l implore you all to read the last two parts of my meme book, some of you are in it lol

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I watched as Y/n slipped behind the door to the kitchen, leaving me with Mikey. A nervousness fell over the silence that followed and all I could really do was steal some glances at him.

After a few tries, I finally managed to speak. "Hey, Mikey..?"

He looked to me. "Yeah?"

"Er— do you wanna... go for a walk?" I asked.

He tilted his head with an inquisitive frown. "Uh, yeah! okay..." he slowly stood up after me. "Are we going somewhere?"

I scratched my neck and avoided eye contact. "I uh... no... no place in particular, I just... wanted to talk to you."

His face scrunched in thought before he let a smile tip his mouth. "Of course!" He popped up to his feet. "Let's get going then."

I managed a wary smile back and walked after him. We exited the lair and hopped down from the platform outside the lair, setting out along the abandoned tracks. The air was tense, despite Mikey making conversation about trivial things such as his skating abilities being better than Casey's, or how much thinner Splinters beard had looked compared to the last time he had seen him. I just couldn't meet his eyes.

There was so much I wanted to say, to ask, to understand. But the very thought of getting that information made me woozy, I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle what he might say.

"Leo?" Mikey's voice pulled me from myself.

"Yeah," I forced my attention to him with a half grin.

"Uh..." he struggled for some kind of words to follow, searching his feet before switching to my face again. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

"You're acting kinda... off..." he said, tentatively with a small tilt of his head.

I hummed, kicking a little rock along the tracks. "No, I..." a sigh pulled from me as I steady myself. "Mikey, I'm just..." I paused as tasted the words about to leave my tongue, sour and rotten. I shook my head and swapped my words like a coward. "I missed you."

Mikey eyed me, as if deciding whether to believe the redirection I'd offered. His chest filled with bittersweet breath as he looked away. "You don't need to do that." He muttered through a sigh.

My heart jumped about my body anxiously. "What do you mean?"

He came to a stop and lifted his head to meet my eyes. "Leo, what do you actually want to say?" He asked, but his eyes were strong, stronger than I'd expected.

I slowly rounded before him feeling like a frozen deer.

My brother tilted his head towards me.

I gathered my courage as quickly as I could, steeling my heart. "Were you conscious the whole time?" I asked evenly.

Mikey's eyes dropped. "Yeah." They lifted and met mine again.

The ice in my stomach grew at the sight of his exhausted eyes, freezing all surrounding organs in dread. I force my eyes to not wander to the grey, lifeless tunnel that surrounds us and keep them trained on my hurting baby brother. I can't look away from him, not after all the time he couldn't.

"Mikey," I started, "I can't say I understand how you feel or what's happened to you," his eyes remained strong on me as I softly rested my hands on his shoulders. "But I want you to know you can talk to me. Don't hide this away, okay?" I said.

Mikey eyed me for a few seconds, almost in disbelief before finally an unamused, exhausted smile pulled uncomfortably across his face. "Right, like you do?" He huffed.

My eyes widen slightly at this as my hold on him falters. "What?"

He shakes his head, empty smile still present. "You're throwing stones from a glass house, Leo."

I almost want to feel offended if not for the overwhelming surprise painting every inch of me.

He continues. "Look at you. You're already jumping to hear all my woes, and I just got back! Do you think you're really mentally prepared for what I'm going to tell you?" He asked pointedly.  "Why do you want to torture yourself like this?"

I blinked rapidly as my hands tentatively lifted off him, stepping away embarrassed as I searched for my voice. "W... Well what did you expect me to do? Pull you out of the lair and complain... to you? Now?! After everything that's happened?!"

"I almost wish you did! I—" Mikey snapped back, before holding his tongue just as quick as the words fled. He took a deep breath and pressed on. "I have a way to deal with this kind of stuff. I have outlets like skateboarding and painting. I have you and Splinter and the others; I even have Casey to trust to help me through. But for my entire life you have never once spoken to me, or any of us, about how you're feeling." He said firmly walking after me and capturing my shoulder in a solid hold. His eyes searched mine earnestly.

