The Only Exception -Oneshot-

Disclaimer: I do not own the ninja turtles.
Warning: contains bad language, yaoi, etc. Read at your own risk.
This is a human AU, although you could just as easily imagine the guys to be turtles.

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Oneshot
“My house. Tonight. ‘Soon as the sun sets.” Raphael had whispered into his ear, a few split seconds before the home bell went and everyone scrambled out of the classroom. Leo hadn’t had a chance to ask what, or why, but hadn’t needed to; not really. Their relationship had never seemed – or been – very complicated. They were both stubborn and both natural born leaders. Leo was cool headed, Raph was hot headed. So, naturally, they had never really gotten along.
Until lately, of course. Ever since that night – no, Leo wouldn’t think of it. The mere thought brought a dark shade of redness to his cheeks. If his father, Yoshi (or ‘Splinter’ as some people called him) ever found out what had happened, what he, Leonardo, had let happen….
He shuddered to think of it.
________________________________________
Gulping, slightly flustered, patting at his hair nervously, Leonardo reached for Raphael’s doorbell. What awaited him, he wasn’t sure. Raph lived alone in this apartment, Leo knew that much. He also knew Raph wanted him every way possible. Emotionally. Spiritually. Physically. Coming here hadn’t been a good move, especially since he was so unsure of the situation; this Leo knew.
And yet here he was.
“It’s open.” The delayed answer called out.
Had Raph’s voice always been so deep, so attractive? Leo’s cheeks burned as the description absentmindedly found its way into his conscious thought and he hesitantly reached for the door knob, inching it open. Leo had never seen Raph’s apartment before – scratch that, no one had seen Raph’s apartment before, besides maybe his parents, who Leo was also yet to see. Taking a deep breath, he wedged the door open enough for him to edge inside and shut it behind him. The room was dark and hard to see at first, lit by candles and… Leo bit his bottom lip. Vases with blue pebbles - one in every five of them covered in glow in the dark paint – held blue roses, which, only a few days ago, Leo had told Raph were his favourite and of which he had said he thought were the most romantic.
“It’s not very polite to idle in the doorway.” Raph’s voice called, though he was nowhere in sight.
Leo gulped nervously for what felt like the thousandth time and licked his lips.
“I-I, uh…” Leo’s voice trailed off and he cursed himself for lack of speech.
“I’m in here.” Raph called out, sounding bemused.
The bedroom. Leo’s cheeks burned. Raph was in his bedroom, waiting for him!
Before he had even registered what he was doing, Leo’s legs began moving himself towards the room. The door was ajar and Leo peeked inside to see Raph lying on a large bed that could probably fit five or six people, wearing nothing but comfortable-looking black jeans. The room had dark red walls and was lighted by candles and the vases of blue roses.
“That’s a fire hazard, y’know,” Leo commented, trying to sound neutral. He guessed he had succeeded, because Raph eyed him, obviously have been hoping for more of a reaction.
“Yeah, well,” Raph replied, shrugging, keeping up his façade, too.
“Are you waiting for someone special or something? You must be, to have cleaned this dump up.” Leo said, despite the fact he had never been here before and had no idea whether or not Raph kept the place clean. Raph, however, seemed to like the remark.
“Yeah, I’ve been waiting for someone special.” Raph said and Leo noted how he used past tense and forced himself not to blush.
Leo leaned against the doorframe casually, “I hope this someone doesn’t keep you waiting too long.”
“Ironic you say that, considering you made me wait so long.” Raph smirked, propping himself on his elbows.
Leo could not help but notice the way his muscly arms were covered in a light sheen of water and the way his hair clung to his head; he had obviously had a shower prior to himself arriving.
“Mwa?” Leo asked in mock innocence, placing one of his hands on his chest.
“Yes, you,” Raph said, his voice even and steely. His golden eyes watched Leo intensely and his chin raised ever so slightly in a challenging manner.
“And, so, Raphael. You’ve gone through the trouble of cleaning this place, you even showered; can I know what for, now?” Leo questioned, “Because I have this hunch I have something to do with all this.”
“Oh, well, I have this plan, Leonardo.” Raph stated, Leo’s name rolling of the teen’s tongue in an intricate, intoxicating way.
“What sort of plan?” Leo raised his eyebrows.
