Title: 1983

Author: She'sTheDevil

Rating: PG

Setting: Post Season 8.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna.

Disclaimer: Yes, I own That 70s Show and the entire cast. In fact, I have Danny Masterson chained up in my basement right now. Don't believe me? No, didn't think so. Probably because I'm lying. I mean, if I had Danny Masterson chained up in my basement do you think I'd be sitting here writing fic? Uh… No.

A/N: This story would just not get out of my head so I was forced to write it down. It's fairly pointless, but I hope it's a bit of fun for everyone anyway.


June, 1983

Hyde half-heartedly knocked on the door to Eric's apartment, glancing sideways at the small brunette standing beside him. "Remind me why we're doing this again?"

Jackie sighed. The entire car ride over she'd been asked the very same question, just using various different word forms. In fact, Hyde had nearly sideswiped some poor guy on a bicycle due to his preoccupation with complaining.

"I told you, we're doing this for Eric. He's our friend and he needs us."

Hyde raised a disbelieving eyebrow. Sure Jackie had changed over the years, but she hadn't changed that much.

"No, really."

Jackie pouted, realizing that particular reasoning really wasn't going to work on someone who had known her for most of her life.

"Fine. He's taking everyone out for dinner at that new French restaurant afterwards, and I really want to go because they have tables with real silk tablecloths and six different forks and a string quartet and I finally have someplace to wear that gorgeous…"

"Jackie!" Hyde cut in, holding up a palm to stop the tirade before it got too out of hand. "You mean I'm subjecting myself to this because you want to be taken to a French restaurant so you can use six different forks?"

Nodding her head, Jackie glanced from the door to Hyde. "Yes."

Rolling his eyes underneath the tinted glass of his aviators, Hyde sighed in resignation.

"Fine. As long as Forman is paying." He paused for a moment before adding, "And I'm not wearing a tie."

"Yes you are," Jackie informed him, tugging on his sleeve as she frowned at the door to the apartment. "I think you should knock again, I don't think Eric heard you."

Obligingly, Hyde banged his fist on the door. "Come on Forman, we haven't got all day" he called through the thin wood.

Five seconds later the door swung inward, revealing a somewhat disheveled looking Eric. "Hey. Sorry. I was setting up some stuff."

As Hyde and Jackie stepped inside to the living room of the small apartment, Jackie wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Why is it so dark in here? And what's that smell? Eric, are you burning incense?"

Hyde removed his sunglasses, attaching them to the collar of his t-shirt as he surveyed the room around him. "Yeah, and it's not the good kind of incense either."

Eric threw is arms out wide with a flourish, "I'm creating atmosphere."

Hyde snorted as he walked further into the living room. "Atmosphere? Does that include up-ending your couch and leaving a bunch of crap sitting in the middle of the floor?"

Eric followed Hyde's eye-line and wandered over to stand next to him as he explained the rearranging of furniture. "I pushed the couch up against the wall so we can all sit in a sort of circle on the floor."

Jackie watched as a smirk developed on Hyde's face and rolled her eyes. "I don't think he means that kind of circle Steven."

Curiosity soon getting the better of her, Jackie bent down to sift through the 'bunch of crap' on the floor. She noticed a large pile of pictures, a box of matches, a poem and something that looked suspiciously like a cauldron.

Straightening up, Jackie glanced over at Eric. "Uh Eric, are you sure that this is n—", she was cut off as Eric waved her away from his precious pile.

"Necessary?" he supplied, his voice raising a few octaves. "Of course it's necessary! We are mourning the breakdown of one of the greatest relationships of all time here!"

Jackie simply stared at Eric like he was nuts. "I was going to say normal, but whatever."

Eric frowned in annoyance. "Hyde, get your nosy girlfriend away from my stuff."

Hyde took Jackie's hand and guided her a little further away from the mystery pile as an unmistakable knock sounded at the front door.

"Kelso's here," Hyde declared, not making any move toward opening the door.

Eric looked up from where he was placing cushions in a small semi-circle on the floor and gestured toward the front of the apartment. "Jackie can you get that?"

With a huff and an eye roll, Jackie removed her hand from Hyde's and moved toward the door. Turning the handle, she wisely took a step back as the door was flung open and Kelso came barreling inside.

"I brought beer!" he shouted, skidding to a halt a few inches to Hyde's left. "Oh, and I brought Fez" he added as an afterthought.

Everyone half-turned toward the empty doorway, a questioning look soon developing on their faces.

As always, Jackie was the first one to speak. "Uh, Michael are you sure you brought Fez? Because I don't see…" she trailed off as Fez skipped up the hallway and into the apartment, delicately closing the door behind him. "Never mind."

