Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, I own nothing.
Author's Note: Hi there and Happy Friday! Hope you guys had a great week. Hope you guys are still interested in the story. I got some hits but not a lot of reviews, for the last chapter. One only, that was a shocker. Thanks to FuzzySlipper19, btw! Now I know with the school year starting we are all pretty busy, so if you think I should hold off on putting chapters up so soon, to give you guys more time to read the chapter, just let me know! I want whatever works best for you guys. Also quick little note, the poll on my page will be closing next week, so if you haven't voted yet, be sure to go! Thanks for reading and sticking with the story. Hope you liked! Enjoy!
Jackie Burkhart sat with her legs and arms crossed, on the old sofa in the basement, watching a Lavern and Shirley rerun. She wanted to be left alone and figured the basement would be the perfect place to hide out in. That is, if it were anyone else's basement but the Formans'.
Luckily for her, Hyde wasn't there. They hadn't seen each other since their outburst last night. She wasn't upset with herself for slapping him; she was mad at herself for ruining everything that might have been.
She stayed in bed, not even getting up for one of Kitty's big breakfasts.
Jackie didn't leave Eric's room until she heard two cars leave the house. The first one, she assumed was Kitty with Laurie going to the hospital. The second one she hoped was him, going as far away from her as possible.
Jackie was enjoying the silence of the room, the time to herself, if only it would have lasted. As the closing credits for the show began play, footsteps were heard from the staircase outside the basement.
Jackie held her breath, hoping they would go away; but hoping never really did anything.
The side door opened revealing four familiar faces. Eric, Fez, and Kelso were laughing and joking around as Donna followed close behind, looking annoyed.
"That was a good one." Fez said as he nodded his head and took a seat on the couch next to Jackie.
"Yeah, but lets not forget the one where Scooby and the gang meet the Adams Family." Eric reminded.
"Oh yeah, that one's awesome!" Kelso exclaimed before the three got lost in their conversation about their favorite Scooby Doo episodes.
"It's like taking care of six kids, sometimes." Donna told Jackie as she flopped down on the couch beside Jackie.
Jackie couldn't help but smile at her friend and then turn her attention to the three boys.
"Why are you guys so happy?"
"We heard about what happened last night." Kelso explained with a large dopey grin.
Jackie's face dropped and her body felt numb for a second before anger over threw it. 'He told them? And they're happy?!'
"You know what happened?" Jackie asked softly, her anger had now turned to hurt.
"Yes, we do." Fez smiled happily.
"Yeah." Eric nodded as he sat on the arm of the couch between Fez and Kelso, "It's so great. I actually forgot that Laurie had come back. Now that's pretty great."
Jackie glared at the Star Wars fan as the others nodded in agreement. How dare that little twizzler.
"Geeze Eric, I know you didn't want it to happen, but you don't have to gloat." Jackie stated as she tried her best to keep from letting her pain show how she was really feeling.
Eric frowned with confusion, "Jackie, what are you talking about? I mean, I wanted what happened last night to happen."
"Me too." Fez nodded, "Things were getting too serious around here."
"Yeah." Kelso agreed as he grinned largely, "Hey Fez, pull my finger." he said as he pointed his index finger at the foreign man.
Fez reached over to grab the man's finger, but Eric swatted it away.
Donna laughed, "Jackie, why are you so surprised?" she asked, "We all wanted it to happen. There was a time when we weren't sure how things were gonna go. We thought it wasn't gonna happen, so now that it did happen, after a long wait, we're pretty glad it happened."
Jackie sighed in frustration and shook her head, "Gee thanks, Donna." she said sarcastically.
"Um…you're welcome." Donna answered with uncertainty in her voice as she exchanged looks with her husband.
"Ugh, I can't believe he told you guys." Jackie groaned, "I bet he didn't even tell you the whole story."
"Ok first, he didn't tell us; Mom did." Eric began, "And second…"
"Mrs. Forman knows?" Jackie quickly asked before Eric could continue.
"Well, yeah." answered Donna.
Jackie shook her head in disbelief, "I can't believe he told her. Why would he tell her?"
"Cause she's his wife."
Jackie frowned, "Wife?" she asked looking confused and slightly disgusted.
"Yes." Fez nodded, "You know, dun dun da da." he tried his best to sing the wedding march.
That only confused Jackie even more.
"I know what a wife is, Fez. And I also knew Steven is not…oh." she suddenly realized who he was. "Red. He told Kitty something that's good news."
"Yeah." Eric nodded, "He told her that the doctors said he's gonna be coming home soon."
Instantly Jackie's smile flew to her face. Finally some good news. God knew she needed it.