“The best plan I’ve ever thought of, dare I say.” Raph said, his voice growing deeper and huskier.
“What does this plan involve?” Leo inquired sceptically, his heart pounding in his chest, his cock throbbing in anticipation.
“It involves you, me, this bed, and a little bit of heavenly paradise.”
“What is it you’re insinuating, Sir?” Leonardo asked, doing an overdramatic-innocent voice.
“I’m insinuating that tonight, I will soil you, Leonardo.” Raph replied, his voice now dark and lustful, “I am going to obliterate every bit of innocence from you. I’m going to make a monster out of you.”
“Me?” Leo asked in mock innocence, stalking towards where Raphael lay on the large bed, “Innocent little me?”
“You can’t run that shit by me,” Raph said as Leo reached the bedside. Raph put his arm out to pull Leo on top of him but Leo sidestepped, now standing on the bed.
“You wouldn’t do that. You couldn’t.” Leo said, continuing in the sugary sweet, overly innocent voice. He was enjoying this small role play more than he knew he should.
“Oh, but I will.” Again Raph reached for Leo, and, again, he missed.
“I’m not sure my daddy would like me hanging around people like you,” Leo spoke in his sugary sweet voice and bent over, placing his hands onto the headpiece of the bed. Their faces were now close enough for their breaths to touch.
A crimson smile touched Raph’s face, “I love it when you play hard-to-get.”
“Who said I’m playing? Maybe I just am hard to get.” Leo bent down and whispered in a seductive tone into Raph’s ear, “And, y’know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe you don’t really deserve this.”
“Really?” Raph purred.
“Hm,” Leo affirmed.
“So, out of curiosity, what would make me worthy of shoving my dick up your ass?” Raph inquired, placing his hands on both of Leo’s hips.
“You need to make me beg.” Leo purred, “If you can make me beg, then you have permission to soil me as much as you want, whenever you want.”
“I like the sound of that.” Raph smirked.
“I thought you would.” Leo smirked back.
Raph snatched both of Leo’s wrists in his hands and twisted his body. Leo let out a grunt as he landed on the soft mattress, below Raph’s body. He knew he should stop now but he also knew there was no way Raph could get him to beg… Was there? No, of course not.
Leonardo took in a deep breath and could smell the cologne on Raphael’s body. He really had made an effort, hadn’t he? Raphael’s mouth moved along his neck and a shiver ran down Leonardo’s spine, though he did his best not to show it. Raphael kept his hands tightly within his grip, much to Leonardo’s dismay. Raph moved Leonardo’s wrists to one hand and used his other to grab a nearby scarf.
“You’re not…” Leonardo spoke. But Raphael was, and did. He tied Leonardo’s wrists to the bed, making it impossible for him to make use of them. His stomach felt queasy. Unease settled.
“So… I get you to beg, and you’ll be mine?” Raph whispered into his ear.
“Well… Not… Not...”
“Yes or no?” Raphael asked.
Leonardo suddenly regretted saying it at all. He regretted coming here. He regretted letting this go this far.
A sly smile found its way onto Raphael’s lips, “You’re hesitating.”
“So?”
“So, that means you know I can make you beg.”
“You won’t make me beg.”
“Ya don’t seem so sure.”
The two stayed like that, their noses pressing gently together, their eyes stuck on the other, searching for some form of weakness.
“You won’t make me beg.” Leonardo said steadily, certain. At least, he liked to think he was certain.
“Right. So, if you’re so sure, why don’t we just agree to it, hm?” Raphael asked, “I make you beg, and you become my bitch.”
Leo shook his head. His cheeks began to burn.
“Ya know ya wanna be my bitch, Leo.” Raph purred, pressing his lips to Leonardo’s neck, “You wan’ me to call ya ma bitch. Don’t lie.”
“I change my mind.” Leonardo said, flustered, “I want to go home.”
Raphael placed a hand over Leo’s cheek and nipped at his exposed neck.
“Ya want me to touch ya.”
“Raph – I mean it!”
“Ya want my cock inside you.”
“Stop!” Leonardo tried, and failed, to shove Raphael off himself. He was an idiot. Why had he even come? He really needed to put some distance between them.
“All ya gotta do is beg an’ I’ll let ya go.”
“What? No!” Leonardo’s face turned as red as a tomato, “Raph, you… You can’t do this! I’ll call the cops! This is sexual abuse! Raphael!”
