Either Rick been being senselessly mean (a real possibility), or his remark had made Fina change her mind about what she would wear that evening, because when she opened the garage and stepped inside, she was wearing a dark blue-green dress that would prove to be backless when she took off her fitted black jacket. The top half had lace which matched the rest of the dress, the long skirt billowed in the wind, revealing gold high heels. Carefully applied makeup, braided hair piled on her head and gold with diamond jewelry made Fina look much more mature than she had appeared that morning.

Fina slid behind the wheel gracefully, feeling light as a bird in the driver's seat, and set a shimmering black purse with gold shoulder strap in the space between the two seats; almost in the same motion producing a phone in a holly patterned case from within the purse.

She put in the key and Bumblebee obediently started his engine while she messed around with her phone, finally plugging it into a power port on the dash. The car was flooded with pop Christmas music as Fina placed her hands lightly on the steering wheel. She frowned as she shifted gears, letting go of the wheel with one hand to pick up the phone while driving out of the garage. One eye remained on the driveway, while the other slid to her phone and she changed the music to something that reverberated through Bee like thunder.

"That's bringin' the noise," Fina said, leaning back in her seat and accelerating up the hill to the street, a smile appearing on her face as the interior was filled with 'noise'.

Fina didn't pause at the end of the driveway to check for other cars or pedestrians, simply pulled out onto the street, asking for too much speed too soon, so that Bumblebee was jarred hitting the street, almost like he'd gone over a large speed bump. After the unsettling bump, Fina put a hand up to check and make sure her hair hadn't been disturbed, then she started to sing along with the raucous Christmas song as she blew through the stop sign at the end of the street and turned left without signaling.

Just about the only thing Bumblebee didn't object to was her taste in music.

He didn't like her refusal to let him signal a turn, the way she insisted upon exceeding the speed limit or her tendency to change lanes without checking the mirrors. But the only way to express his dissent was to slow down or stop. He couldn't turn on the signal without her asking it of him first, he couldn't turn when she hadn't told him to. And refusal would probably be more dangerous, especially for him since that was almost sure to get her pressing that stupid button in no time.

When she stopped in front of a house, Bumblebee thought it looked like a pretty dead party, since there were no cars and the house was quiet. Then she startled him by leaning on the horn. Only because of involuntary reflex did he respond immediately, it had taken him so by surprise. She blasted the horn a couple of times before a boy about her age came running out.

He went around the front of the car and got in the passenger seat.

"I heard you the first time. Did you really need to inform the people in Canada that you're picking me up for this party?" the boy demanded irritably, then he leaned toward her and she towards him.

They kissed, and it was clear he wanted to do more than that, but she pulled away and smiled coyly.

"Time for that later," Fina said, "My makeup is perfect and I don't want to redo it in the car when we get there."

Bumblebee sighed internally with relief. The last thing he wanted happening in his front seat was a couple of teenagers making out. He already felt quite embarrassed enough.

"Fine, but I'm holding you to that promise," the boy told her, flashing dazzling white teeth in a brief, slightly wicked smile, which Fina happily mirrored before shifting gears and pulling back onto the street.

She turned down the music slightly, and the momentary distraction would have caused her to weave into the wrong lane if Bumblebee had chosen to respond to the signal he got from the turn of the steering wheel. But neither human was paying any attention to him, so he ignored her and stayed on course.

"Where did you get this car?" the boy asked, "It's pretty bad-ass."

About time someone thought so, Bee thought, though he realized he was being egotistical for no reason.

"Dad. Early Christmas present," Fina said, sounding sour about it, "Rick and I are supposed to share it. Can you imagine? We each have our own car and he wants us to bother with this one? And share it while we're at it?" she scoffed, "The only reason I'm driving it is mine's still in the shop."

Running his hand along the soft faux leather on the inside of the passenger door, the boy smiled again, "Fina, if you and Rick don't want it, I'll sure take it. It's a lot nicer than my ride."

"Which is why we're taking mine and not yours," Fina replied coolly, "No offense, but a motorcycle is Hell on long hair like mine. I'd have to cement my hair into place if I wanted to look like anything other than a complete disaster."

"Can't you for once in your life think of something besides appearances?" the boy was suddenly angry sounding, and it was soon evident this was the precursor to a fight... one they'd had before, "My bike is practical and, more importantly, I have to pay for the gas myself."

"Ugh, not again. I get that my dad has more money than yours. Can we drop it? Besides, I'm sure it'll please you to know that this car is some sort of weird cutting edge tech or something and doesn't take gas."

"Well now I really want it," the boy said, but it was clear he felt sulky now.

"Eddy..." she sighed, forcing the tension that had built out of her shoulders, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just... it's been kind of a bad week. I just don't want to fight right now."

"Coulda fooled me," Eddy muttered under his breath.

"I'm serious," Fina said, looking over at him instead of watching the road, "If you stop whining about how little money you make, I'll stop complaining about this stupid car."

"How 'bout we just forget the car?" Eddy said, a wolfish gleam coming into his eye, "And the party?"

"I don't know about you, but I didn't dress like this for no reason. I want to be appreciated."

"Isn't my appreciation enough?" Eddy was sulking again.

Fina started to speak, stopped herself and instead smiled weakly, "Of course, but I have other friends, and Tracy's holiday bash is the biggest party of the year. I'm not missing this. And neither are you."

They were silent for the rest of the drive, and the music somehow couldn't fill the space between them. When they arrived at their destination, there were so many cars there already that they had to park along the edge of the street. Fina checked her makeup with a mirror from her purse and then they both got out, leaving the car unlocked. Bumblebee was glad to see them go, he'd had enough teen drama for one day.

