"Ever Ever After…" A large hearse was calmly cruising through the streets of Checotah, pausing every once and awhile to right her glasses.

"Perhaps Richard can get me some contacts." Rose laughed as she thought about how the ambulance was always nervous around her. Mikala kept telling her Richard liked her, but Rose always dismissed it.

What car in his right mind would have a crush on a hearse? Well, other then another hearse.

As turned the corner she was bombarded from the side when a young Mustang greeted her, "Hiya Rose!" Rose blinked slightly when her glasses fell off and the world became hazy.

"Hello Brittany. Brittany dear, I seem to have lost my glasses. Can you get them for me?" The orange Mustang giggled and grabbed the glasses but put them on her own hood.

"Wow Rose! Your glasses make everything funny looking!" And before Rose could protest Brittany giggled and took off. Rose sighed, "Great, now I'm stranded. Perhaps I can at least get to the side of the road."

The hearse slowly drove to the curb and parked, "Hopefully her Father will bring me back my glasses." After nearly and hour Rose began to get drowsy; she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Just before she fell asleep she though, 'I'm glad I don't snore…'

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"I can't believe you were tractor tipping again. I don't know how many times Bruce has gotten your tow cable. The next time this happened I'm going to charge you for a new cable." Richard said as he repaired Malcolm.

"Shoot, you say that every time."

"I know Malcolm I know."

Malcolm laughed, "You say that every time too. Thanks Richey!" The ambulance chuckled as the tow truck left his clinic. As Richard started on some paper work he heard Malcolm yell, "Dadgum! Look at this!"

Richard raised an eyes ridge and went outside to find Malcolm playing with something.

"What are you doing?"

"I found these here glasses on the ground. Is it just me or do these look familiar to you?" Richard looked at them closely before his eyes widened, "Those are Rose's! She's probably stranded somewhere. Come on Malcolm, we have to find her before she gets hurt."

The cars searched high and low for the hearse but couldn't find her. Richard sighed as he pulled into the Silent Night.

"Where could she have gone? What if she's hurt or someone kidnapped her or-" "RICHARD!!" The ambulance winced when Mikala smacked him over the hood.

"What was that for!!?"

"Would you shut up and listen! Rose is fine."

"How do you know?"

Mikala rolled her eyes, "Cause she's in the back room. I found her asleep on the side of the road so I towed her here." Mikala led him to the back room and opened the door. Richard let out a sigh of relief when he saw Rose fast asleep on a mat in the corner of the room.

He went over to her and gently nudged her with a tire, "Rose…come on Rose, time to wake up." The hearse shifted slightly and muttered, "Go away…let me sleep…"

Richard got in front of her and was about to nudge her again when Mikala suddenly shoved him forward and with a startled cry his lips meshed with Rose's.

Rose's eyes shot open and although she didn't realize it yet, she was enjoying this more then she'd ever know.

It took a ridiculously long time for Richard to brake away, and once he did his face was redder than a fat man in the summer without any sun screen.

"Rose…I…um…h-here's your glasses!" Richard quickly, but gently, put the glasses on her hood before getting the heck out of there. Rose just gapped at what had just happened while Mikala was laughing.

Once Rose realized what Mikala had done she literally exploded, "MIKALA!!! I TOLD YOU I'M NOT INTERESTED IN RICHARD SO KNOCK IT OFF!!" Rose revved her engine in anger and sped out of the restaurant as fast as she could.

The hearse growled angrily as she drove well over the speed limit, but even the local Sheriff, Duke, wouldn't dare stop her when she was like this.

Rose had been in Checotah for little over a week and has turned the local funeral home into her own home. The residents hadn't used the place in years because no one in the town was old enough to pass away and when someone did die it was usually the family who somehow carried the deceased.

Even though she wasn't really needed the town happily paid for her services. Rose fixed up the place and cleaned up the graveyard. She had mowed the grass and pulled the weeds and was currently working on polishing the tombstones.

None of it bothered her for it was all the same things she did when she was human. Not that the towns folk knew what she had been.

Rose slammed the large iron gate shut and made her way up the long winding road to her house. Which rightly looked like something out of a horror movie or the Adams family's house. Even dark clouds, sometimes mixed with storm clouds, could always be seen 'circling' the hearse's home.

Rose grumbled as she grabbed several rags and a large bottle of polish before heading out to the cemetery. She headed towards a section deep within the cemetery, right near the mausoleum.

As she cleaned the tombstones Rose mentally recorded the locations, names, dates, and messages on every stone. She had an excellent memory; it seemed to come with the job as her Father once told her.

