Hey guys! I'm SOOOOO sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I've been so busy with getting back into school, it's proving to be a tougher semester than I had anticipated. But anyway I finally took the time today to finish Chapter 14 for all my faithful and patient readers. I hope you enjoy it!

Don't forget to send in a review when you finish reading it! Thanks!

On the night of Halloween, the gang was impatiently waiting in Hyde's living room for the girls to be finished getting ready. Fez was sitting on the couch eating giant candy bar in his Willy Wonka costume, Eric was watching TV beside him dressed in his Superman costume and Kelso was sitting on the floor playing with Sadie in his Gene Simmons costume.

Hyde was sitting in his recliner feeling rather annoyed that they were waiting around for the girls. "Hyde who are you supposed to be?" Fez asked him.

Hyde looked down at his Rolling Stones shirt and shrugged, "Mick Jagger."

Kelso rolled his eyes, "Mick Jagger doesn't wear his own bands t-shirt Hyde…"

"He does now…" Hyde said as he pushing himself up off the chair to go get another beer, "I was not about to dress up and look like tools like the three of you." He put the beer to his lip and smirked, "Although I'm surprised Forman went for Superman…I figured he'd have some Star Wars costume picked out."

Eric frowned sadly, "Well I tried to find my Luke Skywalker costume but I think my Dad might have burned it when I went to Africa."

Hyde chuckled, "Man do I miss Red Forman…"

Eric glared at him, "Hey man…I worked for three months overtime at Pricemart to pay for that damn costume! It was an original!"

Hyde rolled his eyes again, "But I didn't miss you…"

Kelso just laughed and got up to walk towards the kitchen as Eric continued to glare at Hyde, "This is great. No one else gets how much fun burning your friends can be. I've missed hanging out like this."

"I know. So have I." Fez said with a sad pout, "Why did you have to move to Seattle Hyde?"

Hyde shrugged, "We all gotta grow up sometime man…I figured it was now or never."

"Well I would have preferred never." Fez said as he continued to chew on his chocolate bar for comfort.

Hyde chuckled, "I'm sorry Fez. It's not like I'll be gone forever. I'm gonna come home and visit soon, I promised Mrs. Forman I'd be back for the Holidays."

"But what happens after that? You'll just come back here and forget all about us…" Fez said sadly.

Eric smiled at Fez and patted him on the back, "You have to understand Fez…the real reason Hyde is out here is because he is whipped by one raven haired beauty we call Jackie Burkhart."

The boys all laughed and Hyde just glared at him, "I'm not whipped Forman. I didn't even know she was living out here when I decided to move…"

"So you say…" Eric said trying to tease his friend.

"It doesn't even matter okay? Jackie's made it pretty clear that she just wants to be friends." Hyde said lifting the bottle up to his lips to take a swig.

"So does that mean if I nail her tonight you won't get mad?" Kelso asked as he reached for the bowl of candy on the counter.

Hyde quickly reached over and frogged Kelso on the arm, "No it doesn't man!"

Kelso jumped and knocked over the bowl of candy, sending the contents all over the floor leaving Sadie and Fez to jump at the chance to retrieve them. "Damn Hyde!"

Eric got up and started to pick up the candy to avoid an inevitable stomach ache from either the dog or Fez but he continued to talk to Hyde, "So does that mean you still want to be with her?"

"Of course I do man." Hyde said feeling his heart pound in his chest, "But why are we even talking about this? It's no one's business but me and Jackie…"

When Eric was finished picking up the candy he stood up and walked towards his old friend, "I guess I just don't want to see you get hurt Hyde…"

Hyde pretended to be grateful for his friend's concern by placing a hand on his heart, "Oh Forman…it's so good to have such a protective friend like you." He paused and then blew a raspberry in his face, "I can take care of myself ya dillhole."

Eric sighed and wiped the spit off of his face, "Yeah I know you can Hyde…but you and Jackie don't have the greatest track record."

"And why should I be taking advice from you? It's not like you and Donna have had the smoothest of journeys…" Hyde said crossing his arms over his chest.

