I never wanted to let him go.

My spark sang with relief and happiness as I clung to him, my fingers clutching his white doctors coat tightly. My face was buried into his shoulder, and despite that this wasn't his real form, there was a tiny, almost nonexistent scent wafting off of him, one that sent comforting chills through my body. His strong arms held me close, pressing me into his chest while he rested his head on mine. His hands were firm but gentle as he hugged me. Both of us could feel our sparks dancing with joy at each other's grip.

Sadly, that comfort had to come to a stop at some point. Ratchet gently pulled himself away, his hands sliding over to my shoulders so that he still was holding me a little. I backed away from him a little as he let go, though I grasped his coat again as I looked up at him with teary eyes. My face was flushed pink, but because my heart was fluttering with joy, I found myself giving him a genuine smile of gratefulness. His expression was soft as his hands rubbed up and down my shoulders, his eyes twinkling. His lips were smiling gently as well. His expression was completely different from when he had first arrived. I know mine was, too.

I leaned forward and hugged him again, quicker this time, before pulling away and leaning on his side. I sighed softly as I rested my head on his shoulder this time, closing my eyes and letting the calmness he gave me wash me over completely. His body didn't tense up; in fact, he seemed relieved as I did. I felt something brush my palm and opened my eyes, looking down at me hand. I gasped slightly as I watched his fingers intertwine with mine, feeling his firm grip in my hand. I squeezed back and smiled, still staring at our now interlocked hands. 

I couldn't feel more loved right now.

The two of us hadn't said a single word yet. Tearing my eyes upwards, I stared straight into Ratchet's bright teal ones with a gentle expression, though my neck felt as if it was on fire. To my surprise, his own face blushed a little before he cleared his throat, gripping my hand a little tighter. 

"You came back," I said quietly, feeling tears in the corners of my eyes again. I tried to will them back, because I would probably look silly if I cried while being so happy. I couldn't stop the smile on my face at all.

He scoffed a little, rolling his eyes despite the fact he was still smiling a little. "Of course I did. I told you I would, didn't I?"

I chuckled a little, resting my head on his shoulder again. "Yeah, you did." I closed my eyes again, and the thought of last night unwillingly sent flashbacks of the nightmare back into my head. I flinched, feeling my heart rate jump a little, and he undoubtedly felt that as well. "It's just... last night was terrible," I said bluntly, holding back a groan.

He sighed, and I felt his chin rest on the top of my head. "I know. I'm sorry. I would have come sooner-"

"In the middle of the night?!" I said, a little louder than I had meant to.  "My grandmother would have had a heart attack!"

He chuckled, his thumb rubbing the top of my hand comfortingly. All over again, I felt a flood of relief and cuddled closer, unable to stop these expressions of feelings. Someone suddenly cleared their throat and we both jumped, snapping back to attention. We had totally missed my grandmother approaching us, and now she was only a few feet away. My cheeks went hot with red, and his did as well as his shoulders tensed. He looked rather adorable when he was embarrassed, but that wasn't the main thing on my mind right now.

"Care to explain to me what exactly is going on here?" she said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. The gesture made me angry all of the sudden and my body stiffened. Ratchet took it much more calmly, staring her down with a neutral yet intimidating expression.

"I'm here to collect my- Taylor. I'm here to collect Taylor," he said, quickly correcting himself.

My grandmother looked unimpressed, even as his eyes narrowed. I could tell where my mom got her fire from. She still had her arms crossed as she turned to face me. I flinched at her harsh glare, to which she seemed surprised. Her expression softened a bit.

"Honey," she said quietly. "Is he... bothering you?"

"Of course not!!" I snapped, appalled. Perhaps it was because I was so emotional that I was so quick to get furious with her at the moment. "I called him here because I wanted him to come!"

Her eyes widened a little. "You asked him to come?"

"Yes, I did!" I repeated, squeezing his hand a little harder. I hugged his arm tightly and glared at grandmother.

Ratchet opened his mouth to say something, but she turned her head again sharply with daggers in her eyes. "Let the women talk for a moment, please," she hissed. He was taken back by the sudden change in her voice and attitude towards him.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked her, my voice slightly trembling even though I was still angry. "He is here for me! He hasn't done anything to you!"

"I'm not going to allow you to be taken again!" she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, stepping forward. "You've been through enough! You think I can't see it in your eyes, in the way you act?!" she pressed. "I can tell that you've been through something horrible, if not more than once! And I know for a fact that isn't just because you don't have your mother anymore!" The corners of her eyes began to prickle with angry tears as she took another step in our direction. "I will not allow these-these people to keep putting you in situations where you get hurt!"

As she took another step, I flinched, finally feeling the weight of her words and losing my angry fire as well. Ratchet instinctively stepped in front of me as if to protect me from her, squeezing my hand. I wanted to cry; the things she said were true, in a way, but she didn't understand. Or was I the one that didn't understand? Biting my lip, I tore my gaze away from her.

Ratchet glared at her, obviously furious, but he kept his voice neutral as he spoke to her. "Madam, I don't believe you are really looking," he said slowly. "You are only looking for the wrong here, and that is biased. You aren't taking into account what she really feels."