"Oh my God, really?" she asked excitedly, "That's great!"
"Yeah." Kelso agreed, "But it's not interesting anymore."
"Michael!" Jackie scolded slightly as the others did nothing.
"I agree with my man pretty friend." Fez began, "You have stolen Red's thunder and now we must find out what you were talking about."
"When?" Jackie asked pretending to be confused.
"Right now.""
"Right now?" she repeated, "I was talking about Mr. Forman's health."
"No before that." Kelso said.
"Before now?"
"Yes."
"Like a few seconds ago?"
"Yes!" both men shouted as the married couple laughed in the background.
"Oh." Jackie shrugged her shoulder, "I was talking about Mr. Forman's ..."
"Ah!" Kelso threw his head back so hard, it was a wonder how he didn't flip over in the lawn chair.
Meanwhile Fez glared at the tiny brunette, obviously not happy with the trick she pulled.
"Jackie, just tell us what happened between you and Hyde, last night." Donna said, "You obviously don't want him to tell us, so you tell us."
"Yeah, Jackie. We wanna help you." Eric said sincerely before pausing, "Well actually I just wanna know what happened and I'm sure the same goes for these guys too. But you've still got Donna."
Jackie rolled her eyes before answering in a sarcastic tone, "Gee, thanks for the concern guys, but nothing happened."
There was a silence. None of them believed her and they all wanted to know what it was that happened. They would find out what it was, even if they had to guess. Unfortunately their first guesser was not their best guesser.
A loud gasp was heard before Kelso began to speak.
"I know!" he exclaimed, "They did it!"
The others gasped, showing their own shock. Including Jackie. Why did everything always involve sex with this guy?
Fez turned to Jackie, with pleading eyes, "Tell me more, tell me more."
"Like did he have a car?" Eric asked mockingly, but instead of getting a laugh, he received confused looks from the others and an eye roll from Jackie.
"Fez, there is nothing to tell, because we didn't do anything." Jackie insisted.
"Except it." Kelso said with another smile on his face.
Jackie glared at her ex-boyfriend, "Michael, we didn't do anything."
"No." Fez said teasingly, "But you did do it."
Both men laughed and praised each others' jokes. Donna was trying her best to keep her laughter inside and Eric looked egger to join in on the fun.
"Nothing happened!" Jackie practically shouted at the two.
"Because you were doing it." Eric added and Fez and Kelso's laughter stopped.
"Yeah, you killed it man." Kelso said as he settled back into his chair.
"Yes." Fez agreed, "And buried it six feet under."
Eric looked at his two friends in shock and confusion. He thought it was funny.
"What?! Guys I…"
The two men shook their heads signaling that they did not want to hear it.
Eric sighed, "Fine." suddenly he saw something on the stairway as his smile reappeared. "Fine, Jackie, if you won't tell us. I'm sure Hyde will." He smirked.
Everyone turned their attention to where Eric's eyes were resting. There on the third step from the bottom was Steven Hyde, walking down to join his friends.
"Hyde will what?" he asked stopping in his tracks and looking slightly suspicious.
"Hyde will come over here." Eric said as he pushed his friend into his regular chair.
"And relax." Donna added.
"And tell us what happened with you and Jackie last night." Fez almost demanded.
Hyde swiftly turned his head to Jackie. She may not have been able to see his eyes clearly, because of his shades, but she knew how upset he must have been. So, she looked away.
"I'm telling you guys, they totally did it!" Kelso shouted ripping Hyde's attention from Jackie.
"What are you talking about?" Hyde asked, going into full Zen mode.
"Apparently about you and Jackie doing it last night." Donna stated.
Hyde frowned slightly, "No we didn't. Nothing happened last night." He said keeping his cool. However, inside him he was wondering why the hell Jackie would say that.
Fez grinned, "No, because you were doing it."
Both he and Kelso broke into laughter and gave high fives. The other four looked annoyed; especially Eric.
"Hey, that's the one I said!"
"I don't remember."
"Me neither."
As the three stooges began to argue over whose joke it was, Hyde took the opportunity to address Jackie. He didn't care, or notice, Donna was sitting between them.
"Why the hell would you tell them we slept together?" he asked, obviously not soft enough, because the argument that was occurring beside them was quickly forgotten.
"She didn't." Fez answered for her.
"I guessed!" Kelso exclaimed happily. "I'm good huh?"
Hyde glared at the man sitting across from him. Ever since last night, his hate towards Kelso had been growing. He stood up with clenched fists. That punch for Chicago was beginning to build up.
"Yeah, I wasn't too sure about it at first, but he is pretty persuasive." Eric said stopping Hyde from lifting his fist.
