Hi there! So, this is my first story on here! This chapter is kind of a test run, just to introduce my OC and stuff :)

it will be OC/Autobot, but I am currently undecided on the pairing? The two I'm considering at the moment are OC/Ironhide and OC/Sideswipe (or possibly sideswipe/OC/sunstreaker?). If you have any suggestions or opinions, I would really love to hear them, especially if you could help me out with choosing a pairing! Thank you so much guys

Babysitting was not as easy as Evie Tadros had thought it was going to be. It had seemed like a great idea at first; make sure someone else's kid doesn't get in trouble, and eat other people's food. What could go wrong?

Simple: it turned out that Evie was incredibly awkward around kids. Growing up an only child with no contact with younger children could do that to a person, she supposed. Which was possibly why she was sitting in the comfortably homey living room of her neighbour's house, watching their daughter throw her crayons at the cream walls.

Annabelle Lennox was an incredibly sweet little girl; only five years old, with gorgeous honey-blonde curls and sky blue eyes. Her chubby cheeks dimpled when she smiled, which was often. Her love for frilly dresses was rivalled only by her love of destroying her mother's perfect, unblemished sitting room walls.

"Um," Evie began uncertainly, tucking a stray lock of her dark hair behind her ear, "Hey. Hey, uh, Annabelle?"

The little girl paused, crayons clenched in her raised chubby fist. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to, maybe, um, stop?" Evie smiled nervously, "if you want?"

Apparently taking pity on her incredibly inept babysitter, Annabelle dropped her crayons on the floor. Before Evie could breathe a sigh of relief, Annabelle clambered to her feet and padded over to the couch. "Can we go to the park?"

"Oh.." Evie thought for a moment, "I guess so? Do you have a stroller or something?"

"I'm five!" Annabelle exclaimed indignantly, a scowl creasing her creamy pale forehead.

"Yes, you are. Right. Okay." Evie nodded, smiling tightly. "Okay. You need a coat." It was a relief when Annabelle didn't argue, simply nodded and ran upstairs to get her jacket. Evie waited by the stairs, glancing around the hallway. Mrs Lennox was a lovely lady, and she had decorated the whole house with sweet family portraits and kitschy decorations. Evie was gazing at one in particular, a photo of Mrs Lennox with Annabelle and another man by the seaside. The man could only be Mr Lennox, a man with the same blue eyes and bright smile as his daughter. Evie had never met him; he was a captain in the military, and had been deployed somewhere overseas for the past couple of years.

Annabelle appeared at the top of the stairs wearing a baby pink windbreaker and purple boots, looking like a poster child for The Gap. She bounced down the stairs, beaming, and grabbed for Evie's hand. "Ready!"

Evie grabbed her own coat and the spare key of the house that Mrs Lennox had left her, before allowing Annabelle to tug her out of the house. Despite it being February the day was warm enough, so there were plenty of people milling about. Annabelle was thankfully far less awkward than her babysitter, and gladly took the older girl's hand to pull her along.

With Annabelle leading them both, they reached the park two blocks over in a little under ten minutes, and Annabelle let go of Evie's hand to run to the playground. The park was busy, but Annabelle still managed to get on a free swing. "Evie!" She screeched, "Push me!"

It was a good thing, Evie supposed, that Annabelle wasn't put off by Evie's lack of experience with kids, or her lack of conversational skills. Maybe all kids were like that, she wasn't sure. Still, it was getting easier to relax around the little girl.

They spent nearly two and a half hours at the park; making their rounds at the playground, before moving on to feed the ducks. Evie finally decided it was time to go when she saw Annabelle's head nodding. The walk back to the Lennox's house took a bit longer than the walk to the park; only because Annabelle had insisted that Evie carry her home. The five year old had fallen asleep in Evie's arms a block away from the house, her face nestled into Evie's neck.

Mrs Lennox's car was in the driveway when Evie reached the house, so she didn't need the spare key she had been given. Annabelle didn't stir as they entered the house again. She stayed sound asleep as Evie trudged upstairs and laid her carefully down on the frilly pink bed in the little girl's bedroom.

Mrs Lennox was sitting in the kitchen when Evie returned downstairs, and she looked up and smiled gratefully at the babysitter. "Evie. How did everything go? Did Annabelle behave?"

