Part 10: The Plan

"How did the twins find out where Drift lives without asking him?" Prowl lifted an optic ridge in irritation. He did not like this idea one bit; he felt like he was betraying Drift's trust, and that meant risking his relationship with him. He really didn't want to ruin what he had with Drift.

Jazz patted him on the shoulder. "They have their ways. Over the years I've learned the less ya ask them about their sources, the better."

It was two days after Drift had asked Prowl to be his date for the dance, and he and Jazz were walking back to their dorm after a long day of classes. The sun was shining brightly in the early evening sky, pleasantly warming the bots' armor as they strolled. With the cool breeze that wafted every now and again, it was the perfect day – aside from a nagging feeling in Prowl's processor that the twin's plan might not be such a good one.

"Isn't visiting someone uninvited considered rude?"

"Well, it might be under normal circumstances, but you an' Drift are together now, right?"

Prowl nodded.

"So ya should be able to drop by without 'em getting' angry at 'cha. And if he does get angry, you'll know something is up. If he doesn't want ya there, he's probably got something tah hide."

Prowl didn't reply, but he couldn't deny the logic in Jazz's statement either.

"Trust me Prowler, if you're gonna be dating him, you want to know sooner rather than later if he's trustworthy. You're in good hands with me and the twins, we'll make sure this plan works out."

Prowl hoped trusting Jazz and the twins wouldn't cost him the relationship with the bot that he cared about the most.

"He lives in a frat house, one of the smaller ones on the western border of the campus." Sideswipe pointed to the location on the screen of his datapad. "It's one of the lesser known frats, but they recently made a comeback and are on the rise to popularity again. They house mostly racing type bots. That fast blue racer that beat us in the races a while back-"

"Blurr," Sunstreaker interjected.

"Yeah, Blurr, he lives there too. Word is that Blurr might even be in line to become their next leader, since it's his racing skills that have brought the frat into the light again."

"Hmm, how many bots live there?" Jazz asked.

"Probably around ten, maybe a few more," Sunstreaker answered. " That's good too, because they should all know each other. When we ask for Drift they'll definitely know who we're talking about."

Prowl sat on his bunk. "Do you have the frat's contact information? It couldn't hurt to try calling Drift first-"

"That would ruin the entire plan!" Sideswipe wailed. "Seriously Prowl, you need to catch Drift by surprise to know if he's really trustworthy or not. If he knows you're coming, he'll hide anything that's worth hiding, if he has anything to hide."

Prowl frowned. He really didn't like this idea, but he knew his friends had a point.

"Look, it'll be simple Prowler," Jazz sat down next to his friend. "Ya just show up and ask for Drift. Ya don't need to lie or anything, just tell them you're his mech-friend. And see how things go from there." When Prowl still didn't look convinced, he added, "Hey, hopefully it will be just fine an' nothin' unusual will happen. Odds are nothin' will. But this is to find out for sure that Drift isn't just playin' ya."

"Okay, I'll do it," Prowl sighed. He was already sure Drift wasn't "playin'" him, though he did have to admit, he was curious about where Drift lived.

"It's not like you'll be alone either," Sideswipe said. "We'll be your backup in case things do go south."

"Ya ready Prowler?" Jazz grinned wide and jumped up.

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess." Prowl stood as well, and the four bots left the room, locking the door behind them.

Sideswipe grinned and almost skipped down the hallway. "Mission 'Drifting in on Drift' is underway!"

Sunstreaker gave him a punch in the arm for the horrible pun, to which Sideswipe only grinned defiantly.

They walked to one of the highway entrance ramps, transformed and got on the highway. Sunstreaker took the lead as usual, followed by his red twin, Jazz, and Prowl. It didn't take them very long to reach the western edge of campus, where the yellow twin took them onto a smaller road that led to the housing units. As they continued down the road, the loud thumping of bass-heavy music could be heard from one of the houses. There were quite a few other bots on the road, most of which stopped in front of the house with blaring music, transformed and headed inside.

