Author's Note: Heyy guys! It's me again(: This chapter is legit a thousand times longer than the first three(: But anyways, thank you so much for reading and please review! Let me know how to make this better(:

Chris followed Hyde into his house and looked around at the mess. Before he could even say something about it, she cleared off an area of the couch and sat. "I thought you lived with the Formans in the basement."

"I do. I moved in a month or so ago when my mom skipped town," he answered nonchalantly, making himself a seat on an old recliner.

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's no big deal. Beats living in this dump."

"You aren't very good with feelings, huh?"

"Can't be good with something you don't have."

"It would be a good point, if it applied to you," she decided. A half-eaten container caught on the table caught her eyes and she asked, "About how old would you say this pudding cup is?"

"Huh. I guess I never threw that thing out." He looked at her and said, "Very. There's probably mold and bugs and dust all over it."

"…Do you think it's edible?"

"Would a girl of your status really be willing to eat a pudding cup that's been sitting out for two months?"

"Of what status?" she asked incredulously.

"Well… you know… Perfect."

"Trust me, honey. I am the absolute furthest thing from perfect." She took a spoonful and ate it thoughtfully. "Hmm… It really isn't all that bad."

"You're disgusting," he told her appreciatively.

"Says you." She held out a spoonful and grinned. "You want some?"

"Naw— I had my half of the cup back when it was fresh."

"So this was yours?"

"Indeed it was."

"Well then, technically, being as this spoon has passed through both of our mouths, we have, in essence, made out."

"You really do have a messed up head, huh?"

"Yep!" she said cheerfully.

There was a moment of silence between them while Chris took another bite of pudding before Hyde asked, "So who was that guy?"

"What guy?"

"The one in your house."

"Oh… He was one of my mom's long-term clients. It's kind of funny, actually… My dad came to Point Place to get away from us, we moved to Point Place to get away from the guy… And here we all are."

"What's his name?"

"I don't know. He said that in nightmares, the faces don't come with names…"

"And neither does he," Hyde finished.

"Exactly."

After a few more moments of silence— but not the content kind of silence, the upsetting kind— Chris got up and sat on the arm of the chair that Hyde was sitting in. He lifted his arm and draped it around her waist, so she leaned into him a little bit.

"So, uh, thanks," Chris said uncomfortably after a little bit.

"For what?"

"Convincing me to leave. But if he kills me later, I blame you," she joked.

"You don't have to go back," he pointed out.

"What other option is there? I can't hide forever."

"But you can hide for the night. Here, I mean. He usually isn't there when you get home from school, right?"

"I'd be way too freaked out to stay here by myself," she admitted sheepishly. "I get really nervous when I'm by myself, especially at night. I'd be jumping at every shadow."

"I didn't say you would stay by yourself."

"Hmm?"

"You get the couch, I'll take the recliner," he said simply.

"What about the morning? How are we supposed to get ready?"

"Can't you go a day without—"

"I'm a girl, remember?"

He rolled his eyes. "I have a shirt here that you can wear. And there's bound to be make-up and such in my mom's room."

"Problem solved," she confirmed with a grin.

"I have to step out though— make sure the gang doesn't think I'm dead or anything. Will you be alright for half an hour?"

"Yep!"

"Cool. I'll be back." He removed his arm from her body and left. She was surprised at how much colder and more alone she felt without his touch, but chose to ignore it. She walked into the kitchen where she knew was a phone and dialed the club that her mother spent all her time at.

"Hello, this is Dirty Girlz, how may I help you," a nasally woman's voice droned.

"Is Shelly Steele there?"

"Did you want to schedule an appointment, or buy tickets to a show?"

"I'm her daughter. I just need to give her a message."

"Alright sweetie, wait a moment."

A minute or two passed before Shelly's raspy voice came on. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mom. It's Chris. I'm gonna be out all night, okay? Don't come looking for me or anything."

"Wasn't plannin' on it, darlin'. You know I ain't gonna be home neither."

"So it's cool?"

"Just be back by my birthday. I expect an expensive present," she said, and hung up.

Chris rolled her eyes at her mother's amazing maternal instinct and placed the phone down. She looked around the house and started cleaning up a bit: throwing out garbage, stacking magazines, throwing all the clothes strewn across the floor into Hyde's mother's room. She didn't do anything major, but it really did make a huge difference. She had just finished cleaning up the couch and recliner when Hyde walked in.

"Huh," he said as he walked in. "It looks like a girl came in."

"Funny how that happens, huh?"

"You do realize that before we leave in the morning I'm going to completely wreck the place again, right?"

"I'll help," she offered. "You deserve better than the mess this place was. Based on what I've heard, your mother does not."

"I would strongly agree with the second half of that statement."

She looked at him blankly. "You really aren't aware of how amazing you are, are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you know that you're perfect?"

