AN: OMIGOSH Guess who makes an appearrance in this chapter? HOLOFORMS! As I said in the summary, the romance in this story will be very slow and later on Erin will have strong friendships with the other bots, but no relationships! This story is strictly Ironhide/OC! So here ya go! No flames! :)

Disclaimer: Nope.

"Er-" Sarah began.

"Don't call me that. It sounds like 'air'." Erin interrupted.

Sarah smiled at her before she continued. "Okay then, ERIN, I think you deserve an explanation for yesterday." Erin just nodded. "Ron- uh... Ironhide, here-" she addressed the brute on the opposite couch. "-is a military friend of Will's. He's been staying here for some time now, and we tone. Erin just nodded and looked over at him. Usually she was a very sweet and confident person, but in the presence of men she tended to shy away in fear.

Erin had gotten out of bed just over an hour ago when she heard Anabelle crying. That seemed to be a frequent thing lately. It was almost lunchtime and it was Saturday. In Erin's opinion, it was the best Saturday in a long time even though she'd prefer it just be her, Sarah, Will, and Annabelle. Ironhide still unsettled her and she couldn't stand to be in his presence.

"SO..." Will made a dramatic entrence, snapping Erin out of her trance-like state. "The barbeque?" he said randomly.

Erin was beyond confused. Barbeque? That sounded delicious, but somehow she assumed that he was referring to a get-together instead of the food item. "Barbeque?" she asked beginning to feel anxious. "Yes. We've been planning a barbeque for the past few weeks!" Sarah returned to her peppy self. "We'd love it if you'd come!" she exclaimed.

Erin just stared at her. You're kidding, right? She looked at Will. "This isn't gonna be like all those trips to the lake when I was little, right? Ya know, the older kids and adults have fun while I'm left to babysit? I won't have to be the one to watch Annabelle will I?" she accused.

Will and Sarah looked slightly irritated, but instead of starting an arguement with the poor girl, Sarah just complied. "You won't be babysitting anyone. You have my word."

Erin considered it until a thought crossed her mind.

"Who all will be there?" she asked.

Sarah remained quiet, but Will spoke up. "Just a few friends of mine from the base. And Sarah has a friend at work whose daughter really enjoys to sing, so I thought we could invite her and maybe have some entertainment."

Erin disregarded the second half of the sentence and just focused on the part about his 'friends from the base'. They would most likely be men, which would have her on edge the whole time. She really didn't want to go anyway, being her extroverted self. But, on the other hand, if she said no they'd probably think she was rude and unsocial. Ugh. Why did they have to do this today?

She looked up at Sarah and hesitantly at Will. She mentally groaned one last time before giving in. "Alright." was all she had time to say before Sarah attacked her in a fit of hugs and 'thank yous'.

-Later-

Most of the day was spent with Will grilling various meats and Sarah cooking other yummy foods. Ironhide was nowhere to be seen.

Erin sighed and walked over to her closet. It wasn't cold outside, but it wasn't hot either and Erin needed some time to figure out what kind of outfit to put together. She looked down at the scars on her wrists and winced. Some of them were less than several days old. She hated seeing them all the time, and she also hated cutting herself. She'd never been one for pain, but lately found the addiction to be too strong to quit. She contemplated cutting right then and there. The blood would be dried before everyone got there and with all the bracelets she always wore, nobody would notice. But then there was the possibility of getting blood on her clothes, which would humiliate her.

As if she wasn't already shameless. Showing up at her cousin's doorstep after running away from her own boyfriend. I'm such a coward. she thought bitterly. Walking back to her closet for a second time, she settled on some black skinny jeans, a black and white checkerboard button-up blouse, multiple bracelets, and some grey heeled boots.

When she deemed herself decent, she walked down stairs to where she heard people chatting.

Oh god. I can't do this. Nope. Can't do this at all.

She tried to walk back upstairs to the shelter of her room, but was called back by Sarah. Reluctantly, she came back down the stairway very slowly. Oh god. I don't know if I should be attracted to them or terrified of them. she thought to herself. But it was obviously retoricle as she was leaning toward the second option.

In the kitchen stood Will juggling plates of meat as he ran back and forth out the patio doors, setting up the buffet. Beside him was Ironhide who was also holding multiple items, probably assissting Will. But in the living area stood Sarah talking to a slightly older woman with short red hair. Beside the older woman was an overweight balding man. Probably her husband. On the couch sat two teenage girls and a boy. One of them was his girlfriend. Erin could tell by the way he sat so close to her. The teen boy had short brown hair and was average height and weight while his girlfriend's hair was black and very long. She had perfect blue eyes and her perfect tanned body was showed off with leather pants and a pink tanktop. The girl next to her had curly blonde hair that was pulled into a high ponytail. Her skin was slightly tanned also, but she was skinnier than the other. She wore a lacy white tanktop over a pink cami and white shorts.

