As the bell rings, I pack my stuff and fling my backpack over my shoulder with a sigh. First day of last year of school, and everything is still so boring. At least it's finished for today and I can go home and watch a tv show or just chill.
It really helps that I live alone; I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and nobody's gonna complain about it. Since my family is rich, I live in a relatively big house on the outskirts of town.
Why am I on my own, you ask? Well, my parents died of a car crash when I was fifteen, and left the whole family heritage to me.
I make my way to my residence and am about to close the door after entering when I hear a whooshing-banging sound as if there's thunder and a black DeLorian appears at the end of the road surrounded by bright blue sparks before slowing down to a stop near my house. The door automatically opens upwards and out climbs a blond middle-aged man. Wait a minute, is that Doc? And did he just time—or rather universe—travel here on the famous car? He looks around and, upon spotting me, makes his way over.
"Hello, I am Doctor Emmett Brown. Could you please tell me what year we are?"
"1985." I reply.
He thinks for a bit before asking another question, "Where are we then?"
"Your car has a problem, hasn't it? Instead of sending you to another time period it sent you to another universe." I subtly tell him what's going on.
"...I universe-traveled?" He asks after processing my words.
"Yeah. And in this universe you are a movie character." I explain.
"Movie...character?"
"Come in, I'll show you." I hold the door for him and he enters after a moment's hesitation.
I make my way to my disk cabinet and pull out 'Back to the Future', "Here." I present it to him.
He takes it from my outstretched hand and inspects it on both sides before giving it back to me.
"So it's real...I actually traveled to another universe." He mumbles to himself.
"Were you conducting experiments on the car before showing it to Marty?" I ask.
He nods, "And to think I left Einstein there, all alone..."
"I'm sure he'll be fine. In the most possible case Marty's gonna come over and, noticing your disappearance, will take care of him."
"You do have a point." He hums, "Is the movie I'm in...famous?"
"Pretty much." I shrug, "Oh, you're right! We should hide the car in my garage before anyone sees it, then talk over some tea."
He nods, "One more question before we go; am I one of the main characters?"
"You and Marty are the two main characters." I tell him.
"So if anyone sees me..."
"They're either gonna think you're just a person who looks exactly like you or think that it's you and freak out." I say.
"So the best thing to do is to not interact with anyone else." He concludes.
"Yeah." I make my way outside and to the car, him on my tail. As we're walking towards the car I ask him a question, "What should I call you?"
"What do you mean?" He turns to me with a furrowed brow.
"Should I address you as Emmett, Doc, Dr. Brown, or Mr. Brown?"
"Emmett will do just fine." He replies, opening one of the car doors and getting out his things.
"Alright. I'll go open the garage door." I make my way to the garage and do as I said. I then go back to Emmett and help him push the car into it, closing the door and locking it after the DeLorian is safely hidden inside the garage.
"All done." I look at him as we make our way back into my house, his things in his hand, "It's a pity that the car wouldn't start up."
"Well, at least I'll get to learn about this universe while I'm here." He smiles.
We walk into the kitchen and I tell him to take I seat while I put the kettle to boil.
After doing so I sit down opposite Doc and lean back in my chair, "I'm Y/n L/n, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Y/n." He extends his hand.
I grab it and give it a firm shake before releasing it, "Same with me, Emmett. So, what are you planning to do to repair the car?"
"I'll have to see what's the problem with it before doing anything else." He replies thoughtfully, "Then, depending on the issue, I'll need from a few hours to about a month to repair it."
"I'm afraid I wouldn't be there all the time since I'll have to go to school." I frown.
"I'll be fine by myself, no worries." He shakes his head with a smile.
"Also, if you need tools or anything, don't go out by yourself. Just tell me what you need and I'll go buy it, okay?"
"I suppose that if I go out I'll most likely attract lots of attention." He nods.
Right after he finishes his sentence, the kettle lets out a few bips, signaling that it's finished heating up. I stand up and grab two cups, pouring about two thirds of water in both of them.
"What tea?" I ask, turning my head to look at Emmett.
"Black will do." He shrugs.
"Anything else you'd like in it?"
"A teaspoon of honey." He replies.
"Room-temperature water?"
"Yes, please."
"Okay." I start to make his tea and everything goes well until the honey. Since it's on a pretty high shelf, I have to stand on my tiptoes to get it. I am about to grab it when my foot slips and, failing to steady myself on something, I start falling down. I am ready to collide with the hard floor but instead hear something falling over as someone—Emmett—catches me.
