Marty woke up the next morning in his clothes, and sleeping on the floor. Half asleep, he pulled himself up to a seated position and he stretched his arms. Thank god he was back home in 1985. The time travel had to have just been a dream. A nightmare. He would go out of his room to be greeted by Dave, going to his Burger King shift, and Linda, screaming to their mother - who already had opened a cheap bottle of vodka - about how she couldn't find a boyfriend. George would ignore it as he was too busy writing up Biff's reports.

Marty stood up and yawned, opening the door to his bedroom and then he walked out, ambling down the hall and then stopped.

This wasn't right. This wasn't his house. There was furniture he didn't recognise against walls he knew weren't there, with wallpaper he knew neither of his parents would ever go for.

This wasn't Jennifer's house either.

He looked around and felt his heart pounding. No. This wasn't right - it couldn't be right.

'Good morning, Carl,' a woman said.

Marty recognised the woman. It was the same woman from last night. That meant… that meant it wasn't a dream. He'd really time travelled. And messed up his parents meeting. And he really wasn't a McFly.

'Hey, Son,' said a man. The one who looked just like him, but not quite. 'I made your favourite for breakfast - my famous omelette!'

Marty looked at the man curiously. He didn't like omelettes. 'Uh. Thanks,' he said anyway. The best thing to do was not rock the boat.

'I thought I'd try and make it up to you after what happened last night,' said the man. 'I figured our little spat, well, it was my fault. And I felt bad for making you run away from home like that. You, Carl. You're such a good kid.' The man moved the cooked omelette onto a plate and turned to the kitchen table. 'We went through this with Rich when he was younger than you, remember that?' He set the plate down. 'I guess I just thought, you're so different from Rich that we wouldn't go through this again. I shouldn't have tried making any assumptions about you, and for that, I'm sorry.'

Marty felt like saying something about making assumptions about him liking omelettes. Only he didn't. He sat down at the kitchen table.

The woman put a glass of orange juice in front of him. 'To wash it down,' she said.

Marty looked at the food in front of him. He didn't like omelettes. And he never had orange juice for breakfast. He had whatever he wanted for breakfast - the orange juice was for drinking out of the carton in the fridge whenever. If his parents even bought it that was.

The more Marty thought about it, the more he was sure the McFlys were all collectively allergic to healthy foods as they just never seemed to eat any.

'Thanks,' he said. 'But I'm not hungry.'

'You're not hungry? Carl, are you getting sick?' asked the woman.

'Your mom's right, I've never seen you turn down one of my omelettes before.'

Maybe he was sick. He couldn't explain anything otherwise. There just was no explanation. 'I dunno.'

The woman walked over to Marty and put her hand to his head. 'Stephen, you'd better get the thermometer.'

'Already on it, Sue.' The man reached on top of the fridge for a box full of medical items. It was like a first aid kit, but larger. He pulled out a thermometer, just as the two girls from last night, Lori and April, arrived.

'Whoa, Dad. What's going on?'

'Nothing, April,' the man identified as Stephen said. 'Well, actually, Carl thinks he might be sick. He turned down my omelette.'

'Not Dad's omelette,' said Lori.

If Marty heard the word "omelette" one more time, he would scream. For sure.

'At least drink your orange juice,' said the woman, identified as Sue.

'No, no, Sue, he should take his temperature first,' said Stephen. 'That juice has been in the fridge, it'll just cool him down and give a false reading.' He brought the thermometer closer to Marty's face. 'Open your mouth and say "ahh".'

Marty frowned. 'No, I -'

Stephen shoved the thermometer into Marty's mouth. 'Great, Son. Just keep it there until it beeps.'

'Oh no, Carl's going to be a bit quieter than usual,' said Lori. 'However will I manage?'

'Lori, we've been over this. Just because your brother is quiet, doesn't give you the right to talk over him about your trips to the Lone Pine Mall with your friends.'

'At least I have friends,' said Lori. 'He doesn't,' she pointed to Marty. 'He's too quiet to actually talk to people at school.'

'That's not true,' said April. 'He's friends with me and my friends.'

