A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the delay on this! Not only do I have 5 stories going at once, but my laptop is filled with adware. I'm so stressed out about the whole thing, but I really wanted to update this story since it has been too long! I'm glad to see that everyone seems to love it so far. We all have faith in Eric to save the day! Lets see him get one step closer now!

I'm sorry in advance if there are mistakes. It's harder for me to read on this computer, so I might not catch them.

Chapter 3: Misty Watercolor Memories


Hyde sat alone in the Forman basement dressed in a purple shirt, cursing himself. He wondered why it even bothered him that Jackie was back with the idiot. Why had giving her up to have bad sex with Pam Macy been so difficult to handle. He did not like Jackie. That was an impossibility in Hyde's mind. So why did he feel so lousy? The basement door opened hesitantly, revealing a very beautiful girl to his eyes.

"I was hoping you'd be here." Jackie spoke with a small voice.

Hyde rose to his feet "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be off with your boyfriend?"

She sighed "I just…I just wanted to talk to you."

Hyde looked confused "About what?"

She approached him and took his hands in her own, which threw him "Steven, it was so sweet of you to take me to prom."

Baffled by her, he pulled his hands away "I am not sweet. It was no big deal, Jackie."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance "Yes it is, Steven. It meant a lot to me, and I know it wasn't your kind of thing."

He shrugged "Whatever, It was a good burn on Kelso."

His words seemed to sadden her "Is that all you got out of tonight…a burn?"

He sighed heavily "What else would I have gotten?"

She seemed near tears "I don't know. I thought maybe you felt…maybe you felt…" Her words broke as she fought tears.

Hyde looked on at this tiny little girl, looking so frail and yet so gorgeous, and his heart skipped a beat. This was something he had never felt before, but it made no difference. She was Kelso's girl, not his.

"Look, I thought you got back with Kelso."

"I did." She answered quietly.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration "So I don't get it. Why are you here, Jackie?"

She looked him straight in the eye "I was just wondering if…" She paused to inhale deeply "If you could think of any reason why I shouldn't get back together with Michael."

Hyde was completely caught off guard by her question. "Well, yeah, he's a moron…"

"No, I meant can you give me a reason why I shouldn't be with Michael?"

Though her mismatched eyes narrowed in on his blue ones, she could not recognize the fear and confusion that swam in them. She did not realize that he was fighting an internal battle between his head and his heart. It seemed like an eternity before Hyde finally managed to compose an answer.

"I can't." Was all he said.

Jackie felt like her body would give way any moment. So much had been riding on his answer. So much. She nodded her head sadly before walking toward him.

"Goodnight Steven." She kissed his cheek before turning and walking away.

"Night Doll."


The painful memory flooded Hyde's senses as he looked up in the window at the tiny mannequin who so resembled the girl from that night. That night had been the first in a series of mistakes on his part. If only he had been honest with her. If only he had expressed his true feelings and given her the answer he so wanted to give. There were a million reasons why she shouldn't be with Kelso, but the biggest one, the most important one, was that he wanted her with him.

As Hyde stood on the street corner cursing himself, he could think of one other person who deserved some of his anger.

"Forman, what the hell?!" He pulled Eric over to him by his shirt collar.

As Hyde let loose his grip of his longtime friend, Eric coughed before responding "What?"

"Don't 'what' me, man. Where the hell do you get off using plastic versions of me and Jackie?" Hyde demanded irately.

"I just thought it would be good for the store. Plus…" The skinny man drifted.

"Plus what?!" The curly-hared man asked loudly.

Eric sighed "I just remember how cute you guys were together that night."

The tension in Hyde's shoulders released "Couldn't you have used you and Donna?"

"No because…I still remember how great things were with Donna."

Shaded eyes squinted in puzzlement "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It just means that maybe you have forgotten how good things were for you with Jackie."

For a moment it seemed that Hyde's eyes were opening…For a moment. "Please, Jackie and I were terrible for each other." He scoffed before pointing his index finger warningly at his friend "And you better butt out and stop using me as your muse or whatever."

Eric sighed as Hyde walked away grumpily. He had his work cut out for him.


Later that night, Eric was going through some store merchandise trying to come up with the following day's window design when his boss approached him.

"Eric my boy, the design was a huge hit! We made twice as much business as normal! Great job!"

"Thank you, sir."

The portly man looked around "Well, I am heading home. I don't want to interrupt an artist who is busy creating. Lock up when you're done!"

Eric nodded as his boss left the store.

