Well, I wasn't expecting to release this one early but I got a burst of inspirsation to get some serious work done on it. It has been a LONG time in the making, but I finally have most of it done and I'm ready to begin publishing it. Anyways, the title of this story is "Triangolo D'Amore" which simply means "Love Triangle" in Italian. And that is exactly what it is. This is what we've all been waiting for- the wonderful drama of a Sally/Francesco/Lightning fic! First, I would like to give credit to my good friend "Ballboi" over on Pixar Planet for coming up with the title! Thanks pal! :D It was also a request from him and several other people, so a special thanks to those who encouraged me to take this idea and make something of it. I have also worked on making longer chapters. I know what you're all thinking: Oh my gosh! MissCarrera will finally feed us decent sized chapters! I'm sorry guys, I just work better with them! But I worked on the chapter lengths for this one. :P This isn't my super secret fic (still going to come out on Feb. 4th) but I hope I do the S/L/F scenario some justice. Please, read away and decide for yourself!

TRIANGOLO D'AMORE

(Love Triangle)

CHAPTER ONE - "Invidia" (Envy)

"I love you too," Sally murmured softly as her lips left those of her boyfriend. A smile covered Lightning's bumper and he gazed adoringly back at her. The setting sun casted golden beams of light through the lobby window and Sally lost herself in the silence. It was a comfortable silence, one that could only be felt between emotionally bonded cars like themselves. The evening rays reflected off McQueen's hood and brought out the lighter tints of blue in his eyes. It was moments like these that left her dazed and made her heart ache with unyielding desire for more.

He loved her. And it wasn't that she didn't believe him when he said it. He loved her more than she even thought possible, and she had the same feelings for him in return. So, if they were driving on cloud nine then why couldn't he bring it full circle? They'd made it this far already, the only place from here was up. All she wanted was for him to make the move, to promise that they'd be together 'til death did they part. It wasn't a lot to ask, so what was stopping him from making her 'Mrs. Sally McQueen'?

Lightning stared admirably at his girlfriend. He thought he heard a gentle sigh from her, but it was too quiet to tell it apart from her regular breathing pattern. He couldn't help feeling bothered by it though. After more than four years he'd learned to pick up on her different behaviors, and this wasn't in his cards. Lately she'd been exhibiting the more day-dreamy and distant side of herself. It was the latter that worried him. Sometimes it felt like she was drifting from him, that she was disinterested. Was it something he'd said? Or was it everything he didn't say? Whatever it was, he'd have to pull her back down to Earth if he ever wanted to find out.

"Sally? I thought we were going to Wheel Well for dinner tonight?" he prompted.

"Hmm?" Sally's eyes came back to him and she half-smiled. "Oh, yeah. Let's go then."

"So then Mater ends up lighting the whole thing on fire and…"

Sally could vaguely hear McQueen's voice across the table from her. She sipped her drink casually until she heard an unfamiliar sound. McQueen's voice dropped off as he too noticed the whirring engine.

The revving grew louder as its presider drew closer. Sally slowly let her eyes wander from McQueen to the approaching Formula One racer. Francesco Bernoulli…what female didn't recognize him the second they laid sight on him?

Then out of the corner of her windshield she could see McQueen's expression change. Jealousy? Envy? Anger? Or a mix of all three? She couldn't tell just what it was. She heard him clear his windpipe in attempt to gather her attention but she chose to ignore. If she couldn't be his wife then what harm could it do for him to feel a little jealousy? He didn't own her in any way, and they were merely dating. Four years or not, it was still only dating.

"Lightning McQueen!" the Italian car bellowed, "Just the-a fellow Francesco was-a looking for!"

McQueen sighed with irritation and reversed from the table to face Francesco. He'd finally got Mater to stop interrupting his dates (much thanks to Holley), but now he was going to have to deal with this guy too? "Bernoulli, what are you doing back here in Radiator Springs?" he questioned.

"Ah, that is-a good question!" he exclaimed, then lowered his voice to a whisper, "Francesco is-a here to meet with his-a bambina."

"Your what?" McQueen asked in an unimpressed manner.

Francesco chuckled, "Francesco has-a been exchanging letters with an American lady. He is-a here to meet her tonight-a." He did an ever so slight lift of his windshield then smiled charmingly at Sally.

Noticing the flirty behavior of his 'friend', McQueen clenched his teeth with annoyance. "Then what are you talking to me for? Go find your bimbo or whatever you call her."

"Bambina," Francesco corrected. "But-a there is-a one other thing. Francesco has-a…favour to ask of you."

McQueen rolled his eyes and waited to hear the Italian's preposition.

"I have-a not yet met this-a girl. Francesco was-a hoping that you and-a your bella Miss Sally would join for-a double date?" Francesco suggested, though it appeared he was only speaking to Sally.

"No," McQueen replied curtly.

Sally's eyes broke from Francesco's gaze and she protested politely, "What? Why not, Stickers? It could be fun! We've gone out with Mater and Holley before."

McQueen shot her a look of disbelief. Did she really want to spend time with this egocentric racer? Maybe she did, but there was something about him that always made McQueen feel uneasy and uncomfortable. He would not let this date happen.

"We have plans!" he blurted at last. "We're going to the drive-in to see another film. Remember, Sally? We're going to see that movie you've been dying to watch."

"Me? You're the one who wants to see it so badly!" she said, shaking her hood.

McQueen scrambled to find his words. "What? You said you wanted to see it too!"

Sally exhaled, "Well, I don't really. You know I hate gory movies. And I knew you would never want to see 'The Queen's Preach' with me."

Francesco's eyes suddenly lit up and he interjected, "That is the exact-a film we have-a tickets to! Wouldn't you-a like to see it, Miss Sally?"

McQueen gave Francesco another annoyed stare then looked to Sally. Her line of sight was on the ground as she mumbled incoherently. Finally some words came out as she started, "Well, if Lightning-."

"We'll go," McQueen announced firmly.

Sally's eyes jumped up at the strength behind his voice. What was she acting so surprised for? He was only trying to make her happy…

OK, so as you can tell, I like to encompass the Italian aspect into the story. Each chapter will be titled with an Italian word, and the translation will be given beside it in brackets. I also used "bambina" and "bella" in this chapter. "Bambina" is an Italian way of saying 'baby' and "bella" as you can probably guess means 'beautiful'. "The Queen's Preach" was a play on "The King's Speech", a movie which I have never actually seen but it was the easiest parody I could think of. XD I hope this was an enjoyable enough opening chapter, and I would love some reviews if you would like to see this story continued. :) Thanks for reading!