"Gee, Jack, you look like someone ran over your dog, I'd think you wouldn't take breaking up with Sierra this badly." Miko said idly as she sat down by Jack in the cafeteria.

Jack, who had been staring dourly down into his sandwich, glared at Miko abruptly. "How did you…?"

"Overheard her." Miko replied shrugging. "She really needs to keep her voice down. You shouldn't be this sad if it was you who broke up with her." She said and her eyes suddenly lit up. "OMG! Did you finally realize your totally tragic love for Smokescreen?!"

Jack reeled back, though that last part struck a bad cord with him. "Tragic?" he repeated flatly. "This isn't some book or movie, real life doesn't work like that; as in neither of us like each other that much."

"But you do." Miko insisted smugly. Her smile fell a little when she saw that Jack seemed to wilt at that. "You do." She repeated in a softer tone. "You gonna tell him?"

Jack frowned. "What's there to tell? He wouldn't return my feelings, it's that simple." He said, though privately he thought to himself, 'Because I already told him.'

Smokescreen was bored, as being 'grounded' really wasn't fun. He couldn't even go topside like before! Optimus really hadn't liked what he and Jack had been doing, but he couldn't be sorry for not doing it. Sure, he did feel guilty that Jack and he couldn't see each other and ended up accidently hurting him, but when they were together there was…just something there.

He couldn't explain the feeling, and it frustrated him. So now he was both bored and frustrated.

As everyone but Ratchet was gone on an impromptu energon excavation, and the medic wasn't in the mood to talk with him after his failed attempt to sneak out and see Jack. Ratchet was in full agreement with Optimus that the separation would be good; as he seemed to think that he had a negative influence on Jack. Smokescreen snorted, he was the bad influence? Clearly they weren't going to believe that Jack asked him out last night.

Smokescreen's already foul mood plummeted more as he thought of the confusing night and the revelation Jack had shared with him. It irritated him that he hadn't been able to come up with a solid reply and instead had tried to brush it off. Jack already caught him by surprise with his text message, but he hadn't expected the reveal of his feelings to really catch him off guard.

He liked Jack, he really did, but he just hadn't realized Jack was interested in him romantically. When had it happened? He supposed it didn't really matter when, as he recalled the look on Jack's face when he brushed him off. He could always try to sneak out again to go and talk to him, but Ratchet would probably catch him, as the only reason he hadn't been caught before was that he said he was going to recharge.

He didn't think that excuse would work twice.

Smokescreen had to prove to Optimus that he could be competent, that he wouldn't harm Jack, and what better way than to try and find some energon? It seemed like the right choice, and if he failed if wasn't like it was a total loss. But then Optimus could make this punishment even severer, and that would suck.

He shook his helm and made his way to the control room; if he was quiet enough, Ratchet might get suspicious enough to see what he was doing. But when he got to the room, he chuckled sheepishly to himself. The medic wasn't there, go figure. 'He must have gone to check something out' he thought and went over to the ground bridge and used the history on it to find a location he could go to that had already revealed something worth investigating.

It wasn't like another look around would hurt, right?

When the bridge powered up, Smokescreen took careful aim for the control. He couldn't turn it off behind him, as it was too far to reach, but he could still make sure it closed as to avoid letting the others know what he had done. He fired, and then high-tailed it to the other side to avoid getting splinched. When he reached the end, he found the frozen wasteland to be cold and hoped his search wouldn't take long.

Once the school day ended, Jack saw Miko looking disappointed as she glanced around for Bulkhead, but he found it strange that Arcee and Bumblebee weren't there either. "Maybe there on a mission."

Miko pouted and crossed her arms. "Not cool, and you're no fun to tease anymore now that you've finally admitted you love Smokescreen."

Jack blushed. "I wouldn't go throwing around the 'L' word if I were you." He retorted and walked down the steps. "Looks like you're walking then."

Miko huffed. "Can't you call your mom to pick us up?"

"I'm not gonna call my mom to take us to the base, being away from the 'Bots for a day isn't going to kill you." Jack replied.

"Says the guy who can't see his boyfriend now." Miko retorted. "Huh, I can make fun of you still."

Jack rolled his eyes and walked down the sidewalk. "Whatever, I'll see you at the base tomorrow." He said and he felt the heat rise in his face as Miko's digs had really gotten to him.

Smokescreen wasn't keeping track of time, as he really didn't think there was anything wrong. It was cold, but he didn't think this meant anything and had no need to contact the others. They hadn't contacted him, but if they did, he had no doubt they would be angry with him, so he had to find something useful and fast.

