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Raph’s eyes flickered to the rearview mirror and found Casey staring at him. They both immediately looked away, faces flushed.
The turtles, April, and Casey were on a road trip up to April’s farmhouse, a good four hours away. After all of their adventures, they knew they deserved a break. Besides, if there was any trouble in the city, the mutanimals had it covered.
Raph was anxious. They’d all gotten up at five in the morning and left at six so that they’d have the whole day once they got there. April and Casey had slept in the pit, and the brothers in their rooms. That wasn’t what had him worked up though.
Raph liked to leave packing for the last minute. In that one hour of time, he was rushing to get everything he needed, and Casey had come to his room to keep him company while he completed his task, shoving everything into an overflowing duffle bag. Casey had sat on his bed watching him, a smirk on his face while Casey made fun of him. Raph had rolled his eyes, throwing harmless insults back at him.
Casey pulled into a gas station parking lot, startling Raph from his thoughts. He turned around in his seat, addressing the turtles.
“April and I are going in to get some breakfast. You guys want anything?” He asked, avoiding Raph’s eyes at all costs.
“Oh! Oh! Get me a doughnut!” Mikey said from the back of the party wagon.
“I’ll have a sausage and egg sandwich.” Donnie said, and Leo asked for the same.
“Raph?” Casey asked, finally looking at him.
Raph didn’t know what to say. He was still in shock from what had happened earlier, and he thought he would be for the rest of the day, and maybe his life. “Um.” He ended up saying, and then not continuing.
Raph and Casey stared at each other for a long time, making it awkward for the rest of them. April cleared her throat, making both of them blink, scaring them out of their trance.
“I’ll just get you what I’m getting.” Casey said, then turned back around, opening the door and slipping out of the van. April looked between the two of them, sighed, and followed after Casey. The party wagon was silent as they all went over the weird incident.
“What was that?” Donnie asked from the back, trying to get a better view of his brother.
Raph sighed and put his head in his hands. “Man, I don’t even know.” He mumbled, wiping his face. This was awful, and he didn’t know if he could handle their questions.
“Did something happen between you two? Did Casey finally make a move?” Leo asked, too emotionally invested in Raph and Casey’s budding relationship for his own good.
Raph turned his head and looked out the window, watching cars pull up despite the early hour. The sun had just started to rise, deep purples and pinks painting the sky. The air was chilly, and there was still fog on the wet roads, which only made the morning even more beautiful.
“Something like that.” Raph muttered, and his brothers cheered beside him.
“Dude, you gotta tell us what happened! Did you get together?” Mikey said, patting him on the back.
Raph huffed out a breath. He didn’t want to talk about it. “No. We didn’t.” He grumbled, because he was more heartbroken than anything. He hated this morning, he hated Casey, he hated himself because he didn’t do anything after the fact. He just stood there and let him slip through his fingers.
“Then what happened?” Donnie asked, because Leo wasn’t the only one who was over-invested in them.
Raph crossed his arms, still looking out the window. The reeds past the curb were drifting in the slight breeze, making the morning look more peaceful than it was. “Let’s just drop it for now. I’ll tell you later.”
Suddenly, the doors swung open, and April and Casey entered the van.
April turned around, passing out tall to-go cups of coffee. “The poor cashier was so confused about why we were buying so much. She looked like she was gonna pass out any second.”
Casey had another bag filled with the food they wanted. “Alright, Leo, wanna pass these out?” He asked, passing him the bag.
Leo grabbed his egg and sausage sandwich, setting it in his lap. He passed the other one to Donnie, and Mikey his doughnut. He passed what he assumed to be April’s to her, and gave the bag to Raph so he could see what Casey had gotten them for himself.
Casey’d gotten both of them an apple fritter, and if you looked at it the right way, it was in the shape of a heart.
The symbolism wasn’t lost on him.
Raph’s heart skipped a beat, and he passed Casey his. “Thanks, Case.” He said, and Casey grabbed the bag and took his out, pulling away the wax paper so he could take a bite.
“Anytime.” Casey said, turning back to the wheel. He put the van in reverse and pulled out, turning back onto the two lane highway. It was silent for a while before April grabbed an aux cord out of her backpack.
“Anyone want to listen to some music?” She asked, turning to them.
Leo suddenly got very excited. “You should play Long Drives by BoyWithUke. I think the chorus is fitting.” He said with a smirk, looking at Raph.
