CrimsonWolf’s Wolfpack

“Leo,” she says, her voice gentle, “you should really try to use the crutch. If you fall while trying to heal, it could make things even worse.” 

“I’m fine,” Leo says firmly, but a second later, he’s losing his balance. 

Stella drops the bags and rushes to his side, steadying him with his good arm, but he recoils, gripping the crutch instead. Stella freezes, worried she must’ve hurt him. “S-Sorry,” she stutters out quickly, feeling her stomach drop to her feet. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine!” Leo snaps, refusing to look her in the eyes. He limps off, his steps slow and unsteady.  

Stella tries to brush his attitude off. She knows he tends to be a bit grumpy when injured, but his tone is just sharp enough to leave an uncomfortable pit in her stomach–he doesn’t normally speak to her like this. She hesitates to follow after him, squeezing the inside of her palm as she watches him slowly but surely make it to the front porch steps. 

“Try not to take it personally, Stella,” Donatello says, walking up beside her. “Leo just gets like this when he’s injured. He doesn’t like feeling helpless.” 

“Yeah, he really sucks at taking care of himself,” Mikey chimes in. “Hey! Kinda like you, Donnie!” 

Donnie glares out of the corner of his eye at the youngest, but he’s already jumping after Leo and into the farmhouse. Leo is struggling with the three steps up onto the porch, mumbling irritatedly as he tries to balance with the crutch, not move his hurt shoulder, and hop up at the same time. Stella sighs and walks up behind him. 

“Leo, please let me help,” she says, reaching out her hand. 

Leo glances down at her palm, tracing the lines there, before stubbornly hopping the first step himself. His shoulder jostles, and he hisses from the pain. When Stella leans in to help again, this time he doesn’t flinch. Instead, he lets her take his crutch and replace it with her arm under his. She helps lift him onto the next two steps without pain. Once they’re clear, she hands him his crutch back, and he takes it, still avoiding eye contact. 

“Thanks,” he says, his voice low. 

“Of course, Leo,” Stella says. She opens the front door, offering him a kind smile as she holds it open.  

“Hey, Stella!” Mikey hollers from inside the home. 

“Yeah, Mikey?” She asks, turning back. 

Once her attention leaves him, Leo can’t help but stare at the way the setting sun reflects gold in her hair. He stands there a moment too long, watching her respond to Mikey with her signature smile and cheerful tone. She’s always trying to keep things light, make their crazy life just a little more bearable, and Leo’s grown accustomed to the comfort of her presence. She’s warm, and familiar, and he couldn’t imagine his life without her, but now, all he can think about is how much of a burden he’s become. He glances down at his slinged arm and frowns. As Stella turns back to make sure he’s still standing, Leo quickly ducks his head and hobbles as quickly as he can past her and into the house. 

Stella quirks an eyebrow at the sudden burst of energy, watching him race off before closing the door. That was strange, she thinks.

Stella thought the first week would be the hardest, but the longer they’re at the farmhouse, the more irritable Leo’s become. He’s been stuck upstairs–since he fell off the porch trying to go down outside by himself–and that’s led to a level of restlessness even Leo didn’t know was possible. 

April and Casey join the group by week two, bringing in new groceries and a few lightly used games to help Leo pass the time, but every time someone tries to spend time with him, he says he’s not in the mood; except April. Stella’s noticed whenever April goes upstairs, she’s up there for at least a few minutes, sometimes even up to an hour, and she can hear them talking. She hasn’t been able to get Leo to say more than a few words, and right now he’s up there carrying a full conversation with her. 

“What’s with the face?” Raph asks, stopping near the stairs where Stella’s standing on his way back into the living room. 

Stella startles, and a blush rushes to her face as she tries to come up with a quick excuse. “Nothing! These stairs… they just look dusty, is all…” She’s a terrible liar. 

Raph’s mask pinches down as he looks between her and the stairs suspiciously. Leo’s laugh echoes down to the main floor, and, as if a light bulb goes off above Raph’s head, his expression shifts deviously. “Ohh,” he says, his voice teasing. “I see what this is. You’re jealous.” 

Stella gaffaws. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” 

“What are we talking about?” April asks, walking down the large, dark wood staircase. 

For a second time in only a few minutes, Stella jumps into motion. She gives Raph a shove into the living room, and looks back at April as innocently as she can muster. “Nothing really,” she laughs awkwardly, “just Raph being Raph, you know how he is.” 

April hops off the last step. “Okay,” she says, raising an eyebrow at Stella. “I think Leo’s getting hungry. I thought I’d heat up some leftovers for him.”

