Before I begin explaining this story, I just wanna say that I've realised that if you haven't read COTSLOF (Cars Origins: The Sweet Life of Fudge) yet, you won't know this because I never mentioned it here. Some of the stories I put in the original collection of short stories such as The Fabulous Hudson Hornet and My Heart Will Go On are part of COTSLOF now because they tie into that story.

So, here's an idea for a story I've had for a while now and I finally convinced myself to write it. So, here it is! There are just a couple of things I feel I should explain before we begin:

1. This takes place after Cars 3, but I've been careful not to include any spoilers for Driven to Win.

2. It does have some Cruz Ramirez x Jackson Storm, but not in the way you might think. So, even if you don't ship those two (heck, I don't!), you may still enjoy this story. I realise that this is a pairing most people either love or hate.

3. The story may seem a little ridiculous at times with some characters acting a little OOC, but that's how it's supposed to be. You'll see why when you get to the end.

4. There is a mix of first and third person in this story. Some of it is told from Cruz's POV.

Well, I guess that's about it. Enjoy! :)

Foolish Love

"Where is she?!" Lightning demanded.

"She'll be here", sixteen-year-old Fudge promised him quietly.

"She's almost half an hour late!"

"I know..." Fudge was trying to be careful what she said in fear of making Lightning mad at her too.

Cruz Ramirez was, as Lightning said, almost half an hour late to her training down by Willy's Butte. Lightning couldn't stand it when she was late. Although, he guessed that he couldn't be too hard on her. He was late to training with Doc Chrysler knew how many times.

"Here she is", Fudge announced as the yellow car showed up. "Hi, Cruz!"

"Hey, Fu-" she began.

"Where have you been, Cruz?!" Lightning demanded. "Do you know how late you are?!"

"Sorry, Mr. McQueen. I just had a late night last night and I overslept."

"Oh, yeah!" Fudge exclaimed, remembering. "How did last night go?"

"What was last night?" Lightning wondered.

"Well", Cruz started with a huge grin on her face, "it all started after the last race..."

I was so ecstatic that I won the race. I still can't believe how far I've come since I was just a trainer at the Rust-Eze Racing Center! Now, I'm a real racer! It's been a couple of months, but I still don't fully believe it!

The press had finally left me alone and I was trying to make my way back to my new friends from Radiator Springs, who insisted that we all go out and celebrate, which I wasn't about to object to. However, on my way, I ran into Jackson Storm!

"Hey, Cruz", he greeted me awkwardly. "How's it going?"

"It's great! How's it going?" I was surprised that he called me Cruz rather than "Costume Girl" or something worse. I'm pretty sure he does it out of anger and bitterness that I came from nowhere and beat him in the Florida 500.

"It's all right... Congratulations on winning the race!"

"Thanks!" I was happy, but also kind of suspicious. This was the first time Storm had ever congratulated me on a win. I wasn't quite sure if he was being genuine or not.

"Um... Uh..."

"Was there something you wanted to say?" I questioned. It seemed like Storm had something on his mind, but didn't know whether or not to say it.

"Yeah... Yeah, there is. Cruz... I kinda have something I wanna say..." He took a deep breath. "I... I've had a crush on you ever since I met you."

"Really?!" That was just about the last thing I expected to hear.

Storm nodded. "Yeah. I was wondering if... maybe you... wanted to go out with me sometime?"

"Really?!" I repeated.

"Yeah!"

"I would love to go out on a date with you!"

"You would?"

"Yeah! I've kinda always had a crush on you too."

The grin that lit up Storm's face seemed too big for his face. It appeared to get even bigger when I wrote down my phone number for him.

"Wait!" Lightning exclaimed. "You actually agreed to go on a date with Storm?!"

Cruz nodded. "Yeah."

"Why would you do that?! He's been horrible to all of us ever since we've known him."

Cruz shrugged. "I don't know. There's just something about him. I can't put my tyre on what it is."

"I was hoping he'd ask you out!" Fudge chimed in.

"So, you knew about this too?" Lightning asked her. "You knew Storm had a crush on Cruz?!"

"Well, yeah, everyone does!"

"Well, I didn't! So, what does this have to do with why you were late?"

"Their date was last night!" the human girl at his side informed him. "How did it go?!"

"How did you go on our date with Storm last night without me noticing?" Lightning wondered.

"Well, I told you I was going into the city, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"How'd it go?" Fudge repeated impatiently.

