A/N: Hello again! I know I said the chapters would be shorter from now on, but I got a little carried away... Again. But this is by far one of my favorites chapters, enjoy!
PS: I do not own That 70s Show


Chapter three:

HYDE

Stupid Forman. The man is barely back from Africa and he's making me think already. I'm not supposed to think, not after what I've done, if I think, I will feel like garbage and I will end up humiliating myself, so I drink instead. Ever since the girls left, when I wasn't occupying myself with work, I was drinking beer and smoking pot. I've spent most of my days at Grooves, avoiding my 'wife' and trying to get Jackie out of my mind. Never succeeded in that. And, at the end of the day, I went home to a stranger, who didn't even know my middle name, hell, she probably didn't know my first name to begin with.

The minute Sam showed up at the Formans I thought 'That's it. You just ruined your life'. I looked at Jackie and saw the horrified expression on her face, and right then I just knew that that was it. I've screwed things beyond repair this time. She would never take me back after this. So screw it, I decided I would stay with Sam, because being with her would be better than being alone, right? Wrong.

I should've kicked her out the minute she rang the doorbell, I should've run after Jackie and told her how I really feel about her. Maybe if I've done those things Jackie would've forgiven me, maybe she would've stayed, maybe we would've been married by now. But I told Sam to stay, and I made the biggest mistake of my life. A few months later, Sam's real husband showed up, and I've never felt so relieved in my entire life, I should've been pissed, but I wasn't, and when she left I felt like myself for the first time in a really long time. But after a few minutes, the anger came. The bitch basically scammed me, I threw away my relationship with Jackie because of a marriage that wasn't even real in the first place, and I fucking hated myself for it. A few weeks after Sam left, I was drunk, and I called Jackie. I called her apartment and Donna picked up, I wanted to tell Jackie that I'm still in love with her, that I'm an idiot, and I was ready to beg her to come home, but Donna wouldn't let me speak with her. I don't know if I should be thankful or angry about it.

Deep down, I've always known that Jackie never cheated on me with Kelso, and after hearing the full story yesterday, I was consumed with guilt. I did the exact same thing when I cheated on her with that nurse, I jumped to conclusions and never confronted her, I was hurt and I wanted to hurt her back. And I was an asshole. But marrying Sam… that was low, that was just plain cruel, and I knew it, but I did it anyway because I was drunk and I thought she was sleeping with Kelso behind my back so I wanted to hurt her. But again, she didn't do anything, I caused her pain over nothing, something that wasn't even her fault, and I'm probably the worst person in this world right now.

So, when Forman decided last night that we are going to Chicago, I almost laughed at his face. After everything I've done to Jackie, I don't deserve to see her, to feel her again. I deserve to be miserable, I should spend the rest of my life drowning in my own misery.

But Jackie... damn… she's everything. And right now all I can think about is that I have to fix my life, and the most important thing is Jackie. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her back. To redeem myself in her eyes. For once in my life, I am going to fight for the one I love. I screwed things up really badly, but I am making it right, she's the only one worth fighting for, and she has the right to know that I'm sorry, even if she never forgives me, she should know how I really feel, she deserves to know that she's loved, she will always be loved. I always thought that admitting my feelings out loud was a sign of weakness, now I realize how fucked up that is. Feelings don't make you weak, but denying and hiding from them does. I was a coward by not telling Jackie how I feel, and I'm not making the same mistake again, I never thought I would say this, but it's time to grovel, and I'll grovel my ass off.

So now, here I am, clean shaved, stuffing some clothes in a duffel bag, getting ready to see her for the first time in 6 months. I went upstairs and grabbed the phone, I needed to call WB and tell him I wouldn't be in town for a few days. After I was done, I sat down at the kitchen table to have some breakfast. Apparently, Mrs. Forman knew about our 'plan', because she was giggling the whole time, almost jumping with happiness, or maybe she's just happy because I shaved the mustache off, I could never tell.

