It was barely an argument. Raph had gotten upset about April forgetting his comics during the monthly trade off. Once every month, April would bring down things she could find for the guys to help repay her debt. Master Splinter found it unnecessary but the girl persisted. Leo got Space Heroes stuff, Donnie got used tools, Mikey got ingredients for the kitchen, and Raph got comics. But this month when she walked into the lair, Raph noticed a lack of paper materials in her hand. She handed everything out and looked at the only turtle not holding anything.

"Raph I'm really sorry. I couldn't find any issues of Notes from the Underground for you."

The boy grunted at the remark and turned towards the kitchen. April had also brought pizza for dinner. He sat down with Splinter as the rest of the guys remained in the living room thanking the girl for the gifts. They eventually all made their way into the kitchen and sat down. April found the empty seat next to Raph and shifted towards him. The turtle did not act as if he had noticed. All throughout dinner, Raph acted as if there was no one next to him, ignoring the elbow jabs and the pinches that April administered to his biceps and legs. Once everyone was finished, they retreated back to the living room to watch SMRFF. April also sat by Raph on the couch, to which Raph responded, or didn't respond, with a recline on the couch. His huge feet levitated in front of her face then slid down to rest in her lap. This only act-as-if-April-did-not-exist charade started as a ridiculous way to show his disappointment, but it was soon turning into a fun game for Raphael. As his feet had floated in front of her face, he could see a look of disgust as she pushed his feet down. He smiled at her disapproval. It would be even better when everyone went to bed and left the two of them all alone as this happened regularly. April and Raph were both night owls that liked to stay up late. He was definitely going to kick it up a notch come 10:30.

Sure enough, by 10:45, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey had all gone to bed which left the two all to themselves. Raphael stretched out even farther on the couch, nearly knocking April off the couch in the process.

"Raph I know you're upset but this is ridiculous."

"I'm going to have to tell Donnie there's a leak. I swear I'm hearing things."

"Raph, you're acting like a baby! I'm going to get you to talk to me!"

The turtle reclined in his seat and continued to stare at the TV. April decided the best way to get him talking again was to bother the absolute crap out of him. She began to push and punch him, knocking his legs out of her lap and onto the ground. He did not look up. She slapped him in the face and pulled on his mask tails. He remained unfazed. She pinched his legs all the way up to his thighs. The only response he gave was sitting up straight, not once giving her any type of look. Raph was really having fun now. He loved watching her give all she had just to get him to notice her. It was hysterical. April leaned in close to his face and asked, "Please talk to me Raph." She then noticed her unusually close position and gave in to the idea of shock value. Her plea turned to a pout as her eyes got bigger and her bottom lip protruded. "Raphie, it makes me really upset when you don't pay attention to me." She was practically whispering in his ear as her right arm snaked around him and the other rested on his plastron. Raph was willing to give in and push her away, but that would mean that he'd acknowledge her and that he would lose. He couldn't give up now. All he could do was remain still. "Please talk to me," she continued, her lips trailing ever so closely to his face. They finally made contact as she kissed him slowly on his cheek. Raph shuddered slightly but it wasn't enough for April to notice. "Please..." She was moaning in his ear and trailing kisses down his cheek to his neck. If she kept this up any longer, Raph was going to lose it. She stopped at a particular spot on his neck and began to kiss and bite the particular spot feverishly. The turtle's toes were curling as the girl climbed into his lap, not once stopping to look up from his neck. He could feel her little teeth nibbling at his neck and he couldn't help but admit to himself that it felt really good. However, as soon as her tongue dragged across his skin, Raph knew he had lost.

"Okay! Okay! Uncle!"

April stopped what she was doing and looked up at him with an evil smirk.

"Told you I would get you to talk to me."

"Yeah yeah," he answered as he shifted her back to her seat next to him. She was still smiling. She sat back on the couch and they watched TV without acknowledging each other for about twenty or so minutes. As soon as the episode of SMRFF was over, Raph rubbed his neck.

"Gee, do you think you're an animal or something?"

"Why?"

"You bit me."

"Ah don't act like you didn't like it." Raph glared at the girl who just laughed innocently. "I must say, you lasted a lot longer than I thought you w-" April stopped mid sentence as Raph lifted his hand from the spot. When he looked over to her, she had a hand cupped over her mouth with her wide eyes staring right into his soul.

"What?"

"You-yo-you're n-n-neck."

Raph felt on the spot where her lips had rested again and didn't feel anything. He shrugged at her but her hand remained firmly placed on her mouth. Raph got up to go to the bathroom and April heard a loud girlish scream as soon as the door closed. What Raph found was a giant purple-black spot on his neck. It was larger than a half dollar and looked as if it was spreading. There was no way of hiding this, and Raph took this into account when confronting April.

"What in the hell did you do to my neck?!"

"Calm down," she said through laughs, "I just gave you your first hickey."

"Hickey?"

"Yeah. You get them when someone sucks or bites on your neck. Don't worry, I've had them before. It'll be gone in like six days."

"Six days?!"

"Yeah."

"What am I supposed to do for the next six days with this thing on my neck?"

"You're a ninja. Just make something up. Say I punched you in the neck or something."

"Why don't you tell the guys that in order to get my attention, you decided to get freaky and bite me repeatedly on my neck?"

"It worked, didn't it?"

Raph moaned and fell back onto the couch. He was too tired to think of anyway to hide it now. He would just wait til morning.

Breakfast was at nine every morning. The guys strolled in from early morning warmups to the smell of Mikey's eggs and omelets. When Raph came in, he was wearing a thick scarf April had given to him for the cold months. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Raph sit down and eat his breakfast like nothing was wrong.

"My son, why are you wearing a scarf in the middle of July?"

"It's really cold in here Sensei," he answered.

"But you just got done warming up. You're bound to be a little hot and sweaty."

"He wore it during warm up Sensei," Donnie interjected.

"So you've got to be hot."

"Nope."

"Well, can you at least take it off while we're eating?"

"But I'm really cold."

"I understand that but I asked you to take it off."

"But Sensei..."

"Off! Now!"

Here was the moment of truth. Raph slowly unraveled the scarf and sat it next to him on the bench. Mikey was the first to notice.

"What's that big bruise on your neck Raph?"

"It's nothing. Eat Mikey."

"It looks really bad." His younger brother reached up for it, but Raph swatted at it.

"A hickey?"

Raph's eyes closed as he cringed at the sound of his father's voice.

"What's that, sensei," asked Leo.

"A hickey is a bruise caused by kissing, sucking, or even biting of the skin." With Splinter's revelation, all three brothers turned to stare at Raph.

"It's not a hickey!"

"I'm guessing April gave that to you, Raphael?"

Raph felt a shiver go down his shell as he turned to face Splinter.

"Sensei, I swear I didn't know what she was doing. She just kind of climbed on me and started...this." He pointed to the bruise that had grown darker over night. It looked like a black hole resting on Raphael's neck.

"Raphael, it is quite alright. I'm not mad." Raph lost the tension in his body and relaxed. Splinter looked back to his son from a lowered head. "Does she have a matching one?" Raph had been lifting a fork to his mouth but at the sound of his father's question, he fell back off the bench and onto the floor. His brothers erupted in laughter and even Splinter managed a chuckle. Raphael laid on the floor and covered his red face with a hand.