The wind had started to pick up, and the clouds overhead began to darken, but he still kept walking. This was supposed to be the area for where the last useful item was stored, or so he thought anyway. He'd never actually looked to what had been found up here after all, he'd just been so determined to prove that he wasn't some immature bot.

He could be helpful, and he was going to be. He had been thinking of Arcee's words of how self-centered he'd been, and he realized she was right. It hadn't stopped him though from actually going through with the date with Jack, or seeing him when he wasn't supposed too; Jack had sought him out after he snuck him out on a mission, and tried to make it up to him.

Jack wanted his friendship, and Smokescreen had wanted acceptance. It was a nice trade, and he didn't want things to become awkward between them; he liked Jack too much to lose him. He knew from what Jack had said, it was the reason he'd decided to tell him about his feelings, because it sounded like Jack couldn't stand the thought of losing him too.

Smokescreen shivered as he was certainly starting to feel the cold now that it had started to snow while he had been thinking. He frowned to himself; he really should have found something by now. Was it really all gone? No, he had to keep looking.

He would find something here.

"I can't believe him, of all the irresponsible-"

"Arcee?" Jack questioned as he went out into the garage. He noticed she was coming down the drive and let her in, but he didn't expect her to be so angry. "What happened?"

"Smokescreen." Arcee said coldly. "He damaged the ground bridge. Ratchet says it'll take a few hours to fix at best." She explained. Jack frowned. "Why would he do that?"

"Who knows, but he snuck out too, probably didn't want anyone to find out where he went." Arcee said and paused. "Jack, have you seen Smokescreen around?"

Jack blinked and scowled. "What, no, I haven't." he retorted. "Is that what happened, did you all have to walk back or something?"

"No, the ground bridge malfunctioned after we came through." Arcee replied. "So if still want to catch a ride to the base, we're driving."

"Well, someone has to make sure Miko doesn't get in trouble." Jack said, but he wanted to go to make sure Miko didn't give away his feelings. He got onto the seat and put his helmet on, his grip tightening on the handle bars. "Wait, where did Smokescreen end up going?"

Arcee didn't reply, no matter how much Jack tried to get the answer out of her. He was starting to get worried that something else was going on, and that they weren't supposed to know.

"Is Smokescreen hurt?" Jack questioned.

"We don't know; we'll find out once we get to him." Arcee said in a clipped tone.

Jack's stomach tied into a knot as called out to his mother where he was going. "Oh." He said in a softer tone and he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice how far they'd been driving until he saw the Cliffside wall rise up. When they got inside the base, Jack went straight over to Miko and Raf. "Have they said anything?"

"About your boy-" Miko started, but Jack growled at her and she faltered. She turned up her nose and crossed her arms. "No, they haven't said anything about him other than how irresponsible he is."

"Arcee said the same thing." Jack replied and the three of them walked over to the human living space on the platform. "When the bridge is fixed, I just hope they find him fast."

"Don't worry Jack, I'm sure they will." Raf said reassuringly.

"But even then, I'm pretty sure the 'Bots won't let you see him anyway." Miko pointed out. "You two aren't allowed to see each other," she paused and looked at him slyly, "or has Smokescreen started to rub off on you?"

Jack flushed and ignored her questioning. "Raf, you wanna play a video game?"

"Sure." Raf answered and the two of them sat on the couch in front of the television.

Miko lifted her legs onto the coffee table. "I'll play winner."

Smokescreen's knee joints had finally frozen over, and he fell into the snow. His optics brightened as he tried to stand, but it was next to impossible, he couldn't even crawl. The snowfall had escalated into a blizzard, and the temper had dropped significantly. His whole body became to freeze and he started to get warnings about his systems shutting down.

How could have he not found something out here? Not even someplace to shelter him, and now he was going to freeze to death because he'd wanted to prove himself. Did the others know he was gone by now? Were they looking, or were they angry at him? He could answer that second question with a 'yes.' What would happen to his body? Would it fall under by some crack in the ground?

He had just started to like earth, even with all of its rules about driving. He especially knew he should have become attached now that they had a way of getting back to Cybertron and restoring the planet. He would miss earth, he would miss Jack.

Smokescreen's optics dimmed; would Jack miss him? It felt wrong to hope the answer would be yes, that Jack cared enough to mourn his absence.