Prowl got a little irritated when Sunstreaker stopped in front of the house as well. "You can stop by and party later if you want, but we're supposed to be finding Drift's frat house."

"This is Drift's frat house," he replied pointedly.

"Well, I'll be scrapped!" Jazz exclaimed. "This'll be easier than we thought. We can all go in if it's a party! Be easier to find Drift that way too."

From inside the house, somebot whooped loudly, followed by the sound of an energon cube smashing to bits. The music continued blaring and the tempo picked up as a new song came on.

"Maybe we should come back some other time?" Prowl hopelessly suggested, but the twins and Jazz were already transforming, so he did too.

"And miss out on all the fun?" Jazz said, coming up beside Prowl. "Don't worry, I'll stick with ya Prowler."

At least he wouldn't have to navigate though the crowd alone, but Prowl had a bad feeling about the entire situation.

Mechs and femmes were everywhere, most of them holding cubes of high grade. It was nearly impossible to hear his own thoughts over the music and the voices of the crowd trying to talk over it. Prowl wasn't sure exactly how they could find Drift, even if he was here.

Jazz gently took his hand and helped guide him through the crowd. "Hey, have ya seen a white bot with red accents?" He would ask a random bot every few paces. Most bots shook their helms, others had to ask Jazz to repeat what he said, then answered no as well. After a few minutes Prowl caught a glimpse of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in the area where bots were dancing, enjoying the obnoxiously loud music and being their usual outgoing selves. They were dancing rather suggestively with a third mech inbetween them, who seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as the twins were.

Jazz continued guiding him through the crowd, and then Prowl saw a bright blue paint job he vaguely recognized out of the corner of his optic. Prowl looked and saw Blurr himself, and he tapped on Jazz's shoulder to get his attention. "Maybe we should ask him," he shouted over the noise.

"Good thinkin' buddy!" The two headed over to where Blurr was sitting on a countertop, sipping on his cube of high grade with a pink femme sitting so close to him she was almost on his lap. She stroked his arm idly, and he put it around her and pulled her even closer, making her giggle. The couple was part of a larger circle of bots who were trying to talk above the music.

"Hi, you're Blurr aren't ya?" Jazz asked as he approached the group.

Blurr rolled his optics. "Yes I am, and no I won't sign anything for you!"

Jazz put on his most charming smile. "Oh, I wasn't here to get your autograph, I just wanted to ask ya a question. Is Drift here? White bot with red accents, about as tall as you are?"

Blurr rolled his optics and leaned over to say something into the femme's audio receptor, and she laughed. Then he turned back to them and said, "Why do you want to know?"

Prowl was anxious to get this over with as soon as possible, so he shouted over the music, "Because we need to find him. Is he here or not?"

Blurr glared at Prowl as he took another slow sip of his high grade. The pink femme cupped her hand around Blurr's audio receptor and said something, and immediately his expression improved as he listened. He nodded to her with a sly grin.

Quickly turning to Jazz and Prowl again, he said, "Drift moved out a couple of weeks ago. Said he didn't like the parties." It was clear he was done talking with them when he swung the grinning femme up into his arms and proceeded carrying her away, making his way toward the stairwell to the upper levels.

Jazz turned to Prowl. "Did ya hear that?"

"Yeah." Since they no longer needed to be there, getting out was the first thing on Prowl's processor. "Can we leave now?"

Prowl saw, but couldn't hear Jazz chuckle. "Yeah Prowl, let's get you back home."

They made their way back through the crowd, wandering this way and that to get through the groups that blocked their path. Prowl caught sight of a pair of athletic mechs kissing rather heatedly and groping each other without restraint in a corner they passed, and his optics widened. He glanced around but no one else seemed to notice or care about the mechs. He was glad Drift didn't live in a place like this. Though, he couldn't yet say for certain that he didn't, but if he moved out because he didn't like the parties he most likely found a better place. Prowl hoped so anyway.

