Disclaimer: Alas...still not mine

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*author's note*

Well this is it, gang. The last chapter. The end of an era. It was a sad day for me, even though I know that later on I'm only going to start writing the sequel : ) Still, I hate to see a good thing end. Alright, now for some important information. "Broken" is Jennifer's side to the end of this chapter. YOU NEED TO READ IT! IT'S VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT OF THE SECOND STORY!!! Just a helpful hint : )

1985—Brown House

October 26th, 9:30am

Amelia woke up to Einstein's hot breath in her face. She opened one eye and peeked at him. Einstein, seeing she was awake, barked loudly and licked her face. He pranced in a full circle before coming to a stop, sitting on his haunches, and whining softly in her face. Amelia wiped the slobber off of her cheek and muttered at him to stop. He put his paws on the edge of the couch and pushed his muzzle against her shoulder. Amelia groaned and tried to shove him away but Einstein wasn't having it, he wanted her to get up.

"Einie, come on," she begged, still trying to push him down, "I just want to go back to sleep."

Einstein whined again and shoved her shoulder harder. Amelia sighed and opened both eyes. He smiled at her, tongue lolling in his mouth, and jumped back from the couch with a robust bark. He knew he had won. Amelia glared at him and sat up.

"Well don't you think you're clever," she said grumpily.

Einstein kissed her again. Amelia rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Right, right, you love me. But that's only because I have opposable thumbs and can let you outside." At the mention of "outside", Einstein's tale wagged madly. He spun in an excited circle. "See what I mean? Come on, you."

Amelia pushed herself off the couch and took Einstein to the back door. He streaked passed her the moment she opened it, chasing an unfortunate squirrel who had decided the Brown's backyard was a perfect place to collect nuts. She shut the door on Einstein's barks and shuffled groggily into the kitchen.

The clock above the stove read nine thirty. Amelia rubbed her eyes and went to the pantry. She took down a box of Cornflakes and set it, along with a bowl and spoon, on the table. Then she staggered to the refrigerator for a carton of milk. She had just closed the door when a Post-It note stuck to the center of the fridge door caught her eye. Her father's sloppy handwriting was scrawled across it.

Amelia,

I went out. Go to Marty's and wait for me there.

Love, Dad

"Out?" Amelia mouthed, frowning.

She took the note and the carton of milk back to the table with her. After pouring her Cornflakes and milk into a bowl, Amelia stuck the Post-It to the milk carton and stared at it while she ate. It was so strange. "Go to Marty's". Why did she have to go anywhere? Why couldn't Emmett just come home? Amelia sighed and crunched on a spoonful of cereal. Trying to figure out why Emmett did what he did was like trying to teach Einstein Spanish, pointless and frustrating.

Amelia downed the last of her breakfast and put the dirty dishes in the sink. Stretching, she looked at the clock again. It was nine forty-five. Emmett's note hadn't specified exactly when he wanted her at Marty's. Amelia bit her lip, thinking, and ran her fingers through her hair. She felt the oils on her scalp and made a face.

Shower first, then Marty's, she decided.

1985—McFly House

October 26th, 10:28am

Marty's clock radio went off much earlier than he would've liked. The radio clicked on, blasting music above his head. He groaned and pressed his face further into the pillow in the hopes of drowning out Huey Lewis. No such luck. Huey's voice rang loud and clear through the stuffing. Irritated, Marty sat up and hit the snooze button on the clock radio. The music stopped but new sounds replaced it. Marty could hear talking and the clinking of silverware coming from down the hall. His family was awake and having breakfast. Marty looked longingly at his pillow, torn between more sleep and the prospect of food. He debated for a long second before letting his hunger win.

Yawning and fixing the straps of his suspenders, Marty made his way down the hallway and to the kitchen. As he passed the opening to the living room Marty did a double take. For a moment he thought he was in the wrong house. The furniture was completely different. Instead of the old hand-me-down sofa and armchairs they had gotten from George's parents the furniture was new and modern looking. Marty gazed around slowly. The rest of the house seemed to be the same way, brand new, streamlined, and stylish. He stood in shock, completely disoriented. It wasn't until he heard his name being called that Marty was able to snap out of it.

"What's the matter, Marty?" Linda, his sister, asked.

