Gathered up - Sideswipe & Sunstreaker fanfic -

☀️ Ch 11. Mine

It was a hot day. I've been drinking water all day and I can only imagine how hard it must be for the Autobots. I did some light training sessions with the rookies. Last thing I want is to overheat them. My dad went berserk when he figured that out. He made me run twenty laps around the training hall and a heavy training session. Of course all Chase could do was mock me and shaming me. It doesn't matter what I tell him, he always thinks I'm weak or not good enough.
I sat on my own, having a snack and cold water with ice cubes, trying to cool myself off. 'Hey.' Sunstreaker seated beside me and eyed me. 'You look overheated.' I gave him a look. He ran his hand through my sweaty hair. 'Well, you still look beautiful, for what it's worth.' I snorted and took another sip.

'Are you free tonight or do I need to fight my way in your schedule.' I rolled my eyes. 'No, I gave myself an evening off,' I replied. 'Good, I made a reservation at the Japanese restaurant.' I raised a brow. 'Don't look surprised... take a shower and pull something different than this uniform?' He pulled at the sleeve. 'What time do we leave?'
'We leave at six.' I hoisted myself up. 'Then I'll have to hustle.' Sunstreaker chuckled and got up. He pressed a kiss on my cheek.

I went back to my room, took a shower and dressed up in jean shorts and crop top. Sunstreaker was waiting for already went I strode into the hangar. 'Much better.' He offered me his hand, which I took. 'You look beautiful.' I blushed a little at his words. 'Thank you.'

His alt-mode was parked outside already. Which was odd. He never parks his alt-mode outside. 'I wanted to avoid questions and mocking.' It was like he could read my mind. 'I already wondered why you parked yourself in the burning sun.' He hummed and opened the door for me. 'Thanks.' I hopped in and buckled up. The first thing he did as he shut his door was turning on the cooking vents.

'You've some nasty bruising. You don't want that to be check out, just to be sure?' He asked. 'It's not the first time and I know the difference between bruised and broken very well.' I smiled sheepishly. 'You shouldn't have.'

I shrugged again. 'Well... that's reality, but you know how it feels, to be treated like garbage. Your parents didn't want you either or... they had high expectations and you didn't meet them on that level?' He gripped his steering wheel a little tighter. 'I was a mistake. They didn't want sparklings, especially not two... I became the scapegoat and took most of the pain.' He glanced at me. 'So, you started drawing at a young age? To get rid of the horrible pain that flows through your body, not mentally and physically when they yell and hurt you?'

He nodded. 'It made you stronger.' He snorted. 'I'm a psychopath, so I'm not sure if it did make me stronger or broke me.' I shook my head. 'Definitely didn't make you weak.' I smiled wryly. He shrugged and tapped on his steering wheel. 'Maybe... but it didn't make you stronger.' I huffed and rubbed my forehead. 'Thank you for mentioning. I'm trying my best to cooperate with it, especially now my brother arrived...' I cut myself off and glanced at him. 'I know people find me annoying and I'm a control freak, it surprised me that you can handle it, considered you're short tempered and have some serious anger issues.'

He huffed at my statement. 'You haven't given me a reason yet to get mad. Honestly, I think it's adorable.' I gave him a look. 'I don't necessarily hate you because your schedules. It's just a piece of paper with a time on it.' I hummed. 'Now you got me curious about something...' he hummed. 'Your love life?'

I smirked. 'Just a few one night stands when I was in heat. Nothing serious. You?' I shook my head. 'Embarrassingly, no... I never felt a connection with anyone...' my voice died dow. 'I mean... I was crushing on your brother for a while. He was the only male attention I got until I caught him having sex.'

'Is that so bad?'

'In my room.' He ohh'ed and cleared his throat. 'Sideswipe doesn't talk about heat cycles, almost as if he's embarrassed to talk about it. How does that work? Is it a yearly thing or...' he he glanced at me. 'There's a reason why we don't talk about it. You don't talk about your monthly periods either.'
'I could... if you'd like.' I smirked. 'Fine... no, it's not a yearly thing. Younger mechs go into heat more often, so...' he shrugged and casually and glanced at me. 'What?'
'Nothing.' A smile crept up on my lips. 'It's really painful.'
'You're embarrassment.' Sunstreaker snorted and violently took a turn. 'I'm not. I just don't like talking about it.'

'Why not?'

'Because... it hurts and I just don't like the topic, okay?' I chuckled and brushed it off. I'm pressing his buttons and I didn't want to ruin it with Sunstreaker either.

After dinner, he dropped me off at home. 'Thanks... I enjoyed it. Maybe we should do it more often.' He nodded. 'I would like that. I'll see you tomorrow?' He nodded. 'Absolutely.' He pressed a kiss on my hand. A weak blush crept up. 'Good night,' he mumbled. 'Goodnight.'

Sunstreaker drove off as I reached for the porch. It was quiet, but I wasn't alone. My brother came marching down the stairs and knocked me over. 'Hey!' He turned to look at me. 'Where have you been? You look awful,' I slowly got up and looked at myself. He huffed and walked over to the  kitchen. 'Dad! Guess who's home!' I took off my jacket and shoes. 'Where have you been?'

'I had dinner... with Sunny.'

He hit my cheek. That was going to turn blue for sure. 'And why would you do that?' He snapped. 'Because he asked and I wanted too.' I heard my brother huff. 'Because she's lonely?! Because no one actually likes you and Sideswipe is tired of hearing you say the word 'schedule'? Pathetic.' I didn't reply. 'Get upstairs. I don't want to look at your face.' My dad waved me off. I walked upstairs and shut the door behind me.