 She turns to walk toward the kitchen, but Stella quickly intercepts. “If you want to go hang out with the guys, I don’t mind bringing him dinner.” 

Mikey, Raph, and Casey, as if on cue, erupt in laughter over the game they’re playing in the living room. April looks back, watching the boys shove each other in disbelief as Casey brags about being in the lead. She makes a face. “I’m not really a big fan of that game,” April says, turning back to Stella and walking around her toward the kitchen. 

“I think I saw Donnie head out to the barn a few minutes ago,” Stella adds. 

April stops in the doorway to the kitchen. “You did?” She asks, turning back. 

Stella hums, nodding her head. “Looked like he needed a bag from the back of the van.” 

April glances at the bottom of the stairs, considering her options. “You sure you don’t mind?” She asks, looking back to Stella. “Leo’s been grumpy. Well, grumpier than usual.” 

“I don’t mind,” Stella says, giving a small smile. 

April smiles back as she walks past Stella, then picks up her pace, excitedly heading out toward the barn. 

Relieved, Stella’s shoulders relax. She quickly heats leftover soup on the stove, dishes it into a bowl, and heads upstairs. The closer she gets to the top step, the faster her heart beats. She hasn’t seen him all day. Mikey took him breakfast and hung out with him for a while, then Donnie took him lunch, and then April spent most of the evening with him, leaving no good time for her to spend time with him. 

Stella stands at the door to Leo’s designated room, April’s parents’ old room, and balances the soup in one hand while she smooths the fabric of her black and white, heart print T-shirt. She quickly flicks her hair over her shoulder, takes a breath, and musters the courage to knock on his door. She waits a few moments, but when there’s no response, she shuffles her feet, wondering how long she should wait before knocking again. Maybe he’s sleeping, she thinks. She contemplates knocking, but before she can decide, she hears someone open the bathroom door down the hall. She turns, stepping back from the door, and sees Leo limping down the hall, using his good arm to balance his weight against the wall as he makes his way down. 

Leo spots her, and he freezes. Her outfit is nothing extraordinary: a T-shirt and a pair of light washed, ripped denim shorts, but in her hair are two blue ribbons–perfectly matching the color of his mask–and the way she’s smiling at him makes his heart skip a beat. 

“I brought you some soup,” she says, her smile dimpling both of her freckled cheeks. 

“Oh,” he says, his eyes flicking aside before meeting hers again. 

“Do you need any help getting back in the room?” She asks, stepping aside to let him pass. 

“No, I got it,” he says, straightening his shoulders, trying to minimize his limp as much as possible. He wants to say something, anything to distract her from his weakened state, but his mind races. As Leo shuffles across the bedroom to the side of the bed, Stella follows after him, and all he can think to say is, “You look nice.” 

Stella’s eyes go wide before she instantly tries to hide her blush, looking out the window to her left. “Oh, this old thing?” She chuckles nervously, sitting beside Leo on the perfectly made bed. “I just threw it on,” she adds, handing him the bowl. She tries to hide the slight shake in her hands, but Leo notices as she pulls away. 

“Are you cold?” He asks, watching her tuck her hands into her lap. 

“No,” she says, her eyes studying the wood floorboards beneath her feet. 

Leo holds the bowl in his good hand and stares at his arm wrapped tight against his body, trying to figure out the best way to eat without spilling all over the place. He glances at you, then back to his bowl, his pulse growing louder in his ears. “You can go now,” he says, the words coming out harsher than he meant. 

Even though she expected this, it still stings to hear the sharpness in his tone. Stella’s chest tightens. She waited all day just to see him, and it seems like he couldn't care less if he sees her at all. “Right,” she murmurs, standing up from her seat beside him. 

The bright smile she was wearing just minutes before melts away, and Leo’s frown deepens. He knows he said the wrong thing, but with her sitting there so perfect and capable while his body refuses to work the way he needs it to… He just can’t bear another second of her seeing him this way. 

Stella’s disappointed sigh hits him like a punch to the gut, but instead of apologizing, his pride digs its heels in. “Next time it’d be easier to have this in a mug,” he mutters defensively, turning his bowl, which makes the spoon swipe noisily against the side. 

Stella stops dead in her tracks. Her gentle demeanor replaced by a sharp bitterness. She spins around on her heel, her hands landing on her hips. “Next time maybe you should try saying thank you,” she snaps.

Leo blinks at her, taken aback by the sudden edge to her voice. “I’m just saying, a mug is more practical,” he says. 