"Finally! I thought the fatso would never leave!" Jackie sprung to life and approached Eric.

He jumped "Jesus Jackie, you have to stop doing that."

Her eyes rolled "Don't be so twitchy, Eric." She slapped his arm forcefully as he winced "tell me what happened with Steven!"

He cleared his throat "Oh it went really well."

"Liar! I saw the whole thing through the window! He practically beat your ass!"

"But he didn't, and with Hyde that is really well." He insisted.

She exhaled sharply "Fine. What are we going to do now?"

"Well, I was thinking…" Before Eric could complete his sentence, Jackie changed back into her plastic form as the bell on the front door chimed. He looked over to see a woman entering.

"Sorry, we're closed." As she drew near he recognized her "Oh hey Sam. Sorry, we're closed."

The tall blonde sauntered over to him, paying no mind to his words. "I know. I wanted to talk to you."

Eric laughed nervously "Uh why?"

She shrugged as her finger traced a line down his arm "I saw your display."

"Oh I'm sorry if that upset you."

She laughed "Why would that upset me?"

He breathed deeply "Well, you know, Hyde's your husband and Jackie was his ex.."

She laughed again "I don't care about her. She can't compare to me anyway."

Eric could literally feel Jackie's desire to come to life and beat the living hell out of this woman, but he knew she couldn't.

He fidgeted as Sam eyed him hungrily "So uh…why are you here?"

She smiled seductively as she leaned her ample chest into his bony one "I just wanted to see you." She made her way over to a pink satin bra and panties.

"Can I try these on?" She asked coyly, holding the bra up.

"Uh..Umm…Yeah?" he stammered for words.

"Great!" She began to peel her clothes off, one article at a time.

Eric let out a small squeak as he turned away, not looking at the half naked stripper.

"How do I look?" Sam asked sultrily.

Eric peeked through the skinny fingers that he covered his face with, to find the blonde dressed in nothing but the skimpy underwear.

"You look..." He laughed uncomfortably again "You look great. I'll ring that up for you. Just take it off. I mean, No! leave it on. Just take it. You're on me. I mean it's on me!"

She giggled as she grabbed her clothes "Thank you, and you can come over anytime to…take it back." She eyed him hungrily before quickly dressing and leaving the store.

"That whore!" Jackie shouted furiously as she came to life again.

"Okay, I've never been good at this, but she definitely was coming on to me, right?" Eric asked the tiny brunette in shock.

She nodded adamantly "And you know she's a real skank if she'll even hit on you!"

He jumped up "That's it!"

Jackie eyed him in confusion "What's it?"

"I'll tell Hyde about Sam. He'll realize what a whore she is and dump her. Then he'll open his heart to you, and presto! Everything is fixed!"

She sighed "You can't tell him. He has to figure this stuff out for himself. "

Eric huffed "Well, what am I supposed to do about the whole, his wife hitting on me thing?"

"You can't say anything. Just keep fighting her off until you get him to open his heart." She asserted.

"Fine. But you should know this is going to be hard. Once a girl falls for me, she can't escape it. I'm like a drug!"

"Chh you've been hanging out with Michael too much."

He paused in thought momentarily before nodding in agreement "So I have an idea for the next display."

She grasped onto his arms intently "Is it good?"

He smiled devilishly "Well, it's no worse than bowling…"


Hyde looked up at the window. He stared at the beautiful doll, who looked so much like the only girl he ever loved. She was stunningly exquisite, and he felt a longing he could not comprehend. All of a sudden her face flashed before his eyes. It was a series of random images he could not make out. All he knew was that he was with her and she was smiling her glorious smile. A moment later she was gone in a sea of black. He could feel his body plunging into the darkness trying to find her.

"Jackie?!" his muffled call escaped his lips to no avail.

He bounded on anyway, with no sense of direction in the infinite night.

At last he came upon her. She looked like porcelain floating in the nothingness. He pulled her to him. She felt stiff in his arms. Her eyes opened sharply before she screamed out loud.

"Steven!"

Hyde awoke in his bed, soaking in sweat. He would have to kick Forman's ass for dredging up the past. He had been intent on forgetting everything to do with his tiny little dollface, but thanks to Eric, it was all so fresh in his mind. This dream had thrown him, but he wasn't sure what it meant. Little did he know that with every moment, his doll slipped farther and farther away, every day drifting farther into the infinite abyss.


A/N: I hope you liked it! I have been getting so many awesome reviews on this, so I hope you guys keep it up! Thanks!