Sally drove down to the Butte, driving as fast as she could. When she finally got there, she spotted him down on the track, tearing dangerously around the curves. He was going so fast, he didn't even notice Sally pulling up next to the track. He cut one curve too fast, causing him to spin out. He hit his brakes, stopping a ways away from Sally. She quickly drove over to him, a worried look on her face.

"Are you ok, Stickers?" She asked, stopping in front of him.

"I'm fine!" He snapped, panting slightly. He drove past her, up towards the road.

"Stickers, please… Don't act like this." Sally said, almost pleadingly.

"Don't act like what?" He asked, not facing her.

She drove up beside him, nuzzling his fender. "Mad. I don't like to see you get all angry."

"Well, I can't exactly help it right now." He replied, glaring at the ground.

Sally remained quiet for a moment, watching him as he sulked. "You have something on your tire." She said finally.

He looked down, seeing the baby picture still stuck to his wheel. "My stupid mother, and her stupid, childish baby pictures!" He yelled angrily, attempting to shake the photo off. He sighed in frustration, finally getting the picture off, and settled back to glaring at the ground.

Sally drove up next to him, nuzzling his fender. "I think you might feel better if you talked about it."

"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about." Lightning said, sighing.

Sally thought for a minute. "Well, you could talk about your feelings…"

"Sally, I'm a guy… We don't talk about what we're 'feeling'."

"Well, you could try… For me?" Sally asked, pouting.

He looked up at her, his face softening a little. "Please, don't give me that look……"

"Please, 'Lighty'?" She teased, pouting overdramatically.

"God, I hate that name!" He exclaimed, closing his eyes tightly.

Sally chuckled. "Why? I think it's cute…"

"It's so… babyish. I'm 22 years old, and my mother still wants to call me it."

Sally smiled, laughing a little. "She just loves you… If my parents loved me like that, I might have never left L.A."

Lightning looked up, giving her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

She sighed, looking down at the ground. "Well, my parents were always… overprotective. They loved me, I guess… But they always seemed to smother me, and tried too hard to give 'what's best' for me. I didn't want to be a lawyer, to tell you the truth…"

"But you're so good at it… I mean, you're the one that convinced Doc to make me fix the road. And getting Doc to do anything is pretty hard." Lightning said, chuckling.

Sally laughed, looking back up at him. "Yea, well… I'm not that proud of running away like I did, but I just couldn't stand them anymore…"

Lightning nodded, looking at the ground. An awkward silence followed, them just staring at the ground.

"Stickers… Why did you blow up at your parents?" Sally asked finally.

Lightning shrugged, still looking at the ground. "I don't know…"

"Yes you do… Come on, you can tell me."

Lightning sighed. "They were showing you my baby pictures!" He looked up at her, realizing what he had said. "And everyone else, too."

Sally chuckled lightly. "Oh, so they were embarrassing you…in front of me."

"And everyone else!" Lightning argued, blushing a bit.

Sally laughed. "Yea, ok…" She looked over at him, seeing how he was looking down at his tires.

"Hey, that's just how parents are," She said, nudging his tire. "And I thought your baby pictures were cute…"

He rolled his eyes, though a small smile creeping on his lips. Sally drove up a little, to where Lightning threw the torn-up photo, and picked it up. She drove back over to Lightning, giggling as she looked at the picture.

She looked back over at him, smiling. "You really were adorable."

He looked down bashfully, moving around the dirt with his tire. "Yea, well…… Wait a minute, what do you mean 'was'?"

She laughed, putting down the picture, and cuddling up to him. "Sorry, my bad. You are adorable."

"That's what I thought." He replied, returning her nuzzle.

They stayed snuggled up to one another for awhile, before Lightning broke the silence.

"So I guess I need to apologize to them, right?"

Sally nodded. "That'd be the right thing to do."

"Crap."

Sally pulled away, so she could look him in the face. "What? Why is that so bad?"

