I can do this.

I can do this.

I can do this.

I can do this.

I can-

"I can't do this!"

Donnie hadn't realized he'd blurted this out loud until he'd tried to take off running in the opposite direction, his elbow suddenly grabbed and he was yanked back to the door that he'd been frozen in front of for the past five minutes.

"Dude! Chill! You got this!"

Terrified autumn brown met cheerful baby-blue as Donnie faced his younger brother while he added. "You've been planning for this all week! We got your topic changers, mutant attacks, and even got your natural disasters chart figured out, complete with earthquakes and meteors and Giant Icecream Kittys!"

"Still not a natural disaster." Donnie felt the need to point out, his brother shaking his shoulders as he insisted. "You! Are! Ready!"

"Alright! Alright!" Donnie agreed, pulling out of Mikey's grip. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he turned to the wooden door and reached for the doorknob-

"You know what? Maybe we haven't gotten everything, a little more planning couldn't hurt-"

Grabbing his older brother's wrist, Mikey halted his second try to escape and opened the door, promptly shoving the genius outside. Donnie stumbled slightly but caught himself before he ended up doing an embarrassing faceplant on the porch, glancing back to the jokester in surprise.

Making shooting motions, Mikey gave him a confident grin before promptly shutting the door.

Wishing he had the same confidence that his baby brother did, Donnie tentatively turned away from the door and towards the edge of the porch.

Leaning against one of the posts along the sides, his crush was staring out into the forest with a distant expression, clearly lost in thought. Taking a deep breath, Donnie tried to summon some of the little bit of courage that he was completely certain he didn't have.

"H-h-h-h-hey, April."

Almost immediately after he managed to get out his response, he mentally facepalmed at how many H's he'd managed to shove into one word.

Pull yourself together, Donatello!

"Hey, Donnie. What's up?" April asked, used to such greetings from the purple-clad turtle.

"N-nothing... Just out here to get some fresh air because there's air... out here... That's fresh..."

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

Air that's fresh?!

Really?!

"Yeah." April agreed absentmindedly, her gaze still on the forest across from them.

Okay, okay, you can do this, Donatello.

"S-so, April, I was wondering i-if you wanted to – to uh..." April turned towards him and Donnie met those beautiful blue orbs peering curiously back, his heart racing under his plastron as he suddenly realized how dry his mouth was. "Well-I mean, that is-"

April turned all the way around, clearly trying to be helpful by meeting his gaze and waiting patiently for him to finish, head tilted so her hair fell in her face.

"Yeah?" She encouraged, brushing her red strands behind her ear as she politely turned all of her attention on the frozen turtle before her.

"Yeah?" Donnie repeated, his brain suddenly unable to come up with anything as he stared at the angel before him. He blinked, suddenly realizing that April was still waiting for an answer.

What was I thinking?!

I can't do this!

ABORT ABORT!

"Uh- nevermind." Donnie blurted, stepping back.

He didn't realize how close he was to the door until his shell roughly bumped into it, throwing him forward. He could feel an immense heat spreading across his face when he realized April was still watching, leaning thoughtfully against the porch railing.

"That – uh- the door... Moved.." He stammered awkwardly, refusing to meet her gaze.

He then spun around and reached for the doorknob so he could head inside, but a soft click caused him to pause in his sudden action. His eyes widened when he realized without even needing to touch the door that it had been locked.

He glanced at the window next to the door and saw Mikey's beaming face peering back. His clearly proud little brother flashed him a thumbs-up before disappearing into the house.

"Everything alright, Donnie?" April asked from behind him, the genius freezing when he realized she had been watching him the entire time.

"Mhmm, yep, all good." He lied nervously as he turned to face the skeptic expression of his crush.

Realizing she didn't look all that convinced, he rubbed the back of his neck as he admitted. "Well-uh-not all good, per se, cause we're kinda, erm, locked out now..."

"What?" April questioned as she got up and walked over.

He moved to the side as the teen reached out and tugged on the door handle, twisting it for a couple seconds before she frowned and commented. "The lock has been acting up lately... I meant to replace it and must have forgotten, that mistake is clearly coming back to bite me..."

She began digging through one pocket, her frown deepening before she stuck her hand in the other, voicing. "I don't understand. I always keep the door key with me in case of times like this but it's not..." She trailed off as she continued her search.

Donnie heard a soft tapping and glanced back at the window, realizing that Mikey was once again standing there. His mouth dropped open when he realized his younger brother was holding April's house key, the suddenly infuriating beaming grin on his freckled face.

Donnie gestured to an oblivious April as she continued her search, shooting the youngest a disapproving look and pointing to the lock. "Open it!" He mouthed angrily, the youngest simply winking and mouthing back. "Good luck, bro!"

Donnie clenched his fists in annoyance when Mikey disappeared again, jumping slightly when April suddenly said. "It must have fallen out of my pocket at some point..."

