Authors Note: I know i said it would be a while before i updated this but...well i lied. LOL. I had to update it now because in the middle of writing Reefer madness i was hit with inspriation for this and i had to go for it. I cried a little when i was writing it because there are a few emotional scenes in here. You're going to learn more about why Hyde left like he did and more about his book. Then you're going to always get to FINALLY see kelso and Fez. YAY. LOL With a few suprises from them as well. So yeah let me know what you think. I always have updated What Could Have Been and i have a short story called, 'You said that you would die for me', that's up as well. It's another Jackie Hyde story so please check it out. Kudos to those who have kept up reviewing and a pretty please to those who havent to please review. Oh there is a little thing about Styx in here...at my old high school kids still didnt like styx to yea went with that.
Chapter Two: Catching up and Cleaning Up
He woke up the next morning and looked around the room as he tried to remember where he was. He instantly remembered as he heard a loud booming voice come from the next room. He grabbed one of his favorite Boston shirts and some jeans and quickly got dressed.
"Hyde, man what are you doing here?" Michael Kelso said as Hyde walked out of his old room.
"I decided it was time to come home." Hyde said as Kelso pulled him into a quick hug. He let go of his friend and walked over to his old chair and just stared at the scene in front of him.
"Mr. and Mrs. Forman keep it like this because no matter where we live we still always hang out here." Kelso said as he sat on the couch.
"And Red just lets you guys hang out down here?" Hyde asked.
"I usually kick their dumb asses out around dinner." Red said as he walked down the stairs.
"Red," Hyde said as he walked over to the older man.
"It's good to have you home Steven." Red said as he shook Hyde's hand.
"Red are you…" Hyde began to ask as Red interrupted him.
"Ask me that and I'll put my foot so far up your ass they'll have to surgically remove it, got it?"
Hyde nodded as Red lightly smacked his shoulder then went upstairs.
"Hey man is Red alright?" Hyde asked Kelso as he sat back down.
"Yeah as far as I know why do you sense something?"
Hyde looked up at the stairs as he answered Kelso. "I'm not sure, but whatever. So how are you man?"
"Oh dude I'm great. I'm married to Brooke."
"Wait that brainy chick who works at the library?"
"Yeah that's her."
"How the hell did you manage to get her?"
"I met her at an Evanescence concert."
Hyde paused then looked at him. "You went to an Evanescence concert?"
"Yeah man, to pick up chicks."
"Oh…well you don't like them do you?"
"Well…a little."
"You disgust me."
"Hey at least it isn't Styx."
"Kelso you like Styx man!"
"Alright fine I like Styx okay and I don't care if anybody knows it," Kelso said as he stood up, "Well that's not true don't tell anyone." Kelso said as he walked out the door.
Hyde laughed at his friend before he got up and walked upstairs.
"Good morning Steven." Kitty said as Hyde walked into the kitchen.
"Morning Mrs. Forman.," Hyde said as he took a seat at the table.
"Are you hungry Steven?"
"Yeah sure what are you making?"
"Eggs and bacon, you want some?"
"Yeah sure that's cool." Hyde said as he picked up the paper.
Kitty set a glass of orange juice down for Hyde as Jackie walked in and sat next to him.
"Good morning Jackie would you like some breakfast?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah sure then I have to get going." Jackie said as she smiled at Kitty.
"Oh yeah he told me to tell you that he was going in early to get started on that job he told you about." Kitty said as she set plates down in front of Jackie and Hyde.
"Oh okay well then I'll hurry up so I can go catch the bus."
"Nonsense have Steven drive you."
"What?" Hyde said as he looked up from the paper.
"Steven can you give Jackie a ride to Red's muffler shop?"
"Red has a muffler shop?" Hyde said as he stared at Kitty.
"Oh I forgot. Well you know that old muffler shop across from the piggly wiggly?" Kitty asked as Hyde nodded. "Well that's the shop. Red bought it about 5 years ago."
"Oh why do you need a ride there?" Hyde asked Jackie.
"I work there." Jackie said as she went back to eating.
"You work there Jackie?" Hyde asked as he stared at her.
"Yeah why is that so hard for you to comprehend. I work at the muffler shop, I'm good with cars. It isn't that hard to figure out," Jackie said as she stood up. "Thanks for the breakfast Mrs. Forman I'm just going to go catch the bus." Jackie said as she ran out.
"Steven you go and catch that girl. I hate when she rides the bus."
Hyde nodded as he stood up and ran after her. "Jackie!"
Jackie stopped walking but she didn't turn around.
"Come on Jackie let me give you a ride."
"Why should I?"
"Because Mrs. Forman doesn't want you riding the bus."
