Jake made his way to the recovery room to see April. He especially worried, since she had taken a lot of damage from the recent battle.

'Please be okay, please be okay. . .' Jake pleaded to himself as he slowly opened the door to the recovery room.

"Hey, you're not allowed in there." A doctor said, when he saw Jake opening the door.

"Please, I just need to see if she's alright." Jake said. "And it's my fault she's in there. I just have a lot to say to her."

"Are you admitting to a crime right now?" The doctor asked.

"No, it's not what you think." Jake said. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"If it's about a vampire demon taking over your mind and an alien taking over the girl's, then I've already heard it." The doctor said, rolling his eyes. "What a bunch of baloney, if you ask me."

"I'm not gonna correct you on that, since I respect you guys deeply." Jake said. "Just. . . please let me see her for a few minutes. I need to lift the burdens off of my chest."

The doctor sighed as he figured Jake wouldn't shut up about it. He just gestured Jake to go inside and walked away.

"Thank you." Jake said with a smile, before going inside of the recovery room where April was.

When he went inside, he was instantly met with a gruesome sight. April was lying on the bed, eyes closed, with machines all around her. And there was an IV stuck into her right arm, giving her blood.

'Wow. . . that attack really was nearly fatal.' Jake thought to himself. 'Thanks a lot, Night Shade. That vampiric asshole. . .'

Jake then walked up to and sat down by April's side. He then got flashed back to when it all happened. He was able to see what was happening from inside, but couldn't take back his body. He felt all the guilt from Night Shade's actions. And he knew he'd have to live with it, since Night Shade was still a part of him.

"I can sense your guilt." Night Shade said.

'Ugh. . . go away!' Jake said, talking to him through his mind. 'I don't want to speak with you right now.'

"You know that girl truly cares about you, you know?" Night Shade said. "I'm quite surprised, honestly."

'Oh, f**k off, already!' Jake said,  angrily. 'I don't need your input. You caused this, after all.'

"Geez. . . did you kiss April with that mouth?" Night Shade said. "Oh wait. . . *she* kissed *us*, actually!"

'I will literally off myself along with you right now, if you don't shut the hell up!' Jake said, angrily.

"Okay, okay. . . there's no need for pointless threats." Night Shade said. "I'll let you have your moment, then I'll get back to you later."

'Why?' Jake asked. 'I never want to talk to you again.'

"There's still some. . . 'things' that we need to discuss." Night Shade said. "I'll be waiting."

With that, Jake felt Night Shade's presence fade. 'I thought he'd never leave. . .' He thought to himself.

Jake then heard a soft groan coming from April as he looked up and saw that she was waking up from her comatose state.

"J-Jake. . . ?" April spoke out softly.

"April. . . oh, thank goodness." Jake said, breathing a sigh of relief. "You're actually okay."

"Well, as much as I can be." April said.

April then tried to slowly sit up, but instantly winced in pain as her first instinct was to hold her side in pain.

"Don't overexert yourself, please." Jake said, worriedly. "It appears you still haven't fully recovered."

"Dang it. . ." April said, as she lay back down.

"You'll be fine, April." Jake said. "You just need to give it some time."

"Thanks for coming to see me, Jake." April said. "I didn't know if you, uh. . . would want to."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"Well. . . after what happened with Za-Naron." April said. "You were disappointed that I didn't tell you about her before."

"Well. . . I'll be honest." Jake said. "I kind of was a bit disappointed. But not for the reason you think."

April then looked over at Jake with a  confused look on her face.

"I'm disappointed because. . . I could've tried to help you." Jake said. "We could've worked through it together, before things got out of hand."

April sighed. "You mean it?" She asked. "You wouldn't have-"

"If you were scared of me thinking of you on a different way, I'd never." Jake said. "You're an amazing person, April. Nothing's gonna change my mind about that."

April felt her face get warm as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. She smiled and held out her hand to Jake. Jake blushed as he grabbed April's hand as well.

"You know when I kissed Night Shade to bring you back. . ." April said, recalling the events of the battle. "It was kind of a last minute decision. I didn't think it would actually work."

Jake's face instantly went up in a flaming heat as his whole face turned red as a tomato. "You're saying you kissed me. . . with no real reason to?" He asked.

"Well, there was a reason." April said, blushing still. "Back when we first met. . . I knew I liked you. You were different than anyone else I've met before. Different than Donnie. . . and even Casey."

"Well, I would hope I'm different than that purple masked nerd." Jake said. "I'd go talk to him, but I doubt there's any way we could make up."

"Don't worry about it." April said. "He'll get over it."

"Yeah, I'll have to make sure he does." Jake said.

"Anyway. . . when we actually talked for the first time, I felt something." April said. "And after music class that first day. . . I knew right away that we would get along."

"Yeah. . ." Jake said.

"And then, when you defended me from Natalie. . . that's when it hit." April said. "Me true feelings. . . they began to come out. Mainly because no one really stood up for me that way before."

"Not even Casey?" Jake asked.

"He was mainly there to be my after-school support." April said. "Same with Leo, Donnie, and all of them."

"Dang. . . well I'm glad that I could be there for you." April said. "I guess the timing of my transfer couldn't have been more perfect."

"And all the times we hung out together. . . I felt like there was more growing between us the more we had the chance to be together." April said. "Even when you were chained up by Natalie, it didn't stop you from coming to me and making it work."

"Yeah, those were all fun times." Jake said. "I'll admit, I may have had some feelings start to grow overtime as well."

"Huh?" April said.