Raph turned to him, absolutely confused, until April turned on the song. The chorus immediately rang out, and Raph sat in his seat, shocked.
‘Cause I can’t do these long drives sittin’ in the back seat
Thinkin’ ‘bout that one night when the world caught fire, baby
And your eyes brightened up this dark scene
You told me I would be fine, I called you a liar
Raph didn’t like this. Not at all. It was too accurate, it fit them too well. He hated the song, and he hated Leo even more because he knew something had happened between them and he wanted to make fun of him.
As the song ended, Raph glared at his older brother. “You’re an asshole, dude.” He growled at him, and Leo just chuckled. He looked up, and Casey had his eyes on him again. He looked away out the window, and let the world fall away as he went over what had happened just hours before.
Raph had finished packing, stuffing the last of his belongings into his duffle. Casey was standing near the door, waiting for him. Raph shouldered the bag, and Casey approached him with a smile.
“I can carry that for you.” Casey said, reaching for the bag.
Raph grunted and pulled away. “I got it. What are you, prince charming or something?” He’d asked, and tried to go around him.
Casey grabbed his shoulder, holding him in place. Raph looked up at him, staring into his starry eyes. Casey bit his lip, and before he could think better, he leaned down and pressed his lips against his.
Raph didn’t know what to do. This came out of nowhere, this was the last thing he’d expected at five forty-five in the morning. He didn’t know what was going on, he didn’t understand how Casey could ever like him in the way he did. Casey was everything to him. And Casey was kissing him and he wasn’t kissing back and he had to fix that now or–
Raph started kissing him the second Casey pulled away. Casey backed up a few feet, because Raph didn’t kiss him back. He didn’t feel the same. Casey had to get out of there before he made all of this worse.
“Umm, ha. Sorry. Guess I just misread the signals.” Casey said, and saw Raph standing with his fingers on his lips, eyes as wide as the moon. “I’m gonna get out of here. I’ll, uh, see you. In the party wagon. Yeah.” He said, and slipped out of the room without turning back.
The duffel bag dropped to the floor as Raph stood there, shocked. He’d ruined everything. He’d ruined his chances, all because his last brain cell decided to jump ship the second he got what he wanted. He fell to the ground with his head in his hands, trying to calm himself down from the disaster that had just happened.
A few minutes later when his jaw had stopped trembling and his cheeks had dried, he picked up his bag and stood as tall as he could. He swung open the door, not at all ready for the day that had just begun.
Raph sighed, elbow on the armrest and chin in his hand, staring at the rolling hills that passed by. Today had started awfully, but maybe he could fix it. Maybe there was still hope.
They had about an hour and a half left in their trip before Casey started yawning. Casey was tired, more that he’d expected to be.
Leo spoke up, not wanting his friend to fall asleep at the wheel. He also had ulterior motives, hoping to get Raph and Casey back on track. “Casey, want me to take over? You sound tired.”
Casey yawned again, shaking his head and trying to stay awake. “I can make it. It’s cool.” He said, wanting to pull through for his friends.
Leo sighed. “Pull over. You’re exhausted, let me drive.”
Casey caved, because he really was tired. He put his blinker on and pulled over onto the shoulder. He got out of the van, and looked back and forth, watching for any cars. “No one’s coming, you can get in.” He said, and Leo got out and took the wheel.
Casey opened the door to take Leo’s spot, and noticed Raph looking at him with wide eyes. His heart beat a little faster as he stepped into the vehicle, barely a foot apart from Raph.
Despite his heart rate and the fact that Raph had his eyes on him, he really was tired. He slumped down onto the seat and crossed his arms, trying to get comfortable. He heard April turn the music down, and everyone else quieted so he could get some much needed shut eye.
He was about to drift off when he felt Raph grab his wrist and pull his hand closer. He threaded their fingers together and laid them on the seat between them, and Casey’s head immediately shot up to look at him.
Raph was staring out the window, trying to be nonchalant about it. He squeezed Casey’s hand and heard his breath hitch beside him, and tried not to do the same when Casey squeezed back.
Casey had a hard time falling asleep after that, but he felt safer than ever with his hand in Raph’s.
—
Before any of them knew it, they pulled into the rocky driveway of April’s farmhouse, startling Casey awake. He was suddenly very aware that his and Raph’s hands were still connected, and he dropped them because there was no way that had happened in the first place.
