*I don't own Transformers or anything affiliated with Transformers. I only own my original characters and plots. All rights go to Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.*
It was now Spring time which meant rain, rain, and more rain for the next eight weeks. For the past week or so, Chicago's forecast had been nothing but rain and thunderstorms. In all honesty, I didn't mind it at all.
Thunderstorms had to be one of my favorite natural phenomenons in the entire world. The lightning was an incredibly beautiful sight to see and the sound of the rain beating steadily against my window was very calming, not to mention very relaxing.
Although, I could do without the thunder. I realize that it was basically the main aspect of a thunderstorm, but I really didn't like it. When I was sixteen, I absolutely loved it, but after the whole Hong Kong-New York-Australia ordeal, I hated it. The loud roaring of the thunder reminded me far too much of the battles and all three of them were memories that I hated reminiscing on. Whenever I heard it, I felt like I was being dragged back in time to 2016 and also to 2017 and I absolutely despised it. All I wanted was to forget that those two years had ever happened, and that's what I was trying to do.
Tuning the thunder out, I focused back on my laptop screen. The glare from my glasses slightly irritated me, but instead of taking them off, I pushed them farther onto my face. It was almost three years later and I still haven't ordered new contacts.
I scrolled through the numerous lists of available apartments in Chicago, clicking on the ones that I found appealing both to my eyes and to my pocket.
I was now twenty two years old. Living in my dad's house was absolutely fantastic, but I felt like I was becoming a burden to him especially now that I had Avery. No matter how much he told me that he loved having us live with him, I just felt it was time for me to move on like Jason did a year ago.
I wouldn't technically say that he moved out though. He got a job at KSI and got his own place, but whenever he was off of work, which was Monday's, Wednesday's, Friday's and Sunday's, he was here all day. He wouldn't end up leaving until about eleven o'clock at night. It didn't make much sense to me to be honest, but I didn't care enough to question him about it.
A movement in my peripheral vision caused me to turn my attention away from my laptop and over to my bedroom door. Avery stood there with her blanket in her right hand and her small plush teddy bear in her left. I placed my laptop beside me on the mattress and moved to sit at the edge of my bed. I gave the four year old in my doorway a curious look.
"What's wrong, Avery?" I asked her.
She ran over to me and I picked her up and placed her on my lap. She snuggled her head into the crook of my neck and I smiled.
"I was scared. It's loud outside, Ro," she told me.
I chuckled and hugged her tighter. She had always been scared of thunderstorms and she even knew that I was afraid of thunder, yet she always came running to my room.
"Do you want to take your nap in here, then?" I suggested.
She nodded quickly and climbed off of my lap and onto my queen sized bed. I covered her up with my comforter and turned on my iHome that was sitting on the bedside table beside her. A soft pop song filled the room and she smiled. I grabbed my laptop and shut it before getting up to place it on my computer desk. After doing so, I walked back over and laid down beside Avery on the bed.
"Where's Baybay at, Ro?" she asked me.
I raised an eyebrow at her.
Baybay was her name for Bumblebee. When we taught her all of the Autobot's names, she was still two and also still learning how to talk, so she really couldn't say their names properly. All of them had their very own special name, which I thought was precious, and it was even better because the Autobots absolutely adored Avery.
"You know where he is."
"Outside?" she asked.
"No. Him, Hound, Drift, and Crosshairs are all probably in the garage, Avery. It's raining outside. They don't like getting wet," I explained to her.
"Can I go see them? I miss them," she pouted.
"Not right now. But what you can do is go to sleep," I told her.
I covered her face with my hand in a playful notion which caused her to giggle and then yawn.
"Night night, Ro. I love you," she told me.
I smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Even though it's only one in the afternoon, goodnight. I love you too," I responded.
I got up off of the bed and walked over to, then out of my bedroom door. Quickly, I went down the steps and made my way into the kitchen. A certain blonde haired girl was sitting at my kitchen table with her feet propped up and her phone in her face. I stared at her.
"What do you think you're doing?"
She gave me a look before looking back at her phone.
"I'm tweeting. What does it look like?" she countered.
I rolled my eyes and walked over to the fridge to look for something to eat. There was nothing here to eat at all but a few things of fruit and some butter. Hopefully it was clear tomorrow or at least not storming, because a trip to the store was almost necessary.
As I reached for the box of strawberries at the back of the fridge, a loud roar of thunder shook the house and also startled me. I ended up hitting my head, very hard might I add, on the roof of the fridge. I grabbed the strawberries quickly and sat down at the table, all while trying to rub the soreness out of my head.
"Are you okay?" Gracie laughed.
"I'm perfectly fine, Grace. Couldn't be better," I told her as I threw open the box of strawberries.
She just laughed and I rolled my eyes at her. Her feet were still up on the table and it was beginning to annoy me in the slightest.
"You know, people eat on this table, Gracie. I'm almost certain that we don't want to eat your boot dirt," I told her.
It was now her turn to roll her eyes, but she took her boots off the table anyway. I smiled in triumph and took a bite out of my strawberry.
"So, are you coming with me to the store tomorrow?" I asked her.
"I'll pass. I really need to clean up my bedroom. It's getting on my ever lasting nerves being so messy," she told me.
Gracie had actually moved in with us six months after that week. Her parents had decided to go on a five year cruise around the world and she didn't want to go so now she's here with us, being a nuisance. Hopefully when I moved into my new apartment, she'd come with me.
"It's about damn time. I'm so scared to even walk passed your room, let alone go in it."
"It isn't that bad," she defended.
I just smirked and popped another strawberry into my mouth.
"If you say so."
"So, tell me again. Why are you so afraid of thunder?" she asked me.
I sighed.
"Why do you think? What does thunder sound like, Gracie?"
She thought for a minute and then a look of realization flashed across her face.
"Oh. Okay. I understand now."
"Yeah. All I want is to forget that it even happened," I told her.
She sighed and looked at me.
"I know you do. You just can't let it consume you. It's bad for you, Rose."
"I know that. Optimus told me the same thing," I told her.
"Just go ahead and do what I do. Just live in the moment. You're still living in the past and that's the problem. Think about it, Rose. Everything is okay now and it will be from now on. You have nothing to worry about anymore. You just have to let what happened go," she instructed.
"You're right. I'll try. I can't promise that it'll work, but I promise that I'll try to make it work."
"That's my girl," she said.
I smiled and sat back in my seat. Gracie was absolutely right. Everything was fine and this time it was going to stay that way. All I needed to do was let go of my past and I'd be perfectly okay.