"it feels amazing." Lightning mumbles. "to come home and not be afraid of someone or be completely alone. to come home to a loving fiance and a service dog who both love me, though m'not sure why. this is the first real relationship I've had that wasn't some what abusive, whether physically or emotionally or verbally. I mean, don't get me wrong Sally never technically hurt me but... she just didn't understand my panick attacks and would kinda gaslight me about them... and like, you make me feel useful, like just curling up with you is enough and that sex isn't a mandatory part of our relationship, yeah its nice but it's not something we have to have.... I've never had this." Lightning says, holding tighter to Doc. "but this is amazing. so amazing... so comfortable like I don't have t' worry about anything, though m'always gonna, because you'll take care of me an whatever it is. you and Bolt will keep me safe and take care of me, you make me feel like my panick attacks can't be stopped but can be helped, an that m'not broken just need a little TLC. you guys make me feel loved an happy and... safe. I've never felt that before. I never knew I could go through day to day life and actually love it. I never knew I could go through life and not want to just rush forwards and die in a burning blaze of glory. I didn't realize there was more to life than adrenaline and pain and wanting to die in a way people would remember me for years to come. I don't need anyone else to remember me when I can come home to you and you.... you just.... you look at me like I've hung the moon and I know everything even though I'm always looking to you for answers cause I don't know what to do. I... I never realized I could be loved at all... I didn't realize I could... that someone could actually love me without beating me..." Lightning chokes quietly. Doc holds the younger closer, unsure what to say. he kisses the youngers head. "s'nice." Lightning says softly, curling closer to him. Doc runs his fingers through his hair gently, kissing his head and holding him tightly.

"god I love you kid, I love you so fucking much. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you, I'd do anything for you kid. anything to keep you safe." Doc says finally. "I really don't know what to tell you baby other than I just fucking love you so much I can't put it into words." Doc admits, kissing his head gently. "you're not broken, there's nothing wrong with you, you're the most perfect person I've ever met, panick attacks and all. you're gorgeous, perfect, amazing, and so loveable. you deserve all the love in the world and then some. you deserve everything. you deserve to feel safe, comfortable, and happy. I can't imagine how anyone could ever hurt you, I really can't. I just can't see how someone can't see you the way I do. you deserve to be so happy and loved. we never need to do anything but curl up together if thats all you ever want, because just having you in my arms is enough for me. I've wanted you since we met. I wanted you so bad, thought it would kill me back then, then when you told me you loved me, thought I was gonna have a heart attack. when you told me you wanted to marry me, I was sure the world was gonna end. I don't even need to marry you, I just need you here with that ring on your hand, saying you want to marry me. it's all I need kid. it's all I need, you are all I need. you're all I've ever needed and it took me so many damn years to figure it out, can't believe I lived so many years without you. never gonna let anything happen to you. never gonna let anything hurt you. god kid, you don't even know. you make me happier than I ever was racing that Hornet, you make me glad I wrecked and got hurt and thrown out, because if I hadn't we'd have never met. you make me happy I wrecked. your beautiful hair, pretty eyes, your gorgeous face, your beautifully loving personality. you're just... I don't know how anyone could hurt you, you're just too beautiful to hurt baby. I'll never hurt you." Doc murmurs, pulling his hand from Bolt to wrap his arm around him gently. Lightning kisses his cheek and nuzzles him.

"hey, hows your arm?" Lightning ask, reaching over to feel Docs shoulder gently. the older lets him, it doesn't hurt anymore. Docs a tough old bastard.

"its fine. don't worry about it. I'm okay as long as I got you here with me." Doc murmurs, kissing his head. "never need anything more than you here with me." Doc adds, kissing him. he holds him tightly, nuzzling him gently.

"can we just lay on the couch and watch tv until we need to leave?" Lightning ask.

"yes of course baby." Doc assures gently. he grabs the remote, pushing Bolt out of the way carefully so they could lay down. Bolt immediately curls up behind Docs legs, chin resting on Docs hip. he gives Lightning the remote and lets him turn on whatever he wants. they're both relaxed, feeling happy their words are out in the open so the other knows them. Lightning sighs happily and curls up with him. he falls asleep, snoring softly.

Doc shakes him gently, running his fingers through his hair when Lightning whines.

"hey baby come on, get up." Doc murmurs softly, nudging him gently. Lightning curls up more with a whine, before slowly opening his eyes and looking up at Doc confused.

"hmm?" Lightning whines. Doc chuckles a little.

"its time to go kiddo." Doc smiles a little. Lightning grins and stretches a little, yawning.

"m'kay, lemme get dressed." he murmurs. Doc nods and kisses him. Lightning pulls back smiling and heads to get changed. he comes back after a few minutes, dressed and ready for the concert. "you gonna be okay driving me there and back after sitting and waiting?" Lightning asks hesitantly.