'That's my point. He doesn't have his own friends!' said Lori. 'What did I do to get stuck with a lame brother like Carl?'

'Carl isn't lame,' said April. 'Carl is kind, and nice. And he's a good brother, Lori.'

'He's a total bore.'

Marty watched the girls arguing with each other about how lame Carl was. And he was Carl. This timeline sucked worse with each revelation.

The thermometer started beeping and Stephen rushed to take it out of Marty's mouth. 'Oh, your temperature is normal, Son.'

'I still don't want to eat.'

'Then is there something on your mind?' asked Sue.

"Something"? There were a lot of things on Marty's mind. Marty laughed bitterly.

'Are you being bullied at school?' Stephen asked. 'Your mother and I, we'll go right to the teacher and complain.'

'Like that won't get his ass kicked,' said Lori dryly. 'Besides, the teachers wouldn't do anything anyway.'

'April, have you seen any evidence of bullying?' asked Stephen.

'No, not at recess or lunch, but we're not in the same classes, so he might be getting bullied there,' April suggested. She turned to Marty and put her hand on his. 'Carl, I'm your sister. You know you can tell me if you're getting bullied, right?'

Marty pulled his hands away. 'I'm going to my room.' He said. He slid off the seat and walked down the hall, trying to remember which was his bedroom.

In the hall, he passed Rich, who glared at him. 'Watch it, punk.'

'Rich, be nice,' said Sue. 'Your brother's being bullied at school.'

'So? It's not my problem.'

Marty opened the door to Carl's bedroom, stepped through, and shut it quickly behind him - he didn't want any of these people to hear him having some kind of a mental breakdown or whatever.

Marty looked around Carl's room which was so different to his. While Marty had Huey Lewis on his bedroom walls, Carl had Bruce Springsteen.

'Born in the USA?' Marty muttered.

The differences only got more stark from there.

Carl didn't have a stash of chocolate like Marty did. Or empty cans of Coke and Pepsi like Marty did. Or any snacks at all like Marty did.

There were no guitars, no musical instruments at all. Carl simply didn't play. Did that mean in this timeline Marty didn't have those skills?

Carl didn't have any skateboards either. Could Marty still skateboard?

Carl did have a desk with what looked to be homework on it. Great. That meant Marty could know what classes he was taking in school this time.

When he saw the homework Carl had been working on, his heart damn near stopped.

'Advanced physics?!' he cried out. 'And math?!'

There was no way in hell he could keep up with those classes…

But he did know a certain nuclear physicist who might be able to help him out.

Marty caught sight of the bulletin board. 'Jesus Christ, Carl's a nerd. I'm a nerd!'

Pinned to the bulletin board was:

A map of Universal Studios

Two tickets from the October 2nd Bruce Springsteen gig

A class schedule

A mathlete first place ribbon award

A Mickey Mouse pin

A Disneyland park map as signed by -

'Michael J. Fox? Really?' Marty took the park map down and looked at it. 'Huh. This guy's been to Disneyland. Why don't I have his memories of going to Disneyland?'

Marty put the map down on Carl's desk. 'Holy shit, he's got a picture with the guy too? In front of Space Mountain?!'

For the first time, Marty found himself deeply envious of his counterpart. The McFlys couldn't afford to go to Disneyland - Lorraine always drank away the money and George was too chickenshit to ask for a promotion. They were his parents and he loved them deeply, but god their lives were just… not together.

Marty certainly had never met any celebrities either. The closest he'd come was when Bill and Marty, the local radio deejays, walked into Burger King during Dave's shift while Marty was getting a burger for him and Doc.

Then, he felt angry. This was supposed to be his life. But some hospital fuckup put him with a spineless chicken, a raging alcoholic, an unambitious layabout, and a social cripple.

Why wasn't this his life?

Marty sat down at Carl's desk feeling guilty.

Why had he thought such bad things about his family? Yes, George was spineless, but he always had or made time for Marty. Yes, Lorraine was an alcoholic, but she was always the first one there to comfort him if things went badly. Yes, Dave was unambitious, but he always gave Marty tips on being a teen - like sneaking into R rated movies. And yes, Linda was bad socially, but she was soft and sweet with Marty and read to him all the time when they were kids.

