RYW 6

Raph took a walk through the rest of campus, waiving to familiar faces. He was starting to grow impatient when he finally received a text from Donnie to meet up back at his apartment. The olive green turtle had gotten caught up in something that was taking longer than expected. "Hmph, typical..." He texted back and waited for the reply with the address.

Raphael stepped out of the cab unsure if he was at the right place. There was loud music and a heavy crowd. "Yoooo, Raphie! Come on up! We are throwing ya a 'welcome home' party!" Raphael growled at Michelangelo. He should've known that Don had moved in with his bandmates. Trying to ignore the loud-mouth, he quickly turned on his heel and started to walk away.

"Raph! Wait!" Raphael stopped instantly, taking a deep breath.

"Don... When I said we should catch up, I meant more like 'you and me', not the whole fucking hipster community!" Raph was livid. This was very out or character of Donnie and it made him feel like he had lost his brother once again.

"I know... I'm sorry, Raph. This wasn't my doing. You see, Mikey likes throwing these get togethers every now and then, and he will find ANY reason for them..." Donnie was rubbing his elbow nervously. Something he had done ever since they were kids whenever he felt embarrassed by something. Raphael took a deep breath, and gave him a small grin.

"Wanna take a walk?" Donnie smiled at his brother, nodding in response.

For the first two blocks, the brothers were silent, only exchanging looks and grins. As they walked, they came past a small news stand. On its stall there was a lineup of magazines, when Raph looked closer he noticed the same one that was at Casey's, his brother's toothy mug on the bottom corner of the cover. "So, what's the article about?" Raphael approached the vendor and purchased a copy. He immediately started to browse the pages.

"Oh, uhm, just a silly interview they did on us about our likes and such... You know... For the fans, I guess." Donnie's face was as flushed as it has ever been.

"Well then, let's see what we have 'ere... Favorite color... Favorite food... Favorite quote... Geesh! This is garbage!" Raphael bent over in laughter. Donnie's eyes grew wide before he started to laugh as well. They both laughed until their stomachs hurt. Suddenly, Raph felt a strong force hit him and tighten up around his body. As he looked down, he saw his brother's head against his plastron. He felt a tug in his heart, and returned the hug. "Let's sit for a bit..." he whispered into Don's ear slit.

Don and Raph sat on a bus-stop bench side by side. They remained quiet for a good almost three minutes before Donnie broke the silence. "All our lives we grew up hearing mother praise you for your strength and me for my smarts... She always use to tell me to be grateful I was born with this brain of mine cause I could never survive in the real world without it... And father would always say 'at least Raphael can fight... At least Raphael is athletic... At least Raphael is a hard worker...'" Raph took a deep breath, ready to say anything that blurted out, but Donnie's pause was not long before he continued. "Don't get me wrong, Raph. I was never jealous of you in any way. I love you. I just... Always wondered if I could do more..."

Raphael's eyes were wide open. His golden colored orbs glistening at the expectancy of more words.

"You were always the outgoing one. People always gravitated to you. And when you made the relay team, I just felt I was being left behind..." Donnie's brown eyes had tears gathering at their corners.

"Don... I don't understand... You were the one who worked the hardest for the exchange scholarship... To have the chance to see Japan with all the tech stuff that ya like... And to leave the hurt behind for good... But then, ya just bailed..." Raph had to turn his face away from Don's. If he saw the painful expression in his eyes, he would end up choking his words down.

"I know... But I felt if I didn't jump on this opportunity, I would have just ended up proving dad right... That I am not good for anything else other than studying... I wanted to be more, Raph..." Donnie's voice started to grow stronger. Raph could sense the resolve in it.

"When ma' died, we promised to be there for each other. Ta stick together. Always. What makes ya think I wouldn't have stayed with ya and supported ya?" Raph could feel his temper raising as he remembered the night before he left abroad.

"We can't keep holding each other back, Raphael. One's decision shouldn't reign over the other's." Those words threw Raphael over the edge.

"I wasn't just picking a different school, asshole! I was flying halfway around the globe!" Raph got up in a haste. "You didn't even give me a chance to understand you! You... You LEFT ME BEHIND!"

"YOU were always leaving ME behind!!!" Donatello stood up and flung his arms in the air as he screamed his feelings out. To those words, Raph was speechless. They were both breathing heavy.

