Disclaimer: I do not own That 70s Show


Chapter four:

JACKIE

How dare he? How dare he show up at my apartment months after he ripped my heart out of my chest and broke it into a million pieces? He said he didn't have a wife anymore, and even though I'm curious as hell to know why, I'm not asking him, I'm not giving him that satisfaction, he doesn't deserve it.

I shouldn't feel affected by his words, I shouldn't have felt bad for him as I did when I saw the sad look in his eyes after I called him Hyde. I shouldn't be affected by the sight of him holding a baby, and I definitely shouldn't keep thinking of how our babies would look like.

We're over. He chose someone else, he dumped me, humiliated me, he never trusted me, and he never loved me, not like I loved him. Like I love him.

I shouldn't love him anymore. Loving him only causes me pain. I'm so, so stupid. As I sat down at the diner with everyone, Betsy in my lap, he kept staring at me with that sad puppy eyes. And I felt bad for him, again.

"So…" Michael started, trying to break the uncomfortable silence "Betsy said her first words a few weeks ago, you would never believe what she said" he grinned at the group.

"Was it mommy or dada?" Eric asked and smiled proudly "My first word was mommy"

Indeed, Eric is the definition of a Momma boy, I'll never understand what Donna sees in him, seriously. Everyone is staring at him, frowning. Except Donna, I can see that she was trying to hold back a smile. She really loves that scrawny little nerd.

"Betsy's first words were 'burn'!" Michael practically yelled, like a good proud father, we were all laughing, and Michael continued "She said it right after I've stepped at one of her toys and fell to the ground, I thought Brooke was going to kill me, but c'mon, Betsy is a Kelso, of course her first words would be burn!"

I was still holding Besty, and she was looking at us all with that big brown eyes of hers, curious at what we were laughing about.

"Has she said anything other than that?" I ask curiously

"Oh, she had. She's smart, she already says 'daddy', 'mommy' and 'no'. Oh, and when she wants someone to hold her she says 'up'. She's a smart child" he grinned

"She definitely has Brooke's brain then" Ste… no, Hyde said. He's occasionally staring at me, and I'm starting to get uncomfortable. I looked at the baby in my arms and smiled, Sundays are my favorite day of the week, because I get to spend the whole day with my goddaughter, and she is the cutest thing. It's impressive how much you can love a tiny human who's not even your child. My thoughts are interrupted by an outside voice.

"Are you ready to order yet?" The waitress asks

"Yes" I hear Fez for the first time today "I would like a burger, fries, and a large soda please"

"Make four of those," Kelso said, looking at Eric and Hyde, who nodded in approval.

"I'll have some pancakes," Donna said, and looked at me "Jackie?"

I grimaced, just the thought of eating something made me sick. So I just looked at Donna, who was staring at me, I'm pretty sure she's going to force me to eat something.

"She" Donna pointed at me and I leaned my head into my hands "Will have some eggs, toast, and some orange juice. Thanks"

I raise my head and stare at Donna, I know I'm supposed to eat or whatever but right now I just glare at her.

"Don't look at me like that, midget" she said "Just remember that feeling the next time you decide to drink another glass of champagne"

I just sigh in defeat. Stupid lumberjack.

"Where did you two spend New Year's eve last night?" Michael asked

"We went to a party at… what's his name, again?" Donna asked me

"Rick" I answer her

"We went to a party at Rick's place" she completed

"Who the hell is Rick?" I hear St… No, Hyde asking, and I could feel him staring at me. Again. Asshole.

"My coworker" I answer nonchalantly, playing with Betsy's hair.

"Just your co-worker?" He asks again, not in an accusing tone, his tone was sad

"Dude, don't poke the bear!" I hear Eric whispering quite loudly to Hyde. Everyone went silent, they were just waiting for my response.

"Not that is any of your business, but, yes, he's just my colleague at work" I smile wryly at him

"Plus, he's like 50 years old and he has a wife" Donna unnecessarily completed, and smiled discreetly at Hyde, trying to calm his nerves. Seriously, is she on his side now? What the hell? She probably noticed that I wasn't very pleased with her behavior, because she quickly tried to change the subject "So, how's life in Point Place?"

"Well…" Eric started, but he was quickly interrupted by his former girlfriend

"I don't think you're qualified to answer my question, since you spent the last 6 months in Africa, dumping girlfriends and running from the giant bugs"

"BURN!" Michael yelled, followed by little Betsy, who was still on my lap.

"Burn!" Betsy imitated her father, clapping gleefully

I laughed at the little human words, yeah, that's Michael Kelso's daughter, no doubt in that.

While everyone was still laughing, I looked at Eric, and I felt bad for him. I mean, yeah, he was a selfish asshole, but he's trying, right? At least he didn't marry a stripper. I'm going to question him on his intentions later, because if he tries to make things better with Donna without some orientation first, the poor kid might as well dig his own grave.

