Thank you for the reviews everybody! Some responses... Chloe: Yes! They so need to make that button! crashthecat: Aw, thanks! You're so nice :) I'm really happy that people liked the opening line too, thanks for pointing that out. The next chapter is here! Please enjoy!


Chapter Nine – "Andato" (Gone)

What a fool she had been, wanting unimportant things like marriage. She'd let it cloud her vision until she'd come to believe it was the only thing that could make her happy, as if she needed it. It had taken her a trip all the way to Italy to make this conclusion. How humiliating it would be to tell McQueen what a mistake she'd made. And if he couldn't find room in his heart to take her back with a kiss then she'd lower herself to begging his forgiveness. And Sally Carrera never begged.

She did everything with independence, she didn't rely on anyone. She had even convinced herself that she had made the conscious decision to fall in love with Lightning. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was getting old enough to want someone to always be there with her, maybe she'd never had control over her feelings to begin with.

She'd screwed all that up though. She'd tried to force them onto a new track, when she should have let their relationship be free. She didn't need a title; she just needed to know she could have him forever. That was all she had to tell him, and she'd get that chance as soon as her flight came down.

Sally had given in after only two and a half days. She didn't give Francesco reasoning, merely told him that she had to go home immediately and nothing would stop her. He had offered to escort her to the airport, but she turned it down. She didn't care about spending even another second with him. There was only one place she wanted to be, a place where she belonged. She wouldn't waste time on anything that didn't involve getting her back there in the fastest way possible.

So, she dropped everything and found the airport. She went without breakfast to make the earliest outgoing flight. Then she found her seat and closed her tired eyes, but not before bombarding her mind with thoughts of McQueen. If she daydreamed about him enough then hopefully it would transfer into her real dreams. Anything to bring them closer.


It was mid-evening when she arrived back in Radiator Springs. She'd lost track of the date and the jet lag was really beginning to play on her body. However, she pressed onwards, the idea of resting now was utterly inconceivable.

She took a detour route from the town, one that led her more discreetly to their home on the fringe of the main street. The house was strangely dark and muffled noise came from the interior. She couldn't quite make out the steady sound until she entered the home.

Almost instantly, she was met with hammering music from the stereo system. It wasn't until she heard the CD scream out "Fever! Fever!" that she recognized the song. Not exactly the tune she had expected to hear upon her return.

Her body suddenly tensed as she picked up movement in the next room.

A shrill voice giggled, "Are you always this good after a race?"

Sally's heart stopped at the question. It was obvious what was going on inside that shady room.

As a matter of fact, yes, Lightning was that good. Her mind spun with lust as she remembered how he had her all figured out, how he would drive her insane with temptation to lure him into the bedroom. He'd run her engine hot until she couldn't breathe without saying his name.

The memory melted from her brain as she realized what was going on. He was giving all that passion to another girl. And by the unmistakable, flirtatious laugh, that 'girl' was a tiny Miata about five years younger than him.

Her tires turned weak as the giggle resounded again in a giddy tone. She felt like she had a fever, but not one from rampant sexual hormones. She felt like losing the very little fuel she had in her tank.

Sally slowly back out of the house and gasped for air. Her eyes looked around dizzily as she willed herself to think that this wasn't happening. Lightning couldn't have moved on so swiftly, he couldn't just throw her away like that.

I never said it was over! We're still dating, he still loves me… her heart wailed inside. Then why is he fooling around with Mia? He played you like a card! Her mind fought back stronger.

She moved to go inside again, but paused shortly. He didn't want her anymore. He had cheated on her. He'd let another female into their home.

She blocked anymore images of him touching Mia and pivoted away from the house. All she could do was flee to the Cozy Cone where she could crash for the night. She numbed herself, pretended that what she had flown halfway across the Earth looking for wasn't really gone.


Grammar mistakes are mine if present but I blame FFN for any spelling ones this chapter, it was totally spell-checked before I uploaded! Oh, and the song mentioned was "Fever" by Adam Lambert. Awesome song if you want to look it up ;) Credit to him for that! Anyways, hopefully all this wonderful drama will make you want to click that review button, it would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!