– In Love with A Camaro – Chapter 1 –

A large house sat southeast and seven miles away from downtown Chicago. Christmas lights were neatly traced along the roof and windows of the house, just like the other cars in the neighborhood. Christmas was only a week away, bringing chaos to the currently still house. The house belonged to the Witwicky family. The battle of Chicago had happened five years ago and Sam had tried hard not to let that change things too much. He and Mikaela had reconnected a couple years back and Sam was starting to talk about marriage. Somehow, during the whole incident Sam's sister had yet to figure out that Sam's beloved Camaro was a transformer. He realized she had been fairly young when he first got his car and even during the battle of Chicago, but he thought she would have found out about Bee. Since she hadn't, his parents decided that it would be best if she didn't. Sam's sister was now 19 and was working as an artist. She was an excellent drawer and painter too. Thought, because of what her job was she still didn't have the money to live on her own.

Upstairs, in Sam's old bedroom he and Mikaela snuggled up together in the small bed his mother had yet to replace. It was an overcast and cold morning and in the distance thunder could be heard. Sam lied peacefully in bed when suddenly a nearby clap of thunder woke him. He let out a hushed gasp as his eyes flew open. His sudden movement had disturbed Mikaela in her sleep as she rolled over to the other side of the bed. Sam sighed as he relaxed and laid back down, trying to go back to sleep. He looked over at his window and watched as tiny raindrops smacked against the glass and stuck. He then looked down at the foot of the bed at their sleeping Rottweiler who was much too big for his old bed. Suddenly, he felt hungry and he decided he would head down to the kitchen for breakfast. He slowly got out of bed, trying not to disturb the dog or Mikaela. Finally, he was out of the bed but the dog had woken up. The two of them headed down to the kitchen hearing the thunder getting louder as the storm approached the house. He flipped on the lights and let the dog out in the backyard before going to the fridge and pulling open the door. He scanned the fridge for a gallon of milk but there was no more left. He groaned as he shut the fridge door. He walked over to a note pad his mother kept on the counter and picked up a pen.

Going out to store. Be back soon.

SAM

Sam scribbled the note quickly and stuck it to the fridge before jamming on his shoes and heading out to the driveway. As he opened the door that led to the garage he immediately noticed Bumblebee was gone. Panic stuck through him as he slammed the door shut and rushed back into the house.

"Mikaela? Mom? Dad? Come here!" Sam screamed through the house waking up everyone as they came into the kitchen.

"Sweet heart! Sweet heart! What's wrong?" His mother cooed as she rushed over to him.

"Bee is gone." He said biting his nails.

"Sam, you parked it on the driveway last night! It should still be there!" Mikaela croaked, annoyed that her boyfriend had just woken her up for a seemingly stupid reason.

"No, but it's gon- Where's Alli?" Sam asked, noticing that his sister had not emerged from her room.

"I don't know." His mother said, and Sam realized what had happened.

"Shit!" He yelled as he dashed out of the house.

"Sam! Your language!" His mother scolded.

"Sam? Wait!" Mikaela yelled as she followed behind him, running out onto the driveway trying to keep warm in the brown blanket that covered her mostly naked body. The couple stood out on the driveway, saying nothing, as Sam stared blankly. All he could think about was how he was going to kill his little sister when she got back. Just as he was thinking about what he was going to do Alli pulled up into the driveway.

As Alli pulled the car onto the driveway she saw her brother and Mikaela standing on the driveway. Her brother was making angry gestures at her, obviously pissed. She groaned as she put the car into park and got out. She walked around the trunk, ignoring her brother, as she pulled out two canvas bags that were full of paint tubes. She was about to begin work on her biggest piece yet. Sam grumbled to himself as he marched to the back of the car and stood in his sister's way.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sam asked as she rolled her eyes, closing the trunk of the Camaro. "How long were you gone with it?" He asked as she began walking back into the house. "Answer me!" Sam screamed, following beside her. She threw the keys at him as she walked into the house. She set the paint down on the counter and turned to look at her brother, her hand on her hip.