"What?"

"Do you think you're perfect?"

"Why—"

"Answer the question."

"Nobody's perfect."

"You said I was."

"I'm a hypocrite. Shoot me."

She studied his face for a bit before asking, "Do you always wear shades?"

"Not always." He took them off. "See?"

Chris got lost in his eyes for a bit before saying, "Yeah." She forced herself to look away, and a little chill went through her when he put his arm around her waist again. Don't, she scolded herself. "So, uh, what are we gonna do?"

"Well, we could go out."

"What?"

"The Hub. The gang's all going there soon. We could ask him to swing by and give us a ride over with them— I figure you don't care much for nighttime strolls."

"That would be correct."

"Sure."

"Alright. I'll give Eric a shout." He got up and walked into the kitchen, once again leaving Chris craving his touch. She slid off of the arm of the recliner to the seat where Hyde had been. He returned after a few seconds, saw her in his seat, and mock-frowned. "Oh, I see how it is," he said as he sat on the couch as close to her as he could get.

"So, uh…" Chris began to say something but lost the courage.

"Spit it out," he advised.

"Well… I'm just wondering… about you."

"Me?"

"You."

"What about me?"

She sighed and bit the inside of her lip. "Nothing… Well, no. that's a lie. Everything. I'm curious about you. Your life, family, relationships…" She caught his closed-off look and added quickly, "Please don't get all freaked out on me. Don't close yourself off. I just… I'm curious. And it's not like you've got this horrible life and I'm perfect. We're both pretty low on the quality-of-life scale."

"There really isn't that much to tell. I've lived here my whole life. My dad left when I was a kid. My mom left two and a half months ago. They're both alcoholics. The Formans took me in."

She could sense that she wasn't going to get anything else from him— years of pretending not to care had gotten to him— so she changed the subject. "So, what's the deal with that Jackie chick? She really does not seem to like me. Like, at all."

"She just hates not being the center of attention. She didn't like everyone drooling over you instead of her."

"I don't think that she likes that you spend so much time with me," Chris added.

"Huh."

"You guys went out, right?"

"Well, she stalked me forever. And we went on a date. We didn't actually date-date."

"…Huh."

"It all boils down to how much of a bitch she is that day."

"…Oh."

"What?" He looked at her slight, uneasy frown; studied the way she was biting her lip. "Did my calling Jackie a bitch in some way offend you? Because… well, you're gonna have to get used to that."

A small smile leaked its way out. "No, I kind of agree. It's just… Nevermind."

"Just spit it out, kid."

"I don't think you're over Jackie," she said as quickly as she could. She had to get it out before she lost her confidence.

He looked at her blankly. "Do you have some kind of mental handicap that I should know about?"

"No. It's just really obvious—"

"Chris, I don't think you understand the premises of hating someone."

"Trust me— you don't hate her. You're just pretending to hate her as a subconscious reaction because what you really hate is the idea of being in love with her. Which you are."

"That's the most disgusting thing that's ever heard in my entire life," he concluded. "But, Chris…" His sentence trailed off as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Hyde! Chris!" Eric pounded on the door. "If you're not out here in three seconds, I'm coming in!"

"Maybe it's for the best," Chris whispered her lips about half an inch away from his. If she wanted… No. Don't go there. She instead began to get up.

Hyde moved backward, mimicking her actions so that she could get up. Once they were both on their feet, he gestured for her to walk in front of him.

"Taking your time, as always," Eric joked as he held the door open for them.

"Yeah. Pretty much." Hyde followed Chris out the door and sat in the back next to Fez.

Chris gazed at the full car awkwardly before Kelso patted his lap and said, "Get 'er up here!" She laughed, ignored the 'you-better-not' look she was getting from Hyde, climbed over him and Fez, and sat on Kelso's lap. Kelso pulled her back so it was pressing against his chest and explained, "Better get close. We need to buckle for safety purposes and all."

Hyde glared at the two the entire time.


Chris was about to feast on a quarter-pounder at the Hub when she looked up. "Who thinks they can eat one of these faster than I can?"

"That's disgusting," Jackie spat.

"What's disgusting is how unevenly you applied your cover-up," Chris retorted.

"I can," Fez told Chris as he walked over with the same burger.

"I'll time it," Donna offered with a grin. "Ready? Set? GO!"

Chris and Fez devoured their burgers like homeless dogs that hadn't eaten in weeks. The burgers were there and gone within a minute. However, Chris finished her burger about two seconds before Fez finished his. Chris looked at Fez's disgustingly messy face and laughed, because she didn't have a drop of food on hers.

"Holy crap, Fez," Kelso exclaimed. "You just got beat by a girl!"

"A skinny girl!" Eric added.

"In an eating contest," Hyde contributed.