Eric nodded in agreement, "True enough…but I never married another woman."

"And by woman he means stripper…" Kelso said leaning his head in between them.

Hyde quickly frogged Kelso again who quickly ran from Hyde's wandering fists, "Will all of you just butt the hell out?"

Eric sighed and nodded, "Sure man…whatever you want."

Hyde nodded slowly. "Thank you…"

Just then the bedroom door opened and Jackie and Donna exited both wearing their costumes. The boys looked on in amazement as they looked at Donna who was dressed up like Stevie Nicks and Jackie donning her Jeanie outfit.

Jackie crossed her arms in front of her and blinked, "What do you think?"

"Damn Jackie…" Kelso said walking closer to her, "You are hotter than the real Jeanie in that outfit."

Jackie giggled and tossed her hair back, "Well of course I am Michael. Was there any doubt in that?"

Donna laughed and shook her head, "Come on…we better go or we are going to miss all the best parties."

The six old friends started to walk out of the apartment leaving only Jackie and Hyde for a moment.

She quickly leaned down to Sadie and kissed her on the head, "Now you be good Sadie girl. We will be back later on tonight…don't you worry."

"She'll be fine Jackie…" Hyde said trying to avoid staring at her bare midriff and enticing cleavage.

Jackie pouted and kissed her one last time before standing up to face him, "I just hate to leave her all alone. Especially at night…"

He swallowed hard trying to think of anything but throwing her up against the wall and making love to her in that outfit, "It's only for a few hours Jackie…"

She sighed and looked at Sadie and then back at him, "Fine." She paused and stared more intently at him, "Wait a second…you aren't dressed up as anything."

Hyde looked down at his shirt, "I told you once before…this is the official outfit of Rock n' Roll Jackie…it is most definitely a costume."

She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "You are impossible Steven J. Hyde..."

"So they tell me…" He said with a smirk.

She just laughed and reached for his hand as she dragged him out of the apartment, "Come on!"

Hyde just smiled after her as she pulled into him into the hallway where their friends were all waiting.

An hour later, they had settled on a party down in the center of the city in one of the clubs. There was loud music, lots of costumes, flowing drinks and plenty of other substances. Hyde was standing in the corner where he and his friends had decided to stake out as he watched Jackie, Donna, Fez and Kelso dance together to the ABBA song that was currently playing.

"Get a few drinks in some people and they'll dance to any thing…even if it's crap." Eric said shaking his head as he leaned into Hyde to talk to him.

Hyde shook his head and grimaced, "Not enough alcohol could make me dance to ABBA."

"What if it meant getting a little action with the devil?" Eric said teasingly.

Hyde turned and glared at him, "I thought we agreed not to talk about me and Jackie anymore…"

Eric laughed and shook his head, "No. You agreed not to talk about it. I enjoy talking about it because it makes you uncomfortable."

Hyde rolled his eyes, "Grow up Forman."

Eric was quiet for a moment and then leaned into him again to talk over the loud music, "What are you trying to accomplish Hyde? I mean what do you think is going to happen by being her friend?"

Hyde sighed but never took his eyes off of Jackie, who was laughing away as she twirled and danced, she was absolutely mesmerizing to him. "I want her to trust me again."

"And what if she never does?" Eric asked honestly, "What if she finds someone else? What are you going to do then?"

Hyde shrugged, "I'd like to say that I'd be okay with it…that I could still be her friend. But I guess we both know that's not true."

"Are you going to take off again and marry someone else if she rejects you in the end?" Eric asked.

Hyde sighed and turned back to him, "No. I'm not doing that again Forman. I fucked up. I know I fucked up and I'm paying for it now. I won't say that this is easy because it's not…it sucks. I hate this stupid game we're playing right now but it is what it is. And at the end of the day…I want her to be happy. No matter what that means…"

"But you just said that you wouldn't be able to still be her friend if she finds someone else…" Eric said feeling confused.