"Frankly, I'm worried about you, Leo."

"You're worried about me?" It was a question, but the way the words fell sarcastically, disbelieving.

Mikey's eyebrows knit worriedly. "Leo, I'm not a kid anymore. None of us are." His free hand met my unattended shoulder, making sure I was listening. "You don't need to be strong all the time. If you keep picking things up without putting them down, you'll get crushed."

My mind was spinning at his words and uttered the only thing that I could still make sense of. "But what about you?"

"This won't go away after I talk about it. It might help but this'll be with me for a long time, it's not going anywhere." He took in a long breath and a slow, small grin pulled the corners of his mouth. "So for now... I just want you to forget about it. I'll talk to someone when I'm ready, and it won't be you." He gave both my tense shoulders another squeeze. "Not until you put some things down."

The water that rolled down my cheeks felt foreign as I stared at the person before me. He was tall, with kind eyes and a close resemblance to my baby brother. A disbelieving chuckle pushed from my chest as I wiped my eyes free of the pride that poured from them. "When did you get so wise, Mikey?" I wondered aloud.

Mikey's smile widened as tears welled in his eyes too. "Well, I actually practice what you preach." He laughed through a small sniffle while giving my head a solid playful ruffle.

I knocked his hand aside. "Hey watch it, I'm still the oldest." I said through a stuffed up laugh. We fell into a stride alongside each other, knocking our shoulders together with a few punches to the arms tossed between us for good measure.

His grin was like a warm sunbeam on a winters day. All I wanted was for him to be okay, I guess it only makes sense if he wants the same for me, I just... never really expected it.

"Alright alight, but promise me that you'll talk to someone about it." Mikey said pointedly as he pulled his back from a successful knock on my shoulder.

I smiled back at him while rubbing my shoulder. "Alright, I'll try."

He squared with me. "You won't try. You will."

I squared right back. "I will."

And just like that, Mikey grinned again. The whole walk back to the lair was light, hopeful. Yet the entire time in the back of my mind was the vision I had of Y/n.

You're weak, but not in the way you think you are.

She's right. And I need to fix that, for the sake of everyone around me.

*•.*•.*•.•*.•*.•*

Your heavy head knocked back against the cupboards, snapping your eyes open again to the couple who were now sitting in awkward silence across from each other. You looked around only to find that Roy was no longer in the room to wether this insanity with you.

You took a long inhale through the nose as you peered around for something different. "Are you guys done?" The words slipped out with a small yawn.

April's eyes remained trained on Casey. "I'm not sure, are we Casey?"

The man shrunk a bit as a timid smile perked the edges of his lips. "Yeah, I think so."

Just at that moment Raph pushed the door open. He only took a mere half step before feeling the waves of discomfort in the air. He eyed the couple then you, who were subtly yet frantically shaking your head with wide eyes, urging him to turn back while he had the chance.

He slowly began to slip back until April mercilessly called him out. "Raph, do you think parading your significant other around like they're a piece of meat is a respectful thing to do?"

Raph was frozen for a moment before he remembered who the fuck he was. "Yeah, uh, don't bring me into this." He grunted, walking into the kitchen and searching the fridge. "You guys need to work this out in private."

April whipped around to look at the turtle.

He pulled out a head of lettuce and shut the door behind him, meeting her eyes head on. "What?" He questioned, pulling a leaf free from the bunch. "You're no better parading your issues like this in front of Y/n to, what, try and embarrass Casey?" He took a big chomp of the leaf. "That's not much better April." He commented flatly and made his way to the door.

She looked like she was about to fight his point but thought again, shutting her mouth as a flash of red painted her face. "Oh." She muttered.

"Yeah." He answered, then looked to you. "Come on, let them figure this out without an audience."

You frowned for a moment. "But, aren't Mikey and Leo are out there?"

Raph tilted his head. "No? They went out like an hour ago."

