Jules nervously strolled into the kitchen. At the table Clara sat, resting her head in one of her hands, her elbow perched on the table.

"M-m-mo-mother?" Jules asked.

Clara looked over, and he could see the dark rings of exhaustion under her eyes. "What?" She snapped.

"Um, it is almost time for school and I'm inquiring about the food capsules for my midday meal."

Clara glared. "Get out of here you worthless brat..."

Jules whimpered slightly before leaving for school, his stomach growling. Due to the sour feeling in his stomach, he had a hard time focusing on his math test. His head ached and he wasn't sure if he was putting the right numbers in the right answer spaces or not. When he thought he was done he laid his head on his desk and faded in and out of a half like dreaming phase.

….

"Jules?" His teacher called as he tried to slump out of the room.

He looked over, his eyes glazed over. "Y-yes Ms. Applegate?"

"Can you come here for a moment?"

Jules gulped as he went over to her desk, now more alert out of fear. "Y-yes?"

"I need to talk to you about your grades. Your grade went from an A to an A minus and I'm worried. She said this as if it were the worst thing ever rather than something minor.

A month ago, Jules would have been in the same panic boat as her, but now…

"I see…." He said hollowly.

The teacher frowned. "I think we should have a parent teacher conference to discuss this."

Jules panicked. "N-no, please! I-I'll do better I can assure you!"

Mrs. Applegate shook her head. "I'm sorry Jules but I think this would be for the best."

Jules stimmed nervously with his suspender strap and avoided eye contact. "Y-y-yes ma'am…"

…

Jules sat nervously in the chair, kicking his feet back and forth. His stomach churned in a way that made his hunger prangs seem like comforting hugs. His hands shook, and he constantly glanced at the ticking clock overhead, each second's sound sending a shiver down his spine.

Jules stimmed with a paperclip on the desk beside him and began to disassociate. When the door creaked open, he was brought out of this and nervously looked over. His teacher and his parents entered the room.

Mrs. Applegate sat at her desk, while Doc and Clara sat on either side of Jules. Jules continued looking at his hands and bending the paperclip in various directions.

"Thank you for coming Mr and Mrs. Brown. I've called you here to discuss my concerns regarding your son's grades."

"Oh my, what's wrong?" Clara asked. Somehow she had come to the conference sober and not drenched in the smell of alcohol.

"Jules is the smartest kid in my class, however I've noticed lately is grades are slipping. They've gone from an A to an A minus, and are now borderlining B status."

Jules felt inadequate now, especially since he was in the presence of his father.

Clara frowned. "I'm sorry for my son's grades. Things have been hard on all of us since we lost Verne."

Mrs. Applegate nodded. "I think I understand. Is there anyway you can help at home to keep him calm?"

"I suppose we could." Doc said, gently putting his arm around Jules and pulling him closer. Jules whined a bit and focused more on the paperclip.

Mrs. Applegate smiled. "Thank you for coming."

…

When they got home Doc went straight to the garage. Clara went to the kitchen, sighed heavily and poured herself a glass of wine which she chugged in less than a minute. She poured another one before focusing on Jules, narrowing her eyes in disgust.

"You...you brat!" Clara sneered. "You idiot! No wonder Verne left, he was stuck with you!"

"M-m-mo-mother…" Jules whimpered.

Clara snarled before picking up the bottle and chucking it at his face. The glass shattered around his left eye. None stuck, but it left a nasty oval of cuts that would scar for sure.

Jules grabbed his eye in pain. When he pulled back he was shocked to see blood smeared all over. He looked at Clara who just started drinking straight from a different wine bottle. "Now, ged' out you. Idiooot."

Jules started crying as he ran out of the house, heading for The McFlys. However he bumped into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're going Butthead!"

"M-my ap-apolo-apologizes Mr. Tannen, s-s-sir." Jules whimpered in reply.

Biff glared him down before softening. "Hey kid, what happened to your eye?"

"I-if you m-mu-must know, my m-mother threw a w-w-wine bottle at me."

Biff was actually worried and leaned down to his level. "She what?"

Jules had never heard him speak so gently before. "W-w-why do you care? I'm sure you've d-done the same to your son…."

"N-no…" He frowned. "I'd never hurt my kid, what's wrong with you!?"

Jules frowned, but inside he was surprised. Biff traced the scar around his eye, causing Jules to whine and pull away.

Biff grabbed Jules' hand tightly and started dragging him. "Come on, Butthead."

Jules was too frightened to ask where they were going. A few minutes later they were entering the Hill Valley sheriff's office.

"W-w-what are we doing here?" Jules stammered. Biff didn't answer him, and just went to the front desk with him in tow.

The sheriff put down his magazine, but rolled his eyes when he saw who it was. "What is it now Mr Tannen? Another 'butthead' interrupting your TV time?"

"Hey! TV time is important! Besides that ain't why I'm here." He pushed Jules toward. "I'm here cause Doc Brown's wife threw a bottle at her kid!"

The sheriff gently cupped Jules' chin to examine his face. He whined and pulled away, to hide behind Biff, who, oddly, was the one he only felt safe around at this moment. The sheriff looked at Jules. "Can you confirm you are being abused by your mother?"

Jules nervously came out from behind Biff. "Y-yes but said abuse only occured o-once…"

The sheriff shook his head. "Abuse is still abuse no matter how many times it happens."

Jules frowned and hid again. The sheriff sighed "We'll have to find a place for you to stay while we deal with this."

"S-sir? I am rather c-close with the Mcflys, they're like kin to me.. If I inquire about staying at their residence, they will no doubt allow me to stay."

The sheriff thought about it for a moment. "We'll have to call them first and set things up, but we'll see what we can do…."

Somehow despite the knots in his stomach, Jules managed to relax.