Then Forman showed up with a duffel bag and a huge grin on his face. He sat down at the table and we ate breakfast, just like the old times. And I grinned to myself. I hate feelings, and I would never admit this out loud but I really missed Forman, really missed him. I have this feeling that if Forman never left for Africa, things would've been pretty different. He truly is the glue that holds the group together, I just realized it too late.

After we finished breakfast, we said our goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Forman, and now we're at the driveway, heading for the cruiser, because Kelso and Fez would be arriving any minute now. And then I heard Red.

"Dumbasses, wait" His tone was stern, and he looks like he's about to kick some major ass, I prepare myself for the speech I know it's about to come "I know where you two are heading and I know what you're about to do" Then he looks straight at me "Steven, it's about damn time. In those last few months, I was waiting for you to get your head out of your ass, and it took a long time, but I assume you're finally making the right thing. But I swear to God, if you ever hurt that girl again I will stick my foot so far up your ass that your teeth will break. Do you understand me?"

Well, I've always suspected that Jackie was Red's favorite, he always had a soft spot for her. Now, I'm sure she's his favorite, Red doesn't threaten to put his foot on people's ass over someone he doesn't care about.

"Yes sir"

"Good. Eric, the same goes for you" I direct my gaze to Forman, he looks absolutely terrified, and honestly, I probably do too. You don't mess with Red Forman. "Both of you should worship the ground these girls step in, they are both too good for you. But for some twisted reason, apparently, you make them happy, at least you used to" He scowls "So you two go on and do that. But I'm keeping the dentist number in the fridge just in case" He gave us one last threatening look and left us in the driveway.

"That went well" I hear Forman say

"Yeah"

"Are you… you're still going, right?" He asks apprehensively

"Yes Forman, I'm still going" I roll my eyes, his determination from yesterday is gone, and now he's all twitchy again, I'm starting to get annoyed. Just when Forman was about to say something else, we hear Kelso's car, so we head to the cruiser and drop the duffel bags in the backseat. Forman is the one driving. I said I could drive us there in the Camino, but he misses the cruiser, so I just shrug and agree with him.

15 minutes later and we're on the road, Eric's following Kelso's car and I'm trying to find some decent music on the radio. It's the first day of the 80s and the music already sucks. Forman is trying to focus on the road, but I notice he's trying to say something. I was hoping for some peace and quiet, I could use these couple hours to figure out what I'm going to say to Jackie, but now Eric's bothering me.

"What?" I ask harshly

"What are you going to say to Jackie?" He asks

"Why do you care, man?" I'm starting to lose my temper. I do not talk about feelings, especially not with Forman, in fact, most of the time, I avoid being like Forman, but not talking about my feelings is what made me lose Jackie in the first place, so I guess I will have to suck it up.

"It's just that… yesterday I had so many things in my mind, so many things I was ready to say, I was even rehearsing in my head, but now, I have nothing, I have no idea how I'm going to apologize to Donna" he mumbles, and I take pity on him, because I'm basically in the same situation.

"Look man, just start by telling her that you're sorry, and then you go from that"

"Is that what you're gonna do with Jackie?"

"I don't know, Forman. I don't think that apologizing to her is going to do any difference at this point" I mumble

"Yeah, you screwed up bad" I just looked at him, clearly annoyed, wasn't he supposed to encourage me or something? He just keeps talking "Jackie deserves more than an apology from you, Hyde"

"I know" I sigh "But what the hell am I supposed to do, man?"

"Look, I'm going to be completely honest with you here, but first, you have to promise me you won't hit me" He starts, and I glare at him angrily, if he's asking me not to hit him, that's probably because he will make me want to hit him, but I control myself. Forman just wants to help me, right? So suck it up. Again.

I nod, silently giving him my permission to keep talking.

"I know you like to say you don't do love. But I also know that you loved - and I assume you still love - Jackie. And I know we teased you sometimes but dude, that wasn't a reason for you to treat her like crap in front of us. You acted like you didn't care about her, and she tolerated it because she loved you. And I still believe that Jackie is the devil, don't get me wrong here, but she was good to you, and you were good to her. And I don't think you'll ever find someone else after her, because she's it for you pal" He deadpanned. And I feel like shit, did I actually treat her like crap in front of everyone? I know sometimes I'm a little abrasive, but if Forman was bothered by it, then it's worse than I thought.

