𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍: 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆

WARNING: UNDERAGE DRINKING, ADULT PROVIDING ALCOHOL TO A MINOR

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

THE SWEET SOUND of Taylor Swift's song 'Enchanted' drifted along the thin walls of the Jones' apartment as Kylie stirred away at the pot on her stove.

Three weeks had flown by in an instant it felt like for the young adult, and as her finals drew closer, she found herself becoming more anxious and nervous. So, she distracted herself with cooking. Thanksgiving was Kylie-Rose's craziest time of year, even worse than Christmas  for her. She found that she was more stressed with preparing the perfect heartfelt meal than buying the perfect gift.

And, although Thanksgiving was still 3 days away; Kylie slaved away in the kitchen, preparing all of the Thanksgiving classics for the large feast. But, this year was different. For the first time in almost 6 years, she was celebrating with someone other than Casey. Splinter had asked the Jones' siblings to join his family, including April, for Thanksgiving. Kylie, the overachiever and people pleaser she is, insisted on preparing most of the food.

While Splinter tried to convince her it was unnecessary, he soon realized that he wouldn't be able to discourage her. So, here she was; standing alone in her kitchen, seasoning a turkey, and humming along to Taylor Swift.

Just as she placed the turkey back into the freezer, she heard the sound of the front door knob jingle. She smiled as Casey's voice rang through the apartment.

"I'm home!"

Kylie washed her hands and smiled as Casey and April came into view. She then turned off her music before speaking.

"Hey! How was your date?"

"It was great! Your brother is quite the charmer." April comments before entangling her arm around Casey's

"Good job not fucking it up Case." Kylie compliments

"Haha." Casey fake laughs

"We're going to watch a movie in the livingroom, have you eaten yet?"

"Uh....no?" Kylie says with a shrug

"Kylie, it's 12pm! Why haven't you eaten?!"

"I had a big lunch! I'm not hungry!"

"Kylie."

April puts a hand on Casey's shoulder

"If she's not hungry, she's not hungry." April defends

Kylie smiles at her, thankful for her intervention.

"I'm going to my room, enjoy your movie."

As Kylie walked towards her room, Casey sighed.

"I'd just wish she'd eat. She's barely touched anything solid this week." Casey vents

"It's almost finals for her, right? I was like this before my finals. She's just stressed, she'll be fine after she takes them." April comforts

Casey nods, understanding the point she was making.

"I know. She just worries me, is all."

April laughs, rubbing his back comfortingly.

"Come on, I was promised a movie."

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

As Kylie flips through her textbooks for what felt like the 100th time, her phone dings. Her face lights up as she sees its from Leo.

Kylie laughs as Leo texts back.

Kylie smiles brightly,her stomach swimming with butterflies as she sees his reply.

Kylie smiles before quickly putting on one of her hoodies and packing her backpack.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Laughter and aggravated huffing fill the lair as Kylie and Leo enter. He rolls his eyes, already knowing what had happened. Kylie laughed, and Leo felt his heart warm at the sight. Leo lead her into the living room, where his brothers were gathered around the TV. Mikey was sitting in his usual spot on the floor and Raph sat above him on the couch, his face showing the anger he was feeling. Donnie was standing behind them, laughing at the two.

Leo sets Kylie's backpack down beside the couch, as he insisted on carrying it for her. He smiles at her as she plops down beside Raph, who looks actually happy to see her.

Leo takes a seat near the end of the couch, close enough to see the TV and join the conversation; but far enough he could have his own space. He would be lying if he said that he didn't want Kylie beside him; her presence always was more than enough to put him at ease. But he smiled and watched as she happily played with his brothers.

Donnie plops down beside Leo on the couch, his eyes remaining on the TV screen. But he looks at Leo through the corner of his eye and follows his gaze to the beautiful hazel eyed ravenette sitting on the other end of the couch.

"Why haven't you made a move yet?" Donnie questioned

Leo turns to him, confused

"Why haven't you asked Kylie out yet?"

Leo looks to him in shock, his 'eyebrows' raised high.

"What are you talking about?"

Donnie rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"I'm just saying you better make a move before Raph does."

Leo's eyes instantly snap over to Raph and Kylie, and he felt his blood boil over as he watches Raph casual throw his arm over her shoulder. Donnie simply gets up from his spot and walks towards his lab.

A mischievous smile resting on his face.

Leo sat there for another hour, watching as Raph continued to make small, almost unnoticeable touches along Kylie's arms and shoulders.

Finally, he had enough. Leo abruptly stood up and walked over to the front of the TV screen, blocking everyones view.

