Bumblebee

Around late afternoon, Bumblebee started to wonder what everyone else was doing. The Autobots' were somewhere, confused and angry that he left, and Optimus Prime was somewhere in the intergalactic universe searching for his Creators. But Bumblebee could not figure out what the Yeager family was doing right about now. He was never one to understand humans. Except for Sam. And maybe Carly. He did not know about Carly, though. Not all of her, at least.

In the years since Bumblebee has been on Earth, he has only been around a small amount of humans that he can call his friends and allies. There was Sam - there has always been Sam. There always will be Sam - and his ex-girlfriend, Mikeala, but Bee had no idea where she was, and he certainly would not ask Sam. But, as far as Bee knew, Mikeala was gone. Not dead, at least he hoped not, but somewhere else.

Then there was Carly. She seemed to be one of those people that would always stick around. Bee liked her; she was tough. And Sam liked her, too. It was nice to see Sam happy.

The Yeager family was different, though. Bee barely knew them at first, and he still doesn't. But, from everything that happened during the war, Bee knew he could trust Cade and Tessa Yeager. He trusted them, and he cared for their safety, and he wondered if him burdening Cade with his secret visit was a bad idea, but it was too late to wonder.

Bee quietly watched Sam and Carly go about their daily business. Since there were no Decepticons to fight or wars to end, it seemed strange to Bee to just sit down and do nothing. He wondered how serious Sam and Carly were. They seemed very fond of each other, but Bee had no idea if they loved each other. The human mind had a very strange way of expressing love. Bee was the last person to ask about love. So it was hard to put a finger on Carly and Sam's relationship. He assumed that if Carly was not the one for Sam, he would have broken up with her by now.

"Bee?" Sam's voice broke through Bee's line of thought and he blinked twice. He looked down at the human and nodded, as if telling Sam that he were aware of his surroundings.

"You okay?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. He had a small, scratchy stubble growing around his mouth. Bumblebee could not help but imagine how young Sam was when Bee first met him. Crazy about girls, a bit of a dork, and terribly awkward. How far Sam has come, Bee thought.

Bee nodded in reply. "I am. . . okay." Bee hated used his internal radio to speak. It was annoying, sometimes.

"What are you thinking about?" Sam asked, and again, Bee was reminded how grown Sam was now.

"The other Autobots'," Bee said, looking into the distance. The treeline was short and he could see the vast expanse of sky and clouds. He needed to leave. Soon.

Sam hesitated a few seconds before speaking again, his voice low and husky. Almost nervous, Bumblebee noticed.

"How many are left?"

Bee thought about it. "There is me. And Hound. Crosshairs and and Drift are still alive." He thought again. "I think Optimus is still alive."

"Oh," Sam said quietly.

"Brains is still alive, too."

"The one who turns into a laptop?" Sam asked.

"Yes. That is him."

"Anyone else?"

"The Dinobots," said Bumblebee. "They do not stay with us, though, so I have no idea where they are. But I know they are somewhere, always ready to fight in battle with us."

Sam nodded in reply.

"You remember during when I was telling you about the war?" Bee looked at Sam. When the human boy nodded, he continued. "Ratchet died."

"Yeah," said Sam, casting a low glance at the ground. He kicked at the hard-packed dirt with his shoe and then patted it back in place. "I remember that part. I really am sorry. He didn't deserve that fate. . ."

"No. He didn't." Bee frowned and shook his head. "Everyone was against us then."

"They aren't anymore," Sam pointed out.

"Did you agree with them?" Bee asked. "About hunting the Autobots'?"

"What? No!" Sam looked at the yellow Autobot fiercely. "Do you really think I would?"

Bee smiled and shook his head. "No."

"Well, good." Sam smirked, his hands tucked into his pants pockets. "I'm always on your side."

Bee nodded. He was happy, and for once he was not worried about anything. Not Decepticons or war or human enemies or anything else. Bee was always comfortable about Sam. Sam was apart of the Autobots'. He always would be. He was apart of them.

Bee watched Sam interact with Carly for a long time before he stood, his focus a bit hazy in the late evening sky. He looked out over the horizon, expecting to see a group of Autobots' flying his way, but all Bee saw was a long stretch of blue sky, which melted into yellow, then orange, then blood red, and finally disappeared over the tree line.

He sat back down and happily resumed his conversation with Sam.

Tessa.

"So, you're saying that your dad was lying the entire time?"

"Yes."

"And he was hiding some huge secret from an alien robot that didn't want his "secret" told?"

"Yes!"

"I don't see the problem, Tess."

"Shane!" Tessa scowled furiously through the phone line. Who knew that Shane would side with her Dad. Did the world just happen to forget that her Dad lied to her for the past few days about hiding a big secret!

"What?" Shane's soft Scottish accent took away some of Tessa's anger. But she still blew furiously at a lost strand of hair in her face.

"For Christ's sake, Shane, he was hiding it from me!" Tessa sounded like she was about to explode. "He should have told me. He's never hid anything from me, and now all of a sudden he's-"

"Tess, babe. . . " Shane sighed over the line. "I don't think it's that big of a deal. I'm sorry. But it's nothing, really. Comparable to a lot of things he could of done, this is, like, nothing."

