Chapter eight:
ERIC
I thought I would've got some rest when I came back from Africa, I'm still pretty jet-lagged, and I just wanted to take a nap. I drove all the way back from Chicago, and when I arrived home, longing for my bed, I accidentally told my mother that we are leaving this weekend as well. I make pretty dumb decisions when I'm sleep-deprived. No, actually, I make pretty dumb decisions all the time, breaking up with Donna is a great example of that.
Damn, I should've given my mother a bottle of wine before breaking the news.
I knew she would make a big deal out of this, and I was at least expecting Hyde's help, but no, the bastard left me alone to console my crazy mother, and Red didn't help at all. It took me a while to get my mother to calm down, she actually said she would never cook again if I didn't solve things with Donna, because she can't have her baby traveling to Chicago for nothing.
But my father, bless him, said I better get Donna back, so I can move to Chicago and leave the house, and my mother flipped out again. After two yellow pills and a promise that I would give her at least two grandchildren someday, she finally calmed down and decided to take a nap. And just when I was about to head upstairs and take my own nap, my father told me to shovel the driveway. Man, I swear to God that I almost cried.
So currently I'm laying down on my bed, it took me almost two hours to shovel the driveway, and now I'm exhausted, but I can't take a nap because my mind is not stopping.
I'm starting to get a little optimistic about my whole situation with Donna. We haven't talked yet, but I think we'll be able to sort things out with time. I'm pretty sure we are going to talk on Saturday, and I really don't want to talk about our relationship in front of Jackie and Hyde, so I'll see if I can convince him to take her out. And I need to pray that she agrees, because you never know with Jackie.
The smile Donna gave to me yesterday is engraved in my mind, I can't seem to wipe the grin on my face every time I think about it. I really missed her smile, while I was in Africa, I used to picture her smile whenever things got tough, it always made things slightly better.
Africa was pretty rough, it was definitely a wake-up call. I always complained about my life and my family, but after everything I saw over there, I realized how lucky I am. The kids in the village were pretty awesome though, their lives were hard, they had a bunch of problems that no kid should ever have, but they were pretty happy most of the time. They tried to teach me how to play soccer and they laughed at me every time I missed a goal. There was this one time I actually stepped on the ball and I can swear I almost broke my ass that day, but the way those kids were laughing, it was awesome, it wasn't a mocking laughter, they were actually having fun with me, they were enjoying my presence there. I felt special, I felt like I was needed. Sometimes I wonder why I never thought about teaching before, but now I can't imagine myself doing some other thing.
I think about Saturday, and about Donna. I really hope we sort things out, because I want to tell her everything about Africa, and how that experience changed my life, I want to share every moment with her, I want to take her to the village someday, introduce her to the kids, they'll be thrilled to finally know the famous Donna, I talked about her all the time. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.
I close my eyes, and her smile is the last thing I see before I fall asleep.
HYDE
Man, this week flew by. I spent almost all week at Grooves, people are really interested in music these days, because the store was filled with customers all week. I am so glad I hired some help, because honestly, I would not be able to deal with everything by myself.
Forman stopped by this week, and he actually helped me, I even gave him some Styx albums to reward him. He almost cried, I almost punched him. Good times.
I talked to Jackie every day on the phone this week, she told me everything about her job, she sounded like she really liked it, and she even told me about her mother when I asked. I thought she would brush me off or something. Apparently, Pam left a month after she moved back in with her, but she was sending money this time, or at least she was, she hadn't been back in Point Place since she moved to Chicago, so she hasn't really checked. She also told me that the last time she talked to her, she was in Brazil. Honestly, Jackie's mom may be hot, but every time Jackie talks about her with me, I dislike her more and more. And what bothered me the most was that Pam left when Jackie and I were still together, and I didn't even notice. Every day I'm starting to understand better why Jackie was pushing so much for a commitment and why she thought I never loved her. I can't beat myself enough for it, I was a dick.
We tried to talk about our relationship, but she said that she feels more comfortable talking about it in person, at least for now. I get it. She just doesn't want to solve our shit over the phone. I also asked her out. Forman practically begged me to leave the apartment with Jackie on Saturday, so he can have some privacy to talk with Donna. Jackie agreed, and I was already planning something in my mind.
Now the day has finally arrived, and I was just waiting for Forman so I can drive us to Chicago. This time, I'm taking the Camino. I'm leaning into my car and just when I was about to lose my patience and take off without him, Forman appears through the sliding door, a duffel bag across his shoulders and holding a large box in his hands.