"Oh yeah?" Hyde asked the man he considered his brother, "You agree with this moron? The same moron who actually slipped on a banana peel? Guess that makes you a moron too." His voice was serious and firm; not as scary as Red's, but a close second.
Eric was deeply terrified and it showed as Hyde walked closer to him.
"Nothing happened last night. We didn't do anything. We didn't do it." Hyde said and Fez closed his mouth, "We didn't do anything because we don't feel anything. To each other we're nothing."
Jackie never said a word; she just sat on the couch watching him stick up for them…not doing it. She thought he had done a good job until he got to the end. She tried to hide the hurt she felt, but it wasn't easy to hide. Especially from her best friend.
"Ok Hyde, I think you made your point." Donna said standing up between the two men.
She really didn't want her husband getting a black eye. It took him almost a full month to get rid of the one he got when he literally ran into a door. He said something about seeing a big spider.
"Just sit back down." Donna instructed and Hyde gave in and did so.
"Um, I just was pointing it out." Eric began, "He started!" he pointed at Kelso.
Donna rolled her eyes, "It doesn't matter who started it. It's over." she went on before a questioned popped into her head, "Wait. Hyde why didn't you tell Jackie about Red? Weren't you like one of the first ones to find out?"
"I didn't…" Hyde began to explain but then 'Dumber' interrupted.
"Ooh I know! Cause they were too busy kissing!" Kelso shouted before making kissing noises.
Hey, he didn't say 'doing it.' But that didn't make it any better. Hyde was about to stand up, but Jackie beat him to it. Hyde hoped she was gonna slap him. That would be funny and it hurt like hell.
"I'm leaving." she announced before she walked off to the staircase that would lead her to the kitchen.
"Oh, you could cut the sexual tension with a spoon." Fez commented, keeping Jackie from taking the next step up.
"There is no sexual tension." Jackie and Hyde said at the same time.
Donna gave a small smile as she looked at the two, Fez raised an eyebrow, Kelso laughed loudly, and Eric wasn't sure how to react. He was not a fan of scary Hyde.
"They're probably just hiding it like last time." Kelso said from his seat.
"If there's nothing to hide, then why don't you come sit down here, Jackie?" Eric asked. Jackie wasn't mad at him…yet.
Jackie glared at Eric, who just smiled smugly. She knew if she didn't go, the teasing would just continue. Of course, going over there might only make things worse.
"Fine." Jackie said before she actually realized what she had said and that she was walking over to the old sofa. With a huff she sat back down between Donna and Fez. "Happy?' she asked crossing her arms.
Eric shook his head before furthering his answer, "Next to Hyde."
Jackie looked over at Hyde. He looked at her. Both of them with Zen expressions on their faces. Both of them having no feelings of Zen inside them, at all.
Hyde looked away and turned his eyes to the TV. Keeping her eyes on him, Jackie stood up and took a seat in the seat Donna had quickly moved out of.
The room was filled with silence. Kelso, Fez, Donna, and Eric were staring at the two, as if they would explode at any second. Hyde kept his attention on the television set that seemed to only be playing commercials. Jackie was doing the same, until she stretched her legs out and her right foot touched Hyde's left one.
"Steven, move your foot." she demanded with a deep scowl.
"Why?"
"Because I said." Jackie answered, as if that were enough.
"I'll move my foot when you move yours." Hyde shot back, now turning to look at her.
"If I move my foot, why would I need you to move your foot?"
"I don't know, maybe…."
And they were off. Arguing about feet! Of all things.
"Hey!" Fez shouted over their fighting, "Keep it down! Mr. Barker is speaking!'
That shut them both up and caused their eyes to go straight to the TV. And there was the game show host with the skinny, handheld microphone, hosting the one and only, 'The Price is Right.'
Hyde reached over and grabbed the clicker, clicking the TV off. The others frowned and were asking why he'd done it.
"TV rots the brain." Jackie replied for him.
"Then lemme see it!" Kelso protested, "My mind rotted away years ago."
Before anyone could comment on Kelso words, the back door swung open and the three children walked inside holding something large in Betsy's arms.
"Mommy, Mommy." Ally called as she bounced into her mothers' lap, "Look what we found."
The adults looked over to where Ally was pointing and got a closer look at Betsy and what she was holding. It looked like a dog. An old dog. An old Dachshund dog.
"Oh my God!" Donna gasped as Eric's eyes widened.
Jackie frowned, "Is that Schatzi?"
"Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are." Eric said as Betsy handed over the dog to him.
It was hard to believe, but it was in fact Schatzi. His hair was faded into a lighter brown and his age was obviously showing. He had probably been hiding under the house again.