I look up to be met with his worried expression.
"Are you alright?" He asks.
"I'm fine, thanks for catching me." I smile at him.
"No need to thank me." He shakes his head, helping me to stand up, "I'm sorry, I knocked over the chair."
"There's no need to apologize."
I watch him as he reaches out and gets me the honey.
"Here you go." He hands it to me.
"Thanks." I grin, taking a teaspoon and placing exactly one portion of honey in his cup.
I then close the lid and give the jar back to Emmett who places it back on the shelf.
I hand the cup to him and he thanks me, walking back to the table and placing it in front of himself as he lifts the knocked over chair back up and sits down on it.
I then make my tea as I like it and take a seat in my chair once more, placing my cup on the table just like Emmett did.
We then spend the rest of the afternoon and evening discussing the situation he has ended up in.
For the night, I offer him the largest pyjama set I own—which is actually quite big as it used to be my dad's—and tell him to sleep in one of the guest rooms.
The next day I wake up pretty early. I hear banging coming from my garage and realize that Emmett already got to work. I change from my pyjamas to my school uniform and make my way to the garage.
"Good morning." I call as I enter.
"Morning." Emmett replies while he is very preoccupied with something in the car.
"So, how big is the issue?"
"There's only this one piece that's broken. It'll take about a week to replace." He explains, climbing out and walking up to me. I notice that he changed back into his clothes from yesterday, "Sorry if I woke you up. I also took your garage keys without permission." He looks at me guiltily.
"You didn't wake me up and I don't mind, so don't worry." I grin.
"Thank you." He smiles, relieved.
"How long have you been working?"
"About half an hour." He hums, "Although I wouldn't know for sure since time flies by so fast while I'm occupied."
"Then how about some breakfast?" I suggest.
"I'd be glad." He smiles.
"Anything in particular you want?"
"Some toast with jam will do." He replies.
"Alright. I'll go get the food ready while you wash your hands."
He nods and we both make our way back to my house after locking the DeLorian in the garage.
"You'll need some clothes and tools while you're here, wouldn't you?" I ask as I am taking out the bread and strawberry jam while Emmett washes his hands in the sink.
"I do need a few specific tools, but I'm not sure if the clothing is necessary." He replies while drying his hands with a towel.
"Just write me a list of what you need, and I'll get the things on my way home after school. As for the clothes, I still have the ones my dad used to wear."
"Used to?" He asks, walking up to me as I start spreading jam on the bread that's already out of the toaster.
"My parents died in a car crash when I was fifteen, leaving the family fortune to me." I explain.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's fine, don't worry." I shake my head with a grin.
"...Alright." He says after a pause, "Where can I get a pen and paper?"
"You know where the disk cabinet is, right?"
He nods, "I saw it when you were showing me the 'Back to the Future' disk."
"There should be a notebook and a pen on it." I tell him.
He exits the kitchen and comes back a minute later with said items.
I put the jam back in the cupboard and the knife in the sink, then take the two plates to the table where Emmett is already sitting, writing down a list of things on a blank page of the notebook.
I take a seat as well, placing one plate in front of him and the other one next to me.
"Thank you." He tears out the page he was writing on and hands it to me, putting the pen in the notebook as a bookmark and closing it.
"No problem." I scan the list of items and search in my brain for the closest shop to my house which has all said tools. I find one and decide that I'll just get a large toolbox after checking that it has the needed items, "I'll pass at a shop after school to get those." I tell Emmett, motioning to the paper with one hand as I pick up a toast with the other, "Speaking of school..." I glance towards the kitchen clock, "There's still two hours to spare."
"I can keep you company until then." He smiles, picking up a toast.
"Thanks." I grin before taking a bite.
"It's the least I can do after all you did for me." He shakes his head with a smile, then starts to eat as well.
"I didn't even do anything." I furrow a brow.
"Yes, nothing except letting me live in your house, providing me with food and water, giving me the necessary tools to repair the car, and lending me clothes." He lists.
"I'm glad to help." I shrug, taking another bite of my toast before speaking again, "You wouldn't be able to do anything with the car until you have the tools, which means that you'll have nothing to do until I come back in the late afternoon."
"I suppose that is the case."
"Then, as long as you don't do anything dangerous, the whole house is all yours for the day." I tell him, biting into my second toast I have already picked up right afterwards.
