me with big eyes and smiled. Why was he so excited? April smiled and wrapped her arm around my arm like we used to do in college.

"Yay! Good now come on let's get some food!" she said and began to guide me down the tunnel. Raphael was right behind us now. I could feel the warmth of his body against me. I could hear music now playing.

"Some days I can't get out of my head. That's just the dark side of me. Some nights it's hard for me to fall asleep. That's just the dark side of me. If you ever ever call my name, you will find out that we're both the same…"

We entered a massive room and my eyes widened at all the different stuff I saw: computer screens in one corner, a large couch in front of a big TV, with a round table off in the back, a stereo system where the music was coming from.

"Wow." I said in awe. This place is huge. Raphael chuckled.

"And this is just the living room. We got a kitchen, a garage, a dojo, a weapons room, a games and pinball room, Donnie has a lab, I have a work out room, and down those hallways are our master's room and each of our rooms." he said pointing one of his three fingers in different tunnel directions. I looked at him stunned.

"You all have all of this, down here? How has no one noticed?" I asked.

"I have surveillance all over the sewers to watch for workers, but no one really comes down to this area. If you don't know where you're going, you could actually get lost in the unknown tunnels." Donnie said as he cut down the stereo music. I noticed Lillian and Mikey were in front of the TV looking for something to watch. Leo, Donnie, Anna and Eva were at the large round cinder block table opening some boxes of pizza.

"Raph why don't you get Teleya a slice of pizza." April said now bringing my attention to the food. I noticed the red cladded turtle never left the spot beside me. He looked almost caught off guard by the suggestion.

"Oh uh, yeah, um we get different flavors. You got a favorite topping?" he asked. I looked up at him and nodded.

"Oh yes, I like pepperoni." I replied. His face lit up in a big smile.

"Oh yeah, me too!" he said, and I smiled as he cheerfully moved over toward the pizzas. Anna raised her arm in the direction of the TV.

"Teleya, make yourself at home!" she offered.

"Yeah anything you need, we got you!" Leo said with a nod. I am still shocked by the talking turtles, but I nodded and moved over toward the couch. April didn't join me, however she moved to stand by Donnie and Eva. I sat at the far end of the couch. I couldn't help but slightly keep my distance from Mikey, but seeing him converse with Eva about movies gave me slight comfort.

"Do we have a winner for a movie?" I asked lightly. Mikey whipped his head at me.

"Almost! We're stuck between Nightmare on Elm street 2010, Halloween 2018 meaning if we start that we have to see Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2006." he said. My ears pricked up at the choices.

"Well I do like both those Halloween suggestions and the Texas Chainsaw one." I replied. Lillian leaned forward around Mikey and smiled.

"Me too!" she gushed.

"Oh please you just like it because of Andrew Bryniarski." he teased and she hummed leaning in to peck the turtle on the lips which made my eyes pop.

"What can I say, I like big boys." she said heatedly and I looked away at the flirting. But same here. Now another wall of green was beside me as I saw Raphael standing there with a plate of four slices of pizza in his hand. My eyes popped.

"Oh thank you." I said taking the plate.

"I didn't know how many slices you wanted so I guessed." he said. He had another plate with four slices of pizza on it plate as well. Anna giggled as she walked over with Leo's hand in hers.

"Raph, that's too many slices. Maybe two?" she asked looking at me and I nodded, embarrassed to say anything. The two sat down on another sofa. Raphael looked flushed.

"Oh yeah uh sorry." he said and I shook my head picking up two of the slices and holding them up.

"It's okay. Do you want these two?" I asked. He looked at me with a smile before nodding.

"Sure… uh mind if I sit beside you?" he asked. I looked at the spot beside me and nodded shifting over as if to give him space. The couch was large enough however. Once everyone had their food and all the couples were curled up together, it was time to pick a movie. April had to leave, but assured me Lillian would take me home. I was a bit nervous at first, but hearing how laid back the brothers were and a little humorous they were, I slowly warmed up to being around them. Plus Raphael was definitely hell bent on keeping the seat beside me.

"Okay so what's the verdict?" Leo asked.

"I can only stay for one movie." Anna replied.