“And I’m just saying you’re being incredibly rude!” Stella steps back toward the bed, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “Everyone downstairs is trying to help you, Leo. I am trying to help you. But you’ve been brooding up here for two weeks acting like we’re punishing you by giving you a break!” 

“I don’t need a break!” Leo’s voice rises, the anger finally bursting through his miserable facade. He sets the bowl down on the nightstand with a hard thud, and a splash of soup spills out. “And I don’t need your pity, Stella! I’m fine. It’s not life or death. I’m just– I'm useless right now, okay?” 

“You’re not useless, you’re just hurt!”

“I am useless, and everyone knows it!” Leo yells, finally meeting her stern gaze. “I’m trapped up here while the Shredder is out there. I'm the leader of this team, and I should be leading it, not being coddled and restricted!”

“No one is restricting you,” Stella says, her voice matching his volume. “It’s just that I care– We care about you!” Her cheeks flush red at the quick correction. 

Leo’s eyes widen, his fueled anger pausing as his mind catches onto what she nearly said. “Wait, you what?” He asks, stunned. 

“B-But you are completely insufferable when you're moping!” Stella continues, running over Leo’s words quickly in an effort to draw attention away from the truth. 

“I– what?” Leo says, shaking his head as his ego takes another blow. “I am not moping!” 

“You are, too!” Stella counters, thankful he took the bait. 

“No, I’m not!” Leo shouts, feeling backed into a corner like a caged animal. “Just… Just leave me alone!” The words leave his mouth, but he knows it’s not the truth. He doesn’t want her to go; he just doesn’t want to feel like a burden. 

“Are you serious right now?” Stella asks, the edge to her voice cracking. 

Leo stammers, shoving the truth down into the pit of his twisting stomach. “I just want to be left alone,” he says, avoiding her gaze. “Every time you come up here, the look on your face says it all.” 

Stella freezes, her breath hitching. “The look on my face?” She asks, her voice dropping to a dangerous, deadly quiet. “The look on my face, Leo? What’s wrong with my face?” 

“You don’t understand,” Leo races out, shoving off the bed and finally attempting to stand on his feet. He loses his balance, leaning against the wall temporarily before straightening, and when he looks back at her, she has that same pinched, worried expression she always does when he’s in pain. “That! That look right there!” 

Stella’s features twist into a scowl, anger replacing her previous concern. “Oh, yeah?” 

“I don’t need anyone’s pity, Stella,” Leo vents. “And especially not yours.” 

She lets out a frustrated, angry sound, tossing her hands up in the air. 

“Hey, guys,” Donnie asks timidly, tapping on the open door as he steps into view. “Is everything okay in here?” 

“We’re fine!” Leo and Stella snap at the same time. 

“Okay, yeah, of course,” Donnie squeaks out, sliding out of view and quickly back down the hallway. 

By the time Leo and Stella look back to each other, their previously heated anger has settled around the room in cold, stale clumps. They both catch their breath in silence, their eyes avoiding direct contact, both feeling too guilty and ashamed to continue. 

Stella turns and heads quietly toward the door. 

“Stells,” Leo says just above a whisper. 

Stella pauses at the sound of one of her many nicknames Leo’s given her. With a hand on the door jamb, she tilts her head just enough to see him through the corner of her eye, waiting to hear him say more. 

“I…” He starts, but stops, unable to find the right words to say. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Stella says bitterly, turning back toward the hall. “I’ll leave you alone from now on.” 

She shuts the door behind her with a forceful snap, and Leo drops back on the edge of his bed, regret weighing on his shoulders. He looks back at the bowl of cold soup sitting on the nightstand. I should’ve just said thank you, he thinks guiltily. He listens to the sound of Stella’s feet landing heavily on the stair treads until she disappears downstairs. Leo sighs, slumping over. He’s never been great with talking to girls, but this is definitely a new low for him. He relays the argument over and over in his head, groaning. “I really sounded like a total jerk,” he mumbles to himself, hiding his face in his hand. “Why can’t I just talk to her like normal?” His chest is tight, almost painfully so, as he wrestles with understanding the feelings everyone else can already clearly see. 

After a few more days, Leo is finally able to walk around, albeit slowly, but enough that he feels like he has some kind of agency again. He thought he would feel better once he was able to move freely in the house, but the knot in his stomach tightens with every passing day. Stella hasn’t spoken more than two words with him since their fight. 

“Oh, hey, brother,” Raph says, a pleasant tone to his voice. 

“Hey, Raph,” Leo says, walking gingerly into the kitchen. “Hey, Stell.” 

Stella, who was rummaging through the fridge, shuts the door with an angry force. Without saying a word, she turns on her heel and walks quickly out of the kitchen, completely avoiding Leo’s worried gaze. 