A sudden deadpan horror rushed through you. "You mean I sat here listening to these goobers for no reason?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

You wasted not another second before hopping down from the counter, feet rushing you out. The last thing you experienced before leaving was April apologizing to a befuddled Casey with the most intense scarlet to ever dye someone's face. That was enough of those two for a while.

As you both stepped from the kitchen, Raph pulled a leaf loose from his head of lettuce and offered it to you. You gladly accepted, you couldn't remember the last time you ate something green.

With a good munch you chewed up the leaf falling in stride with Raph.

"Is lettuce your go to?" You ask as you both walk across the common area.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." He shook the half eaten leaf in his hand as he looked over at you with a playful smirk. "Reminds me of my roots. Keeps me humble."

"Doesn't do it's job too well." You pester with smug grin.

Raph's smile dropped into a half-expectant stare. "Sometimes I'm shocked Leo can stand being around you."

You chuckle to yourself and look forward. "What do you mean? He loves when I make fun of you."

"Always gotta be a smartass." He grumbled, fighting a smile from forming.

You stop short, placing the back of your hands on your hips. "Just because I'm smarter than you doesn't merit this verbal abuse." You shook your lettuce at him.

He turns back to you and stares blankly for a few moments. His deadpan stare only alerts slightly when his brow lifts. Without a second to react he snatches the lettuce out of your grip at a lightning quick speed.

You gasp at your empty hand, no longer holding the single healthiest thing you'd had for the entirety of your university career. "Wha— hey!"

"You can't take this verbal abuse? You don't get my lettuce." And with that proclamation he shoves your leaf into his mouth, chewing aggressively at you with his lips curled back so you could see every bit of the leaf being destroyed between his teeth.

You thinned your eyes at your now arch enemy. "Raphael, I say this from the deepest depths of my heart." Your finger jabs in his direction. "I hate you."

He scoffed, spitting remnants of the lettuce at you. "That must be pretty deep-seeded if it's from that bottomless pit you call a heart." He mused through an obnoxious laugh.

You mocked his laughter now that you didn't really have any new, actually good comebacks on hand.

That didn't go unnoticed, but he mercifully didn't point out your lack of rebuttal. Instead swallowed the food in his mouth and wiped the back of his hand across his lips. His eyes were alight with whatever was shining so distinctly in his mind as he eyed you.

That's when he decided to say something you weren't expecting from him.

"If you tell anyone I said this I'll deny it, but..." He sighed and met your eyes bravely. "I'm... glad... Leo has you in his life. He needed someone like you. I can't lie and say you're the source of his happiness, but I can't deny that you make him exponentially happier. Bottomless pit and all." He said, pointing to your heart that suddenly swelled at his words. Your eyes trailed from where he pointed to his face as an earth shifting shock rumbled through your entire being.

"You know the word exponentially?"

His eyes dulled and glared tiredly at you. "Yeah... okay... forget what I said." He grumbled and whirled away from you, about to continue his trek towards Donnie's lab.

Fighting the laughter that was already trickling from your mouth, you straightened up a bit more. "Well," you called with a puffed chest. "He makes me exponentially happier too."

Raph faltered in his first step and peeked over his shoulder to you with an unreadable expression as he inspected your every detail. Finally he smiled. A warm, subtle smile. One you knew was rare upon the first moment of witnessing it.

It nearly knocked you off your feet. He'd never looked at you like that. Like you weren't someone to annoy, or a nuance his brother dragged in, or something he had to actively navigate around. He looked at you like you were one of them.

Why did you suddenly want to cry?

He reached a hand out and ruffled your hair. "I'm relieved to hear that." And he walked away, slipping into Donnie's lab without another word.

You stood there, wrestling with this new and unfamiliar feeling of complete acceptance.

This couldn't be true.

Leo and Mikey's approaching voices in the tunnels pulled you from your head as you turned your eyes towards the lairs entrance. The pair were jumping the pay stations shortly after, only for them to spot you. Both of them smiled at you too. Genuinely happy to see you standing there.

