A/N: This... this was originally going to be a one shot, but then it was a ton of notes in my notebook. Then it was a folder's worth of one shots on my desktop and then yeeeeah. I guess this will be my first multi-chapter Cars fic, then. Fine by me; this pairing needs all the love it can get.

I'm usually a pretty slow updater, but I have a lot of this already written and am obsessed with Cars at the moment, so maybe I can make a goal of avoiding that usual pit my stories fall into. I can't promise it'll be like Nobody's Fool or anything like that. (Which, by the way, is a lovely collection of one shots by Mighty ANT that you need to read if you're a M/H fan. Just saying.)

Thank you for any reviews! I read and love every one of them, even if I don't always have a witty reply. Critique is more than welcome!

The First Date

As was the end of many, many best friend excursions Lightning and Mater had, the tow truck's echoing laughter would arrive back in town before he did. Lightning, more aware of the concept of death, would drive with the tow truck past the old theater looking exhausted... but also laughing.

Still, the race car was a little more frazzled than normal today, since Mater's plan to use his rockets for a quick getaway had been met with a few bumps in the road and a nasty dent on Lightning's left side. And it wasn't even nightfall yet.

"Dad gum, he almost done got us that time! Eh, buddy?" He nudged Lightning's side. Still sore, the race car winced.

"He sure did! Uh... Mater?"

"Yeah bud?"

"What happens if Frank ever... you know... actually catches us?"

"Well," Mater sighed, "not to brag or nothing, but Holley!"

That wasn't an answer, but before Lightning could clarify, Mater had bolted ahead. Sure enough, the purple jaguar was stationed near the Cozy Cone with Sally, and Mater was wagging his tow cable at Holley's side in a matter of seconds. Sally smiled at Lightning and waved him over with a tire.

"What r' you doin' here?"

"Finn and I have some time to kill, so we thought of stopping by," Holley looked to the ground, "I'm sorry I didn't send a head's up."

"No, it's fine! It's great!" Mater hopped in place with the biggest smile plastered on his front bumper. Lightning rolled his eyes at what a smooth operator his best friend was; he looked more like a toy car trying to get adopted.

Still, Holley's own smile deepened dramatically. "So, what are your plans for the day?"

"Well, Mcqueen and I was in the middle of-"

Darnit, Mater. Lightning cut in. "We were right in the middle of the end of hanging out today," he managed to say without tripping over the weird phrasing. Sally stiffed a laugh.

Thankfully, with a wink from Lightning, Mater finally caught on. "Ohhhhhhhh. Right. Yes we were." The tow truck cleared his throat and bowed chivalrously.

"Actually, Miss Shiftwell, I don' have much of anything today, and I do believe I still owe you that first date."