Once she had cleaned about 5 tombstones she clicked on her on her CD player and turned it all the way up. Haunting organ music drifted across the cemetery; Rose certainly fit the position of a hearse/hearse driver when it came to her likes and dislikes.

She sighed as she paused in her cleaning and listened to the music for a moment and then reached out to resume cleaning when her eyes caught sight of a spider. The reaction was instantaneous, "AAAAHHHH!!!!"

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Several Minutes Earlier00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I can't believe you got us lost rookie." Doc growled.

"Hey I said I was sorry!" Lightning whined. The entire town of Radiator Springs was following the two racecars.

"Stickers you better find a town soon. Most of us are really running low of fuel." Sally said from next to him.

"I know I know. I'll be back in a sec." Lightning sped off trying to find a town. As he was driving he caught sight of a large house surrounded by a large black gate. He was so far away he didn't notice what was next to the building.

"All right!" Lightning turned around to tell the others

"I wonder if they have any organic fuel." Fillmore said as they got closer to the house.

"Hippie, I highly doubt that." Sarge snapped at the bus. The other cars just rolled their eyes as they pulled up to the gate.

"Rookie, of all the places you could have found, you find one with a cemetery." Doc said as he looked through the gate. A haunting organ melody slowly reached their ears and sent a chill down their frames.

"I bet it's, like, haunted!" Mia said to her sister.

"Yeah by, like, a ghost or a zombie." Tia said as she backed up.

"Or a geek!" Mia added.

"There's no such thing as ghosts!" Sheriff said to them. But before anyone could reply a scream pierced the air, "AAAAHHHH!!!!" The scream came from deep within the cemetery. Every single car's oil went cold and they all paled.

"Lets get out of here man!" Ramone yelled and drove away as fast as he could; the others followed suit. Each and every one wanted to get as far away from the house as possible.

"Hey look! A real town!" Mater called happily. As they drew closer to the town something clicked in Mater's head, "Ey! My cousins live here! I bet they won't even recognize me!"

Lightning blinked, "You have family here? Where is here anyway?" Sheriff glanced at a billboard and saw the name of the town and was about to tell Lightning hen a loud siren blasted from behind them.

"Sheriff! Turn off your siren!" Doc yelled.

"Those aren't mine!"

"No they're mine!" a deep voice yelled. Everybody screeched to a stop and turned to see a large Hummer. The Hummer was dark silver and had the words 'Axle County Sheriff' on his sides in black letters.

There was a scowl on his face. Sheriff scowled right back, "Now hold on a minute! None of us were speeding! You have no right to give us a ticket!"

The Hummer suddenly smiled and laughed, "Give you a ticket? I just wanted to give yall a warm welcome and say, Welcome to Checotah, Oklahoma. Home of the sweetest oil in all of Axle County. You folks lost?"

"Yes actually. Hot Rod here got us lost." Sheriff relied nodding towards Lightning. The Hummer laughed again, "Don't worry, we get that a lot. Names Duke. I'd be happy to show yall to town."

Lizzie smiled up at him, "Well thank you dear." Duke smiled and started to lead them to town but Mater didn't move.

"Hey man, aren't you coming?" Fillmore asked him.

"I can't move! I'm outta gas!"

Duke laughed again, "Don't you worry, I can get you to town." Duke went behind Mater and started to push him. As he picked up speed Mater laughed, "Wee-hoo!" Duke led them to the Silent Night and pushed Mater in.

"Hey Mikala, Malcolm! You got customers!" The Hummer looked at the bunch and grinned, "See ya round. Hope you enjoy your stay." With that the 4X4 pulled out and returned to his post.

A pink tow truck left the kitchen followed by a royal purple one, "Mater?! What are you doin 'ere?" The purple one said as he hugged Mater.

"Lightnin' got us lost and that Duke feller led us here."

"Well aren't ya gunna introduce us to yer friends?"

"Oh yeah. This here's my cousin Mikala and her brother Malcolm." Mater said to the others, who introduced themselves in turn. While Malcolm was filling them all up, Mikala got them some oil. She even had some organic fuel for Fillmore.

Lightning sipped his oil but something was bugging him, "Hey Malcolm?"

"Yeah?" The tow truck turned to him.

"What's with that eerie house just outside of town?" Mater jumped in, "Yeah! Its so weird! It's all dark n' scary! And there was this creepy cemetery and organ music playing! And we heard a scream!"

Sarge looked over at Fillmore, "Who in their right mind would live there?" A quiet voice answered him, "I live there."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Several Minutes Earlier000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Rose had finally calmed down from earlier. She once again adjusted her glasses before heading back inside. After putting away the rags and polish she headed back to town. On her way she passed Duke.

