Saturday night, the whole of Radiator Springs tuned in for the first rose ceremony. Fillmore had spent an equal amount of time with every one of the contestants and gone on a one-on-one date with each of them. In their little tent, Luigi, Guido and Sarge were watching as well. The Fiat was anxiously hoping that Bianca would be given a rose. In fact, Luigi thought, the Ferrari deserved all the roses.

"Remind me how this works again?" Sheriff asked Sally as the Mini Cooper hostess gave a summary of the week.

"There are six roses Fillmore has to give," Sally explained. "Whoever gets a rose, stays. The two that don't get a rose, leave."

"That's pretty rough," Lightning commented.

"Sounds ridiculous," Doc mumbled. "Can't tell them apart anyway."

Parked in the foyer of the mansion, all of the ladies looked at each other in worry. It was their first rose ceremony and a little nerve-wracking for everyone.

"Ladies," Angela turned towards them. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, yes," Tia grumbled. "Get on with it already."

"Couldn't agree more," Sarge mumbled. Fillmore rolled into the foyer, looking completely relaxed. Angela studied his expression carefully. All the bachelors usually looked very somber and serious during the rose ceremonies. Fillmore had a remarkable poker face.

"Ladies," the Volkswagen started. "Tonight, you're expecting a difficult decision."

Everyone looked at him in anticipation.

"I, however, will not be making that decision," Fillmore said resolutely.

"What's he doin'?" Ramone asked. Sarge rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what was coming.

"These rules," Fillmore started dramatically. "Have no place in matters of the heart. We must carve our own path," he slammed his tire down resolutely. "And so I won't be sending any of you home."

"What, no," Angela tried to protest. They were live for crying out loud.

"But…" Lilith questioned. "The roses?"

"What about them?" Fillmore shrugged.

"There are only six," Claire reasoned. "Are we going to have to share?"

"No need," Fillmore reached his tire behind the table and pulled out a basket. "I brought my own."

Sure enough, there in the basket were several roses, all made out of old newspapers.

"You made your own roses?" Li asked.

"There's beauty in everything," Fillmore replied.

"They're really well done," Everly rolled forward, admiring the details on the petals. All of the other ladies crowded around her, wanting to see for themselves.

"That's Fillmore for you," Sheriff shook his head, watching the ladies coo over the roses. "Can't bear to send anyone home."

"No! Give Bianca an actual rose," Luigi demanded, outraged at the disrespect the Ferrari was receiving.

Sarge chuckled as he saw Angela's expression in the background. Stupid hostess. Fillmore didn't abide to any rules. They should have thought of this before they signed him on.

"Alright, I'm sorry," the Mini Cooper finally drove forward, raising her voice. "But two of you have to go. It's in the contract."

"If you force any of these wonderful, sweet ladies to leave against their will, I'm going with them," Fillmore said resolutely.

Karin inwardly swooned and Bianca admired his determination.

"I... " Angela struggled for words.

"It's alright," Tia finally spoke up. "I was planning on going anyway."

The Jeep took one of the paper flowers and turned to the van.

"Fillmore, it was wonderful meeting you," she nodded. "You helped me when I needed it the most."

"You helped me as well," Cheyenne rolled up to him and gave him an affectionate bump on the tire. The other cars rolled back, allowing Tia and Cheyenne to say their goodbyes.

"Ladies, it was so great to have you here," Fillmore smiled warmly at both of them. "I'll go out with you."

There were no tears or drama. Only affectionate goodbyes as Cheyenne and Tia bid farewell to the other competitors. Fillmore drove with them to where the trucks were waiting. He promised Tia that he'd follow her story and told Cheyenne to come visit him when the show was over.

"And remember," he called to them. "Go wherever your path takes you!"

After that stunt, the views shot through the roof. Everyone wanted to see the hippie bachelor give out newspaper flowers instead of real ones. MTV replayed the scene multiple and it started trending on YouTube.

The Weathers family first spotted it during one of the replays.

"Hey, Cal, go back a bit," Lynda said suddenly. Cal, who'd been flicking through the television channels, stopped and moved his tire to the other button.

