Here's the next chapter everyone! Enjoy!

It was really quiet when we got back to base. Hesitantly he released the seatbelt, I got out, and he transformed and walked away without another word. I felt really confused, ever since he picked me up from the library, he's been acting strange, almost out of it. Not feeling the desire to have a conversation with anyone, I made my way to my own room that I had made for when I stay a few nights. Now I live here permanently thanks to a certain Decepti-creep. Thankfully no one was in the hallways, so I could avoid people.

When I got to my room, I entered the security code and, like magic, it slid open. I walked into the darkened room, threw my little bag of comics onto the floor, and my door slid closed and locked. I let out a sigh as I leaned up against the door and slid down to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest. Why do I feel like this? I felt like crying, but no tears came out. I felt like screaming, but I made no sound. I just stared aimlessly at the floor in front of me. These last few days have been such an intense blur that, at this point, I still had no idea what to feel. I lifted my eyes and they wandered about the room. I felt my nose begin to burn and my vision begin to blur.

And for the first time in ten years, since the night my mom died, I cried.

I tried to cry silently so no one would hear me, but that made me hiccup. All of the stresses from the last few days, and from the last ten years, poured out and I not have my heart on my sleeve.

And apparently, I wasn't quiet enough, because about ten minutes later, I was still crying, only I was on my bed and hugging my pillow like a lifeline, there was a knock on my door. My sobs became silent hiccups, and when I didn't respond, my door opened to reveal Ratchet's holoform. I didn't move, and neither did he for a long moment. He only stared at me with worried fill electric blue eyes. When it finally sunk in that I had been crying, he quickly moved to my bedside and helped me sit up, because I had suddenly lost the strength to do so. This is why I hate crying, especially in front of others, it made look so weak. I knew it was unhealthy to keep my problems bottled up, but I never knew how to help myself. And I knew deep down that, even though his physical expression didn't show it, he was relieved and happy that I was finally letting it out. He didn't say anything but rubbed his hand on my back in a comforting manner. When my hiccupping finally ceased, he sighed.

"I know I'm probably the last Bot you want to see right now, and I understand if you're still mad at me and you don't want to talk. But, please, at least give me a chance and hear what I have to say." He whispered, trying to make eye contact. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't mad at him anymore, but my sore throat and the threat of crying again prevented me from making a sound. He removed his hand from my back and interlaced his fingers, leaning down on his legs and staring at the wall.

He took a deep breath. "I never told you what really happened to you and your mother because I was afraid how you would take it." He struggled a bit, trying to find the right words. As if that will really help now.

He continued. "You are so much like your mother that it frightens me. You're incredibly strong-willed and stubborn that I knew you would stop at nothing to go after Sideways. And I thought that if I could keep your existence a secret from him, then he wouldn't put everything at risk to try and find you, which I can see now is one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. I should've been honest with you from the beginning and now I've put you in danger. I'm so sorry Sam." He started to choke up. "I've tried so hard to be what you and your mother never had: a father and a friend. I wanted so badly to protect you that I only ended up hurting you. If there is anyway for you to forgive me, it will make me feel less a failure and I can feel like I've honored your mother's memory somehow."

There was a long pause that weighed heavily in the room. I sat there, letting his words sink in. He stood up ready to leave, but I grabbed his hand. I felt him tense and look down at me, but I kept my face towards the floor, my short hair hanging down so he couldn't see that I was fighting back my tears.

"Sam-" I cut him off by jumping up and wrapped my arms around his neck, never wanting to let go. I buried my face in his neck, taking in his sweet scent before sobbing once again. He hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around me and returning the hug. He kissed the top of my head and removed one hand from my back and patted my hair. It wasn't something that I always do, seeing as how I almost always put up an emotional barrier that gives me the illusion of being brave, but in truth, I'm terrified. I wanted and needed the comfort Ratchet was giving me.

I never thought that it would take a giant alien robot, who still knows very little about the emotions of humans, to see right through and break through my emotional wall. Since my mother died, I was so scared of ever being hurt again that I put up that wall and kept a firm lock on my heart to keep from feeling that pain ever again.

I felt my knees collapse from under me and Ratchet came down on his knees with me, still holding onto me. I felt him grip tighter as I cried harder.

"I'm so sorry, Sam. I'm so sorry." He repeated, slightly rocking me back and forth.

My eyes felt heavy and my body relaxed when he started humming an old Cybertronian lullaby that he used to sing to me when I was little and mom couldn't get me to sleep. A few more tears rolled down my cheeks as the memories played in my mind, and my vision went black.

Sunstreaker's holoform stood in front of Sam's door, looking at the floor with a distant gaze. He had planned on confronting Sam about the encounter with Barricade and hope that she would understand why he was acting the way he was earlier, but he stopped when he heard Ratchet and Sam's conversation.

He heard everything an, deep down, he was happy that those two had finally made up, but he would never say that out loud. When he heard her crying, it took his full effort to resist running in there and comforting his charge. He had to wait it out and let Ratchet and Sam patch things together. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out when everything went silent. He reached his hand for the security lock on her door, but paused halfway there.

No. That won't do any good. He'll just have to wait.

With that, he disappeared.

.0.

Dream~

I opened my eyes and noticed I was laying in the backseat of a moving vehicle. I sat up and looked around. My eyes widened when I saw who was in the driver's seat: my mom! I looked in the passenger seat and saw me when I was younger. This is weird, why am I here? It looked like they were having a conversation, but I couldn't hear anything. Everything was silent, including the rain that was pouring outside. Wait a minute…rain?

