Love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me Oh, I've been dreaming through my lonely past So come on, now lets try it, I love you, cant deny it Oh, no hard feelings between you and me So come on, now lets try it, I love you, cant deny it
I love you
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do
I cant conceal it, don't you see, cant you feel it?
Don't you too?
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do
Now I just made it, I found you at last
'Cause it's true
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do
If we cant make it, but just wait and see
'Cause it's true
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do
So love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me
I love you
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do
I can't conceal it, don't you see, can't you feel it?
Don't you too?
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do
The grand piano that had been set up on the beach struck up a familiar cadence. The guests, seated comfortably in lawn chairs on the white expanse of beach, stood up and turned. This was it. Donna Pinciotti, very soon-to-be Forman was making her way down the makeshift aisle. Kitty and Midge were already crying (as was Bob) and even Red couldn't hide the smile.
She looked gorgeous. Her dress was minimalist and purely Donna. It flattered her lanky form, tight in all the right, but still graceful and appropriate, places. She was smiling widely, her grin glowing nearly as brightly as the sunset behind them. Bob walked her slowly down the aisle, enjoying the moment. Jackie grinned broadly at her friend, and couldn't resist sneaking a peak at the groom. Eric was looking like all of his life goals and dreams were being fulfilled in this one moment. Jackie had no doubt that they were. Hyde was smiling at his friends as well. The two of them caught each other's eyes from their respective positions on either side of Eric and Steven's smile widened just a little bit. He winked at her and Jackie felt warmth spread through her body.
The wedding was beautiful. The suns set behind the canopy where the bridal party was stationed, casting a gorgeous colored glow on the whole ceremony. Donna began to cry softly and Eric looked like he wasn't far behind. This was the moment that all of them had known was going to come ever since the two of them first got together all those years ago. It had been a long and bumpy road, but they had gotten there.
It was time for the vows. Eric started.
"Donna, ever since we moved next door to each other, I've been attracted to you. It started off as a first crush, then a first girlfriend, then a first love. We've shared a lot of firsts together, some good and some bad, but I know that if there was anyone on earth to share them with, I am the luckiest man in the world to share them with you. I'm looking forward to a forever of more firsts." His voice broke just a little bit and Donna's tears came faster. No one thought it was corny. It was the plain and simple, beautiful, truth.
Donna began her vows. "Eric, throughout the years, we've drifted back and forth from each other. But we have always come back. And that's how I know that you are the one for me. Because through it all, at the end of the day, first thing in the morning, at lunch, at work, everywhere I went, I wanted you with me, no matter what. And now, I am so glad I have you and I can't wait to start a life where we finally, truly belong to each other. Because, Eric, my heart has always and will always be yours."
Jackie felt tears prickle the backs of her eyes at the sentiments. She knew exactly what they meant, or at least, she glanced across the aisle at the grinning best man, she thought she did. She watched her two friend seal their union with a kiss and run down the aisle getting showered with rice and well wishes. This was love in its purest form. It had been since they met and even when they were apart, and now it would be forever more. She hugged Donna and congratulated her.
"Oh Donna, that was beautiful. It was like something out of Gone With the Wind." He friend smiled.
"Thanks for being here Jackie. Thanks for always being there." tears sprang up again, making both women thankful for the advent of waterproof mascara.
"Uh-oh, are the waterworks starting?" Steven Hyde's voice asked behind the girls.
"Shut-up," Donna laughed through her tears and went to embrace her male friend. Jackie smiled at Eric.
"Congratulations geek. And if you ever hurt her, I swear they will never find your body," he hugged her.
"Aw, Devil, you do care!" He squeezed her tighter and Jackie returned the sentiment. There wasn't much time to talk because the newlyweds were swept off into the arms of many well wishers, leaving Jackie and Hyde to coral the guests toward the reception just up the beach. Jackie watched the guest line up in front of the bridal party's table to greet the new edition to the Forman family. Kitty and Red walked by, Kitty still crying through her bright smile.
