*I don't own Transformers or anything affiliated with Transformers. I only own my original characters and plots. All rights go to Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.*

It was noon and I've been up since five o'clock this morning. To say I was bored would be understating it only slightly. My dad took off to the base a few hours ago, my mom was at work and Annabelle was at daycare so, I was stuck home alone with basically nothing to do and I really despised it.

I was sitting in bed on my laptop while Pirates of the Caribbean played in the background. Scrolling through Facebook wasn't fun at all, but there was nothing else for me to do. After rolling my eyes at all the ignorant posts from my fellow peers, I stopped scrolling.

A picture of Johnny Depp and my best friend Braelynn caught my eye. Like I told my dad last night, she was in Los Angeles for spring break and I was insanely jealous of her and even more envious as I looked at the picture. Her long black hair cascaded to her waist. She was dressed in a white top, a green cardigan and shorts. Her smile was massive as she stood beside him. I smiled and commented on the picture.

'I AM SO JEALOUS! Next time you have got to take me with you! I love you!' I posted.

I shut my computer and got up to lay it on my desk.

I walked over to my dresser drawers and got out my running clothes. I threw on a pair of spandex, a compression shirt and then went to my closet to grab my running shoes. After I finished getting dressed, I grabbed my iPod, headphones, and my iPod sleeve before heading downstairs.

The house felt so empty with just me inside it. It was so quiet and I hated being here when no one else was which is exactly why I decided to go for a run. I went into the kitchen to grab a chocolate chip granola bar and I quickly scarfed it down and headed out the door.

The air outside was considerably warm, and I absolutely loved it. In a way, I wish I lived near in the west part of Tacoma. If I lived on the coast, I could go to the beach whenever I wanted, but I know that the water is way too cold, even though it's spring time.

I plugged in my headphones and slid my iPod into its sleeve. 'Before It's Too Late' by The Goo Goo Dolls began to play, so I took that as my cue to begin my run. I ran out of my driveway and took off down the street. Cars were moving along down the street and army jets were flying overhead, one of which was oddly flying incredibly too close to the ground, barely twenty feet over my head. I jumped to the side of the road as a blue semi with red flame decals sped by, along with a green and yellow hummer.

What the hell is wrong with people these days? I thought.

I sighed and hopped back onto my path. This was going to be a nice run. . .

____________________

My run was substantially long, and not to mention very tiring. I took my regular trail and even ran another six mile trail to pass the time. When I got back into town I ended up buying two water bottles because I was so parched. It didn't take me but seventeen seconds to down one of them.

The slight chaos from the beginning of my run had died down about twenty minutes after I began and I was thankful for it. Even through my music, I could hear the loud sounds of the jets and I hated them. The sound was deafening, and if I would've had to listen to it then I would not be a happy girl.

I practically walked the last half a mile back to my house just so I wouldn't have to be home alone when I got back. As I walked into the driveway, my dad's truck was nowhere to be seen, but my mom's white Chevrolet Tahoe was sitting outside. I took out my headphones and grabbed my iPod. The time on it read two forty six. I had been gone for almost three hours and I really don't understand how.

I trotted up the driveway and walked through the front door. My mom was sitting on the couch watching television and Annabelle was asleep in her playpen. The sound of the front door closing caught my mom's attention and she turned to look at me, a look of disgust crossing over her features. I walked over to the recliner and sat down.

I heard my mom laugh before she spoke. "Gosh. You look horrible. Did you run through a car wash or something?"

"Something like that. I most definitely feel like I did," I chuckled.

It was the longest run I had ever taken in my life, and my body was obviously not used to it. I still had cramps in my side, I was drenched in sweat, my hair was down and very knotted up, my legs felt like jello or even pudding, and I could feel the bags starting to form under my eyes from the exhaustion.

"You need to take a shower," she exclaimed.

"I'm going to in like five minutes. Is dad still at the base?"

"Yes. I don't know when he'll be home either. It's been a busy day for them down there," she explained.

"I bet. There were so many dang jets flying around today and one barely missed the top of my head. I thought army jets weren't supposed to fly below buildings in a residential area?"

She shrugged. "I don't know what to say. Things have been a bit crazy for them lately."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," she responded snidely.

I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to take a shower," I told her and got up.

She snickered. "Good. You're starting to smell."

"Shut up, Sarah," I called as I trudged up the stairs. She just laughed in response.

I walked into my bedroom and over to my dressers. Since I was most likely going to go to sleep after my shower, I just picked out a pair of black and white aztec leggings and a black t-shirt. I grabbed a bra and a pair of underwear before heading off to the bathroom.