"What the hell is that?" I ask
"My mother is making me take a box full of baked goods for the girls" he explained, then he frowned "But I swear this box is heavier than Jackie, I don't know how my mother expects them to eat this whole thing, she's crazy"
"Man, if you think she's crazy now…" I chuckle "You haven't seen her when you were in Africa, I actually felt bad for Red"
"Yet another reason I'm thankful I was out of the continent in those last 6 months" he places the box and his bag on the backseat, I start the car
"Wait, I thought you regretted going to Africa?" I ask
"Oh, no" he responds "I regret the stupid decisions I made while I was in Africa, and I regret not asking Donna to go with me, but Africa was awesome, man"
While I drove us to Chicago, Forman proceeded to tell me a lot of stories about his time in Africa, he sounded really proud of the things he accomplished there, and he seemed really passionate about teaching those kids. I've never seen him passionate about anything other than Donna and Star Wars. It was nice, seeing that he finally found something he likes, and the stories about Africa were surprisingly entertaining.
We arrived at Kelso's around 3PM, the guy was pretty happy to see us again, he said we can stay at his place whenever we're in Chicago. And if everything works out the way I hope it will, we'll be here almost every weekend.
We hang with Kelso for a while, until it's time to go meet the girls. Jackie agreed to go out with me today and to say I'm nervous would be an understatement. I thought about taking her to one of these fancy restaurants she claims she loves, but I'm pretty sure she's going to love where I'm taking her, in fact, I know she'll love it, because I hate it. But hey, I need to be the one making sacrifices for a change, and I'll do anything to make her happy.
We drive to their place and Forman rang their doorbell, Jackie is the one who answers. She gives us a warm smile and damn, she looks gorgeous. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, she's all bundled up in her winter clothes and she was wearing those high heels boots that I love so much.
The fact that this beautiful woman is actually giving me a second chance still amazes me every time.
DONNA
I'm in the kitchen when I hear the doorbell, and Jackie goes to answer it. I'm actually pretty nervous, I know Eric and I are going to have our talk today. When Jackie told me she was going out with Hyde, she asked me if I wanted her to cancel it, because if she went out with Hyde today, I was actually going to be alone with Eric. I told her not to worry, she should go out with Hyde and try to sort things out, and I also told her Eric and I need to talk, I dreaded this conversation long enough.
I leave the kitchen and I see Eric standing awkwardly near the door, holding a big box while Jackie and Hyde talk. Jackie went in my direction and pulled me into a corner.
"Hey, you sure you're going to be okay?" she asks me, in a low voice
"Don't worry midget" I smile "We need to solve our shit, I'll be fine"
She looked at me with concern, but she doesn't say anything else
"Hyde is waiting for you," I say "Go, you'll be fine too"
"Donna…" she looks apprehensively at me "Do you really think I should do this?"
"Jackie, I really believe he's changed, seriously" she was about to say something else but I interrupted her "I'm not saying you should get back together with him, at least not now, but I do believe that you should give him a chance. You told me he was willing to wait for you, so just take your time, don't rush into anything" I advise her, and she nods
"The same goes for you, I guess I should go now" she smiled and hugged me "Good luck"
She glares at Eric before Hyde takes her hand, he intertwines their fingers and they both leave. It's just me, Eric, and his box now, the silence it's highly disturbing.
I have so many things I want to ask, so many things I want to say, but right now I can't seem to remember any of them. We just kept staring at each other for a while, until he finally broke the silence.
"So, where do I put the box?" He points at the box he's holding and I repress a chuckle
"What the hell is in that box?" I ask curiously
"Well, my mom thinks you and Jackie are probably dying of starvation because neither of you can cook, so she decided to send some baked goods for you two"
"That's… a lot" I observe the box, it is in fact pretty big
"Yeah, I tried to say that, but you know my mother…"
That box looks heavy, and Eric didn't complain so far, in fact, now that I can truly see him, he looks stronger, he's also tanned. Damn Africa.
"You can put the box on the kitchen table" I point at the kitchen door and he enters, leaving a few seconds later with empty hands, he looks nervous
"Well, can we sit, or something?" He asks apprehensively
"Eric, it's my apartment, I should be the one asking you that"
"Yeah but you weren't saying anything and I was starting to freak out a little" he sits and gestures for me to sit next to him, I sit at the Lazy Boy instead and he sighs
"I just think that we should keep our distance while we talk, just for now" I explain while fidgeting with my fingers
"It's okay," he says "Look, Donna, I don't know how to start this conversation with something other than I'm sorry"
"Keep going" I nod, encouraging him
"I know I was selfish, and I know I was an asshole, you were always too good for me. I took you for granted and I'm so, so sorry about that"
"Why?" I ask hesitantly "Why did you leave without even talking to me about it?"