“Dude,” Raph says after she’s left. 

“I know,” Leo says guiltily. “I said some things I shouldn’t have, and now she won’t talk to me. But if she won’t talk to me, how am I supposed to apologize?” 

“Seriously?” Raph asks, setting down the gallon of milk he was drinking out of. 

“What?” Leo asks, trying to bite his tongue instead of scolding his brother to get a glass. 

“You’re gonna have to do a whole lot more than just apologize,” Raph mumbles, shaking his head. “Girls don’t want words and useless apologies. They want actions.” 

“Actions?” 

“Yeah, actions,” Raph opens the fridge, tossing the gallon back inside before continuing. “Haven’t you ever seen a movie?” 

“Well, yeah,” Leo says, hobbling over to the fridge to look for something to eat. “But how’s that supposed to help me?” 

Raph stares at him as if he’s grown a second head. 

“What?” Leo asks innocently. 

“Dude,” Raph says. He sighs and looks around the room, listening for anyone walking in. When the coast is clear, he says, “Alright, you’re not gonna breathe a word of this to anyone else, cause I’ll throttle you, but here’s what you’re gonna do…” 

Later in the evening, Stella makes her way downstairs to figure out something for dinner, but once she turns the corner down, she’s met with an enthusiastic-looking Mikey. Her eyebrows pinch together suspiciously. “You look guilty,” Stella says with a half smile.

“Nope!” Mikey says, rocking on his feet. 

“No?” 

“Nope!” Mikey skips off to the living room, jumping the back of the couch and turning around to sit on his knees, watching her. 

“Okayyy,” she draws out. “That’s totally not suspicious.” 

Mikey giggles. 

Stella walks around the newel post, heading to the back of the house toward the kitchen on the right. In the doorway is Raph and Donnie. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” 

“Kitchen’s closed for the night,” Raph says, crossing his arms. 

“What did you guys do?” She asks, trying to see over their shoulders, but Donnie leans over to hide her view. 

“It might be best if you leave this to us and just hang out on the back porch for a minute,” Donnie says, offering an apologetic smile. 

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?” 

“Yep!” They both say quickly. 

She squints her eyes at them both, but heads backwards to the back door, keeping her eyes on them a moment longer. “I don’t know why you guys are acting so weird,” she says, opening the door, “but I’m going to find out sooner or later; you do know that, right?” As she opens the door, she turns to look out, and her words drift off. 

Leonardo is standing in the backyard in front of a picnic blanket, his hands at his sides, shifting his weight between feet as he tries to muster the courage to say what he needs to. 

“Leo?” Stella asks, shocked. 

It’s the first time she’s acknowledged him in weeks, and his chest tightens as she steps off the back porch, heading straight for him. 

“What is all this?” Stella asks, gesturing at the blanket behind him. 

“It’s…” He starts but stops, the sight of her sparkling gray-blue eyes freezing the track of his train of thought. 

Stella stops at the edge of the picnic blanket, studying Leo a moment longer before taking in the details. There’s an old picnic basket set off to the side, and a stack of two empty dinner plates set in front. In the middle of the blanket is a hand-tied wildflower arrangement in a large glass vase. Stella’s heart thumps loudly against her ribcage, wondering Leo’s motives behind it all. Tentatively, she lifts her eyes to meet his nervous gaze once again. “Leo?” She asks, her voice gentle. 

“Stella, I’m sorry,” Leo blurts out, the words burning a hole in his mind. “I know the things I said, and I hear them now. I was being defensive, and… and mean.” His hands clench at his sides. “And I’m sorry.” 

“Oh,” Stella says, a warm feeling spreading through her chest. She glances back down at the blanket. “You did all of this just to say you were sorry?” 

“Well… yeah?” Leo says, his voice scooping up. 

She cracks a smile, hiding it with a touch of her hand. 

“W-What?” Leo asks, suddenly feeling unsure. “Is it too much? I can toss the flowers if–” 

“No!” She says quickly, putting out her hands to stop him, revealing the wide smile over her face. “No, it’s… it’s sweet.” 

Leo’s eyes flick down to Stella’s hand on his arm, then back to her face. She's close enough that he can smell the sweet scent of her strawberry perfume, and his stomach does a little flip. “D-Does this mean you forgive me?” He stutters out hopefully. 

Stella’s heart swells as she mulls over his question. 

The pause feels like an eternity to Leo. 

“Yes,” she finally admits. “I forgive you.”   

Leo lets out the breath he was holding. “Good, cause I couldn’t take another week of you not talking to me.” 