It was dark out when they arrived outside. Prowl took a deep intake of the fresh cool air that greeted them as they walked to the road. Then he asked Jazz, "What about Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?"

"Ah, they'll probably want to stay a while. Don't expect to see them during the day tomorrow either, they'll probably be sleeping off their hangovers."

They got to the road and transformed, Prowl taking the lead this time.

By the time they got back to the dorm room, Prowl was tired from the long day he'd had. Jazz, on the other hand, was just getting started. He always seemed to be more awake at night than he was during the day.

"So Prowler, wanna watch a movie with me?" He asked as he sat on Prowl's bunk and leaned back on the wall. Prowl used to dislike everyone always using his bunk as a couch when they watched movies, but over the weeks he accepted that it was something he'd just have to live with, though he did make a mental note to try getting the top bunk if he ever had the opportunity to switch with Jazz.

Jazz turned on his entertainment set and used the remote to shuffle through the different files saved on it. "Seems to me ya might like the mystery/drama genre. How about it?"

Prowl shrugged, too tired to find a reason not to agree. "Sure, sounds good. Want a cube?" He asked Jazz as he got himself one from the storage unit.

"Sure." Prowl grabbed another and went over to the bunk, handing Jazz his cube before sitting down.

Try as Prowl did to focus on the movie, all he really wanted to do was recharge. He leaned back on the wall and sighed through his vents.

"You feelin' okay?" Jazz looked at his friend, concern showing through his visor.

"Yes, just a little tired," Prowl said as nonchalantly as he could.

"You're a little disappointed we didn't find Drift tonight though, aren't ya?"

"Well, yes and no. I wanted to see him, but I didn't really want to see him there."

"I know what ya mean. Don' worry about it too much, I'm sure we can figure it out tomorrow."

Prowl started for a moment as he realized something. "Jazz, you could have stayed at the party longer if you wanted too. I know you like dancing and music…"

"Yeah, but there are always parties goin' on. I thought I could spend the rest of the evening with you, knowing the twins won't be barging in looking for a safe refuge, ha," Jazz grinned.

Prowl couldn't wrap his mind around this mech. Was Jazz into him, or was he really just this nice to his roommates? And what was that kiss back at the races about?

Prowl knew his judgement may not have been so great right now with how tired he was, but he couldn't help but ask Jazz, "Jazz, do you…do you like me?"

Jazz looked surprised by the question. "Of course I like you Prowler, we're roommates!" He said with a huge smile.

"No, I mean…back at the races, when you kissed me…what was that?"

A slightly pink sheen seemed to show on Jazz's faceplates now, though it might have just been a glare from the entertainment system monitor. "Oh, you mean, do I like you?"

Prowl nodded.

There was a hesitation as Jazz chose his words, but eventually he spoke, his voice sounding earnest. "I can't lie to ya Prowler. I…I am attracted to you. You're different from the kind of mechs I've known growing up. But, now you have Drift, and... I just want you to be happy Prowler. I'd be glad to be just your friend if that's all ya want," he hesitated again. "I really didn't expect anything to happen between you and Drift when I introduced you to him that day. It was just for fun. I could see he really was checkin' you out."

"…Do you regret it?"

Jazz looked away. "Hey, like I said Prowler, whatever makes ya happy, makes me happy. Besides, we're only first year students…who knows what might happen down the road."

Prowl nodded slowly. He didn't pursue Jazz for a more solid answer to the question; he guessed Jazz would be too polite to say yes anyway, even though Prowl was pretty sure he did regret it ever so slightly.

Jazz looked back at him, and suddenly smiled. He raised his cube and ceremonially stated, "To friendship! I'm glad to have you as my friend Prowl."

Prowl couldn't help but smile back. He raised his cube and gently tapped it against Jazz's. "To friendship, wherever it may lead."