Hyde turned back to Jackie as he answered, "What other choice do I have Forman? If she wants someone else…then that's what I have to deal with. But in all of this I've realized that I need her in my life in some way. So if it just means as a friend…then so be it. I'll have to learn how to deal with it…"

Eric was quiet as he watched his best and oldest friend watch the women he loved, "When did you grow up?" He asked nonchalantly.

Hyde chuckled and turned back to him as he lifted his beer to his lips, "I'm not quite sure…but I assume it was somewhere along the lines when Jackie left Point Place."

"You really do love her…" Eric whispered finally getting it.

Hyde sighed and nodded slowly, "Yeah. I do."

Eric nodded and turned back to the rest of their friends. "Well then I hope things work out for you guys."

"Thanks Forman." He said with a small smile.

Eric just smiled but never took his eyes off of the rest of their friends. Just then, Kelso stumbled over and fell down beside Hyde with a goofy look on his face.

"Man this is such a great party!" He said grabbing Hyde's beer.

Hyde glared at him and then frogged his shoulder, grabbing his beer back. "Get your own drink moron."

Kelso scoffed and rubbed his shoulder and sighed, "Damn Hyde…that hurts."

Hyde rolled his eyes, "Good! It was supposed to."

Kelso stuck his tongue out at him and then looked back at the girls and Fez, "So how drunk do you think Jackie will have to be for me to have a chance at getting her in bed tonight?"

Hyde's jaw immediately clenched and he started to tap his foot on the ground. None of this went unnoticed by Eric, unfortunately for them the same couldn't be said for Kelso…

"I mean…" Kelso grabbed another beer and sat back on the couch they were lounging on, "Damn does she look good in that outfit! It's one like of my wildest fantasies come true!"

Eric looked at Hyde out of the corner of his eye whose foot was tapping even faster now, "Kelso man…cool it."

It didn't seem that Kelso heard what Eric said, or he didn't seem to care. "In fact I did have a fantasy once about Jackie being Jeanie and me the Master…I'd like to play that out for real." He took a swig of his beer and turned to Hyde, "Think she'll go for it?"

Eric held his breath and waited for Hyde's fist to collide with Kelso's nose. There was a tense few moments before Hyde quickly stood up and stormed off towards the back door.

"What's his problem?" Kelso asked with a confused expression.

Eric shook his head, "Man when are you gonna get that it pisses him off when you talk about Jackie like that?"

"Oh come on…I'm just kidding." Kelso said rolling his eyes.

"Are you though?" Eric asked, "If you had the chance would you try and sleep with her?"

Kelso shrugged and smiled slyly, "Well I am a man Forman…of course I'd sleep with her if I got the chance."

"Kelso, Jackie doesn't want you. Stop making comments like that. Why can't you just respect that Hyde actually cares about her?" Eric asked.

"Forman you are taking this way to seriously…" He said laughing as he turned back to his friends.

"No I'm not. And if you don't start taking it seriously…you're gonna lose Hyde as a friend forever." Eric said standing up to go dance with the girls and Fez.

Kelso was quiet where he sat for a few moments thinking about what Eric had said. He thought that Hyde understood that he was just joking when he made comments about Jackie. I mean yeah he wouldn't mind hooking up with her again…she was hot and he was only human.

But was it more than just a fling with Jackie and Hyde? Could Hyde really have true feelings for Jackie?

As he watched his friends minus Hyde dancing he wondered if their lives would ever go back to the way they used too…would they ever be all together in the Forman's basement again? Man did he miss those days…

Thirty minutes later, Hyde was still outside leaning against the railing of the balcony of the club. He was smoking a cigarette and still trying to calm down after hearing what Kelso had to say about Jackie and even what Eric had said.

What was he doing here in Seattle? He was friends with her…at least he thought he was. They had a dog together, they hung out all the time…but what the hell did it all mean?

What did he want this all to lead too? Well he knew what he wanted…he wanted to get back together with her but what did she want?

Did she want a future with him? Did she want to get back together and get married someday? Or did she just enjoy having him as a friend? Did she enjoy dragging him along for the ride with no answers?

