CLINT EASTWOOD AND SHIRLEY MACLAINE ³, back to the future

ix. love at first sight

➩ 𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕓𝕪 𝕛𝕦𝕕𝕪 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤

ONCE ARRIVING to the blacksmith shop Doc had settled into for the life he made in 1885, Amanda brushed off the new outfit with a breath of relief. The trio returned to business as usual despite one of the members being hanged just moments before.

Danger these days simple seemed to be the one constant in whatever mess they happened to fall into. Turning to where she'd kept the photo, Amanda held it over to their friend as Marty continued to get dressed. Doc slowly took the photo from her only to look to it confused. "Why have you got a picture of a gravestone?"

"Just read it Doc," She told him, skipping the pleasantries.

Grabbing something to be able to read the inscription beneath Doc's name on the piece of slab he inspected the photograph for himself. "Shot in the back by Buford Tannen over a matter of $80? September 7th? That's this Monday!" Realizing the date wasn't too far in the future, he looked to them stunned. "Now I wish I paid him off."

He pointed to a name on the gravestone beneath his that no one was familiar with, but seemed to have some impact to Doc in the future. Seeing as the pair were with him now meant there should be some answer behind the mystery guest. "And who's this beloved Clara, I don't know anyone named Clara?" He only asked confused as if they somehow had an answer to this.

"I don't know, Doc." Marty came over to take the photograph from him with a taunting grin over his idea on who the individual could be to him. "I thought maybe she was a girlfriend of yours."

"Marty! My involvement in such a social relationship, here in 1885, could result in a disruption of the space-time continuum." He turned the valves to the invention as he rationalized the idea to them. "As a scientist, I can never take that risk. Certainly not after what we've already been through."

Noticing a carriage begin to park outside, Amanda tutted under her breath in remembrance of everything bad that had already happened to them. "It's the mayor," Doc told them expectantly to come over to him now instead. Hearing the the men mention him volunteering to pick up the schoolteacher from the town meeting last week, Amanda smiled over the quaint lifestyle Doc had made here.

Marty, being vain over the way the attire made him look intimidating, caught his reflection in the mirror and stopped to eye himself. Amanda leaned her head on his shoulder with a small grin behind him for his gaze to shift over to her instead in content. "The other outfit was better for you," She teased, "Brought out your baby blue eyes."

He shook his head to sneak in a kiss despite her making fun of him. "Y'know you're lucky I l—"

Marty stopped himself again to have her roll her eyes over this being another time he'd stopped himself from saying something to her. "What's up with you and the letter 'L' now, really. Is it all the time travel?" She asked him, oblivious to the actual circumstances that were making him act like this.

Before the mayor left just as quickly, he turned back over to mention one last thing to Doc. "Oh! Her name's Miss. Clayton. Clara Clayton." The couple exchanged small glances to one another over the mysterious woman's name and ignored the situation we were in, realizing this was going to be her. Doc only looked to them shocked and back down to the paper the mayor had given him.

"Well Doc, now we know who Clara is," Amanda told him with a knowing grin.

Doc smiled over the nonsense of the coincidence and continued to brush the situation off. "Amanda, it's impossible. The idea that I could fall in love at first sight? It's romantic nonsense." Marty only laughed as Doc continued to ignore his joking manner. "You know just as well that there's no scientific rationale for that."