Marty blinked at her, openmouthed. The Linda sitting at the dining room table was nothing like the Linda he had had dinner with the night before…or a week ago depending on how you looked at it. This Linda was dressed fashionably, her hair was done nicely, and her makeup wasn't too overbearing. The Linda he had left behind was, well, kind of trashy looking. It was a nice, albeit confusing, change.

"What the hell is going on here," Marty asked.

"Breakfast," Linda replied. She glanced at Dave, their brother, and Marty started. He hadn't noticed him before.

The last time Marty had seen Dave he had been broke, carless, and working at the Burger King next to Emmett's house. This Dave was sitting at the dining room table in a three piece suit and reading the Wall Street Journal. It was all too Twilight Zone-y for ten thirty in the morning.

"What the hell are you wearing, Dave?" Marty asked, inching forward cautiously.

"Marty," Dave said, looking at him strangely, "I always wear a suite to the office."

"Oh…"

George in Lorraine came in through the sliding glass patio door then, laughing and chatting noisily. Even his parents seemed different. George looked confident, Lorraine looked…thin. Marty felt the sudden impulse to faint but controlled it. He opted instead for a tight grasp on a nearby chair.

"Well, good morning sleepy head," Lorraine said brightly when she saw him. She crossed to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You've been asleep forever. We thought you'd never wake up!"

"Biff dropped off your keys earlier, son," George said. He reached into his pocket and tossed Marty a set of car keys.

"Biff?" Marty muttered.

"He said he waxed it up nice for you, but you know Biff. Better go outside and make sure he didn't cheat you out of something."

"Er…right. Thanks, Dad." Marty backed slowly out of the dining room and headed for the front door. Something very strange was going on, although he wasn't entirely sure that it was a bad thing.

Clutching the car keys, Marty stepped outside into the sunlight and crossed to the garage. When he opened the door his mouth fell open. A huge black Toyota 4x4 was parked inside, gleaming with a fresh coat of wax. Marty whistled and walked up to it. A business card was stuck underneath one of the wipers. He took it out and looked at it. Biff's Automotive Detail, Marty read. He smirked with satisfaction.

"Marty."

He turned around. Amelia was standing just outside the garage. She, unlike him, had managed to change her clothes and was wearing a clean pair of blue jeans and a navy blue sweater. Marty found himself giving Amelia the onceover as he walked towards her.

"Hey, how are you?" He asked, hoping that he hadn't been too obvious in checking her out.

"Fine," she said, smiling. "My dad left me a note saying to wait for him here. Do you know what's going on?"

Marty shook his head, "Nope. But I'm glad he came back."

"Came back?" Amelia's brow creased.

"He...well, maybe I should just let him explain, ok?"

"Alright," Amelia said, slightly confused. She shook it off and changed the subject. "Did you…eh…have a good sleep?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said. "You?"

"Yep."

"Good," he nodded. "I…I really like your sweater." I really like your sweater? That's the best you could do McFly?

"Thanks," Amelia grinned, blushing a little.

The looked at each other for a long awkward moment and Marty gave her a lopsided smile. He took a step closer and thought about reaching out to touch her, but didn't. Neither of them could tell what the other expected. Should they kiss? Or was that off limits now that they were back in 1985, back where Jennifer really existed?

As if on cue they heard footsteps approaching, and even though they weren't particularly close Amelia backed away. Jennifer entered the garage a moment later, all smiles and bouncing hair. When she saw Amelia a small crease formed across her forehead, although the smile stayed glued firmly in place.

"Hey, guys," she said brightly. "What are you doing here so early, Amelia?"

"Just…hanging out."

"At ten forty-five in the morning?" Jennifer laughed. She went up to Marty and kissed him full on the mouth. "Good morning, Handsome."

"Morning, Jen," Marty said. He forced a grin that Jennifer did not fail to notice.

"What's wrong?" Jennifer demanded, looking anxious.

Marty shifted his feet and cleared his throat.

"Eh…Jen," he began uncomfortably, "we've been meaning to talk to you. Amelia and I…well…it's kinda complicated. Ya see," Marty took a deep breath and looked her square in the eye, "I don't know if we can be together anymore."

Jennifer stared at him blankly. "Excuse me?"

"Us, Jen…I'm not sure that we're a good idea anymore."

