AN: Hope you like it! R&R pweeeaaase!

Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers...

Well, turns out Maine wasn't close to Mississippi at all. Erin had been driving forever and her butt was starting to get numb when she finally reached what she remembered to be Will and Sarah's home. She couldn't lie about being nervous. She hadn't seen her cousin or his lovely wife in over a year. They knew about Robby, but they didn't know what he did to her. Everytime he went around her family, which was almost never, he acted like a gentleman. And boy was he a good actor.

Erin pulled the car into the snowy driveway and took another look in the rear-view mirror before getting out. What if she looked so bad they didn't recognize her? She was already nervous enough to be around Will. Not that he would do anything to hurt her, she just had an extreme fear and hatred toward men. Her last boyfriend before Ronny, his name was Laurel, had been a dream guy too. She had been with him almost a year until he cheated on her and she broke up with him for Ronny. Nice taste in men, Erin. she scolded herself, thinking back on her exes.

As she looked in the mirror, she saw a sad, angry, scared girl. An ugly one at that. And she didn't like her curves. She found herself to be too big in her breasts and hips, but too small in her waist. Nonetheless, Ronny had wanted her to atleast look decent, so he bought her clothes all the time. Name-brand ones at that. Right now she was wearing a black frilly tank-top and black skinny jeans. Over the top, she wore a faded navy blue hoodie with paint spots stained on it. She wore black velvety flat boots on her feet, but the thin bottoms in them didn't keep out the cold and damp snow on the ground. Her hair wasn't done at the moment, but she had brought her curler, straightener, and crimper with her. Right now it was up in a messy bun with twigs falling down by her face every now and then. It was about dinner time and she saw people bustling back and forth inside the warm-looking abode. Slowly and hesitantly, she walked up to the door and knocked, putting on her fakest smile yet.

Sarah answered and a smile beamed on her face when she saw her cousin-in-law. "Erin! It's been forever!" the blonde woman exclaimed happily. Erin heard will ask who was there before coming to the door himself. "Sweety, look who's here!" she practically squealed at her husband and then turned back to Erin. "Oh, I missed you! We have so much to catch up on and I can't believe you would even come and visit with us! It's great, honey!" she cooed at the twenty-year-old in front of her, who was less than seven years younger than herself. "Hi..." a surprised Will began.

"Hey, Will. Sarah" Erin smiled weakly. "So what brings you here?" he asked curiously. They were close, but he knew that Erin would never willingly visit anyone. She wasn't exactly a people person. And she especially would't come without...

"Where's Ronny?" he asked her. Erin wasn't at all shocked to hear this, but still at the mention of his name, she had to fight back tears. "What's wrong sweety?" Sarah began in a much calmer tone as she saw the liquid building in her cousin-in-law's eyes. "Here, come in."

Will hurried in before Sarah and put Anabelle in her room. She was in her terrible two's so he knew she would irritate Erin. She'd never been kid-friendly anyway.

Sarah led Erin into the living room and sat her on the couch. "Would you like something to drink? We're fixing dinner now, so if you're hungry you can stay and eat." the blonde offered. "No thank you." was her simple reply. Then she began to explain. "You remember Ronny, right?" she asked. The couple nodded. "Well..." she continued and held her index finger up with the small diamond ring on it. Sarah seemed overjoyed for her and Will smiled from ear to ear. After they were done congradulating her, Erin let her head hang low. "We're not married yet." she said. "So did you come to invite us to the wedding?" Will asked. "Yeah when is it?" Sarah pestered further. Erin hesitated before replying. "Never." The look on her relatives' faces were of confusion and horror. "What?!" Sarah asked. "I left him. And I was wondering if I could stay with you guys until I find a job and everything." Erin said in a monotone. The room was quiet until Sarah made her disapproval known.

"Why would you leave him?" she wondered aloud.

"He hurts me." Erin replied. Obviously they didn't understand, because Will began to explain to her that all relationships have pains and that they needed to work it out to become stronger. Erin grew aggrivated at how he talked to her like a child, so she decided just to show them. She stood up in the middle of his lecture and pulled off the hoodie to reveal all the bruises and cuts on her arms. She continued to roll her pants legs up and push her boots down so you could see the same cuts and bruises on her legs. She pulled her shirt up to reveal her stomache and back until everything was visible except her wrists and private areas.

Erin looked at the couple as tears filled her eyes. Their faces showed they were mortified and angered. As she put her clothing back on properly, she looked Will and Sarah in the eyes. "Do you still think I should 'work it out'?" she asked, mocking Will's earlier statement. The whole house was quiet for a minute. Then Sarah broke the silence. "You need to see a doctor." she managed to say. "NO." Erin immediately refused. She knew that if she went to a female doctor, all she'd get was a pity party and a male doctor was totally out of the question. "They'll make me call the police." she lied. Sarah looked at her husband and then back at the girl before them.

"Come on, let's getcha fixed up." Sarah said gently and tried to lead her to the bathroom.

