Day 6 - Flinch
A/N: Jennifer doesn't remember him being this nervous. Set in the months following Part III. Can be read as a sequel to Day 5 Disfiguration.

It was so subtle at first.

The way his expression stiffened when a hand came near his face.

The small hisses of pain he unconsciously gave when he moved suddenly.

The scarves and high-collared shirts he'd started wearing to hide the evidence of his near-death experience.

The haunted gaze in his eyes that continued to surface.

Every time she offered to talk about it he declined, and Jennifer grew more and more frustrated by the day. She knew he couldn't help his reactions - as much fun as time travel had been, it'd also been a traumatic and life-changing experience - but his stubbornness to move on was really starting to wear her down.

His family had noticed, his bandmates had noticed, and they had all expected her to have some sort of answers for them.

Maybe I should become a psychologist after all…

As October turned into November, and November faded to December, she found her concern continued to grow. She couldn't even hug him anymore without noticing the smallest hints of hesitation, or even place an arm around his shoulders without him jumping.

He can't go on like this forever.

Doctor Brown told him to make a good future! And look what he's doing to himself!

They were having Christmas dinner at the McFly residence when her patience had finally run out. All it had taken was a clattering set of cutlery to make Marty fly out of his chair and mutter an excuse about scuttling to the bathroom. When he hadn't returned after a few minutes, Jennifer excused herself before marching towards his bedroom.

Without bothering to knock she pushed the door open, a confusing mixture of anger and concern bubbling inside her. Marty was seated in the far corner of his room, kneeling on the floor with his head resting on the bedside table.

She stepped forward into the room, clearing her throat so as to not startle him. "Marty?"

Despite her efforts, Marty's body still jerked. He barely turned his head to face her, the familiar redness of shame decorating his cheeks. "J-Jen!"

"Marty, this has got to stop," Jennifer closed the door behind her, squeezing in-between Marty and the edge of the bed. "I-I know that you originally told me you didn't want to speak to anyone about this-"

"A-And I can't, Jennifer! You know that I can't!" Marty retorted, waving his hands in frustration. "I can't because it'll mean I end up in the nut house for spouting some shit about time travel!"

"Could you at least speak to someone about what happened? Without mentioning the time travel, I mean?"

"If I start talking to a therapist, Jennifer," Marty lowered his voice, seemingly afraid of his family hearing their discussion, "people will start getting suspicious. They'll start wondering where Doc went, or why I suddenly went nuts when he disappeared, or-"

"They're already suspicious, Marty! It's too late to hide this!"

"W-What if the feds rock up on my doorstep one day and whisk me off to some Area 51 base?!"

"Think of your family, Marty! Your bandmates! They're all hounding me and asking questions, and I can't keep making up excuses forever!" Jennifer sighed in exasperation, pausing to collect herself. "…I-I love you, so so much, and I want to help you, but I feel like you're…you're not letting me."

Marty was silent, his gaze having returned to the clock radio on his bedside table. He ran his fingers through his hair, the motion powerful enough to pull out some strands. "…I-I can't, Jenny, I can't. I-I won't risk Doc's-"

"Doc wouldn't want you to be this miserable!" Jennifer brought her head down to Marty's level, staring directly into his eyes. "He wouldn't think asking for help is cowardly, o-or destructive! You gotta remember, Marty, that even if you did tell a therapist about time travel, they can't tell anyone about it! Patient confidentiality and all that shit!"

She felt so guilty for being so firm, but she knew that he knew he needed to hear this.

There was an uncomfortably long silence before Marty replied, his lips trembling. "…If you don't want m-me around, y-you can say so, I-I won't be-"

"Oh Marty, like I would leave you like this!" Jennifer carefully lifted his chin up, planting a firm kiss on his lips. "I want to help you, honey. And I never want to leave you. But I need you to start letting me in more, or I think things could escalate."

Marty breathed out a shuddering sigh, blinking furiously. "…C-Can you help me get through dinner first, a-and then…t-then we'll talk."

Jennifer nodded as they stood up, giving him a warm smile. "We'll work this out, Marty. I promise."

She gave him one final kiss before tenderly leading him out the comfort of his room, returning to the dining table hand in hand. "Sorry guys, we're back."

Linda snorted into her glass of champagne. "Don't tell me you guys were in there together!"

Jennifer was so relieved to hear a laugh from Marty that she couldn't help but giggle as well. She squeezed his hand under the table, and his thumb danced along her skin with such delicacy that she felt warm all over. "N-No, I assure you, we weren't in there together."

But we are gonna go through this together.