"Going around town with you as you showed me your favorite noodle shop, or comforted me when I was heartbroken about Ryan. . . it was an amazing experience." Jake said with a small smile. "And they were some I'll never forget."

April smiled as he held on to Jake's hand tighter.

"But after our small rooftop picnic. . . that's when I knew." Jake said. "I knew my feelings were true."

"So. . . does that mean- ?" April asked, as her eyes lit up. "You. . . ? Cause I. . ."

April then blushed hard as she couldn't hold her feelings in anymore. She then sat up and pulled Jake close to her in a tight embrace. She was still in pain, but she didn't care anymore.

"I love you, Jake Moon!" April said, trying not to cry from happiness. "I love you more than anything else in the world!"

"I. . . I love you too, April O'Niel." Jake said, returning the hug. "And I have for a while now. I just didn't know how to say it."

April then let her tears fall as she began to cry out of happiness. "I never want you to leave me, Jake." She said. "Please, promise me. . . promise that you'll never leave my side."

"I promise." Jake said. "I'll always be right by your side, no matter what. You can count on that."

April sniffed as she broke the hug and looked at Jake in the eyes.

"Also, when you kissed Night Shade. . . it wasn't a real one, was it?" Jake asked.

"Well, I guess not." April said. "But it also may have been, seeing as how I didn't expect it to work."

"Do you. . . want it to be genuine?" Jake asked.

"I don't know. . . what will Donnie think?" April asked.

"Who cares?" Jake scoffed. "That guy can kiss my ass."

"I'm gonna wait on it for now." April said. "It doesn't feel fair when there are still some loose-ends to figure out."

"I guess you're right." Jake said.

April then suddenly thought about something else that was important. "So, now that we've confessed our feelings, does that mean we're-"

"Alright, your visiting time is over!" A doctor suddenly said, as she came into the room they were in. "Give the patient some space."

"Oh, right." Jake said, standing up. "We'll pick this back up later, okay?"

"Oh. . . okay then." April said.

Jake then left the room, leaving April alone to think to herself for a bit.

'What was I thinking?!' and She thought to herself. 'Was this a good time to even talk about our feelings? Damn. . . I feel like such an idiot! What's wrong with me?'

Outside of April's room, Jake thought to himself about his feelings and what they had discussed.

'So, what does this mean for us now?' Jake thought to himself. 'We showed our true feelings and even made a vow to never be apart. Was that the right thing to do? I don't even know anymore. . .'

At that moment, Jake suddenly looked over and saw that Makayla had decided to meet him outside of April's room.

"So, how did it go?" Makayla asked with a sly smirk.

"It went well, I guess." Jake said.

"Are you two a couple now?" Makayla asked.

"Well. . . I think so?" Jake said. "We didn't really confirm that, though. . ."

"Damn it, bro!" Makayla said angrily.

"What?" Jake asked.

"Man, you're an idiot." Makayla said. "How could you *not* be a couple by now?"

"It's been a long ride." Jake said. "I want to give it a bit of time first."

"You're gonna leave April guessing?" Makayla asked.

"Well. . . I don't really know if I'm willing to get into another relationship still." Jake said. "I mean, the feelings for her are there. But. . ."

"Oh. . . you're still hung up over Ryan, huh?" Makayla asked.

"Not only her." Jake said. "Natalie kind of ruined my perception on love, too."

"Oh yeah. . . that b***h." Makayla said. "Where is she, by the way? I want to have a 'friendly' talk with her!"

"Forget it." Jake said, shaking his head. "She's not worth it, anyway."

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back at the ruins of the battlefield, someone was still hiding out in an alleyway. And that someone was none other than Natalie.

She had been hiding the whole time and was waiting for the right time to come out of hiding in order to make her escape.

But as she was coming out of hiding, she suddenly bumped into a tall figure who was blocking her path. She looked up to see the leader of the vampire hunters, Charles Hunter.

"Oh, uh. . . hey, guys." Natalie said, trying to sound innocent. "Just, um. . . headed back to my father's place."

The hunter didn't say anything, other than a small grunt of anger.

"So, yeah. . . I'll be taking my leave." Natalie said, as she made her way passed Charles, but was stopped by the other hunters.

"I don't think so, Missy." Charles said, stepping up behind her.

"What should we do with her, boss?" One of the hunters asked.

"You think we could get some ransom from her father?" The other hunter asked. "We could use some reconstruction money."

"No. . . he doesn't care about his own daughter." Charles said. "No amount of threats will make him pay up."

Natalie gulped in fear as she tried to escape, but Charles grabbed her hand before she could.

"I think she can have a long reflection of her actions while she's locked up in our dungeon." Charles said.

"Well, she's quite a beautiful young lady." One of the hunters said. "We could use her for entertainment. Maybe make her. . . put on 'shows' for us."

"In your dreams." Natalie said with a scoff. "Also, I'm 17 years old, you creep!"

"No, she can just rot down there and feed the rats." Charles said.

"That's good, too." The other hunter said.

"No, I can't be locked up!" Natalie said, starting to freak out a bit. "I still haven't had proper closure with my Jakey-Boo!"

"Let's go, men." Charles said. "Let's go lock this b***h up and then we can bury my son."

"Yes, sir!" The hunters said, saluting their leader.

With that said, Charles and the other hunters began to drag Natalie away to their dungeon.

"No, you can't do this to me!" Natalie said, as she began to cry. "I'm too beautiful for jail! I'll never survive! Waaaaahhhh! I want my Jakey-Boo!"

To be continued. . .

Jake Moon and Natalie Heartstrings belongs to me

TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon

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