"oh yeah, Smokey and I will take turns keeping watch while the other catches a nap. we'll be fine." Doc assures smiling. Lightning nods and they all load up. Bolt sits quietly in the floor board the whole time, tail wagging happily.

as always, the car ride with Doc is Lightnings favorite rides. the ride if full of stupid jokes and crappy cassett tape music as Docs radio still isn't working right, but it doesn't bother either of them. Lightning isn't a fan of the music, but he knows enough of it to mumble along to the words while leaned against Doc, petting Bolts head.

they end up at the concert early enough that they get great parking spots near the doors and don't have to rush in. Doc always gets them to events early. Lightning smiles looking around, before sitting up in the seat and pulling the ring off his hand. Doc watches him carefully.

"what are you doing?" Doc ask. Lightning drops the ring into Docs cup holder with a grin.

"no way am I risking losing that at a concert." Lightning says. Doc smiles at him a little.

"yeah better safe than sorry." Doc murmurs, kissing his head. they get out to stretch, watching Cal and Maddie do the same. Smokeys sitting in his truck still, messing with something, before he gets out and walks over to them.

"here." Smokey mutters, handing a small box to Lightning.

"uh, thanks." Lightning says awkwardly. he looks the box over and then back to Smokey. "a taser?" Lightning asks confused.

"its from Louise." Smokey shrugs. Lightning opens the box and rolls his eyes.

"ha ha. very funny Louise." Lightning mutters, pulling it out of the box. Doc snorts. its a very bright red, covered in yellow rhinestones in the shape of lightning bolts. "cute." he chuckles.

"oh yeah you're not sneaking that thing anywhere." Doc chuckles.

"oh yeah? fucking watch me." Lightning grins. "I bet I could sneak this into the concert and not even get caught." Lightning adds.

"I bet you can't. you're gonna taze yourself with that thing." Doc snorts.

"no I'm not." Lightning scoffs, looking it over. "its got a safety!" Lightning says. Doc leans over to look, just as Lightning clicks it off and holds the button.

"hey! easy!" Doc shouts, jumping back. Lightning laughs.

"nice. too bad I didn't have this when Chick was a around, would've been nice to zap the fuck outta him." Lightning grins, putting the safety back on. Smokey meets Docs eye, but Doc shakes his head silently.

"hey what the hell are you doing?" Cal snorts.

"Louise sent me a taser." Lightning grins.

"you're going to taser yourself in the dick with that." Cal grins.

"m'not Mater, I know how to be safe with one of these things. Mack made me carry one for the longest time after we met." Lightning snorts. "Im pretty sure its still in his semi cab somewhere. I refused to carry it after I became a racer." Lightning says thoughtfully. Doc checks his phone as other cars start pouring in.

"alright you three better get on in there." Doc says. Lightning nods at him and follows the other two up to the doors, tickets in hand. Doc opens the Hornet, grabbing Bolts leash. "out. you need to stretch and walk around." Doc says. Bolt jumps out from the floor, tail wagging happily. Doc frowns when he gets a text and opens it with an eye brow raised. thanks oldman. he smiles a little, chuckling and shoves his phone back into his pocket.

"alright Hud we actually get time to talk again." Smokey says. Doc nods with a snort, following Smokey over to his truck. Docs not a young man anymore, but he's still in better shape than Smokey, so while the older man struggles a moment to get himself into the back of the truck, Docs already got himself and Bolt loaded up. Smokey scoffs at him a little and closes the tail gate, plopping down beside Doc, leaning against the cab of the truck. Doc lets go of Bolts leash and settles a bit.

they watch the other cars roll in and park or drop people off then leave. its mostly quiet between them, despite Smokey's previous words. they make small comments about other cars here and there, but mostly just sit there. Bolt goes back and forth between them, swapping to the other person once the one he's at gets tired of petting him, before plopping down into Docs lap and curling up. Doc pets his back gently, looking up as the sky starts getting dark.

"so, you wanted to talk?" Doc ask finally. "this about your sudden change of heart with the kid?" Doc ask, looking over at him.

"yeah kinda." Smokey mutters. Doc turns to look at him some.

"so, why did you have a change of heart?" Doc ask. Smokey frowns a little.

"well, there we were in Flos, all thinking we're going to die, except the kid. he's serious and he's got control of everything. instead of leaving you or Mack for the bombsquad, he disabled a bomb to save your life, all while telling me about the abuse he suffered as a kid. he talked like these bombs were just a normal part of life for him. while he was on the floor trying to get around Mack to see the bomb... I could see the scars all up his back and it kinda hit me. he wasn't being an asshole, he was protecting himself. he wasn't arrogant, he was scared... an despite that, he refused to leave you long enough for someone else to disable that bomb." Smokey says. his lips quirk up in a brief half smile. "and kid, if thats not love, I don't know what is." Smokey says, turning to look at him. Doc snorts a little, looking over the parking lot.