He hated this feeling.

And yet standing there in the cold October night he realized what was happening…this was exactly how she had felt when they were together years ago. She had wanted it all…she wanted the big wedding, white picket fence and the 2.2 kids with him…

But he had strung her along, never letting her know how he felt or what he wanted from her. For the first time in forever…he felt truly and completely sorry for the way he had treated her.

Boy had he blown it…

Sighing, he threw his cigarette butt over the balcony and into the street before turning back to the door. He walked into the club and made his way through the crowded room looking for his friends.

When he finally found them, he noticed that Jackie was missing. "Where's Jackie?" Hyde asked as he leaned in towards Donna.

Donna looked around and her face turned a little red, "Uh…she went to dance with some guy…"

His heart lurched in his chest and he looked out towards the dance floor to see if he could spot her, "Who was he?"

Donna sighed and leaned towards him so he could hear her, "You can't get mad Hyde…"

He knew she was right but he didn't really care, "I'm not mad."

Donna nervously looked towards the guys who were watching his every move. She walked towards Eric and nudged him gently, "Do you think we should find Jackie and head out of here? I don't want the night to end with Hyde being dragged off by a cop for beating the crap out of some guy who Jackie's with…"

Eric sighed and walked towards Hyde, "Hey Hyde man…why don't we call a cab and start rounding everyone up. This party's kinda lame anyway…we can head back to your apartment and drink there."

Hyde looked back at Eric, "Would you relax Erica? I'm fine…I just want to make sure Jackie's okay."

Donna looked around but didn't see her old friend, she sighed and leaned back into Hyde. "She probably just went to the bathroom or something. I'll go and find her okay? You just stay here…"

Hyde looked uncomfortable with the situation but he nodded and watched her walk away. He leaned against the bar and signaled for the bar tender to get him another beer quickly.

Donna was walking through the club looking closely at every brunette she laid her eyes on. But she couldn't seem to find Jackie anywhere…she walked down towards the back where the bathrooms were hoping she would find her there.

She pushed her way through the throngs of people and started to walk past the coatroom towards the girl's room. She was almost past the door when she suddenly heard an all to familiar loud shriek…

She stopped and put her ear against the door to the coatroom to listen carefully hoping to be able to hear the voices over the loud music booming through the hallway. "STOP! No! No STOP IT!"

Donna's heart started to pound and she reached for the door handle, "Jackie? Jackie open the door!"

"No! No I don't want to do this!" She heard the voice scream again.

Donna tried to ram the door quickly but nothing happened. Cursing she ran as fast as she could, knocking anyone and everyone over to get to the guys at the bar again.

"Donna?" Eric asked as he watched her run towards them. "What's the matter?"

Donna ignored him and stood in right in front of Hyde, talking as fast as she could. "That guy has Jackie in the coat room…she was screaming and begging him to stop. I can't get the door open!"

Hyde didn't wait for anyone to say anything else, instead he ran shoving everyone over to get to the back of the club. Kelso, Donna and Eric were following close behind as Fez went to get someone with a key to the door.

Hyde's heart was pounding in his chest as he finally got to the door; he paused and waited until he heard her voice. "Please! No! Let me go!"

Without thinking, Hyde started ramming the door with his shoulder but nothing was happening. Finally he pulled back and ran at the door full force with his foot out to kick down the door.

The door crashed open and Jackie shrieked again from her spot on the floor. Hyde didn't see anything or anyone else; he grabbed the guy on top of her and threw him across the room, holding him by the throat.

"You son of a bitch!" Hyde screamed as his other first came crashing into the guys face.

Donna and Eric quickly scooped Jackie up and pulled her out of the room. Donna threw her leather coat around Jackie's shoulder because her costume was all ripped exposing most of her skin to the wandering eye.

"Kelso stop him! He's going to kill him!" Donna screamed watching Hyde punch Jackie's attacker over and over.