“Are you trying to say that you missed me?” Stella asks cutely. 

A light blush dusts Leo’s face, and he looks away as he says, “Yeah, of course I missed you. You’re my best friend.” 

Simultaneously, Stella and Leo move to sit on either corner of the blanket. 

“I thought April was your best friend,” Stella says, the words coming out a little harsher than she anticipated. 

Leo hesitates a moment, taking in her expression with careful eyes. He caught the edge to her tone, though he can tell she tried to hide it. “I mean, April and I are great friends, yeah,” Leo says casually, reaching over to set a plate in front of Stella. “But I don’t care about her like I care about you.” 

The way he said it was so nonchalant, matter-of-fact, like it was common knowledge; but to Stella, it meant everything. “Oh,” she says, trying to ignore the butterflies flitting around her stomach. 

“I hope you like PB and J,” Leo says, pulling out two plastic-wrapped sandwiches. “It was the only thing Raph would let me cook in the kitchen. Said I’d burn down the house if I attempted anything over the stove.” 

She snickers. “I’m pretty sure that’s an accurate assumption.” 

“I don’t know, I think I could have done something a little better than this,” Leo mumbles. 

“I love PB and J,” Stella says, her voice taking on a gentler tone. She watches the corners of Leo’s mouth tilt up, just a little bit, and she smiles. “So,” she says, changing the topic, “Raph helped you put all this together, huh?” 

Leo suddenly sits upright. “Who, Raph? No, of course not.” He laughs nervously. “I mean, seriously, would you think Raphael would ever do something like this? No way.” 

Stella holds back a laugh. “You know you’re a terrible liar, right?” 

Leo reaches into the picnic basket, pulling out two sodas and showing her the options. “I wasn’t sure which you’d like, so I got both.” 

Stella cracks a smile at his attempt to change the topic. She takes a pop from his hand, their fingers brushing, and her heart skips a beat as she quickly withdraws. They both look off to different sides of the yard. 

“Well,” Stella says, deciding to unwrap her sandwich and take a bite, “it’s a beautiful night.” 

Leo’s eyes catch on the silver of her simple, dangling earrings, and his eyes linger a moment longer, tracing the wave of her hair. She turns to look at him, and he quickly looks away, taking a big bite of his sandwich. He hums an agreeable sound in response to her earlier statement, trying to ignore his sudden nerves. 

He wasn’t always nervous around her. But one day, she walked into the lair back in New York, and something about her bright smile caught him like a deer in headlights. Ever since then, he’s struggled to feel normal around her. There’s always this strange buzzing feeling in his veins, or the sensation of someone pulling a rug out from under his feet when she walks in the room. But still, she is the only one he can fully trust with his feelings, and not once has she belittled him for it, which is all the more reason for his guilt. Leo sighs. 

“What is it?” Stella asks, flicking a strand of pinkish hair over her shoulder with a sway of her head. 

Leo sets his half-eaten sandwich on the plate in front of him. “I really need you to know how sorry I am for how I spoke to you the other day,” Leo says, his words laced with emotion. He picks his head up, meeting her eyes with a determined expression. “I should have just told you how I was feeling instead of exploding like that.” 

“How you… were… feeling?” Stella asks, the words coming out slower than intended. 

“Yes,” Leo says, taking a breath as he looks away, ashamed. “I was embarrassed.” 

“Embarrassed?” Stella asks, surprised. “Why would you be embarrassed?” 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Leo looks off toward the treeline, gathering his thoughts. “I like to think I’m good with words. Give me a battle plan, and I’ll present it with every detail intact,” he finally looks back to Stella, “but when I talk to you, all of that just goes out the window. I don’t want you to see me as this… this weak thing.” 

Stella softens, reaching out a hand to cover his. “Leo, you are anything but weak,” she says firmly. “You’re the strongest person I know.” 

Leo’s heart rate spikes as he looks down at her hand on his. 

Stella pulls back, picking up her sandwich to keep her suddenly shaking hands busy. 

“Thanks,” Leo says, returning to his sandwich to avoid the stirring sensation in his chest. 

As the time goes by, they fall into more comfortable conversation. Talking about how ridiculous Mikey’s latest prank was, and the crazy soot explosion Donnie caused in the house from trying out his latest chimney sweeping gadget. Their laughter fades off, leaving behind a comfortable silence. They’re stretched out, looking up at the sky now, and stars are just starting to poke through the rusty blue sky as the sun drops out of view. 

“It’s always so beautiful out here,” Stella says, watching the stars. 

“Yeah, it is beautiful,” Leo murmurs, watching Stella.