"So, I do it all the time anyway."
"Please Jackie."
Hyde asked as the girl turned around.
"Fine but don't think
that this changes anything."
"Yeah whatever." Hyde said as he walked over to his car.
Once they were both in the car Hyde started it and pulled onto the road. The trip was made in silence as Hyde tried to think of something to say to her. But before he could she started talking.
"Why did you leave?" Jackie asked as she stared out her window.
Hyde glanced at her before he answered her. "This town…it has a lot of memories for me. Some of them are good and some of them are bad. And when I left it was because the bad memories were out weighing the good ones." Hyde said as he continued looking at the road.
Jackie looked at him as she thought about what he had said. Finally she spoke. "You really pissed us off."
"I know."
"That book…"Thought from the inside of a black el Camino"…why did you write it?"
"That book…was a mistake Jackie. I wrote it at the worst point in my life and I regret it."
"You regret it?"
"Yes."
"Well if you regret it so much then why did you have it published? I mean it was bad enough that you left and broke Donna's heart, but then that book came out and…" Jackie said as she stopped and just stared at him.
"I didn't mean to get it published. A friend of mine took it to a p…"
"I heard about that from Donna. You know you could have stopped it."
"I know that."
'Then why didn't you?"
Hyde paused as he thought about what she'd said. "…I don't know…"
"Yeah I figured as much." Jackie said as they pulled into the muffler shop parking lot.
"Hyde."
"Yeah," Hyde said
as he looked at Jackie.
"You almost killed her that day. The
day that horrible book came out. You should ask her about that."
Jackie said as she got out of the car.
Hyde watched her walk in as he thought about what she'd said. She was right. He could have forced the publisher to drop the book but he hadn't. He'd gone along with the whole circus and he'd hurt those closest to him.
"You son of a bitch," Fez said as Hyde walked into the basement.
"Hello to you too Fez," Hyde said as he walked over to his foreign friend.
"You couldn't call or even write for 10 years?!" Fez said as he stared at Hyde.
"Look I'm sorry man. I meant to write I just…I don't know I just never did alright."
"Fine, but don't you ever do that again you got that." Fez said as he sat down on the couch.
"I'm not planning on it buddy."
"Good." Fez said as he stared at the TV.
"So Fez…" Hyde said as he tried to start a conversation with his friend when suddenly the basement door opened.
"Fez are we still going to that thing tonight….oh look if it isn't the little orphan. Mom and Dad said you were back." Laurie Forman said as she walked over to Fez.
"Well if it isn't Laurie…your pimp let you off the hook for tonight?" Hyde said as he stared at the blonde.
"Shows what you know I'm not sleeping around anymore."
"Yeah I'll believe that when hell freezes over."
"She's not like that anymore Hyde." Fez said as he stood up and put his arm around Laurie.
Hyde stared at them as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Okay what's going on?"
"We're married you idiot." Laurie said.
"I knew you guys got married but that was just to keep Fez in the country…I thought you got a divorce right afterwards."
"We were going to, but…well we realized that we really did like each other and eventually after being friends for a while it turned into love." Laurie said as she smiled at Fez. "Oh why am I telling you anyway you'll probably just use it in the next book you write." She said as she gave Hyde a dirty look.
"So you guys stayed married?" Hyde said as he looked at Fez and ignored Laurie.
"Yes we did and I'm very happy so don't try to ruin that Hyde."
"I wouldn't dream of it little buddy." Hyde said as he went back to watching TV.
"So are we still going?" Laurie asked Fez.
"Yes let's go. Good day Hyde." Fez said as they walked out.
"Laurie and Fez," Hyde said to himself, "It's like a bad nightmare."
Jackie walked out of the back room and almost ran into Donna. "Whoa…watch it you lumberjack."
"Well if you would have been paying attention you would have seen me you midget." Donna said as she smiled at Jackie.
Jackie smiled at her best friend and looped her arm in the other girls. "So how are you?"
"Better than I was yesterday that's for sure."
"Yeah…so what was it like…seeing him for the first time since he left?"
"I'm not going to lie it was like a dream. Something I never thought would happen." She said as they sat down near the door.
"Yeah, that's how I felt when I first saw him. I even touched his glasses just to be sure it was him."
"Yeah I wanted to do the same thing." Donna said as she looked down.
"Can I ask you something?" Jackie asked as Donna nodded. "Do you still have feelings for Hyde…like lingering feelings?"
Donna looked down at her wedding ring then back up at Jackie. "If I said no then that would be a lie. I mean he was my first love. He was my high school sweetheart so it's only natural that I would still have feelings for him. But to act on those feelings, that will never happen. I'm so madly in love with Eric that I can't even see straight. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me and I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that."