"I know, I know," Fez grumbled. "I was there."

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Chris decided. "Donna? Jackie? You wanna come?"

They followed her in, and Chris began applying make-up in the mirror. "So, guys… Any guys in your lives?"

"Eric is perfect," Donna said with a grin.

"Why?" Jackie asked cautiously.

"Just curious. I don't want to go anywhere you guys would advise against going, y'know?"

"Well, I dated Michael for four years. He's a cheating dillhole. Definitely stay away. And Steven… ugh."

"Yeah… he told me about you guys."

"He told you?" she asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Everything," Chris confirmed.

"…Huh. How un-Steven-like."

"And, uh... what about Fez?"

"Nobody would even think about dating Fez," Jackie scoffed.

"Why not?" Chris asked in shock. "He's cute, and he seems really sweet."

"He's a whore," Donna said.

"And foreign," Jackie added with disgust.

"…Huh." She stepped back. "I'm done."

"Let's go," Donna chided.

"I still need the mirror," Jackie countered.

"I'll wait with you," Chris offered.

"I won't!" Donna left.

"So… You and Steven, huh?" Jackie asked.

"Not so much," Chris admitted.

"Why not?"

"He's not into me like that. He's head-over-heels for someone else."

"Who?"

"Well… to be honest, I don't think he's over you."

"As if any guy would choose me over you…"

"Are you serious? Out of the two of us, you're the obvious choice."

"You're delusional," Jackie told her, and walked out of the bathroom.

Chris walked after her, but caught sight of someone outside the doors of the Hub and froze. She rushed over to Eric immediately and asked, "Is there a back exit?"

"What?"

"Back exit. Please." She looked at him frantically, panic in her eyes.

"Um… straight behind you on the left," he said slowly, confused but deciding that if something had her this freaked out it was probably better to ask questions later.

Chris darted down the hall and out the door immediately, shutting it behind her loudly. She paced back and forth outside, not knowing which way she should go. She was only a few seconds into her mental breakdown when Hyde pushed through the door and appeared in front of her. "What's going on?"

"The guy… He... In the Hub… and… we have to go," Chris explained breathlessly.

"What? Why?"

The doorknob began to turn behind them, so Chris shoved Hyde in front of her and began to sprint. She was just about to follow Hyde around the corner when a hand grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around. She couldn't do anything other than stare at her mother's 'boyfriend' and gape in horror as he shook her and demanded, "Where the hell were you? I told you to come back in! And why the hell were you running from me?"

"I— just— I—" she stammered nervously.

Hyde rounded the corner to see where Chris had gone just in time to watch the palm of this guy's hand connect to her face and send her flying to the ground. The man was leaning over Chris and had just opened his mouth to yell at her when Hyde said, "Hey, man."

He straightened up just in time for Hyde to punch him in the face. Hyde grabbed Chris's arm, pulled her to her feet, and walked over to Eric inside the Hub. "Yo, Forman. Drive me and Chris back over to my old place, would ya?"

Everyone stared at Chris, noting her red face, teary eyes, and torn/blood-stained jeans. Eric took in her condition for a second before asking, "Why don't you just walk?"

"She looks like she's about to faint, man. Will you give us a ride or not?"

Eric nodded. "I'll be right back," he told the rest of the gang, and followed Chris and Hyde out the door.

The moment they were through the door, Jackie exclaimed, "Ten bucks says Hyde beat her up!"

Fez rolled his eyes. "Jackie, that is ridiculous! Hyde would never hurt a woman." He looked at Donna and added, "…Would he?"

"Of course he wouldn't, you dillhole!" Kelso exclaimed. He looked at Donna and said, "You know, we always say that. What is a dillhole, anyway?"

"…You, Kelso. You are a dillhole," she informed him.

"Ah-burn," Fez chanted with a grin.


Chris winced as Hyde held her head under her chin and turned her face so that he could see her injuries better. "Ow," she whined.

"Deal with it," he advised as he let go. "You look fine. Nothing too bad." He frowned and added, "You alright?"

"Yeah. I'm used to it." She chuckled bitterly and added, "That was a really stupid thing to do."

"What was I supposed to do?" he asked. "Let him beat the living shit out of you?"

"I never said that I didn't appreciate it, Hyde."

"Then don't call me stupid."

"Sorry." They stared into each other's eyes for a little bit before Chris forced herself to pull away from his gaze. She got off the table she was sitting on and collapsed on his couch. "I think I'm gonna, uh, hit the sack…"

"Uh… yeah. Me too," Hyde agreed quickly. He shut off the lights and sat on his recliner, scowling at how uncomfortable it was.

Chris stared blankly into the darkness for a few minutes before she said softly, "Hyde?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks," she whispered before she allowed unconsciousness to claim her.