I’m soooo sorry I haven’t updated!!! Its just that school is draining me and my dad coming home from Iraq has just been distracting me! But here it is, the long awaited chapter 7! P.S. You may need tissues for the ending.
-o0o-
Chapter 7:
The sun rose over Ornament Valley, casting a glow over the land; a sight that neither of the two Hornets would forget. Waking up next to each other, looking at the beautiful sight. Then it struck them, they were outside.
“Um, did we fall asleep out here?” Amy asked.
“I think so.”
“How did that happen! I mean, I don’t get it at all!”
“Amy, maybe we fell asleep, enjoying our comfort.”
“Two lovers, side by side, enjoying every minute of it.”
The two leaned in for a good morning kiss, completely lost in each other. “If only we could stay up here forever . . .” Amy said, sighing afterwards.
“I know, but we’ve got a lot to do back home.”
“Like what?”
“Like me showing you how to make that dirt turn.”
“You’d show me how?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I’d hate to see you in that cactus patch again.”
“Oh, you don’t have to.”
“But I want to.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s head down to Flo’s and fill up on some breakfast before your racing lesson.”
-o0o-
“Where are they!” Flo shouted out into the open, at no particular car.
“Specify ‘they’ please?” Mia asked.
“Doc, Amy, Mater, and the Sheriff!”
“Oh.”
“I wouldn’t blame ya for not knowin’, ya only came here a few days ago!”
“True that, Flo.”
“There ya go, Tia!” Ramone said across the street over at his shop.
“Thanks for my new paintjob, Ramone!”
“You’re welcome! Though personally, I would’ve loved to see some flames on you.”
“Ramone, I just don’t think flames would look good on me.”
“Nonsense, chica! You’d look wonderful!”
“I’m still not so sure. Maybe next time, Ramone.”
“Alright then.” Ramone reluctantly gave up.
Mia sat there, open-mouthed at her sister’s paintjob. It was so- so- yellow!
“Tia! What did you do!”
“Well, after thinking about how Lightning is happy with Sally, I realized, do I have to be so fangirly around him? He has a girlfriend! I’m still gonna be a Lightning fan, just not obsess over him.”
“So why the new paintjob?”
“To show I’m over him! Besides, I’ve always loved the color yellow!”
“Next time, tone it down a little! It’s just a little too bright for me!”
“You think so?” Tia asked, her windshield lined with tears.
“Don’t cry, sis! It’s perfect for you! It’s just that I’m not a bright colors person, that’s all!”
“Oh, okay.”
“I think you look pretty, Tia.” Sally said. “Besides, when more customers come to town, they’ll be able to tell you apart! Don’t need them getting their waitresses confused!”
“Thank you. And I didn’t realize that!”
“You’re welcome!”
Coming down the road were two blue cars, one navy blue and one powder blue. “That must be them, thank God!” Flo exclaimed.
“It’s about time!” Sarge complained. Then leaning closer to the scarlet racecar beside him, he whispered, “Sometimes Flo can take her role as a mother hen too much.”
“Where were you guys! I was worried sick!” Flo complained to the Hornets.
“We were just up at the Wheel Well, Flo! You don’t need to worry so much!” Amy explained.
“I just want to be sure that you guys are okay!”
“Thanks, Flo.”
“Wait a second, what were you two doing at the Wheel Well?” Sally asked. “I still need to work on it before it even opens.”
“Oh, well, about that, see, I couldn’t sleep last night, so I thought a drive would tire me out. I headed up to the Wheel Well, and during a little break up there, who do I see but Doc here also coming for a drive. We just got to talking, and it must have tired us out so much, we fell asleep up there.” Amy said, carefully maneuvering around some of the more personal details of the night. Doc couldn’t believe how well with words she was.
Lightning tried to hold in laughter, but he lost control. He managed to stutter out, “How do you fall asleep outside of a motel!”
“Watch it, kid,” Doc warned.
“That’s not the point, McQueen!” Amy said, somewhat annoyed.
“You two must’ve been freezin’ in the cold air of the night!” Flo exclaimed.