Tessa brushed back her hair into a tie. She bit at the ends of her fingernails. "You really think so?"

"Yes." Tessa could hear Shane moving around and his keys jingling. "Hey, Babe, I got to go. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Are you still coming to dinner tomorrow night?" Tessa asked hopefully. But she was too late. Shane had already hung up. Tessa sighed and dropped her cell phone on the plush carpet. She slid out of her jacket and returned inside the 24/7 diner.

Her dad was seated at a booth in an isolated corner, his fingers covered in ketchup and greasy hamburger stains.

"That's disgusting," Tessa said, sliding into the opposite booth of her father.

Cade wiped his fingers on a cheap paper napkin and stared at her for a few long seconds. They dragged by. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Tessa thought about her word. "I guess so," she added, second-guessing if she really was okay. "Busy day. You know?"

"Ha!" Cade let out a laugh with no humor. "You don't know the half of it."

Tessa nodded and sucked on her bottom lip.

"How's, uh, Shane?" he asked nicely, breaking the unbearable silence.

Tessa nodded again. "He's good. . . " Shee ran a hand through her hair. "He's been really busy, you know? Like, he has no time anymore."

Her dad nodded his head in understanding. "It's like that for a while."

"Huh?" Tessa asked, grabbing a greasy fry off her dad's plate.

Cade scooted closer. "His career - if you can even call drag-racing a career - it's getting bigger. And better. He's just working hard, that's all."

"I guess that'll be me soon," Tessa said without enthusiasm, thinking back to her growing pile of college applications in her bedroom.

"Speaking of which, what college do you want to go to?" Cade asked.

Tessa shrugged. It was a no-brainer, but Tessa didn't want to seem too eager to leave the nest. She was all her dad had left. "I don't know. Maybe Harvard, or Baylor? I haven't made a decision yet."

"What's in Waco?" Cade asked.

Tessa raised an eyebrow, and then remembered Baylor university. "Oh, uh, nothing. It's just an open option, I guess."

Cade grunted a reply. Tessa kept her mouth shut.

"Where did Mom go?" Tessa asked quietly, fingering at her drink's straw.

Something flashed in her father's eyes before he cleared his throat. "Your Mom. . ." He scratched his late-afternoon shadow of a beard. "She was going to get a bachelors' in the Health Division at Richland."

"Was?" Tessa asked.

Cade nodded, then said, "She quit college when she found out she was pregnant. I don't know. She always had this plan that, once you were old enough to take care of yourself, or until she trusted me with an actual baby, she would go to Rose State in Oklahoma."

Tessa knew what came next. "But then she. . ."

"She died. End of story." Cade looked down at his empty plate. "I'm going to get another cheeseburger."

Her father stood from the table, his unstable booth sliding across the floor followed by a few glances from a couple at the next table. He left her to her own thoughts, which was just as bad as abandoning her with only her fragile emotions.

When her dad pulled up into the large yard of their farmhouse, Tessa grabbed her purse and jumped out of the cab of the truck without a word spoken between her and her father. They had both been quiet the entire ride home.

"Tessa!" She heard her dad yell from the driver's side. She listened to the door open, then slam shut, and then the padding of feet against the dirt. "Don't be like that, Tess." He touched her arm gently and Tessa turned away.

"I'm just. . ." She sighed, gripping the top of her hair. "I'm mad, okay? I just want to be alone."

Her dad watched her turn and face him. She looked like a grown adult, who could make her own decisions, her own choices. Cade hated feeling like that. He nodded. "Okay, Tess."

Tessa looked down at her feet, clutching the hem of her shirt and taking deep breaths. "You didn't have to say that about Mom."

Cade gave a look of confusion. "What?"

"About her dying, and that was it," Tessa explained, her voice strangely quiet. "You know what you said. . ."

Her dad nodded. "I do, and I'm sorry. But, Tess-"

"I'm going to bed," she said before jogging toward the house. Cade had never regretted anything so much as to hurting his daughter. Tessa turned to say something to her dad, like good night or something, but he was already treading across the front yard, toward his workshop. Tessa sighed and walked inside the farmhouse, flicking the porch light on.

The night wavered on as Tessa crawled up the steps and into the bathroom. She had no idea how long her dad would stay in his workshop, or even if he would come out before daybreak. She considered making him something to drink, but she figured the best thing for the both of them was time. And being separate. It was not always easy living like this. Just her and her dad. It was sometimes so damn annoying.

Tessa also considered calling Shane, but that seemed needy, and Tessa did not want to come off as needy. She could take care of herself. It would not help bringing Shane into her family drama.

After a quick shower and dressing in some baggy pajamas, Tessa crawled into bed and started up her laptop. The moment the screen turned bright, a window popped up from Tessa's previous evening. The home page for Richland. Tears threatened to spring forward if Tessa continued to think about her mom, but all she did was move the mouse over the little red X and clicked enter.

Author's Note: I apologize for this chapter being split-POV. I just could not write enough words for them to be published as separate chapters, so I combined the two of them. Thanks for the support, everyone!