Author's Notes: origonally written for the springkink community on livejournal.
He always gave her the space to be alone, and she appreciated that.
That wasn't to say that Sam didn't let her have her space when she needed it, but he just didn't have that knack for leaving her alone when they were together. They always had to ibe together/i when they were spending time with each other.
Optimus Prime was the first guy that she had ever met who actually understood what she meant when she told him she needed some solitude.
They had been driving the first time it had happened, just a little trip down some back roads while she told him about her world. But somewhere during the conversation, she had started talking about her father, and that had caused her to trail off in silence.
"Mikaela, what's wrong?" Prime's voice had been concerned, older brotherly. "Do you want to go home?"
"I just need to be alone."
The Autobot's understanding was immediate. "I will drive you all night if you need."
"Thanks," she said, leaning on the door and abandoning all pretense of actually driving the huge truck.
They drove for hours before he reminded her gently that she had school the next day. When they pulled up outside her house, she paused as she was climbing out of the cab.
"Thanks again. I don't know how you knew, but that was what I needed."
"Sometimes, all one needs is a friend to hold them up while they think."
She couldn't have said it better herself. But maybe you had to be a sentient robot with hundreds of years' worth of experience before you could really understand it.