As Raphael steadied his breath, he started to understand Donnie's true feelings. "I know that ya always covered for me with Stan. Mom told me... Before she died. She told me about the day I sneaked out for the team trials, how you made it so that sorry excuse for a father had to leave the house instead of go looking for me."

"Yeah... Mom helped too. She distracted him while I poured his beers down the toilet so he would go and buy more..." Don grinned at the memory. "Well... I am your big brother, you know... I'm supposed to cover for you in those cases."

"Define 'big'." Donnie looked at him and dug his elbow in Raph's plastron and they both chuckled lightly. "Listen, Don... I never meant ta make ya feel like less... And I'm truly happy about the whole band thing, honest. It's a good look for ya. Just, promise me ya won't shut me out anymore... Ya know... Keep me in tha loop, will ya?"

"You got it,bro." Donnie wiped his tears away. "Oh, Leo told us you were joining us for practice today? I have to admit I was very shocked. What brought that on?"

Raph's face scrunched up, he couldn't help but now think about sleazy Leonardo. Boy was he peeved at him! Those hazel eyes, hooded by that alluring smile and plump lips... Raphael shock his head to get the image out. That damn Leo had definitely played him so he would loose his aim on purpose. Every time Raph thought of that smile he felt his face get hot... But it was more than rage that fueled that response.

Donnie stared at him waiting for an explanation, when he saw his brother's face turn red. "Oh damn... No. Way... Really!?"

Raphael's eyes widened and his mouth twitched, opening up only to snap shut again. His eyes looked around him and then back at Don. "Sh-shut ap, Don!"

"How did this happen?" Donnie was now speaking in a low shushed tone.

"Nothing happened!" Raphael snapped back.

"R~ight..." Donnie decided he would leave the subject alone. Maybe Raph was still sorting his head around things, and he knew his brother would eventually come to him if he needed to. For now, he would just enjoy he fact that he had gotten his brother back. The two brothers walked off towards a nearby cafe. The place was a little fancy for Raph's liking, but Donnie said he would pick up the tab, so he put up with it while he spent some time with his brother. They talked about the past year... Raph showed off a little with his now fluent Japanese, Donnie showed him some new song lyrics ideas, they made fun of Casey, spoke of April... It felt good.

As Don was laughing at Raph's bad impersonation of Mr. Bishop, he received a text from Leo. 'Group practice cancelled. Tryout for Raphael being held instead. Don't say a word, act normal. See you at 'Speakeasy' in an hour.' Donnie gulped hard. Whenever anyone told him to 'act normal' they might as well tell him to be completely obvious and awkward as shit. "Something up, bro?" Raph always saw right through him.

"Uhm, no, nothing, nothing at all. Why would you think something is, uhm, up?" Donnie stammered his words, bringing the glass with water to his mouth, forcing himself to stop rambling.

Raph raised a brow. "R~ight..."

"Whatever! Come on, we gotta start heading out so we can make it on time." Don stood up and waived the waiter over. He handed over a hundred dollar bill, thanked him and started to walk out.

"Yo, wait up, bro. What 'bout yer change?"

"It's ok. Gratuity." Don said naturally.

"Gratuity? My ass! That dude did shit! The bill was like sixty bucks!"

Don's face started to turn red as he noticed people's heads turn towards them. "It's ok, Raph," he whispered. "We come here frequently, it's custom... Leave it alone."

Raphael groaned, he shook his hand in the air towards the waiter, then walked behind Donnie towards the exit.

Raph proceeded to waive a cab down while Don got on the phone to call his driver. "Raph! What are you doing?"

"Getting a cab, what does it look I'm doing?" He rolled his eyes at Don and pushed him into the commoner's yellow car. "I went to yer fancy cafe, now you hop in my dirty cab." Donnie giggled at his brother. He didn't mind public transportation at all, but Raph probably didn't know that the car and driver were paid for and part of his contract as an artist in Foot Productions.

Raph stretched out and closed his eyes, he felt so relaxed now being so close to Donnie again. Don took a nice breath and gave the driver directions. Then another text came through. 'Shredder might be stopping by...' Donnie's body tensed up. He wasn't too fond about his producer. Oroku Saki had always been very nice to all of them, and they were successful thanks to his contacts and guidance, but there was something about that man that had always rubbed him wrong...