McFly July Days 6 & 8: The New Blacksmith + Swiping From the Old Lady's Liquor Cabinet
so im deeply regretting writing all these scenes out on paper first because its 10:30 and I have to be up by 8 and I guarentee I won't be in bed before 11:30 because i STILL HAVE TO TYPE ALL THIS UP anyway enjoy some more bttf bullshit
It was funny. Back in 1985, he could sleep through almost anything- passing trains, construction work, car horns, you name it. Predictably, that had gotten him in trouble a lot as he tended to sleep through his alarm clock. One hundred years in the past, the smallest thing would jolt him awake, be it a frog croaking, a coyote howling, or even an over-zealous cricket chirping nearby.
Marty wasn't sure what did it this time, but before he could drift off again, he rolled over and noticed Lizzy sitting by the campfire, obviously wide awake. Propping himself up on one elbow, he glanced over and noticed that the Doc wasn't lying next to him, either.
As he sat up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around the campsite, but the scientist wasn't there. "What's goin' on, Liz? Where's the Doc?"
"Gone to find Miss Clayton, if I had to guess." The teen practically hissed the words, voice dripping with disdain.
"What? I thought we talked him outta that."
Alright. Guess I'm not goin' back to sleep any time soon. Marty scooted closer to the campfire. "He probably just went to say goodbye."
"He's been gone for hours, Marty. Even if that's what he left to do, his intentions seem to have changed."
Yeah, that...was a little hard to explain. Truth be told, Marty was a little ticked-off himself. He'd really thought they'd managed to snap the guy out of it- was he really going to abandon them for Clara?
However upset Marty was, though, he knew it was nothing compared to how Lizzy must be feeling.
"He'll come back," he finally said, trying to sound reassuring. "He knows we gotta make that train."
"That doesn't change the fact that he left in the first place- that he tried to stay! I mean he- I knew he liked it here, he had himself established as the town's new blacksmith within a few weeks, but he- I mean he tried everything to get the DeLorean working, and now we finally have a way to go back and he's going to blow it over some woman he met a few days ago?"
Marty sighed and leaned backward onto his palms. "I don't know, Liz. I guess he's just...not thinking clearly. And he did agree, especially when you pointed out how much of a hypocrite he was being."
The 13-year-old scoffed. "Tells me I can't go back to '55- the year I'm supposed to be- and then decides to jeopardize the space time continuum to stay in 1885 all for Clara..." Scowling, she snapped an innocent twig and threw it into the fire.
"Look, I..." he ran a hand through his hair. "I get why you're mad at him, hell, I'm kinda mad too, but why d'you hate Clara so much? She seems like a real nice lady."
He might have thought it just had to do with Doc trying to stay behind, but Lizzy had hated Clara from the start. Marty had his suspicions, but he hadn't asked yet. After all, if his mom were gone and his dad had started dating someone else, he probably wouldn't be too thrilled with her either.
"Liz, does this- maybe I shouldn't be asking this, but are you mad 'cause you feel like she's replacin' your mom? I mean, I know you never knew her, but..."
Somehow, the silence changed- no less oppressive, but less angry and more somber. He couldn't see Lizzy's face, but some of the tension drained out of her shoulders. "Marty, I never knew either of my parents."
"...what?" His voice cracked in disbelief and total confusion.
With a rueful smile, Lizzy looked up at him and asked, "Does my dad seem like the type to have a one-night stand with someone? We're not related biologically; I've known that for years."
"Wh- but- why didn't you say anything? Why didn't he-"
"Because he doesn't know that I know," she sighed, suddenly sounding tired. "I figured it out myself, mostly because he can't lie to save his life." Letting her chin rest against her knees, she huffed out a laugh. "All it took was one Mother's Day when I was 6. I asked him if I had a mom and, if so, where she was, and he fumbled the conversation so badly that even back then I knew something was going on. When I got older, I did a little digging, and..."
Marty almost welcomed the few moments of silence as he tried to process what this meant. On the one hand, this made a lot of sense and answered a few questions that he'd been trying not to think about too hard. On the other, that was a messed-up thing to keep from your kid. "Why hasn't he told you?"
"I think he's waiting 'till I'm older," she replied glumly, pulverizing a few more blameless twigs. "Though there's probably never a good age to tell someone they were abandoned by their real parents."
Instinctively, he began to protest, but she'd said it so matter-of-factly that he changed gears. "How do you know?"
"There's an orphanage a few miles away from Hill Valley. Once I started investigating, I made some calls there..." she laughed bitterly. "They told me the whole story. How Dad found me wandering around alone outside his house when I was 2, how he dropped me off there, how they called around and sent out newspaper adverts, how no one ever came for me." Shoulders shaking from the force of her turbulent emotions, she clenched her fingers into fists. "But then Dad did. A few weeks later, he-he came back. He chose me, and I've always been grateful for that, but-"
Suddenly, she whipped around to stare at him, eyes wild. "Marty, what if he chooses someone else? What if he chooses Clara instead and they have kids together and he doesn't-" A sob tore through her, cutting off her next words.
Obviously, the only thing to do in this situation was to hug her.
"What if he doesn't want me anymore?!" Lizzy wailed, face buried in his shoulder. "I'm- he's already sp-spent so long withou-out me, and wh-what if he decides to st-stay here and-"
"Okay, okay- Liz, no matter what happens I can promise you that your dad will always want you. He's your Dad. Like you said, he chose you, and-" he pulled away to look her in the eyes- "he also spent 30 years building a time machine to get you back. D'you really think he's gonna leave you now?"
"But what if-" she sniffed- "what if I mess up really badly? What if I do something so bad he decides he doesn't want me anymore?"
"...I don't know," she admitted, and Marty had to laugh. "I tried, once. After I found out. I wanted to see how far I could push him before he decided I wasn't worth it. It was stupid, but I was...I don't know."
"What'd you do?" He felt bad about the delighted grin that was spreading across his face, but he couldn't stop it, especially when she wouldn't meet his gaze.
"I, uh, snuck out and went to a party, and I...might have drank a little. The host had stolen a couple of bottles of wine from his mom's liquor cabinet, and, uh..."
Marty couldn't help it- he burst out laughing. "Lizzy! How old were you?"
"10," she mumbled, face bright red. "Most of the other kids didn't even realize I was there."
It was so damn unlike her that all he could do was throw his head back and cackle. "What happened?"
"I...realized pretty quickly that I'd made a mistake and, after a few minutes of internal debate, called Dad."
"Came and picked me up," she sighed, burying her face in her hands. "And then he lectured me for, like, 5 hours the next day and grounded me for 2 months."
Eventually he was able to get his laughter under control. "But he didn't kick you out."
"So why would he do it now? Just 'cause he's got Clara doesn't mean he loves you any less."
"Then where is he?" Her voice quavered as she glanced at Doc's abandoned blanket and pillow.
"I don't know. But I'll bet you anything he'll be back by morning."
