A/N hello, I fear this chapter will get away from me, I have a clear intent but on occasion I've ended up far from where I meant to. But hey – let's all hope for the best!
How had he gotten here?!
How had he ended up at the goddamn prom!
Truth be told, he knew exactly how he'd gotten to the overcrowded gym full of streamers and hormones, but at the same time he couldn't fathom what string of events could have gotten him into not only this god forsaken oven of a gym! But the freakin lavender tux too!
'Tense' was an understatement for how Hyde was feeling at that particular juncture in his young life. His rented tux itched like hell and he felt like a damn fool in it to boot, but that really wasn't what was making him so tense.
The entire atmosphere around him was causing the sick feeling taking him over, there was one tiny bright spot in his mood and that was the tiny girl he was dancing with. The blinding smile on her face was making that very bright spot in his very dark mood, they were dancing with thoughtless ease to the music blasting around them but, Hyde was so pissed off he could barely take in what was happening.
He was too involved in trying to back track to where it had all started? And he just about had it nailed down, no wait, he knew for sure and he badly wished he could dole out some justice. Unfortunately, the bright little spot smiling up at him, looking incredible in her frilly dress, would not be impressed should he lose it and get medieval on those that so richly deserved it.
The main problem he was having, was who to start with?
A case could be made for either Kelso or Donna being the front runner for his anger to find an outlet, but if he'd had to choose that very moment he'd probably go with Donna.
If he had to choose that very moment the exact moment that he'd begun to feel the way he was feeling he'd have to pick a few weeks before, when Red was helping Jackie train for track try outs.
-the Forman's driveway, a few weeks before prom –
Hyde was leaning against the vista cruiser watching Red Forman with a whistle around his neck and a stop watch in his hand, talk to a red faced panting Jackie. She was leaning over, her hands on her knees and her pony tail falling across her face, the dark strands sticking to the sweat on her forehead.
He couldn't take his eyes off her.
As far as Hyde could tell she was plenty fast enough to get on the point place high track and field team, and yet, Red was speaking animatedly towards her as if both admonishing and encouraging her at the same time?
"speed isn't always enough kid, you need focus, a lot of people can make good time sprinting when they want to, what wins a race is whether you can keep your eye on the finish line" he explained with a frown.
Jackie had looked up at him with a defiant glint in her eyes
"are you suggesting that it's the competition that will throw me off?" she asked sounding deeply offended at the mere thought.
"no, you're in it to compete, not have a good time, what I'm saying is you're out of practice in that particular part of it and I don't want us to look back and wish there was something we'd done that we didn't" he said adamantly
"you wanna race me Mr. Forman?" Jackie asked with a grin
"not in this life kid" he laughed slightly before turning to Hyde "go tell Eric I need him out here" he said firmly
"Eric? I'm already here, I can do it" Hyde said with a shrug, he didn't like running too much but he'd lend a hand to help his chick.
"I don't trust you to try and win, not against Jackie at any rate, Eric won't have that problem" Red explained and Hyde couldn't fault his logic, but at the same time he didn't think there was much of a chance of him overtaking Jackie in a race whether he gave it his all or not – that girl was damn fast!
He went and fetched Eric like red asked and watched with a smirk while Red told him why he was there, there was an effort on Eric's part to avoid what he was being asked to do, but Hyde smirk only widened when Eric left and returned wearing his gym clothes.
In a surprising turn, Jackie didn't make Eric eat her dust like Hyde and Red had expected – he didn't win by any measure, but he did a hell of a lot better than they'd expected.
Hyde went over and joined them where they were chugging water like they'd just wandered out of the dessert,
"not bad Forman, you should try out for track team too" Hyde told him with a smirk
"and why would I do that Hyde?" Eric asked, still trying to catch his breath.
"cus Red and I could make a bet about it" Hyde shrugged
"wow, how could I possibly pass up giving you an opportunity to laugh at me?" Eric asked sarcastically
"you should Eric" Jackie chimed in totally serious "I should have been able to beat you without breaking a sweat, but you held up pretty well and if I were you I'd take that a compliment, why not try out for the team?" she asked as if it were an easy choice
"because I don't try out for school teams, especially athletic teams" Eric explained slowly, as if she were a small child who had never heard a concept she was hearing before.
"why not?" Jackie asked curiously
"because…." Eric paused, his face going blank. He couldn't actually think of a reason why he wouldn't?