“We were actually quite comfortable, Flo,” Amy said in an attempt to calm the ex-showcar down.
“Thank goodness.”
Not soon after, Doc and Amy were looking at each other with awkward glances. “How do we tell them about our, you know, relationship?” Doc whispered.
“In private, don’t you think?”
Ramone noticed the two were whispering. “What is it, homies?”
Amy managed to come up with, “Um . . . It’s kinda private.”
“Private?” Sarge asked. “How so?”
Amy bit her grille a bit before saying, “Private as in I only feel comfortable telling the girls about it.”
Sally, Flo, Mia, and Tia all knew what this meant. Something happened last night at the Wheel Well, and they wanted the details.
-o0o-
Amy was headed over to her room in the Cozy Cone. She wanted to record last night’s events in her diary, when Sally drove over. “Hey there, Amy!”
“Oh, hi, Sally!”
“I hope I don’t sound pushy, but being a girl, I can’t help but wonder, what did happen last night?”
“Oh, you took ‘the girls’ as you and the other girls here!” Amy started to laugh a bit. “When I said that, I meant my girls back in Phoenix!”
“Don’t you trust us?”
“I do, it’s just that, this is really private, and I don’t know you guys very well yet! It’d just feel awkward. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh, it’s okay, really. But are you sure? I mean, gossip is gossip, no matter who you tell it to.”
Amy pondered that for a moment. That is true, when you need to tell someone something big, did it matter who that ‘someone’ was? Besides, wasn’t she the one who wanted the girls’ night?
“Okay, I’ll tell you, but get the other girls! I’d hate for them to miss out!”
“You got it!”
It didn’t take long for the rest of the girls to get over there. Gossip wasn’t common in Radiator Springs, at least not in the past 40 years, and even if gossip was around, it was usually meant for the guys, who dominated the population.
“Okay girl, it doesn’t matter what the gossip is, just as long as it’s gossip! It’s been so long!” Flo said.
Amy shuffled her tire, a little embarrassed to say what she was gonna say. “Last night, when me and Doc were at the Wheel Well, we, um, we kissed.”
“You what!” the four other girls exclaimed in unison.
All Amy could do was smile sheepishly.
“Oh, hon, I knew you and Doc would make a great couple!” Flo commented.
“Stickers, I mean Lightning, was telling me yesterday that he had tricked Doc into saying he liked you. Saying ‘he was in denial’ or something like that.”
“In denial?”
“Well, he did tell us that he didn’t want to fall for another car after somethin’ happened to him a while back. Guess stubborn ol’ Doc changed his mind for once!” Flo said.
“Huh. I never knew that.”
“So, you wanna go talk to your boyfriend?” Tia asked, pointing over towards Doc, whom she noticed looking over at her. Apparantly, he noticed her looking back for he winked at her. Just that little wink made her heart flutter. She managed to wink back at him. He motioned for her to come over with his tire.
“I guess my boyfriend wants to see me.” Amy noticed. She drove over back to Flo’s where Doc was parked, smiling.
“Would you look at that. I ain’t never seen Doc so smiley since- in fact, I’ve never seen him so smiley.” Flo commented on the little scene. “Looks like Amy’s doin’ a good thing for him.”
“Yeah, she is.” Sally noted.
-o0o-
“Hey, Amy.” Doc said, still smiling.
“You’re in a good mood.”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, I’ve got you around.”
Amy leaned into Doc’s side, with a smile on her face. Doc nuzzled her, followed by Amy nuzzling him back, both of their eyes being closed.
“Looks like someone realized he really did have feelings for Amy,” they heard someone say.
Doc opened his eyes, a bit of an annoyed look on his face. Annoyed that his little moment was ruined, and annoyed that the person wouldn’t give it up. “Oh, will you shut up, kid. I’ve had enough of this.”
“I won’t shut up until you admit it.”
“Admit what?”
“That I was right.”
“Kid, don’t go back to your old self.”
“I’ll stop that, too.”
“Fine!” Doc exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “You were right. You happy?”
“Yes,” Lightning said, smirking.
