\

I think I need to stretch out the timeline in this story, this story so far is only over the span of a couple of days or so, with what I have planned for this story, it may seem rushed... ^^; Also I want to strengthen Mater and Lightning's friendship, because I might want to use it later in the story, but I won't tell why...;)

Anyways, enjoy Chapter 6 of What Happens Next! ^^

P.S Final Chapter of Forgetful Love will be posted soon! :D

Cars (C) Disney Pixar

Chapter 6 – Date Plans

The next day came to Lightning like no surprise. He opened his eyes to see that Sally was already gone and the sound of Sarge and Fillmore arguing from across the road which made him sigh heavily as he left his home to get some breakfast at Flo's.

When he arrived, he was surprised to actually see Sally there parked next to a gas pump talking to Flo with two cans of breakfast in front of her. He saw her turn to look at him with a greeting but slightly flirtatious look.

"Morning, Stickers. Did you have a good sleep?" She asked, giving Lightning that dreamy eye look.

Just as Sally asked that, Lightning stretched his tyres and drove closer to his girlfriend.

"You have no idea, that sleep was great."

"So, I heard you have an interview out of town tomorrow?" Sally stated, changing the subject and giving Lightning his breakfast.

Lightning almost instantly rolled his eyes, he sometimes felt like his whole life revolved around interviews and racing but he knew all too well for that not to be true. He had friends that were practically family and a place to call home.

"Yeah, Harv says I might be getting something, but I don't know what it is." Lightning replied, looking at the ground seeming worried and a little down on himself.

Sally looked at him with concern, but just at that moment, Mack pulled up for his breakfast. He parked out the front of Flo's as he was too large to go further inwards even when he wasn't tied to Lightning's trailer. He smiled politely as he asked Flo for his usual and continuing what Lightning had explained to Sally.

"We have to leave by nine tomorrow, just letting you know kid." Mack told Lightning with a wink.

"Thanks Mack, I'll be there." He replied, smiling at Mack. "So yeah I have to go out of town, but I think it'll just be for the day so no need to worry." Lightning explained, feeling that he was neglecting his girlfriend.

"Oh don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Sally assured him with a caring smile before getting back to her breakfast.

Shortly after breakfast, everyone left to do their jobs while Lightning went to Doc's memorial to mourn his loss and think about his racing. Doc Hudson truly was the champion of racing; he was the racing legend, way better than The King.

It was sad to hear that he had passed away while Lightning wasn't home. He was out training at Palm Mile Speedway, Doc would've come with but he said he hadn't been feeling well. After he heard about his death, he felt like quitting racing forever. But eventually he decided to keep on racing and keep Doc's legacy alive. He knew that quitting his career was not what Doc would've wanted.

Lightning truly missed his mentor. He couldn't believe that the grumpy old car he first saw turned out to be a racing legend and became his racing mentor. Tears came to Lightning's eyes as he let out a deep sigh and left the building.

He decided not to do any laps today, so instead he went around town letting fans take pictures of them with him while he told them about his racing and his training, as well as his mentor Doc and how he was a big inspiration to him.

By then, it was only 11am. There was still so much of the day that hadn't passed yet. The race car wondered what else he could do to make the time fly by. He decided to see if Mater wasn't busy towing Otis so he could hang out with him for the rest of the morning until lunch.

He drove past the movie theatre and saw that Mater was purchasing tickets for the upcoming movie The Good Dinosaur; he wondered why Mater was buying four and not just one or two for that matter. He drove up to Mater and almost startled him because of how quietly Lightning was driving.

"Hey buddy, whatcha got there?" He asked, pointing with his tire to the tickets on the table in front of Mater.

"I got four tickets for a double date to see The Good Dinosaur!" Mater answered with joy.

"Four tickets? But for who?" Lightning asked, seeming clueless as Mater chuckled in response.

"Why for you me and our ladies of course! I asked Holley and she said she's free again and Sally told me that we should all double date sometime so I decided we all go to the movie together!" Mater explained with excitement as he almost jumped and almost losing the tickets.

Lightning smiled, he was now definitely looking forward to spending time with his best friend and his girlfriend, while also getting to know Holley a bit more. He didn't know much about her, but knew that she cared for Mater very much. A nice relaxing movie with the cars he cared about the most, what more could one car want? Lightning asked himself, giving a dreamy look.

"You alright, buddy?" Mater asked, nudging him with his tire seeing that Lightning was distracted.

Lightning looked around almost stunned but then saw he was brought back to reality. "Huh? Oh, sorry Mater. I can't wait for this double date. It'll also give me a chance to know your girlfriend some more, since you know a whole lot about my girlfriend anyway." Lightning ended with a small chuckle.

"Well that's great then; I'll see you later tonight buddy! And don't forget to bring Miss Sally!" He called out as he drove away with excitement.

Lightning laughed in response and waved goodbye with his tire. "Alright see you then!"

Now what was Lightning supposed to do till night came around? Well, he thought a nice camp out in his trailer would be nice, so he drove to find and ask Mack where his trailer was and then he drove off and stayed in there for a few hours watching television and preparing the trailer for the next day.

About two hours later, it was nearing the end of lunch time (around 3pm). Lightning quickly realised what the time was and drove off to Flo's to grab some lunch. He knew he was late because all his friends had left already.

"Well, what's your excuse hot rod?" Flo asked, teasing him as she served him his lunch.

"Napped out in the trailer." Lightning replied, panting a little as he had rushed to get there.

"You know, you do have a home to do that?" She added, looking over to his house. "And what's with you and your trailer? Find it Cozy because it reminds of you staying in the Cozy Cone?" She asked, teasing and raising an eyelid with a smirk.

