Author's Note: So here it is! A little later than I thought but... ahh well it's the day after the holiday so ha! How was everyone's 4th, by the way? I was hoping to have my 4th of July chapter up by midnight of the 4th but of course I didn't so that will be next chapter. Here is the latest installment to the story and I hope you all enjoy it, though it's really short. It's pretty light hearted and stuff, but there's some serious things going on as well... And also I'm going to be posting a couple of other one-shots, one inspired by a song and the other one that I was supposed to post a loong time ago. So look for those ones in the next couple of weeks. Review to tell me how you like the story, and keep voting for the poll on my home page, though I'm pretty sure I now know how the last season will go down... (oh, and the story is continuing after season 8 as well, for all who didn't know that) Um... yep, that's about it. Have fun reading and please review? (not for me, for you)

Thanks!

Love,

Angie

I've built walls, a fortress deep and mighty, that none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship... friendship causes pain; it's laughter and it's loving I disdain. I am a rock, I am an island. Don't talk of love, well, I've heard the word before, it's sleeping in my memory. I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died. If I never loved I never would have cried; I am a rock, I am an island. I have my books and my poetry to protect me; I am shielded in my armor, hiding in my room, safe within my womb. I touch no one and no one touches me, I am a rock, I am an island. And a rock feels no pain; and an island never cries.

Hyde shivered in the cool March night air and rubbed his hands together for warmth. He only stareda t his feet as he tried to forget where he was, and what he was supposed to be doing. Tried not to make any contact with the burnout bums who slept at the back ends of stores. Tried not to look around in case he caught the wrong dealer's eye. Tried his hardest not to reach in his pocket for his switchblade that he kep on him at all times. Hyde was scared, a little paranoid, but not high. He knew these people, the dealer he went to called himself Death Ray; but his real name was William. He had two little girls named Jane and Carly, and a sweet wife named Molly that he abused. Will was on more than dope; you could tell by the sores, the gaunt face, and the missing teeth. And he dealt it all to Edna; he hated seeing his mom on withdrawal from all the shit that she did.

Hyde bounced on his heels a cople of times to warm his legs and channel his nerves and fear. Buts till the hairs on the back of his neck stuck up, and his body was trembling slightly, but no one seemed to notice. In fact they didn't even see the thirteen year old, wwhich was a definite good thing. He tried not to be seen by anyone as he stood in the dark, secluded meeting spot as he waited for Will.

Hyde didn't understand himself. Why did he do this? Why did he do this for Edna, as well as other things to make her happy? She wasn't incapable of getting her drugs, and groceries. Why did he get her the drugs? It only made her worse in the end; he should be getting her help, it's what she truly needed. Hyde had this tiny spark of hope that she would change her ways, that she would care for him, but he'd had that for so long. He knew it was damn near impossible, but maybe she'd change... maybe.

"SJ," Hyde shook all of his thoughts out of his head when hearing the hoarse and lispy voice within the darkness. SJ was Hyde's nickname with Will, who was unable to remember his real name. He hated even reference to his first name, especially from these crackheads... and he didn't even want to know how he found out his middle name. Hyde turned and slowly nodded at the smelly skeleton, to show he acknowledged his presence.

"You got it all in that?" Hyde whispered gruffly, Will, with shifty eyes nodded vigorously, then twitched suddenly and snorted.

"Extra, for letting me pop her," Hyde felt his stomach reel at the thought of this disgusting man and his disgusting mom being together. Didn't this guy give a shit about his family? Hyde knew the answer to that; did his mom?

"All right," was all he mumbled taking the bag, peering in to look at the contents. "All in here?" Just to be sure.

"S-sep-pa-r-rated," Will stammered hoarsley, "W-where's the m-mon-ney?" Hyde rolled his eyes and dug in his right pocket, handing the guy most of his mom's pay check. "Buy something nice for Molly, man," Hyde grumbled to the pitiful, lost soul before turning away, anxious to get out of here and home.

