A/N: Sorry for delayed update...Xmas shopping + Xmas parties + Xmas hangovers = No time on the computer. Sorry!

Friday, July 31st, 1981

10.45pm

Forman Residence

Hyde's grip on the neck of his beer bottle tightened as he watched Jackie kiss Kelso's cheek. He didn't need to look down to know his hand was probably turning white, and he didn't want to look down anyway; he was far too preoccupied with the couple hopping into the waiting cab. It took all the self-control he had to not smash the glass bottle against the white wooden fence that lined the Forman's garden. He knew he couldn't, there'd be too many questions, too many raised suspicions.

Sitting next to him Cassidy lit a cigarette. "Wow, Jackie is a mess," she laughed.

Hyde kept his mouth shut as he clenched the bottle tighter, if that was even possible.

"Yeah, she is," Donna said as she sat back down. "She's not usually like that, I can't understand what's got into her."

Hyde knew what'd gotten into her. She was pissed at him.

"Isn't it obvious? She has a sad, lonely life and gets drunk to make herself feel better, only she ends up making a fool of herself," said Cassidy through fits of giggles.

Donna shook her head and picked up her beer. "But that's just it, everything's been going great for Jackie lately. She has a great job, friends, her own apartment...hell, she's even been dating, I can't see what could be bothering her."

Dating? When had she been going on dates? The news threw Hyde off for a moment but he remained Zen and sipped his beer.

"Don't worry about her," Eric chimed in, "she probably just missed out on some big sale and had to drown her sorrows. She'll be fine tomorrow."

"But going home with Kelso...I don't know that we should've let her go, what if she regrets it in the morning?" The lines on Donna's forehead deepened as she peered over at the driveway and the fading lights of the cab. She was worried.

So was Hyde.

Cassidy scoffed. "But isn't that her thing? Feel down - fuck Kelso?"

Hyde's blood was boiling now.

"I wish her thing was 'feel down - fuck Fez'," Fez sighed from his spot next to Eric.

"Hey." Hyde spoke through a large lump in his throat. "If she's hookin' up with that moron again then at least every other guy's safe. I say let's drop it n let'em have each other."

Cassidy's smile grew wider and she reached over and rubbed Hyde's thigh with her hand. Her touch made his skin crawl but if it meant she was buying his crap then the heebie jeebies were totally worth it.

"I s'pose you're right," Donna said, looking over at Hyde. "But whatever happens I know I'll need to set two hours aside tomorrow morning to hear all about it. It's either gonna be 'Donna, why did you let me go home with Michael, Donna?', or, 'Donna, I love Michael, Donna, we're picking out china patterns for the wedding tomorrow."

Everyone laughed at Donna's Jackie impersonation, even Hyde. The redhead really did have Jackie down pat.

"Well," Hyde said, standing up, "as entertaining as this has all been we need to be making tracks."

"What? Already?" Cassidy asked. "It's only 10.30."

"Closer to 11 by my watch." Hyde had to get out of there. It'd been cool hanging with the guys, chilling, and having them treat him normal for once, but he was done. Especially with Cassidy.

Eric handed him a fresh beer. "Just stay for one more, we haven't hung in ages"

"Yeah, we can change the sounds now that the dream team are gone," Donna offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Hyde said pulling his keys out of his pocket. "I gotta get home. Got a busy day tomorrow."

Cassidy stood up and reached for her handbag. Thank god she wasn't gonna fight him. "What have we got on tomorrow?" she asked.

"Dunno what you're doin' but I have to help W.B move."

"Really?" asked Eric, "Where's he moving to now?"

Hyde shrugged. "Don't know logistics, Forman, just know he needs my ute." He turned to Cassidy. "You ready?"

"Sure am, hun," she smiled.

Hyde waited in the Camino while Cassidy thanked his friends and kissed them all goodbye. Fuck she was full of crap, and if they all knew the shit she'd said about them behind their backs they'd be more inclined to slap her than kiss her. She climbed into the car and shuffled right over to him, he tensed as her leg touched his.