Because for all the talk of how much they liked each other as friends, neither one had said they cared, and Smokescreen regretted that. He did care, but he just couldn't say it after the confession had caught him so off guard, and now he'd never be able to.

His optics shut down, but before they did, Smokescreen swore he saw a green glow in the distance.

"Ratchet," Optimus' voice boomed over the intercom, "open the ground bridge and prepare the defroster."

Jack stiffened. "Did something happen?"

"Was it 'Cons?" Miko asked.

Jack gave her a look. "Miko, how could anyone need to defrost from a 'Con attack, unless they had freeze ray of course."

Miko's eyes lit up. "Oh, having a freeze ray would be so cool!" she exclaimed and Jack rolled his eyes, but he turned his gaze to the ground bridge portal.

He waited with bated breath as it glowed, and the first to come out was Arcee, followed by a rushing Bulkhead and Bumblebee, and finally Optimus came into the base, but Jack felt his chest constrict as he saw what he was holding. Smokescreen's body looked iced over and his optics were shut; he looked dead.

'Don't let that happen.' Jack thought as he watched Smokescreen get placed into a tube, which started to blast him with hot air. His eyes stayed clued to Smokescreen, so he didn't notice the way Miko opened her mouth to speak, but Raf shook his head.

Arcee noticed where Jack's gaze was locked onto, and she walked over to him. "Smokescreen will be fine."

Jack bit his lip. "I hope so." He whispered.

Optimus turned around to address them. "Take the children home, it is growing late."

"I'm staying." Jack said firmly and crossed his arms defiantly. Miko and Raf both looked at each other, but as they were the only ones actually privy to the reason behind Jack's words, they walked over to their guardians.

"Jack, Smokescreen will be fine." Arcee repeated.

Jack shook his head stubbornly. "No, I'm not leaving until I see with my own eyes that Smokescreen's going to be okay. He's my friend, and I thought I had lost him once."

"You both grew that close?" Arcee asked surprised and Jack nodded.

He sat down on the couch and kept his arms crossed. "I'll stay here until Smokescreen wakes up."

"What about your mother, she'll worry, and you have school tomorrow." Arcee argued.

Jack's crossed arms tightened. "I'm still staying, I can call mom outside the base and tell her why I'm not going back. She won't like it, but she'll understand why." He said and made his way to the top of the silo.

Arcee frowned as she crossed her own arms and glared at Smokescreen. "He's the 'cause of all this, Jack wouldn't be acting like that if it wasn't for him."

"Arcee…" Optimus said in reprimand. "Perhaps if you spoke with him, you would understand his reasons for remaining here."

"Do you even get why he doesn't want to go?" Arcee questioned.

"There is something keeping them together, perhaps their closeness is the result of their shared experience on the mission they went on." Optimus replied calmly.

"The mission Smokescreen took him on." Arcee muttered. "Alright, I'll try." She said and followed Jack up to the top of the silo, where she found him talking with on his cell phone.

"Yes mom, I understand." He paused and smiled slightly. "See ya later." He hung up and saw Arcee standing in the doorway. "Mom said she understood my reasons, but I'm grounded until I'm twenty-five." He said shrugging.

"Then explain to me your reasons, you barely know Smokescreen." Arcee said. "How could you have gotten so close in such a short amount of time?"

Jack shrugged once more. "I wanted to hang out with him, to make up for getting him in trouble. Going with him was my decision, he might have asked me, but I still went with him." he explained. "I enjoyed the time we spent together while he was grounded, and we built on it from there."

"There's something else." Arcee said suspiciously.

Jack flushed. "Well, I like him, I care about him, do I really need any other reason?" he asked. "I felt sick when I learned that he'd almost gotten killed, and since we couldn't see each other at the time I couldn't be there to see if he was really okay; I don't want it to happen again." He said with conviction.

"Then I guess we'd both better settle in." Arcee said after a moment of contemplation, and Jack looked at her in surprise. "Don't get me wrong, I still think Smokescreen was irresponsible, for this and bringing you on that mission," her voice lowered, "but if you're really that determined to be with him, then I'm not gonna let you wait alone, partner."

Jack smiled once more. "Thanks, partner." He said and they both walked down to the main room. Jack settled onto the couch again, while Arcee transformed into vehicle mood at the bottom of the stairs. Jack kept his gaze locked onto Smokescreen's frozen faceplate, wishing they could open or do something to show that he was still alive.