"Wasn't it beautiful?" Jackie heard Kitty ask Red.
"Eh, it wasn't ugly." Jackie smiled, knowing that that was a declaration of absolute beauty coming from the gruff man. They paused in front of Jackie and smiled at her. "Hey there kiddo." Red greeted her. Before he could protest, she threw her arms around him, then Kitty.
"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Forman, for letting me into your beautiful family." her voice cracked a little and Kitty launched into fresh tears.
"Of course dear. You're like our daughter. Just not so…" she trailed off and glanced at Laurie, who had gotten in right before the wedding and was already flirting with some waiter behind them.
"Yeah, and you can hold a flashlight. That's a skill worth keeping you around for." Red smiled at her. Steven, who had been listening in stepped up as well. He whispered something to the older couple who smiled at him and patted his shoulder. Kitty hugged him tightly, promising that the next wedding would be his.
"Get Jackie back, Steven, she's a wonderful girl and she makes you happy," she whispered. He kissed her cheek.
"I'm going to try, Mom," Kitty blushed at the term of endearment and then she and Red moved on to the married couple, leaving Hyde next to Jackie.
"It was gorgeous wasn't it?" Jackie asked, watching their friends, "They look so happy."
"Yeah," Hyde agreed, and looked down at her. "Maybe we can be that happy someday." the way he said 'we' made it evident that he meant them as a couple, not two separate entities. Jackie couldn't help but smile up at him.
"Maybe. Isn't it time for your speech?" she asked suddenly.
"Sure is. Which means you're up next. Are you ready?" Jackie smiled and produced a folded piece of paper out of her cleavage. He grinned at her and shook his head.
"What? I had nowhere else to put it."
The two waited nervously as the guests filed into their seats and were served champagne. Hyde became increasingly more agitated and began tapping his foot rapidly. Jackie noticed. He always did that when he was nervous or impatient. She reached over under the table and squeezed his hand tightly. He grinned at her out of the corner of his mouth. He squeezed her hand back and stood up. He opened his mouth as though to yell and quiet the crowd down but Jackie cut him off by clinking her fork to her champagne flute. The crowd silenced in waves.
"Thanks," he whispered. She winked at him.
"Good luck."
Hyde looked over at Forman and Donna. He was never one for making speeches, but he figured his best friends deserved it. He took a deep breath, swallowed his pride and opened his mouth.
"So most of you know that Forman and I have been friends since we were little kids. And I pretty much kicked his ass in everything," the crowd laughed and Eric blushed. "I mean almost everything. He was the smart one and I was the muscle, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks and the nice kid. We didn't make sense, but it didn't matter, because we were best friends. And there was always one area Eric kicked my ass in. And that was caring about people. He never kept it a secret if he cared about you. He let you know. And we called him names and poked fun, but he never changed. He cared about Donna since the first time she beat him at sports. And he cared about me since I knocked that bully off of him in first grade. And because he cared about me, I'm not locked up somewhere, and because he cared about Donna, he gets to share his life with someone who deserves him. So I just wanted to say thanks, Forman, for being the girly dumbass who kept us all together. And congratulations, man, on being married to the girl you've been talking about since we were 12." Eric stood up and hugged his friend and the guests broke into applause. Hyde looked somewhat embarrassed but smiled and hugged Donna too before sitting down. Jackie stood up.