"What are you talking about? Why not?" She was doing her best to maintain her composure but Amelia could hear the angry cracks in her voice.

"Well…eh…"

"Because of me," Amelia cut in.

Jen looked from her to Marty and back again.

"Oh," she said shortly, putting her hands on her hips. "What exactly is going on here?"

"Marty and I are, well…we care about each other." Amelia went to stand next to him and he linked his fingers through hers. Jennifer raised her eyebrows.

"I see," Jennifer didn't bother to hide her angry now. Her words came out in venomous spurts, "And how long exactly as this been going on behind my back?"

"Jen, it's not like that," Marty insisted, touching her shoulder.

"Clearly it is!" She stormed, shaking him off. All the composure she had fought so hard to maintain flew out the window. "Do you think I'm dumb? You didn't just decide this overnight! You said you loved me, Marty! You said I was the only girl for you! You said you wanted to take us to the next level! Is this the next level, Marty? Breaking up? And you," Jennifer snarled, rounding on Amelia, "I've known you forever! You're supposed to be my best friend, and here I find you putting the moves on my boyfriend! I can't believe you, either of you!"

"Jen, it's really more complicated than you think. Neither of us want to hurt you," Amelia said carefully.

"That's strange, cause I really want to hurt you."

"Jen, don't be like this," Marty begged.

"Don't be like this? You two can run around betraying people and I can't get pissed off? Well how convenient for you!" Jennifer glared at them and turned to go.

"Where are you going?" Marty asked, taking a step away from Amelia. He didn't want to see Jen do anything stupid.

"Home," she growled, not looking at them. "I'd stick around and let you two rip out my heart some more, but I have algebra homework." Then she marched down the driveway and was gone.

Amelia turned to Marty and hugged him from behind. He slumped into her. Neither of them had wanted to hurt Jennifer like that. Marty turned to her and brushed his hand down the side of her face. His eyes were sad and troubled and Amelia knew hers must look the same way. Jennifer had always been a part of the mix, and now the chances of that continuing looked thin…smaller than thin, miniscule. They couldn't blame her though. From her perspective everything had changed overnight. On Friday Marty had loved her and on Saturday he was running around with her "best friend". To outside eyes, what Marty and Amelia had just done looked absolutely terrible.

"Marty, I—"

A crash coming from the driveway intruded on their moment and what Amelia had been about to say. They watched as a couple of garbage cans rolled into view, spraying trash everywhere. Marty and Amelia hurried out of the garage and nearly ran into the DeLorean, which was parked half on pavement and half on Marty's front lawn. A gull-wing door popped open and Emmett, looking like an updated version of Ronald McDonald, stepped out.

"Good, you're here! Get in the car, both of you!"

"What? What's going on?" Marty asked. They watched Emmett scurry to one of the spilled garbage cans and scoop up a handful of trash. "What are you doing, Doc?"

"I need fuel," Emmett said quickly. "Now get in the car, we don't have time! We have to get back to the future."

Emmett ran to the rear of the DeLorean and pushed a white food processor-like thing open. He threw the garbage inside and reattached the lid. The "Mr. Fusion" started to rumble appreciatively as it churned up the trash.

"Doc, we're having a very tough day. Can't we do this later?"

"A very tough day? Marty, if you thought that was bad you're going to hate your life in 2015!"

"What are you talking about, Dad?" Amelia asked. "What happens?"

"It's Jennifer!" Emmett said, going to the driver's side door and climbing in. "Something has to be done about Jennifer!"

Marty and Amelia exchanged a quick glance then hurried to pile into the passenger seat. Emmett reversed off the driveway and into the street where he let the DeLorean idle for a moment. Marty peered up the street and frowned. It wasn't nearly long enough.

"Hey Doc, you better back up," he said, turning to Emmett. "We don't have enough road to get up to 88."

"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads."

Emmett flicked a switch on the dashboard and the DeLorean started to vibrate. Then, to Marty and Amelia's amazement, it levitated off the ground. They watched as Lyon Estates shrunk underneath them. Then Emmett pushed a button labeled Hyper Boost and the car streaked across the sky. In a matter of seconds the DeLorean had reached 88 miles per hour and was on its way to 2015.

To Be Continued...