"Hey, man what's your problem?!" Mikey asked

A chorus of similar answers came from Kylie and Raph, who were in the middle of a race.

"Kylie, we should go see about Don helping you with your school work."

"Awww....but Donnie stays up extremely late!" Kylie whinned

Leo gave her a look and Kylie pouted her lip a little. She groaned and got up off the couch. She handed her controller to Mikey and waved goodbye to Raph before following Leonardo to the purple clad turtles nest.

Raph shook his head at his older brother before sinking back down into his seat and resting the race.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

After 2 1/2 hours of Law & Criminal Justice history, even Donnie was ready for bed. Kylie let out a large yawn, stretching her arms outwards. Leo watched as her tongue rolled out of her mouth and back in, and he could help but find it the sexiest thing he had even seen.

Leo looks down at her, his eyes soft and caring. She lets out a smaller yawn as she looks up at him. She gives him a soft smile before rubbing her hands together.

"I guess I should head home. It's late."

Leo looked down at her, his eyes deep and relaxing. Kylie thought she might pass out right there.

"Stay the night. You can take my room." Leo offers

Kylie blinks a few times, and Leo can tell it's taking her a second to process his request.

"Oh, that's so sweet. But I'm not going to take your bed. If anything, I'll sleep on the couch."

"Trust me, you don't want to sleep on the couch, Raph and Mikey have been inhabiting it for years." Leo jokes

Kylie laughs lightly, and the world around Leo seems to slow down.

"Well I don't want to make you sleep on the couch, it's your bed." Kylie says with a yawn

"I'm texting Casey to let him know you're staying the night, come on." Leo says before gently guiding her towards his room.

Kylie was too tired to protest, her sleepless nights catching up with her. As Leo opens the door, even tired Kylie was amazed by the sight.

It was a neatly put together room. While the walls were oblivious concrete (due to living in the sewers), Leo had them strategically decorated, you could barely see the hard grey material. His room was lit by multipal Japanese styled laturns, and Kylie smiled when she saw his wooden bookshelf in the left corner of his room. She felt at ease in his room, it was like being in a Japanesed styled version of her own room. However, the only American furniture piece was his bed. A queen sized bed was placed against the right wall, covered in solid navy blue comforter and two matching color pillows.

When she turned her attention to Leo, he was stood awkwardly as she finished examining the room.

"What's wrong Blue?"

Leo bites his lip carefully, before stepping closer.

"So, uh- what do you think. I know it's-"

"Leo I love your room." Kylie cuts him off

Leo stops, his mouth slightly wide.

"Really?"

"Yes! I could I not?!" Kylie says before walking over to the book shelf.

She ran her hands across the withered spines of the torn books, and smiled when she landed on a familiar book.

"You have the 'Throne of Torns' series? Have you read it?"

Leo gulped and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh, once or twice..."

Kylie's smile brightens

"It's my favorite series! I didn't take you for a romantic." Kylie teased

Leo's face reddens and Kylie smiled at his cuteness.

"It- was mainly the thriller- that kept me reading. The mystery, not the romance!"

Kylie giggled and Leo, even in his embarrassed state, smiled at her.

"Well, I happened to enjoy both the romance and mystery. We should the next book together, I have it pre-ordered!"

Leo smiles down at her, becoming more comfortable with the conversation.

"I would like that. But, right now. You need to get to bed." Leo instructs

Kylie rolls her eyes at him, and suddenly become very aware that she was in Leonardo's room. Her face turns crimson and she quickly adjusts her head; that way her hair covers her face.

"Are you okay? You're not hot are you?" Leo asked concern as he sees the slight red of her cheeks poking out through her hair.

"No, no! I'm okay. I'm just tired, my skin gets agitated..." She half lied

Leo nods and then looks around his room, unsure what to do next. Kylie looks down at the ground, rubbing her forearms.

"You get settled in, I'll go sleep on the couch." Leo tells her

"No, this is your room. I'll sleep on the couch." Kylie tells him

The two begin to bicker, both arguing about who would take the couch; until Leo suggested something else.

"Okay, fine. You sleep on the bed, and I'll make a plait on the floor."

"No, that's even worse! You're not sleeping on the floor!"

"Then where do you expect me to sleep?!" Leo whispered yell, trying not to wake up his family

"In your bed! I'll just go home!"

"No! It's late! That's dangerous!"

Kylie gives him a look and crosses her arms. Her attention then turns to the bed in question, and she gets an idea.

"Okay...since we both don't want the other person on the floor or couch...what if we share the bed?"

Leo stops for a second and turns to look at his bed. It was big enough for them both to share, but the thought of having Kylie beside him...in bed, gave him mixed feelings.