It didn't matter what family Marty was born into or who he was supposed to have grown up with. For better or worse, the McFlys were his family. His real family.

A knock on the door distracted Marty from his thoughts.

'Yeah.'

'Carl, it's me.'

Dammit. Which sister was that again?

'Yeah, come in,' he said.

The door opened and it was April who walked inside.

'Are you okay?' she asked. 'Mom and Dad are worried you're getting bullied.'

'I'm not getting bullied,' said Marty. To his knowledge, it wasn't a lie. Marty McFly was kind of bullied. He didn't know whether Carl was or not.

'Do you want to tell me what's up then?' asked April.

Marty debated telling this girl the truth, that he was Marty McFly, not Carl. But decided against it. It would complicate things.

'Trust me. You wouldn't understand.'

'Try me. You never know.'

Marty sat down on Carl's bed. 'No.' He shook his head.

'You've been acting weird all week. You've been shouting at Mom and Dad, you pushed Lori on Friday, last night you ran out on us all, and got new clothes, and now you won't even have breakfast?'

That was new information to Marty. Shit. He apparently replaced Carl while he was in the middle of some mental turmoil.

'What's going on with you?'

'I don't know,' Marty confessed. He knew what was wrong with him, but not Carl.

April sat down next to Carl and put her arm around him. 'Look, whatever it is, you're my brother. We can get through this together.'

'Yeah, fine.'

'We can go see a movie with Shaun if you want. Take your mind off things.'

'Sounds fine.'

'I knew I could cheer you up. After all, what are twins for?'

Marty turned to April. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. 'You're my… you're my… my… twin?!'

April chuckled. 'You know I am, silly goose.'

Marty was reeling. Why hadn't Doc mentioned that last night? Or maybe Doc had and Marty just didn't take it in in his shock. Though it certainly explained why April looked a lot more like he did, as opposed to Rich and Lori.

'Is all of this because you're going off to college next September?'

'Uh…' Marty shrugged.

'It's okay. You know you don't have to go straight away - you can take a gap year.'

'Gap year, right.' Marty nodded.

'And wherever you go, I'll always be with you - two hearts are better than one, right?'

'What?'

'Bruce Springsteen? Two Hearts? I thought he was your favourite?'

'Uh… he is,' Marty lied. 'I just… was thinking about something else.' That wasn't a lie.

April stood up from Carl's bed. 'Is that what you were thinking about?' she asked, eyeing up the Disneyland map on Carl's desk. 'You want to go back to Disneyland?'

'Um.' Marty shrugged. He'd never been there once, let alone back.

'Yeah, I know. It's pretty cool there,' April said. 'Be awesome to go back on the Mr Toad ride. Still can't believe Disney have a ride where you actually go to Hell.'

'Neither can I,' said Marty. He had actually heard about the infamous Mr Toad's Wild Ride ending. But he'd assumed it was an urban legend.

'Teacups were pretty cool,' said April. 'But we both know your favourite was Space Mountain, that's where you met the Family Ties guy.' She turned to Marty. 'We should go back there before we go off to college. And before Grad Nite.'

'Yeah, we should,' said Marty.

'Still can't believe we saw The Boss together,' said April. 'It wasn't even a month ago, but it feels longer. Funny.'

Marty had no memory of ever seeing Bruce Springsteen in concert. 'Yeah. Funny.'

'Come on. Get into your own clothes. Let's go to the mall or something. You're clearly depressed,' said April.

Marty shrugged. 'Sure.'

'Hopefully that'll get you out of your funk.' April walked towards the door and opened it. Then turned back to Marty. 'I'm always here for you, Carl.'

Marty simply nodded as April closed the door behind her.

Then, Marty put his head in his hands.

God.

These were nice people. Mostly. Well, Sue, Stephen, and April were nice. Rich was a bully. And he hadn't interacted enough with Lori to get her.

But they weren't his family. They should have been his family. But they weren't. And that was jarring.