Hyde hid the bag in his large hoodie pocket and slowly, cautiously walked out of the dark back alley. He sighed in relief when walking passed the bar, even the air felt cleaner. Checking his watch, Hyde realized he was earlier than he thought and still had ten dollars left from his deal; Edna wouldn't have to know...

Walking into the Hub, he saw a lot of older teens hanging out with their friends and he smiled sadly. He wished he had at least Eric with him. But, Eric was eating a hearty meal with his family, as well as Kelso and Donna, it's not like the best meals they had were fast food or their best friend's mom's cooking, whenever they ate over at the Forman's; Forman had that luxury. Scoffing softly, he waited in line behind a boy and girl who were holding hands, and his eyes peered at the pinball machine that Kelso loved. He grimaced and turned away, and his stomach grumbled with hunger as soon as he smelled their incredible french fries.

"Hey kid, what would you like?" The cashier, a guy in his early 20's asked him.

"A cheeseburger, fries and a Coke," Hyde mumbled, digging out the dollar and 50 cents he'd need. Handing over the money, he stood to the side and waited for his dinner; the most he had eaten in one day all week.

No one paid any attention to him, which was the way he'd prefer things to go; under the radar. He remembered Kelso comparing him to a rattlesnake earlier that day; "easy going and minding his own business, all chill and cool, until someone pisses him off ("Which is the easiest thing to do," Hyde punched him at that, "See?") and then he suddenly strikes when he can't take it anymore." He had been annoyed at Kelso for saying that, though he didn't really understand the analogy, or didn't want to at least. But then Hyde began to think; why was he like that? The comparison was actually a really good one, he was like a snake; especially in the area of not a lot of people liking them. Hyde scowled at his thought process and lowered his eyes to the floor. He found it so easy to put himself down, then again no one had ever told him any differently.

"Hey kid!" The cook barked, Hyde shook his head back to reality, "your order's ready."

"Thanks," Hyde took the plastic cup full of Coca-Cola, his cheeseburger wrapped in a foil cover, and a small basket of fries. He sat at an open table, picked up a french fry, and began to eat. This place was really lonely when you're alone, Hyde ate silently and isolated from the rest of the people, so he wouldn't be botehred. It didn't seem like anyone would bug him, they all seemed pretty content with who they were all with; but he was the type that was picked on easily, not that he took that crap but... And if his friends were here, he wouldn't be able to leave here and get back to his mom before she started to really freak out. He might even have time to have some of his own, hell he always had time to do that.

Hyde heard the door to the Hub open, but didn't look to acknowledge the new customer. He now was paying close attention to the very cheesy, very tasty cheeseburger in his hands. To hell with the government sayin gfast food wasn't good for you, it tasted good and that's all that mattered. Hyde smirked at that, and took another bite from the juicy meaty goodness on a bun. (AN: Ironic fun fact: I'm vegetarian) He nearly spit out his drink when he saw the girl in a light blue fuzzy sweater take a seat across from him. She set down her chicken sandwich, salad, and drink and waved at Hyde.

"I saw you were sitting alone and my maid is out for a few drinks, so I'm sitting with you." Jackie chirped, nibbling on the letuce. Hyde rolled his eyes and sneered at her as he stuffed a crispy french fry in his mouth.

"Go away," he grumbled flatly, glaring menacingly at the raven haired girl.

"No, Hyde, you should be happy I'm sitting with you!"

"Well, shocker, I'm not. So go find mommy or daddy and have them read you a freakin' book for beddy bye," he snapped sarcastically, he saw her lower her head and her lip tremble.

"My mom has been gone for two weeks and my daddy is staying late trying to help his secretary," Jackie mumbled weakly, Hyde felt his face soften.

"Oh... that sucks," he replied just as soft as her. Wait, why was he feeling sorry for her?