"I don't know...I don't want to accidentally roll over and crush you."

Kylie gives him a look and raises her eyebrow.

"Hmm...that's sound like an excuse."

Leo returns her look and inches towards her.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That you're scared." Kylie says as she moves closer to him

"And why would I be scared?" Leo asked before taking one last step towards her.

Kylie's face become soft, and Leo feels goosebumps as she touches his arm.

"I think you're scared to let me close to you. To let me in."

Leo stops, and looks down at her. And he realized that she was right, for the past month he had been holding her at arms length, too scared of rejection and honestly waiting for her too show a truer, nastier version of herself.

Kylie smiled up at him and comfortingly rubbed his arm.

"It's okay, I understand."

And he knew she did.

"How about this, you take me home."

Leo sighs before nodding and Kylie pulls him into a hug.

"I'll be here when you're ready." She whispers

And he knew she would.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

The next two days flew by, and before Kylie knows it she's walking back down to the lair. It was currently 9am, meaning that Mikey was still soundly sleeping away in his room, Raph was punching away in his gym area, Donnie was making coffee before heading back to his lab; and Leo had long since started his day.

She smiled at Donnie and she walked into the kitchen, arms full of different foods. Donnie instantly gets up from his seat and helps her set the stuff down on the counter.

"Thanks Donnie. Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Happy Thanksgiving. How has your morning been?" Donnie asked before walking over to the coffee pot.

"Long. I got up at 5am to put the turkey in the oven." Kylie tells him

Donnie hums before pouring another cup and adding Kylie's creamer into it and sliding it over to her. She smiles at him as a thank you before taking a sip.

"Donnie, I know I tell you this all the time, but you make the best coffee."

Donnie smiles at her before raising his cup.

"I should, with how many pots I make a day."

Kylie laughs and raises her cup as well. She takes another sip before beginning to lay out all of the different ingredients.

"What are you making?" Donnie asked

"Well, for the main dish is obviously the turkey. But for the sides I'm making a green bean casserole, a squash casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and my personal favorite: cheesey broccoli casserole." Kylie answers

Donnie nods his head

"Sound delicious. Definitely going to be the best Thanksgiving meal we've ever had." Donnie tells her

"Really? These are all traditional Thanksgiving foods."

"Yeah, well, none of us really cook. We just eat pizza and watch the Super Bowl."

"That's so sad. Okay now I really have to make this a good meal." Kylie says before beginning to start on one of the casserole

"It'll be fine Kylie, I just have one request."

Kylie looks at and nods for him to continue.

"Will you please make that apple cobbler you were telling me about?"

Kylie laughed before responding

"Casey's at the store right now grabbing the ingredients for it."

Donnie fist-bumped the air and Kylie laughed loudly, Donnie turned and gave her  a smile before heading towards his lab. Kylie shakes her head and begins to mix the ingredients.

After 30 minutes, she was able to put together the casseroles. She slides them into oven as a certain turtle walks up behind her.

"Mornin' Shorty. Whatcha makin'?" Raph asked as he leaned against the counter

Kylie turned around and smiled at him, she watched the sweat bead from the side of his face and slowly drip down. Her eyes widen at the sight and she tried to calm down her racing heart. She put on a fake smile before shaking her head.

"Morning Raph, I'm making dinner."

"This early? It's like 9 in da mornin'"

"I know. Thanksgiving dinner typical takes all day to prepare." Kylie tells him as she begins to set out the dishes needed for the mashed potatoes

"You must be makin' alota food."

"It'll be a three course meal." She tells him with a smile.

"Impressive. April ain't ever cooked anythin' like that."

Kylie shakes her head at him before her eye widen at the sweat dripping onto the counter.

"Okay, I need you out of the kitchen."

"What, why?"

"You're sweat is getting on the counter. That's nasty." Kylie says seriously

"Ah, come on. You ain't really freaking out over sweat." Raph asked confused

"Raph, please. You're going to give me an anxiety attack. I need you to go shower if you're going to stand in the kitchen." Kylie tells him

Raph gets off the counter and looks deep into her eyes. He tilts his head once he sees that she's serious freaking out.

"Whatta hell is wrong with ya'? My sweat ain't-"

"Raphael! You were asked to leave. It is rude too argue her reasoning." Splinter says, making his presence known

"Kylie has been generous enough to make us an actual Thanksgiving dinner."

Raph mumbles something under his breath before turn to look at Kylie. She gives him a sympathetic smile, which he returns with anger; before storming off.