"I just took it to the art store so I could buy more paint." She sighed but that didn't calm her brother down at all.

"What's wrong with your car?" He asked, his sister getting more annoyed with him.

"It wouldn't start because of the cold!" She snapped and Sam was quiet.

"Just to the art store?" He asked, calming down a little.

"Yes, Sam, just to the art store!" She yelled grabbing the keys back out of his hand and walking back outside. Sam followed her as she opened the passenger door and pulled out another bag that was full of brushes. "Besides, why does it matter if I take the Camaro? You never drive it! It just sits in the damn garage most of the time, anyway!" She hissed, locking the car back up.

"You just can't, okay?" He vaguely answered and Alli rolled her eyes.

"That's a bull shit answer, Sam. I take this car out all of the time, because mine is a piece of shit! Why can't I just have it?" She asked and Sam didn't know what to say.

"Look, I don't know how to explain it." He started and as he did Bumblebee heard him. The car then took it upon himself to help Sam explain it to his sister. Just as she turned back around to lock the Camaro he began to transform. Alli watched in horror and shock as the car turned into robot that was larger than the house. She screamed, dropping her bag of brushes and grabbing onto her brother.

"Alli, just stay calm!" Sam coaxed her as he wrapped an arm around her and Bee knelt before them.

"Holy shit! What is that?" She cried, squeezing her brother's arm. "Is that one of those things that killed Alice?" She screamed, thinking back to when a Decepticon killed their cousin. The worst thing that she had ever experienced was experiencing someone she loved die. She never wanted to see that happen again. They had been down in the city, shopping when the attack broke out.

" Alli, calm down! This is an Autobot, the thing that killed Alice was a Decepticon." Sam tried to explain, but to her they were all the same thing.

"What fucking difference does it make?" She screamed. Her breathing was rapid and shallow and Sam could feel her pounding heartbeat.

"The Autobots are on our side! They're trying to help us! This is Bumblebee, he's my… protector."

"You mean to tell me that the whole time you were away I was borrowing an alien robot?" She asked, still freaking out.

"Yes. Wait what? How often have you driven my car?" Sam asked, annoyed.

"Never mind that. Is it friendly?" She said trying to redirect the conversation.

"Alli, he isn't going to hurt you." Sam said as he led his sister over to the transformer. "Al, meet Bee." Sam said, as he walked his cautious sister over to the robot. "Bee, meet my sister, Alli." Sam said, and Bee buzzed with excitement.

"He doesn't talk?" She asked, as she looked him up and down.

"He does, but his vocals are broken." Sam said and Bumblebee buzzed again, nodding.

"Well, hello." She said, waving at the robot and he waved back. "He's kinda cute." She laughed as Bee buzzed and began playing 'You're Beautiful' by James Blunt.

"Bee! Knock it off!" Sam scolded, he wasn't going to let his alien car hit on his sister. Alli laughed at the Autobot's comedic side, and walked closer to him.

"So this whole time, you were an alian and I had no idea." She laughed as she thought back to all the times that she had carelessly taken him to the drive-in movies with her best friend, or to the grocery store. "We've done everything together." She whispered to the transformer, smiling. Suddenly they found themselves getting lost in each other's eyes. Alli was trying to figure out what it was that made him kind of charming to her, and Bee stared at her trying to find something to say. He thought she was everything, and he fell weak to her. He had these feelings for a while and it was why Bee had let her use him as her daily driver. As they stood there studying each other, they heard two high-performance engines roar close by and saw a Ferrari and a Corvette concept car drive up to her house.

"Bumblebee!" The Corvette yelled as he transformed into an Autobot along with the Ferrari.

"Whoa!" She gasped, stumbling backwards as her brother caught her. "There's more?" She asked and her brother nodded, walking her back inside.

"There's a lot I haven't told you, but I promise I will." He said pushing her inside and then running back over to the autobots.