Jackie touched Donna's hand and smiled at her friend. "That's good because Eric really loves you and you guys are meant to be together."
"I know that Jackie. Since when are you so worried about me and Eric?"
"Since I realized that you guys are my best friends and my family." Jackie said as she looked down.
"Awe midget you've grown a heart." Donna said with a laugh.
"Oh I always had a heart you lumberjack…I just never used it." Jackie said as they both laughed.
Hyde walked towards the high school as he looked around the town checking out the things that had changed and the things that had stayed the same. When he got the high school he couldn't believe his eyes. It was like a giant time capsule. From his spot on the sidewalk he could see exactly where Forman and he had spray painted their names into the wall and Donna had put girls kick ass just a little bit off to the side. He walked across the street and into the parking lot as he tried to get a better look at the graffiti that symbolized his youth.
"They keep threatening to paint over it, but they never do." Hyde turned around as Donna walked over to the wall.
Hyde stared at her as he tried to figure out where she'd come from. "Uh…why's that?"
"I think they were a little afraid that if they did you'd somehow find out and come back to kick their asses." Donna said as she touched the words.
"Yeah that's me…the badass."
"You've never been a badass Hyde…you've just been a dumb ass." Donna said before she walked over to the curb and sat down.
Hyde followed her and took a seat next to her. "So what are you doing here?"
"I needed to talk to you and I figured at some point you'd make it over here."
"Ah, so what did you need to talk to me about?"
"Did you miss me? I mean did you ever wonder what I was doing or what was happening in my life? Did you ever think about coming home to me?"
"Donna…I thought about you every single day. And I wish…I wish I hadn't left like I did. I wish I would have talked to you before I left or even hinted that I was leaving so that it wouldn't have hurt you as much. But if I had done any of that…then you wouldn't be with Forman. And you wouldn't be as happy as you are right now. I know that. That's why I'm…in a way glad that things have ended the way they have."
"You're right Hyde. I am happy. I'm so happy I cant see straight sometimes. But I missed you. I missed my best friend for so long that I didn't think I'd ever get over the pain of just missing you. It didn't matter to me that I lost my boyfriend, I got over that a long time ago, all that mattered was that I lost my best friend and that I had to start over."
"So that's how you and Jackie became friends."
"Yeah…Kelso left her the night you left. We kind of bonded over the misery."
"She's changed."
"Losing your parents will do that to a girl."
"Or a boy,"
"Or a boy,"
"Donna…about the book…Jackie said…she said I should ask you about the day it came out."
Donna looked down then back at Hyde. "The day your book came out…I was the first one in line to buy a copy. I was so proud of you because you were doing something with your life and you weren't just off somewhere drinking yourself in a coma. I'd read a few reviews of it online so I didn't think anything of it. But when I got to the bookstore to get the book the people who sold it to me, they were just staring and shaking their heads. I couldn't understand why. Then I read it…I read the entire book in one day and…afterwards…Hyde it was the hardest day of my life. I read something you'd published and sold to the world and it was all about us. Your deepest thoughts that you would never share with me, your pain, and your sadness, and your anger. All of it was just out there and…it hurt so bad to know how you really felt. About our first time and prom…it killed me Hyde. A piece of me died that day. That's what happened. Now you know."
"Donna I swear if I could I would go back in time and take all of it back. The book, the fame, everything, I would take it back because I hate that fact that I hurt you. That I'm still hurting you."
"That's where you're wrong," Donna said as she stood up, "That day after I finished that book, I realized that I was finished with you. And after that day you stopped hurting me and only became a memory." Donna said as turned around and walked away.
Hyde sat in the chair and stared at the blank TV screen as Jackie walked in the door. She looked at Hyde then started upstairs.
"Jackie,"
She stopped and turned around as Hyde stood up and walked over to her.
"What?"
"I'm glad that you and Donna became friends."
"Oh and why is that?"
"Because when my parents left it was the worst thing that ever happened to me and I had Donna to pull me through it. I know how it feels and having Donna…that really helps."
Jackie looked at Hyde as she thought about what he'd said. "She's my best friend Hyde, and she was your girlfriend. And I will never, ever understand why you left her like that,"
"Because I couldn't take it anymore."
"What?"
"Because everyday I had to live with the knowledge that my parents had left me, and that I was nothing but an orphan living in his best friends basement. What could I provide for Donna? What would I ever be able to give her? That's why I left. Not because I didn't love her but because loving her wasn't enough."
Jackie watched as Hyde walked into his room as a single tear fell from her cheek. "I know what you mean…Steven." She said before she went upstairs.
A/N: They got something in common and they know it. See they're gonna get closer. Please Review.