"I… I don't know" he replied "I should've talked to you, really, I should've, I was just so excited…"
"That you forgot about me?" I complete his sentence, my eyes are already starting to tear up and I hate it
"Kind of" he admits, and I take a deep breath, at least he's being honest "Look, I was stupid and selfish, I should've talked to you about it, asked for your opinion, hell, I wanted you to go with me"
"Then why didn't you ask me?"
"Because I'm a dumbass" he sighed "While I was in Africa all I could think about was you, I told the kids about you, showed them your picture and everything"
"If you missed me so much then why the hell did you break up with me?" I ask, genuinely confused, it doesn't make any sense
"Because I was doing all these amazing things and… and you were stuck in Point Place, waiting for me, I felt like I was holding you back"
I lean my head into my hands, and I tell him something I've been meaning to tell him for a while "You were"
"I know" he answers me sadly "I was upset, you know? When I arrived from Africa, I actually thought you were still waiting for me somehow" he let out a dry laugh "You weren't, and I was so disappointed"
I was about to yell at him, because honestly? He broke up with me, he just admitted he was holding me back, he has no right to be upset that I finally left and decided to do something with my life "Don't yell at me yet" he says "After a while… I realized I was actually really proud of you, still am. I was the asshole in our relationship, you always talked about getting the hell out of Point Place and making a life for yourself, I was holding you back, I was selfish and I'm really sorry about that. You did the right thing by leaving"
"I know" I murmured
"I honestly wasn't thinking straight when I wrote you that letter," he says "I regretted it the minute I sent it, but I assume it was the letter that made you leave Point Place, wasn't it?" He asks
"Yeah, it was" I answered him honestly "I was just… I was so pissed when I've read that letter, you barely said anything, you just broke up with me, you didn't even give me a reason" I rant "I gave up so much for you, Eric"
"I'm glad you left Point Place" he admits "Seriously, you were always too good to live in a small city like that, I always knew that"
I stay quiet, I don't really know how I'm supposed to answer that.
"And Donna… those apologies… they're not only because of Africa and the letter, you know?" He exhales and looked at my eyes "I'm sorry for everything, seriously"
I look directly at his eyes for the first time today, and I feel his sincerity, but we still have a lot to talk about.
"Eric… I think we should talk about everything" I say "We broke up and got back together so many times, but we never really talked about what made us break up in the first place, you know? We just ignored it, and let's face it, that just blew up in our faces"
"I've been thinking the same thing" he confesses
"So, where do we start?"
"How about the promise ring?" He says apprehensively "It's the reason why we broke up the first time, and I never really understood why you didn't take the promise ring, because you accepted the engagement ring"
"I don't know if you will understand this, but at that time I was terrified. I didn't accept the promise ring because I was scared, my parent's marriage was falling apart right in front of me and when you gave me that ring all I could think about was how huge that was" I explained "Remember that Ted Nugent concert?" I ask, and he nods "I was so excited that day, about my future and my career, then we got into that huge fight, and all that excitement was gone, a few days later you showed up with that promise ring and I remember thinking about how my parents tried to get 'remarried' and how that just made things worse"
"I was so scared, and you didn't understand me back then. Your parents are perfect Eric, they have a perfect marriage. And my parents were a mess, they fought all the time, I didn't realize back then, but that really fucked me up. So when you gave me that promise ring all I could think about was our fight, and my parents, and how I felt so bad after our fight that my excitement about Ted Nugent was gone"
I resumed "So, I didn't take that promise ring because I was afraid that you had unrealistic expectations about our future, as I said, your parents are basically soulmates, and my parents couldn't even stay in the same room together, I always wanted a career and I was afraid that you wanted me to be a housewife, and we were also fighting a lot, so I didn't want to make a promise to you because back then I wasn't even sure if we were going to make it" I confessed "Don't get me wrong Eric, I loved you more than anything in the world, but I also thought that my parents loved each other and look how they ended up"
I can see that he's a little hurt by what I just said, but I can also see that he understands, or at least he's trying to "So why did you accept my proposal later?" He asked
"Because at that time I was more mature, I knew what was like to be without you and I didn't want to go through that again" I answered honestly
"But we weren't ready to get married" he completes
"No, we weren't" I sigh "And we should have talked about the whole promise ring issue before we got back together"
"I feel terrible," he says and I look confused. "The first time we broke up mostly because you didn't want to give up your future, then we got back together and you gave up so much… that's why I didn't show up at the wedding, you have no idea how much that trailer freaked me out"
"You should have talked to me, Eric. You have no idea how humiliating it was for me to call off the wedding at the last minute" My voice breaks for a second "I freaked out too, and I also think we shouldn't have gotten married, but it should've been a mutual decision"
"I know, and I'm so, so sorry about that" he takes my hand and tries to break the mood "You know… when I left your room that day, I went to the basement, and I was there by myself, then Jackie saw me, she was at Hyde's room doing God knows what" he grimaced "She kicked me in the shins and said that if I ever pull another crap like that she would break me like a twig"
I laugh, I think Jackie mentioned that to me once.
