IMPORTANT MATTER AT THE VERY END OF THE CHAPTER. PLEASE READ. (IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY ITSELF SO IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED, I'M NOT FORCING YOU TO READ IT)

Thank you

- CMO

"Jackie, I – " Sideswipe reached out to her before she put a hand out in front of her to stop him. He looked at her sadly before bringing his hand back towards his own larger body.

"It's…okay…" She brought a single hand to her upper arm and began to rub it nervously. "I…I…" She paused before sighing. "I understand…maybe…I overreacted…" Sunstreaker wanted to smile to himself in satisfaction, knowing that she did listen in to their conversation, but he decided against it.

"I'm…sorry." She said as she looked at the two metal beings in front of her.

"No Jackie, I'm sorry! I should've told you, permission or no permission! You shouldn't have found out like that! I'm so sorry Jackie! Would you – " Jackie let a small smile escape her lips as she held out her hand again to silence the frantic red twin.

"Sideswipe, I said I understand." She chuckled lightly. "I should've understood your situation from the moment Sunstreaker explained things to me. But…I didn't know what to do…or think…I was hurt that you two lied to me in the first place. It took me a while to realize that you had reasons to keep such a secret from me. It's not your fault."

"Jackie-" Sideswipe opened his mouth once more before Jackie silenced him again.

"Sideswipe, I'm not finished yet." She sighed softly. "I honestly wasn't expecting for you two, or everyone else here to be…well…giant alien robots. That was another shocker for me and I think I reacted within reasonable means…" She avoided looking at the twins as she fiddled with her thumbs.

"Running is understandable." Sunstreaker had nodded, agreeing with her previous statement. "At least you didn't try to kill us. Or shoot at us. I'm actually surprised I didn't hear screaming." The yellow 'bot chuckled.

"My brain couldn't function properly at that point…" The human girl muttered quietly, but it was loud enough for the twins. "More like my body, actually…" She recalled the moment where her body froze and she couldn't get herself to run. When she recalled that incident, she instantly frowned and pointed an angry finger at Sideswipe, who was taken back but this sudden action. "And you! Did you have to run at me like that?" She asked with a large scowl on her face. "You gave me a damn heart attack, Sideswipe."

"A-Ah, I'm really sorry about that Jackie!" Sideswipe brought his hands out in front of him in a defensive manner. "I forgot what form I was in and well…" He trailed off for a split second. "And well I was kind of acting on impulse." A sheepish grin crept on to his metallic lips as he placed a giant hand behind his neck. "I am sorry though. Scaring you was the last thing on my processor. Promise."

"Mmm…" Her accusing finger retreated before her arms folded themselves over her chest. "I believe you." She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she sighed loudly through her mouth. "Just no more secrets…okay?" Once she opened her eyes, he looked at the twins in a very sad, yet sincere manner.

"I promise Jackie. No more secrets." Sideswipe's facial features softened upon looking at the human girl. He glanced over at his brother with a smile. "Right, Sunny?"

"Mmm…" Sunstreaker had to think about this. No secrets, huh? This was definitely one of those "easier said than done" sort of situations. Did he really wish to tell this human girl any of his secrets? Well…she probably wasn't going to ask about his life story or anything like that. Other than the fact that he's not the same species as her, let alone from the same planet…what other secrets could he possibly hide from her? Maybe it wasn't anything to worry about…for now. "No secrets? Well, then I'd have to let you in on one more thing." The yellow twin sighed and made his way over to the smaller life form. He kneeled down and motioned for her to get on his hand.

She gave him a small questionable look before actually getting on. His twin was also giving him a strange look. What secret could his twin possibly have that he didn't know about?

"Well?" The brunette continued looking at Sunstreaker, who was looking around the halls suspiciously. Almost as if he was making sure that no one would hear him. He proceeded with cupping his larger hand near the young woman's head and bringing his face closer.

"…Sideswipe is secretly an idiot." He whispered to the human girl. She made a small choking sound before bursting out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"Hey!" Sideswipe roared. "I heard that Sunny!"

"Whoops." Sunstreaker chuckled and shrugged his large metal shoulders. He couldn't help but continue to smile at the girl who continued to laugh in the palm of his large servo.

"I-I thought it w-was s-something…serious!" The woman managed to say between laughter. "I'm dying…!" Her laughing only got worse once she looked at the furious red twin who was clearly not pleased with his brother's joke. Upon realizing that his brother usually calls him names, Sideswipe couldn't help but let out a small chuckle himself. Something about this human's laughter was…soothing. It was over as quickly as it started once she began coughing and groaned loudly. "Oh god…I think I'm really dying…" She groaned again as she clenched one of her sides in pain.

