Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show.

"Then what is it? What is so bad you can't even stand to be around me?" she searched his face for an answer, tears still falling.

Kelso looked in her eyes and knew there was no other option but the truth. No matter how ashamed he felt that he'd let her down yet again.

Donna turned down the radio as they pulled to a stop light on their way home from Jackie and Hyde's.

"So it was weird tonight right?"

Eric glanced over at his girlfriend before returning his eyes to the road, "Fez? I mean yeah weird for normal people but not weird for Fez was it? Let's just hope he doesn't get himself banned from network television."

Donna chuckled but shook her head, "No not Fez. Kitty calling Jackie and Hyde on a weekday night…"

"Ya think?"

"Just since when does Kitty call to check if they're coming to dinner? They always make dinner! And when they don't Jackie makes Hyde call her."

Eric thought it over for a second, "True…Very true," he said now with a lilt in his voice.

"And did you see the look on Jackie's face when I asked about it? She had that look she gets when you ask her if uses self-tanner."

He switched hands on the steering wheel and put a hand on her thigh smirking, "I love it when you get all suspicious."

Donna smiled, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, it reminds me of – "

"If you're going to reference Star Wars any chance of us having sex tonight goes from highly possible to better lock the bathroom door after yourself."

Eric smartly shut up and continued driving but didn't remove his hand.

She grinned looking out the front windshield and held his hand on her thigh. It had started to lightly snow and with the streets empty at that time of night, it was peaceful. Donna looked over to Eric to see him singing along under his breath to the music from the radio. She kept staring at him as he drove along, bobbing his head.

He must have felt her stare or seen her looking at him out of the corner of his eye, "What?" he smiled.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Just happy."

"Well if my lady's happy then I'm happy too," he replied in his cheesy way.

She rolled her eyes but still grinned, "How do you feel about starting to look for a home officially?"

Eric's smile almost faltered but he held managed to keep it, "Really? You feel ready?" Thankfully she didn't notice as she started to play with his hand, looking down.

"Yeah," she said, "I mean I know it'll be a headache with your mom wanting us to move in with her. But I think it's gonna be perfect timing. We might not find the right place right away and I definitely don't want a repeat of our trailer-home scare."

Eric laughed at the memory, "Good point. But uh… you don't have anything else you want to do before?"

"I mean definitely looking to graduate before we take that leap…and it probably'd be nice if we could take a little trip somewhere at spring break…"

"Right, right…" he replied nodding.

"So yeah? Should I start collecting real estate fliers and magazines and we can go around town talking about one-and-a-half baths?"

Eric grinned and glanced at her again, "Yean…yeah, let's do it."

She grinned back and leaned over to kiss him.

Fez unlocked the door to his small apartment, humming along to a commercial jingle that had gotten stuck in his head. Flipping the light on he slowly shed his winter wear and boots. He ran a hand through his hair to shake out the snow that he had caught on his way in from the parking lot. Blankets and pillows were thrown around the couch as he looked for the remote. After successfully finding it, he flipped on the TV to a game show channel.

Heading to the kitchen he rummaged through the fridge and grabbed a cold beer, stopping to swipe a candy bar off the counter before returning to his living room.

He threw himself on the couch sighing, stretching out on plush cushions and taking a sip of beer before placing it down on a coaster. Still humming he tore open his candy wrapper, anticipating the first perfect bite –

When the phone rang.

He sighed in a much different way than before and rose from the sofa to pick up the call in the kitchen, hoping it better be worth waiting for candy.

"Hello, this is Fez?"

The voice on the other line replied loudly, "Hi! This is Amanda from 'Love Connection,' I was hoping to reach you about your participation on our show!"

Fez perked up, "Oh! Oh yes! That's me!"

"Great!" Amanda answered, "I just had a couple of questions for you so we can begin preparing for your trip out to LA! I'm sorry for the late call but I have been trying to reach you all night. The production team needs the info as soon as they can have it. You know how it is!" she giggled lightly.

"LA?" Fez said confused.

"Yes, Los Angeles? To film the show!"

"Los Angeles?!"

When Amanda responded it was with slightly less enthusiasm, "Yes…that's where we tape the show. That won't be a problem will it?"

Fez paused for a breath, not believing that he, little old Fez, would be in the City of Angels!

"Oh yes! I mean no! That will not be a problem at all!"

Amanda audibly breathed out in relief, "Oh good. You don't know how many people we have cancelling because of scheduling conflicts with their jobs, or surprise spouses, and you-don't-even-want-to-know."

