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Mikey quietly followed Don out of his lab. It had been nerve-wracking to confess to his brother that he had the hots for Leo but Mikey had seen no other option in his quest to begin a relationship with their oldest brother. He had needed Don’s advice since none of his hints were being picked up.
Seeing Leo exiting the elevator to the garage with Raph, Mikey knew it was now or never. He had to say something to Leo about his feelings now or he wasn’t sure that he could gather the courage again. Mikey took a preparing breath as Leo came to stand in front of him.
"I need to tell you something," they both said at the same time. "You go first. No you."
Before Mikey could begin to speak again Leo’s hand shot up and covered his mouth preventing speech.
“Mikey I need to tell you how I feel,” Leo said quickly. “I like you more than a brother should. I’ve had feelings for you for a while now but I’ve been too afraid to tell you in case you didn’t feel the same way but I have to say something now. If you don’t feel the same way that’s okay but I just needed to tell you.”
Mikey reached up quickly and pulled Leo’s hand away from his mouth. “I like you too Leo,” Mikey told him.
"You do?" Leo asked.
"Yeah. I've been trying to drop hints but you keep missing them dude," said Mikey. "So basically, I like you and you like me and we both haven't told the other because we were too afraid of the other's reaction."
"I guess so," Leo chuckled. "Come one. Let's go for a walk. I think we have a lot of things that we need to talk about."
Mikey felt Leo take his hand in his strong grasp and start to lead him towards the exit to the sewers. Making no move to resist, Mikey squeezed his older brother’s hand as they left the lair and their middle brothers murmuring behind them.
Together they walked for a few miles in silence. It had taken them both a lot of courage to confess their feelings and neither was sure they wanted to be the one to begin what was sure to be one of the most important conversations of their lives.
Eventually they came to the part of the sewer where multiple junctions met in a cascade of water. It was here that they stopped and turned to face one another directly although they did not let go of each other’s hand.
“So you’ve really been trying to tell me that you like me for a while now?” Leo asked breaking the silence.
“Yeah dude,” Mikey answered as he stared up at his older brother. “I was afraid that you might not feel the same way and reject me if I just told you outright and when you didn’t respond to any of my hints it just made me worry even more.”
Leo reached up with his free hand and gently caressed the side of Mikey’s cheek. “I am so sorry that you had to go through that Mikey,” Leo said. “I promise that I will do my best to make sure that you never feel that way again.”
“Thank you Leo,” said Mikey as he stepped closer to the taller mutant. “And I will do my best to make sure that you know that you always have me. I’m apparently better at being subtle than I thought but I’m much better at loud and crazy and I’m definitely crazy about you.”
“To the beginning of a new, crazy relationship,” affirmed Leo as he brought his lips down on top of Mikey’s.