Secrets to Keep

Chapter 9 - Stubborn

*With Sideswipe and Denny*

"Sideswipe! Will you slow down!" Denny shouted clinging to Sideswipe steering. His body slammed against the door as he took a corner. Sideswipe didn't give an answer but slowed down to only a hundred miles per hour. Clarissa's farm wasn't that far away from Denny's scrapyard, but with the rate the two were flying down the empty road, it felt like only a few seconds. Sideswipe drifts into the driveway. The minute he gets to a stop, Denny opens the door and falls out. On his hands and knees, he tries to hold back his lunch. Sideswipe transforms and looks down guiltily at Denny. "Don't ever do that again." Denny growled up at Sideswipe as he is finally able to stand on two feet.

Sideswipe follows Denny to the pasture, watching the horses come up to the fence. Koda begins to make some noise as the two walk up. "Hey, you three, long time no see." Denny says walking up to the fence. Koda immediately pushes Clyde out of the way and pushes his muzzle into Denny's hands. "Woah boy, there is enough love for everyone." Denny says ruffling the horse's hair. "Sideswipe, say hello to Koda, Clyde, and Jack." Sideswipe gave an awkward wave, already knowing who they were. "So, what do we have to do with them?" Sideswipe asked, trying to keep his cover.

"We are going to take them into the stable and feed them, brush them, then turn them back into the pasture." Denny explained. Sideswipe followed Denny to the barn to grab the "You might want to go into holoform. I don't think the horses will like to be led by a giant robot. And Clarissa would be pissed if you broke anything in her barn." Denny warned. Sideswipe backed up before transforming. His holoform stepped out of his alt and followed Denny inside. He immediately grabbed Koda's lead. "I'll get Koda, he can be a bit of a handful." Denny stated, leaning to grab the halter from Sideswipe. "No that's okay, I think I can get it." He paused looking over Denny's facial expression. "What?" "If you think so." Denny grabbed the other two leads and the two went out to get the horses.

As Sideswipe got closer, Koda began to neigh in excitement, even doing a little jump towards him. "He seems to already like you." Denny exclaimed as they walked in. Koda ran up to Sideswipe, nuzzling into his chest. "Woah back buddy." Denny warned, pushing the horse back a bit. As soon as Denny's hand left his chest, he was back in Sideswipes face. Before Denny could do it again, Sideswipe put the halter over Koda's head. "He's okay. I think I like him too." Koda gave a confused whinny and blew in Sideswipes face. Denny stood back and watched the whole interaction, fascinated on how the two reacted to each other, almost as if they already knew each other.

*At the Hospital*

"How's the bike look?" Clarissa asks still laying in the hospital bed. "Are you sure you want to ask that question?" Tyler looked at her with a sarcastic look in his eye. "Yes, I want to know." She didn't look at him, her stare contained on the ceiling. He gave a small sigh before answering, "Well this was the worse try yet. I don't know what you were thinking, but we could actually fix the bike before. This time... this time after we got you away, the bike blew. It became scorched, no fixing it." Tyler looked away from her for a moment, not ready to see the tears coming to her eyes.

"I know it was your favorite bike."

"It was my brothers."

"I know it was, but I can't fix it this time. What were you thinking? You know how dangerous that stunt is. Now it's cost you a knee cap. Who knows if you will ever race again."

"I will race again!" She cut him off in anger.

Silence consumed the room. Both looking anywhere but each other. "This isn't the first time I've been hurt." She whispered lowly, breaking the unwanted silence. "But this is the first time you've broken something. Minor scrapes and bruises are one thing. But a broken knee cap, that's another. The doctor says it will be months before your able to even drive a car, let alone a motorcycle." He looked at her with worry in his eyes, sadness and pain. "Your turning into your brother." Her eyes snapped to his.