"I'm sorry, Splinter. I wasn't-"

But Splinter puts his hand up as he walked over to the sink and pulled the cleaning supplies out. Kylie watched as he walked over to the counter and cleaned the spot where Raph was once standing.

"Raph handles all matters in anger. He is, unfortunately, my most closed-minded child. He struggles to understand those who are different from him." Splinter justifies

"I know. I just...I tried really hard not to freak out, but-"

"No, my child. You have cursed and blessed with a mind that handles things differently. I have noticed that even when you are relaxing, you are stressed. But from that stress, many positive bloom. You are much like Leonardo in this aspect." Splinter analyzes

Kylie listens as he speaks, but continues to finish prepping the potatoes.

"I only ask that you forgive Raphael. He is emotional, and Leonardo struggles to understand his outburst."

Kylie nods and smiles. Splinter sticks his nose into the air, taking in the smells.

"There are many wonderful smells that have never graced this kitchen before. I would like to learn from you, how to make these meals."

Kylie smiles and nod brightly as Splinter takes a seat at the counter.

"Okay, first you want to..."

Leo smiles as he leans against the wall outside the kitchen. Kylie happens to gaze over and catches his stare. She smiles at him before turning her full attention back to Splinter.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Kylie whipped her hands off on a near by dish towel as she put away the last dirty mixing pot. She looked down at her phone and saw that it was 5:30pm. She smiled as she hears Raph and Casey yell happily at the TV, the Super Bowl playing loudly as the crowd cheers.

Master Splinter had long since left the kitchen, to peacefully meditate before dinner. Throughout the day, Kylie was visited by each one of the turtles; except for one.

Donnie visited enough, that Kylie was able to catch on that he was trying to be more social. He visited her a few times, complimenting her cooking and expressing his excitement for desert.

Mikey visited the most. He came into the kitchen almost every thirty minutes after he woke up. He even listened as Kylie taught Splinter about some of her favorite recipes.

Even Raph made a point to stop by. He came in around lunch. He ignored Kylie at first and she did the same to him. But not long after, they talked and Raph began to understand more about her mental disease. After that, he stopped by a few more times; until the game started.

Leo, however, was nowhere to be seen all day, besides for that split second earlier in the day. Kylie frowned as she realized that her favorite turtle, not that she would ever admit that to the others, had not come to see her. She then remembered the other night, and realized that he must be putting more distance between them.

She felt a mixture of emotions brewing in the pit of her stomach. Sadness, worry, and... Anger. Leo had been playing a limbo with her since the beginning. There was no compromise, everything was on his terms. And she was done letting him have control over her.

Kylie's frown deepened, until she feels her phone buzzing against her thigh.

Kylie smiled and laugh happily as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"Something exciting happen?"

Kylie looked up and stared deep into Leo's eyes as he leaned against the wall. Something in Kylie clicked, a pattern in herself that she had not before notice. She stared deep into Leo and suddenly became upset once more.

Her smile dimned and Leo noticed. It was the smallest adjustment, one that happened so fast that you would never know if you weren't watching. But Leo was. He always was.

"Yeah...Gabi's coming to America." Kylie explains

She brushed the side of her pants off as Leo enters the kitchen.

"That's exciting..."

Leo trails off and Kylie move her head towards counter. Leo bites his lip, his teeth sinking into his thin scaly lip line.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you all day." Kylie asked not looking at him

"I saw you this morning."

Kylie picks her head up from the counter and Leo instantly regrets speaking. He gulps silently before taking a seat next to Kylie.

"I'm sorry. I just...uh-"

"Leo, I can't keep doing this." Kylie finally says

Leo feels his heart stop as she looked deep into his eyes.

"What...what do you mean?"

"I spend all my time and energy making sure you're okay. Leo, I have spent every waken moment since meeting you; being here for you. When you need to talk, I drop everything. Having a bad day? I come running. Raph mouthing off? I listen as your rant on for hours; like I don't have a paper due a few hours later. I can't keep doing this Leo."

Leo soaks in her words, his eyes glistening.

"You keep me at arms length Leo, and I can understand that. We haven't known each other for as long as it feels like. Hardly a month. And I know I'm far more trusting than you. But what I can't handle is you jumping back and forth. You let me in one second and the next you've kicked me to the curb. I'm done. I don't belong to you, I have a life."

Leo lowers his head in shame as tears glisten in Kylie's eyes. She gets up and walks out of the kitchen, heading straight for the exit.

Leo watches as she goes, and it takes everything in him to keep from following; knowing it will only make it worse.

Casey turns to April as he watches Kylie rush out of the lair. Donnie, who was beside him, turned his attention to the kitchen; where Leo sat with his head in his hands.

