A/N: Wow, I'm ecstatic that this story was received so well! Thank you all so much! And, thanks to the majority of reviews requesting a continuation, I have decided to try my hand at it. So, without further ado, the continuing saga of Countdown.
Fez tore his eyes away from the TV as the crowd in the Forman's living room shouted "Two!" and looked about frantically for Jackie. It was almost midnight, and, as American tradition had been explained to him thoroughly by Jackie just the other night, the New Year could only officially begin with a kiss. Noticing she was still on the other side of the room, he grabbed her refilled wineglass and made his way over to her as the others yelled "One!" He opened his mouth to call her name, but froze instantly.
"Happy New Year!"
The living room erupted with shouts and whoops of excitement, followed by the annoying sound of a million different kinds of noisemakers, but the noise was muted in Fez's ears as he watched one of his best friends lean towards his girlfriend and capture her lips in a passionate kiss. He watched them for what seemed an eternity, hurt and anger and all manner of unpleasant emotions swirling around in his belly.
"Oh my God!" he heard Donna shout, but he could not look away.
Donna, after receiving a thorough, and very long awaited, kiss from Eric, had turned happily to glance at Jackie. The tiny girl had been in a slight depression as of late, due to her awkward relationship with Fez. The two had found dating difficult, and Jackie had been distressed at the prospect of beginning a brand new year with yet another problematic relationship. Donna had hoped that ringing in the New Year with the gang would help ease some of the tension between them, but as she spotted the small cheerleader, her mouth dropped open.
Eric, startled by his girlfriend's outburst, turned to see what she was so upset about, and his eyes practically fell out of his head. There, near the kitchen door, stood Hyde, his arms wrapped tightly around the petite brunette, his mouth welded to hers. And off to the side, a bewildered Fez stood looking on, clearly too stunned to move. He blinked as Donna streaked past him.
"Jackie, what the hell?" Donna cried, grabbing the smaller girl's shoulder and roughly wrenching her away from Hyde.
Jackie's eyes snapped open as she was unceremoniously dislodged from her ex-boyfriend's embrace, and she found herself staring up at an extremely pissed off looking Donna. She heard Hyde give a grunt of protest from behind her, but one withering look from the angry former redhead shut him up instantly.
"Donna!" Jackie said, trying to sound as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Happy New Year!" She opened her arms and smiled so wide her cheeks hurt, but Donna didn't budge.
"What the hell is going on here?" the taller girl demanded, glaring first at Jackie and then at Hyde, who had backed up slightly and was leaning one shoulder nonchalantly against the doorframe.
"Donna, what are you talking about?" Jackie asked through a gritted smile.
Donna rolled her eyes. "Cut the crap, Jackie." She pointed a finger accusingly at the cheerleader and said, "I just yanked you out of Hyde's arms. Remember Hyde? Your ex-boyfriend?"
Jackie threw a quick glance at Hyde and sputtered nervously, "What, that? That-that was nothing!"
Donna's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she looked about ready to scream again, when Fez stepped out from behind her, head bowed slightly.
"Jackie?" he asked quietly.
Jackie instantly felt an enormous wave of guilt wash over her. "Oh, Fez," she said softly, taking a step closer to him, her hand stretched out to touch his cheek. When he backed up, she halted, her arm dropping heavily to her side. "I'm so sorry, Fez."
He gave her a sad smile. "At least now I know," was all he said before he turned and walked out of the Forman's house.
A/N: Okay, so I'm extremely nervous for posting this. I hope I didn't ruin the whole thing by continuing on! Please let me know what you think, and sorry it's so short. I'm going to try to write the next chapter tonight and have it posted by tomorrow. Hopefully by then I'll have a better idea of where I want to take this since right now I'm pretty much just writing it as I go along! Anyway, please review! I would so appreciate it!