April was right about something. Marty had been in those clothes all night. He needed to change. He sighed, put his hands on his knees, and pulled himself up. He looked around for the closet, seeing it on the other side of the room, next to the dresser which had Star Wars action figures on it - at least Carl had some taste.

Marty took that statement back when he opened the closet and saw Carl's taste in clothes. Ugly Cosby sweaters. Ugly buffalo print shirts. Regular shirts. Was that a sweater vest?

'Jesus Christ,' Marty muttered to himself. He picked out some of the least offensive clothes he could find - a powder blue shirt and some jeans - and put them on.

He saw Carl's piggy bank on the table and picked it up - it was heavy. 'Wow,' he muttered. Carl liked to save, clearly.

Marty turned the piggy bank over to try and find a way to take the money out with no luck. He had to smash it. So that's what he decided to do. To muffle the sound, he wrapped the pig in Carl's ugliest shirts (and the sweater vest). Then he kicked the pig. And again. It was almost like kicking open a piñata. With one final kick, the pig cracked open.

Marty got down on his knees and opened the clothes. 'Holy shit.'

It was just coins. All quarters. So many quarters.

'There must be a hundred dollars in quarters here.'

Marty grabbed a few handfuls and put them in his pockets. Or rather, Carl's pockets. Hoping he didn't look too bad without a t-shirt or a jacket, Marty left Carl's bedroom once again. This would ordinarily be the part where he brushed his teeth, but he wasn't about to use Carl's toothbrush. He wanted his own.

'Carl, where are you going?' asked Sue.

'Out,' said Marty.

'We still need to discuss your punishment,' said Sue.

Quickly, Marty turned around. 'Punishment?'

'For running out on us yesterday,' said Stephen.

'Yeah, you know Mom and Dad had to call me home from college,' said Rich. 'Apparently you come first, before my business degree.'

Lori, who was reading a teen magazine, glared at Rich from the corner of her eye. 'Shut up, Richard.'

'Everyone in this family comes before material possessions and work. And work includes school and degrees, as well as actual paid jobs, and DIY. Okay?' said Stephen.

'So, what punishment?' asked Marty.

'Mom, it's not fair Carl gets punished too much,' said April. 'He's going through some things. I think he is being bullied.'

'But he had the entire neighbourhood out looking for him last night,' said Sue. 'Even elderly Mrs Johansson.'

'He ran out without talking to us. And he was missing for eight hours,' said Stephen.

'Carl, if you're being bullied, you can just tell us,' said Sue.

Marty sighed. 'Yeah. Fine. I'm being bullied.'

'I knew it! I knew it!' Sue slammed her fist down on the dining table.

'Are you getting bullied for your clothes?' asked Lori. 'Is that why you got that denim jacket and puffer vest?'

'Who's bullying you, Carl?' asked Rich.

'I'd like to know myself,' said Stephen.

April went up to Marty and hugged him.

Marty didn't know what to say now. He knew nothing about Carl's life. Well, he knew a little bit more since last night. So he had to respond as Marty McFly. 'Uh… it's Needles and his gang,' he said. 'They've uh… been giving me a hard time.'

'Why doesn't that surprise me?' asked Lori.

Sue huffed and stood up from her spot at the table. 'I ought to give that family a piece of my mind.'

'Now, honey. Violence never solves anything,' said Stephen, clearly irate also.

'So we're just gonna forget that Carl dragged me from college -'

'Rich! For god's sake, Carl's being bullied!' said April.

'Oh god,' Marty muttered to himself. He really wished he hadn't said anything.

'Carl, it's okay. We aren't going to do anything rash,' said Sue. 'Are we Stephen?'

'No. Absolutely not.' Stephen was clenching his fists so tightly, his knuckles were turning white.

'And as for your punishment…' Sue grunted. 'No TV for a week. Is that fair, Stephen?'

'Better make it two weeks,' said Stephen.

Two weeks without TV. Yeah. Marty could do that. It meant he could sneak out to Doc's. 'Okay.'

'And no academic competitions either,' Stephen added.