“Sometimes that kid can be a major pain.” Doc whispered to Amy.
“He’s young. Just give him time. Trust me. My brother used to be a lot like him. Then he grew up.” Amy whispered back.
Maybe there was hope for Lightning after all.
“So, you wanna head down to Willy’s Butte for me to give you those drifting lessons I promised you?”
“Sure thing!”
-o0o-
Doc and Amy drove over to the dirt track, which ran around Willy’s Butte, one of the many picturesque monuments that made Ornament Valley such a beautiful place. Amy was excited to learn how to drift from Doc. Not because he used to be a racer back in the early 50’s, but because he is her boyfriend.
“You ready to learn how to drift, Amy?” Doc asked.
“Very ready.” Amy replied.
“Okay, I’ve learned this from experience, but it helps to learn how unless you have a visual. Trust me, teaching it to that red hotshot by telling him what to do didn’t work. Wasn’t until he followed me down here and watched me race around that track without my knowing of it.”
Chuckling, Amy responded with, “Nice.”
“So, let me show you what you’re gonna be learning to do.”
Doc drove down to the makeshift starting line, which was really a rope and two tires on the edges of the track. Doc revved up his engine loud, just to show off for Amy. Sure he usually wasn’t usually much of a hotshot, but he was allowed to be sometimes, right? As soon as he was ready, he took off speeding around the track. Amy watched in awe as Doc showcased skills he learned, and still retained, from back in the early 50’s. Once that dreaded turn came that made Amy crash, she was certain that Doc wasn’t going to crash like she did, but she couldn’t help but be concerned for her boyfriend. I mean, what if something happened? It wasn’t as if he had never gotten into a wreck before? And there were still chances that he could wreck again. But all those worries and fears were put away as Doc counter -steered into a drift. All Amy could think about was how great it would’ve been if she could’ve captured a picture of him, in mid-drift. For it was beautiful. Doc came out of the drift and slid to a stop once he was past the finish line, a trademark move for him.
“See what you have to do?” he asked Amy.
“Yep.”
“Here, we’ll take it slow at first, and I’ll be right beside you the entire time coaching you on.”
“I’d like that, thanks.”
“Anything for you.”
Amy smiled at Doc, “And I’ll do anything for you.”
For a moment, the two were quiet, just sitting there at the dirt track, gazing at each other. Then Doc realized the reason the two were there in the first place. “Um, aren’t we here to teach you to drift?
“Oh, yeah! I forgot, happens to me a lot. Besides, I kinda got lost in your eyes.”
“Really?”
“Of course! I mean, they’re such a beautiful shade of blue. Besides, I’ve always found blue eyes to be amazing.”
“Well, you’re brown eyes are the – wait a second, are we getting distracted again!”
Amy laughed. “Maybe this would’ve been easier if we did this yesterday!”
“Maybe!” Doc said, starting to laugh also. “Okay, let’s get to work here.” Doc said, suddenly serious.
“Right.” Amy said, a few chuckles still left over.
“Like I said, I’ll coach you right through it.”
“Okay.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“What?”
“I mean, this was all my idea. And I don’t need you doing anything you don’t want to be doing and-“
“Hey,” Amy interrupted, “would I be parked beside you right now if I didn’t want to do this?”
“I guess not.” Doc said, his eyes looking down and away from Amy.
“Come on, I don’t need you in a bad mood for my racing lesson!”
Doc smiled at Amy’s enthusiasm. “Okay then, you ready, for hopefully what will be the last time?”
“I’m ready.”
“Okay, let’s start off at, oh, let’s say 70 miles per hour. Or is that too fast for you, and just seems slow to me because I’m a racer?”
“I’m the same model as you. I think I can handle it.”
“Okay, 70 it is.”
The two started up, and took off racing, at their agreed on pace. They finished the first straightaway and just came out of the first turn. “Okay, we’re coming up on the turn. Let me get a bit of a head start here so I can show you how it’s done.” Doc said, almost shouting to be able to have Amy hear him over their engines.
Amy nodded her hood, telling Doc she understood.