Jack didn't know how long he'd been staring, but his eyes drooped closed and he slid onto the couch limply. When he opened them, he found himself lying half way off the couch. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, but froze at the sight of the empty tube. Where did Smokescreen go? Jack got up and looked around wildly, the constriction in his chest lessening when he spotted the mech lying on a berth hooked up to a monitor. The steady beating of the monitor calmed him as it showed Smokescreen was at least still alive.

Jack made his way over to the berth, and looked around for a way to get up to Smokescreen. He didn't want to wake up Arcee, as he had no idea what time it was. He flushed when he saw that the platform extended around to the console, and over where the berth was stationed. Jack hurried back up the steps before making his way over to the berth.

He went over the rail and jumped down onto the berth, grunting as he hit the surface. It was a bite steeper than he thought, and he rubbed his elbow from the impact. Jack walked over to Smokescreen's faceplate, as he didn't want to climb all over him; he was going to stay on the berth surface.

"I…" Jack trailed off and chuckled nervously. "You're not even awake and I can't talk to you normally." He said and the only sound was the beeping of the monitor. His expression turned serious as he stepped forward, his heart pounding against his chest. "Please be okay, you've grown on me a lot." He said wryly as his feelings toward him were anything but platonic. "I don't want to lose you, but I guess we'll still be separated when you leave. Even with this rule keeping us apart, I still thought we could make the most of the time we have left." He said and placed his hand on Smokescreen's cheek plating. "I really care about you, you're more than just my friend to me." He said and leaned forward.

Jack stopped before he could kiss the plating though, and shook his head. It wasn't fair to kiss him like this; he'd only do it if Smokescreen wanted him too. He looked around the edge of the berth for a way to get down, but he thought he might have to slide down one of the berth legs to do it.

Creaking came from behind him, and Jack turned around, his eyes meeting a pair of dimly lit optics. He felt his chest constrict once more.

Smokescreen came back into consciousness by the sound of voices, which he recognized as Optimus and Ratchet discussing how long it would take for him to defrost and warm back up. He'd already felt his systems start to come back online thanks to some outside help, the beeping of a monitor telling him what he needed to. He could barely move, but he still felt weak due to the freezing temperature he'd been in.

He drifted into recharge, but crash had him attempting to open his optics, but he stopped when he heard a voice very close to him start speaking. It was Jack. He spoke of how he didn't want to lose him, the rule that was keeping them apart, and he felt something small, but warm on his cheek when Jack told him he saw him as more than a friend, and just how much he cared for him.

Smokescreen had never heard Jack say that to him before, and it brought a warm feeling to his spark. He opened his optics and turned his helm, his neck cables creaking with strain as he stared at Jack's back.

Jack turned around, his eyes locking onto his, and grew wide in the process. "You're awake." He said softly and walked back over to him.

"Yeah." Smokescreen said weakly. "Do you…mean it?"

Jack furrowed his brow before seemed to get what Smokescreen asked him. "Yes," he said with his face turning red, "I really care about you. How are you feeling?"

"Like scrap." Smokescreen replied. "There was nothing out there."

"Why did you go out there in the first place?" Jack asked.

"I thought I could find…something. To prove…I wasn't…immature." Smokescreen said. "And…to have that rule…lifted."

"Oh." Jack said and looked like he didn't know how to continue.

"Did you…kiss me?" Smokescreen questioned. "Felt something…warm."

Jack turned redder. "That was my hand; I just didn't want to take advantage of you like this."

If it wouldn't have hurt, Smokescreen would have laughed. "You…couldn't, too…small." He said and Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Come here," he said jerking his head slightly, "do you…still want to?"

Jack stared at him surprised. "I thought you didn't like me that way?"

"Was...surprised." Smokescreen replied. "Don't mind, if you ask." He added, and he really didn't. How could he really like something if he didn't try? He already liked Jack, so this was normal, right? Why not take a chance?

Jack bit his lip as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to his cheek. It felt warm, and soft. Jack pulled back blushing. "I really should find a way down."

"No, stay here." Smokescreen said. "Don't wanna lose you…either."

"Well, alright then." Jack said with some uncertainty as he made his way onto Smokescreen's chest, and laid down.

Smokescreen felt his arms creak in protest as he lifted his servo to rest it gently around Jack to hold him securely against his chest plate. He peered down at Jack, who had closed his eyes before his breathing laboured out. Going to sleep sounded like a good idea; Smokescreen thought and closed his optics.

He felt his systems and the monitor continue to function steadily as he drifted into recharge.