"Apples and Oranges"

He sat on one of the lair's steps, staring at his green skin, observing every line, bump, wrinkle, and all of the different colorations of freckles that came into his eyes' view; tracing each imperfection that made him undeniably a mutant turtle.

He knew that he and his brothers' were by far different from those who inhabited the city above them and it wasn't a total shocker to him when people would run away screaming once they saw the four of them come out from the shadows to help those in need.

That idea really hadn't bothered him so much.

But when he saw her on that fateful night, he hoped that this time around, it would be different. He expected her to be a bit fearful at first, sure, but the possibility of her genuinely being afraid kind of scared him.

He hoped that he could take such a blow to his pride if she rejected him, but, realistically, he didn't know what was to become of it all. All he knew at that particular moment was that he liked her.

A lot.

So, he sat there and stared at himself a bit longer; moving his fingers up and down, watching intently as his leathery skin made deep reservoirs along the bends of his shorter and rounder digits. Being a science genius did have its perks most of time, but in this type of situation, he hated how he had to over analyze everything.

Letting his hand drop for a few, he grabbed the log book that was nestled near the step he was sitting on; going back through his findings from the last mission they took involving the Krang and their miraculous technology. His mind wanted to wander elsewhere though and somehow he couldn't stop himself from thinking out loud.

"What if I were normal, like everybody else?" Donatello mumbled in a whisper, dropping the note book onto his lap, running his dark brown orbs along the palm of his unattended hand. "Then maybe-"

"Then maybe I wouldn't find you so interesting." Came a familiar voice, shoving Donny playfully at the shoulders. That alone caused the shy green turtle to blush ever so slightly. "I mean, with the way everything is right now, I wouldn't have anything to look forward to other than stupid homework every night."

"He-he, yeah." Donatello finished lamely, slapping himself mentally for not coming up with something a little more intelligent. He would almost always lose all brain function when he was around her every time. April was something else, though. She held a very special fire inside of her that he was still trying to figure out, but, that's what he liked most about the crimson haired girl; among many other things, which in the end would make him even more nervous once he began to break it all down.

He watched her bend her legs as she sat down next to him. Noticing how close she really was, the scent of her shampoo beginning to fill up his senses. He didn't know what exactly it was that she used, but he liked it all the same. It was a pretty and gentle smell; nothing over powering- which was quite nice.

"So, what's with all of this "normalcy" stuff?" April air quoted with her fingers, lacing a small smile that hung off of her lips, her eyes twinkling in wonderment. She really wanted to know. She loved how Donny thought things out. It was interesting to her. He could talk to her all day about anything, and she wouldn't care.

Donatello's face turned a light pink hue. Oh how should he try and vocalize these thoughts and equations he had filling up in his head? He inhaled a tremendous amount of air, trying to find a way to make her understand what he was calculating on about, without giving everything of what he was also feeling, away.

"It's… Well…Ya'know.. Um.. It's…K' Kind of complicated, I guess." The purple clad turtle huffed in frustration, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous hand. He really wanted to lay it all down on paper for her, so to speak, he really did. But having April right there just made it more difficult. After all, the whole thought process about wanting to be normal was more about her than anything else and that alone made it so much harder for him to explain.

"Oh, I see." The freckled face girl sighed in disappointment, her attention quickly falling towards her lap. Now she was starting to think that Donny didn't believe she was smart enough and wouldn't understand, and her expression went terribly cold. "I know I may not get, like, everything you say and analyze, Donatello, but, you could at least give me a chance to try."

He wanted to slap himself twice as hard at that point and his face fell. Shoot, he didn't mean it that way. Not even close!

"If she only knew the truth."

Suddenly, as if a light bulb had struck him in the head out of know where, Donatello came up with a concoction that she could most certainly understand without sending him to the dog house in embarrassment.

"Okay." Donatello sighed, his nerves prickling at his leathery skin. He swore mentally that he could feel the sweat starting to drip from his freckled tinged pores.

"I guess what I'm trying to say here, April, is that sometimes when two-" He quickly cut himself short in the middle of his explanation, his brow furrowing in thought, causing the purple band that wrapped around his head to crease into the littlest folds along his green skin. He huffed slightly and tried to give it a go once again. "No. What I mean is- that when you like certain things a..and you realize that maybe there's the tiniest chance of it liking you back, but, you know, you're afraid of what might happen because apples don't usually mix with oranges, right?"

He paused for a moment to see if his April was actually following with what he was saying and when all he saw was an emotionless, blank stare, he continued on, hoping for the best. "And, sometimes, if you give it a chance, and mix the two together ever so carefully, like watching with how the acidity quotient can be once you mix the two together, heck, it could be a great experience all in its self! Who knows what could happen!" Donny finishes with a toothy grin; more than sure of himself that this had to be the best break down of what he'd been fiddling around in his mind; like a young child playing with a tinker toy the whole entire time.