I looked back out the window and saw that it was dark and rainy. For some reason, my memory drew a blank and I tried to remember what happened at this time. My mom stopped at a stop light at an intersection and I took this time, while they were still having their conversation, to look at the street signs.

…James & Berkeley…

I was immediately floored. This was where the accident was. How could I not remember it? This was the night my mom died!

The light turned green and my mom started to drive forwards, paying attention to the road in front of her. I went to the other side, behind my mom's seat, and stared out the window. Right on cue, I saw the bright LD lights speeding right towards us. I looked over and saw my younger self scream. I heard a scream, but I never guessed it was me.

"MOM!"

She turned her head to look, but it was too late. Even in a dream, the force of impact was so powerful that it shot me around the cabin like a pinball and blacked out.

When I came to, I was outside of the car, lying on the wet, cold, glass-covered street. I looked around and saw the red van, a mangled heap, resting on its hood; no life whatsoever. I tried to call out, but my throat was dry and sore, and all that came out was a whimper.

"Mom." I managed to say. My voice was so hoarse, it sounded like I went without water for days. There was no sound, no movement except for my blurry double-vision. I reached out, but the car was too far away. I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn't work. I struggled to pull myself, but it felt like lead weights were keeping me down.

Suddenly, I heard an angry rev of an engine and looked behind me. There was nothing but darkness. I squinted my eyes and could faintly make out a dark shape in the shadows. Just then, the familiar LD lights came on, nearly blinding me. I moved my arm over my face to shield my eyes, but the sound of squealing tires forced me to look back at the deranged vehicle. The car was speeding towards me.

The car that killed my mom, Sideways, was going to kill me.

Everything faded to black just as he was about to reach me. It was like somebody shutting off the lights really quickly. All I could remember was screaming.

End Dream~

I was jolted awake by a pair of hands that gripped my shoulder and my screaming. When I stopped screaming, I immediately sat up, and felt the rush of blood go to my head. Great, now I have a headache. My throat was dry and sore from the screaming. I looked to see who was holding me and was surprised to see Sunstreaker.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his holoform's face showing genuine concern. I couldn't talk so I just nodded my head. I looked around at my surroundings and saw that I was in Med Bay, the one for humans. I was in a human sized room on a bed. That's weird; I thought I fell asleep in my room.

"How did I get here?" I asked, my voice was so hoarse and scratchy that it hurt. I coughed a little. Sunny, noticing my problem, handed me a glass of water that apparently came out of nowhere; I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. Whatever, I downed the cool liquid greedily.

"You were sleeping in your room. I went in to check on you and found you thrashing around and screaming, so I contacted Ratchet and brought you here." I don't know what it was, but it was something about Sunstreaker's attitude right now compared to earlier that just threw me off. He goes from being angry to worried, to quiet and elusive, to happy, back to worried…and it's starting to get on my nerves.

"What happened to you today?" I asked, my voice sounding better, but I sounded calmer than I thought I would be.

He just stared at me, momentarily stumped. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again. He exhaled through his nose and looked down, trying to think of something to say. I felt a twinge of concern build up inside me. What could have happened to him that causes him to act like this? Usually he tells me these things. He'd better tell me, I've had enough lying in my life.

"Sunstreaker." I said firmly, getting his attention. "Tell me what happened."

He took a deep breath and grabbed my hand and held it close.

"I can't tell you all the details, but know it's for a good reason." He added the last part quickly before I could protest.

"Okay, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"I'm going to protect you, no matter what it takes, no matter what it costs me. I swear on my spark that I will keep you safe." He looked me in the eyes with suck sincerity that I didn't even notice how close he was getting to me. He was a mere few inches from my face.

"S-Sunny, I-I-"

"I love you." He interrupted.

…

"What?" Before I knew it, he crashed his lips onto mine. I started to lean back, hoping to get away from him, but he followed, causing his body to be on top of mine. I put my hands on his chest and tried to push him off of me, but he, apparently thought I was urging him on and pressed his body further onto me. I tried again to push him, but dammit, he was somehow heavier than me. My hands remained firmly on his chest, his incredibly masculine and broad and- WAIT! What the hell was I thinking? This is Sunstreaker! My guardian, an alien robot whom I've considered a brother since I was a baby! This was so wrong, but for some reason, it felt kind of right.

Before I knew it, I was kissing him back. My hands moved slowly from his chest to the back to his neck and I played with his beautiful blond hair.

When we parted, I stared into his mesmerizing electric blue eyes. I snapped back into reality when I realized what just happened.

"I-um-uh" I stuttered as I got out from underneath him, blushing like crazy. He didn't seem phased about what happened, but he moved from on top of me and let me stand up.

"I have to go." I said, rushed, and ran out of the room with my head down, hiding my face.

I ran to the one place where I could be alone, my room. As I ran, I passed several soldiers but ignored their calls for me. I had not realized it, but as I ran, a few tears fell from my eyes.

I felt like a traitor, like I was betrayed. Sunstreaker, the one who I've looked up to since he obtained his guardianship over me; and his brother- Oh god! His brother too! I've betrayed Sideswipe, because Sunstreaker was my guardian, so was Sideswipe (kind of). AHH! This is so confusing! What do I do? I kissed him back, does that mean I love him too?

Well, I know one thing for sure…Ratchet's going to be pissed when he sees that I'm not in the Med Bay anymore.

Hoped you enjoyed this chapter! And now the plot thickens!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! The next chapter will, hopefully, be up in the next week, or week and a half, depending on my schedule. Thanks again!