I take a deep breath, trying to process everything. I'm disgusted with myself, I love Jackie, I always have, so why is it so hard to show it to her? Did Bud and Edna mess me up THAT bad? Shit. Forman takes the silence as an opportunity to keep talking.

"Hyde, I know what you're thinking right now, yes, you treated her like crap sometimes, but we all knew that you cared a lot about her. You wouldn't have stayed with her for two years if you didn't" Hell, what is he a psychic now? "But sometimes you need to be a little more expressive, man. How many times have you told her you loved her? Because if I know you, I'm guessing you never did"

Once. I told her once. And that was after I cheated on her with that nurse, I don't even blame her for saying she didn't love me back then. I always thought that she knew, even when we got back together after that, I thought that she knew I loved her so there was no need for me to keep saying it, even though she told me she loved me practically every day. Every time she told me she loved me, I would just smile and kiss her tenderly. I thought that she knew that that was my way of saying 'I love you too', but I guess I was wrong. She deserved to hear the words every once in a while, maybe if I've said it more often, she wouldn't have given me that ultimatum. I am such an idiot. Some minutes must have passed because Forman is now staring at me.

"Hyde, man, aren't you going to say something?" He asks hesitantly.

"You're right" that's all I say for now, and that's all I'm going to say, at least to him. He seems to understand that, and he kept driving until we arrived at Kelso's place.

He parks the Vista Cruiser next to Kelso's convertible. Kelso and Fez are already waiting for us, so we grab our stuff and go meet with them. Kelso has a huge grin on his face, but Fez is glaring at us, and he does not look happy.

"Hyde, Eric" he greets us "I assume you were serious last night then"

"Of course they were Fez!" Kelso interrupts "Look, Hyde even shaved the pornstache off!" He points at my face and I slap his hand off.

"We were literally following your car, ya dillhole, of course we were serious" Eric says impatiently. Again, he's more twitchy than normal, he's probably nervous about seeing Donna for the first time after everything.

Kelso opened up his apartment door for us, and Fez quickly went to the kitchen, probably to retrieve a secret stash of candy he hid somewhere, and I sat at a bench next to the kitchen counter.

"Okay, so you guys wait here while I go pick up Betsy at Brooke's" Kelso states "Then, when we come back, we take the cruiser and head to the girls' place"

"Why are you taking Betsy?" Eric asks

"They can't hit a guy with a baby, duh" Kelso answers in his signature childish tone "Also, if I don't bring her, Jackie will kill me, she is her godmother after all" he looks at me, and I knew what he implied by that. I'm Betsy's godfather, and I'm not very good at it, I've only seen the kid once. I'm not very fond of kids, but Jackie seems to like Betsy, so I'm going to try harder now.

"Oh, last time I visited, Jackie and Betsy were wearing matching dresses, it was the cutest thing I've ever seen" Fez states, and I pictured the scene in my head, and for some reason, that vision amused me a lot more than I thought it would.

"So, I'll be back in half an hour, tops" Kelso heads at the door "You can watch TV or something while I'm gone, there's beer in the fridge" and then he leaves.

I opened his fridge, looking for a beer, and I found it, but I decided that I should be 100% sober in order to do this right, after all, I am known for making very dumb decisions while I'm drunk, so I just head to the couch instead, an uncomfortable silence filling the room. Fez turns the TV on and the only noises I can hear are the TV and Fez eating a chocolate bar. Now that the moment of truth is coming I'm getting more and more nervous, and that sucks, because I hate getting nervous. I glanced briefly at Forman and he looks pale, he looks even more anxious than I am, and his situation with Donna isn't half as bad as mine with Jackie.

Forman messed up badly, he took Donna for granted and lost her in the end. And she made plenty of sacrifices for the sake of their relationship, while he did practically nothing but sit on his ass all day and complain. He also left her at the altar and took off to Africa without even asking for her opinion, then he broke up with her in a letter. But that's nothing compared to what I did to Jackie.