He gulped when he saw her but smiled, praying she was in a better mood then earlier.

"Hello Duke. Remind me to pay for that speeding ticket you were to scared to give me earlier." Duke laughed, "Don't worry about it."

"Oh no, I insist."

"If you say so. See ya Rose."

"Good bye Duke." Rose continued into town and pulled into the Silent Night just as a rusty tow truck was describing her home. She smiled slightly but felt her anger return when an old Army Jeep commented, "Who in their right mind would live there?"

Rose narrowed her eyes and answered him, "I live there." When the guests turned to look at her she forced herself not to laugh when their eyes widened and they paled. The Impala stuttered, "Y-You're a-a-a-a" Rose finished for him, "A hearse? Yes I am."

She looked them all up and down, "So you're the ones who disturbed my tombstone polishing. That wasn't very nice." The cars gulped and she laughed darkly. The Hearse loved to scare the new arrivals.

Mikala gave the hearse a gentle shove, "Knock it off Rose. Don't you have some coffins to repair or a crypt to clean?" Rose laughed normally, "Actually I need to go see Eli. One of my back tires is a little flat. Good bye Mikala, Malcolm."

She looked over at the others, "And welcome to Checotah." She turned to leave but looked back and added, "Oh and one more thing…stay away from my cemetery!" And with that she left the restaurant and headed downtown.

Mater shivered, "She gives me the creeps!" Malcolm chuckled, "Ah don't worry, Rose is the sweetest car you could ever meet. She just gets a little touchy when it comes to her home."

Sally tilted her head, "That house is hers?"

"Well it used to be an abandoned funeral home about a week ago until Malcolm found her on the side of the road. Poor thing was sick as no tomorrow. But Richey fixed her up good."

"Richey?" Doc asked.

"He's the doctor. He's an ambulance. Or a GM3500 DR90 TraumaHawk if ya wanna get all technical. His full names Richard, but the only one who calls him that is Rose; they're in love!" Malcolm smacked his sister, "For the last time, its Richard who likes her. Rose doesn't feel the same. Well at least not yet."

Luigi chuckled, "A hearse-a and an ambulance? What-a crazy pair!"

"You can say that again." Mikala replied. The group continued to talk about Richard, Rose, the town, and several other random subjects for quite a while.

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Rose on the other hand just pulled into Eli's store, also known as 'Tires? WE GOT EM!!'.

"Well hey Rose! What can I do for you today?" An electric green and back Bugatti Veyron 16.4 said happily from the counter.

"Hello Eli. I just need a little air for my back tire. That's the problem with being so dang heavy; the air comes out of your tires a lot faster then normal." Rose said with a laugh.

"No problem! I'll make you a deal. If you can deliver several dozen bouquets to the graves of my family members, I'll give you four free tires."

Rose blinked, "Couldn't you do that yourself?"

"I would but I'm really busy and Richey said not to strain myself." Rose nodded. It made sense. Eli was 7 months pregnant, she was supposed to be relaxing but not even Richard could keep the Bugatti from her tire store.

"All right. You've got yourself a deal." Eli laughed and fetched the tires as Rose got onto the lift.

"So how are you and Richey doing?" Eli asked as she started on Rose's tires.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on. Everyone knows Richey has the hots for you. So are you two going out yet or what?" Rose stared at her astounded.

"We most certainly are not! I don't see why everyone says he likes me. Why in the world would he like me? I'm a hearse for goodness sake!"

"Love knows no bounds sweetie. Deny it all you want, he likes you. You just need to accept it."

Rose didn't say anything as Eli finished up. Once she was done Rose headed over to Richard's. She was going to settle this thing right now.

As she opened the door to the clinic she smelt alcohol. "That's strange, Richard never touches alcohol. Richard? Richard? Are you here?" Rose searched through several rooms then heard something coming from one; she guessed it was his room.

"Richard?" Rose slowly opened the door and gasped when she saw Richard. He had several beer bottles around him and he was slumped to the ground.

Richard swayed and looked over at her. He smiled when he saw who it was.

"Rose…please…come…in…" Richard set the bottle he was drinking out of onto the ground with the others and slowly went forward to meet her.

"So…Rose…what can…I do for you…"

"I…I came to ask you something." Rose told him hesitantly.

"Ask away…"

"Well…perhaps I should come back when you're sober."

"Nah, go ahead…" Richard smiled crookedly at her. She took a deep breath and told him what was on her mind, "Everyone says that you like me. But that's not true right? I mean what would a guy like you see in someone like me?"

