As Will sat on his bed, he pulled out his phone, and turned his TV on. As he watched Netflix while doing nothing, he scrolled through his social media. He got a text from Epps not long after.

'How was the ride home with Ironhide?'

Will shook his head, smiling. He had to admit, Ironhide didn't seem as bad as he had originally thought. As Will watched his movie, he eventually fell asleep at some point. With Ironhide, he soon pulled into his father's house. It wasn't anything special, just a normal two-story house, two bathrooms, six bedrooms, an attic, basement, and garage. He mentally groaned seeing his father's truck in the driveway.

Ironhide despised his father, just downright hated him. He entered the house, and saw his father, Justin,  sound asleep on the couch, beer bottles all over the floor and table, some broken. He got into the fridge, grabbed a soda, made a sandwich, and just went upstairs to his room. His room was tiny, but it had a dresser, a closet, and a TV. He just slept on two blankets and a pillow, he didn't care. He knew his dad spent all his paychecks on drugs and alcohol. Oh how he wished he was eighteen already.

Ironhide just watched TV while eating, at least until he heard his father scream for him.

"RYAN MICHAEL HERNANDEZ! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS DOWN HERE!" Justin screamed. Ironhide groaned in annoyance, but he went downstairs.

"What do you want?" Ironhide asked.

"Did you drink my last soda?!" Justin demanded.

"I didn't even open it yet, and not every soda in this house is yours!" Ironhide snapped. Next thing he knew, he landed on the floor, his nose bleeding. It wasn't an uncommon thing for his father to hit him, he'd done it his entire life. As Ironhide snuck back upstairs, he went into his own bathroom. He took a damn rag and cleaned his face.

As he laid back down on his blankets, he started reading messages his friends sent him, but he didn't answer any of them. He put his phone one the charger, and just continued to watch TV. He eventually went downstairs and saw that his father had left at some point. He shrugged, not really caring, and got a cup of tea. Around two thirty, Ironhide finally fell into an uncomfortable sleep.

The next morning, Ironhide and Will met their friends at a park for a picnic. Ironhide was bringing the drinks in a few coolers he borrowed from his grandparents.

"Ironhide's here." Ratchet stated, watching Ironhide pull up.

"Will's with him again." Jazz sniggered. Once Ironhide stopped his truck, he and Will got out, and each had a cooler, carrying it over.

"Damn, 'Hide. What happened to your nose? It's bruised." Cade frowned.

"Nothing. Got into a fight, that's all." Ironhide replied. He set the cooler down and hopped into the bed of his truck, laying on his back. 

"He was like that when he came to get me. We stopped at his grandparents house to get the coolers. They seem like really sweet people." Will stated.

"They are. We've met the quite a few times." Sam replied. Will noticed that Ironhide hadn't come back over again, so he walked over.

"You coming over to eat, 'Hide?" Will asked, surprising everyone.

"Ironhide's gonna whoop his ass for the nickname, and touching the truck." Wheeljack stated.

"No, I'm not goin' back over. I'll wait for everyone to leave, then load the coolers back up, then drop you off." Ironhide replied. Will climbed up into the bed of the truck.

"Come on. I just met you, and I would like to get to know everyone better in a group." Will smiled. Ironhide grumbled, but he knew Will had a point. 

"Fine. But I might come back over here." Ironhide warned.

"Fair enough." Will grinned, getting back onto the ground, Ironhide following him.

"Holy shit. He doesn't even listen to Optimus that much." Epps stated, bewildered.

"We're back!" Will smiled, sitting down. Ironhide stayed standing up, despite there being an extra chair for him. "Ironhide, sit." Will stated. Ironhide grumbled something, but did as Will told him to do. He looked like hell.

"Okay, so who wants to go first?" Ratchet asked.

"Let's let Ironhide go first." Sam suggested.

"First for what?" Ironhide asked.

"Talking about our pasts, childhoods, that shit." Epps replied. Ironhide hesitated.

"No. Absolutely not." Ironhide replied.

"Why not?" Wheeljack asked.

"I don't wanna do that shit. What if I don't wanna talk about it?" Ironhide replied, walking back to his truck. Will watched after him, a fluttering feeling in his chest.

After a few hours, it was time to pack up and leave. Ironhide had taken a nap in the bed of his truck, so he and Will had to be careful so Ironhide didn't fall asleep while driving home. When Ironhide went back home, after dropping Will off again, Ironhide noticed his father wasn't back yet, so he went inside, got a beer, and went upstairs to his room for the night.