I also took her for granted, even though she's the best thing that ever happened to me, but I just had to be this jealous, paranoid asshole, and ruin everything. I acted like I didn't care about her in front of our friends, I cheated on her with the nurse, I held a grudge against her for not forgiving me sooner after that incident, even though I was clearly the wrong one in that situation, I practically never told her how much I love her, then I said I couldn't see a future with her, then I ran off to Vegas and married a stranger out of spite. Yeah, my situation is way worse than Forman's. I'm going to consider myself lucky if she doesn't kick me in the shins today. Getting Jackie back is going to be a process, a very long one, but I've got a preview of what my life would be without her, and that's a pretty damn miserable life.

So yeah, I'm going to tell her that. I just hope that she will be willing to hear me. I won't be zen anymore, not with her.


JACKIE

Oh God, I forgot how bad my hangovers are. That's why I never drink, my head is killing me, I feel like someone is squeezing my skull. I will never, ever touch another drink again.

Okay, so, apparently I've slept with the same dress I was wearing last night, not a good sign, because that also means I probably haven't removed my makeup either, so I have clogged pores. I open my eyes carefully and I see that my pillowcase has as much makeup on it as I do. Crap.

Time for some damage control.

I drag myself out of bed and put on my good old sweatpants, normally I would never wear this because that's a fat girl outfit, but screw it, I'm feeling like shit anyways. I glanced around the closet looking for a shirt and my eyes stopped at the sign of a Led Zeppelin one, that's Steven's shirt. I feel tempted to wear it, just for today, for old times sake, and then I scolded myself, I shouldn't think about him, or his stupid shirt that I'm too attached to throw in the garbage. He married someone else, he can go to hell.

So I took a random tank top I own and went to the bathroom. As soon as I walk in, I feel this huge wave of nausea, I run into the toilet, and I puke my guts out. Gross. My mom would be proud.

My eyes are watery and my mouth is bitter, so I flush the toilet and head to the sink, intending on brushing my teeth, but I stop at the horrifying sight in front of me. Great, now I'm looking like a panda. Sleeping with makeup on is basically asking God to give you pimples, and I do not get pimples, so I always remove my makeup before going to bed, or at least sober Jackie does. Just another reason to never get drunk again.

I wash my face and brush my teeth, then I tie my hair and head to the kitchen, and I find my favorite lumberjack waiting for me at the table.

"Good morning sunshine" She mocks "You look like crap"

I just grunt and sit down next to her, laying my head in my hands "God, I'm never drinking again" I mumble

"I warned you. please eat something, Kelso is going to arrive with Fez and Betsy in a few minutes" Oh. I completely forgot about that.

"I would if I could, but I don't think I can eat anything right now"

"Jackie, I'm serious, eat" Her tone was stern "I left an aspirin bottle at the counter for you" She looks at me sympathetically, and then we hear the doorbell.

"That's probably them, eat something and take your aspirin, I'll go get the door," she says, heading there.

I pour myself some orange juice, then I take the last couple of aspirins in the bottle, I just can't eat right now, my stomach feels like shit, out of nowhere I hear Donna yelling.

"KELSO! WHAT THE HELL!"

I hear Michael's muffled voice answering her "OW! You can't hit a guy with a baby!"

What, did Michael grab her butt or something? I told him not to pull that crap on us anymore or else I wouldn't kick his shins, I would kick his nuts.

Imagine my surprise when I left the kitchen and saw the four dumbasses at the doorway. Donna looks pissed, Eric looks scared, Fez is eating candy and is basically oblivious to the tension in the room, Michael is looking apprehensively between Donna and Eric, clearly not noticing I'm here, and Steven is just staring at me. Crap. What the hell are they doing here?

Donna finally noticed where I am, and she decided that now was a good time to vent, right in front of everyone.

"Can you believe this, Jackie? Those two assholes" She points at Eric and Steven "Haven't even seen us in 6 months, and now they have the audacity to show up at our door? And Kelso!" She turned to Michael, her face was getting red with rage "What the hell were you thinking?! Who else are you bringing here, Adolf fucking Hitler?!"