"Smokey, s'alot more to that kid than you realize. he was only in Radiator Springs for that first week when I realized it was all an act." Doc mutters.

"oh yeah hows that?" Smokey ask. Doc frowns a little.

"he brought up that he knew who I was. that'd he'd figured it all out. despite being absolutely excited to meet his idol, when I snapped at him to mind his own damn business, he flinched. pretty hard too. he tripped backwards and knocked a bunch of things over, had a pretty nasty bruise on his head and then scrambled off as fast as he could. refused to come out and work on the road the next day. he let Sheriff keep him in a cell all day for the simple fact Sheriff wouldn't let anyone, even me, in there to see him. the next time I saw him working on the road, he'd thrown his shirt aside and you could see some pretty nasty scars, his back wasn't covered in them of course a lot of those scars you saw were from his wreck, but there were still a good bit of them. m'not an idiot. I've seen those in the doctor field, I realized what they were and why he'd reacted the way he had." Doc frowns, looking back over the parking lot.

"and you realized what you did?" Smokey ask.

"yeah. I managed to convince Sheriff to go off to get some lunch then, got to work on convincing the kid to let me take a look at his head. paint can had fell on him and he'd been working on the road all day with a fucking concussion. I made him stop, which pissed off half the town and held him in the clinic for a bit until he let me patch his head up. I let him sleep int he clinic that night, then Sally kept him in the Cone the rest of the time he was there." Doc mutters. Smokey nods a little.

"so what made you fall in love with him?" Smokey ask, grinning.

"I loved that hotshot the moment he wrecked in my town." Doc admits. "s'why I wanted him gone. I wasn't even gonna let him fix the road, I was gonna do it, but Sally came in and wrecked that." Doc mutters. Smokey chuckles a little.

"I knew something was up the moment I started getting letters from you. 'this stupid kid wrecked my town' and 'he won't leave' and 'he knows who I am.'" Smokey laughs.

"he was everywhere in those few days, so I called the news crew and let them know where he was." Doc mutters.

"mmhmm, but you couldn't just let him leave like that." Smokey snorts. Doc gets quiet a moment. he absolutely could have let Lightning leave like that, spending the rest of his days longing to have something he didn't deserve. his chance gone up in smoke the day he wrecked, but he doesn't tell Smokey that. he doesn't tell Smokey he doesn't deserve Lightning, or his love, that he really lost his chance all those years ago and its selfish for him to keep the younger man.

"Mater wouldn't let me." Doc snorts. "he was pissed he didn't get say goodbye." Doc chuckles. Smokey snorts a little and it gets quiet again.

"you know, I saw that ring on his hand." Smokey says. Doc looks over at him.

"yeah?" he ask.

"yeah." Smokey says, nodding his head. he turns to look at Doc. "and I'm proud of you Hud. glad you found something after racing to keep you going. I was worried for the longest time you were going to die old and alone hauled up in a house with those empty cups of yours. then I start getting letters about some dumb kid who wrecked your town and... I'm glad the kid found you." Smokey smiles at him. Doc scoffs a little.

"yeah, you and me both Smokey." Doc murmurs, patting Bolts head gently. Bolt immediately gets up and licks his face happily. Doc turns his head away.

"stop that. Bolt stop." Doc frowns, shoving him away. Bolt barks happily and immediately runs over to Smokey, tail wagging. Smokey pets his head happily.

"so you're really gonna marry that boy?" Smokey ask, grinning a little at him.

"yeah. I didn't think the kid would actually want to, but he's literally trying to talk me into making a few plans. he's thinking he wants a Vegas thing." Doc mutters.

"that makes sense, something small and just you two. makes sense for you." Smokey shrugs.

"yeah and thats what I'm worried about." Doc frowns a little. Smokey looks over confused.

"what do you mean?" he ask.

"well, if he's focusing on what I want, then he's ignoring himself." Doc mutters. Smokey nods a little.

"yeah thats probably true. did you actually want to get married?" Smokey ask.

"sort of. I just figured if he said yes, he wouldn't actually want to go through with it, we'd just sit engaged until I died or he left. whichever happened first." Doc shrugs. "but now he's making plans and I'm not sure what to do." Doc laughs a little.

"well if you want it and he wants it, just let it happen." Smokey grins looking at him. Doc chuckles at him a little.

"believe me, I'm trying. this boy plans like he drives." Doc snorts. Smokey laughs. "I cannot keep up with his thinking. first we're discussing getting married then he's discussing how we need a new living room couch because he can't lay on it with me because there's no room for Bolt." Doc snorts. Smokey smiles at him, patting Bolts head.

"I mean, maybe its time you changed that house a little. he is kinda short and everything there is set up for you. I wanted him struggle to get something out of your freezer on a video call because he's not tall enough." Smokey chuckles. Doc snorts and nods.

"yeah. I joked about getting him a step ladder and he refused to talk to me or an entire day just because of that." Doc chuckles. Smokey laughs.