"I didn't meet Donna and Eric until we were all teenagers," she began, "They were the part of the group at school that everyone knew were really tight and didn't really hang out with a lot of other people. And I remember meeting them and thinking, God, that's really weird,"
She giggled and clarified herself, "I mean, it was the most mix-matched group of people ever: a foreigner," Fez smiled, "a pretty boy," Kelso gave her a huge thumbs up from the end of the table,
"a bad boy," she looked down at Hyde and he winked at her. "A cheerleader," she gestured to herself, "and a geek and a lumberjack," Donna and Eric laughed and she smiled nervously, "And then I started spending more and more time in that basement, and even when I had no reason to be, I found myself down there, or in the Forman's kitchen or garage and then in Donna's house. And it wasn't until I moved in with Donna that I figured out why. Somewhere along the line, they stopped being acquaintances and then after that, they stopped being friends and even stopped being best friends. They became family." she paused and regained composure, wiping tears from her face. "And I just wanted to say thank you all so much for letting me into your family and caring so much about me. And I couldn't be happier that two people who are so perfect for each other ended up together and officially joined our little makeshift, misfit group into a real family. And I can't wait until you and Eric are dropping your kids off at my house and I can tell them about all the good times we all had together." Donna began crying as well. Jackie raised her glass. "To the new Mr. and Mrs. Forman!" the guests clinked their glasses and drank and Donna jumped up and hugged her surrogate sister, both falling into tears. A few minutes later, Jackie collapsed into her chair again, her eyes a little red, but looking happy. Hyde patted her back.
"Good speech," he was looking over at Kitty and Bob, both crying and blubbering together. Kitty had ran up and crushed both Jackie and Donna in a hug before being returned to her seat.
"Thanks. Yours was hard to follow," he draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her in, offering her a box of Kleenex he had stored under the table earlier for this very occasion. She smiled at him and took one. "Thanks, you're so thoughtful" she kissed him on the cheek, then got up to offer the box to Donna, Kitty and Bob. Her lips left a tingling on her cheek.
"Hey Hyde," he looked up at Eric who was taking Jackie's vacated seat. "Thanks for being here man, you're like my brother."
"Hey, don't mention it Forman. I wouldn't miss this." Eric smiled and fake punched him lightly. His eyes followed his redheaded wife who was huddled in the crying mass.
"Love is funny, isn't it?" he looked at Hyde.
"Yeah. It makes you want to pull your hair out, but you're still happy." he watched Jackie floating about. Eric clasped his shoulder.
"Go get your girl man," he instructed, then made his way back to his parents and wife.
Dinner was served luau-style and then the dancing began. Eric and Donna danced their first dance as a married couple, then Donna danced with Bob and Eric danced with Kitty. Then the dance floor became a free for all as more of the guests indulged in the champagne and open bar. Laurie was dancing up on her ex-husband Fez, and the two were looking more and more comfortable with each other. Kelso had apparently gotten over Pam and had moved on to one of Donna's cousins. Red grudgingly was dancing with Kitty, and the newlyweds were packed somewhere in the middle of a group of well wishers. Jackie watched from a far, nursing a champagne flute and smiling. She felt a hand move to her lower back and another grasp her hand.
"Can I have this dance?" Steven Hyde whispered in her ear. She was shocked. Steven didn't slow dance, and if he did, he never asked her like that. She looked at him and nodded. He coaxed the drink out of her hand and laid it down on the table, grasping her hand tightly and sweeping her to the dance floor. "You look beautiful," he smiled earnestly at her as he pulled her tighter to him, one hand wrapped around her own and the other on her hip.
"And you look very handsome," she whispered into his chest. He spun her slowly to the conclusion of the current song. Jackie's heart leapt when Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," began to play. She looked up at Steven incredulously. He smiled.
"Did you know the D.J. takes requests?" he asked lightly. Jackie grinned. This was their song. Steven pulled her closer, not caring who watched, wanting to be near to her. Jackie relaxed into his chest, letting herself be swept up in the moment. Steven squeezed her tighter and she felt safe in his embrace. She felt home. She laid her head against him and sighed contently.
"I've missed this Steven," she whispered.
"Me too, Jacks, me too." he kissed her forehead. They danced through the song and another when Knowing Me, Knowing You came on. It had played continuously when Steven and her had broken up for the last time. It was her heart break song. Hearing it brought back the pain of the separation, the guilt and loss she had felt, the void that filled her heart with every insult he had shot at her with that other woman on his lap.