"What is it?" Strip asked her.

"I think I saw someone familiar," Lynda squinted at the screen. "Stop!"

Cal moved his tire away from the button and glanced up. Sure enough, there was Fillmore, standing in some sort of of hallway with a bunch of roses next to him.

"Ain't that the Volkswagen on McQueen's pit crew?" Tex asked, looking up as well.

"Yeah, Fillmore," Cal replied. "What show's he on?"

"Looks like the Bachelor," Strip commented. "What with the roses and all."

"Huh," Tex commented. "I actually got accepted for that just a few weeks ago."

The sponsor shot a glance over at Cal, who quickly turned up the volume on the show to avoid any awkward questions. Tex knew it had been Strip's nephew and some other racers who decided to sign him up, but Cal hadn't admitted to it yet.

"What'd you do?" Strip asked.

"Just deleted the email," Tex shrugged. Cal noticed Strip's gaze land on him but was saved by any demanding questions as Lynda started chuckling.

"Look, he's giving them newspaper flowers," she pointed a tire.

In another house, Leland Turbo and Rod Redline spotted it next.

"Look here, Redline," Leland pointed to the screen, trying to catch his roommate's attention. "It's the van that works for McQueen's pit crew."

Rod couldn't care less.

In fact, due to Fillmore's connection to Lightning and Lightning's connection to the racing world, most of the racers ended up watching the show. It was off season anyway and certainly more entertaining than other late night tv shows.

Sarge, for one, wasn't at all surprised by Fillmore's actions. He was actually amazed it had taken the hippie this long to do something completely embarrassing and was happy that two contestants had left of their own free will. However, he didn't let the relief cloud his judgement. There were still six more contestants to scare away.

He started his plan Sunday night. Armed with nothing but his knowledge of the mansion from the outside, Guido snuck in using his keycard.

"I will not have Bianca humiliated in this way," Luigi had protested.

"Very well," Sarge rolled his eyes. "We'll skip her then everyone will think she's the guilty one."

The Fiat reconsidered his previous stand point and relented. Guido went on with his mission.

Fillmore woke early Monday morning and watched the sunrise from the balcony outside his room. With some nostalgia, he remembered his usual morning routine with Sarge. He missed his neighbour, despite their arguing. However, he needed to push that homesickness aside. He still had a mission to accomplish. His heart was happy at the thought of Tia and Cheyenne finding their paths in life. He'd see them again in Radiator Springs.

The Volkswagen was about to turn back into the room when he caught a familiar flash of blue in his peripheral vision. He drove forward, curious. A scream froze him in his tracks.

"ALRIGHT! WHO DID THIS?"

Li! It was Li! Fillmore turned back into the mansion and hurriedly drove to the other side where the girls' rooms were. One of the camera crew was there, looking confused.

A door in the corridor burst open and Li bounced out of her room. All four of her tires were deflated.

"WHO DID THIS?" The Datsun demanded, glaring around the corridor where the other doors were opening.

"It wasn't me!" Everly grumbled, wobbling out of the corridor, her tires also deflated.

"Or me," Bianca held out her front tire as proof.

"Ladies," Fillmore tried to sooth them, about to remind the girls that all of them were too big to sneak into each other's rooms. He was interrupted as Angela screeched into the corridor, already freshly waxed for the day.

"Fillmore! What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I heard the scream," Fillmore responded. The Mini Cooper ushered him to the side as several pink forklifts whizzed into the corridor, ready to replace the tires or pump the air back in.

"You're not supposed to be here," Angela whispered heatedly to him. "It's against the rules!"

"Ang, rules are put in place by those who don't understand," Fillmore sighed as he explained. "These girls, they could have needed me. I go where I'm needed."

"Yes, well, please go back to your room," Angela demanded. "You can check on the girls later. Right now we need to fix this."

"Alright, Ang," Fillmore relented. "I know you'll take good care of them."

"Bye, Fillmore!" Claire called out as she saw the van leaving. "Thanks for coming to check on us."

"For you ladies," Fillmore called out. "I'll come anytime you need me."