"What? Are you sure? We have to find Ratch –" Both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe became frantic after hearing her words of pain and discomfort.

"Relax…you two." She let out a painful chuckle. "It's was just a joke…I think I just over did it with the laughing. My body just hurts…"

"Jackie!" Sideswipe whined. "Don't say things like that! My spark nearly stopped once you said that!" He gave her a serious look but his optics held a bit of sadness in them. "We almost lost you once, you know. I don't want to experience that again."

"Sideswipe…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry." Jackie had returned the sad look. She had nearly forgotten that she was barely knocking on death's door not too long ago. It was something that she didn't want to think about often.

"Don't mind me. I wasn't the least bit worried or anything." Sunstreaker, who was still holding the girl in his open servo, looked off to the side.

"That wouldn't surprise me." Jackie said flatly and made the yellow twin look at her in complete shock. Did she really think his personality was that cold? His previous statement wasn't supposed to be taken literally. Just acknowledging the fact that she thought of him in that light made his spark break ever so slightly. "Just kidding." Her voice reached his audio receptors once more and he was taken back, yet again, by her answer. "I know you care too, Sunstreaker." She chuckled with a small smile. Just by the look on his face, the young woman could sense that her words managed to reach a soft spot in the big, metal giant.

"I hope you're aware of the fact that I can drop you at any given moment." Sunstreaker frowned, obviously not pleased with the little human girl's sarcasm. He was relieved to hear that she was only joking around with him, but he wasn't going to let her, or Sideswipe, know that. "I may be kneeling, but I'm not exactly sure if falling from 2.1 meters up in the air is necessarily safe for humans." The yellow bot narrowed his glowing blue optics at the young woman, who was now frowning back at him.

"You wouldn't." She called him out on his bluff.

"Would I?" He smirked before tilting his servo slightly. It wasn't enough to completely dump the human onto the floor, but just enough to make a point. With a small frantic squeak, she desperately grabbed on to his thumb. Sideswipe, a witness to what was going on, also let out a choking sound in surprise.

"Sunstreaker!" Sideswipe yelled at his twin before quickly moving closer to his brother's hand. Unaware of his brother's bluff, Sideswipe stood on standby, just in case he was serious about dropping their already injured human friend. "You want her legs broken too?"

"Just kidding." He snickered and immediately rotated his servo back into its original position. "I can't believe you two freaked out. I wouldn't dare hurt a human, it's against Optimus' beliefs." What the yellow twin really wanted to say was that he would dare hurt her.

Sorry about the somewhat long wait everyone. College sure is kicking me in the rear, I'll say. Mentally and financially. Which is why I have a very important question for you readers.

Currently, I'm trying to find a way to pay off some of my college textbooks (aren't we all?). Unfortunately, I'm finding it quite difficult to do so. At the moment, I'm only renting my textbooks, because that's the only thing I can afford at the moment. I would like to purchase them in full by the end of the semester because I will need them for the next few semesters.

I've been desperately trying to find a job on-campus but no one is hiring or there is always someone better suited for the job than I. I've applied to a few places off campus too. I was willing to ride the public bus for an hour if I managed to get hired off-campus. However, no one was willing to work with my class schedule. Sigh.

I mean, I've gotten a decent amount of money back from scholarships and I saved up a bunch from my summer retail job but all that is going towards rent for my apartment and bills. I'm running out of options.

So, my question is: If I were to start taking commissions, for one-shots or drawings, would any of you be interested?

My writing talent isn't great...but perhaps there are ideas that you, the readers, want to see me publish? Side chapters to this story maybe?

My drawing skills aren't anything to brag about either. But maybe you guys want a drawing for your own story? Or maybe you just want to see your OCs become more than just a mental image stuck in your head?

I'm sure your decisions will most likely depend on prices. I'm willing to make the prices at a reasonable price. Times are hard for everyone, not just me. But I'm willing to go out on a limb and put out some of my skills for sale.

I'm still on a job hunt though but until then, I would like to spend my free time trying to make some sort of money. I definitely wouldn't mind spending that free time making money by drawing or writing.

I'll be making a poll on my profile so let me know what you guys think. Feel free to PM me with any thoughts or perhaps suggestions on the matter. I don't mind any thoughts about this subject being in a review but I rather know everyone's opinion of the story thus far in the reviews. Also, if I follow through with this, I have a separate tumblr account that will hold price information.

Thank you so much for your time. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It's good to see Jackie and the twins back to enjoying each others company again, huh?