After the movie ended, Jack 'drove' Sierra home and walked her to the door. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Should…should I kiss you now?"
Sierra blushed and leaned forward shyly. "Only if you want to."
Jack nodded, but the porch light started to flicker on and off and he reeled back. "Uh, no offense, but I'd like to keep my limbs."
Sierra pouted at the door, but shrugged it off. "None taken. So…you wanna do this again sometime?"
Jack smiled slightly. "That sounds like fun, though there's not much to do in Jasper is there?"
Sierra smiled back at him and touched his arm. "Well, we could just catch another movie, and it's nice talking to you."
"It's nice talking to you too." Jack replied bashfully and gently grabbed Sierra's hand, though he wondered if he really should risk a goodnight kiss. Quickly, he leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Sierra's cheek and pulled back with a blush. "Um, I'll see you later then."
Sierra blushed once more as well. "Yeah, see ya."
Jack walked down the porch and looked back as the redhead went inside her home and he got into the driver's seat. He was surprised when Smokescreen didn't immediately start to comment on the date and instead just drove off in silence. "What, no snarky remarks?"
"It wasn't what I expected." Smokescreen replied shortly.
Jack chuckled mirthlessly. "Well what were you expecting?"
"All you two did was talk and watch those earth videos." Smokescreen said sounding disappointed.
Jack stared at the dashboard in disbelief. Sure, he'd joked about it, but to actually hear it being confirmed. "You really expected us to have sex in your backseat?"
"Well, isn't that what human courtship rituals are?" Smokescreen asked confused.
Jack leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes for a moment to think about how to proceed. "No, that's not what dating is; sure, it can happen, but usually it's just getting to know people and see if you want them for a…husband or wife."
"What and what?" Smokescreen asked.
"A mate." Jack said flatly.
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Smokescreen retorted and was starting to sound cocky again now that he was getting it.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure our human ways are strange and foreign to you." He deadpanned.
Smokescreen chuckled at the teen's tone before he calmed down. "Oh, and that 'good friend' thing? I'm not good, I'm great." He said loftily.
Jack felt his lips turn up. "I'm sure you are." He said and then more cautiously added, "And a great friend would know I don't want him to get in trouble because of me."
Smokescreen didn't reply.
"Something wrong Jack?" Arcee asked after Jack got done work and noticed his anxious expression.
Jack bit his lip. "Well, I'm just nervous since last night…er…"
"Did Smokescreen do something?" Arcee questioned and was suddenly on alert.
Jack winced and rapidly shook his head. 'No, more like I put something in his head.' he thought and decided against telling Arcee about what Vince did and Smokescreen finding out about it. "He didn't do anything, he was perfectly well-behaved." He replied.
The teen could feel Arcee looking at him as if she was trying to detect some kind of lie, but after a moment she straightened up. "Well come on then."
Jack put on his helmet and the two of them were off to the Autobot's silo. He tried to remain calm as he could always question the mech when they got there. Well, he could question the mech away from the others anyway. When they made it to the silo hideaway, Jack saw the disappointed look the Prime sent his way before Miko made her way from a still injured Bulkhead and to him, her expression shifting to one of delight.
"I told them about the prank you did, I didn't know you had another one in you." She said cheerfully.
Jack felt a sense of dread start to come over him. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
Miko elbowed him playfully, not off-put by his confused expression. "I'm talking about this." She said and pulled out her cell phone and showed him a picture of Vince's car, though unlike the prank before, this time the car was completely covered in tar and the tires were gone. "We came out of the school and there it was, in his parking spot. Everybody was snapping pictures."
"I didn't do this." Jack said numbly.
Miko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right; after what Vince did to you I'd want pay back."
Arcee looked sharply down at Jack. "And what exactly did Vince do?"
Jack's lips thinned before he spoke reluctantly. "He slammed me against a table and smeared my lunch against my shirt for the prank I did before."
Arcee scowled. "You mean the one Smokescreen helped you with."
"That wasn't his fault, I didn't exactly stop either." Jack replied and Miko snickered and he glared at her. "What?"
"Don't you like Sierra?" she asked slyly and Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"That has nothing to do with this." He retorted and Miko smiled at him in a strange way and he shook his head. "I don't have time for this." He muttered and walked further into the base and to the topside of the cliff to think. He had a pretty good idea of who had done that prank and he felt hurt that Smokescreen had ignored what he said.
Though a darker thought reminded him that it wasn't Smokescreen they thought did the prank.
Jack shook his head once more and when he reached the cliff top he saw Smokescreen looking out over the edge. He strode forward purposefully. "Smokescreen!"
The mech looked back at him and smirked, though it fell when he saw the angry expression on Jack's face. "What?"
"Why didn't you leave it alone?" Jack questioned. "Everybody thinks I did the prank."
Smokescreen's optics widened. "What? That...that wasn't supposed to happen." He said quietly.
Jack stared up at him incredulously. "Then what was supposed to happen?"
"Not this!" Smokescreen retorted. "That jerk hurt you and I wanted him to pay him back. Why would anyone think you were involved?"
Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could Smokescreen not realize that Jack would get blamed for it? The teen had taken most of the heat at his school for it since no one else could know about the mech, and now after that incident in the cafeteria this new prank wouldn't look suspicious? "Smokescreen, I'm the one they thought pulled the last prank, they'll think it again with this new one."
"I didn't want you to get in trouble, you're my friend." Smokescreen replied earnestly.
The teen ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "I'm not in trouble, they're just disappointed." He frowned as he saw an oncoming dust cloud and ran over to the edge to see his mother's car driving up and he paled. "Okay, now I'm in trouble." Jack moved away from the ledge and started to walk back to the exit leading back into the silo. He paused and looked back to see Smokescreen still standing at the edge. He opened his mouth to call him, but stopped and closed his mouth and kept on walking.
He met his mother by the exit so she couldn't chastise him in front of everyone else. She got out of the car and crossed his arms. "Do want to know who came to see me at work today?"
Jack grimaced and shook his head. "Who?"
"Vince's mother told me that her son said you vandalised his car, did you have any help this time?" June questioned in reference to Smokescreen.
"No, I didn't." he said and got into the passenger seat as June got back into the driver's seat.
"You will of course be paying to clean Vince's car up and replace the tires; his parents are being lenient and not pressing any charges." June said and kept her eyes on the road as she drove the car out of the silo. "You are extremely lucky that this wasn't more serious; why would you do this?"
"I…I was angry that he ruined my shirt." Jack said numbly and he didn't look back to see whether or not Smokescreen was still at the top of the cliff or not.
"You are grounded for three weeks, mister. You are to come straight home after you're done work, no Autobots, though I will allow Arcee to keep taking you to school and work." June said.
Jack looked down at his lap and nodded. 'No more dates, no Sierra…and no more Smokescreen for three whole weeks.'