"Well, you deserved that kick"
"Oh, I know I did, apparently so did Hyde, because after that he mumbled something about her being badass and started to make out with her, I had to limp my way out of the basement" he cringed and I had to repress my laughter "By the way, are her boots made out of steel? I swear that was almost as bad as a kick in the nuts"
"It's her gift" I laugh "How do you manage to make me laugh even in the most inappropriate times?"
"It's my gift" he smirks
I want to kiss him. I really, really want to kiss him. I was leaning towards him when I remembered that we still had a lot to talk about. I take a deep breath and look at his eyes again "Eric, we still have a lot to talk about"
"I know"
I look at him and I remember about Randy, and suddenly I'm consumed with guilt, even if technically I did nothing wrong. But if we want to make this work this time, I need to tell him.
"Eric…" I start, and I hesitate for a moment, this is going to be harder than I thought, I decided to rip off the bandaid "A few months after you broke up with me… I slept with someone else"
I reluctantly look at him, and he looks crestfallen, fuck. I keep trying to remind myself that I was single, that I did nothing wrong, but why do I feel this pang across my chest?
He doesn't say anything for a while, and I'm starting to get anxious, I'm not saying anything until he does. After a few minutes, he finally broke the silence
"Who?" He asks without looking me in the eyes
"A guy from college, we kind of dated for a while, his name was Randy"
"Is it over?" He looks at me and I can see the pain in his eyes
"Yes" I answer honestly
"I know I shouldn't feel like this because I broke up with you, but fuck… that, that really hurts" his voice is low and he directs his gaze to the floor
"I'm sorry"
"You have nothing to be sorry for" he was staring at the floor, but I can hear the sincerity in his voice, I can also see that he's hurt, and I don't know if there's anything I can do about it.
"Donna…" he starts and I look expectantly at him "I want to make this work, I really do, but… I need to ask you something"
I sigh and prepare myself for whatever he's going to say "Go ahead"
"The first time we broke up… You didn't saw me in your future, and that fucking crushed me" He confesses and looks at me again, his green eyes bore into mine "I need to know that this time, you want me in your future, I want you to be successful, I want you to have an amazing career, and I want to be by your side during all your conquests, I don't want to hold you back anymore, I just want to be with you"
I take a deep breath, this is the first time we ever talked about what happened between us, it hurts, but it's also… healing?
"Eric… I don't need you in my life" I deadpan, and he looks completely crushed by my statement "But I want you in my life, I really, really do, I want to make this work"
He manages to give me a small smile and I smile back "So, where does that leave us?" He asks, sitting on the edge of the couch so he can be closer to me
"I don't know yet, but I want to be with you, Eric" I answer him honestly "But I'm also not leaving Chicago, I'm not giving up on my life for you anymore"
"You shouldn't" he replies "And I don't want you to, we can make this work if we want to, Donna"
"How exactly are we going to do that?"
"We will figure it out. I can apply to the University of Chicago, apply for a scholarship or something… And if it doesn't work, I have the Cruiser, I can come and visit you, Madison to Chicago is nothing compared to Point Place to Africa, I can assure you that… I won't give up on you that easily"
"Good" I smile and cup his face, eager to feel his lips on mine, because damn, it's been too long.
A/N: I recognize I'm not very good at writing Eric/Donna stuff, I think they are really cute, but I also think they're kind of boring sometimes, no wonder why they are called "Mom and Dad".
This story is mainly focused on Jackie and Hyde, mostly because I think the background stories of these characters are fascinating and I hate that the writers didn't explored them the way they should've, I also think they are the most authentic, genuine and relatable couple in the show, they are also pretty hot together (seriously, they had so much chemistry, it was surreal).
The next chapter will be completely Jackie and Hyde related, and I hope everyone likes it.
Anyways, even though I'm not very good at writing Eric/Donna, they are not going to be forgotten, but I plan on focusing a lot more on Jackie/Hyde now, I hope all the Eric/Donna shippers forgive me.
Reviews are very appreciated, they make my day, just so you know...