She turned back to him with wild eyes. "How dare you?! I'm her family! I know what's best for her! From what I can tell, all you people have done is hurt my baby!!"

"I can tell from this attitude you're taking now that you are not searching for what she wants, just what you think will make her feel better," he answered, a bit of venom in his voice now. "Is she you? Do you two have the same experiences, the same mind?" he continued. "If not, then I highly doubt that you two have the same solution to her problems!"

This finally seemed to shut her up. She still was shooting daggers at him with her eyes, but she backed away, no longer giving us a threatening stance. The two glared each other down for a few moments longer before Ratchet finally looked away first, not wanting to waste his time with something so trivial as that. His gaze fell on me and his expression instantly softened.

"Taylor," he said gently. "I understand that she is being... rather rash, but she is your family." He paused, glancing back at her for a moment. "I want you to work this out before we leave."

Wiping my eyes a little, I nodded. He began to pull his hand away, but I pulled it back. My eyes pleaded for him not to go. I needed him here; I needed him to stay with me. The medic raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't move again. Taking a deep breath, I turned and looked at the woman who was still impatiently waiting for me to say something.

"Grandma," I began, my voice shaking a bit. "I appreciate that you are trying to look after me. You're right... I have been through a lot. I won't lie to you about that." I paused, waiting to see if she would let me keep going. "But... I wouldn't take back meeting them for the world. They pulled me out of a dark place, and even when bad stuff happened, they took care of me, and loved me when no one else would." Tears were starting to form in my eyes again. "I wouldn't be who I am now without them... without him. They mean... the world to me." My voice cracked and I had to look away, trying so, so hard not to cry. "I.. I'm traumatized. By a few different things. He's the only one that makes it better. Not you. I'm sorry." Taking a shuttering breath, I quickly looked back up to her eyes. "I have to go back."

Silence fell afterwards, a long, awkward one that made me very uncomfortable. My grandmother watched me with an unreadable emotion in her eyes, her arms crossed again. Ratchet held my hand tightly, his thumb gently rubbing my fingers as we waited for her reply. Finally, she sighed, her shoulders deflating as she looked at me with a sad expression.

"You're sure you want to go back?" she asked me softly. "I can... We can try talking, work something out..."

I slowly shook my head. "No. I want... I want to go home." My eyes glanced back to the medic I was clinging to, the mech I loved so much, the man who was my everything.

Grandma watched me for a few moments more, before she turned her back to me, though not sharply. "Then I won't keep you here. Just... know that you can always come back." With that, she began to walk back to the house.

A part of me wanted to run over and hug her, but something told me not to. Instead, I whispered "thank you," to her quietly, not able to make my voice any louder. Tears still in my eyes, I turned quickly and began to walk away, pulling Ratchet with me.

Though he was a little stunned by my sudden movement, he quickly matched my pace. "Are you sure you don't want to.. say goodbye to her?"

I shook my head, afraid to meet his eyes. "No. I don't... I don't think it's the right time." I swallowed the rest of my words and hurried along, biting my tongue to keep myself from sobbing.

Ratchet also didn't say anything else, allowing a quiet to fall over us as we headed over to his real body. He opened his door for me and helped me in, finally letting go of my hand as he closed the door and walked to the driver's side. His engine didn't start as he entered, but I was still too afraid to look at him. I felt as if I did now, I would start bawling all over again.

Why was every decision I had to make so hard? Why did it hurt so much?

His hand fell over mine again and I twitched, my head instinctively snapping up. Our eyes locked just before he pulled me into a hug, his hand on my head. My whole body tensed and my chest squeezed horribly; I knew I was about to cry. He didn't say a word as quiet sobs began to bubble out of my mouth, tears soaking his holoform's shirt. Ratchet knew that I was hurting, not just because of the nightmare. There were so many things that I wanted to say, just to let it all out, but I couldn't. The words wouldn't come, only the tears and the cries of a broken girl, begging to be put back together. 

I don't know how long we sat there like that; there was no sense of time to me as the weight of everything spun me around. Finally, I calmed a little, after feeling several waves of love sent through Ratchet's spark. Tears still following, voice still hiccupping, I lifted my head and looked up at him. His hand slid over to my cheek, cupping it for a moment before he softly wiped the tears away. Another sob squeezed through my throat and I clasped his hand, not able to look away from him. The medic's eyes were soft and sad as he leaned forward a little. Before I knew it, his lips were gently touching the top of my head again. My spark and my heart fluttered, and waves of love crashed from him to me, and me to him. After a few moments, he slowly pulled away, rubbing my cheek again with his thumb.

I sobbed again, squeezing my eyes shut and placing my forehead on his hand. "I love you, Ratchet," I cried quietly. "I love you so much."

He was silent for a few moments, before his head rested on mine. "I love you, too, Taylor."

~

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

FINALLY!!! 

ACK, I'M FANGIRLING SO HARD-

Thank you all so much for all your encouragement and love!! You seriously have no idea how happy it makes me feel. I appreciate you all so much, I love you guys aaaa-

I hope you've loved this chapter.

(Also, I have an idea for the future of this ship and I will need your opinion on it. I will tell you what it is in a future chapter, but if you wanna know soon DM me and I'll let you know. ^^)

*waves*