The next morning, Madi woke up around five to leave for school. She didn't want to risk running into the guys, her mother, or Splinter. She quickly slammed her fist against her alarm clock, silencing it before any of the others could wake up. Madi yawned as she sat up in her bed, stretching her arms over her head. Once she was finished doing that, she turned on her lamp that rested on her night-stand and looked around as she got used to the light.

Madi stood up and tip-toed over to her closet, choosing a pair of jeans with shredded knees and a regular red t-shirt with the word 'Nickelback' covering the front in black print. Nickelback was one of her favorite bands. After changing, she pulled on her sneakers and grabbed her backpack, then slowly opened her bedroom door. The hallway was dark as everyone else slept. Madi smiled, happy that this plan was going to work. For the rest of the week, all she needed to do was wake up early enough to leave and then come home late so that she wouldn't see anyone. Simple.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she walked down the hall silently. She could hear Mikey snoring from inside his bedroom. Or was it Sam? Lately, Madi's pet had taken a liking to sleeping at the foot of Mikey's bed instead of Madi's. Which in one way hurt her, but in another- Nah, it hurt and that's it. There was no other way to look at it. She hadn't said anything to Mikey about it yet since he loved having a new friend with him, but eventually she would take her dog back. But not yet, she was going to let Mikey enjoy this for a while.

As she turned the kitchen light on, she nearly screamed in shock as she saw that she wasn't the only one awake. The two stared at each other for a second, unsure of who should talk first. He cleared his throat, removing the shocked and confused look and replacing it with a glare.

"Go back to bed." Raph growled as he sat at the kitchen table, an open can of Dr.Pepper resting beside his right hand. Madi was surprised to see that his mask was off and no-where to be found, most likely still in his bedroom. Since he was mask-less, she noticed that his eyes were blood-shot and puffy, like he had been crying. Had he had a nightmare and was drinking a can of pop while everyone was still asleep to calm himself down?

"No." Madi replied as she folded her arms. Raph's eye-ridge raised up, questioning her answer. But she shook his look off as she walked over to the cupboards and opened them up. She looked around for the box of granola bars, feeling Raph's eyes on the back of her skull. She grabbed the cardboard box and pulled out one of the wrapped snacks, stuffing it in her backpack to eat later, then closed the cupboards. Madi turned around, facing him again with her arms folded.

"Are you-?"

"I'm fine." Raph snapped at her before she could even finish her sentence. He grabbed the can of Dr.Pepper and took a long gulp, then set it back down on the table top. She rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't going to ask that, Hot-Head." she told him.

"Then what were you going to ask me?" he questioned her with a snobby tone in his voice.

"I was going to ask you if you needed another can of Dr.Pepper." She said, her tone softening slightly as she walked over to the refridgerator and grabbed her own can. The can fizzed as she cracked it open. Madi walked over and sat down across the table from him, resting her free hand on the table. 

"Why are you up so early?" he asked her after a long moment of silence.

"I wanted to avoid anyone before I went to school. I was going to leave a note for April that said I was already there, so she and Jacob wouldn't have to walk me." Madi explained, not looking up at him.

"It's about last night, isn't it?" Raph's voice was starting to soften, the anger and hatred starting to subside.

"What else would it be about?" Madi asked him, looking up. "I know I screwed up by being late, and I'm sorry. I told my mom that. I told Splinter that-"

"You didn't tell us that, Madi." Raph interupted. "Your mom and Splinter aren't the only ones who deserved an apology. We all care about you, not just them." Madi rolled her eyes.

"You're kidding me, right? You can't just pull that on me now, Raph." Madi scoffed at him.

"Pull what? It's the truth. They all care about you like crazy. Donnie loves it when you hang with him in his lab, Mikey adores you and your mind filled with pizza, and Leo's just happy that Mikey's found a friend."

"What about you, Raph?" Madi asked him. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. It didn't feel like the right time to tell her that he liked her, but what else could he say? It would've been stupid to telll her that he didn't care about her, but if he said that her did then he wouldn't be able to stop himself from pouring out his emotions and feelings to her. He could only keep his feelings locked up so long before they'd just flow out.

There was another long moment of silence as he struggled to find the right things to say. Madi smirked, trying to hide her sadness. "So that's it, then? I'm good company for Donnie when I'm not talking, a great way to keep Mikey occupied and out of Leo's way, and then nothing when it comes to you." Madi stood up. "I should've known you wouldn't understand. No one knows what I'm going through-"

The sound of a bedroom door opening interupted her words as Donnie stepped out of his bedroom, seeing the light from the kitchen from under neath his door and causing him to wake up. That was the one thing he hated about his room, was that the light was always coming in unless he covered the cracks with a blanket. But he only had one, which he needed at all times since the sewer got chilly at night and freezing in the winter.

"Raph," Donnie started as he closed his door behind him and approached his brother. He, too, wasn't wearing his mask. "who were you talking to?"

Raph looked back at where Madi had been sitting...

....but she had already left the lair.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Madi climbed out of the sewer, then shoved the the man-hole cover back over. The sun hadn't even risen yet, which was a good sign for Madi. Heading in the direction of her school, she knew that this was definitely going to be a long week for her.

Both mentally and emotionally.

Standing outside of her school, she sat on the stairs as she waited for the doors to unlock. 

Yep, this was going to be a reeeaaally long week for her.