"Hello my friends, it is I, Fez." He was grinning like a maniac and looking at everyone expectantly.

"Yeah Fez, we remember you from yesterday." Hyde dismissed Fez's theatrics with a wave of his hand and turned to Kelso. "What was that about beer?"

"No. No beer," Eric insisted. "I want to do this properly. I want this day to be etched in people's memories for years to come."

As if only just remembering why he was there in the first place, Fez pushed past Hyde and Kelso and raced over to Eric, enveloping him in a tight hug. "Oh Eric, I am so sorry for your loss."

Awkwardly patting Fez on the back, Eric's arms then hung loosely at his side as he waited for Fez to let go. And then waited a little more. "Uh Fez? Fez, you can let go now. FEZ!"

Startled, Fez finally released Eric and took a step back, turning on his heel as he set his sights on his next victim.

"Oh Jackie, my beautiful ex-girlfriend, how I have missed you." Flinging his arms around the small girl, Fez buried his head in her shoulder.

"Fezzy, we just had lunch yesterday remember?" Jackie reminded him, yelping as his hands snaked down her back and squeezed her butt.

"Hey!" Hyde growled, well aware of what was going on. "I told you if you did that again I'd break your fingers. Now, which hand do you want to keep, right or left?"

Kelso snickered as Fez reluctantly let go. "Geez Fez, if you're going to grab Jackie's ass you should at least wait until Hyde's not looking. That's what I always do."

Eric looked at Kelso in slight disbelief, "Kelso man, you have a kid and a girlfriend. Shouldn't you not be touching other girl's asses?"

Kelso shrugged, "Probably."

"Whatever," Jackie declared, deciding it was best to diffuse the situation before anyone got anything broken. "Now that we're all here don't you want to start your little thing Eric?"

"It's not a little…" Eric began to protest, before giving up and shrugging. "Yeah, let's do this."

Clapping his hands, Eric walked over to stand in front of his pile in the middle of the floor. "Places people, places!" Grinning, he kneeled down. "I always wanted to say that."

"Me too," agreed Fez. "Lucky bastard." Carefully looking around the darkened room, Fez eventually decided to sit a little to Eric's left. "I call pink cushion!"

"Of course you do," Hyde muttered under his breath. Surveying all the places that Eric had set out and deciding he didn't like any of them, Hyde avoided the cushions and took a seat on the floor directly in front of Eric, leaning against the one chair that hadn't been moved as Jackie settled herself between his legs.

Previously preoccupied with sneaking beer while Eric wasn't looking, Kelso had been left with the last spot to Eric's right. Grinning, he dropped down on to the floor. "Alright! Let's get this over with so we can go eat some frog's legs!"

Eric shot Kelso a glare before stretching his fingers and cracking his knuckles, seemingly preparing for what was to come. "And after that wildly inappropriate introduction from Kelso, I would in fact like to begin."

Hyde couldn't help but snicker at the formality of it all, but was soon quieted by a well placed Jackie-elbow to the ribs.

"Now," Eric continued undeterred. "As I have already informed all of you, there has been some devastating news of late. Utterly devastating."

Eric shook his head dramatically, pausing for effect before he went on. "A young couple; a boy and a girl… NAY… a man and a woman, who we thought were going to be together forever, have been cruelly ripped apart by the hands of fate."

"Yeah," Hyde drawled, "Just for the record, I never thought they were going to be together forever."

"Me either," Kelso put in.

"Shhh!" Jackie hissed, throwing a spare cushion at Kelso and pinching Hyde on the leg. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I'm being serenaded by violins whilst Steven feeds me tiny French pastries."

"Uh… I hate to burst your bubble there Jacks, but I won't be doing that," Hyde quickly informed her.

Fez raised his hand, "I'll do it."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Eric shot everyone a dirty look. "Are you all quite finished?"

Greeted with silence, Eric assumed that he could now go on. "Anyway," he continued. "So that my heart may begin to heal…" He paused as he picked up one of the pictures and held it up for everyone to see. "I must now say goodbye." His voice cracked on the last syllable and Eric quickly faked a cough to cover it.

"Oh Eric," Fez stated sympathetically. "Do not cry."

Ignoring the snort and eye roll from Hyde and the giggle from Kelso, Eric placed the picture he'd been holding in to the ceramic bowl in front of him as he picked up the box of matches. He was about to strike one when a key rattling in the door caused him to drop everything.

"Uh oh".

"Uh oh?" repeated Jackie, looking from Eric to the door curiously.

As the door swung open, a familiar voice filled the room. "It wouldn't have killed you to help me with these bags you know Er—". The aforementioned bags were soon dropped to the floor as Donna strode in to the room and realized what was going on.