"That's right Betsy Boo, that's a really nice burn on your uncle Eric" Michael takes Betsy off my lap and kisses her chubby little cheeks while she laughs. God, she is adorable. I noticed she left something in my lap and I grabbed it. Those are Steven's sunglasses.

"I believe those are mine" he smirks.

I roll my eyes at him and hand him his precious 'shades', my fingers touch his hand very briefly in the process, and I could feel the stupid butterflies in my stomach already. I quickly remove my hand and place it in my lap again. Why was Betsy holding his stupid sunglasses anyways? And then he answered me, like he was reading my freaking mind.

"I was playing with her earlier and she took them, she was trying to look cool like her godfather" he smiled smugly at me, and I glared at him

"So, how's life in Point Place?" I quickly bring back Donna's unanswered question, trying to avoid Steven's eyes.

"Boring" Fez answered "You, Donna, and Kelso were here and Eric was in Africa, so it was basically just me and Hyde" he pouted

"Don't forget about Hyde's stripper wife" Michael said and I grimaced at his words. His wife. Wife. Suddenly my nausea is back and it's taking everything I have not to run into the closest bathroom and puke. Kelso quickly tried to fix his mistake "Who's totally not in the picture anymore, by the way" he said as he looked at me. I take a deep breath, and try to control myself, because if I don't I'm either bursting into tears or killing someone, and I don't want to do either of those today.

Everyone is staring at me now, and that is making me really uncomfortable. Are they waiting for me to say something? Do they really want me to cause a scene in public? I was about to say something really unpleasant when the waitress returned with our food. Thank God.


ERIC

Oh my God, every time I think that Kelso couldn't possibly get more stupid, he proves me wrong. Jackie looks like she's about to throw up, Fez looks really uncomfortable, Donna is murdering Kelso with her eyes right now, and Hyde…man, I don't even know how to describe Hyde's expression right now. The first thing that comes to my mind when I look at him now is rage, Hyde is pissed, really pissed, in fact, I believe that if Kelso wasn't holding his child right now, Hyde would be punching the shit out of him. He also looks guilty, hell, he is feeling guilty, he pretty much admitted that marrying the stripper was the worst mistake of his life. And finally, sadness, the way he's looking at Jackie now… wow. The poor orphan boy must really love the spoiled princess, because he's looking pretty damn miserable right now. And Jackie is just staring at the table in silence. We are all just looking at her now, waiting for either an incredible burn or a buttload of tears. Just when she was about to say something, the waitress returned with our food. I breathe relieved, her timing couldn't have been better. I notice that Hyde still looks very tense, so I lightly nudge his shoulder and whisper

"You alright, man?"

"I'm fine Forman, let's just eat" his voice was low and stern, and I knew I shouldn't touch the subject again, not now, at least.

I see Donna whispering something in Jackie's ear and squeezing her hand in support. Jackie just nodded and managed to quirk her lips upwards in a small smile before she started to eat.

I started to eat my food. I missed the good old American junk food, the burgers here may not be as good as the ones at The Hub, but they sure are better than the goo I was eating in Africa. A few minutes passed and we were all almost finished, except for Jackie, she managed to eat the eggs and drink some of her juice, but she didn't touch the toast. I glanced briefly in her direction, she looked at me and I silently offered her my fries. She smiled and shook her head, she's probably full, so I just shrug and keep eating.

After a while, we had all finished our food, so Hyde asked for the check. Kelso said that we are going to take a walk at the park nearby with Betsy, and we all agreed. I haven't talked to Donna yet, and I'm not going home until I do.

Hyde paid for the whole check, and as I was about to protest, he glared at me and I stayed quiet. He's basically my brother, but he can be very violent sometimes, and after the new Kelso incident, he's probably just waiting for an excuse to hit someone. Besides, out of all of us, ironically, he's the one who has more money, and it wasn't even stolen! According to my mother, after I went to Africa and the girls left, Hyde spent most of his time at Grooves, working, actually working, the store is a huge hit in Point Place now, he even had to hire a couple of employees to help him.

We were all halfway through the park when I tried to talk to Donna for the first time, and after that huge burn at the diner, I'm actually afraid of what she's going to do to me now, as I approached her, she just looked at me and said "Not now Eric, okay? Later" Then she quickened her pace to walk beside Kelso, Fez, and Hyde. So now Jackie was walking next to me.

"Devil" I greeted her with a small smile

"Geek" she smiled back

"So…" I started "How's life?" I asked and she laughed, it's the first time I see her genuinely laughing since we arrived.

"Cut the crap Eric" she read right into my bullshit but her tone was caring "You wanna talk about Donna, right?"

"Yeah, I was going to stall a little but… yeah"

"Lucky for you, I'm actually willing to hear you out" I looked at her strangely, and she just rolled her eyes at me

"Seriously, you're actually willing to hear me whining about Donna?"

