Sunstreaker's Charge ✔️

Ch. 15 Exhaustion

Lily’s P.O.V.
I’m woken up by Sideswipe at seven in the morning for another meeting about me going to school. The final decision is I’m only going two days a week until we know my nightmares are gone. This would probably be unacceptable, but how many kids have recurring nightmares? Ratchet goes from letting me choose to deciding I’m not going to school today when he hears I had the same nightmare twice in the twelve hours I slept. I’m exhausted and ordered to go back to bed. 

Ratchet’s P.O.V.
I don’t think Lily could hide how exhausted she is if she wanted to. I was expecting her to fall asleep during the short meeting.
“You sure she’ll be able to go to school?” Prowl asks.
“Luke did ask her teacher for all of this week’s schoolwork for Lily. I think he’s hinting he believes Lily cannot go back to school yet,” Optimus explains.
“She’s already dealing with knowing she’s a hybrid. I suggest we don’t tell her what we found out,” Prowl adds.
This feels just as challenging as Jasmine’s situation was. Thankfully, no one is no longer after Lily, but the challenge is her nightmares and fear of Sunstreaker.

Sideswipe’s P.O.V.
Luke comes by ten minutes after Lily is asleep and puts Lily’s schoolwork on the desk.
“She will not be happy, but I don’t want her going to school this week,” he explains, “even if the decision is she goes to school twice a week.”
I think he’s assuming last night was rough, but he’d be right. He leaves the room as Sunstreaker walks in.
“Is this an everyday thing?” I ask, seeing he got Lily breakfast, “and what about me?”
“Seriously?!”
Oh boy, is he mad. He writes his note, fixes Lily’s blanket, and leaves. Hopefully, soon he can take her out for breakfast. I think Sunstreaker misses Lily being obsessed with him.

Lily smiles, seeing Sunstreaker left breakfast for her even though it’s lunchtime. Glad he puts the hot tea in a thermal cup. I have to kill Lily’s happy mood by telling her Luke came by with schoolwork though I think it’s for the entire week.
Crosshairs and Drift walk in a few minutes later and insist I leave.
“You’re a distraction,” Crosshairs argues.
“Seriously?! This is not what I meant when I—!”
Lily’s laughing stops me.
“But they’re right,” she laughs.
“Fine,” I sulk, grab my phone and leave the room.
That little brat just kicked me out! I complain through the bond.
Well, you can be distracting, and she has work to do. It’s funny she’s figured out you can be distracting.

Sunstreaker’s P.O.V.
I don’t know how Lily will react to this painting, but I hope I can give it to her without causing her to panic. I can’t let anyone know I’m working on this, which is ruined when Sideswipe walks in.
“Why are you embarrassed? It’s not like it’s a portrait of Lily.”
“If anyone finds out I’m doing this for her, they’ll think I’m soft and weak!”
Sideswipe says nothing and leaves the room.

Lily’s P.O.V.
I didn’t think I was this tired. Should I be worried it’s something else? Crosshairs and Drift would know, and they insist I go back to sleep rather than the medbay. Eventually asking if I’m afraid to sleep. This time, I think I shouldn’t take a nap since it’s already noon, but these nightmares are frightening. Maybe I’ll be too exhausted to dream. Even if that’s what’ll happen, this isn’t a solution.

“Kid, you fell asleep for ten minutes. You’re going to bed,” Crosshairs demands, picks me up, and lays me in bed. He had already moved the blankets to lay me down and cover me.

Crosshairs’ P.O.V.
“She’s stressed,” Drift comments once Lily is asleep.
“This was supposed to be a fun way to spend spring break for her. Not be kidnapped, then find out she’s a hybrid. Add she went from liking Sunstreaker to seeing him kill, so now she’s unsure if she should hate him.”
Like everyone else, Drift and I aren’t sure if it’s a good idea to let Lily be friends with Sunstreaker, but it’s a problem that she’s terrified to the point she’s having nightmares and passing out when she sees him. Then it dawns on me; does she feel safe or think she has to stay here? How long before she feels unwelcome since the others are avoiding her?

Lily’s P.O.V.
I slept another two hours, waking up to Crosshairs and Drift still in the room. Has Sideswipe come by at all, or too busy playing video games? Crosshairs and Drift suggest we go find him though I have work to do. They wouldn’t suggest forgetting schoolwork for the rest of the year but worry about my stress. 

“Ok, Sideswipe, you’re fired,” Crosshairs tells him as we walk into the lounge room.
“What?!”
I knew Crosshairs is joking, but Sideswipe didn’t.
“Geez, I’m kidding,” Crosshairs admits, “though you are distracting as she’s doing schoolwork.”
“Well, I guess you have three guardians, Lily,” Sideswipe smiles.
I could say I have many more since the Autobots protect their human friends and allies, but I know a guardian is supposed to focus mostly on one human. 
Sideswipe texts, I assume Sunstreaker. Soon the three mechs are talking about dinner.
“I know it’s still a risk, but it’s a step to help her,” Sideswipe explains while handing Drift his phone.
Crosshairs and Drift nod as Drift gives Sideswipe back his phone and leaves, telling me they’ll return later. Sideswipe and I play a video game.

Sunstreaker’s P.O.V.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask Crosshairs and Drift.
“Yes, letting Lily avoid you will not do anything,” Drift explains, “but we need to be careful with how often Lily sees you.”
“Unfortunately, this means making her scared on purpose for a while,” Crosshairs adds, “and it’s uncertain how long we’ll need to do this.”
Either that or we let her go home and only return if she needs to see Ratchet. I wish I could go back to that day so I could’ve dragged that aft away before killing him.
“How long before she notices no one else is bothering to do anything with her?” I ask.
The problem is there’s no easy solution to fix this, and they know it. Drift believes we need to get Lily to stop being afraid of me first, which might help with this other problem.