Cruz beamed. "Oh, it went very well..."

The night before, I had ventured into the city, excited and full of nerves. I was beginning to wonder if I should've brought Storm something. After all, he'd driven quite a way to see me tonight. Was it too late to get something? If not, then what could I get? Flowers? Chocolates? Wine? What? I know nothing about dating! I was beginning to wonder if I should have told Mr. McQueen about my date, so he could give me advice. Or Ms. Carrera. Ms. Carrera probably would've been better.

"Hey, Cruz!" a familiar voice greeted me.

I grinned. "Good evening, Storm!"

"I got you these!" Storm brought forward a bunch of red roses.

I took them from him in amazement. "They're beautiful! Thank you!"

"So, are you ready to go?"

"Sure! Where are we going?"

"Well, I'll be honest", Storm replied. "I don't really know this area all that well. Where do you wanna go?"

"I know this great place that's not too far away."

Fudge's eyes widened. "You don't mean-"

"Oh, I do!" Cruz assured her with a grin.

"Where?" Lightning wondered.

"Only the most amazing restaurant in the entire city!"

The first thing Storm and I heard when we entered the restaurant was the sound of children screaming and racing around and throwing food.

Storm's eyes widened when he saw the place. "I thought you'd pick somewhere a little fancier than McDonald's."

"I don't need to go anywhere fancy", I argued with a shrug. "I like this place. Besides, it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're together."

Storm smiled. "I guess so." He paused. "Do you know what you want?"

"Yes I do. Why don't we share a box of chicken McNuggets?"

"This is our first date and we're already sharing food?" Storm asked incredulously.

I gave another shrug. "I trust you."

"Well, if that's what you want."

"It is!" I insisted sincerely. I didn't just want chicken McNuggets. I needed chicken McNuggets.

"Sounds romantic!" Fudge proclaimed seriously, smiling as she imagined Cruz and Storm in McDonald's, sharing a box of chicken McNuggets.

"Sounds romantic!" Lightning commented sarcastically. Sure, his first date with Sally was spent babysitting Fudge and trying to get her to go to sleep, but it wasn't like they planned for it to go like that.

"Just because we didn't go to a fancy restaurant, Mr. McQueen, doesn't mean it wasn't romantic!" Cruz shot back.

"Yeah, because all those screaming kids really set the scene of a perfect date!" Lightning retorted.

"Hey, I was there for your first date with Sally!" Fudge reminded him.

"Exactly why it wasn't romantic!"

"I was with Storm and that was all that mattered!" Cruz insisted, trying to get back on the subject. "And I'll have you know he was a perfect gentleman, letting me take as many nuggets as I wanted!"

"You always gotta find a man who lets you have the nuggs", Fudge agreed, sounding quite wise.

Her friend nodded. "Exactly!"

"So, what happened next?" Fudge wanted to know.

"Well, we started talking..."

"I guess that's when Mr. McQueen decided that he'd had enough of the simulator because he tried to shake the wheel clamps off. He went flying and crashed right through the screen! The entire facility lost power because of that!"

Storm laughed hard. It was a laugh that I had never heard from him before. It was nice.

"Well, it's still pretty early, Cruz", Storm pointed out after about five minutes. "Where do you wanna go now?"

"Hey, I got to pick the restaurant!" I reminded him. "Why don't you pick where we go next?"

"Well, is there an arcade anywhere around here?"

I nodded. "Yeah! It's just down the street!" I hadn't been there, but I'd gone past it several times.

Storm grinned. "Awesome! It's been so long since I've played Super Corsa 3." With an angry frown, he added, "Gus doesn't let me play it. He says I have to focus on real racing!"

"Well, Gus isn't here, is he?" I pointed out, not entirely sure who Gus was. "What do you say we have a race?"

Just like that, Storm's grin returned. "Sure! As long as no-one crashes through the screen!"

I laughed. "You're on!"

"I can't believe you agreed to race Storm in Super Corsa 3!" Fudge exclaimed.

"I can't believe you told him the simulator story!" Lightning added.

"Could I please just finish my story?" Cruz questioned impatiently.

"Sure, go ahead", the other two agreed in unison.

So, she did

Luckily, there were two simulators for Super Corsa 3 available right next to each other when we got there. I got on one and Storm got on the other.

"You ready?" I quizzed Storm, grinning.

"I was born ready!" He revved his engine, which made me rev mine.