Doc sped up a bit, just enough to get ahead of her good enough to show her what to do, but not too far ahead where she was farther behind him than she needed to be to fully see how the drift works.
He drifted in front of Amy, and she looked carefully at each movement he made going into the drift, and then duplicated it as best as she could. Which, for a first try, was pretty good. Guess it helped that she is a Hornet, with their amazing cornering abilities.
Doc had watched Amy through his rearview mirror, and he was impressed with what he saw. He slowed down to allow Amy to come up next to him again. “That was great! One more time at this speed, then we’ll take it up to 100. What do you say?”
“Deal!”
Doc couldn’t help but smile. Amy did wonderful for her first try, and couldn’t wait to see what would happen as they kept practicing that drift.
-o0o-
“Amy, you were amazing!” Doc said, complementing her on her newly found drifting skills as they were driving up to town.
“Aw, thank you! But you do realize I’m only this amazing because of you.”
“Hey, I only taught you what to do.”
“And that’s what made me so ‘amazing.’”
The two Hornets had made it back to Flo’s V-8 café. “You guys back for lunch?” Tia asked. For the first time, Doc noticed that she had changed her paintjob.
“Nice paintjob there, Tia. It’s Tia, right?”
“Yep! I’m Tia! So, what do you want for lunch?”
“I think we just want to fill up on some gas, what do you think, Amy?” Doc suggested.
“I’m in the mood for a greaseburger. Especially with cheese, bacon, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, mayo, and mustard! Those are the best!”
“Okay,” Tia said, having taken down her order.
“Now I’m hungry for the same thing! Make that two please,” Doc ordered his food.
“Okay, coming right up!”
“Amy, you must have a great sense of taste, for that sounds really good!”
“It tastes even better! Trust me!”
Doc and Amy parked together, and noticed there wasn’t much of anyone there. Just themselves, Tia, Mia, and Flo. “What time is it?” Amy asked.
“It’s 2:30. You guys were gone for a long time.” Mia replied, reading a Vogue magazine, taking a break.
Amy and Doc looked at each other with disbelieving looks. They weren’t at the track that long, were they?
“Here’s your burgers!” Tia cheerily said, two burgers on her tray.
“Thanks, Tia.” The two said in unison, without even realizing it.
“Mmm . . . This burger is so good!” Amy said, after taking her first bite.
“I agree!” Doc said, having eaten a few bites also.
“I get the exact same condiments at Steak’n’Shake, but this is much better!”
“That’s Flo for ya, she’s a wizard when it comes to making food.”
Over at the little building where Flo cooks the food, Tia came in and noticed Flo watching the couple. “Are you spying on them?”
“Wha- no! No, no! Jeez, what makes you think that!”
“Oh, nothing, I was just wondering.”
“Did they order anything to drink?”
“Oh no, I forgot to ask them!”
“You did?”
“I promise I won’t do it again!”
“Tia, it’s okay! Besides, I’ve got an idea.”
Doc and Amy were about half way done with their burgers when Flo drove out. “Are those burgers good?”
“Mm-hm!” they hummed, shaking their hoods, both of their mouths full.
“That’s good! I noticed you guys don’t have anything to drink, so I just made up a quick milkshake, on the house!”
“Thanks, Flo.” Amy said.
“Wait. Just a milkshake?" Doc asked.
Flo handed the milkshake to the two, placing two straws in it. “It’s so big, I figured you guys could share. It’s vanilla. I wasn’t sure what Amy would like. Enjoy!”
Doc opened his mouth to say something, but Flo cut him off. “Enjoy!” And with that, Flo left off.
“I have a feeling Flo’s playing matchmaker.” Doc said.
“Hey, it’s just sharing a milkshake. Besides, I’ve always wanted to do so with a boyfriend.” Amy said, taking her first sips of vanilla-y goodness.
“You have?”
“Yeah. It just seems so romantic.”
“You must love romance, huh?”
“Yep.”
Amy gave Doc a quick kiss before returning to her remaining burger.
“So,” Doc started, after having a quick sip of that milkshake, “After this, what would you like to do?”
