"It's a hole." April said dryly, looking into the wide circular pit in front of them with an air of disapproval. Allowing a touch of scorn to creep into her voice, she shot him a disdainful side-eyes as she pointedly added. "I've seen holes before Donnie."

"I know you have." Donnie replied as he bristled, seeming slightly offended that April would really believe he would have dragged her deep into the woods in order to show her a hole. "It's what's inside the hole that I want to show you."

"Inside?" April repeated as she glanced back at it with clear uncertainty. With the little sunlight that they had left as the sun descended over the horizon in the background, the redhead could make out more than a several feet drop. The rest of it was covered in a dark shadow which told her that it could easily be a mile deep.

"Yep." He answered brightly, moving over to the edge and peering down into it for a few seconds before turning back around to face her. Taking note of her now tense posture and the apprehension splashed across her angelic face, he gently added. "It's not as far a drop as it looks."

She crossed her arms skeptically at this. "How are we even going to get down there?"

"We're going to jump."

Her arms fell to her side in her shock, sky blue eyes scanning his expression as she tried to decipher whether or not he was joking. A piece of her actually did hope that he was only messing with her, but she had to remind herself who she was talking to. When it came to her, the genius was often Captain Literally incarnate and she could tell by his patient stature that he was waiting for her to process and accept this information.

Definitely not about to do the latter and seriously rethinking her decision to come with him, April took a hesitant step away from both him and his hole. "I don't know if you're listening to yourself right now, but you sound insane. There is no way I'm just jumping into that hole with you. Maybe we should just head back...?"

Noting the anxious way that her entire body tensed and how his crush's gaze flickered towards the hole as though she expected it to sprout teeth and try to swallow her, Donnie walked back over to her and smiled softly as he held out a hand. Meeting her nervous gaze, he reassured, "There's no reason to worry. It's perfectly safe, April. It's not the first time I've been down there."

"I never said it wasn't." She cleared up quickly, pulling her hand to her chest. "I was just thinking that since it's getting late and all... I mean, Raph and Casey are probably already back and-"

"April, do you trust me?"

This question took her by surprise and she paused at the interruption, the redhead glanced back over and met the intelligent autumn eyes of the purple-clad turtle, the same one who she knew wouldn't hesitate to give his life for hers if the need was called upon, and she didn't even have to consider her answer.

"Of course I do."

Donnie gave a light nod in response, his endearing smile never fading as the teen then realized that the svelte turtle was patiently waiting for her to take his still-outstretched hand.

If only to further confirm her answer, April took a cautious step forward as she reached out to take it, dimly aware of how small and fragile hers seemed while within his firm grip. His smile widened slightly and she let out a surprised yelp when he suddenly tugged her closer to him.

With a mischievous gapped-tooth grin, Donnie pulled out the grappling hook that he had brought with him and shot it at the tree. Glancing down at the girl still nervously standing at his side, Donnie placed and around her as he warned. "Hold on."

The statement was incredibly worrying, even if you didn't take into account Donnie's sly tone, but April had to admit that she didn't see him leaping into the mouth of the cave backwards coming at all.

She couldn't help the instinctual reaction of squeezing her eyes shut as they fell into the shadowy black, her heart leapt into her throat as she choked the urge to scream, distinctly aware of the wind rushing past them as they descended down.

She could feel Donnie's heart beating at a calm pace under his plastron as she pressed herself in his protective grip and this told her that he wasn't afraid. And if Donnie wasn't afraid, then there was no way April would allow him to see any of her fear.

All of a sudden, there was a firm jolt and they seemed to pause in mid-air, the dazed teen opening her eyes once her feet had touched the ground. She let out a breath of relief as Donnie gently released her and glanced up, pressing a button on the grappling hook that caused it to untangle itself from the tree on the surface and come shooting down to them.

Placing the grappling hook safely back on his belt, Donnie turned to face his crush, who was peering up to the dimly visible entrance to the cave, her expression nervous as she commented. "That's a long climb up."

"Not really." He explained, his voice the only thing that alerted her that he was still nearby, the darkness cloaking him from sight. "It's just a matter of finding the right rock placements to hold your weight and moving with caution. I can show you later, but first, the reason we came down here is right this way."

As she had no idea which direction "this way" was located, she was about to make this legitimate concern known when she sensed a momentary feeling of annoyance from his general direction. A click caused her to jump slightly and she realized the path ahead was now brightened with a bright white light, a pleased Donnie staring after the flashlight beam with a proud air.

April felt some of the tension fade as she relaxed, glancing around the surrounded cave walls as she mentally scolded herself. She really should have known. If there was one thing she knew about Donnie, it was that he always liked to be prepared.

"Donnie... What is this place?" She asked curiously as she viewed what seemed to be the surrounding tunnel, quickly hurrying after her eager guide when she realized that he'd begun moving.

"A range of naturally formed underground caverns." Donnie informed her, clearly ecstatic about the discovery. "I theorize that they lead all around this area. I tried looking for other entrances then the one we dropped in through,-" April felt as though this was a more subtle way of describing the unexpected leap, but she politely kept her mouth shut as he admitted, "-but many of them have caved in over time and other seem concerningly unstable, so I figured it would be safest to lesson the trips down here."

Her nerves decided to pop up once again at the newly granted knowledge and she shifted closer to Donnie as she gave the rock walls around her a wary glance, hoping that this was one of the more stable paths. They walked silently until they reached a fork and then Donnie flickered his light between the two walkways before he seemed to come to a decision and then made his way down the second tunnel, April sticking at his side.

Her mind shifting to what he could possibly have to show her down here, she brushed a strand of hair to the side as she questioned, "Not that these caverns aren't cool and all... What are we doing down here, Donnie?"