Or was swiped by a certain jokester who is SO in for it when I get back inside....!

"Well, we could always try banging on the door until someone lets us in." April suggested, lifting her hand to knock. Before she could, Donnie quickly grabbed hold of the redhead's wrist to stop her and she granted him a puzzled look in return.

"I wouldn't, I just barely convinced Leo to lie down. His leg was bothering him again and he was pretty moody."

April frowned in thought for a moment before sighing and agreeing, "I suppose he should get some rest. Alright, uh..."

April was silent as she contemplated another rational entryway, the teen snapped proudly as she announced. "We can circle around to the backdoor, I always leave that unlocked for problems like this."

Chuckling nervously, Donnie rubbed his arm as he gave his crush a sheepish smile, the purple-clad turtle admitting. "Yeah... That's not going to work either."

April had started making her way down the porch but paused to turn and give Donnie a slightly suspicious look. "What do you mean? I remember unlocking it today after Mikey talked us all into that picnic lunch in the forest."

"Yeah... And I may have locked it again after you walked away."

"Donnie!" April scolded, crossing her arms as she filled the one word with as much annoyance and disdain as she could.

"What!? It's dangerous to just leave it unlocked!" He explained. "We both know that there are mutant frogs running around the forest, not to mention BigFoot and Finger, who knows what other dangerous beings could break into our house when we aren't looking?!"

The hurt expression on Donnie's face as he tried to defend himself melted away some of April's annoyance and she let out a soft sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a couple breaths before sitting down on the third porch stair.

"Well." She stated as Donnie walked over and sat next to her. "Looks like we're trapped out there until Casey and Raph get back."

The sound of his unspoken rival's name caused a thin frown to cover Donnie's face, the jealous turtle glancing away so she couldn't notice as he tried to casually ask. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"I gave Casey the other key to the house for while he and Raph are on their hunting expedition or whatever it is they're calling it." April replied, gesturing to the forest where they had presumably walked off earlier that day. "I didn't know when they'd be back so I gave Casey a key so they could get inside after the rest of us went to bed."

"Oh."

Silence fell between the two of them, April pretending not to notice the stares Donnie kept sending in her direction, mostly because she was used to them by now. She did always 'happen' to glance in his direction when they lasted a bit longer than she was completely comfortable with, the redhead always becoming self-conscious whenever he did this.

When April looked up during his final staring bout, blue and brown eyes met for a couple of seconds before a light blush covering Donnie's cheeks at the knowledge he'd been spotted. He quickly turned away and pretended to become incredibly enthralled with staring at the chicken co-op in the distance.

April openly rolled her eyes, slightly amused by Donnie's lovesick antics, and leaned back, wondering when Casey and Raph were planning on coming returning.

She wasn't really sure what it was they were doing, but she hoped that they'd wrap it up and get back before it got dark out.

If there was one thing April disliked more than the Kraang, it had to be darkness.

Now, she wouldn't openly say she was scared of the dark, but it did make her nervous.

The darkness was an excellent cover for all kinds of villains and evil mutants, the whole reason this entire mess with the Kraang had even started was because she and her father hadn't seen the Kraang that were hiding in the shadow of a darkened alley.

April looked over the treetops and noted that the sun would be setting soon, the teen suddenly feeling grateful for the fact she'd been trapped outside with Donnie.

If there was one ninja brother whom she knew would keep her safety as his number one priority no matter the circumstances, it had to be Donatello Hamato.

"So..."

April glanced at Donnie, startled by the sudden break in the silence, as she noted that he was still staring into the distance, a finger tapping rapidly on his knee.

She knew this was one of many recent habits that had arisen whenever he was nervous or flustered, something she noticed happened often when she was around, and when he didn't continue, she wondered if he even realized that he'd said anything in the first place.

Curious, she repeated. "So?"

"I was thinking..."

"About?" She pressed.

"Well..." He glanced over to her and then gestured to the forest suggesting. "Unless you want to keep sitting here until the guys get back, we could always... I don't know... Take a walk or something...."

The nervous way he avoided her gaze told her there was more to this suggestion than he was telling her. Tilting her head and leaning forward so she could get a better glimpse of his face, she asked. "Okay. Sure. Walk where?"

"M-maybe, I mean, if you really want to, there's – uh - somewhere I'd like to show you." His gaze flickered between her and the forest and April could have sworn another dim blush was appearing.

"Let's do it." She agreed brightly.

"Really?" He asked hopefully, glancing at her as she got her feet and stretched.

"Why not? It's better than just sitting here." She remarked, her curiosity as to what the purple-clad turtle might want to show her covering her urge to stay within the safety of the porch until Casey and Raph returned. "Though I am wondering what you could have found that I haven't seen. I mean, you do realize I used to live here, right?"

Nodding, Donnie got to his feet and agreed. "I took that into account. Trust me, what I have to show you will be unlike anything you've ever seen."