"Oh yeah, everything was fine." Bouncing on her toes, Evie smiled and put her hands in her pockets. "We just went to the park for a while, and Annabelle conked out on the way back. I just put her to bed."

"You're an angel." Mrs Lennox stood up from the table and walked around it. She looked tired. "I know it's a lot to ask, but do you think you could mind Annie tomorrow, too?"

As an English graduate, there weren't a lot of job opportunities pouring in Evie's windows, and she needed to make a living somehow. She smiled cheerfully. "I'd love to, Mrs Lennox."

"Sarah, please." Mrs Lennox waved a hand dismissively, "I'm sorry to have to take up all your time, I'm just so busy at the moment."

"Oh, don't worry Mrs- um, Sarah. I enjoyed myself today." Evie smiled with an easy shrug. It wasn't like she had anything better to be doing. "More than I thought I was going to, really. What's keeping you so busy? Anything I can help with?" Evie tensed almost immediately after the words had left her mouth, fearing she had overstepped her boundaries.

But allaying her fears, Sarah just laughed lightly. "Oh, I've been trying to get everything sorted; my husband, Will, is coming home for a few weeks on leave." Excitement coloured her voice, belying the fatigue in her face.

"Oh, that's wonderful, Mrs Lennox!"

Beaming, Mrs Lennox nodded her head. "He should be home in less than a week, for the first time in almost two years!"

"I'm delighted for you," said Evie sincerely. She straightened her back and motioned towards the door. "I'll get going now then, and leave you to your planning. I'll see you tomorrow!"

oOoOo

Evie lived alone in a big house she had inherited from her father 3 years ago. She had been living with her grandmother when they got the letter; Ahmed Tadros had been stationed in Egypt, where he had been killed in an ensuing battle. The details of said battle were confidential. A few weeks later her grandmother passed away, leaving Evie - just turned eighteen - alone with a Purple Heart Award for a dead father and some old photos.

Then, only a day after her grandmothers funeral, two lawyers showed up at the café she had worked at; her grandmother's house was being repossessed by the bank. But don't worry, they had told her, your father invested in a house before he was deployed. Being honest, Evie had never expected her father to be so organised about things - not that she was complaining. She had a roof over her head, and some money left to her by both her father and grandmother.

Sarah Lennox had been a blessing in those first few months; Evie would come home to the big empty house, only to find freshly cooked lasagne wrapped in cling film sitting outside her front door, or brownies or cookies. Such a small gesture had helped her to get through the worst of the loneliness and grief, and had kept her tied to the real world.

Evie was reflecting on all of this as she watched Annabelle drawing a picture, crayons held tight in her chubby little fists. She may be awkward around the kid, but she really was glad for the job, and grateful that she got the chance to try and pay back some of the kindness Sarah had shown her.

"Evie?"

"Hm?" Evie was pulled from her reverie, realising that Annabelle was staring at her. "Yes?"

"How come we look different?"

A flicker of a frown crossed her face. "What do you mean?"

"Our hair is different." Annabelle lifted a lock of her own golden curls, and then pointed at Evie's dark, thick, straight hair. "and our eyes."

Evie's father was Egyptian, and her mother Irish-American; as a result, Evie's features were very dark and distinct. Her eyes were a dark brown, her hair and eyebrows black, and her skin a golden tan. Evie smiled calmly and shrugged one shoulder. "My daddy was from Egypt. People are darker there."

"Oh." Annabelle frowned thoughtfully. "My daddy is from Detroit. He's pale."

That drew an honest laugh out of Evie, and a mischievous grin from the younger girl. Annabelle held up her picture for inspection, and Evie nearly melted; it was a drawing of a two girls - one with exaggerated yellow curls, and the other with black hair and dark eyes. They were holding hands and had massive, red grins across their faces. Evie took it tenderly, and eyed it closely. "It's very beautiful, Annabelle. You should draw more often, you're very good."

The grin that spread across Annabelle's face was the brightest the Evie had seen all day. "You really think so?"

"I sure do."

"You can keep it!"

"Really?" An involuntary little smile spread over Evie's own face as she glanced back down at the picture. "I'd like that."

"You can look at it and remember that we're best friends!" Annabelle crowed, clambering onto the couch to sit beside her babysitter. She lay her head down on Evie's lap and yawned. "Can we watch a movie now?"

Smiling, Evie nodded. Babysitting was the best idea she had had in a long time.