Title: Maybe I Like My Car Too Much

Rating: PG

Maybe I love my car too much, Sam thought, relaxing back into the sleek leather seat. I mean, who spends all day letting their car drive them through town when they're supposed to be in school?

Then again, who lets their car drive them around? A smile quirked Sam's lips. Every day, he was reminded how lucky he was that he knew the Autobots at all; if his great-grandfather hadn't found Megatron – Sam's heart sped up a little just thinking of that awful thing – then Bumblebee would have never found him.

The Camaro slowed slightly, the seat shifting. Sam ran his hands over the steering wheel soothingly, smiling at Bee's tendency to worry over the littlest things. A rise in Sam's body temperature? The air conditioning kicked on. The sun suddenly shining directly into his eyes? The visor flipped down.

His heart speeding up in remembered terror? Bee did his best to comfort him, even if he wasn't in the best form to do so.

Sam had woken late this morning to his mother's shouting; he'd known instantly it was going to be "one of those days." He'd missed breakfast, tripped over poor Mojo, who was still so high off his pain meds that he didn't even move, the crackhead, and spent ten minutes looking for his wallet which he'd left down on the kitchen table but had ended up in the laundry room (thanks, Mom).

He'd trudged out to the Camaro and slid inside, relaxing a little. The engine hummed and then Bee had started towards the high school.

Things had gotten both better and worse in the few weeks since Megatron had almost gotten the cube. Being Mikaela's boyfriend had vaulted him up slightly in the high school hierarchy, but it had also made him a target for many of the school's resident jocks. So far, no one had touched him, but words following him across the courtyard couldn't be drowned out all the time.

It wasn't just that, though; while he'd never loved school, he'd at least seen the need for it before. Now, though, having come through a battle not only for his life but his entire planet, learning how to divide by x seemed a little insignificant.

At least the Autobots are getting settled in well, Sam smiled. A few acres set aside for them, and they were already constructing a base, a place for their fellow Autobots to gather and regroup. A place for them all to feel safe.

Sam couldn't help but feel glad that Bee opted to still sat with him, at his house every night. He liked to sneak out and slide inside his car, relax and just…be with Bee. They talked about everything, from the autobot theory of where sparks came from to why there were so many pages of the internet devoted to porn.

In fact, the only time Bee wasn't with him was when Optimus needed him for something, and even then, Sam usually got to come along. The only real time they'd spent apart since he'd first bought the Camaro had been right after he'd used the cube on Megatron; Bee hadn't wanted him to be there while Ratchet had fixed him up. (He didn't count school because Bee was usually waiting in the parking lot, surfing the web, which Sam did not approve of, because it usually led to embarrassing sex questions while Mikaela was in the car, smothering laughter as Sam tried desperately not to die of embarrassment).

That had to be weird, right? Spending more time with your car than your girlfriend? I mean, sure, guys were supposed to love their cars, but the only reason guys spent that much time with a car was if it was damaged and needed to be fixed up.

Sam wished suddenly that he knew cars like Mikaela did; he'd love to get his hands under the Camaro's hood, tinkering around, just see how things worked, what made Bee purr like he did sometimes. Bee would let him, he thought, if he knew what he was doing; he liked it when Sam touched him, slid a hand along him as he walked into school or crawled onto the hood to relax.

That was another thing. Who noticed when his car liked to be touched? Granted, Bee wasn't a car, but…Sam was definitely too attached. Definitely.

It had been suicide, staying beside Bee in the middle of that freaking war zone, when Bee's legs had been sheared off. But in that moment, dying with Bee had been a better alternative to leaving him. His chest ached fiercely just remembering that – Bee's robot form was so amazing, so beautiful, and to see him hurt like that, unable to get up and walk, had made him so, so heartsick.

Remembering that made him remember Bee, roped in like cattle, helpless in the canal. He hadn't been able to do anything when they were freezing him – freezing him, god, it made him sick! – just listen to those scared sounds, see those bright eyes begging him to help, help, and then they'd dragged him away.

He was sweating now, and his heart was pounding, and Bee's voice came through, soft and maybe even a little scared.

"Sam? Are you alright? Your body temperature has shot up, your heart is beating too fast, and you are trembling against my seat –"

"I'm okay, Bee," Sam murmured. "Just…remembering things. Bad things."

"If they are bad, why are you remembering them?" Bee's voice was curious.

"Sometimes you can't help it. You start thinking about something, and it makes you think of something else, and before you know it you're remembering bad things."

"Oh." After a brief pause, Bee asked, "What were you remembering?"

"Just…the day I saw your robot form, and everything that happened after."

"The day I showed you me was bad?" Bee sounded almost upset.

"No, no! Of course not, that was the best day of my life! No, I was…thinking about you, and then I remembered everything that happened. How scared I was when Section 7 got us, and when…when you got hurt, the day we fought Megatron."

"You were scared when Section 7 got us?" Bee sounded confused. "Why? They were not going to harm you."

"They were going to harm you," Sam said softly, stroking the steering wheel again. "All that time, I kept thinking that they were going to...deactivate you or something." They were going to take you away, and there was nothing I cold do about it.

"They could not. My system is far too advanced. They could only freeze me like they did Megatron."

"I know that now, but I didn't then," Sam protested. Freezing didn't sound that great to him either, but freezing as opposed to death was probably a better option for Autobots. "Besides, being frozen doesn't really work out for humans."

Bee's engine hummed, and Sam relaxed a little more, letting the bad memories fade. Bee was fine now, better than ever, even, so he didn't need to worry. Ratchet had even managed to start gathering parts and supplies, so even if something did happen, Bee had a better chance of coming through it okay than he had before.

"I was so scared that day, because I thought you were going to die and there was nothing I could do." Sam murmured.

"I felt like that too," Bee's told him, slowing down some more. "My legs were gone; I couldn't move. And I saw you fall from that building. I thought for sure you were dead, and I wanted to follow you. I'm your guardian; I was supposed to protect you, and I was useless."

"You weren't useless!" Sam protested. "You weren't! If you hadn't been there, everyone would have died! Optimus, me, probably even you and Mikaela and…well, everyone! You saved Optimus, and Optimus fought with Megatron, which gave me time to use the cube on him. You're the reason we're all still here."

Bee was silent, but the engine made that soft purring sound it made whenever Sam's hand accidentally touched a sensor too close to Bee's spark. Sam smiled, knowing that Bee believed him, and relieved that his friend knew how much Sam valued him.

And Sam did value him. Bee was a lot of different things – friend, guardian, partner. If something happened to Bee died, he would take part of Sam with him.

Guys didn't feel like that about their cars. Even friends didn't feel like that for friends, not that deep.

Only lovers felt like that. You only cared for someone that deeply if they held part of your soul. Was it possible that his car held some of his soul?

But Bee wasn't a car. He just looked like one sometimes. He was a living, thinking, feeling being.

And Sam was in love with him. The realization send a giddy rush through him, and he shifted in the seat, grinning, ecstatic for no reason other than that he was in love and he wanted to share that.

"Bee? Can we find a private place to stop? I need to tell you something."

Well, that was my first Transformers fic. I hate that title, but I couldn't come up with a better one. I hope you liked it!