Their was an african american man sitting at the dining table in casual clothes. The rest of the people were just standing around. She noticed a well-built guy in a short sleeve buttonup shirt and trousers. He had messy brown hair and wore glasses and a lab coat. Must be a doctor. Next to him was a very tall man whose muscles could rival Ironhide's. He wore a white T-shirt, dark jeans, and a jacket with red and blue flames on it. Huh. Suits him. Next to the teenagers on the couch was a short boy. He couldn't be any older than the boy on the couch. He had blonde hair with a black streak underneath. He wore a yellow T-shirt with a black stripe on it, khaki shorts, and black Vans. He also had a huge smile plastered on his face.

Before Erin could examine any more of the room's occupants, Sarah dragged her by the arm over to an unoccupied chair and made her sit. Erin shrunk under the stares of those around her. She hated it when people looked at her. Oh please, Sarah, don't do what I think you're about to do. she thought.

Sarah stood in the middle of the living area and loudly announced "Everyone, this is my cousin-in-law, Erin!" She sounded way too enthusiastic in Erin's opinion, but then again, she was always like this.

Everyone's eyes moved to her and then to Erin. They looked as if they all knew her story, and they probably had already been informed, but she hated seeing pity in their eyes. Soon, however, Will walked in and eased the awkward silence, suggesting that he introduce Erin to everyone personally.

He pointed to the tall guy first. "Erin, this is Orien." he said. The man smiled warmly at her and added "It is wonderful to meet you." She just smiled and looked at her shoes.

Next, he introduced the man in the white lab coat as "Dr. Randy". So he is a doctor. She smiled, forcing herself to be polite, and said "Nice to meet you." in a kind tone. He smiled. "Same to you, Erin." He sounded very professional. Come to think of it, so did the other guy.

Will motioned to the blonde standing near the sofa. "This is Ben." he said. Ben only waved at her, which she found odd, but waved back with a small grin. "He's mute." her cousin informed her.

"This is Sam and his girlfriend Mikalea." he addressed the teens on the sofa. "Hi." Mikalea said happily. Another Sarah. Erin thought, smirking inwardly. "Hey." Sam said. "Hey." she replied, giving them both a small wave. "And these ar Sam's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky." he said about the older couple by Sarah. Erin exchanged a smile with them.

Will held his hand out toward a black-haired man in the corner of the room, who wore jeans, a red shirt, and a leather jacket. "This is Denny." he said. "Ciao, piacere di conoscerti." Denny spoke up. Erin could tell he was speaking Italian, but had no clue what he was trying to say. After a few seconds of not getting a response, he corrected himself. "Hello, nice to meet you." he said. Erin blushed slightly at his thick accent and just nodded.

"And these two are twins, Sunny and Sides." Will continued. They were both well-built but skinnier than most of the others. Sunny had black hair with a blonde streak and Sides had black hair with a red streak. They both wore jeans, T-shirts, casual jackets, and Jordans. However, Sunny's shirt was yellow where Sides' was red, and Sunny had gold sneakers where Sides' were silver. Very color coordinated, aren't they? Both of them grinned widely at Erin, and Sunny winked at her. "Nice to meet you, baby." he said flirtily. Sideswipe grabbed her hand, and before she could pull back, he planted a light kiss on it. Her eyes got wide and she shuddered. Half from her ragin hormones and half from disgust. Snatching her hand away, she turned back to her cousin.

Will was eyeing the twins dangerously, but turned his attention to two younger males. They definately weren't any older than Ben. Maybe even a year or two younger. They were both caucasion, but they dressed like gangster. Sagging pants and long-sleeved T-shirts. The brunette one had a baseball cap on while the blonde wore a tobogan. "These are the other twins, Skylar and Mason." Will informed her. "Nice to meecha!" Mason cut in. "Ooh hoo, you lookin' good!" Skylar chimed in an uneducated tone. Erin took a step away from them and just nodded.

He turned his attention to a shorter male standing by Orien. He was well-built but not as much as the rest. He wore a plain grey shirt and dark jeans. "This is Pete." he stated simply. The man just gave her a polite nod. Dang, you're about as social as me. she thought, but smiled sweetly at him.

Next, he motioned to a redhead with a military cut wearin a teel sweater and grey pants. "This is Heath." he said. Heath smiled. "Nice to meet you, young lady." he said. "You too." she replied. Young lady? I'm no younger than you! she thought, but kept quiet.

Will looked to the other corner of the room where three girls stood. They were muscular to be woman, and favored eachother greatly except for the fact that each of them had dyed their hair different colors. "These are the triplets." he said. "Aurie," he referred to the one with hot pik hair. "Christy," he referred to the one with purple hair. "And Ellie." She had blue hair. Erin gave them a more honest smile than the rest. "I like your hair." she said. "Thanks!" replied Ellie with a smile.

"And lastly, we have John." Will said. John had black hair and was dressed in a dark blue shirt with black jeans. He had a small amount of facial hair, which reminded Erin of Ronny. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she smiled at him and waited for one of her family members to say something else.

AN: There ya have it! Next chapter, Erin will lighten up a little bit I promise! So R&R please and I'll update even faster! By the way, who can guess all the autobots that I added holoforms for? Leave your comments in the reviews!