Jackie feels her breath becoming more shallow as she hears Matthew ask her once more what Hyde meant by his comment. Her mind races to try and find a response but anything she comes up with is a blur and nothing sounds like a good enough explanation. Nothing. Just say nothing and try to ignore it. She knows, however, that Matthew would not let this go. He's already let plenty of things slide over the course of the night, this he would not ignore.
In front of her, Hyde still sits as though he didn't just ruin everything. She sees his infuriating smirk growing just enough to let her know he's won this round. Not that she needs any reminder.
"Jackie, what the hell is going on?" Matthew asks yet again, "is he saying what I think he's saying?"
She still can't bring herself to reply and much to her dismay, the next person to speak did not help her case.
"You two slept together? Recently?" Taylor asks, her voice low and sad and Jackie instantly feels even worse. If she admitts that she did in fact have an affair, two people would be hurt. Was Hyde even with Taylor when they slept together? Is he as guilty as she is?
Jackie finally tears her eyes away from her ex-boyfriend and looks around at her friends, still trying desperately to avoid eye contact with Matthew. Donna's eyes are wide-set and Jackie can read the disappointment and dread in them. Disappointment in her ability to go back to someone who's hurt her perhaps? Dread over what's to come and what consequences it will have on all of them?
She looks over at Eric whose face reveals nothing. He didn't seem to be angry or disappointed. He just sits there looking from Jackie to Hyde, awaiting whatever happens next.
Opposite them are Kelso and Fez who are sitting forward in the seats, almost amused by the situation, as though they're about to witness a high school cafeteria fight.
Finally comes the pair of eyes she can't avoid. Matthew's eyes are wide and cold. Anger emanates from them and Jackie can only imagine what conclusions he's already come to. Although, even if he were to imagine the worst, he wouldn't be wrong.
"Jackie?" he says, urging her to dismiss the accusations and tell him that nothing happened between her and Hyde.
"Maybe we should play truth or dare" Hyde exclaims, his amusement increasing almost as quickly as Jackie's disdain towards him at this moment.
"Hyde, don't" Donna says from her spot and shakes her head at her friend, urging him to not make the situation worse.
Matthew looks away from Jackie and stares coldly at Hyde. "Good idea" he says, surprising everyone in the room. "Jackie," he says turning his attention back to her. "Did you sleep with him?" he asks.
"I think you're supposed to ask her truth or dare first" Hyde tells Matthew.
"Can you shut the fuck up?" Jackie says aggressively as she turns to glare at Hyde.
"You know what, you're very lucky I haven't reached over and bashed your face in yet" Matthew tells Hyde who, in response, puts his hands up and shrugs his shoulders all the while a smirk spreads across his lips.
"I think we should all leave" Eric exclaims, trying to be the voice of reason in the room and let Jackie and Matthew deal with it privately.
"Yeah, good idea. Let's go guys" Donna says before getting off her seat.
"Oh come on, the fun is just beginning" Kelso says while Fez nods enthusiastically beside him.
"You two, up" Donna demands. The two men groan loudly but rise and slowly walk towards the door where Donna is already standing.
Following suit, Eric stands up and looks at Hyde. "Let's go man" he says when he notices that his friend has made no attempt to remove himself from the situation. Besides Hyde, Taylor is visibly upset and looks from Hyde to Matthew.
"Come on Forman, I think we have a few things to figure out here, right Jackie?" Hyde says.
"We have nothing to figure out. You're just an asshole who is determined to ruin everyone's lives. Why don't you do us all a favor and just go away. Go wallow somewhere in your misery" Jackie tells him.
"Oh now I'm ruining your life. I wish you would have remembered that last week before you slept with me" he says, confirming his initial statement. Before Matthew or Jackie can react, he pushes himself off the spot he's been sitting on and stands up. He does not bother to look at Taylor either, who let out an involuntary gasp. Instead, he pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and walks towards the door where his friends are. He notices their shocked expressions but ignores them. Hyde walks past them, pulls open the door, and leaves them all to pick up the pieces of his confession.
Taylor follows suit a few seconds later, not bothering to bid farewell to the others, her shock and embarrassment understandably too much to fake politeness.
Donna looks at Jackie whose eyes are wider than she's ever seen them and then looks over at Matthew. She knows that nothing good will come from his and that she needs to get everyone out of the apartment before they start asking questions and further instigating the problem. "Let's go" she says once more.
"Best game night ever" Kelso says loudly before being pushed out the door by Eric.
Author's Note: I want to apologize for how long it took to update. My schedule took a surprising hit with my new job taking over my life. I do want to thank everyone who has read/reviewed the story thus far. I'm not sure how consistent updates will be but I can assure that I will not abandon this story.