"God, I already said I am, please don't make me take it back"

"Okay, okay" I start, I'm still a little reluctant, because that's Jackie and she's evil, but she's also Donna's best friend and she's probably the best person to talk to right now, so I cut right to the point "What the hell do I say to Donna?"

"What do you want to say to her?"

"I wanna tell her I'm sorry" I stated

"And what are you sorry for?"

"Again, seriously?" She just stares at me and I shrug "I'm sorry for running away to Africa without even asking for her opinion first and I'm sorry I broke up with her in a letter"

Jackie just stares at me incredulously, and I wonder if I said something stupid "That's all?"

"Huh… yes?"

"Thank God you haven't talked to Donna yet, otherwise you would be dead in a ditch somewhere right now"

Okay, now I'm confused, am I forgetting something?

"Jackie, you need to be more clear with me, in case you've forgotten, I am a dumbass" I try to make her my famous puppy pleading eyes, and she just stares at me, disgusted

"At least you recognize it" she stated, and just when I was about to retort her, she continued "Look, Eric, believe me, that's not all that you're sorry for, okay?"

"Specify it, Vader!"

"Eric, you ditched her at the altar a day before your wedding without giving her an explanation"

"But… we talked about that! We agreed that we were not ready for marriage yet!"

" You talked about it with her after you ditched her, you made the decision alone. And after going through this humiliation, because, believe me Eric, canceling a wedding at the last minute is VERY humiliating, she still took you back, and what did you do after that?" I was about to answer, then she raised a finger, making it clear that she wasn't finished yet " You decided to take a year off. You decided to 'be together without labels', it was all you! She never had a say in any of this, she just sucked it up because she loved you!"

I take a deep breath. Jackie's right. I'm an idiot. "Jackie… just tell me how to fix this" I'm now practically begging her, and she takes a deep breath and looks at me sympathetically.

"Eric, she postponed college for you when Red had his heart attack, she stayed with you after everything I mentioned. When she received your letter she was pissed at you, but mostly she was pissed at herself. Donna held herself back for you, she made herself smaller to fit your necessities. When we moved here, she finally pursued her dreams, she's doing really well at college, and she left Point Place, which was something she always wanted to do" then she looked sadly at the four people ahead of us, more specifically, a curly-haired rebel who was currently shoving Fez at the snow, then she looked at me again "She still loves you, but she's not making herself smaller again. I still think you have a chance, just… don't screw it up, okay? Apologize for being selfish, and make it up to her, be the one making the sacrifices for a change" she finished

I just looked at the girl by my side and I smiled, she gave me some pretty helpful advice, and now I'm actually thankful that Donna didn't want to talk to me before, because if I had said what was in my head earlier I would end up ruining everything. Jackie just gave me a whole new perspective. I glanced at the group ahead of us and none of them were paying attention to us, so I pulled Jackie in for a quick hug. "Thank you, Jackie" we pulled apart and she had a few tears in her eyes, and I'm pretty sure they have nothing to do with me.

"You okay?" I ask as we started to walk again

"I'm fine" she answered bashfully

"Hyde wants you back" I watched her reaction to my words, but apparently she wasn't as surprised as I thought she would be.

"Yeah, I figured" she mumbled and some tears rolled down her cheeks "Is it only because the stripper is gone?" She asked in a low voice, she sounded wounded and vulnerable, and for a few seconds, I wanted to kick Hyde's ass.

"No… wait, how do you know she's gone?" I ask

"He managed to talk to me for a few seconds before we went to the diner, he mentioned that she's not around anymore, and then there was Michael's completely unnecessary comment at the diner..."

"Jackie, he still loves you, he never even cared about Sam," I told her, but she didn't even flinch

"He still chose her over me," She said dejectedly, looking up to try and avoid more tears "I'm not even sure if he ever loved me in the first place Eric, and even if he did, he ran away to Las Vegas after a misunderstanding and married another woman just to hurt me, how can I forgive him for that?" The tears were going down her cheeks, and damn, she's really hurt. I guess I was right earlier, about him never telling her he loves her. Which is probably the most stupid thing ever, because he does. He clearly loves her, and honestly, I think deep down he always did.

"I don't know, the only thing I know is that you two are much happier together than apart, and I know he misses you a lot. Maybe you should talk to him"

"I'm not sure I can" she mumbled, and I put my arm around her shoulders in support, I gave her a little squeeze in encouragement

"You're stronger than people give you credit for, Jackie. We are going to be in Chicago for a few more days, I really think you should talk to him"

"I'll think about it, okay?" She told me, and I nodded in agreement, I looked at the gang ahead of us and I noticed that Hyde was looking at me very confused, I quickly removed my arm out of Jackie's shoulders and smiled at him.


A/N: Let me know if you are liking this story by leaving reviews (seriously, they make my day), and also, sorry if there's any english mistakes, english is my second language.
Thank you for reading :)