Marty was definitely okay with this one - at least he wouldn't be outed as not being Carl for the next two weeks. 'Sure,' he said, trying not to sound too jovial.

'Now, where are you going?' asked Sue.

'Walgreens,' said Marty. 'For a toothbrush.'

'I got you one last week,' said Stephen.

'It fell down the toilet,' Marty lied.

'Okay. But don't take too long,' said Sue. 'I need you to tell me what that Needles boy and his friends have been doing to you.'

'Um… yeah.' Marty nodded, seriously wishing he'd said nothing.

Walking around Hill Valley gave Marty a sense of calm and ease. Here, he didn't have to act as Carl Davis and instead could be who he truly was; Marty McFly.

In his pockets, was more money - this time notes. He'd found Carl's secret money stash in his sock drawer and had helped himself to some notes. Marty reasoned that since he was now Carl, it was his money.

He didn't know what he would do with it, but getting a new toothbrush was priority. And then some new clothes. There probably wasn't enough money for a new guitar and amp (Carl was good at saving money, but he wasn't perfect), but maybe Marty could sell some of Carl's nerd stuff to fund that.

The fist stop was for the toothbrush. Marty got one no problem.

The next stop was the town square and courtyard. Marty looked up at the clock. Had it really been just last night he and Doc Brown planned to use the lightning bolt that stopped it to send him home?

So much in Marty's life had changed since then, it felt like a lifetime ago.

His entire life had pretty much been upended. He needed something familiar. Something besides Doc Brown - who he'd be seeing tomorrow afternoon (thank god).

He went into a store he knew well, and came out with a new skateboard. He knew how he liked his board - the wheels, the trucks, and especially the grip tape - and had got all that done at the store.

He put the skateboard down on the ground, stepped on it, and then pushed off.

Marty felt the wind on his face as he glided down the street. It was a wonderful feeling to be skating again.

'I didn't know you could skateboard.'

Marty lost control of the board and bailed out. He fell backwards on his ass while the skateboard went flying down the sidewalk.

It was Jennifer.

'What the hell?' asked Marty, picking himself off the floor. He was sore, but nothing was broken.

'You're a lot cooler than I thought you were,' said Jennifer as she picked up the skateboard. 'But seriously, where did you learn to do that?'

'I… just did,' said Marty. 'It took years. But I uh, I got there in the end.'

Jennifer smiled and handed the skateboard back to Marty. 'You're Carl, right?'

'Ma - uh, yeah,' said Marty. It was a massive gut punch that Jennifer didn't know who he was. He almost thought he was about to start crying again. 'But I prefer Marty,' he added.

'Marty, okay. Is that a middle name?' asked Jennifer.

'Yeah, kinda,' said Marty, now averting eye contact with his former girlfriend. Was she even his former girlfriend since they'd never gone out in the first place in this timeline?

'It's cute. It sounds better on you than Carl,' said Jennifer.

'I think so too,' said Marty.

'Well, I'll see you around, Marty,' said Jennifer. 'Probably in school tomorrow.'

Marty's heart skipped a beat hearing someone calling him "Marty". Oh that felt so good. He was Marty. He was Marty McFly. And no matter what this timeline said, swapped baby or not, he would always be Marty McFly.

'Yeah. School,' Marty nodded. He put his skateboard back on the ground and smiled wistfully at Jennifer - still avoiding eye contact.

Then he pushed off and started skating down the street again.

That had been such a horrible, and yet bittersweet moment.

This timeline was worse - Jennifer didn't know him. They'd never dated. But she had called him Marty.

Marty continued skating. Even in Carl's place, skateboarding was something he deeply enjoyed. It gave him just such a good feeling. And more importantly, provided him with something familiar from his old life he could latch onto.

Wondering whether or not he could still skate - after all, anyone could glide down the street - Marty slammed his foot down hard on the back of the board, propelling him, and the board, up in the air. Then, he landed along with the board, continuing to glide down the street. It was not a great height, but it was enough for Marty to know he could still pull off an ollie. And as long as he could ollie, he could still skate. And if he could still skate, chances were he could still play guitar.

This further affirmed to him that he was Marty. Not Carl. He had merely replaced Carl.