Lightning thought about what the retired show girl car just asked him, he was surprised how in depth Flo could get. His eyes widened in surprise and his smile widened slightly. "You know Flo, that's actually right. I guess I miss sitting in that old Cozy Cone." He replied, looking over to Cone Number one which was currently occupied by someone else.

During lunch, he looked over at his old cone and remembered the first few days he was in town and the second night in which Sally offered him to sleep in one of the cones. He didn't know why, but he loved reminiscing about the first days he was in Radiator Springs.

Afterwards, he had finished lunch and drove off to see what Sally was up to, he knew she was working but hadn't seen her since morning so he went up to Wheel Well to see that Sally was taking a short break and letting other workers take her spot for a short while.

"Hey Sally," Lightning called out as soon as he saw her parked near the edge of the cliff. "How have you been?" He asked in a friendly and caring tone.

Sally turned with a glistening smile to see that Lightning was here, she loved being off break. It was a chance to hang out with her boyfriend or simply just relax.

"Hey Lightning, I've been doing okay since you last saw me this morning. Oh, and no need to tell me. Mater already told me about the double date tonight." She added, leaning closer to Lightning.

"Oh," Lightning replied, realising that she already knew and was about to tell her that same thing. "You know I was actually gunna tell you that but I guess you already know."

Sally smirked before looking over at Lightning "Yeah, I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with them, and you of course." She replied, giving Lightning a dreamy look that seemed to always get to Lightning.

Lightning chuckled and then felt a deep urge to kiss her passionately right there, he always loved it when she gave that dreamy look to her, but he decided not to when he heard a fan from behind.

"Hey Lightning McQueen! It's so nice to finally meet you!" The fan said, almost jumping in her wheels.

The race car gave a sheepish look to the fan while Sally silently chuckled to herself then left his side to get back to work.

"Um, hi there. Did you want my autograph or..."

"Oh no, I just wanted to have a nice, friendly chat!" She replied with a grin. "I've been meaning to meet you for so long! I just never had the money to fly away from home to get here!"

"Really?" Lightning asked, with widened eyes, almost surprised to know that someone like this fan would fly just to see him. "Where are you from? Overseas?"

The blue car nodded. "I'm from Australia, as you can tell from my model." She answered with a wink, showing off her model to him in a non-flirtatious way.

Lightning took a good look at her, smiled and then raised an eyelid in confusion when he remembered that she said she was from Australia. "Wait, you're from Australia? I didn't know these kinds of models existed there. I thought there were just carngaroos?"

She rolled her eyes as it had seemed she had heard this before. "That's what all you Americans say about Australians, and I actually get annoyed by that but since it's coming from you I guess I can make an exception."

"Hey McQueen!" Someone called from a distance.

Lightning turned to see that it was Mater; he was waving at him franticly with a wide grin. Lightning sighed as he had to leave the fan to see what his best friend wanted.

"Sorry, but I have to go now. I'll see you around." He friendly said to the blue car as he began to drive away.

"Wait!" She cried. "I never told you my name." She called out, almost laughing.

Lightning stopped, then turned and asked for her name.

"I'm Daniela. See you around!" Daniela called out, driving away almost in a hurry.

The race car chuckled in reply before turning back to Mater, who almost startled him again, but this time with a goofy face.

"Oh, hey there. Have you seen my friend Mater?" Lightning jokingly asked to his friend.

"Oh buddy you know I was just playin' with ya! Now are ya ready to see what else I have planned?" He asked with widened eyes of excitement.

Lightning nodded, opening his mouth a little in excitement. "Lead the way."

Lightning grew surprised and confused when Mater had stopped by the movie theatre and looked at Lightning as if he should know by now. He looked around and then at the sky, it was still pretty bright. He wondered why Mater brought him to the movie theatre now instead of later.

"Um, Mater? Why are we here now? It's not even sunset yet."

"I know that but I thought we could just hang out until then...maybe talk about a certain somethin' you want to ask Miss Sally?" He asked suggestively with a wink and a smirk.

Lightning looked down, all of a sudden feeling very anxious and shy. "I don't know Mater...I really want to but I'm worried she'll say no. Maybe it's not supposed to happen...I just...I don't know." He ended with a sigh as he looked at the ground sadly and rubbed his tires against the ground.

"I know just what you need, follow me." Mater called out as he suddenly drove off out of the movie theatre, leaving Lightning confused and saddened.

He followed his tow truck friend, and saw that he was driving back into town, but then he stopped right in front of a particular store. Lightning had followed him but grew more anxious once he realised what store he had brought him to.

"Mater...I don't know. Maybe Sally has a point with waiting..." Lightning said, doubting himself even more because of his anxiety.

"Now I understand your concern Lightnin' but I'd say that you two are more than ready to do this. Besides, you don't have to have the wedding tomorrow you can always wait till next year or somethin'." Mater assured his friend.

Lightning looked up at his friend and smiled, knowing that he said the right thing to him. So with a deep breath he drove into the store to find the perfect thing for Sally. Afterwards, he had shown what he bought to Mater, he gave his friend an excited look as to say what he bought was perfect.

"McQueen you just made tonight's date even more exciting for me to be a part of!" The tow truck exclaimed with excitement, almost bouncing out of his wheels.

"See you soon, buddy." Lightning replied, driving home to get ready.

So Lightning drove home and readied himself for the double date, but first he looked in the mirror and practiced what he wanted to ask to Sally. It felt incredibly stupid and only made him feel more nervous. He stopped doing so once he heard the door open and Sally come in wanting to get ready herself for the double date.

Oooh what's going on here? Someone wants to ask something!? Well, will Sally say yes to Lightning's big question? How will the date turn out? Find out in the next Chapter next week! ^^

Just to let you know, that fan that drove into Lighting was me, I made up a name XD