-Later-

After Sarah had cleaned and wrapped some of Erin's wounds, she led her to the guest bedroom. Will brought her bag in and sat it by her bed. After changing into some pajamas that would hide her wounds, Erin walked over to the mirror to examine herself. She wore a long-sleeved black shirt with some faded band logo on it, her grey and white pajama pants with designs on them, and some black socks. Not long after that, she collapsed into bed from exhaustion. Funny. She usually never went to bed before midnight. It was nine o'clock.

-Next Morning-

Erin awoke the next morning to crying. She had the same old nightmares the previous night, but this time she was pretty sure it wasn't her crying. She drowsily got out of bed and walked out of the room and her eyes widened when she made it to the hallway. Will was sprinting to Anabelle's room So that's who was crying. obviously trying to get her dressed. She knew Anabelle had to go to daycare, so Erin didn't bother asking and just walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

She saw Sarah sitting at the table drinking coffee with a cheery smile on her face which made Erin slightly jealous that she herself wasn't a morning person. But beside her was someone Erin didn't know. And by the looks of him, she didn't want to. He had black hair and bright blue eyes. She assumed he was one of Will's military friends due to the way he was dressed. He wore a tight black T-shirt that showed his abs perfectly, and black cargo pants tucked into black combat boots. He looks like a fucking assassin! The man stared at her wearily like he had no idea who she was. Obviously, Will hadn't explained the situation to him yet. "Um... hi." Erin said quietly. She was petrified, but not of his appearance. No, her eyes were locked on his huge muscles. Muscles that could hold her down and rape her or break her bones with ease or rip her tender flesh.

Sarah noticed her wide-eyed expression, looking like a deer in headlights. So did the man. "Hello, femme." he said calmly. He was very obviously trying his best to be polite, but it wasn't working. Atleast not for Erin. She backed up slowly before running into the wall. "Erin, honey, don't be scared. This is Will's friend, Ironhide."

"... Ironhide?" Erin whispered, wondering about the strange name. "Yes, but if you would prefer, you can call me Ron." he said in a gruff voice with a hint of an accent. "Ron?..." she repeated, trying to stay calm. She was never a crier at all. In fact, she was the opposite. Being with Ronny, she learned that crying didn't help. If anything, it made her ex-fiance angrier.

So she fought the tears, and forced them not to come. Instead, she looked away from them. "May I call you Ironhide?" she asked, nervously. He gave her a nod. "Thank you, sir." she replied before going to sit at the table at the seat farthest from him. Ironhide looked at Sarah, waiting for an explanation. She tried to use facial expressions to make him understand the situation, but it didn't work. He just looked away, confused. "Erin, this is is Ironhide. He lives with us." she said calmly in a soothing tone. Erin's eyes shot uo to Ironhide, who tried to look at her with a kind face. "S-staying... here?" she asked quietly. Sarah nodded with a smile.

Erin felt dizzy. She couldn't see straight. This man would hurt her. He would beat her and rape her and talk to her like Ronny did. He reminded her of Ronny just more built up, which only added to her fear. She ran over to the trash can and vomitted. "Ugh..." she moaned when she was finished spilling her stomache contents. Sarah had ran over and put a hand on her shoulder, and apparently Ironhide had too, because when she looked up, she saw his bicep which was right near her head. She jumped back and almost knocked the two out of their squatting positions. "Please... don't hit me. I'm sorry." she said to Ironhide. The look on his face was complete and utter shock and bewilderment. "She was abused, 'Hide. For three years by her husband. He raped her, beat her, talked to her like shit! So next time something happens, please try not to freak her out!" Sarah hissed at him. She wasn't angry at Ironhide, he didn't know. She was just protective of her cousin-in-law at the moment.

Ironhide's eyes grew wide and he stood up. "I think I need an explanation." was his calm response.

-Later-

Well, Will took Anabelle to daycare and picked her up. Sarah explained in detail what was going on to Ironhide and Erin went to bed early, for good reason of course. At the end of the day, Ironhide apologized and when Sarah walked past Erin's bedroom door, noticing it was cracked, she looked in, and there sitting on the bed was Erin. Listening to her iPod. Humming along with it. To a happy song. She looked normal. She looked like a teenager. She looked better. Even if it was trivial, it put a smile on Sarah's face. When Will walked up and looked in the crack of the door, he smiled too, at his wife. "Ya think she likes it here?" he barely whispered. "Yeah." Sarah replied. "Maybe we can get her to make an appearance at the cook-out tomorrow. Ya know it's gonna be here, so maybeeee..." Sarah drug out her words. Will smiled wider. "Maybe." he replied. "Invite Trisha. She can sing a few songs and she might get along with Er." Will thought aloud. Trisha was the daughter of a woman Sarah worked with. She was sweet as could be, but she was only fifteen and didn't know about the autobots. Luckily for them, neither did Erin.

AN: Like it? Review!