Kelso jumped into action and tried to pry Hyde off of the guy, there was blood everywhere and Hyde shoved Kelso off of him, leaving a bloody handprint on his costume. Kelso stumbled back and looked at Jackie who was clinging to Donna and Eric as she watched in horror as Hyde punched the man over and over.

Kelso jumped back on Hyde just as Fez showed up with the owner and security of the club who burst into the room. Together, the two security guards and Kelso pried Hyde off of him and held him back as he tried to wriggle free.

"Let go of me!" Hyde screamed never taking his eyes off of the bloody and battered man on the floor.

"Calm down!" Kelso screamed trying to push Hyde up against the wall again.

"Get the fuck of me! I'm going to kill him!" Hyde screamed pushing against the three men again.

"Steven!" Jackie screamed turning her attention back to her ex-boyfriend.

Hyde stopped dead and turned towards Jackie, her costume was ripped, she had hand marks on her stomach and arms and her lip was bleeding. But as soon as his eyes met hers eh saw fear, and he immediately went slack in the men's arms.

"Steven no…" She pleaded wit him, "Please…"

Kelso slowly let his grip on Hyde lessen as he saw his friends face. He nodded at the security guards who also let go of Hyde who quickly stood up straight and walked towards Jackie in just a few strides.

Without saying anything to her, he scooped her up and carried her out of the room and out the back door. She didn't question him or protest, she just wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck as she began to cry.

The four remaining friends and club workers stood in shock at what had just happened.

Donna cleared her throat nervously and turned to the club owner, "Are you going to have our friend arrested?"

The man shook his head slowly and turned towards the bloody man on the ground, "No. He was obviously defending her…"

"What happens to him?" Eric asked pointing at the perpetrator.

'I'm going to call the cops and an ambulance and tell them what happened. They may need to take your statements…" He whispered.

Kelso nodded, "We'll help in anyway we can."

Fez rounded up his three friends and pushed them back out into the hallway towards the fire exit that Hyde had walked out of with Jackie. Out on the curb they saw Hyde had set her down on the ground and he was still holding her. They stood back for a moment to let them have alone as Hyde set her down on the cold pavement and knelt down in front of her.

He lifted her chin slowly to meet her eyes, "Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly as tears fell down her cheeks, "He didn't…I fought him…I think I bit him at one point…"

Hyde smiled sadly, "You're tougher than you look. I've always known that…"

She swallowed the lump in her throat and shivered, "If you hadn't found us…-"

Hyde shook his head and moved closer to hold her again, "But I did. Donna came and got us and I got in there before anything happened…don't think about the what ifs."

"But Steven-" She whimpered in fear.

He put a hand to her lips and brushed the drop of blood there away, "Don't…it will only drive you crazy."

She sighed and gave in, she nodded and leaned into his embrace as he held her again. She was too tired to fight anymore…

"He really does love her…" Kelso whispered to Eric beside him.

Eric turned away from the scene in front of him to Kelso and nodded sadly, "Yeah. He really does…"

The loud music drowned out by the sound of the sirens that were coming towards them. And on that cold Halloween night…the six friends waited and wondered how the hell they had this had all happened…

Later that night after they had gone to the hospital and the police station to give their statements, the six friends were trying to relax and forget about all that had happened that night. Jackie had taken a long hot shower and was now curling up in bed with Sadie by her side trying hard not to cry.

She pulled Sadie up against her and buried her head in her soft fur as Hyde walked slowly into the room. He walked quietly up towards the bed and sat down beside her, reaching over he stroked Sadie on the back.

"Are you warm enough?" He whispered to her.

Despite the hollow feeling she was experiencing, she had to laugh at his question. She knew he had never really been good with saying the right thing in tough situations. But he was trying…and he had saved her.

She lifted her face from Sadie's fur and smiled gently at him, "Yes."

He sighed and pulled his hand away from Sadie as he sat it down on his lap as he turned away from her. "I uh…I just want you to know that I would never let anyone hurt you."

She rolled over onto her back and sat up, pulling Sadie up onto her lap. "I know…" She whispered pushing a strand of her wet hair out of her face.