No more carefree laughter
Silence ever after
Walking through an empty house, tears in my eyes
Here is where the story ends, this is goodbye
Knowing me, knowing you (ah-haa)
There is nothing we can do
Knowing me, knowing you (ah-haa)
We just have to face it, this time were through
(this time were through, this time were through
This time were through, were really through)
Breaking up is never easy, I know but I have to go
(I have to go this time
I have to go, this time I know)
Knowing me, knowing you
Its the best I can do
Memories (memories), good days (good days), bad days (bad days)
They'll be (they'll be), with me (with me) always (always)
In these old familiar rooms children would play
Now there's only emptiness, nothing to say
She stopped moving and pulled away, leaving Hyde cold and confused.
"What's wrong Jacks?" he asked her and tried to pull her back to him.
"Nothing," she quickly lied and looked down to hide the tears in her eyes from him. The song kept playing, and Jackie felt like her heart was breaking all over again. She looked around at the festivities, remembering how she had wanted this so badly for the two of them: for her and Steven. And how he never did. How he only said he loved her when it was convenient for him. "I--I'm going to go see if Donna wants to throw the bouquet," she let go of his hand and quickly slipped away.
Hyde was confused. She had been so happy a minute ago, now she was practically crying and trying to get away from him as fast as she could. He had thought getting the DJ to play their song would help, but apparently it had made it worse. He turned around, needing to talk to someone and not wanting to bother anyone at the same time. He spotted a morose looking Fez in the corner table, staring glumly at Laurie. He made his way over to him.
"What's up, Fez?" he sat down next to him.
"Nothing," Fez lied. "Everything is wonderful."
"Really?" Hyde followed his line of vision to Eric's sister. "So Laurie dancing with that guy over there isn't bothering you?" Dancing wasn't really the word for it. It was more like, baby-making in public. Hyde hid his grimace.
"No!" his friend protested too loudly. "It doesn't bother me that we were married first and no one noticed. Not at all."
Hyde raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wait, you want to be with Laurie," the thought was incomprehensible to him. "Why?"
"Well why do you want to be with Jackie?" Fez fired back.
"Because man…" Hyde trailed off.
"See?" Fez asked. "Maybe there is no logical reason. You and Jackie are opposites; she is a goddess and you are…" he looked at Hyde, "a burnout. But you still got to be together. Maybe I want to be with Laurie." he sunk down in his seat and sulked.
"Have you always wanted to be with her?" Hyde asked. What Fez was saying made a lot of since. Why were they different them him and Jackie? No one wanted them to be together except themselves. They had each other. Or at least they did. Now it seemed like he was the only one in their corner.
"Yes," he pouted, "no one noticed it. They were all too busy with their own lives," Hyde felt bad. Fez always got pushed aside by his friends' problems.
"Well man. Tell her how you feel." Hyde suggested.
"I did. She rejected me." he looked so sad.
"Fez, man," Hyde gripped his shoulder tightly. "You never were someone who gave up. Don't start now. Go get your girl." he gave him an encouraging pat.
"No. I will not be embarrassed again. I will just be lonely and alone for the rest of my life." Hyde glared at him.
"Quit the pity party. If you love someone, don't you ever give them up. Trust me on that one. Being miserable and alone sucks. Go get your girl, Fez, or I swear, I am going to kick your ass." Fez looked over at him.
"Hyde, you care!" Hyde frogged him. "Ai! Fine, I will go!" he stood up quickly. "Thanks, Hyde. You were always a good friend." Hyde just nodded.
"Whatever man. Just go get the devil." Fez grinned.
"You should too, even though I prefer to think of her as a goddess." He smiled. "You know, she used to play this song all the time at out apartment after you two broke up." Damn, it all made sense. He was going to kill whoever put this song on. He needed to make it better…
"Fez, wait!" Hyde was up.
"Yeah," Fez turned back to his friend.
"I've got an idea that I think will help both of us…"
"Alright! Let's hear it!" Fez jumped up and down.
A/N: So, it is almost over. I think that chapter was a little longer, but I hadn't updated in a little while, so there you guys go. Review, review, review please!