And he would go back to 1955 to get his parents back together so his siblings and the real Carl could be born.

Like Doc said last night, there would be no guarantees the baby swap would play out the same way or even that they would be swapped at all.

Marty couldn't accept that. Doc had a time machine - Marty could swap the babies out personally if he had to.

And he would.

Marty put his foot again to the back of the skateboard, slowing himself down to a stop. He had to. He could feel the panic rising up again - his heart was going crazy and his hands were going numb. The last thing he needed was a broken limb on top of that.

'Don't let Mom see you on that thing - there's a reason they're banned in our house.'

Marty stepped off the skateboard, recognising the girl as Lori.

'Where did you even get it?' she asked.

'Bought it,' said Marty, trying to keep himself under control.

'Mom won't like that,' she said.

'I don't care,' said Marty.

'But you know what happened last time you got on a skateboard,' said Lori. 'Like, whatever, it's your choice. But I'm just telling you, Mom will freak.'

Last time? What did happen last time?

Marty looked at Lori as he tried to work it out.

'Are you concussed or something?' asked Lori.

'No. Just…' He shrugged.

'I know. You're hungry. You didn't have breakfast. Go and eat something. Avoid the OJ if you can - it's not even the good stuff with bits.'

'Okay.'

'Tell Mom and Dad I'm going to the Lone Pine Mall. Catch you later,' she said and walked off.

Marty was scared and confused. And sad.

And also lost, since he didn't know his way back to the Davis household.

'Shit,' he exclaimed.

Marty roamed the streets, skateboard in hand, as he tried to work things out in his head - where was he, what was going on, why didn't Jennifer know him, what had happened to Carl that made Sue so paranoid of skateboards?

Eventually, he just sat down on the kerb, left his skateboard beside him, and put his head in his hands. It was just all so terrible.

He tried to keep his breathing steady, but he could feel his breath hitching every time he tried to breathe.

His mind wasn't steady, how could he expect his breathing to be?

All that was going through his mind was that he couldn't fix this - that Doc couldn't fix this. This was a mess he was going to be trapped in forever. He would never be Marty McFly again. He'd never be with Jen again. He wouldn't be a rock star because the Pinheads didn't exist. This wasn't his life.

It wasn't…

Marty hadn't noticed his rapid breathing. To the point of hyperventilation - he was gulping down air as fast as he could. He tried to bring his arm to his chest, but he couldn't feel his arm. The other arm was trembling. His vision was going blurry and funny and there was a high pitched whine in his ears.

'Oh my god I'm dying,' he moaned.

'You're not dying, Carl, you're having an anxiety attack.' April sat down next to Marty. 'Hold your breath.'

'No!'

'Do it!'

Marty stopped breathing.

'Just hold it.'

Marty couldn't hold his breath any longer and let go - he breathed out.

'Do you feel better?' asked April.

Marty nodded. His heart was still about to thump right out of his chest, but at least his breathing was regulated now.

'I take it Mom and Dad don't know about this,' said April. Is this why you've been acting so weird lately - you've been having anxiety attacks?'

Marty nodded - this was his third anxiety attack after all.

'Carl. It's okay. We can get through this together,' said April. 'Come on. We have to tell Mom and Dad about this -'

'No,' said Marty. 'I don't want to.'

'But they can help.'

'I don't want to.'

April nodded. 'Okay. But if this happens again, we're telling them.'

Marty put his hands down on the kerb. The hand he'd lost feeling to was coming back - with pins and needles of course.

'It's going to be okay.'

'You don't know that!' Marty snapped. 'You can't say that, you don't…'

'Is it the bullying thing?' asked April.

Marty sighed. He didn't say anything. She wouldn't understand.

April stood up and offered him her hand.

Marty grabbed his skateboard in one hand and took April's hand with the other.

April nodded at the skateboard. 'Mom will kill you for that,' she said.

'Let her,' Marty mumbled. He turned to April, realising it was his chance to get an answer. 'Why doesn't she like skateboards'

April chuckled. 'You mean you don't remember?'

'Remember what?'

