Once Lightning caught up to Sally he didn't bother pulling up next to her. He just hung back behind her about five or six feet admiring her body and thinking about how much he loved her. He'd never loved a car as much as he loved Sally and he was positive of that now. He never wanted to leave her; he wanted to stay with her until they both grew old and eventually left this world to go on to a place that was brighter, kinder and beyond earth and the clouds above. Hopefully that was a ways away…

"Going slow on me Stickers?" Sally called back to him from the front.

Lightning grinned and accelerated to pass her. He looked back at her with his rearview mirror to see her pushing herself to level with him. He slowed slightly and let her become neck and neck with him. After that they both cruised at a leisurely pace of thirty or forty miles per hour. "This place is so beautiful. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else but in Radiator Springs."

"Oh, I hear you. I'm so glad I ended up here when I left California. I've never been happier." She pulled up in front of the old motel and turned slightly to stare out over the land like they had done so many times before. She heard him silently sigh. She nuzzled his fender affectionately at hearing the happy exhale of air coming from him. "I love you, Lightning."

"I love you too, Sally."

"Do you want to know when I first fell in love with you?" Sally asked him, looking up at his eyes.

Lightning cocked a windshield at her. This should be interesting. "Hm, sure why not?" He smiled down at her.

"The first night you spent at the Cozy Cone. When I first saw that you were starting to change."

Lightning's eyes widened slightly. "Really?"

"Yes, that was when you stole my heart," she sighed, "and I'm glad you did." She nuzzled him again. "Mater also helped me realize that I had feelings for you."

"Mater? How did Mater help you realize that?"

"That one night when…" she trailed off after she realized that she never told him what she really heard.

"I just I overheard you talkin' to Mater."

"When? Just, just now? What, what did, what did you hear?"

"Oh, just something about a helicopter ride..."

She'd never told him that she actually heard the whole conversation. Mater teasing him about him liking her and tricking him by saying "'hey, there's Miss Sally!'" and seeing him get all excited over her.

"Sally?" Lighting snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um…" What's the big deal about telling him now? It's not like he'll get all embarrassed or anything since they were together now. "Do you remember that one night when Mater took you tractor tipping?"

"Yes, what does this have to do with anything?"

"Well, I'm sure you remember you promising to get him a helicopter ride…"

"Of course, and I didn't go back on my word now did I?"

"No, you didn't… but maybe I heard more than just about the helicopter ride."

Lightning stared at her for a minute before taking in what she said. "Wait a minute… you heard more than…" If she heard more then she's letting on then she heard Mater teasing him about him liking her. "Oh."

"Yeah, I heard it all."

"You actually heard him teasing me about me having a crush on you?" Lightning suddenly felt nervous. What on earth was he feeling nervous about? They were going out so she already knew that he liked her, maybe even that he loved her.

She saw the unnecessary nervousness cross his expression. She giggled, obviously amused at that. "Oh, Lightning you're not uncomfortable about that are you?"

"I'm not going to lie to you Sally so yes. I am slightly taken aback. I mean, all that time you knew that I liked you, even before we started to go out. Wow."

"Yeah, but I wasn't really sure that you liked me or not. It was just harmless teasing Mater was doing." She scuffed her tire in the dirt.

"Yeah, but let me tell you something, Sal." Lightning scooted closer to her.

"What's that?" A smile started to stretch across her lips.

"I did like you then. I did then and I do now. In fact, I love you Sally Anne Carrera."

"I love you too, Lightning James Mcqueen."

Lightning smiled at his full name. He hadn't heard anyone call him by his middle name for a long time and he was glad it was Sally using it. Even though he now knew that Sally had known he liked her long before he first kissed her, it was okay. He was actually kind of glad that she had known about it before their first date. It seemed to make their relationship longer than it actually was considering he found out that she fell for him a few minutes after she found out about his true feelings for her. But that doesn't change anything. They're both unconditionally and irresistibly in love with each other and nothing, absolutely nothing, can change that.

Author's Note:

Wow, I put some confusing sentences in that last paragraph didn't I? But I don't blame you if you have to go back and reread those a few times… god knows I did, lol! Review and tell me what ya think! I actually had an idea like this a while ago and I finally decided to write it out and upload it. Come on, give me some reviews! You know you want to! And yes I did get the 'unconditionally and irresistibly in love' thing from Twilight, it just seemed like good words to use in this story…