The said teenager leant down and pressed his forehead against the other’s, “Agree to be ma bitch, and I’ll stop.”
Leonardo let out a growl and avoided his gaze, “Fine, fine! Just let me go home!”
Raphael grinned. He leant towards his bedside table and grabbed his own phone. He started recording.
“Agree to be ma bitch?” He repeated.
Leonardo frowned at the camera. He let out an agitated sigh.
“Yes.”
“Ya gotta say it like yer mean it.”
Leonardo breathed in and out deeply before saying, “I, Leonardo Hamato, agree to be your, Raphael Takada’s, bitch.”
“Ya agree ta do whateva I say?”
“I, Leonardo Hamato, agree to do whatever you, Raphael Takada, tell me to do.”
Raphael ended the recording and smirked, “See? Wasn’ that hard, was it?”
Leonardo rolled his eyes and let out an agitated sigh.
“Can I go home now?”
The smiled vanished from Raphael’s face.
“You were being serious? Come on, I was just having some fun.”
“Just untie me.”
Raphael let out a sigh and did as he was told. Leonardo stood up and Raphael’s hand shot up, grabbing Leonardo’s.
“Leo, I… I’m sorry.”
Leonardo pulled his hand free and continued on his way out. Again, Raphael snatched his hand. Leonardo turned to face him, both flustered and impatient.
“I love you.”
Dammit, now his heart was going crazy; Leonardo yanked his hand free once more and left the room, Raphael’s words echoing in his mind. I love you. He could not be fucking serious. They had agreed on this being no-strings-attached. Just ‘friends with benefits’. Just them fucking each other a few times. Nothing more. Absolutely nothing more. I love you. He had just said that to try and get Leo to stay. Yeah. That was it; that was what he had meant. Leonardo let out a rough sigh and shook his head. Dammit. His heart was going crazy. Whatever. It wasn’t like Raph knew that, anyways. Not like he knew how damn fucking crazy he was making him feel right now. I love you.
“Yeah, right,” Leonardo muttered under his breath, “You love fucking me. Not me.”
The people passing him shot him weird looks. Leonardo didn’t notice. Didn’t care. He hurried his pace. He just wanted to be home, in his bed, alone. Without Raphael. Dammit, now he was thinking of Raph on his bed. Great. Fantastic. He let out a sigh and tried to smooth the creases on his forehead with the palm of his hand. Raph was beginning to rub off on him – the sarcasm, the swearing. Hopefully, his dad would not notice and, if he did, he would take it as a part of being a teenager. Hormones and mood swings and shit. I love you.
‘Ugh, just get out of my head already!’ Leonardo thought bitterly.
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Home. He was finally home – and far, far away from Raphael. Away from that ‘I love you’. So why was he not happy? Letting out a sigh, he opened the door and went inside. His father had had the house built in a Japanese-like-style. By the front door the floor level was raised by an inch, meaning that he was to take off his shoes. He did so, discarding them by the door, and then entered the house. He headed up the stairs to his room, entered, shut the door behind himself and then almost died of a heart attack.
“You scared me!” Leonardo yelled, half surprised, half agitated. He pressed a hand to his chest, to calm his raging heart. So much for being alone.
His father didn’t respond.
“Sit.”
Leonardo slowly lowered his hand from his chest and, hesitantly, did as he was told.
“What were you doing tonight?”
Leonardo felt his cheeks burn and, for a fleeting moment, worried that Yoshi had found out about what he and Raphael had been doing.
“Um… Nothing.” He avoided his father’s gaze.
“Nothing.” Yoshi repeated, not sounding the least bit convinced.
“Um… Well, I… Was with a guy from school, actually.” Leonardo said, deciding to come up with a lie so close to the truth that it was not technically a lie, “And, uh, we sorta… Had a fight.” Leo shrugged and feigned urgency, “But we didn’t get hurt or anything! We just had an argument.”
“Oh, really?” Yoshi raised his eyebrows and asked bluntly, “So why is it that my friend called me, saying that you were walking down the street, muttering about someone loving to fuck with you?”