I feel like my head is going to explode at this point, all the noise is not helping with my headache, so I rubbed my temples, trying to ease the pain, but yeah, it didn't work, obviously. So I just turned to Donna.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just going to take a shower, okay? Can you handle this by yourself for now? Thanks" And then I head quickly to the bathroom, not giving her enough time to protest. I kneel near the toilet and now the orange juice and the aspirins are no longer on my stomach. Crap.

This is going to be a long day.


DONNA

I am going to kill Kelso. We made it perfectly clear to him and Fez that we are NOT ready to see (or even hear from) the boys. And by the boys, I mean the stripper-marrying bastard and the selfish-african asshole. God, why would they even be here? Haven't they hurt us enough? I just glare at them, all four of them (and Betsy) are waiting for me to say something, Eric's leaning at the door frame, looking at me like a lost puppy. Jerk.

"Kelso, give me Betsy" I demand, extending my arms to hold the 1-year-old. Kelso looks at me strangely but gives me the baby anyways.

"Why do you want to hold her now, like, right at this moment?" He asks, genuinely concerned about his daughter being caught in the middle of war.

"Because if I'm holding Betsy, then I won't be able to kill the moron twins, and I really don't want to go to prison right now" I look at them darkly.

"So…" I hear Eric saying and my heart starts pounding on my chest "Are you going to let us in or what?"

I swear to God, if looks could kill, Eric would be a puddle of blood right now. I take a deep breath and remind myself that I'm holding a baby, I shouldn't kick ass, not now.

"I'll have to ask Jackie. It's her place too" My tone was harsh and my voice was cold. I head to the bathroom door and knock, trying to get Jackie's attention.

"Yes?" I hear her muffled voice over the sounds of the shower.

"Are you feeling better?" I ask, worried about having to take care of a hangover Jackie all day.

"Getting there!" She answers me

"So, what should I do about the situation we have going on right now?" I ask apprehensively.

And then all I could hear was the shower. For like, two minutes straight, when I'm about to give up and head back to the living room, I finally hear her voice.

"Is Betsy here?" She asks, and I smile at the little child that's currently in my arms.

"Yeah, I'm holding her right now"

"UGH! For an idiot, Michael can be pretty smart sometimes!" I wondered what the hell does that means, then she continues "He knows I can't kick them out if Betsy's here, that brilliant bastard"

Oh, I see. Shit, that was actually a pretty smooth move on Kelso's part.

"Fine! I'll be waiting for you at the living room with Betsy, and apparently the four stooges too, please hurry" or not, if I was in her place I would've taken the longest shower in the world to avoid dealing with this situation.

"Okay"

Then I head back to the living room. They really made themselves comfortable, huh? Kelso, Fez, and Eric are sitting on the couch, they are watching TV, or, in Eric's case, trying to watch TV, I can hear him tapping his foot from miles away. And Hyde is just staring at the window. He is the first one to notice me though, and I hear his voice for the first time since they arrived.

"Is she okay?" He asks, clearly worried about Jackie, she looked really sick this morning, but that's what hangovers do. Tiny people like her should not drink as much as she did last night.

"Yeah, she just had a lot of champagne last night" I answered him and noticed that he relaxed a little after I gave him the information. He doesn't say anything else after that, but I just have to ask. The last time he interacted with Jackie she was devastated, the asshole made out with a blonde skank in front of her, just to make her feel bad. I nod in the kitchen's direction, and he follows me there, understanding that I want to talk privately with him.

"You're not going to punch me again, are you?" He asks me apprehensively

"That's something I haven't decided yet. What are you doing here, Hyde?" I sigh "Haven't you done enough damage already?"

He looks a little guilty, and directs his gaze to the floor "Who says I'm here to hurt her again?" He answers me, and I just look at him incredulously.

"But that's like, all you ever do, Hyde"

He starts pacing around the small kitchen, running his hands on his face, nervously.