"Man, I could've sworn Red killed him with the shovel." Eric said as he scratched the dig behind his ears. He then saw the wide eyed expressions of the three youngsters, "Uh I mean…sent him to a nice little farm."
"Hello old friend." Fez greeted as he too began to pet the dog.
"Hey, maybe Red did do that." Kelso thought out loud, "Maybe it's not even Schatzi. Maybe it's Zombie Schatzi."
"Aye!" Fez exclaimed as he quickly backed away.
"Can we keep the puppy, Mom?" Luke asked hope full in his voice.
"Yeah, I don't think this is a puppy, son." Eric commented as he looked down at the old hound, "It's more like a fossil."
"I don't know Luke, he's Grandma Kitty's dog. But she might let you take him to our house on some days." Donna said to her son.
"Yeah, Red bought him for her, back when she was having her lady problems." Hyde informed.
As much as he tried, he couldn't keep those times from his mind. And it wasn't just Kitty's menopause that he couldn't forget, it was something else that started around that same time.
"Also known as the Dark Years." Eric nodded.
Donna smiled at her husband, before turning to the kids, "You know kids, around the same time Grandpa Red bought Schatzi, your Uncle Hyde and Aunt Jackie had started dating."
The two heads swung over at Donna, but she didn't notice. She had her eyes on the children and her back towards Jackie and Hyde.
"Really?' Betsy asked excitedly. She knew the two were her Godparents, but she didn't understand why they weren't together, "What happened?'
The three children walked closer to Hyde and Jackie, wanting an answer to the question. Jackie looked at Hyde hoping to receive some form of help from him. Hyde never looked at her; he kept his eyes on Schatzi.
Jackie sighed, "Things just didn't work out." she said as if it were that simple.
"But things always work out." Luke stated, "Like in TV shows."
"And books." Betsy added
"And Star Wars." a smiling Ally put her two cents in.
Jackie smiled slightly. They were all so young and naïve. She remembered when she had been that way. It wasn't that long ago. It hurt a lot when that naïve had been taken away. She couldn't do that to these kids.
"Um, ok." Jackie took a few seconds to think through her answer, "Ok, you know what mistakes are, right?"
The three nodded their heads.
"Well, that's what happened. We both made a mistake."
Hyde fought back the urge to look over at her. Had she just called what they once had, a mistake? He slightly hoped she would elaborate. He had a good feeling that she would have to with these kids.
"Oh." Betsy said before turning around to her Aunt Donna, "Can we go play with Schatzi?"
Leave it to a Kelso to mess everything up.
Donna smiled, "Sure. But be careful with him." she said as Eric handed the dog over to the young girl.
"We will." Luke answered for the girls.
"Cause he's a zombie!" Kelso called after them just as Ally closed the door.
"Kelso, you're an idiot." Donna said out loud.
Meanwhile Hyde was trying to build up enough courage to ask Jackie what she meant by saying they had made a mistake. Just as he was about to speak, the clapping of Eric's hands stopped him.
"We should go out and celebrate." he announced, "The return of Red's health and the return of Schatzi!" he said as he got up off the couch.
"Oh, and the return of the beautiful Laurie." Fez added before realizing what he said, "Who I must hate, because she is my ex-wife."
Kelso laughed, "Man, I still can't believe she married you."
Fez frowned slightly, "Well, after she went out with you, her standards were not very high."
"Nice one!" Kelso applauded, "But did you notice, right after she married you, she like disappeared. Oh Burn!"
That burn did not sit well with Fez.
"You take that back."
"You take your burn back."
"Not until you take your burn back." Fez argued.
"I'll take mine back when you take yours back." Kelso protested.
Fez's frown increased and he slapped his friends' arm, causing Kelso to hit back. This continued for several seconds until they finally started slapping each others hands. Quickly Donna jumped up off the couch and walked over to her husband. When she got there she took a look at the scene before them. Kelso and Fez slapping each others hands rapidly, while Jackie and Hyde sat with crossed arms not looking at the other.
Donna frowned, "We're still Mom and Dad of this group aren't we?"
Eric shook his head, "No, Donna. We're now Grandma and Grandpa." he said with a smirk as he draped his arm around her shoulder. "And the best part about being them is they can leave any time they want."
Donna laughed at her husbands' words, before following him up the stairs to the kitchen.
Author's Note: And that is Chapter 35 of "Learning to Fly." Hope you liked!
Are there any more visitors from the past coming? When is Red coming home? When he does will Jackie and Hyde leave? Will Jackie and Hyde ever make up? And when will Laurie see the rest of the gang? Confused? You won't be after the new Chapter of "Learning to Fly"
Until then, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, see you next time, and have a nice day!