"What the hell? Eric!" Donna pointed accusingly at her fiancé, ignoring the fact that there were four other people in the room. "You asked me about this and I said no. No creepy Star Wars gatherings in my living room!"

Eric jumped to his feet, "But Donna," he began, a whiny edge beginning to creep in to his voice. "I need closure. The greatest couple in the history of time turned out to be brother and sister! You don't just get over something like that."

"And you guys," Donna turned her accusing gaze toward the rest of the gang. "You guys should know better than to encourage him." She paused momentarily, realizing what must have happened. "Ok, what did he bribe you with?"

"French food," Jackie admitted, an amused smile creeping across her face as Hyde stood up and then pulled her to her feet.

Donna rolled her eyes. "I can't believe this."

"I can," Hyde put in. "Forman's nuts. Come on Donna, you knew that when you agreed to marry him."

"That is true," Fez added.

Kelso nodded along in agreement. "Oh yeah, Eric's a freak. Has been for a while now Big D."

Eric glanced behind him at his friends, not quite sure whether they were helping or hindering him. "Uh, thanks?" With a small sigh, he took a step toward his fiancée. "Come on Donna, it was Luke and Leia. Luke and Leia." He sniffed. "George Lucas broke my heart."

"And that scary statement, is my cue to leave" Hyde declared, taking Jackie's hand and pulling her toward the door.

"What? No," Jackie disputed, disentangling herself from Hyde's grip. "I'm not leaving. I want my French food!"

Hyde looked expectantly at Eric. If he didn't come through with that dinner Hyde was never going to hear the end of it.

Eric waved a hand at Jackie. "Yeah ok, I'll make a reservation for tomorrow night."

"Yay!" Clapping her hands, Jackie turned back toward Hyde. "Ok, we can go now. Ooh, when we get home we'll have to plan our outfits. Now, I think I'll be wearing my red dress, so that means that we'll have to get you a matching tie. And…"

"Hey Kelso," Hyde shouted over his shoulder, drowning out the rest of Jackie's wardrobe plans as they exited the apartment, "Are you bringing that beer?"

Grabbing hold of the one six-pack left and the remaining 3 beers from the other, Kelso brushed past where Donna and Eric were standing. "Sorry guys, we have a beer emergency. Enjoy your weirdo fiancé Donna, and just remember, if you ever wanna trade up… I'm always here."

With a well-deserved shove from Donna, Kelso ungracefully stumbled out of the apartment, waving the hand holding the six-pack in the air as he ran down the hall. "Hey Hyde, wait up!"

"Ah, it is just the three of us" Fez declared, leaving his cushion to stroll over and put an arm each around Eric and Donna. "What shall we do? Watch TV… Play cards… Maybe Donna you could do a little dance for us?"

"Yeah Fez I don't think so," Eric interrupted. "We actually thought it just might be the two of us for the rest of the night," Eric indicated toward himself and Donna.

"Oh I see," Fez stated, using his 'you've hurt my feelings' voice. "I will go then."

Slinking out the door like a wounded puppy, it was all of ten seconds before Fez was back again, standing conspicuously in the doorway. "I uh… forgot something," was his explanation.

"But Fez, you didn't bring anything," Eric reminded him.

Inching toward the center of the living room, Fez nodded. "That may be so, but…" In one swift movement, he snatched the pink cushion off the floor and went racing back across the apartment and out the door, turning back once to yell "you don't deserve a cushion this pretty!" before he was gone.

Shaking his head at the sheer insanity of his foreign friend. Eric cleared his throat. "So…"

"So," Donna echoed, glancing from Eric to the pile of memorabilia sitting in the middle of the floor. "I see you didn't quite get to finish your goodbye's."

"No," Eric agreed sadly before shrugging his shoulders. "It was a little hard with Kelso continuously crinkling beer cans and Hyde feeling up Jackie every time he thought I wasn't looking anyway."

Donna gave a small smile and indicated toward the pile. "Well, I guess we could do it now. I mean, if you still want to."

"What?" Eric gave Donna a confused look. "But you just yelled at me and said…"

Donna cut him off, "I know what I said. But the guys were right. You're nuts, and a freak, and I knew all that when I agreed to marry you. So if you really need to do this weird Star Wars thing then we'll do it."

Eric looked like he couldn't believe his luck. And he really couldn't. "Oh, wow. Have I ever told you that you're the best fiancée ever?"

Donna chuckled, "Probably, but feel free to tell me again."

"You're the best fiancée ever," Eric repeated sincerely, taking Donna's hand and leading her across to sit down in front of him on the living room floor.

"Now," he began. "Where was I? Oh yes. So that my heart may begin to heal… I must now say goodbye…"

Fin