The Ides of March
Lone Pine
A/N: This chapter will focus on Lorraine and Biff's POV's in the 'Lone Pine' timeline (the timeline caused by Marty's original trip back to 1955).
Thursday, March 15th, 1973
Lorraine Baines McFly sat in the living room, in front of the television, at her house in Lyons Estates. It was late in the evening, about eight o'clock. She'd just got back from dropping her eldest son Dave at a friend's house for a sleepover. Her younger children, Marty and Linda were upstairs in their rooms...she would call them down for dinner once her husband George was back.
Lorraine was waiting for her husband George...not with impatience, not even with anticipation, but with sheer unadulterated excitement! For tonight, her husband would be receiving an award for his writing. And not just any award, but a particularly prestigious one...one that would bring him widespread recognition and renown within the literary community...one which would indisputably signify the fact that George McFly had indeed made a success of himself! He was the one McFly who had amounted to something in the history of Hill Valley...
And once again, Lorraine was reminded of exactly how and why she fell in love with this man, who had seemed so shy and meek at first, but instead had a tiger ready to roar inside him. She remembered that fateful night, in the parking lot outside the Enchantment Under the Sea dance...when a drunken Biff had tried to rape her...and George had come to her rescue and actually knocked out his long-time tormentor with one punch! That was when she saw the real George McFly...the man who had been hidden so far behind all the meekness...
George would claim later that it was all because of 'Marty'...their mysterious mutual friend Calvin Klien...but Lorraine knew that while Calvin may have acted as a stimulus, George had always had it in him to be a winner at life. And he's started his winning streak by winning her heart at the dance, when he'd pushed away the obnoxious ginger-head who was pestering her, and passionate kissed her...
That had been his first victory! Today was the latest one...
The doorbell rang and Lorraine rushed to the door, opening it and literally throwing herself upon George. The two made out at the doorstep like a couple of teenagers for a few seconds before they breathlessly released each other, and Lorraine at last caught a glimpse of the award George had received.
"Here it is, honey", George said beaming, handing her the glistening golden award.
"Oh George! It's beautiful!" Lorraine gushed. "I'm so proud of you!"
"I can't believe I've got it...I mean, I've dreamt about it for so long...ever since I'd published my first story and..." George began but Lorraine cut him off... "I always believed you'd get it honey. I knew, deep down inside, that you'd get it".
"Well...I wish you could have been there. And the kids too. Unfortunately, there wasn't much room there to bring our families..." George said, but Lorraine silenced him with a kiss. "It's alright, George...there were others before...and there will be many more to come, I'm sure!"
"You know...I really wish Calvin Klien had been there", George said wistfully. "In a way, I still feel I owe it all to him...without him I wouldn't have the award...I wouldn't even have had you. It's really a pity he got lost at sea. I'd always wanted to meet him again and thank him...but we never saw him again after that night".
"Yeah I know", Lorraine said, suddenly morose. She remembered crying when Doctor Emmett Brown, Calvin's uncle, had informed her years ago, of his 'nephew's' tragic demise overseas. She too felt she owed a lot to Calvin...in a strange way; she still loved him deeply...not in a romantic way, of course, but in another way...as though he were family...it was partly why she'd named her youngest son after Calvin's nickname.
"Well...I guess this calls for a celebration...if I may say so myself!" George said, restoring the celebratory mood. "So I've got some champagne in the car".
"I'll go get it honey. You just get yourself freshened up. We'll have a nice quiet drink together and then tell the kids the good news", Lorraine said.
Later, after their celebratory drink, Lorraine made her way up to call the kids, when she saw her nearly five year old son, Marty, starting down the stairs.
"Mom", he asked her. "Is Dad back home?"
"Yes, honey", Lorraine said with a smile. "And guess what...he's won the award!"
"That's great, Mom", Marty smiled and shouted excitedly.
"Now why don't you go downstairs and congratulate dad, while I go wake up Linda", Lorraine said. She then rushed to her room briefly, to retrieve her own special gift she'd got for George when she first got to know he was receiving the award. Smiling at the brand new exquisite French fountain pen she'd bought for him, she couldn't but help reflect on how great her life had turned out.
Once again, as she had done so often before, she said a silent prayer for Calvin Klein's soul, and thanked her one-time 'dream boat' for all he had done to secure hers and George's happiness...
Biff Tannen lay down on his couch, in front of the television, a tumbler of iced beer in his hands. Though he could guess that at this moment, not beer, but champagne was being served at the McFly household.
So the Irish Bug had won the award! Well, not that it was much of a surprise now...not after all these years. Nothing George McFly had achieved in the last eighteen years had surprised Biff...nothing since the punch...
He could never have believed McFly had it in him...but just when he felt the Irish Bug would plead with him...swear to stay away from 'his girl' forever...George actually laid him out with one punch!
That night, Biff's reign of terror over the school ended. For, if a complete wimp like George McFly had the guts to stand up to Biff...who wouldn't?
Not that George McFly stayed a wimp for long. He flourished in his senior year of high school...and beyond...with Lorraine eternally at his side.
Lorraine...
Biff had desired her. He'd wanted her. And he would have had her too, right there in that car outside the dance, had McFly not punched him. After that, Biff couldn't really grudge him...after all, George had won Lorraine fair and square! He couldn't do anything about it...except curse himself...and the laughing stock he'd become...First the manure, and now this...that week in 1955 had changed his life forever.
Things hadn't been so bad though. He'd set up his own successful Auto Detailing firm. The McFly's, ironically enough, were his best customers. George McFly seemed to have, over the years, forgiven Biff for all the torment he'd caused him...and even Lorraine seemed to have, slowly but surely, started to forgive him for what he'd nearly done to her. He still desired her of course...he always would...but he knew when he was licked. He knew he could never have her now...she belonged to George...he'd won her fair and square...and Biff didn't want to be in George McFly's bad books ever again...
He sighed and glanced at the clock. He'd probably have to turn in early...he was due at the McFly house early next morning...and he knew he couldn't afford to be late. Last time he was, George had forced him to give a discount...
