Hey everyone,

Wow, super impressed with the amount of fav's and follow's this last week so thanks for that : ). Would love to hear what you readers think so don't be scared to drop a review!

Sorry for the lateness of this update, my pup had to go in for surgery for a tumor in his ear, and I have been knitting my buns off in all my spare time to try to make a little extra cash to pay for his surgery. Without further adieu, enjoy!

The following days were much the same in the Witwickey household. Judy would wake up and prepare a different meal every morning in the hopes of enticing her niece to eat. Most days when she entered Bianca was unresponsive, hidden beneath a pile of blankets. On the days she was awake and upright she would politely refuse her Aunt's meal claiming she wasn't hungry. Judy would give the girl a smile and leave the food anyway, before inviting her to one activity or another. Again, Bianca would politely decline and Judy would tell her to let her know if she changed her mind.
Lunch was much the same, when Judy would go upstairs she would switch out the untouched plate of breakfast food with a new plate of lunch items. Invite Bianca out if she wasn't tucked back under the mass of blankets, before leaving the girl alone once again.
Occasionally Sam would offer to take her dinner up to her room to give his mom a break. He tried a few times to get Bianca to talk to him, but her responses were always short and dismissive. So he would change out her plates and head back downstairs leaving her up in her room.
"She has barely eaten anything in 6 days! The poor girl is going to waste away to nothing!" Judy exclaimed on the 6th day of this routine when Sam came down, untouched sandwich and chips in his hands.
"Judy calm down, she is grieving." Ron tried to comfort his wife but she shook off his words.
"Don't tell me to calm down! That's my niece up there, and grieving or not she needs to eat!" Ron sighed at his wife's distress. Judy had been running herself ragged in an attempt to help Bianca adjust and make her feel welcome.
"Listen sweetie, I know you mean well but Bianca needs time. She just lost both of her parents very suddenly at a young age. If you come on too strong you may end up causing more harm. Give her some space, she will come around." Ron reasoned and Judy was about to retort when the creak of a floor board sounded from upstairs. The three around the dinner table froze and listened, only to hear feet softly padding down the floor before a door clicked shut.
"Look she finally made it out of her room. That's a start, she'll continue to make steps just leave her be." Ron concluded reaching across the table for the salt. Judy slapped his hand and gave him a look causing him to roll his eyes.
"Just because your brother died doesn't mean your manners died with him."
"Please pass the salt," Ron groaned and Judy complied before picking up her fork.
"I hope your right Ron, I wish there was more I could do." She sighed before forking a bite into her mouth.
"You know mom, for once I think dad's right." Sam piped up and Ron gave an indignant 'hey!', but Sam ignored him. His mother gave him a grateful smile before turning back to her dinner.
"Alright I will lay off a bit, but that doesn't mean I am going to stop trying to get her to eat! That girl is going to put herself in the hospital if she doesn't start getting something in her body."

