A/N: Sorry for the shorty chapter here. But I must thank you all for reviewing, I really do love getting them and hearing you guys think of this story! - It's what keeps me posting this thing, so yeah :D I really hope you like this one!

Disclaimer: see chapter one.

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"There Was Only You and Me"

Chapter IV - "Who's to Say?"

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It was 1:45 in the afternoon now, and by now I was usually in town helping somebody with something. Since my racing career only took place for half of the year, I spent the other half helping out around town in any way I could. It wasn't something I was assigned to do, but just something I wanted to do, and it kept me busy. But there were days when I would take the day off and just lounge around the house.

Today was one of those days.

For a while, I just cleaned. The house wasn't that big, so I never minded doing it, and I never got it that dirty to begin with. But when I was done withthe cleaning, I plopped myself down onto the couch, burying my head in the cushions.

His scent still lingered there, I took note of as I breathed. I hugged the nearest pillow closer to myself, and I lied there for quite a while. I almost fell asleep, but I made myself get up as I started nodding off for the umpteenth time. I couldn't nap, it would wreck my sleeping pattern.

Thoughts of Mater kept running through my mind without me even realizing it. I missed him, and I only last saw him a couple of hours ago. God, I was acting like a lovesick teenaged girl. I shook my head and put the pillow back with the others. It wasn't like he didn't live right down the street from me, and where he was right now was only a ten-minute walk from here…

A light bulb flickered on in my head. Wow, how stupid was I? I could just walk down and see him right now, right? Yeah! I'm sure he wouldn't mind, I've visited him over there before, even helped him out a couple of times. And it wasn't like it was the most attention-hogging job in the world.

So I stood up, slipped my shoes on, and headed out the door. I had to blink a few times to let my eyes adjust to the light. I looked up to the sky and noticed that there weren't any clouds, so the sun had the chance to shine all it wanted. I was glad I wasn't born with sensitive skin, or else I would have to put on sunscreen or something every time I came outside around here.

I walked across my front lawn and onto the sidewalk. Looking to the right of me, customers to all of the shops crowded the streets. It really made me smile every time I saw the town crowded with other people than just the residents. It had been quite a while since Radiator Springs had been put back on the map, but I'll never get tired of watching my friends smile as another customer leaves their shop.

A few seconds later, I finally turned the other way and started walking down the street toward the other end of the town. His junkyard was the first thing you saw when you entered the town, and the last thing on the way out.

I thought about things a bit as I walked. Mainly about how… fast things were going between us. I mean, we haven't even been 'together' for a whole day and we already went just about as far as a couple can go. And I can't figure out if it was a good thing or not. I can't imagine that it's a horrible thing, but still… it just seemed a little out of the ordinary. Sally and I were together for a whole five months and hardly ever got close to doing anything sexual. But ten minutes after the first kiss, Mater and I…

My face began to grow hotter than it already was, despite the sun.

That's not to say that I regret it. Far from it, but it was still something to think about. Most couples wait a while, don't they? Like… to make sure they feel for each other enough, and trust each other, right? That's what I always thought, anyway. But maybe it just meant that we didn't need time to figure those things out. That once we kissed, we already knew. I know that's how I felt, anyway. I trusted him with my very life, always have,and I know he feels just as deeply for me as I do for him. If he didn't, I would've sensed it in the way he held me, kissed me, even looked at me. But even so, I still had to wonder…

Looking up from the sidewalk, I noticed that I had made it to the shed right beside the junkyard where he stayed in during most of the day. He only needed to come out to talk to customers and whatnot anyway. So I made my way to the open doorway and walked inside.

"Mater?" I called out as I walked into the small building. I walked past a few stacked boxes and saw him standing near a corner, grabbing things from a pile and placing them into a crate he was holding. He looked up to see who had called to him, and smiled when he saw me.

"Howdy, Lightnin'!" he greeted happily.

"Hey, Mater," I replied, smiling as well. "What're you doing?"

He put the crate on the floor next to his feet and grabbed a white rag that was lying on a nearby box, and began to wipe his hands with it.

"Nothin', just doin' a little reorganizing," he told me as he walked over to me.

"So what've you been up to?" he asked as he looked down at me. For a moment I was silent, for some reason unable to think of what to say. But then my mind snapped back to reality.

"Oh, uh… same thing," I stated casually. "Just cleaning around the house."

After that, neither of us said anything for a little while. We just stood there. But then it suddenly hit me how much I had missed him, and I took a step closer to him, and wrapped my arms around his middle. I let my head rest against his chest, and my eyes drifted shut. For a moment, he seemed a little surprised at my sudden move, but immediately relaxed and locked his arms around my shoulders, his cheek coming to rest on the top of my head.

It felt amazing. It was then that I realized that nothing we do together will ever feel the same way. Right now, it was like I was experiencing the softer part of our feelings for each other. I could feel his presence all around me, and it felt like my heart was going to fly away somewhere. He began rocking me back and forth ever so slightly, and it only added to the peaceful feeling. I probably could've fallen asleep just like that.

But then I remembered what I had been contemplating on the way here. I inwardly sighed. So much for the perfection of the moment. But I knew I had to ask him.

"Mater?" I said softly into his shirt.

"Mm?" he answered quietly.

I didn't answer right away. I felt… scared to ask him. Would he be angry, or upset thatI'd even ask him?I took a breath.

"Mater, you… do you… regret what happened last night with how far things went?"

As soon as I got the words out, he seemed to stiffen a bit. I winced. Maybe I shouldn't have…

Suddenly, his hands slid to my shoulders, and he pulled away from me. I looked at him, and he looked angry. Oh no, he was really upset at me now. I didn't mean to… I didn't think he would really get angry, I really shouldn't have asked him.

But then he quickly leaned in and kissed me. I felt my stomach do a back flip inside of me, and I jumped at the contact. I didn't know what to do… I guess he wasn't mad, but…

Before I had a chance to so anything though, he pulled away and looked at me. But now he had a smile on his face.

"I couldn't regret it if I wanted to," he stated simply. "It… really was the best night of my life."

My expression melted into a smile. How could I ever have questioned him? He was so perfect when it came to the ones he cared about, why would he do something knowing he would run away from it later? I smiled at him and threw my arms around his neck, pulling him close to me and kissing him deeply. He quickly returned the kiss with just as much feeling, his arms going around my shoulders once more.

God, I would never get tired of this… not ever.