I grabbed two towels from the cupboard in the bathroom and placed them on the counter. I turned the shower on before stripping off my nasty and sweaty clothes. I tossed my shoes to the side and threw my clothes in the washing basket and then finally stepped into the warm stream of water.

The temperature of the water only made me even more tired. I quickly washed my hair and scrubbed myself clean before getting out. I wrapped my hair in one of the towels and dried myself off with the other. I put on my clothes and strode out of the bathroom.

The cool air inside the house hit me right in the face, sending a shiver down my spine. I tip toed to my room and closed the door. My TV was still on, but I paid no attention to what was playing as I brushed out my blonde hair. After getting all of the knots out, I left it down to dry.

That run had exhausted me and right now, all I wanted to do is go to sleep. I climbed into bed and turned off my bedside table lamp. The TV was starting to bother me so I grabbed the remote and switched it off before snuggling into the covers. Not long after I was comfortable, I drifted off into a deep sleep.

____________________

I blinked and tried to focus my eyes. The smell of french fries was filling the atmosphere around me. I looked out the window to see that it was nearing dusk. The clock on my bedside table read 7:08. I sighed and threw the covers off of me. I rubbed my eyes and headed for my bedroom door. Very groggily, I walked down the stairs, the feeling of exhaustion still strong in my system. My legs burned with each step I took but I shook off the pain and headed to the living room.

My dad was sitting on the couch watching TV and I could only guess that my mom was in the kitchen cooking dinner. It looked to me as if though he was talking to himself but I didn't bother paying attention. I walked over to him and plopped down onto his lap. He groaned at the sudden weight but I just cuddled myself into him.

"You're pretty heavy, Azalea."

"But you're so comfy, William," I told him and yawned. I accidentally dozed off and fell back onto the couch. My dad chuckled and I sat back up.

"You look exhausted. What the hell did you do today?"

"I ran like fifteen miles today. .or at least I think so. I have no clue. I'm too tired to even process at the moment. "

My dad gave me a look. "Fifteen miles? You only ever run about five or six."

"I know but I was so lonely today. It was my only other option. And you should probably tell your damn jet pilots to stop flying so low. I almost died today," I remarked.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, a freaking airplane pilot decided he needed a better view of the many beautiful civilians down below and almost killed me. He almost took out a house too. And then you've got weird flaming trucks and oddly colored hummers speeding down the road knocking me into the side bank. I don't know. It's just too much chaos for my brain to handle at the moment," I explained.

I heard a grunt and shot my head to the opposite side of the room.

In the recliner sat a man that I had never noticed when I came down here. He was just staring at me. I studied his features. He was wearing a black v-neck shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. His skin was of a light olive tone and his dark brown hair was tousled on top of his head. He had a stocky build, which I thought was very attractive. The last thing about him that I noticed were his eyes. They were the brightest and the bluest eyes I had ever seen. They were absolutely beautiful.

He was still staring at me so I quickly looked away from him and turned back to my dad.

"Who's that, dad?" I tried to whisper.

The man just grunted. "My name is Ron Edih. I don't see why it was so hard to ask me yourself," he scoffed.

My dad snickered and I blinked. His voice was so deep and aside from the roughness of it, it was actually really hot. A hint of British was also present in his accent. I scratched the back of my head and tried to think of a response but I could only come up with one word.

"Oh." A small smirked played on the corner of his mouth. "Well, my name is Azalea."

"I've been well informed," he responded dryly.

Wow, he was a hard ass.

"Okay then. Why are you here?" I asked.

My dad spoke for him this time.

"He's going to be staying with us for a while, Lea."

"Why?" I asked rather rudely.

Ron grunted and my dad sighed. "You don't need to worry about that right now and I know how you are so behave," he demanded.

I scoffed. "Whatever."

I laid back on the couch and turned my attention to the TV. I just loved how my dad dropped this new information on me.

'Oh, this is Ron Edih. He's going to be staying here for a while but you don't need to know why.' Wow, how lovely.

I propped my sore legs up onto my dad's lap and he gave me a look. I stuck my tongue out at him and then he started to tickle my feet. I squealed and started thrashing around, trying to get away from him. He laughed at me as I painfully laughed and fell into the floor. He still had a hold of my right ankle, and with my left foot free, I jerked upwards and kicked him in the chest. He instantly let go of my foot and I laughed as he leaned over. I could even hear Ron's laugh as my dad coughed. He glared at me and if looks could kill I would most definitely be dead. I may have kicked him too hard but he knew I did not like to be tickled.

"That hurt," he exclaimed while rubbing his torso.

"Then don't tickle me. You should know better," I chided and sat back down on the couch.