Richard swayed and Rose thought he was going to fall over, so she drove closer to him and reached out a tire to steady him but he grabbed her tire and yanked her close.

"Richard! What are you doing?!" Rose said as she tried to get her tire free. Rose could smell the beer on his breath clearly.

"Trust me." Richard whispered to her. Rose's eyes widened and she pulled harder but Richard just chuckled.

"Come now Rose…I would never hurt you…" He nuzzled her gently and Rose stopped trying to pull away. 'He's so drunk maybe if I just stop trying he'll let his guard down and then I can get free.'

"Oh Rose…whenever I'm near you, my engine goes crazy…" Richard continued to nuzzle her. After a few minutes of this he seemed to grow bolder, or the alcohol was taking its full affect and Richard kissed her.

Rose gasped when he kissed her and Richard took that opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. Rose tried to protest but was unable to when his tongue caressed hers. His tongue explored every inch in her mouth before he stopped.

He nuzzled her again and slowly backed her into a corner. Rose searched for a way out but Richard was a lot bigger and stronger then her; and even if she wanted to hurt him she could never bring herself to. Her heart wouldn't allow it.

Richard planted gently kisses on her hood and down her side before kissing her again; forcing his tongue into her mouth. He continued to do this for nearly an hour until he looked into her eyes and froze.

She was crying. Rose was crying her eyes out. Richard suddenly realized what he was doing and released her.

"Rose…I…I…oh Rose. I'm so sorry. I didn't even know what I was doing." He tried to get near her but she backed away from him terrified. Her rear bumper hit the wall and she whimpered.

The ambulance felt terrible for what he had done to her; he slowly went up to her again and slowly pulled her close to him with his tires.

"Oh Rose…I never meant for this to happen…after what happened this morning I tried to drown my embarrassment in alcohol." Richard shook his head, "But that's still no excuse. If I hadn't gotten a hold of myself I could have…could have…" Richard couldn't even bring himself to say it.

"Rose…please…I beg your forgiveness. No. I have no right to. I don't deserve to be forgiven for this. Not now, not ever. I understand completely if you never wish to see me again…" The ambulance sobbed as tears poured down his hood and he buried his face in her side.

"It's too late to undo what I have done…and there is no point in saying this but…" Richard gingerly turned her until she was looking into his eyes.

"Alianora Rose Hearsa. I love you. I loved you the moment I first laid my eyes on you. I just wish I had told you sooner." He stroked her cheek gently before releasing her and looking down at the ground.

"I guess…this is good bye…" Richard choked back his sobs as heard her move toward the open door. Once he heard the door close he looked up and jumped when he saw Rose in front of him.

"R-Rose?! W-What are you doing here?! I-I thought you would have let after what I had d-" Richard was cut off when she tenderly kissed him. After she broke the kiss, Rose purred as she spoke, "You talk too much."

Rose kissed him again and he was too stunned to move. She smirked at him, "What's wrong? 10 minutes ago you wouldn't stop kissing me. Now I can't even get you to kiss back. Do you want me to leave?"

Richard's tank fluttered at her tone of voice but he smirked back, "Oh no. I never want you to leave." Richard kissed her again and his tongue caressed hers once more. The hearse moaned into the kiss and Richard deepened it.

He couldn't believe this was really happening; the love of his life was kissing him and he wasn't dreaming. He broke the kiss for air and nuzzled her. She purred and nuzzled back.

Richard released her and she made a quiet noise of protest which quickly turned into a moan when Richard let his tongue sneak under her. Rose raised up on her axles as far as she could and tilted her body so he could reach her undercarriage easier.

The ambulance smirked and let his tongue slowly explore as much as he could reach. Kissing, sucking, and licking her undercarriage as best he could until he returned to face her. She smiled at him and he smiled back and nuzzled her gently.

Rose snuggled close to him and her engine purred loudly. Yet even though she was purring as loud as she could, it could barely be heard. Hearses were meant to be a very quiet car.

Richard held her close and kissed her gently, "Rose. Can you ever forgive me?"

"You're forgiven. As long as you promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Never leave me. Please, never leave me."

He smiled at her and laid his head next to hers, "I wouldn't dream of it. You're all I care about. I'll never leave you. Not even if death itself came for me. I'd fight for all eternity if I had to, as long as I got to be with you."

Rose smiled and snuggled as close as she possibly could to Richard and closed her eyes, "I love you too."

The ambulance purred and closed his eyes; he soon fell asleep and was joined by his true love. Nothing could tear them apart. Nothing. Or…so they thought.