“Er,” Leonardo felt his cheeks burn, “Well, you see, he does. With my mind.” Leonardo looked away and tried his best to sound neutral, “S-Sorry for swearing. I-I know that… That you hate when I do. I was just mad. Sorry.” He then feigned shock and looked at his father with a horror-stricken expression, “You didn’t think I meant… You didn’t think… That I meant fuck as in… As in sex, did you?”
“I did not know what to think. That is why I asked you.” Yoshi said stiffly, obviously feeling guilty for even doubting his son’s virginity… Little did he know… His features then softened and he placed a hand on Leonardo’s cheek, inspecting him, “So it was just an argument? You are not hurt?”
“I’m fine.” Leo said. He leant forward and kissed his father’s cheek, “Just a little tired. I think I might go to sleep now.”
Yoshi nodded, “Goodnight, my son.”
“‘Night.” Leonardo faked a yawn and stretched his arms above his head. Raphael’s words echoed in his mind once more as he fell asleep: I love you.
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By the time Leonardo woke, his mind had erased his dream from his mind and the most he could remember of it was falling through a black abyss, Raphael taunting him in some way, the conversation he’d had with his father that night and, well, that was it. There had been more that had happened and he strained himself to remember for a full five minutes before giving up and heading downstairs, letting out a sigh and rubbing at the creases on his forehead. So why is it that my friend called me, saying that you were walking down the street, muttering about someone loving to fuck with you? Leonardo could guess who this ‘friend’ was; Elisa, a woman who wanted to date his father so badly it made Leo want to puke. Of course, his father had said no every time, showing no interest towards the ‘dating world’.
Elisa continued to invade their personal lives and Leonardo was beginning to wish his father would just tell her to get lost already. She was constantly at Leonardo, asking him what was going on within his life, questioning him about his father, etc. She also had this permanent belief that he, Leonardo, had fucked up a girl who was currently pregnant and that Leo was waiting for the right moment to admit this ‘truth’ to his father. She seemed to be forgetting the fact that he was one hundred percent gay, something his father reminded her constantly. Sadly, another thing Elisa believed in was that ‘gay’ was nothing more than a ‘childish phase’. Leonardo let out another sigh and rubbed at the creases on his forehead.
He reached the kitchen, at which his father was already preoccupied cooking them a Japanese breakfast; rice with a side of fish.
“Good morning, Father.” Leonardo greeted with a small bow.
He seated himself at the kotatsu; a low wooden Japanese table with a built-in heat source. He sat on a zaisu; a Japanese chair with no legs but a normal chair back. Both the table and the chair were placed on top of a tatami mat. He sat in the ‘seiza’ sitting style, meaning that he was kneeling with his weight on top of his lower legs, which were folded underneath his body.
“Good morning, my son.” Splinter replied, nodding his head in acknowledgement.
Once he was done preparing the food, he served it in front of his son with a cup of green tea. Leonardo nodded his thanks.
“Did you sleep well?” Splinter asked.
“I, uh, had a weird dream.” Leo shrugged, “I can’t really remember it well, though.” Letting out a small sigh and shifting his rice around with his chopsticks, Leonardo asked, “So has Elisa called yet?”
Splinter chuckled and nodded, “Yes, yes, she has… She is not as bad as you seem to think, Leonardo.”
Leo rolled his eyes, “She keeps saying I’ve knocked someone up.”
“She has not.” Splinter replied.
“She keeps hinting at it.” Leonardo said, “You can’t deny that.”
Splinter smiled weakly, “No, I suppose not.”
“And she won’t accept the fact I’m gay; she keeps saying that it’s just a phase.” Leonardo fumed.
Splinter chuckled and after a moment said, “You know, Leonardo, you should really not start the day with such negativity. After all, how the day starts-,”
“Is how the day ends.” Leonardo finished, “Sorry, Sensei.”
“Do not apologise to me, Leonardo. You will be the one to suffer, not me.” Splinter said, humoured. “So, is there anything interesting happening at school today?”
“Um…” His thoughts flashed to Raphael momentarily, “Wellll, we are starting… Basketball, I think it was, today for PE.”
Splinter nodded, “You have always enjoyed basketball.”
“Not as much as that Mikey kid.” Leonardo shrugged. He then continued to eat his breakfast.