"Me too!"

The green flag came out and we were racing.

Although, it doesn't compare to real racing, I kind of missed going on the simulators. I was having a blast, blazing across this virtual track. Storm was ahead of me, but only just.

"Ready to give up, Costume Girl?" he teased me good-naturedly.

I laughed. "Never!"

As we made it out of the next turn, I managed to get into the lead.

"What?!" Storm exclaimed.

I just laughed. I noticed Storm's expression shift to one of determination. He really wanted to win, but I wasn't about to let him. Just because we were dating now, it didn't mean that we weren't competitive still. Believe me, we were!

Before long, a crowd had gathered to watch us race. Everyone was cheering for either me or Storm, all excited to see who would win the race.

The race went on for what felt like a long time. I don't know how many times we overtook each other, but I do know it was a lot. Storm and I were pushing each other to go faster. I was laughing out of sheer joy and was almost disappointed when we got to the last lap.

"Ready to give it everything you've got?" I quizzed Storm as the white flag was waved.

"I was born ready!" He gave his engine another rev. So did I.

I was just a little bit ahead of him when we started that lap. However, when we came out of the first turn, Storm got ahead of me.

"No!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"Today's not your day, Costume Girl!" Storm declared, charging into the lead.

"We'll see about that!" I chased after him, full of even more determination than before.

We rounded turn three. Storm was just a little bit ahead of me. I tried to overtake him from the left, but he swerved in front of me. I went right and the same thing happened. He just laughed.

We went around turn four. I narrowed my eyes in focus. I had to make my move and I had to do it now.

"You better not flip over me now!" Storm joked.

I laughed again. "I don't think you can do that in a simulator!"

"Maybe you can..." Storm hesitated for a brief moment to think about that, which allowed me to make my move. I shot ahead of him right at the last moment to cross the finish line first.

The crowd went wild.

I looked over at Storm. I wasn't sure how he was going to react. I'd seen him have massive temper tantrums if he ever lost a race. Once, I even heard from Tim Treadless that Storm once set off the smoke detectors in the training facility.

However, on this occasion, Storm just smiled at me, coming closer. "Congratulations, Cruz!"

I smiled. "Thanks!"

There was a moment of silence.

"Do... Do you wanna race again?" I questioned. I knew I did and I was sure Storm would too.

"In a sec", he replied. "There's something else I wanna do first."

"What?"

I didn't see it coming. Storm closed his eyes and pressed his lips up against mine. I couldn't believe it. I was actually kissing Jackson Storm! It felt like my entire life had been building up to that moment and I-

"Whoa!" Lightning exclaimed. "You actually kissed Storm?!"

"You kissed Storm?!" Fudge sounded just as incredulous, but a lot happier.

"I told you it went well!" Cruz reminded them. "We're going out again next Friday!"

Fudge's eyes widened. "Really?!"

"A second date? Wow!" Lightning was impressed.

"Yep." Cruz nodded. "I think this may be the start of a serious relationship!"

"If you two have kids, name the first one Fudge!" the human girl joked.

Cruz laughed. "Sorry, Fudge, but we've already decided the names of our first two kids!"

"What?!" Lightning couldn't believe it. "You've... You've already talked about that?"

"Yep", the yellow car confirmed. "Our first two kids are gonna be twins." She looked directly at Lightning and grinned. "One will be called April and the other one will be called Fools!"

She and Fudge burst out laughing.

"Wh- What?" Lightning stammered.

"APRIL FOOLS!" the two young women hollered in unison.

"Like I would ever go out with Storm!" Cruz added as she pounded her tyre up against Fudge's foot in a high five.

"We've been planning this for weeks!" Fudge chimed in, her voice barely understandable with all of her laughter. "I... I thought I was gonna give it away by laughing!"

Lightning was utterly confused. He'd been so distracted by the idea of training that he'd completely forgotten about what day it was: April first! It didn't help that he hadn't seen Mater yet that day.

After a long pause, he sighed and tried to hide his amusement. "Come on, guys! Let's get started here. I think we've wasted enough training time for one day."

Trying to stop their laughter, Fudge and Cruz obeyed.

"Well", Lightning thought out loud as they lined up at the starting line, "at least this means Storm doesn't know the simulator story."

"Oh, no, he knows!" Cruz insisted.

Lightning's eyes widened. "Wait. What?!"

XD Happy April Fools Day, everyone!