3. Family (A TFP Fanfiction)

Chapter 6

I pulled the covers over my shoulders uncomfortably, shivering as another bout of cold hit me. My chest seemed to burst as I erupted into another bout of coughing, squeezing my eyes shut as I did, my body rattling and shoulders hunching. I sighed heavily when I finished, rolling over on the couch and groaning slightly. The night was passing slowly, and I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. For the past twenty-four hours, I had gained and kept a temperature over one hundred degrees, my body was throbbing with aches and pains, and I had occasional coughing fits. Ratchet had fretted over me almost immediately, but he had concluded that this was normal for someone who had just gone through spark surgery, especially if the person was, in his terms, a bit under the weather.

Which basically meant weaker, since I was human.

Sort of.

I groaned again as my arms decided to be the center of pain right now, sitting up in slight annoyance. I wanted to get some sleep. It was late, and I'm sure I was bothering my guardian, who was busy at the console. His gaze would fall to me every time I stirred, but then fell back to his work. I felt bad; he was already staying up so late to continue working on the mainframe, and now he was hardly getting any work done because of me.

Giving up on trying to sleep, I draped the thick blanket over my shoulders, holding it with my hands, and got off the couch slowly. My face flushed from the fever, I weakly started to walk over to the railing closest to the console, my feet tingling as it touched the cold floor and sending chills up my body. I looked up at my guardian, who had finally gotten so focused on his work that he hadn't noticed me get up. I decided not to bother him and leaned my elbows on the railing, holding the blanket in one hand and my chin in the other, watching him work in silence.

Looking at him, my brain instantly told me that he was the one for me. It didn't matter that he was an alien from a different world. It didn't matter that he was so much larger from me, built entirely different. In some weird way, I found it attractive. Sometimes it made me feel stupid. I had never pegged myself to be the kind to fall for something so out of this world. It seemed more of Miko's forte. However, my love for him had overcome those awkward feelings. I didn't care anymore, it didn't matter how different it was. I loved him. I wanted him.

The only thing in the way was him.

The only thing that made it still hurt to wait was him.

Because I had no idea how he felt.

And I had no idea how to tell him.

It was kind of depressing, really.

My eyes widened a little when another cough burst from my chest, surprising both me and my guardian. Ratchet looked over to me in surprise as I brought my hand to my mouth, my shoulders shaking. I cut myself short, avoiding his gaze awkwardly. I could feel my face burning bright red as I chuckled nervously. Here I was, standing here and staring at him in the middle of the night, when I was supposed to be asleep.

"Taylor," he hissed quietly, narrowing his optics. "What are you doing up?" He turned himself away from his work, quietly walking over to the railing and bending over, so that he was closer to me.

I raised my hands, the blanket falling off my shoulders, in an attempt to block his view from my beet red face. "N-Nothing!" I squeaked silently, still avoiding his gaze. "I.. I, uh, couldn't sleep. I thought I would just.. I don't know..." My voice got quieter and quieter as I tried to think of what to say. I couldn't find anything and gulped, closing my eyes and letting my hands fall in defeat.

Though I didn't see it, Ratchet raised his optic ridge at me in confusion. "Is something bothering you?" he asked silently.

I quickly shook my head, though it throbbed afterwards. "No, no! I'm fine!" Suddenly I felt seriously dizzy, my feet taking a few small steps back and forth as I tried to steady myself. My eyes suddenly went lazy as I wrapped my hands around my arms, shivering from the cold. "Okay, maybe not completely fine.."