"It's just that…. I just… Fuck, I really need to talk to her, Donna, can't you cut me some slack here?" He looks at me desperately

"Hyde, you are married to another woman, why are you trying to talk to Jackie in the first place? I'm sure Sam wouldn't like that" I spat. My tone is bitter, but screw him.

He suddenly stopped pacing and looked at me surprised "Wait, you think I'm still married? Does Jackie thinks I'm still married?" He asks, looking genuinely shocked, and I'm dumbfounded by this new information, is he divorced now?

"Hold the baby, Hyde" I give him Betsy and he holds her awkwardly, looking strangely at me. I start to pace around the kitchen, I gave him the baby because if he's holding Betsy then I won't be able to harm him, no matter how much I want to. And I really, really want to.

After a few minutes I just glared at Hyde, he's still trying to hold the baby and he's definitely very confused because he's staring at me, waiting for me to say something.

"When?" It's all I manage to ask now

"A few months ago, turns out we weren't even legally married in the first place" I don't know if I should punch him again or congratulate him. He shrugs and continues "She already had a husband, so one day he just showed up at the Forman's to pick her up"

"Huh, you must've felt like shit"

"I was actually relieved when she left" He's starting to get used to the baby, because he managed to place her in a more comfortable position in his arms. Jackie would kill to see this.

"So, you basically threw away your entire relationship with Jackie for a scam?" I ask, and I see he's clenching his jaw. He doesn't scare me though, he needs to recognize what an asshole he was.

"Apparently, yeah"

"So, what now? Please don't tell me you're only after Jackie because the stripper is gone, Hyde, or I swear to God, I won't be held responsible for my actions. She does not deserve to be your second choice, if you're lonely then you drive back to Vegas and marry another skank"

"What? Jackie was never my second choice, Donna"

"Well, you sure acted like it" I snarled at him

"Look, I know I was a gigantic asshole to her, and I'm probably the last person she wants to see right now" He takes a deep breath and looks right into my eyes "But I'm not leaving Chicago until she hears everything I have to say" Oh crap, he really is determined

"Do you have any idea of how many nights I've spent awake drying her tears? Tears that you caused. The girl cried herself to sleep for weeks after you came back from Vegas! She spent those last 6 months moping around and trying to pretend that she was fine, but I could hear her sobbing in the middle of the night, Hyde!" I'm glaring at him now, and he looks agonized. I've never seen him like this, not even when his mom left, he seems desperate.

"I would take it all back if I could" He admits "And I know I don't deserve her, but I need her, and I think she needs me too"

"She doesn't need to be treated like shit, Hyde. If you're not changing your behavior then you should leave. Spare her, please" I plead to him

"I'm not the same guy anymore, Donna," he says firmly, and just when I'm about to contradict him, Betsy decides to take off his sunglasses, and I get to look deeply into his eyes.

Jackie always said that his eyes talked a lot more than his mouth, and I never understood what the hell she meant by that, but now I do. I see many different emotions in his eyes, guilt, sadness, regret, and surprisingly, determination. So I take a deep breath, I cannot believe I'm doing this.

"I don't know if she'll be willing to talk to you today, but I'll talk to her, okay? Please don't make me regret this, Hyde"

And then he smiles. A pure, genuine smile. "You won't, thanks Donna"

I place my hands on the kitchen counter and he's heading back to the living room with Betsy in his arms, she's still playing with his shades. Then he turns around.

"For what it's worth, I think you should talk to Forman, the guy is almost pissing his pants" And before I had a chance to explain to him why I shouldn't talk to Eric, he's gone.

I'm not ready to talk to Eric, not today. I'm afraid I'll either burst into tears or murder him. He abandoned me too many times, I can't trust him anymore, can I? Also, I gave up practically everything for him, and he sat on his ass all day until he decided he's going to Africa. My feminist friends would've been proud.

I roll my eyes and try to imagine how my life would be right now if I hadn't stayed in Point Place after Red's heart attack, would Eric and I still had stayed together? Could we have survived the long-distance? Well, he certainly couldn't, since he broke up with me when he was in Africa. Would I be on top of my class like I am here? Would I be happy?