"Sally, do you realize how hard that's going to be for me?"

Sally thought for a moment, smiling when she realized what he was getting at. "Stickers, it's not going to be that hard… I'll go with you if you want."

He nodded, smiling gratefully. "Thanks… That might make it easier."

o-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------o

Lightning sighed as they pulled up in front of his parents' cone. He turned to Sally, nervously. "Sal, are you sure that I have to—?"

"Yes, Stickers… You have to apologize."

Lightning looked back up at the door, taking a deep breath. Sally smiled, going up and kissing him on the fender.

"What was that for?"

"Luck." She replied, smiling.

He smiled too, inching a little closer to her. "How 'bout a little more luck? I could use it."

She laughed, inching forward and closing the gap between their mouths. They pulled away after a few seconds, smiling.

"Wow… That's even better the second time." Lightning said, sighing.

"Stickers… Remember why we're here." Sally said, laughing a little.

Lightning looked back up at the door, frowning. "Oh, yeah… right. Sal, I don't know if I can do this…"

Sally nudged his fender, smiling reassuringly. "Yes, you can… And I'll be waiting for you outside."

She looked up at him, to see him staring doubtfully at the door. "Oh, come on Stickers… They're your parents. They'll forgive you, no matter what you do to them."

Lightning nodded. "You're right… I can do this……" He took a deep breath, heading up to the door and knocking. He looked back over at Sally, a nervous expression on his face. She smiled reassuringly, driving back behind the cone and out of sight.

After a few seconds, the garage door opened, revealing a very surprised red car. Mr. McQueen sighed when he saw who it was.

"Oh, hello Lightning… What brings you here?"

Lightning sighed, looking at the ground. "Look dad, can we talk?"

"Sure." He replied, driving out of the cone. He looked back into the cone, motioning for Mrs. McQueen to follow him.

Lightning offered them a smile, which they didn't return. He sighed again, looking back down. "Mom, dad, I just wanted to say… I'm sorry."

"You don't have to—" Mrs. McQueen started.

"No, mom, I have to say it. I'm sorry I blew up at you like that, I'm sorry I ran over your picture, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my girlfriend earlier, and I'm sorry I'm not the 'perfect son'." Lightning continued to look at his tires, not daring to look his parents in the face. He felt tears prickle at the corner of his eyes, and reversed, about to drive away from them.

"Wait, Lightning." He heard his father say.

"What?" He asked, sniffling a little.

Mr. McQueen drove up to one side of Lightning, nudging his fender with his own. "It's ok, son… Nobody's perfect. It's sort of our fault anyways… We shouldn't have embarrassed you like that."

Lightning sighed, blinking away his tears the best he could. "It was ok until you broke out the baby pictures."

His father laughed, as Mrs. McQueen drove up to the other side of Lightning. She nuzzled his fender, smiling apologetically. "We know that you're grown up now, but we miss our little boy…" She paused, smiling down at him.

"It's just… You grew up so fast. Just getting out of school, and you had already left us. And now you're thinking about settling down in a whole new town…" She continued, sighing.

"I'm sorry… I didn't think about it like that." Lightning said quietly, still staring at his tires.

"But we couldn't be any prouder of you." Mr. McQueen said, making Lightning look up for the first time. "I mean, you're already a great known racer… And what you did for The King was just… great. You're the best son a car could ask for."

Lightning smiled, pressing his frame against both of theirs in a "hug". They returned it, staying that way for a few minutes.

"Guys, I…can't…breathe…"

"Oh, sorry." His mother said, backing up and smiling at him. Lightning looked over to where Sally was hiding, smiling a little. She winked, driving over to the other side of the cone, and sneaking off to her office.

o--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------o

Ok, weird place to end a chapter, but I needed to post this before ya'll got too impatient. XD This was actually supposed to be longer, but I guess I'll just continue from here in the next chapter instead. ;)

Reviews?