“I don’t really know.”
There isn’t much to do around here much, huh?”
“No, there isn’t. But it’s a small town. That’s just how they are.”
“Yep.”
“So, do you want to take a drive here when we’re finished?”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
The two finished up their burgers and shakes before getting ready for their drive. “Wanna head out to the Wheel Well again?”
“Sure. And since we were racing today, let’s keep this slow. Nothing over 45.”
“I like that.”
Doc and Amy took off towards Tailfin Pass, ready to spend the rest of their afternoon just driving, no destination in mind.
-o0o-
Soon, the sky was turning dark. Doc and Amy needed their headlights to finish the rest of their way back into town. “I still can’t believe how fast time can go by when we’re just spending time together.”
“I know what you mean, just two cars spending their time together because they like one another.” He stopped her where he was at, and gave her a kiss.
“You know, you’re the best guy I’ve ever met, right?”
“And you’re the most wonderful girl I’ve ever met.”
This time, it was Amy’s turn for a kiss. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For reminding me how wonderful a relationship can really be.”
The two just stared at each other lovingly before realizing that the neon cruise was going to be starting soon. Doc moved back beside Amy and they continued their way back into town.
The two made it back, and they noticed all of the neon lights were on. Lightning had his stereo outside.
“Oh boy,” Doc commented.
“What?”
“Lightning better not be playing DJ tonight.”
“You don’t like his music choices?”
“Not really. It’s stuff like Fall Out Boy and All-American Rejects or whatever those bands are.”
“Oh”
“Hey, Lightning! Are you choosing tonight’s music!” Doc called out to the scarlet racer.
“Yeah, why!” Lightning called back.
“’Cause I don’t like your choices!”
“That’s real nice!”
“I just don’t! And besides, you chose already before!”
“Fine, you can chose!”
“Me?” Doc was a little uncertain about this.
“You haven’t had a turn yet!”
“Yeah, but what about Amy!”
“I chose you!”
“Hey, this can give you a chance to show Lightning what real music is then.” Amy whispered to Doc.
“I do like the sound of that. “Fine, I’ll do it!”
Doc drove over to the radio over at Lizzie’s. “Doc, why aren’t you using my stereo!”
“Because I know Lizzie’s radio has my type music on it!”
Lightning took his stereo back over to his cone at the Cozy Cone. “Brought this out for nothing!” he said to himself.
Doc laughed as he turned on the old radio, an old, upbeat song from the 50’s played from the speakers.
Amy found it really catchy, and starting tapping her tire to the beat. “Come on!” she said, motioning her tire to come over, “Dance with me!”
“No thanks. I- I can’t dance.”
“Oh, come on! You can’t be that bad!”
“I am. Trust me.”
Amy wasn’t gonna take no for an answer. She dragged Doc out onto the street. “I know you can dance!”
Doc was gonna say something when he looked at Amy’s face. Her eye’s seemed to say if he didn’t, that she’d be upset.
“Okay, I’ll dance,” he gave in.
Amy started dancing, and Doc took that as his signal to start. He was a little shy about it though. “See, you’re not bad! You’re actually pretty good!” Amy commented.
“You think so?” he said, not believing it.
“Uh-huh.”
Doc had a smile on his face, and decided to let loose a little bit more. Okay, maybe he wasn’t the best, but at least he wasn’t making a fool of himself.
Lightning and Sally started dancing, followed by Flo and Ramone. Soon, the entire town was dancing on Route 66 beneath the glow of the neon lights.
-o0o-
Mater had been driving 20 hours. He was hungry and tired. But he found the Sheriff eventually. “Mater, I can’t believe I’m sayin’ this, but I’m glad ta see ya, boy!”
“I’m happy ta see ya too, Sheriff! You know, Lightning was the one who was concerned for ya at first. He was wonderin’ why you weren’t at yesterday’s karaoke night!”
“He was? Well that was nice of him.”
“It dad-gun was!”
“Okay, Mater. Hook me up here and take me back ta town as quick as ya can so Doc can fix me up.”