"So, where am I taking you?" he asked, pulling out of the Forman's street.

Cassidy looked at him puzzled. "I thought we were going home?"

"I can drop you there but I gotta get to W.B's. He wants to start moving at 7 in the morning n I'm not drivin' all the way to Milwaukee first thing, I'm gonna head out there tonight." Hyde cleared his throat as Cassidy placed her head on his arm.

"Awww, but I wanted to spend the night with you," she whined. "It was nice being out together don't you think?"

Hyde shrugged. "I can think of other things I'd rather be doing."

Cassidy sat up abruptly and pounded her fist into his arm. The physical pain was minimal; nothing in comparison to the emotional hurt he'd been feeling lately.

"Fuck you, Hyde," she spat.

Hyde ignored her insult, his focus was solely on the dark, empty road ahead.

"You're not still hung up on her are you?" Cassidy asked as she tucked some fly away strands of her blonde bob behind her ear. "She's obviously not into you anymore. She wants Kelso, like she always has. You're a fool if you think you have a shot with her."

Pulling the Camino into the narrow driveway of their home Hyde turned to look at her. "I don't give a fuck what Jackie does. I haven't cared for a long time," he lied. "Now are you gettin' out here or am I dropping you at your booze hag mate's?"

Cassidy opened the door. "I'll get out here, one of 'em will come pick me up. Mustn't hold you up any longer than I already have."

"Bye, dear," Hyde smiled sarcastically as she slammed the door and scowled at him. Fuck he hated her. Always had, always would. She had screwed everything up for him and he couldn't seem to find a way to put any of it right.

...

(Flashback)

Tuesday, April 14th, 1981

Hyde & Cassidy's House

Hyde sat on his old sofa, blanketed in an overwhelming sense of protectiveness for the tiny baby cradled in his arms. He had tuned out the incessant chatter drifting from the television in the corner, his sole focus lay on his son and the milky, newborn smell drifting off of him. 'Three's Company' and Suzanne Somer's perky boob's just weren't important anymore.

The 10 days since little Johnny had been born had been 10 days of pure bliss. Hyde had taken time off from the store, leaving Randy in charge, and had taken to fatherhood surprisingly easily. Changing diapers was no problem and thanks to Cassidy's refusal to breastfeed he was also able to feed his son the bottle. Yeah, he could do this father business with his eyes closed, and on his own, the latter something he was gearing up to do.

If only Cassidy would put his name on the damn birth certificate.

As he stroked the soft, downy hair on Johnny's head Cassidy walked in. "Hey," she smiled, unbuttoning her grey overcoat. "How's he been?"

"He's been great." Hyde looked at Johnny then up at the baby's mother. While he didn't love his girlfriend in any sense of the word, Hyde found he had been better able to tolerate her since Johnny's birth. Maybe the baby had softened him a little.

Not that he'd ever admit it.

"Where did you get to?" he asked.

"Oh just out n about," she answered, flopping down next to him on the couch.

The smell of cigarette smoke permeated from her clothes and Hyde pulled Johnny closer to him. "Go take a shower, man, you stink of smoke."

"Chill out, a bit of smoke won't do him any harm. Here," she began as she put her arms out to take the baby, "give him to me. I want a cuddle."

"Not until you've cleaned yourself up," Hyde demanded.

Cassidy rolled her eyes and smiled. "You're so overprotective, Hyde."

"So?" He kissed the top of his son's warm head as Cassidy got up to take a shower. "Hey," he called before she left the room. "Have you found that birth registration form yet? We need'a get my name on it and send it in this week."

Cassidy waved a dismissive hand and carried on toward the bathroom. "Oh it's around here somewhere. I'll find it when you stop nagging me about it."

Hyde sighed and continued stroking Johnny's sweet little face. He was sick of asking for that damn form and hearing the same old answer.

He'd fucking find it himself.