He plops the last piece of toast left on his plate in his mouth and swallows before speaking, "And I shouldn't leave the house for security reasons, right?"
"Exactly." I finish up my toast and grab his and my plate, standing up to put them in the sink.
"Then I'll try to entertain myself." He replies.
"Just don't break anything, alright?" I place the plates down and make my way back to the table.
"I wouldn't dream about it." He reassures me.
"How about we go to the living room and have a seat on the couch?" I suggest, glancing at the clock again, "Not even twenty minutes has passed since I last checked the time and my school bag is ready since last evening." I grab the list he made for me off the table and fold it neatly a few times before placing it in the pocket of my uniform shorts—usually girls are supposed to wear skirts but I hate them so I asked my teacher if I could wear some shorts instead and she agreed—and tucking my chair in.
"As you say." He stands up, tucking his chair in as well.
We make our way to the living room and I jump on the rather large couch, enjoying the comfortable position: sprawled out like a starfish face down on it. Remembering that I have to leave space for Emmett as well, I sit up and lean against the back of the couch, motioning for him to come take a seat.
He sits down comfortably, "Thank you."
"Make yourself at home." I grin.
For the next two hours, we talk about random things like our favorite color, and discuss serious things like the fact that I must never ever tell anyone about what happened.
When the time arrives, I reluctantly bid goodbye to Emmett and leave for school.
After my classes end, I pass by the shop and buy the toolbox—getting weird looks from people because why would a young girl need so many tools?—and quickly make my way to my house, immediately going my to the garage after placing my school bag down in the corridor.
Emmett is already there, inspecting the car for any other broken pieces; luckily, there are none.
"Here you go." I hand him the toolbox.
"Thank you." He smiles then climbs inside the car and I proceed to make my way to the exit of the garage.
"Why am I so stupid!?" He suddenly exclaims, facepalming as he climbs out.
I turn around in surprise, "What's wrong?"
"I forgot that I needed a new piece since this one is completely broken." He points to the part that needs repair, "How could I make such a banal mistake!?" He scolds himself.
"Everyone makes mistakes, Emmett. Just tell me which part you need and I'll go get it for you immediately so you can finally get to work."
He walks over to me, a smile now illuminating his features, "Thank you. I really appreciate all you do for me, Y/n."
"It's no problem." I grin at him.
He tells me what he needs and, in a few seconds, I am rushing to the closest store which has said item.
—about a week later—
As I am sitting on the couch, reading my favorite book, a beaming Doc runs into the room.
"I did it! I fixed it! Hooray!" He fist-pumps the air.
"Woah, woah, calm down." I say with a chuckle, closing my book shut and grinning up at him.
"Can you believe it, N/n!? I can finally return home!"
As I process his words, my smile falters. If he's leaving, that means no more watching movies together on a gloomy evening, no more puns and inside jokes, no more cherished memories with him.
Noticing my change of expression, Doc makes his way to the couch and takes a seat next to me, peering at my crestfallen face, "N/n? What's wrong?" He asks softly, leaning my head on his shoulder in a half-hug.
"I'll miss you, Emm." I sigh sadly, loosely wrapping my arms around him.
"Oh." He says, realizing the reason for my sudden change of mood, "I'm sure we'll meet again."
"I hope so." I reply with a sniff, trying to not let any tears fall.
"Shh, it's okay, I'm here." He soothes me, rubbing circles on my back.
"What am I going to do when you leave?" I ask him, tightening my grip around him.
"I don't know..." He trails off, "But what I know is that you're strong, and that you'll live through it."
He continues comforting me until I feel better, then asks me if I am ready to see him off.
I nod, "Be careful in the future, Emm. Or in any other time you travel to."
He lets out a hearty chuckle, "Don't worry, I would."
We make our way to the garage and he rolls out the Delorian, readying it on the road.
He then gets out of the car and walks over to me, engulfing me in a tight hug.
"Please don't depress over my leave once I'm gone. I'm not worth it." He whispers in my ear.
"You're worth so much, Emm, don't undervalue yourself." I tell him, patting his back gently.
"At least promise me you'll try to live on."
"I promise."
He leans back and looks at me, "Then I guess this is goodbye."
"For now." I add.
"For now." He repeats with a sad smile before turning around and once again getting in the car.
As Doc's Delorian speeds off into the sunset, I watch it disappear, leaving nothing but two trails of fire which then die down.
"For now." I say once again as I walk off towards my house, somehow knowing that, even if in a few years, I'll see him again.