I stopped myself right there. There's no need to dwell on the past, not when the present is actually pretty good. Moving to Chicago with Jackie was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made, it was hard in the beginning, obviously, letting go of Point Place was not as easy as I thought it would be, but if I'd stayed there I would've turned into a bitter woman, frustrated with my life. Also, the journalism course at UC is way better than the one at UW, I was holding myself back because of Eric, and after the wedding fiasco, I promised myself that I would never let that happen again.

I stayed here in the kitchen for a while, alone with my thoughts, and the boys were considerate enough to leave me alone. I lost track of time, and I snap back into reality when I hear Jackie's loud and shrill voice echoing through the walls. So I head back to the living room, preparing myself for whatever is next.


HYDE

The little chat I had with Donna was better than I thought it would be. Even though I feel pretty vulnerable right now. I hate showing emotions, because shit, I hate having emotions. But I do. Hell, I have lots of them, most of which are associated with a tiny brunette with designer boots and a sharp mouth. I grin slightly, and head back to the living room, Betsy still has my shades, and normally I would freak out without them, but I think it's kind of cute, the way she's playing with them, trying to place them in her tiny face. Maybe babies aren't as bad as I thought.

I sit at the Lazy boy, and the three other occupants of the room are staring at me. So I scowl at them.

"What?" I ask harshly

Fez is grinning, and answers me "Nothing, I just never thought I would see you holding a baby one day" he shrugs and directs his attention back to the TV.

"You gave her your shades" Kelso observes, and he chuckled at the sight of Betsy trying to place the sunglasses in her face and failing every time.

"I didn't give it to her, she took it" I retorted.

"Want me to take her?" He asks

"Nah, I'm cool" Betsy changes her position, sitting on my lap "The kid needs to bond a little with her godfather"

"Yeah, she does" Kelso smiles and turns back to the TV.

I expect Forman to make some kind of smartass comment about the sight of seeing me holding a child, but he's not saying anything. He looks completely lost in his thoughts.

"Hey, Forman," I called him, and apparently I've scared him, because he almost fell from the couch. Dumbass.

"Yeah?"

"Don't overthink, otherwise you'll end up saying too much and ruining it" I advise him, and he looks at me curiously

"How do you know what I'm thinking about?" He asks

"You're thinking about the same thing/person since you came back from Africa" I roll my eyes and stroke Betsy's chubby cheeks involuntarily

"Hey, I'm not…" he interrupts himself "Why are you holding a baby?" He smirks, and I can see his mind trying to work on a burn. I would frog him if I wasn't so comfortable here, so I just glared at him instead. He took the message apparently, because he went back to his previous subject, Donna. "I saw you two heading to the kitchen earlier, how pissed is she?"

"We didn't talk about you two, ya moron, I was fishing for some Jackie info"

"She didn't even ask about me?" I could see the pain in his eyes, and I feel kind of bad for him, but in the end, Forman and Donna always find their way back to each other, everyone knows it.

"Sorry man, but for what it's worth, I'm sure she's not over you"

"I really hope so, because if I lose her I don't think I'll make it"

I raise my eyebrows at him. Forman could be such a drama queen sometimes. Just when I was about to burn him, I heard a voice. Her voice. God, how I missed her voice. And then I saw her, really saw her. I caught a glimpse of her this morning and she looked kind of sick, don't get me wrong, even when she's sick she's still gorgeous, I was just worried about her and so I didn't properly look at her, but now… damn, she's beautiful. Her hair is longer than I've ever seen, and she looks absolutely gorgeous. I missed her so much.

"Michael, can I talk to you in private please?" She asked, looking at Kelso, and a wave of jealousy spread through my body, even though I have no real reason to be jealous. She just wanted to talk to Kelso. Not me. And stupid Kelso was so focused on watching Scooby Doo like a fucking child that he didn't even notice her.

"MICHAEL!"

Huh, I feel like I'm back in 1976.

Kelso turned around and spotted the petite brunette "Oh, hi Jackie" he greeted her nonchalantly

"Michael, can I talk to you in private, please ?" She asked again

"Oh, c'mon Jackie, I wanna see if the monster turns out to be an actual monster this time! You can talk to me here"

"Michael, I don't think that…" she started, but I interrupted her.