Once Johnny was tucked in his crib Hyde walked into the room he shared with Cassidy and flicked the light on. He opened a few drawers in her dresser and rummaged through lace fingerless gloves, and tacky - even by his standards - lingerie before realising his search was probably useless. He'd spent yesterday searching the kitchen drawers and came up with nothing.

The form was gone.

Quickly checking the small cubby in Cassidy's nightstand, Hyde was intrigued to find a large, leather bound, black diary hidden under a pile of magazines. He'd never seen the book before and it's worn cover and frayed edges told him it probably held some years old secrets. The sound of the shower running made the temptation to open the gold leaf pages too hard to refuse so he sat down on his thin mattress and opened the cover. He swallowed hard as he carefully turned the first page and saw, to his horror , that each page after that was filled with photo after photo of him and Jackie.

Some were of them together.

Some were of them on their own.

Some were taken years ago during their school days.

Others were taken only a few months ago.

However each and every picture of Jackie had been defaced, and accompanying each photo were cruel words scribbled in Cassidy's erratic handwriting describing her hate towards his ex-girlfriend.

It was more than Hyde could bare to see, or read.

This shit was fucked up.

He stared at a photo taken of him and Jackie, shopping for a crib for Johnny, for what felt like an eternity. Jackie's perfect face had been scratched out and was now a fluffy, white mess of paper. He covered his mouth with his trembling hand hoping to muffle the scream that so desperately wanted to escape him. What the fuck had he gotten himself into? It wasn't enough for Cassidy to physically remove Jackie from his life; she obviously still took some sick pleasure in ruining pictures of her too and keeping the evidence of her hate close.

In a fit of rage Hyde stomped across the hall and kicked the bathroom door open. "What the fuck is this shit?" he yelled at a towel clad Cassidy as he held the book in the air.

Her eyes widened and her mouth moved to say something. But no words left her mouth.

He shoved the book in her face. "What is this, Cassidy?" he screamed again.

"I...I...just..."

"You just what? You just happened to be fuckin' stalking me n my girlfriend for the last 3 years?"

Cassidy clutched her towel tightly, wet beads dripping from her face. "I hate her, Hyde. I hate her so much."

Hyde was shaking in anger, his fist clenched at his side. "So? I hate plenty of people, but I don't go round takin' photos of them n stickin' them into books! What the hell did she ever do to you?"

Puffing her chest out and straightening her back, Cassidy finally looked ready to spill. "Jackie Burkhart is an evil cow n I hate her."

"Many people have said that over the years but I bet they don't have anything like this," Hyde fumed, gesturing at the fucked up pages in his hand.

"She humiliated me at high school and made sure nobody liked me, all because she found out I had a crush on you. She could'a dropped it, just warned me off, but no, she had to make sure everybody thought I was an idiot. I was the biggest loser at Point Place high thanks to her."

Knowing the extreme Jackie had gone to to ensure Cassidy stayed away from Hyde was kind of an ego boost but Hyde had to stop his swelling head and sort out his psycho 'girlfriend'.

"So what? Big deal. She was a kid and that was high school, who gives a fuck?"

Cassidy's eyes narrowed. "I do...I give a fuck. I hate that bitch."

"So is that what all this was about? You getting pregnant to me, holding my son as leverage, forcing me to leave Jackie...was this all just some big vendetta against her coz she was mean to you?" She made him sick. Cassidy literally made Hyde wanna hurl all over their pale pink bathroom.

"No, not at all." Cassidy walked toward him. He took a step back. "I love you, Hyde. I've always loved you. I just had to make you see how good we could be together. You and Jackie were all wrong for each other -"

"But I love Jackie. I don't love you, Cassidy."

Cassidy's face froze before a scowl appeared. "But we have a son together. We're a family."

She was a psycho, well and truly. How the hell did she think they were a family? She had blackmailed him into being with her and to top it off was a freaking stalker. His own mom was a saint compared to this chick.

