Chapter Fourteen



"What are you talking about, Fez?" Kelso asked in confusion.

"I'm talking about Eric and Jackie." Fez elaborated, "It makes perfect sense. Eric doesn't want Hyde to have Tory and Jackie doesn't want Donna to have Eric. With Jackie, I think she's being stubborn because she really can't stand Donna. Whether she'll admit it or not, I think that she believes that Donna was trying to steal Hyde away so she could have him for herself."

"You have a point." Hyde admitted, "Because even if Eric doesn't like me very much, he wants to be with Donna. And if he had his way about it, I'm sure he'd want Tory, Donna and himself to all live together."

"That's probably all true." Donna admitted, "But how are we supposed to use that to help us get Eric and Jackie to split up?"

Hyde cleared his throat and began to speak, "Jackie doesn't know what happened to you, Donna. If she did, I'm sure she wouldn't hold such a big grudge against you. All you have to do is explain to her what happened and that you really love Eric."

"And then while she's talking to Jackie, Hyde could go and tell Eric that he doesn't want to take Tory away from him. Hyde, you could tell Eric that you want to share her." Kelso added.

"It might just work, except there's one problem." Donna spoke up, "Like you said, Jackie cannot stand me. How am I supposed to get her to listen to me?"

"That can be arranged." Fez smiled an evil smile, "We can make it so that Jackie has to talk to you. Whether she likes it or not."



Jackie looked up from the computer screen at work when she saw Laurie appear in front of her desk.

"It's the janitor's day off and there's a big spill in the kitchen. Go get some cleaner and help Ashley clean it up." Laurie ordered and Jackie stared at her in surprise.

"Why should I have to do it?" she said, insulted, "I'm too high up the ladder in this company to have to do cleaning work."

"I don't care how high up the ladder you are." Laurie retorted, angry that Jackie was being so difficult, "You are going to go do it because I am your boss and I told you to."

"Control freak." Jackie said under her breath, too quietly for Laurie to hear. Laurie was really on a power trip that day and it was just really annoying. Jackie was too engrossed in her own thoughts to notice Laurie was silently following her down the hall.

She went into the closet and tried the light that dangled above her head. It didn't work. Swearing under her breath, she had to squint to read the labels on the bottles of cleaners. But before she could find the one she was looking for, she heard the door behind her swish shut and the fumbling of keys. By the time she realized what was happening and tried the door it was locked. She heard Laurie laughed obnoxiously through the door.

"This isn't funny, Laurie, let me out." Jackie demanded but that only made Laurie laugh harder.

"Sorry, Jacks." she was finally able to say, "But I'll be back in an hour to let you out. If you cooperate."

"If I cooperate? What the hell?" Jackie kicked the door in frustration.

"I don't think Laurie would be very happy with you if you did damage to that door." a familiar voice said and Jackie whirled around. She managed to make out Donna's face in the dim light.



"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Eric asked, shifting nervously in his seat. Kelso had invited him down to the hotel café for lunch. But instead of meeting Kelso there, Hyde showed up and told Eric they needed to talk about something.

"I came to talk to you about Tory." Hyde said evenly after taking a long sip of his drink.

If Hyde was calm, Eric was anything but, "I don't care if you are her real father. I love that girl like my own daughter and you won't take her from me."

"I wasn't planning on doing that." Hyde replied, "I want to compromise with you."

"Compromise?" Eric repeat dumbly. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't this.

"Here's the thing," Hyde began, "I love Jackie and I know you love Donna. This would be very simple, but we are in a dilemma over Tory. And I know you've been there for Tory when I wasn't and I'm grateful she had you. I wouldn't try to take her away from you. But as her real father, I deserve to be with Tory as well."

"So what are we going to do?" Eric asked, surprised at how reasonable Hyde was being, especially after their big fight the day before.

"I think that you and Jackie should divorce." Hyde began, "Then you could be with Donna and I could be with Jackie. And, to put it as simply as Kelso put it, we could then share Tory."

"And how do you plan on doing this?" Hyde was glad that Eric was being so open-minded and opened his mouth to explain.



"I should have known you were behind this." Jackie said accusingly. She had tried several times to get the door open but hadn't been successful.

"Jackie, I didn't get Fez to get Laurie to lock you in here to torture you." Donna told her, "But I really needed to talk to you."

"And getting me stuck in a smelly janitor's closet was the only way to do it?" Jackie asked, her was dripping with scorn and sarcasm.

"It doesn't smell that bad." Donna countered and Jackie grimaced.

"Do I have to listen to you in order to get out of here?" Jackie grumbled, even though she already knew the answer.

"Please," Donna pleaded, "It's important."

"Fine." Jackie said reluctantly, "Just get it over with so I can leave."

"I know you think I stole Hyde from you on purpose, but that isn't true." Jackie laughed bitterly at those words but was immediately silenced by Donna, "I was never really interested in Hyde in a romantic way. But something happened and I didn't feel strong enough to stay in Point Place after it happened."

"Where does Hyde come in?" Jackie asked impatiently.

"Hyde was the only one who knew what happened." Donna explained, "He know how much I was hurting and on top of that, he was scared of making any big commitments because of how his parent's marriage had turned out. So we left Point Place together, as friends and as friends only."

"What happened?" Jackie asked, softening slightly.

Donna was glad it was dark so Jackie couldn't see the sorrowful and ashamed expression on her face, "We went to school with someone named Rick. He was a friend of Kelso's. Do you remember him?"

"Yes." Jackie answered after having to go back and think about it for a moment.

"About a week before Hyde and I left Point Place, he offered me a ride home." Donna took a deep breath before continuing, "And then he raped me."

"Oh my god, Donna. I'm so sorry." Jackie's words were genuine and Donna was glad she seemed less hateful now.

"My period was late and I made an appointment to go to the doctor's. I asked Hyde to come with me and then we found out-" Donna was too choked up with emotion to speak for a moment. No matter how many times she told the story, it never got any easier, "We found out that I would never be able to have kids. I thought Eric wouldn't love me anymore if we found out, so we left."

Jackie remembered all the times she had called Donna a whore, slut, tramp and too many other nasty things to count ever since she had come back. She felt rotten about it now. If she had known everything Donna had gone through, she never would have acted like such a bitch to her. She was so caught up in her own feelings of guilt and shock that it took her a minute to realize Donna was crying.

"Donna, it's okay." Jackie reached over to hug her, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jackie knew at that moment she couldn't keep bottling up all the hate and spite inside her. She couldn't hang on to Eric just to make Donna miserable, especially when she wanted to be with someone else too. It was time to let it go. And once she did, everyone could have what they really wanted.