Upstairs Bianca sat on the floor with her back against the door. She felt bad for causing her family to worry so much. Judy had been so kind to her the last few day's and all it did was make her feel worse.
The grief counselor they sent to her room at the hospital said the intense guilt she felt was normal, in the medical world they labeled it 'survivors guilt.' Having a label didn't make it any better though. For the last week and half people fussed over her, walking on egg shells doing their best to cater to her every need and it only continued to make her feel worse than before.
She should have died in that accident too, and it was sheer dumb luck that she got out scotch free. She could still remember how it felt to sit there, helpless in the flipped and smashed car. She had screamed as loud as she could for help, and for her parents. Her father never responded but her mother had mumbled something to her a few times The concussion had muddled her memories making it hard for her to sort through all that occurred.
She remembered the accident and flashing lights from her place upside down; she faintly recalled a vehicle pulling up beside them and the water on the ground reflected the police lights. Bianca had screamed as loud as she could to get the officers attention, but the door never opened. It felt like hours until a face finally came into eyesight, though she couldn't be sure.
A new wave of tears began to drip down her face and she didn't even bother trying to stop them. Her head hurt from both the constant crying and the strain of trying to sort through that night. When she had finally calmed down once again she slowly pulled herself to her feet and looked to her left at the plate of food.
She had hoped that her aunt would get the hint and stop going through the trouble of making special meals for her, but obviously she was going to stop at nothing and so Bianca decided to try and at least meet her halfway.
She cautiously took a bite of the potatoes on her plate, chewing slowly and swallowing. They had cooled already quite a bit, and she was sure that if the situation were different she would enjoy them. However, as it currently sat they were tasteless and made her grimace. Giving up on trying to eat she dropped her fork before moving towards her bed and flopped down, curling in on herself. A soft knock caught her attention and turning over she watched as the door creaked open to reveal Sam.
"Hey, mind if I come in?" she sat up and shrugged, which Sam took as an invite. He closed the door behind him before moving to the bed to sit next to her. She continued to keep her gaze glued on the floor and Sam took this opportunity to look over his little cousin. If possible she looked even worse than before. Her cuts and bruises had nearly healed but her cheeks had become sullen and her complexion turned ashey. Her eyes were puffy and held deep shadows beneath them and her clothes hung slightly on her frame.
"So I just wanted to give you something before I head off to school tomorrow." Sam held out his hand and she held out hers in return. A soft jingle and cold metal fell into her palm. A set of keys sat in her hand, complete with a bumblebee key ring. "Freshmen aren't allowed to have cars, so I figured you would get more use out of Bee than I will." The keys felt heavy in her hand but she did her best to be gracious.
"Thanks Sam." she muttered, closing her fingers around the keys.
"Bee is a good car, he wont let you down." Bianca quirked a brow at the way Sam talked about his car. Sure it was a nice car, but the way he made it sound it was as if Bee were a dog or even a friend.
"That's really nice of you." the two fell into silence. Bianca returned her gaze to the floor and let her hand drop to the bed while Sam ran his hand through his hair nervously before moving to stand up.
"Well if you need anything else let me know ok?" She nodded, but didn't bother responding. Sam let himself out and Bia quickly dropped the keys on the floor and burrowed underneath the blankets.
The guilt was chomping away at her like a rabid dog and she did her best to hold herself together as she lay there in the silence, her phone running a continuous slideshow of all the pictures of her and her parents she could find.
Sam made his way down the stairs after dropping his keys off with Bianca. He had hoped that the little gift would get a bit more of a rise out of her, but she stuck to her guns and barely gave him a smile. Making his way out of the house he quickly entered the garage where Bee transformed into his normal form and Sam took his normal seat in the corner. He let out a large breath and ran his hands down his face in an attempt to shake off the stress of the last couple of days.
"So you had a bad day, you're taking one down, you sing a sad song just to turn it around" The bot played and Sam rolled his eyes at his best friend.
"Bad day is an understatement, try bad month." he moaned and Bumblebee whirred in discontent.
"I don't know what to do Bee, I leave for college tomorrow and mom and dad head out to Paris right after. Mom is a mess feeling guilty over leaving Bia alone, dad is as heartless as ever saying that the trip is already paid for, and Bianca hasn't even eaten or moved from her room in six days!" the boy threw his hands up in frustration and Bumblebee hummed in thought. He knew how it felt to loose those you cared about, but it had been a long time since he had allowed himself to grieve to such extremes as Bianca was doing. They had been fighting a war for as long as he could remember, there was no time for grieving!
"Sammy...sometimes the whole thing turns out wrong...you just gotta believe...everything will be ok!" The bot tried and Sam offered him a small smile in return, before it turned into a grimace.
"Actually Bee, that's not really what I came out here to talk to you about," the anxiousness had returned to his voice and Bee moved closer unconsciously. "You know I leave for college tomorrow-"
"I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!" The bot played over his speakers, dancing as best he could in the cramped garage. Sam frowned and took a deep breath before finishing his thought.
"-and you're not coming with me." Bumblebee's celebration cut off abruptly and he turned on the human.
"What?!"
"Freshmen can't have cars on campus, it's a rule Bee" Sam tried to reason, But his friend would hear none of it, already putting on waterworks. "Look Bee I know your upset but I need you to focus." he pleaded with his best friend who had begun to play "One" by Three Dog Night over his speakers. Sam rolled his eyes and smacked the bots leg. "Seriously Bee, I know this isn't ideal but it's just temporary." The Bot continued to blubber and refused to meet his gaze and Sam's annoyance spiked. Between getting ready to leave for college and worrying over his depressed cousin he hadn't been getting a good nights sleep.
"Bee I need you to do something for me," Sam pleaded. The seriousness in his voice caught Bee's attention. Sniffling, Bumblebee bent down to hear what his human had to say. "I am asking you as a friend, please stay here and watch over Bianca." Bumblebee whirred, crossing his arms and doing his best to pout. He wanted to continue throwing a fit, to tell Sam just how unfair it was that he was being left behind, but guilt quickly began to eat away at his spark.
"Fine fine... But you bet yer ass... This ain't my cup of tea." Sam smiled up at the bot who was now refusing to make eye contact and placed his hand on his leg.
"Thank you Bee, really" Bumblebee sighed and gave up on trying to stay mad at Sam. He couldn't blame the boy for any of the current events and didn't want to spend their last night together mad at him. Plopping down the two fell into old habits, screwing off late into the night.