April just sat there dumb founded, her lips curving upward in obvious confusion. "That was… Um… Enlightening?" She finished as her smile suddenly went lopsided.

Donatello sighed heavily in defeat, lowering his face into his hands, almost to the point of wanting to stoop even lower and slam his head against the cement flooring. He really thought he had it that time. Though, going back and rethinking about what he just said, he recognized that it actually sounded quite ridiculous; falling a few apples short of being the genius that everybody thought he supposedly was.

"But, I totally get what you're saying." The red headed girl smiled ever so brightly, leaning in a little closer, automatically putting her petite arm upon Donnie's shoulder.

"Y-you. Do?" The purple tinged turtle gasped in shock, his mouth going extremely dry from keeping his unraveling nerves in check. He didn't even acknowledge how close she was, well beyond the boundaries of someone's personal space. His awareness was in too much of a fog.

"Yeah." She spoke ever so sweetly, her baby blue pools lighting up in understanding. Her fingers began to sporadically twitch, fighting for dominance over the others. It was as if she suddenly became hyper aware of what Donny was actually getting at and it caused her to feel slightly nervous. "A..and, ya'know, maybe Apples and Oranges aren't such a bad thing once you really think about it. I, I mean… I happen to like those two things together, honestly." Donny's smile began to broaden, spreading over his cheeks like wild fire. "So, you shouldn't be afraid of what might sound ridiculous, because, in reality you might be missing out on something you never knew could go good together and... In my opinion fruit is fruit. It doesn't matter what the peels on the outside look like. They're both equally good on the inside, so, it doesn't really matter does it?"

April hesitantly looked up from her twiddling fingers to try and catch a glimpse at her newest best friend, to see if he fully grasped what she was trying to tell him; all she saw in that short moment was his sweet toothy grin and in her heart she knew that he grasped the concept quite well.

"April?" Donny nervously spoke, breaking the cool silence that fell between them for only a few moments. Though, it seemed like ages to the purple ninja since any words had been shed between them.

"Hm..?" The crimson girl muffled, afraid of letting anything out, fearing that her voice would betray her in some way, her fingers still dancing with each other.

"I… I just wanted to say thanks. Ya'know for, for everything." Donatello deflated. He wanted to say more, but, he realized that he couldn't. It's not that he didn't want her to be his, far from it. He just felt that the time didn't feel right. But, it was nice knowing that the possibility of her feeling the same way was there.

April rolled her eyes in annoyance, it completely going unnoticed due to the fact that Donny was looking away from her. Why wasn't the stupid guy making a move? She put herself out there enough for him. So, why was he being so stubborn and shy about it all of a sudden?

Letting out an agitated poof of air to remove a stray crimson strand of hair away from her forehead, April then, almost in an aggressive like manner, grabbed the boy's face, making him look at her straight in the eyes as his own brown ones grew over twice their size.

"Ap-" Donny began in resistance at first, though, he never got to spat out on what he was about to say. April kissed him swiftly on his beak to where human lips would be, muffling the sound.

The kiss didn't last long, only mere seconds in real time. But Donatello felt that the kiss could last forever and he wouldn't have a care in the world. All he noticed at that moment was that the kiss was incredibly real; that her lips were soft, warm and sweet to the touch.

April pushed him away as fast as she pulled him in; a blushful grin plastering along Donny's face gave her the confirmation she needed for a job well done.

"Wow.." Donny whispered under his breath, the blush along his cheeks growing hotter by the seconds; the sound of his approval made April blush just as madly as well, causing her trembling fingers to brush the unruly stray hair away from her bashful eyes.

She couldn't believe that she had been so bold. But, she had to make Donatello realize that apples and oranges can be two great tastes that taste great together.

Donny just needed that little extra push to make his "scientific" fruit salad a reality…

A/N:

Just a silly little drabble that made its way into my imagination. This is my very first TMNT fanfic and I'm still learning the quirks and characters of the latest series on "Nick". So, don't be too hard on me. Lol! I do hope that you at least found it to be cute.

I couldn't ask for more than that. :D

I'm hoping to get more out there for this series. I'm really enjoying the crush that Donny has on April; makes me happy since my Gwevin muse has gone slightly flat and nonexistent. But, I think with how these two are, it's sparking the flame that I have for Kevin and Gwen again, so, I'm exited!

Anyways, if you liked it, or, if you thought it was just "okay", please don't forget to leave me a nice little review!

Much love,

The Spoon. :D