Fez thought briefly about his manager threatening to fire him if he missed one more day of work this year and bit his lip.

"Oh…When would I travel?"

"We have you scheduled to fly out January 3rd, right after the holidays to film for our spring episodes."

That wasn't within this year right?

"I can make it!"

"Radical!" Amanda exclaimed, "So if you could just provide me some information about yourself so they can start creating your bio…"

After tucking Jackie in and changing into his own pajamas, Steven was planning to go to bed himself. But as he went out into the living room to check doors, windows, and shut off the lights, he found himself still needing that beer. Walking quietly, he checked on Jackie once more in the doorframe before closing the door to not wake her.

Steven turned and made his way to the kitchen while turning off the lights along the way. Upon opening the fridge he found himself down to his last three beers. He tried not to think about if they might be his last if Jackie didn't want him drinking if she couldn't. He smirked at the thought, he wouldn't put it past her.

Sitting in a chair, he cracked open the beer and his shoulders relaxed just with the pop and fizzle of the can.

Steven looked around the kitchen and remembered how they were running low on certain things. Grabbing the pad and pen they saved for messages and grocery lists he began to jot down their shopping for the week.

It was nice in the quiet. Taking sips of beer, his mind peacefully wondered about the number of eggs in the fridge, the contents of their cabinets…

As he wrote "applesauce" – which was among the few foods Jackie could tolerate – he reflected that this time next year he would be writing quite a different list for the week's groceries. Things like "diapers" or "wet wipes" crossed his mind.

He took another swig of beer as he felt a chill run down his body.

What surprised him wasn't that he was almost terrified at the thought. What surprised him was that he felt almost impatient to be in that moment.

Kelso wondered when his life had gotten so complicated. And yet stayed so much the same.

He was a husband and father, paid bills, and filed his taxes. But here he was still making chicks cry over his stupidity.

He sighed, "Brooke…I just…I didn't know how to tell you I'd lost my job at the club."

Brooke's brow furrowed, "What? What do you mean?"

"I was scared to face you…"

"Scared? Michael, why would you be scared of me?"

"No not scared. Not like Hyde's-gonna-kick-my-butt scared. Believe me, now that's scary." He huffed a laugh.

Brooke smiled weakly, "Well that's good to hear. I don't want you scared of me like that. But I don't want you scared at all…what do you mean then?"

Michael looked at their hands holding each other, "I was scared to tell you that…that…"

"Yes?"

"God Brooke, that I let you down again!" he said loudly, looking up at her, "That once again, I've proven that you made a mistake in marrying me."

"What?" Brooke was shocked, searching his face, "Why would you think that?"

"Don't act like you don't notice how everyone we meet is surprised that someone like you married someone like me."

Brooke opened her mouth to speak but Michael kept on adding painfully, "All those years ago when I knocked you up…You were sure that you didn't want me in your and Betsy's life. And I managed to convince you to give me a shot. But you were right, Brooke, you were right. You'd be somewhere in a better house, in a better town, and with a better guy if I would've done the smart thing for once."

She didn't reply this time when he finished. Instead she stared at him, looking confused and shocked at his confession. Her silence only broke his heart further. Michael felt his face heat up, her face blurred in his vision.

Then he felt her hands gently take his face. "Michael…"

He tried to remain stoic but her soft and warm hands on his face made it difficult.

"Michael, baby…I am so, so sorry," she cried.

"It's, it's alright," he said roughly.

"No," she replied, "It's not."

He looked at her quizzically.

"Baby, I'm so sorry that you've felt that I wasn't one hundred percent sure in marrying you. In being with you," her voice cracked up, "I'm so sorry that I've made you feel like you can't fail or make mistakes."

"Brooke?"

"You fighting to be with me was the best thing you ever did for me. I'm not with you because you tricked me, Michael," she smiled, "I'm with you because I want to be. You make me happy, you remind me to not take things so seriously. You keep me from always seeing the glass half-empty. You love me so easily and freely. …I'm proud that your Betsy's father and my husband."

Michael didn't know what to say and could do nothing more than grab her tightly to him in a strong embrace which she returned in kind.

He loosened his hold on her and kissed her over and over anywhere he could reach. He hoped he could convey all he was feeling in his motions, and hoped she could understand what she'd just done for him.

I know there wasn't a lot of Steven/Jackie but I wanted to set up the other minor stories happening around them. Next chapter we'll be moving the story around them for a bit.

Stay safe and healthy out there! xoxo