"Alright so we are between Nightmare on Elm Street or the movie that has my girlfriend's husband in it." Mikey said which made Lillian laugh and nudge his shoulder. I was just quietly eating the pizza listening to everyone discuss the movie options. Raphael glanced down at me.

"How's the pizza?" he asked and I looked up at him with a polite smile.

"Oh it's very good thank you." I replied. He nodded.

"You don't get scared of horror movies do ya?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Very rarely. Sometimes movies like Wrong Turn, Hills have Eyes or Jeepers Creepers can have me hiding under a blanket sometimes." I replied. He grinned.

"Well don't worry, you can hold my hand if you get scared." he said holding up his hand to me and I looked down at his palm. It was big. I leaned over his hand and before I could stop what happened, I gently poked at his fingers. I recoiled immediately.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that without permission." I replied and he chuckled.

"It's okay. I'm sure my existence is new to you so feel free to explore me any way you like." he said warmly. I could hear the low purr in his tone and I chuckled nervously.

"Okay, how about we let the guest decide." Eva replied and now all eyes were on me.

"Huh?" I asked looking around the room.

"So what say you Teleya, Nightmare or Texas?" Donnie asked.

"We're down for whatever you want to watch." Anna replied with a smile. Well what the hell.

"I guess we can see Lillian's husband tonight." I replied.

"See I told ya!" Mikey said pointing to me and everyone began to laugh. He hit play and the movie started. I sat with my legs on the floor, which usually I'd curl them under my bottom, but it was hard with Raphael sitting right next to me. I noticed how everyone was curled up under each other. Lillian sat beside Mikey with his arm around her shoulder, bringing her in close. Eva and Donnie were on their stomachs close together and Anna and Leo were curled up on the other couch. Leo was on his back with Anna atop of him, protected under his massive arms. How did they even come to be? How did they even meet? I had so many questions but I knew I wouldn't get any answers tonight.

I was getting uncomfortable just sitting in the upright position and so slowly, I tried to raise my legs up and Raphael caught me immediately. He moved over a bit.

"You need a pillow or something?" he whispered. I shook my head not wanting to bother him.

"Oh no I'm okay. Thank you." I said gently trying to stretch my legs a bit so I could get comfortable.

"Need a blanket?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I'm good. You're actually warm enough for the both of us." I replied. He gave a low chuckle.

"Well don't hesitate to ask." he said. I nodded and we brought our attention back to the TV. I don't remember falling asleep. I just blinked a few times, closed my eyes for five seconds and was out.

I don't know how long I was asleep, but when I awoke, I sat up and looked around realizing a large blanket was over me. The sounds of snoring all around had me looking around. The TV was off, Leo and Anna were gone, Donnie and Eva were knocked out on the floor with pillows under their heads, Lillian and Mikey were in the position Leo and April were in last night on the other couch, a blanket over them. At the spot below the couch I was on, was Raphael, sleeping soundly. Everyone looked so comfortable, so peaceful. Last night wasn't a dream. God how did I allow myself to fall asleep in such an unfamiliar place? How was I even comfortable enough? I quietly leaned over and grabbed my phone from my pocket. It was seven in the morning.

I looked at the blanket on my body and noticed it was a thick green blanket. I looked over at Raphael noticing the blanket he had was way thinner than mine. Was this his? I took this moment to study his facial features and the scar over his mouth. I realized his shoulders were also covered in slight scars. Then I noticed the full sleeve tattoo he had on his right shoulder. It was covered last night so I never noticed. Who did tattoos for mutant turtles?

Now I realized the other brothers must have scars as well. They really were heroes. I rested my cheek on my arm and studied him for a bit. I was a lot calmer now that they were asleep and I was awake. I felt I could take this time to really drink in the existence of these brothers. I heard a noise off in the distance and looked up to see a creature walking into the kitchen. He was tall and grey and the tail gave away what he was. A rat. Splinter. That's what his name was.

"Ah I see you are awake, Ms. Carmichael." he said. Quietly I leaned up and slowly moved off the arm rest since I didn't want to risk stepping on Raphael. The rat was in what looked like a dark robe. He smiled at me.

"Would you like some coffee?"