"Dinner's ready!" my mom called from the kitchen. My dad stood up and started towards the kitchen but I stopped him.

"Bring me something, would you?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes before heading off through the kitchen doors. I looked over to Ron. He had his attention focused on the television but caught my gaze. I quickly looked away. A silence filled the air and after a few moments, I decided to break it. Guess I'll be nice. . .

"So, you work with my dad?" I asked Ron.

He looked at me again. "Mostly," he responded.

I nodded. "How come I haven't seen you before though?" I asked.

I had met basically all of my dad's soldiers and I'm almost positive that he would've stood out to me.

"You could say that I'm relatively new to the team."

"Ah. Well what do you do?"

"I'm a weapon's specialist," he told me. I perked up at his words.

"A very trigger-happy weapon's specialist, might I add. Much like you are, Lea. .aside from the weapon's specialist part of course," my dad said as he came in through the kitchen doors, my mom with Annabelle following behind him.

He had two plates in his hands and he came around and sat one on my lap before claiming his previous spot on the couch.

"I don't find it to be that big of a deal," I told him as I bit into my hamburger. Ron chuckled.

"It is if someone gets hurt," my mom said.

I took another bite. "Then maybe said someone shouldn't have been in my way."

"Could you not talk with your mouth full please?" my dad scolded.

I snickered and swallowed the last bit of my burger. "Could you not tell me what to do?"

"Maybe when you're eighteen," he said.

"How about now?"

"Not a chance," he responded and ate his hamburger.

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Ron. He was watching us all with an amused expression. I saw that he didn't have a plate.

"Are you not eating? I can get you a plate," I told him.

He just shook his head. "I'm not hungry. Thank you though," he told me with a small smile.

"You're welcome," I responded nicely and started eating my fries.

My dad nudged me on shoulder and I looked at him. "Look at you actually being nice for once. I'm proud of you."

I blinked at him before picking up a french fry off of my plate and throwing it at him. It hit him square in the nose which caused me, my mom, and Ron to laugh.

"Not so nice anymore, am I?" I teased.

He wiped the little bit of salt off of his face and shook his head at me. I laughed and finished my fries. My mom grabbed Annabelle and her plate before standing up.

"I'm off to do the dishes and try to get this little one into bed," she sighed.

She picked all of our dishes up off the table and headed towards the kitchen. My dad got up and walked around to her.

"You put her to bed and I'll do the dishes. Okay?" he smiled at her and gently took the plates from her hands.

She returned his smile. "Thank you," she said and kissed his cheek.

I scrunched my face up. I was not and never would be a fan of their PDA. It disgusted me.

She hurried up the stairs with Annabelle, my dad still watching after her. I gave him a weird look and he caught it.

"What?"

I shook my head and turned around. "You're losing it, I swear."

"Come on. She's my wife," he chuckled.

"I'm just saying. It's gross watching you two be mushy together, like ew. I don't need another sister or a brother for that matter."

"Just wait until you find a boy you like. Hopefully that one doesn't turn on you," he said and busted out laughing.

I growled and turned back around. "You know what, William? I'm tired of your shit. Just go do the dishes and get out of my face," I exclaimed.

He laughed and headed through the kitchen doors. I groaned and turned back around.

"What did he mean by 'turn on you'?" I heard Ron ask.

I looked at him and sunk down into the couch cushion. "Let's just say that my ex-boyfriend is now on a completely different team," I explained.

A look of confusion crossed his face but then a smile crossed his face. He laughed and I glared at him.

"Were you really that repulsive?"

"No. He just had other plans I guess," I giggled. Ron just chuckled. "So, how long have you been working with my dad or whatever?"

"I'd say approximately a week at most," he explained.

"Do you like it?"

"It has its pros and cons," he said.

I sighed and laid down on the couch. "Don't you ever just wish the fighting would stop? It must be scary out there for you guys. I know it is here for me. Not knowing if my dad is ever going to come home or not really stresses me out."

"Yes, all the time. And I understand, but we all have sacrifices we have to make."

"I guess you're right."

"Do you wish to follow in Will's footsteps?" he asked.

I smiled. "Someday, hopefully. I've been saying it since I was eleven. I find the whole concept of saving people, fighting and shooting guns to be pretty cool. Although, losing friends and family from war isn't something I really want to have to deal with," I explained to him.

"It's just something that you have to get used to. You'd be surprised at how many friends and allies I've lost during battle. It isn't a very fun experience but you have to learn to cope with it."

"Well, thank you for those very inspirational words," I said.

He chuckled. "You're welcome."

*Please vote and comment. It'd mean so much to me. I wanna know what you guys think.*