"But it's okay, because we're going to Hawaii soon!" Jackie cried and Hyde glowered at her bright smile. Of course they were going to Hawaii soon, her family wasn't like his, they weren't messed up. Her mom was probably on a business trip and her dad just had a bunch of paper work or something. "Hyde, why are you always hiding?" he raised his eyebrows at her and took a large gulp from his drink.

"I don't," he replied simply.

"Yes you do, with everyone. They think you're a robot but really you're just afraid of getting hurt. But you don't need to be scared, because we're not going to-"

"Will you shut up and leave me alone?" Hyde barked angrily, Jackie sighed and bit into her sandwich in frustration.

"Like that! Your anger is the top layer, the one that scares people off."

"You just talk because you liket o hear yourself speak, don't you?" Hyde asked her and she grinned.

"Yeah! My voice is so soothing, and I know people listen."

"You know what?" Hyde stood up, taking the remaining half of his sandwich and soda with him, "I"m not, I'm outta here." and with that, Hyde stormed out of the Hub.

Back on the streets, Hyde shivered in the chilly night and began making his way back home.

Jackie was like a mosquito or a tick, something annoying that left you even more annoyed. So she was sad because her parents weren't with her, so what? She had a maid! And they still cared, hell she was going to Hawaii. She was still so annoying, spoiled and self centered and everything else he hated in a person jam packed in one tiny body. Jackie couldn't just tell him who he was and how he felt, and why the hell did she even care? Why was it even bothering him? How could he let some stupid preppy girl get under his skin?

Taking one last gulp of his Coke, Hyde tossed the plastic cup behind him so his mom wouldn't kno whe went anywhere else other than the deal. As he stepped onto his shabby porch stairs, Hyde buried the cheeseburger in his pocket to hide the other evidence and took a deep breath.

"Ma?" He called out, slamming the screen door shut. "Got your shit," he mmbled, setting the brown paper bag on the tiny coffee table. Hyde heard feet scraping slowly against the linoleum in the kitchen and figured that's where she was.

"Ma? Did you hear me? I set it on the-" Hyde stopped dead in his tracks when seeing dark red splatters on the flor, and Edna hunched over the sink. "Ma!" Hyde rushed over to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. He felt her flinch. "It's just me, ma," he mumbled, she lazily lifted her head and his stomach churned at her bloody face. "What the hell happened?"

"Andrew," she whispered almost inaudibly, Hyde rolled his eyes; she had taken one of her sedatives and was about to pass out. But at least he found out that she had been beaten by her latest "boyfriend", which didn't sit well with him, for some reason.

Hyde wrapped his arm around her and lead her to the bathroom. Sitting he ron the toilet, he watched as Edna's head rolled back, eyes shut. He unravveled toilet paper and folded it, and held the tissue under her nose to catch the blood. He felt the bridge of her nose and around the area like Mrs. Forman had taught him; it wasn't broken. With a warm wash cloth, hedabbed at her lower lip to wipe away the blood from the cut there as well. He could now see the source, a large gash right in the middle of her bottom lip. He tore a bit of the toilet paper and placed it on the slit in her lip, hoping that would be enough. Hyde pinched the bridge of her nose to apply pressure to stop the blood flow from there, hopefully it would stop bleeding soon... he couldn't stand blood.

Edna wasn't aware of any of this, she was sleeping, passed out from her pain pills. Hyde didn't understand why he was doing this for her. She had never taken care of him when he was being abused by Bud, except that one night. She wouldn't thank him for this, she'd find a reason to be mad at him for it, he could never do anything right for her. It made him sick that things were in reverse order for them; he was more responsible than her, and he was only thirteen years old. Yet, he still was there, taking care of his mom's fucking boo boos. Something made him stay and help her, no matter how angry he was at himself, he wasn't going to just leave her there bleeding on the bathroom floor.

Finally her nose bleed stopped and as he wiped the last trickles of blood, he felt something in him rise. He couldn't hold it back very well; suddenly his lips could form the words he wanted to speak to one person in particular. Though she wouldn't remember it, couldn't hear him, maybe that's why he suddenly felt like he could admit his feelings.