“I’ll hook ya up!” Mater took his tow-hook, and hooked Sheriff in the back and started towing him into town.
-o0o-
A slow song was playing out of the speakers of Lizzie’s radio. All of the couples were nuzzled up together. Doc looked over at Amy with a loving look on his face. In only a few days, he had fallen for this girl right beside him. And for some unexplainable reason, he felt as if he had fallen even more for her as the day went on. Maybe, just maybe . . .
He pulled Amy aside, toward his place. “Woah, where are we going?” she asked, startled by the sudden movement.
“Just over here,” he said as they stopped in front of the door to his clinic.
“Why’d you pull me over here?”
“I have something I want to tell you. But first,” Doc leaned in and gave Amy a long and passionate kiss, the most amazing kiss any of them had ever had before. When they released, they came back in for another one, even more passionate than the first. After they pulled away, it was right then and there when he knew exactly how he felt for the powder blue Hudson Hornet in front of him.
“Amy,” he started, getting her attention. “I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just gonna say it.” Doc paused and took a deep breath. “I lo-“
He was cut off when Amy heard the sound of a familiar engine. One she hoped she’d never hear again. “Oh no,” she started. “No, not him, not now!”
“Amy, what’s wrong?” Doc asked, concerned for his girlfriend, but a little upset that he wasn’t able to finish what he was going to say to her.
“It’s- it’s . . .”
“It’s who?”
“It’s me,” came a deep voice. Doc looked up to see a black Corvette with ice blue eyes.
“Adam,” was all Amy could manage to whisper.
“Oh, so this is the Adam you told me about?” he asked, concerned, but yet sounding angry at the same time. He turned his attention to Adam. “You’re the one who dated this girl and then used her? Starting abusing her! Hurting her for no reason what so ever!” With each word he said, his anger grew more, his voice getting louder. Amy was hiding behind Doc, knowing that he’d protect her from Adam. Doc could see her behind him through his rearview mirrors. “Look at her! She’s scared of you because of what you did to her!”
“I gave her a home after I found her crying because her boyfriend dumped her!” Adam said, defending himself, trying to make his actions seem noble.
“Yes, you did, but then you stabbed her in the back! Most likely literally! You hurt her, and what has she ever done to you!”
“The worst she’s ever done to me is gone and cheated on me with some navy blue classic. And I say he should be the one hiding, not her.”
Doc wasn’t sure who Adam was referring to at first. At least not until he his tire was in a position to punch him. Doc’s eyes went wide as Adam punched him hard in the side, sending him in the direction closer to his clinic.
“No! Don’t you hurt him!” Amy called out, tears starting to form in her eyes.
“This doesn’t involve you, baby! It’s about me and him!” he said, before turning back to Doc, who was trying to regain his composure. He was hurt pretty bad in his right side, but he was sure he had enough energy to fight this guy. But before he knew it, Adam came and swung another punch at his bad side, causing Doc to let out a little yelp of pain. His side was now dented from Adam’s beatings.
It took Amy all the power she had to not go there and stand in Adam’s way. The only thing stopping her was the memories of how painful his beatings were.
Adam got really close to Doc’s face and whispered, “If you ever get anywhere near my Amy again, I’ll kill you.” He backed away as if he was going to leave, but then took a surprise punch at him, knocking Doc into the wall of the clinic, hurting both his right and his left.
Adam grabbed Amy and forced her to come along. She knew after that display of Adam’s violence to Doc, no one was gonna try to get in Adam’s way. She reluctantly followed him, tears flowing from her eyes and running down her hood. She turned around and mouthed, “I’ll miss you,” to Doc, who couldn’t seem to move from that spot, no matter how hard he tried. Adam must have hurt him hard enough to damage his insides, breaking an important part.
“Amy!” he called out as she was taken away from him. Even though he was usually the strong one, this time, he wasn’t strong enough. And as soon as Amy was gone from his site, he broke down and started to cry.
-o0o-
I cried as I wrote that last scene. Please don’t kill me! blows nose Comments will help me feel better about hurting Doc.