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The school day was fairly uneventful. Raphael did not approach him, as they never spoke of their little… ‘expeditions’ until after school, when the yard was deserted. Nothing too exciting had happened in morning-homeroom, his first two lessons had been maths, then a single lesson of homeroom of which was a small school assembly. He spent recess preparing himself for his presentation for science, which was his fourth and fifth lesson and then, after lunch, he had double phys. Ed. As he had said to his father that morning, they were starting basketball. And then, after homeroom and after the schoolyard became deserted, Leonardo met with Raphael near the basketball court, in the alleyway caused from the gym and a wall, created because of the way everything in the school was placed on two different levels of ground, due to the geography of the place.
Raphael was leaning against the wall when he arrived. He kicked off of it when Leonardo got there. The air was thick with unspoken words, the tension pulling all their muscles close together. The oxygen they breathed felt like thick syrup, catching in their throats. The two stared at each other for a long time, daring the other to be the first to speak. Raphael’s golden eyes watched Leonardo with intensity too hard to bare and, finally, he broke.
“Hey.”
Raphael nodded his head, “Hey.”
Leonardo hooked his hand over the back of his neck and let out a puff of air, “So… Um, the weather’s been nice today, huh?”
“Don’t bullshit me with the weather, Leo. It’s been fucking pouring all day! I aint fucking blind, ya know.”
Leonardo rolled his eyes at the extensive use of curse words, “Yeah, well, I like the rain.”
“‘Course ya fuckin’ do.” Raphael muttered under his breath.
Leo watched sceptically as Raphael prowled towards him and felt the urge to step back as he got closer. Raph’s hands snaked around his wrists and he backed Leonardo against the wall. His warm breath tickled Leonardo’s throat and he could smell the teen’s cologne; the same as the night before.
“Since when do you wear cologne?” Leo asked.
Raphael rolled his eyes, “Yer so damn hard to please, Leo. Yeh’ve been fucking telling me to start coverin’ up ma smell for months now, remember?”
“I’m not that hard to please.” Leonardo said, wanting to push the hair out of his eyes; Raphael’s grip did not allow him to do so.
“Yeah ya fuckin’ are. Dats what I like about ya, though.” Raphael leant forward, his mouth beside Leonardo’s ear, his breath trailing down his back, “I love a good challenge.”
“Is that so? No wonder you like trying to make yourself look good.” Leonardo teased.
Raphael chuckled and the sound caused a shiver to run down the former’s spine. There was a moment of silence in which Leonardo let himself soak in the other’s presence. He could feel Raph’s warmth soaking into his body and vaguely wondered whether he felt that way to Raph, or if he felt cold to him. Leonardo breathed in Raphael’s scent; the smell of cologne, car grease, sweat, burnt rubber and that odd tinge of baby powder. Leonardo could never understand that last scent, or why Raph carried it around with him. Leonardo lifted his nose so that it gently bumped into Raphael’s and their eyes caught each other. Raph’s grip loosened on Leonardo’s wrist and the latter took the moment to raise his hand and brush the tuff of his hair away from his eyes. A small smile settled on Raphael’s lips and he leaned forward.
In that moment, nothing else in the world mattered.
Raphael’s lips pressed against Leonardo’s. Leo slithered his arms over the other’s shoulders and Raphael’s arms melted into the former’s back, his hands pressing them close, their bodies touching, their breaths mingling, their scent filling the other’s senses. They were both there, they were together, they were alone, and that was all that mattered. Not the cold draft nor the dampness of their surroundings deterred the way they felt when they were like this; entwined in each other. Raphael pulled back and sighed. The sound brushed against Leonardo’s lips. Raphael’s hands pressed against Leo’s cheeks and he leant backwards. Their eyes met; soft sapphire blue fixated on fierce golden-amber.
“So, I gotta go.” Raphael said, his forehead pressing against Leonardo’s.
Leonardo nodded. He let his hand press against the other’s chest for a moment more and breathed in his scent one last time: cologne, car grease, sweat, burnt rubber and a tinge of baby powder. He stepped back and Raphael’s hands slowly fell.
“I’ll see ya ‘round.” Raph said and Leonardo watched his retreating figure until it disappeared.
With a small sigh, he began moving towards home. The streets were crowded and the sky obscured by tall buildings and skyscrapers. The breeze was warm and the air hot. Leonardo missed Japan; there were many vending machines there and so when it became warmer weather it was not difficult to get a drink. Letting out a sigh, he headed into a nearby shop to grab a bottle of water.