"Oh, I'm sure we are all very interested in hearing what you have to say to Michael, " I said, and I'm really glad that I have Betsy here in my lap, because otherwise, I'm pretty sure she was going to murder me. Like, actually murder me.

"Okay, fine!" She leaned against the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen "What the hell were you thinking? Bringing those two to our place?"

Ouch.

"Well, apparently they want to make amends to you and Donna, and as a cop, I thought that it's my job to collaborate for world peace!" Jackie looked dumbfounded, but soon she regained her posture, and now she was laughing to herself.

"Yeah, right, like I would actually believe that. And you're not even a cop anymore, Michael. So, what is the real reason they're here? Is this a new year's burn or something?" The disbelief of her part stung. How can she think I came all the way from Point Place to burn her?

"He's not lying doll," I said softly, hoping that the old nickname would rekindle some feelings, and she looked at my eyes for the first time since Sam showed up.

"You know what? I don't really care, you need to leave, now!"

Donna entered the living room, looking confused "What's going on here?" She asked

"I was just telling Hyde and Eric that they are not welcome here" Her eyes were cold. And since when did she call me Hyde? Her use of my last name made me really uncomfortable, it doesn't sound right. I'm Steven to her, I was always Steven. Is she purposely trying to hurt me?

Donna looked at me and winked discreetly, then she turned back to Jackie "C'mon Jackie, they came all the way from Point Place to here, we can't just kick them out, even if they deserve it" The last part of her sentence was directed at Forman, who was looking at her with pleading eyes.

Jackie sighed, accepting her defeat "Fine!"

"Are you done?" Fez asked "Because I am really hungry, and I ran out of candy"

"Hang in there, little guy, we're going out for lunch soon," Kelso said as he patted the weird foreigner's back.

"Actually, I'm kind of hungry too" Donna stated "There's a really good diner a few blocks away, Jackie and I didn't eat any breakfast today. We can go now. But no shenanigans, okay? We are going to eat, and that's it"

I hand Betsy back to Kelso, she still has my shades, but I can take them back later, because right now, all I can think about is how and when I'm going to get her alone to explain myself. Everyone heads to the door, and just when we're about halfway through the stairs, I hear Jackie's voice again.

"Crap, I forgot my purse. I'm going upstairs real quick to pick it up, can you wait for me?"

Donna nods, and Jackie goes up the stairs again. I wait for about 30 seconds before I follow her.

I ran into her in the hallway that separates the apartments from the stairs.

"Jackie" I call her, and she looks at me with angry eyes, then, she pretends that she didn't acknowledge my presence and entered her apartment to pick up her purse. I waited for her in the doorway, and when she finally appeared with her purse, I tried to talk to her again, this time, heading straight to the point.

"Jackie I'm sorry"

She froze, and she didn't answer me, again. She's staring at me for what felt like forever, but I didn't cave. I stared back. My eyes were locked in hers. After a while, she just sighed.

"Really Hyde, you're sorry?"

"Stop calling me Hyde" I plead her

"Everyone calls you Hyde. Even your wife. So why shouldn't I?" Her tone was cold. That wasn't my Jackie, my Jackie is cheerful, positive, and she never called me Hyde. My chest hurts thinking about that, because she's probably like this now because of me. I fucking broke her.

"Because to you, I'm not Hyde, you know that, doll" My voice is soft and tender now, she needs to know I'm serious, I'm not going to hurt her, not again

Her eyes are watery now, like she's trying hard not to cry, and I feel like shit, I hate when she cries.

"First, I don't have a wife" She didn't react to my statement, she just kept staring at me "And to you, I'm Steven, your Steven, Jackie"

"No. You're Hyde. Steven died the minute he went to Vegas and married someone else" Then she left, heading downstairs to meet with everyone.

Shit, that hurts. Every word in that last sentence of hers made me feel worse than I would feel if I was stabbed with a knife. I fucked up bad, I've never seen her bitter like this. Fuck. This is not over.