He turned back to her slowly and cleared his throat, "Do you?"

She stared at him for a moment and then reached a gentle hand out towards him. "Yes. I do…"

He searched her eyes to make sure she really did believe and understand him. Then he nodded and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. "Get some sleep…"

She wanted to ask him to stay with her, to hold her all night so she would feel safe. But for some reason she held back and let him stand up as he made his way towards the door…

"Thank you Steven…" She had spoken so softly, he wasn't sure he had heard her but he turned back to her quickly and caught her eye. "For everything…"

He nodded quickly and then turned again as he flipped off the light to let her fall asleep. Jackie sighed as the door closed and lay back down as she pulled Sadie up against her and buried her face in her fur again as she began to cry.

She wasn't really sure what she was crying about anymore…was she more sad about what had happened tonight? Or the fact that she was afraid she would never be able to forgive Hyde completely?

As Hyde made his way back out to the living room, he saw his four friends sitting on the couch and floor looking nervous. He knew none of them knew exactly what to say. They had all been looking forward to being together again…but this wasn't how they had expected it to go.

It was like they had all been so nervous about being comfortable together again after everything they had been through, they weren't expecting anything else to happen…especially not this.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead nervously, "The thing is…I didn't come here because I knew that Jackie was here. I had no idea…it just happened. I know most of you have never understood my relationship with her…but I don't feel like I have to explain it to you."

He lowered his hand and stared at them all, they were silent waiting for him to finish. "If you are our friends…then you should just accept and support whatever it is that Jackie and I are. And the truth is…at the moment I don't know what we are. I know what I want…and I know how I feel. I can't say the same for Jackie…but I honestly don't really care."

"What if she doesn't want to be with you?" Donna whispered nervously, "What happens to all of us then?"

Hyde stood there for a moment before answering, "That's her choice. And I'm gonna have to live with the fact that I ruined our relationship…"

"But are you going to take off again?" Fez asked sadly.

Hyde shook his head, "No. I won't."

Kelso took a deep breath and stood up as he made his way towards his old friend. "Hyde man…I'm really sorry."

"You've said that before…" Hyde said feeling frustrated.

Kelso nodded slowly, "Yeah I know. But I never really got it before…"

"What are you talking about Kelso?" Hyde asked feeling suddenly very tired.

"I didn't realize how much you actually loved her. I didn't' think it was real…" Kelso whispered. "But I see it now…"

"So what does that mean?" Hyde asked staring at his old friend curiously.

"It means…" He paused and put his hand out for Hyde to shake, "I promise that I won't interfere in your relationship anymore. I won't say anything about hooking up with her…or how I used to bang her. I'm backing off now…from here on you don't have to worry about me anymore…"

Hyde stared at Kelso, trying to find some hint of sarcasm in his voice but he couldn't hear any. He knew that what he meant was true and that whether or not Jackie eventually took him back, Kelso wasn't going to be a problem anymore. And for that…he was grateful.

"Thank you…" Hyde stuck his hand out and shook Kelso's hand firmly.

Kelso smiled. "So we're good?"

Hyde nodded, "We're good…"

Together they walked over to the couch and sat down with Eric, Donna and Fez. "So what happens now?" Eric asked.

Hyde sighed and reached for one of the beers on the table, "Now…we try and make Jackie feel as safe as possible to help her get over this…We let go of all the crap from the past and just move forward."

Donna smiled and reached for her own beer, "Look at you all grown up and mature…"

Hyde chuckled and shrugged, "Well I figured one of us had to do it…"

"Yeah but who thought out of the six of us you would do it first…" Eric said with a smirk.

"What can I say…I never liked being predictable." He said as he lifted his feet up on top of the coffee table.

The five friends just laughed and all lifted their beers to drink them. It had been a hell of a night…but the only thing that was sure was that they had somehow grown closer in the process.

A little intense I know...but I hoped you liked it anyway. Don't forget to review and I will try and update soon now that I'm more comfortable with my schedule and routine. Thanks for being so patient!