'Last time you got on a skateboard, you fell and sprained your wrist.'

'Oh.' Marty nodded. He'd done a lot worse than that in his original timeline when he was first learning to skate. 'Is that it?'

'Yeah.'

'I broke my arm when I was seven, does she have anything to say about that?'

'What are you talking about? You've never broken your arm.'

'Yes I did, I…' Marty paused. Marty McFly had broken his arm. Carl Davis had not. 'I guess I must've I dreamed it.' He chuckled awkwardly.

'Or you're misremembering when you sprained your wrist,' said April.

'Must be it,' said Marty. A thought occurred to him. 'How did you know where I was?'

'I didn't. Mom sent me out to get you because you took too long getting a toothbrush.'

Marty reached into his pocket for his new toothbrush.

April turned down a garden path that Marty didn't recognise. It was the same path as last night, but it was day and bright and not night and dark. It didn't look the same.

'Rich is really pissed. Just don't engage and you'll be alright.'

'What?'

'Avoid Rich.'

April opened the door.

'April! There you are! We were about to call a search party - did you get your brother? Is your brother alright?' asked Sue.

'Chill out. He's just fine.'

Marty stepped inside. 'Hi,' he said. 'Yeah. I'm fine.'

Sue clocked the skateboard Marty was holding. 'What's that?'

'Skateboard,' said Marty, holding it up.

'Carl, you know how I feel about skateboards.'

'Let him have the skateboard, Sue,' said Stephen. 'He's seventeen years old, almost an adult. If he wants to break his leg, that's his choice.'

'Not under my roof.' Sue grabbed the skateboard from Marty's hands. 'Besides, he's being punished.'

'Oh yeah. That's true.' Stephen nodded.

'I thought the punishment was no TV?' said Marty.

'Now it's no skateboard as well,' said Sue. 'We're just trying to keep you safe.'

Marty didn't react. He wasn't used to people besides Doc caring so much about his welfare.

'It's time for lunch. How about I make mac and cheese?' asked Stephen.

'No thanks.'

'You need to eat something, Son,' said Stephen.

'No thanks.'

'At least have some orange juice - you didn't even have any this morning -'

'Hard pass,' said Marty. 'I'm going to brush my teeth.'

Sue and Stephen turned to April, who simply shrugged.

Marty walked down the hall to where he thought the bathroom was, and Rich walked out.

'Alright, you little punk,' said Rich. 'Maybe that Needles guy is bullying you or maybe you're lying about that. I don't care. I do care when your shit interferes with my shit. I had a hot date with Kim tonight, but I had to blow her off because Mom and Dad want me to stay here. You ever do something like that again. I will personally beat your bullies up and then I will beat you. You got that?'

'Yeah. Sure,' said Marty.

'Get in there.' Rich pushed Marty into the bathroom.

Marty looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like shit. Really like shit. He definitely didn't remember those dark circles under his eyes being there before. And his hair was wilder than it usually was - normally Marty took good care of his hair. Why was he letting himself go just because of some… monumental life altering shock?

No. From now on, he would take care of himself. Not let the Davis family think something was up.

If he had nothing from his old life except his own body, then he was damn well going to take care of it.

And it started with him taking his toothbrush from its pack and brushing his teeth with it.

A/N:

If this fic is going to be titled after a Bruce Springsteen song, there's going to be some Bruce Springsteen in it.

A few other references:

- the Universal Studios map. Universal made Back to the Future.

- the October 2nd Bruce Springsteen gig is the one at the LA Coliseum that closed out the Born in the USA tour.

- pin trading in the Disney Parks was supposed to a thing only for the Millennium, but it was popular so Disney kept pins around. There were pins before that, and have been since Disneyland's opening in 1955, but they were few and far between.

- the Michael J. Fox autograph. We know from Part 2 he exists as an actor in the Back to the Future universe.

- the skate shop. There was a decline in popularity of skateboarding in the 80s (Back to the Future actually made it popular again), so skateboards weren't really mass produced, however there were specialist skate shops usually owned by skateboarders themselves.

There are other references, but I'll let you find them.