A/N: This is what happens to your brain after watching Sleepless in Seattle one time too many.

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If there was one thing that distinguished Bumblebee from most of the Autobots, it was the friendship he shared with Spike, Sparkplug and the other humans that frequented the Ark. That meant Bumblebee was also ready to protect his friends if something bad happened to them.

It was this kind of protectiveness that made the yellow minibot confront Spike on their way back to the Ark after a night out at the movies. For Bumblebee was quite upset about what had happened at the drive-in.

"All right, Spike. Spill it. What did you do?"

Spike blinked and stared at the dashboard, where Bumblebee's voice sounded from. "What are you talking about, Bumblebee? I didn't do anything."

If Bumblebee were able to, he would have raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Now that was too much for the usually cheerful Autobot.

"Don't lie, okay? I never saw Carly cry so much before. She didn't stop crying even after the movie had finished."

There was a good three-second silence, during which Bumblebee waited for Spike's explanation. And Bumblebee hoped his friend had a very good excuse because, Primus help him… he would do the human some injury.

He certainly didn't expect Spike to start laughing so hard that the driver's seat practically shook. In fact, it was a good thing that it wasn'tSpike that was driving this time, or there would have been an accident for sure.

It was official. Spike lost his minispheres.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Bumblebee commented.

"I know, I know, sorry," Spike said, trying to stifle his laughing fits – and only partly succeeding.

"Then what is it?" the minibot asked.

"Honestly, Bumblebee, didn't you notice when Carly started to cry?"

Though Bumblebee didn't know what to make of the question, he decided to indulge his friend. He searched his memory banks for more information.

"It was about the time that Shelby person died in the movie."

Spike grinned. "That's right."

It was then that it finally dawned on Bumblebee.

"Wait a minute… was that why Carly kept crying?"

"Yup," Spike answered.

"But… the woman didn't really die… right?" Bumblebee asked in an unsure tone.

Spike chuckled and shook his head. "No, it was just acting. As soon as the shot was done, the actress just got up and walked out of stage."

To say that Bumblebee felt utterly confused now, it would have been an understatement.

"Then why did Carly cry?"

"Beats me," the young man said with a shrug. "It's a girl thing, I guess."

"Oh."

There was silence for a few moments, something that made Spike smile knowingly.

"You don't get it either, do you?" he asked.

"No, not really," Bumblebee admitted.

That made Spike chuckle again and pat the minibot's dashboard in an encouraging manner.

"That's okay. I wouldn't expect you or the other Autobots to understand girl behaviour."

"Good. Because, frankly, I don't want to," Bumblebee said, and that seemed to put the discussion to an end. Not a moment too soon either, since they had just reached the Ark. Bumblebee put on the brakes and asked Spike to get out.

"Is there something wrong?" Spike asked in a surprised tone.

"No," the minibot said. "It's just that it's kind of late and most of the guys will be offline by now. I don't want my engine to disturb them."

"Oh, right." Spike stepped out of the car, and Bumblebee transformed at once to his robot mode. They both walked in as quietly as possible, whereas Bumblebee turned on his headlights so that he could light the way ahead. They didn't want to accidentally wake up any of the other Autobots, after all.

And yet…

"That's odd," Bumblebee whispered. He pointed at the end of the corridor in which he and Spike were currently walking. "There's light in the common room."

"There shouldn't be?" Spike asked, keeping his tone just as low.

"Well, there's no rule against it," Bumblebee said thoughtfully. "But it's still unusual at this time of night."

"Wait a minute," the young man said then, gesturing to the yellow minibot to stop. "Do you hear something?"

Bumblebee froze and turned up his audio receptors. He was certainly surprised when he realized that Spike was right, for he could hear something too.

Except it sounded suspiciously a lot like…

Bumblebee didn't speak. He placed his right index finger in front of his lip components in a signal for silence and then grabbed Spike to guide him forward. For Bumblebee needed to be sure of what he saw, and to do that he needed a trustworthy witness.

With that in mind, he sneaked close to the entrance of the common room with Spike still on his side. The sounds could be heard quite clearly now, and their nature was enough to pique the curiosity of both Autobot and human. After exchanging a glance, they dared a discreet peek.

Brawn, Wheeljack, Ratchet and Cliffjumper were sitting on the sofa, which that in itself wasn't odd.

What wasodd was that they were all crying.

"I can't believe that just happened," Brawn said, his voice unnaturally tremulous.

"Why did it have to end like this?!" Wheeljack said mournfully.

"I guess… it couldn't be helped…" Ratchet was practically struggling to utter the words.

"But it was his dog!" Cliffjumper exclaimed amid his sobs. "Why?!"

Bumblebee and Spike could only stare dumbly for many long moments. The yellow minibot wanted to say that his optics were merely playing tricks on him, but it wasn't possible. There was no denying the truth, certainly not when the credits were still rolling on the TV screen.

"Um… Spike?"

"Yeah?"

Bumblebee shuffled his legs in an embarrassed manner.

"Maybe we should make that our cue to exit?"

Spike nodded. "I'm right behind you, buddy."

And with that, they retreated as quietly as they had approached, exchanging a silent agreement.

Never mention that to anyone, or four particular Autobots would have their heads as trophies up a wall.

The End

A/N: In case you were wondering: Spike, Carly and Bumblebee watched 'Steel Magnolias'. Brawn, Wheeljack, Ratchet and Cliffjumper watched – and cried over – 'Old Yeller'. ;)