Disclaimer: I don't really own the movies. Not really.

Author's Note: Sorry for another short chapter, but that might be because this is a hard piece of the story to struggle through. By chapter five, things'll get happier and hopefully, more easier to write. I hope you'll enjoy to read it anyway. Oh, and don't forget to review.

4: Chapter Three

Sunday, March 23rd, 1986

Doc's home, Hill Valley, California

11: 02 P. M.

He's not showing up.

Doctor Emmett Lathrop Brown, Hill Valley's current resident 'nutcase', stared out of the window with a sigh. Today was his sixty-sixth birthday – give or take a few days by the time travels he'd made in that October weekend – but, as usual, no one was showing up to celebrate it with him. Why should they? As far as they were concerned, he was a nutcase. Well, most of them tolerated him, but they were still a bit afraid of going into his house. Not that he cared – most of the townsfolk weren't his kind of people anyway.

Therefore, he'd become used to no one visiting him at his birthday, and after years, he'd forgotten to celebrate it anyway. Well, he would've, if not for the person that had frequently visited him, the guy that had made his life cheer up and his birthday parties happy since October of 1975: his friend, Martin Seamus McFly.

And that was the guy who was missing right now.

Doc looked out of the window, and sighed another time. He couldn't believe it. He knew Marty had a large grudge on him, ever since the incident with the Rolls Royce, but not even a birthday visit… come to think of it, Marty hadn't visited him anymore ever since October 1985. He was starting to miss Marty.

The inventor sighed, realizing that he had treated Marty rather badly. He'd been a little insulting, and very insisting to him. He'd been angry at his friend for not listening, while, in fact, he was the one who should get the blame. He shouldn't have gotten Marty into that accident. He should've warned his friend first.

Still, there was that part of him that remained… angry. Not quite furious, but still angry. Why hadn't Marty just listened to him? Why hadn't he just listened to him all the time, and excepted that he had a problem? Marty McFly could be so stubborn…

…then again, so had he, in 1955. If he hadn't finally given up and read that letter, he would've been shot dead by Libyan terrorists five months ago, and would've never gotten a chance to travel through time. Marty would've returned to a world without his best friend… Great Scott, that might've driven the poor kid mad. He knew how much Marty cared about him, as displayed in that letter and in everything else he'd done for Emmett.

The inventor sighed, and stared over at the small cake he'd bought himself… and Marty, if the kid would ever show up. Over the day, he'd already eaten half of it, and now, he reached out to grab the other part. Carefully splitting it in two and lying it on a plate and Einstein's bowl, he smiled. "Einstein" he told his dog. "Come on." He set down the bowl, and smiled faintly as his dog friend started eating happily of it.

At least Einie still likes me, he thought. Then again, he's only a dog – as long as I feed him well and treat him good, he has no reason to dislike me. He stared at the dog, happily eating the cake. Note to self: besides canned dog food, Einstein also likes cake.

The inventor stared ahead, and into the dark sky, as he started eating his slice of cake. It all felt so empty now. The amplifier was collecting dust in the background, even though he'd cleaned the whole thing up early November. Anything Marty used to play with in the house was doing the same thing – even Einstein wasn't as happy as before. The scientist sighed. I just want my friend back.

Monday, June 9th, 1986

Marty's house, Hill Valley, California

01: 23 P. M.

"'Aliens and Extra-Terrestrials For Beginners'?"

Marty McFly, just turning 18, raised his hand questioningly at his father, George, who'd handed him those presents. "Um… thanks, Dad." He managed a smile. "I guess."

"Come on, son, they ain't that bad" the forty-eight-year-old Sci-Fi author smiled. "I loved them when I was a kid. They came out in Hill Valley in 1957… I immediately rented them, and later bought them. They're awesome." He smiled happily. "I'm sure you'll enjoy them. All three parts are there – beginners, advanced, and experts."

"You're not pressing a career on me, are you Dad?" Marty laughed. Then, his voice drastically saddening, he added: "Since now any chances of a music career are gone…" He stared at his hand. "Why did this have to happen to me?"

"I don't know, son" George said, shaking his head. "I don't know. Maybe you should just get that being called 'chicken' idea out of your head, in order to prevent this from happening again."

"Well…" Marty started, but then he felt his eyes falling open, wide. A few miles away from him was a nervous-looking Doctor Emmett Brown, just talking with Marty's sister, Linda. "Doc!" he whistled, looking at the man he'd once considered his best friend. He wondered what the scientist was doing here, and, more important, if he should approach the guy or not. Today was Marty's birthday party, after all… maybe Doc was just dropping by to say 'hello' and 'congratulations'. Finally, the young ex-musician decided to go over to the older man, to see what Doc would be going to say to him.

Doc frowned as he saw Marty approaching. "Oh, hi Marty" he said. "Sorry for not going over and congratulate yet, I hadn't seen you anywhere. Therefore, I decided to have a short talk with your sister." He smiled faintly. "Also, sorry for not buying you a present. I forgot it, and the stores were closed."

"Yeah, right, okay" Marty said, staring at the inventor. Doc looked almost exactly the same as he remembered from last year, except for a few more natural wrinkles. Well, actually, there were almost none of them. Obviously, the rejuvenation job he got was really getting into effect.

"So, how have you been doing?" Doc asked, curiously. "I heard you're on the verge of graduating… was it hard?" He wondered how his friend had been. Marty had always been working well on school – at least, with the inventor's help. However, now they'd stopped their friendship, he wondered what had become of Marty.

"Well, I did have quite hard work during spring" Marty said. "Tying it all up, you know. But, finally, I managed." He smiled. "The fact that I was really determined to get a good job, since that accident and all, helped as well."

Doc nodded. "You're right," he said, softly, "you're right. Seeing as what… happened to you, has put your in an unenviable situation."

Yeah, but whose fault was it? Marty thought, as he stared at his friend, firmly. He still couldn't believe what Emmett Lathrop Brown had done. He was all for using the time machine to travel through time, but why invent the thing if you couldn't prevent with it? The teen shook his head. "Yeah" he muttered. "See you" he muttered. "I-I have to go see Mom. Speak to you, later."

"Sorry again – I got a busy day, today" Doc spoke. "I'll have to go, now. I guess I'll see you again sometime in the future." He left.

"But never in the past" Marty whispered to himself, as he saw his friend walking off. He stared at his hand, and at the scars, and figured if they ever were going to go away. Probably, no. His life sure was unhappy.