"You'll see." He replied coolly, his proud tone registering with the following redhead.

"Okay." She agreed, her fading fear replaced with a growing curiosity. Even so, she decided to let him have his moment as she mused. "How about I try a different question. What prompted you to enter this hole and discover my surprise?"

"Mikey, in a way." Donnie replied as he shone the light along the cave run formation thoughtfully. "We were doing Turtle Hunt and he shoved us both down here when he saw Raph coming. He was lucky we both had shells, otherwise the fall would have done a lot more than hurt."

"I'd imagine." She replied, amused at the prospect of Mikey freaking out and simply shoving then both into the first hole they came across. It wasn't too unlike the youngest to do the most random and dramatic thing if he felt the need called for it. "Did you guys win?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Donnie replied, "By the time we managed to climb back out, we'd surpassed the hiding deadline and Raph actually seemed impressed that we managed to avoid him as long as we did. Mikey was super proud of himself. Pretty sure he'll be dumping us both in a lot more holes from now on."

April laughed at the idea and Donnie brightened instantly as he glanced over at his crush, the wonderful sound like music to him. The best part was definitely the fact that he had made her laugh, the purple-banded turtle turning back towards where they were headed as a warm and fuzzy feeling spread across his chest.

Finally spotting the area of the underground caves that he'd been searching for, Donnie did a sharp turn and entered it, flickering his light over the mushrooms along the roof as he heard the hurried footsteps of his crush moving to catch up. Glancing back when they stopped, he saw that she'd halted beside him, glancing up at the roof as well.

Seeming slightly confused, she gave the rest of the room a once over before she turned to give him an uncertain look. "Am I... Supposed to see something?"

"Not yet." He said as he lowered himself into a sitting position on the ground. She stood for three seconds more before she awkwardly copied the tall turtle, who allowed her to settle on the cold surface before he asked, "You ready?"

She nodded and he looked down at the flashlight, a surprisingly loud click reverberating through the quiet room as he switched it off. April tensed slightly as the room was bathed in darkness, realizing that she must have done something that revealed her fear because she heard Donnie's voice whisper. "Just give it a minute."

It wasn't long before April's eyes began to adapt to the darkness, the cave room around her suddenly began to glow, her eyes widening in shock. She turned to Donnie, but his attention was up on the roof, so she followed the brown eyes up as the colors became more clear, now aware of the luminescent blue that seemed to cover the walls and roof of the cave.

As April's jaw dropped in awe, Donnie chuckled beside her before explaining. "They're fungus gnat larvae, better known as glow worms. Bioluminescent organisms that live in damp and secluded areas like this. Incredible, aren't they?"

"Amazing." April agreed softly.

Donnie glanced from her and back to the impression sea of blue stars above, the words that he had rehearsed over and over within the barn flowing through his mind on repeat. An almost terrified excitement flew through his being at the thought of finally saying everything he'd need too, but after a moment of musing it over, he decided that this could wait a little while longer.

He was so lost in his whirling thoughts of all the pros and cons of finally speaking up, he almost didn't notice when something touched his head, startled brown gaze flickering down to see that April's hand was sitting atop his. He found breathing somewhat difficult as he glanced back to her face, those beautiful blue eyes sparkling as a result of the plants she was staring at.

As he realized that she wasn't planning on moving her hand and probably wasn't even conscious of what she'd done, Donnie felt his face heat up immensely as his heart began racing within his plastron. He was once again half-tempted to say something but at the same time didn't want to risk ruining the moment.

He tilted his head slightly, drinking in the awed expression that graced April's face as she viewed the cave around them, adoring the way the bioluminescent creatures seemed to reflect off of her, making it seem as though she was glowing.

She really is an angel...

Lost in the moment, Donnie began leaning toward April, the redhead glancing over to him when she noticed the movement. Spotting the dreamy look on his face as he shifted closer and where she had instinctively set her hand, she then realized what he was planning on doing.

Ripping her hand off of his swiftly, she jerked it against her chest as she scooted a couple of inches away from him, the sudden action startling the lovestruck turtle back into reality.

Spotting that April had moved away and was now watching him warily, Donnie tried to think back on his actions to discover what he might have done to upset her. April spotted his worried and confused look, quickly interrupting his thoughts to suggest. "This really is amazing Donnie, but I'm sure it's getting late so we should really head back to the house now."

He scrambled to his feet as she stood, unsure of the sudden change in atmosphere and fearing that he had once again ruined a precious moment between them. And the worst part was - he couldn't even figure out what he'd done!

"R-Right. Of-of course." Donnie stammered guiltily, watching as April began hurriedly making her way back out of the cave. Switching on the flashlight so they would have a better chance of seeing their way back out, the flustered genius awkwardly made his way over to her side.

Neither said anything as they made their way to the steep part of the cave that led up to the surface, Donnie glancing hesitantly at April when she glanced up to the entrance to the hole, proceeding to find a hold on one of the rocks and begin making her way up the wall.

"A-April, I'm not sure that's-" He tried to warn her, but the stubborn teen who's only urge was to get out of there as soon as possible was quick to shoot the warning down. Her attention on what she was doing, she continued the trek upward as she stated, "Don't worry, Donnie. I'll be fine."

A nervous frown covered his expression, but having no desire to upset her further, Donnie decided that it was best not to argue. Slipping the flashlight into his mouth without a second thought, he readied himself as he began making his way up the wall after her.

As it turned out, Donnie's fear had been completely relevant, as halfway up the distracted redhead grabbed onto a loose rock and wasn't prepared for when it disconnected from the wall. When one side of her body was tossed downward, the other found it couldn't hold on.

The next thing April knew, she had cried out as gravity took hold and she was abruptly thrown down into the cave below.