Casey goes to get up, but April stops him. She had followed Donnie's gaze and pieced together the situation.

"I'll talk to her. Girl stuff."

April grabs her purse before getting up and following Kylie. Donnie then excuses himself before getting up and heading to the kitchen.

As he enters he heads for the fridge, and grabs two soda's. Leo picks his head up, and lowers his gaze once he sees Donnie.

Donnie slides him one of the sodas and takes a seat beside him.

"What did you do now?"

Leo turns to him, and Donnie can see the slight tears in the corners of his eyes.

Leo goes into detail, recreating the moment for Donnie and giving examples to prove Kylie's point.

By the time he was finished, Donnie was shaking his head.

"You idiot. You really know nothing about emotions and people."

"You think I don't know that, Don?" Leo snapped

Donnie shakes his head before slapping Leo's

"What was that for?"

"For being an idiot. Why are you still here?"

"Because if I went after her, it would look like I was trying to control her."

Donnie facepalms

"You fucking idiot. It's not about you being a damn control freak, it's about you not caring!"

Leo stopped and Donnie watched as realization flooded his face. He looked up to Donnie, who nodded; before taking off towards the exit.

Mikey wandered into the kitchen as Donnie leaned against the counter.

"Where's Kylie and Leo? I'm ready to eat."

Donnie chuckles before sliding him a snack.

"Eat this. It might be a while."

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

April took in a breath as she made it to the surface. She has spent a while looking for Kylie, and realized that she had to have gone above ground.

As April took a step, she could hear hushed cries coming from around the corner and she quietly followed them.

She frowned as she watched Kylie curl herself up into a ball and sob deep into her knees. She gently walked over and put her arms around Kylie, caressing her hair softly.

Kylie stopped crying after a while and slowly raised her head to see April sitting beside her. April continues to stroke her hair before speaking.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Kylie nods and slowly explains to April her problem with Leo.

"...and I..really like him...and he just-"

"Oh honey." April says before pulling her into a hug.

"I...I know it's too fast... And I can't jump into another relationship- but I...."

April continues to stroke her hair. She then turns to her purse and looks at the bottle inside.

"I had originally brought this for me and Casey. So don't tell him I gave you any; the officer in him will come out." April says before pulling out the bottle and cups.

Kylie turns to her and her eyes go wide as she reads the label '99 Proof'.

"Uh, April?"

"Hm?"

"I'm only 19."

"I know. But every college kid drinks, and I'm only handing you a cup."

April then hands her the tequila and Kylie leaned back against the wall. She plays with the cup in her hands, before taking a sip. She winces at the bad taste, before handing it back to April.

She laughs before pulling her into another hug.

"Now that I've made sure you won't be running to the bottle to solve this: lets go back down to the lair, have dinner, and then me and you can go Black Friday shopping."

Kylie nods and gives her a small smile. April helps her up and together they make their way towards the sewer lid. However, it opens both they can reach and sure enough; Leo sticks his head out.

"Kylie, can I please talk to you?"

"Hmmm.... I don't really want to listen to you Leo. I spend a lot of time just listening to you."

April puts a hand on her shoulder and nods. Kylie sighs and April nods at Leo before climbing back down into the sewers. Kylie wraps her arms around her herself as the wind blew against her. Leo watched as she stood before him, an angel of light in a city filled with darkness.

"Kylie..I'm sorry. I know I've spent a lot of our friendship apologizing to you and then continue to use you. I can't promise to always have my guard down around you, at least not right now."

Kylie nods and turns her head towards the direction of the wind.

"I know, Leo. I know. I'm just.... My mental health, I just...I need a break. I feel that I've spent the past few weeks just giving and giving. And that isn't yours or anyone else fault. It's just who I am. And I get quickly burnt out. I've always felt this way, and taking to Gabi today..."

Leo took a step forward.

"What, what did she say?"

"It was nothing she said, I just realized something. I do the same thing with everyone, I give and give and give at the beginning of all of my friendship and then I get burnt out and ghost them. And I don't want to do that to you guys."

Leo watched as the tears rolled down Kylie's face as she refused to make eye contact with him. He stepped forward and Kylie was caught off guard when he pulled her in for a hug.

After the shock wore off, she held onto Leo; as if for dear life.

"Take as much time as you need. I'll be here when you're ready." He whispered to her

Kylie laughed through her tears and hugged Leo tighter. After a while they broke apart. Leo took a step back before gently pushing the hair out of her face and whipping away her tears.

Kylie held his hand tightly as she smiled.

"Come on, I'm sure Mikey's starving."