He was also seriously cramping from having been in vehicle mode for so long. Cybertronians rarely stayed in vehicle mode for more than a few hours at a time, and their biological systems would start seriously complaining if they remained in vehicle form for more than twelve hours. Bumblebee had already far exceeded twenty four and his body was telling him about it. Still, he'd rather sit on the side of the road by himself with aches and pains than listen to one more teenager fight.

Anything was better than more of that.

The night was cold, and the houses and yards were covered in a layer of pristine white. The sky was clear after the snow of the morning, but the bright lights ensured that the stars were invisible to human eyes. Bee could see them however, and it seemed almost like they were closer than usual to him, even though he knew that was impossible. Somehow, their brilliance made him feel a little less alone, because he knew that the Autobots -his family- could see those same stars, that same moon above. If they were looking at the same moon he saw, they couldn't be as far away as it felt like.

As the evening wore on into night, the party got louder. Somebody turned the music up, and then people began talking more loudly to be heard until they were shouting loud enough to be heard from the street. Then someone turned the music up even more.

A couple hours after she went inside, Fina came out. She wasn't alone, but it wasn't Eddy with her. The boy she had in tow was taller than Eddy, and had blond hair. As they bumbled their way through the mass of parked cars, it became clear that they were both heavily intoxicated, and Bumblebee remembered what Rick had said earlier... and also what Fina's defense had been.

He wasn't all that sure what "cheating" meant in terms of boyfriends and girlfriends, primarily because he didn't fully understand the terminology. Raf had tried to explain it to him, and he'd listened to Jack explaining it to Arcee, but it had all been terribly confusing to him, and talking to Arcee afterward only deepened his confusion. Bulkhead's report on what Miko had told him only furthered the mystery. Bumblebee had the uncomfortable feeling that he was about to find out more than he wanted to know about human relations.

When Fina reached Bumblebee, she opened the door and slid easily into the backseat. The boy with her hesitated, looking over his shoulder at the party they'd just left.

"Mark, come on! Get in," Fina called, and Bumblebee knew his worst fears had just been confirmed.

Laughing self-consciously, Mark climbed into the back seat and shut the door behind him. Fina closed the gap between them and kissed him with far more enthusiasm than she had early kissed Eddy. One of Mark's hands went to the side of her face, then slid down her shoulder as she leaned into him.

Increasingly uncomfortable, Bumblebee contemplated yelling loudly to startle them. But the resultant buzzing noise would probably cause Fina to push the button her father had pointed out. He shivered just remembering what that felt like, but the heat being generated in the back made him so uncomfortable that he thought maybe it would actually be worth it if only he didn't see what this was leading up to. He suddenly didn't want to know any more about humans than he did already.

Mark's hands went around Fina's neck and reached back to unhook her dress, while her fingers were busily unbuttoned his shirt. Fortunately they both fumbled and became distracted by kissing one another. It seemed they were trying to occupy the same physical space as one another, though Bumblebee couldn't imagine how removing their clothes would help them do that. They slid back and forth across the back seat as they pressed against each other, then pulled apart and tried again to get out of their clothes.

Bumblebee was so busy being embarrassed and trying to neither see nor hear what was going on in his back seat that he didn't even notice Eddy until the door opened and the dark haired boy reached in to grab Mark by the back of his shirt collar. Eddy hauled Mark out of the car, swung him around and punched him in the face. Mark went down on the pavement and blood gushed from his nose.

"Eddy, no!" Fina screamed, holding up her unhooked dress with one hand while the other aided her in getting out of the car.

Mark got to his feet, took a swing at Eddy. Eddy ducked and hit Mark again, this time in the side. Mark collapsed sideways and landed against Bumblebee's hood. He rounded on Eddy again, and this time managed to connect, splitting the other boy's lip. The fight then degenerated into a wrestling match that brought them both to the ground, with Fina on top of them desperately trying to break it up. She was yelling and in tears, but the noise they generated drew no attention from the house.

Finally, Eddy hauled Mark to his feet, preparing to punch his lights out. Fina interceded, grabbing his free arm and holding.

"Eddy, stop! Stop! I brought Mark out here! Eddy, please!"

Eddy knocked her back with his elbow, but let Mark go. Mark slumped to the ground as Eddy turned on Fina, who pressed herself against Bumblebee in sudden fright.

"You what!?" Eddy exploded, "Fina, how could you!?"

"I-I didn't know what I was doing. Eddy, I-"

Eddy slapped her across the face and she was reduced to incoherent sobbing.

"Save it!" he snarled angrily, "Ricky warned me about you, but I didn't believe him. I thought it was just a part of that sibling feud you two have got going. I should have known. You bitch."

"Eddy," Fina pleaded through her tears, but he just glared until she fell silent.

"You go on home. I'll find another ride."

"But-"

"Go on!" he shouted in fury, "Get out of here! Take you bastard lover with you if you want! I don't even care! Just leave!" he looked like he wanted to hit her again, but instead he kicked Bee's tire.

Then he swung away and stalked back up the walk to where the party was. Fina looked at Mark, who was whimpering on the pavement. She looked irresolute, but then finally helped him get up. She half-carried him to the passenger side of the car and he slumped into the seat. She slammed the door on him and then hurried around to get into the driver's seat.

Still in tears, she gasped and tried to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. She leaned her forehead against the wheel, and Bumblebee felt her trembling, and her tears touched him when they fell. He couldn't feel sorry for her exactly. He understood that she had somehow betrayed Eddy, though he was uncertain how. Something in her quiet sobs spoke more of guilt than anything.

Mark lay slumped in his seat, his head leaning against the window, leaving blood on the glass.

As Fina regained her composure and put the key in the engine before shifting gears and leaving the party, Bumblebee felt he understood humans less than ever.