"Why do you do this to me, ma?" he whimpered, staring right at her sleeping face. "Why am I not good enough? Why don't you care?" He questioned his mom and sighed heavily when hearing her snore lightly.

'Why do I care so much?' Hyde silently asked himself, lifting her on his shoulder; she barely weighed anything which scared him.

"I hope you remember this," he mumbled, entering her small bedroom. Turning on the light, he stumbled to her large, messy bed and laid he ron the wrinkled cotton sheet. He watched her turn on her side, away from him, and he scoffed at her sudden movement; how ironic. Pulling up the other sheet and two comforters over her body, he felt the sentence he wanted to say so badly at the back of his throat, yet his lips couldn't form the vowels and consonants. Silently, he turned away from his pitiful mother, eyes vacant and mind blank. He didn't look behind him as he flicked off the light and shut her door, he just didn't want to care. Like her.

As he slammed his bedroom door shut, Hyde turned around and punched his wall in anger. If he acted exactly like her, she'd probably end up feeling like him; ignored, forgotten, silently hoping for a change in things. He didn't want her feeling like he did, though she deserved to feel every ounce of pain she had put him through in his short life; she should know what she's done to him. Edna probably didn't care though, so acting like her would only make her happier. They would grow farther apart and neither would give a shit about the other, and soon he'd be long gone anyway, so what was the point of trying to make things better? But he wanted it, wanted things to be better so bad. So fucking bad.

Hyde felt his stomach ache from his racing mind and constant worry. Maybe Forman was right about holding stuff in; but that kid was way too emotional and open. Big whoop that he had felt Donna's squishy boob while wrestling. Or that he is getting an award for being on the high honor roll for three quarters of the school year. Hyde wouldn't and couldn't be like Eric even if he tried, which he wasn't going to. The mental image of a polo and khaki wearing, religious, tame haired Hyde scared the crap out of him.

Hyde blinked up at his ceiling as he lied flat on his back on the mattress. He'd enver be looked up to, or proud of himself, or successful. He had no future, no motivation, no hope. Just like everyone said.

"Steven, you'll never be good enough,"

"Why do you even try? You're nothing."

"You'll never make it."

"You're worthless, pathetic, you make me sick!"

"Do you see yourself anywhere else besides prison?"

"I don't even think he can read!"

"When you die, no one will be at your funeral, not even me."

"How does it feel to be less than nothing?"

"I would rather see you dead than happy."

"Steven, you're just like Bud!"

Hyde growled lowly as those sentences played out like a skipping record in his head; being repeated over and over again until he just couldn't take it. With tears of fury in his eyes, he slammed down his fist against the wall next to his bed and kept punching away until he felt numb once more, and the reminders of what he was were died away to an almost silent whisper.

Why did he even try? Everyone knew where he was headed, prison or dead. Everyone was just waiting for one or the other to happen, it was a ticking bomb and sooner or later it would explode. It killed him inside to hear all of his weaknesses and all of these things people have said to him echoing in his mind, scrawling into his brain to leave a written scar so he'd never forget. He was branded with it; hopeless. He was never going to amount to anything.

Hyde was worse than Edna, because he actually gave a damn. She had accepted her fate, yet he couldn't let his destiny play out in front of him. He wanted something better for himself and would deny his true purpose. His purpose was to fail, to die. He wanted to be better than that, he wanted to show everyone that he could do something, that he was able to be what they didn't know he could. Yet he had no motivation, no support from anyone, and deep down he knew he'd never amount to anything more than gum on a shoe. So why did he even bother?

Hyde turned around to face the wall and closed his eyes, feeling one hot tear fall down his cheek and drifted to an uneasy state of half consciousness. Where with one more breath he could slip away into sleep and be at peace, or one small sound or action would break everything and he'd wake up in a cold sweat mess. One thing was certain; everything in life was the same as his sleep. Either way he still felt nothing and everything all at the same time.