"Yes we have a son together, but no, we're not a family," Hyde explained as he folded his arms over the book on his chest. "You see, I can and will leave with my boy as soon as possible. It won't be hard. No judge would give you custody once they knew how much shit you snort up your nose-"

"And no judge would give you custody because you're not even on Johnny's birth certificate. Just try n prove you're his dad."

Hyde closed his eyes and through gritted teeth said, "Fuck you're a bitch."

Cassidy shrugged. "And you're stuck with me. Oh, and if you think this was fucked up," she said as she pulled the diary from Hyde's arms, "just wait n see what I'll do to your precious Jackie if you ever try n go back to her. Me, you n Johnny, Hyde, we're a family, so get used to it."

(End flashback)

...

As Hyde walked up the steps to Jackie's apartment memories of the night he'd discovered Cassidy was a crazy stalker washed over him. The couch had become his bed from that night on, only ever sleeping in his room if Cassidy was passed out in the living room after one of her benders. He didn't mind the lumpy old couch, it was better than sleeping with her. But sleeping in a bed with Jackie only last night had reminded him of what he'd been missing out on.

And he didn't ever wanna miss out on a night with his doll again.

His heartbeat sped up as he knocked on her door and waited, the uncertainty of not knowing what he would be met with playing havoc on his mind.

When the door swung open Hyde winced. "Put some fuckin' clothes on," he said as he pushed past Kelso and walked into the living room.

Kelso shut the door and rubbed his sleepy eyes. "I have clothes on, Hyde."

"Put more clothes on," Hyde grumbled eyeing Kelso's bare chest and Playboy boxers. "How is she?" He nodded toward Jackie's closed bedroom door knowing his girl had probably cried herself to sleep. He couldn't wait to get in there and hold her again.

Kelso fell back on the sofa and pulled the woollen blanket back over him before fluffing his pillow dramatically. "She's not good, dude. Cried all the way home n didn't stop going on about how much she hates you."

Hyde sighed as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "Did you tell her anything?" he asked.

"No, you told me not to."

"You don't usually do what I tell you."

"Well I did this time." Kelso closed his eyes obviously wanting to go back to sleep.

"What are ya doin', man?" Hyde asked. "I'm here now, you can go."

Kelso's eyes opened and he stared at Hyde blankly. "I'm not going anywhere. It's 11.30. How am I meant to get back to Point Place?"

"Same way you got here," Hyde said tossing Kelso's pants at him. "Which reminds me, where's my change for the cab?"

"Damn, Hyde! I do you the favour tonight, look after Jackie for you and now you're trying to make me leave? I don't think so," Kelso moaned as he pulled the blanket up high around his face. Hyde knew he was right; Kelso had done him the favour and fooled Cassidy into believing something was going on between him and Jackie. He'd also asked Hyde very few questions as to why he was asked to do the things he'd done. He'd just been a good friend and done what Hyde needed him to do.

Hyde hadn't asked him to be so handsy though.

"Ow!" Kelso yelped, quickly rubbing his arm. "What the hell was that for?"

Hyde smirked. It always felt good to frog Kelso, especially if the frog had to do with Jackie. "You didn't need to touch her as much as you did," Hyde growled.

"I was playing a role, dude." Kelso was still rubbing his arm on his bed on the couch. "And did everyone not buy it?"

Hyde nodded.

"Then I played my role well. You shouldn't be punching me, you should be thanking me-"

"But I didn't ask you to put your grubby mits all over her!"

Kelso held up a hand, ordering Hyde to back off, and closed his eyes. "Jackie's home, safe n sound. Cassidy thinks we're hooking up. Everyone bought it. Now I don't know what all this was about, but I do know that I'm not cabbing all the way home now, I'm going to sleep. So, goodnight, Hyde," he said as he turned around and faced the back of the couch.

Hyde opened his mouth, ready to yell at Kelso and tell him to get up and get out. But, truth be told, he couldn't be bothered. All he really wanted to do was sort things with Jackie.

Turning off the living room light and walking towards her room he hoped like hell she would give him the chance to explain, because he sure as hell couldn't bear the thought of anymore nights without her.