I didn't say a word the entire way back. I felt miserable. I saw Will glancing at me out of the corner is his eye, but he remained silent. Ironhide hadn't said a word to me either, not that it bothered me: I didn't really want to talk at all. As soon as Ironhide came to a stop, I hopped out and headed for the house. I heard Will call after as I walked past Sarah. As soon as I made it to my room, I curled up on the bed at let the tears flow. Bumblebee's words stung me in more ways than one: the fact that my aunt was dead, that it haunted me every minute of every day... And that it was my fault. A soft knock pulled me from my thoughts. Sarah's voice was soft and gentle.
"Alyssa, may I come in?"
I didn't reply. I was afraid my voice would crack. Sarah opened the door, her eyes softening as she observed me. I was slightly surprised when I found myself wrapped in her arms. I had been hugged by the Autobots before, but not in this way... For some reason, it felt different.
"Will told me what happened," she said. "I'm sorry about Bee."
She wiped away some of my tears and smiled gently at me. I took a deep breath before wiping away the rest.
"Thank you, Mrs. Sarah."
"Of course," she said before smiling lightly. "How about I take you shopping with me tomorrow. Annabelle's birthday is coming up, and I still need to get her a present. Maybe you can help me?"
I smiled. "Sure. Doesn't sound too hard."
**
"Why is this so hard?"
Sarah and I had been at the mall for five hours, and still haven't found Annabelle a birthday gift! How hard was it to shop for a soon-to-be six year old? The Autobots and NEST soldiers already got their gifts for Annabelle... Oh, right.
"Did you really have to tell the Autobots about unicorns and princess dolls?"
"Actually, that was Will."
I groaned before collapsing into a chair. At this rate, we would have nothing to give to Annabelle. And, sadly, this was the first birthday party I've ever been to and I was already set up to make a bad impression. Sarah smiled at me and patted my shoulder.
"You look worn out," she chuckled. No kidding. "How about you go wait with Ironhide? I'll get us smoothies."
"But what about--"
"It's fine, I'm sure I'll be able to find Annabelle a gift."
I have Sarah a small smile before heading back to the parking lot. I still felt bad that I wasn't able to find Annabelle a gift, but then a loud honk pulled me out of my thoughts. I jumped and whipped around to see Ironhide flashing his headlights at me.
"Ironhide, what are you--?"
"There's something inside me!" He hissed. He sounded like he was in slight pain. I frowned and hesitantly approached him.
"Um... Where?"
"Under me," Ironhide growled. "Get it out!"
I sighed before crawling under The truck. "Just curious, what does it look like?"
"Small and covered with fur. Probably a rodent."
A horrible thought crossed my mind.
"Oh, please don't let it be a rat..."
"A what?"
I didn't answer: I had just spotted the thing inside Ironhide. It was trapped between the tubes, so all I could see was a small body covered in black fur. I tensed as I hesitantly reached towards it.
"Please don't be a rat, please don't be a rat, please don't be a--"
"MEW!"
A small gasp escaped from me. That was defiantly not a rat.
"Oh, you poor little baby," I cooed.
"You better not be talking to me," Ironhide growled.
"Oh, shut up, I'm not worried about you!" I hissed before turning my attention back to the little kitten. "Come here, baby. It's okay."
The kitten mewed again as I carefully freed her from the tubes. She cuddled close to my chest and mewed again.
"Oh, you're so precious," I cooed as I crawled out from Ironhide.
"Did you get it?" Ironhide asked.
"Oh, yes I did," I said, stroking the kitten's fur.
"Good. Place it down in front of me... So I can run it over."
I glared at the Topkick. "Oh, HELL NO!"
"Half-Pint--"
"I am NOT letting you hurt this poor little thing!"
"I'm going to count to three: one, two--"
"What's going on here?"
I looked over my shoulder to see Sarah making her way towards us with two smoothies in her hands. An idea formed in my head as I slowly smirked at Ironhide. I could feel him glaring at me as I smiled sweetly at Sarah and showed her the little kitten.
"Look what I found, Mrs. Sarah!"
Sarah gasped. "Oh, it's so cute! No tags, the poor thing's a stray."
"Does Annabelle like cats?" I asked 'innocently'.
**
"I'm going to kill you for this," Ironhide growled as Sarah got out of the truck. I only smiled smugly before getting out as well. Annabelle and Will were playing on the front porch, but looked up as we approached. Annabelle eyes widened when she saw the kitten in my arms and ran over to us.
"A kitty!" She gasped. "Aw, it's so cute!"
I smiled as I passed the kitten into Annabelle's arms. Annabelle cradled the kitten gently, holding her close to her. The kitten purred and rubbed Annabelle's cheek affectionately, causing the girl to giggle.
"That's your birthday present from Alyssa," Sarah told Annabelle. "She found her and thought you'd like her."
Annabelle smiled before carefully giving the kitten to Will and hugging me. I was caught off guard and looked down at Annabelle in surprise. Like Sarah's hug, hers felt different from the Autobots in some way.
"Thank you, Alyssa."
"... You're welcome."
Will suddenly chuckled, causing us to turn our attention to him.
"What's so funny, daddy?" Annabelle asked. Will smiled as he passed the kitten back to her.
"Well, sweetie, I just thought that it was funny that you're new kitty reminded me of Ironhide."
I looked down at the kitten and stifled a laugh. It did kind of reminds me of Ironhide: the black fur and the blue eyes did bear some resemblance to Ironhide's armor and optics. An evil thought crossed my mind.
"Maybe we should name it Hidey?" I told Annabelle. I could feel Ironhide's glare burning holes in my back as Annabelle nodded eagerly before running up to the truck.
"Say hi to Hidey, Ironhide!"
".... Hi, Hidey..."
I snickered, but gulped when Ironhide started rolling towards me menacingly.
"Should I run?"
Ironhide revved his engine angrily. The only sound I could hear over my screaming was the Lennoxes laughing as the watched an angry Ironhide chase me around the house.
And that's how you piss off an Autobot (or maybe just Ironhide). Next chapter will be Annabelle's birthday party, but I'm a little indecisive about the theme:
Disney
Tea Party/Costume Party
Either way, it will involve dressing up, so tell me which one I should go with and if you have any suggestions on what the characters should dress as (I'm kinds aiming for couples costumes just to let you know).