"Hey Y/n!" Mikey waved, jogging up to you with Leo in tow.

Another wave of emotion hit you as it confirmed the thoughts floating in your head. Once they got close enough you leapt towards them, wrapping them both in a tight squeeze.

"Ack—!" Mikey cried out as he caught you in his arm, followed by a light, confused laughter.

Leo, ever the worrier, pinching his brows together. "Are you okay?" He asked while carefully returning the hug.

You nodded as a huge grin spread across your face, tears welling and slipping from the pair of dewy eyes. "Yeah. I am." And you were.

The brothers shared a look. Mikey shrugged and Leo dared to smile before tightening their old on you tenfold. Leo snuggled down against your neck while Mikey pressed his cheek to your head. Your toes were only things of you still touching the floor as they collected you snugly

"You missed me Y/n?" Mikey asked, playfully squishing his cheek on you a bit more.

You couldn't form words without fear of spitting some kind of mucus, thanks to all the fluids your face was producing. All you could do to explain was offer a small nod before squeezing them tighter.

Splinter stepped out from the dojo just as this unfolded and his eyes easily fell onto you three. A warm, secret smile pulled across his face at the sight.

"My children," he called, slowly stepping towards us. The turtles lifted their eyes and you peered over your shoulder, slipping your arms from around them as you turned around. His whiskers perked slightly. "It's nice to see you smiling." He muses, coming to a stop at the top of the steps that led to the dojo.

He said 'my children,' not 'my sons'

If you were crying before, whatever was happening now was far worse. The tears felt like they were pushing against the back of your eyes, fighting to get out faster in heavy streams. The sniffles you fought with became uncontrolled as your nose began to pour, nothing could stop it despite your best inhaling.

Leo placed his hands on your shoulders and rubbed them up and down. "It's alright Y/n." He cooed softly.

Splinters eyes landed squarely on you and he continued his approach, pulling out a handkerchief from the folds of his kimoto. "You have been strong Y/n." He extends the cloth to you, which you readily accept. As you tend to your nose he smiles and places his hand atop your head. You shyly meet his eye. "But for now, it is okay to rest."

This simple affirmation shluffed a weight from your back. What kind of rat tricks were these?

You frantically wiped your eyes free of any water tracks, unable to maintain contact with his eyes when he held such pride in them.

"Th-Thank you." You croak out with a shaky smile pulling your lips.

He shook his head as if to brush away my thanks, but he made no verbal fight. Instead he gave my head an affectionate pet before giving Leo and Mikey smiles. "I will see you all in a bit." He turned his eyes back to you. "Rest." He urged.

You nodded, but thoughts and unrest bubbled within your head. There was no way you were going to be able to rest just yet. "Okay." You said.

Leo's eyes met yours and you grinned. "How about it?" You ask, "Let's get some sleep. Then tomorrow we can go topside and grab some noodles." You laugh to yourself.

Maybe we could actually finish these ones.

He smiled back and scooped your hand into his, giving it a loving squeeze. "Definitely."

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Happy (almost) 5th anniversary to the beginning of this book! (Jan 19th 2018)

Next chapter is going to be the last bby <3

Thank you for being such an amazing community, like, some of the funniest shit I've seen has come from the comments of this book and I genuinely thank you for that.

Fun fact: Woven's first working title was Over and Under. That only lasted for probably a week or so after the first two chapters were published. It was in reference to Y/n switching between being under and over ground throughout the story. Woven was just a one word shortening of that title, but it feels like it's taken on new territory and not really referring to Y/n's physical locations throughout the book lol

Anyway, that's the fun fact
(only dropping this bc I've been contemplating on what the title Woven is supposed to mean and I really don't know anymore. I'm leaning towards it referring to all the people who's lives are, for lack of a better word, woven together by the reader.)

Also! I got my first tatty on Dec 9, 2022 😎 I'm now a certified hottie.
It was script from Dragon Age: Origins and I was shitting bricks when I found out they made a dragon age show on Netflix that came out the same day.