Invisible String

I Think He Knows

You woke up with a pounding headache. The pain was dull, hurting more when you lifted your head off the bed. You had spent the night at the farm in the new and improved guest room. (The same room you had just spent all weekend moving out of.) When you thought of the day before you realized that the regret had sunk in, and you spend the whole night turning over in thought until the first rays of sunlight had peaked out through the curtains. You wished you could have held in your temper or maybe you could have walked away instead. Anything to change the feeling you had sitting on your chest like a heavy anvil of uneasiness.

It didn't help that Starscream was not nice. He wasn't kind, he was hardly good, but for some reason he had started to warm up to you, even though you didn't want him to. He had basically basked in your "glory" (as he put it) for standing your ground against Megatron.

And no matter how upset you had been at Megatron, there was a tinge of guilt that sat in the middle of your chest and swelled up your throat; it made you feel sick to think Starscream would use you in a way to get back at his old leader. You had no plans to get involved with their eons old cat fight so you told yourself you would try your best to keep both at arm's length for the time being. Even if it killed you to force yourself to not seek out the one person you wanted to see the most. You figured he would have been upset by your outburst since it seemed to come out of nowhere and you just hoped he didn't think it had anything to do with Starscream.

Admittedly, you were happy it was Monday. While most people probably dreaded the work week, you were having the time of your life working with the Rangers. In fact, you were on a fast track to being promoted from intern duties to a full-time worker. Which basically meant you wouldn't have to clean the bathrooms anymore. Even the most perfect jobs had their setbacks, at least that's what you would tell yourself.

The thing that had you the most excited to go back, was an exhibit you were working on in the visitor's center on the Ruffed Grouse. It was the perfect way to prove you were serious about staying in the park, and while the whole weekend of shenanigans had distracted you from finishing it, you were still ready to forget all your worries and get it set up. Plus, it was Megatron's turn to supervise Starscream and Hashtag today and you still weren't ready to face him. The look of hurt on his face played over and over in your mind all night. It was the main reason you hadn't been able to get any sleep.

Groggily, you sat up and stretched. The pounding in your head had softened as your bones cracked to life. Swinging your legs over the side of your bed, you let out a yawn and stretched. Slowly, you got dressed. Dorothy's alarm went off right as you put your socks on. A part of you longed for a warm morning shower but the part of you that wanted to avoid running into Megatron was glad you had taken one the night before. Now, you could beat Dorothy to the truck. You didn't know when Megatron was going to show up for his babysitting gig, but you figured if it was soon, you could miss having a conversation with him by already being ready to go in the non-transforming vehicle. Windows up.

You quickly put your hair up in a speedy but neat ponytail. The fringes that stuck out more noticeable than usual were indicators that your hair had grown since you arrived in this world. You contemplated asking to get a haircut soon, but you were starting to like the new(er) look. You tried to be quiet when you walked down the stairs, only creaking them once by the bottom. Hearing movement in Dorothy's room, you sighed and happily but quickly, put your shoes on and opened the door. Ready for the day and to ignore your personal problems. Ready to indulge yourself in your work

Of course, that didn't pan out for you because somehow you hadn't heard your main problem show up. He was already transformed, standing in the front of the Malto's yard. His optics were closed but you could tell he wasn't sleeping. Your heart felt like it was going to jump out of your chest when you saw him, your mind wondering what he was thinking about. But you shut down those thoughts as you held in a surprised noise.