Leo pulled the party wagon to the front of the house and put it in park. “We’re here, grab your stuff and let’s head inside.” He said, stretching his arms over his head.
Casey pulled open the side door and stepped out, Mikey and Donnie not far behind. Raph stepped out from the other side of the van, and walked to the trunk and popped it open so he could get their things.
Raph started unloading the bags, making a pile on the ground. Once everything was out, he slammed down the trunk door and grabbed his bag, throwing it over his shoulder and making his way up to the house.
On impulse, Casey ran after him and put an arm on Raph’s shoulder, making him flinch. He turned to him, waiting for whatever Casey was going to say.
Casey cleared his throat and dropped his grip on Raph. “I gotta talk to you. About this morning.” He said, and watched Raph’s eyes widen.
Raph adjusted the duffle bag. “Yeah, I, uh, gotta talk to you too. Meet me in my room?” He asked, taking another step up the stairs.
Casey nodded, and Raph studied him for a moment before turning around completely and entering the house. Casey went back to the van and grabbed his bag, racing to the house to make things right with Raph.
—
Raph barely had time to set his bag down before Casey was knocking on the door. “Come in,” Raph said, kicking his bag under the bed. The curtains were blocking out the sun, so he pulled them back as the door swung open.
Casey entered the room, the door clicking shut behind him. Raph heard Casey drop his bag and sit on the bed, the old mattress creaking below him. Raph stalled, trying to spend as much time worrying with the curtains so he wouldn’t have to deal with the current situation.
Casey tapped his fingers on the bed before he spoke, anxiety flowing through his veins. “I’m sorry. ‘Bout this morning.” He said, and Raph whipped his head to face him.
“What?” Raph asked, unaware Casey had done something wrong at all.
Casey’s eyes connected to his, and he brought his gaze to his hands, staring down at his palms with contempt. “I shouldn't have… kissed you. That was wrong.” He said, clenching his hands into fists and holding them against his thighs.
“I basically forced myself on you. I forced you to kiss me and that was wrong because you obviously didn’t want me to, ‘cause you woulda kissed me back if you did. I’m a shit friend and a shit person for doing that, and I’ll understand if you don’t wanna talk to me or hang out with me ever again ‘cause that’s pretty much the worst thing I coulda done. So I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I thought I'd apologize anyway.” He said, standing up to retrieve his bag. He threw it over his shoulder and walked to the door, and Raph had had enough.
“You don’t get to say that to me and just walk away.” Raph said, making Casey turn around and look at him curiously.
Casey huffed out a breath and looked away. “Look, dude. I was just trying to make things right. Feel free to have an attitude with me, I deserve it. Go ahead and cuss me out, and don’t hold back, ‘cause I fucked up big time and there’s no fixing that.” Casey said, and Raph was beyond pissed.
Raph stomped over to him and shoved him into the door, Casey’s bag dropping onto the floor. “You absolute idiot. You’re so fucking dumb, you know that?” Raph heaved, glaring him in the eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not a shit person and you’re not a shit friend, ‘cause if you were we wouldn’t be speaking right now.”
Raph let out a breath and walked away, electing to pace in circles. “I didn’t kiss you back because I was so surprised that you kissed me in the first place that I couldn’t do anything. I was shocked that you’d ever want me like that.” He said, and turned to look at Casey, who was staring at him with his jaw slightly gaping.
Raph ground his teeth and continued. “I’m no good with all that lovey-dovey bullshit, you know that. But– but you–” He sighed, looking him in the eyes, “You make me happier than I ever thought I could be.”
Casey’s breath hitched. “Raph?”
Raph quietly made his way back to Casey, standing a few feet in front of him. “Yeah, dipshit. I like you too.” He said with a smile, and Casey didn’t hesitate to smile back.
Casey let out a relieved breath. “For real?” He asked, not wanting this all to be some dream.
Raph laughed softly. “For real.” He affirmed, and put his hands on Casey’s shoulders.
Casey looked down at him, resting his hands on Raph’s hips. “Do you want me to…?” He said, flicking his eyes from Raph’s lips to his eyes.
Raph grinned back up at him and pulled him down. “Just do it already.” He said, and Casey didn’t hesitate to catch his lips in a kiss.