"if you like to run – run, if you think you can win – try to win, if you don't join teams – ask yourself why? If the answers good enough fine, but if it's because you don't want to catch crap from your friends? That just makes you a wuss" Jackie told him with her patented brand of bluntness.
"uh…ok…I'll think about it" Eric told her looking confused while he walked into the house again.
Hyde hadn't been surprised when he saw a familiar skinny figure walk up to the booth to sign up for try outs, but he had to laugh when it occurred to him who would be surprised to see Eric at try outs.
But that surprise would be nothing compared to the shock Red would get when his son got home and informed him that not only had he tried out – but he'd made the team, along with Jackie. Things were about to get interesting, Hyde had thought to himself, but it turned out it didn't get 'interesting' so much as infuriating.
As far as he could tell, the reason Eric never tried out for things like teams or clubs was because Donna didn't like it, and when he watched her tease and belittle his best friend for joining a 'mindless group' he felt his feelings for her drop a little bit more, 30% became 25% with the first jibe at his friend.
That was the start of the tense angry feeling in his chest, but it hadn't been the end, because then Kelso had thrown his hat into the ring too.
But it was Donna's behavior that he was still brooding about even while he danced with Jackie, he felt a little guilty that she wasn't taking up his full attention, but took solace that he wasn't feeling very nice things towards Donna at the moment so he wasn't exactly betraying his chick.
But he knew the time where he would have a word with his two 'friends' was coming, and soon.
Because not only was Donna picking on Eric a hell of a lot more than anyone would ever think was ok, but she'd also been downright venomous to Jackie and he was starting to realize why. Then there was Kelso.
To say violence was on his wish list towards his friend, was an understatement of massive proportions.
Their resident half-wit, had started out by taunting Jackie about taking pam Macey to prom – the very girl he'd cheated with that caused their break up. Now, Hyde would have been pissed by Kelso doing this even if he wasn't going out with Jackie, acting like that, having no regard for Jackie's feelings? He would have been pissed either way.
But she was his girlfriend, so his reaction was considerably worse than it would have been six months before. He was ready to beat his point into Kelso's face, and the more Kelso said the closer Hyde came to making that dream a reality.
Because first he had tried to upset Jackie by taunting her about the prom, knowing prom wasn't likely for her seeing as how her current boyfriend was a known protestor of school dances, he knew that was what Kelso was trying to do, they all knew it and that pissed Hyde the hell off! So much so in fact, that he'd had to shut them all down…he hadn't been happy with the only option available to do that.
"who are you going with Jackie?" Kelso had asked, knowing full well she wasn't going
"who do you think she's going with?!" he snapped angrily, feet dropping to the floor for emphasis. Only one thing could mess up what he was doing, and that was Jackie opening her mouth and calling his bluff, but he underestimated her loyalty to him….to them.
"you aren't going to prom Hyde" donna scoffed in that peculiar way she had that made it seem as if she knew them all better than they knew themselves, and if they did one single thing out of that character she assigned them it was met with harsh derision, just like now.
"I'm not? Seems to me pinciotti, that my girlfriend wants to go to prom and since she is MY girlfriend and the chances of another dude touching her are exactly zilch, the only option for her to go – and if you think she's willing to sit this one out because I don't like dances your insane – is if I take her, so there you have it, were going to prom" Hyde stated calmly but his eyes were cold, and it was obvious the matter was closed to discussion.
At least, until he and Jackie were alone and could discuss some ground rules, which turned out to be a lilac tux and a sworn oath to dance.
But it was good to see her smile up at him while they turned around the polished floor of the gym, she hadn't smiled much the last few weeks since Donna had been at her throat. To hear donna's view of it, Jackie coerced Forman into trying out for track in some insane plot to manipulate them all into being what Jackie considered 'acceptable friends', she was cruel to her from the moment Forman broke the news with a proud smile that he'd made the team because of his excellent time in the 100-meter dash.
Every day that Forman had practice with his new team, donna got a little bit worse a little bit more sharp in her words to Jackie, until Hyde was about to reevaluate his stand on violence towards her. He knew that he wouldn't really cross that line, he had his scruples – strange as they may be – and he wouldn't hurt a woman.
Kelso had obviously assumed that Jackie would be heartbroken he was taking pam to the prom instead of her, and was getting progressively more offensive and obnoxious as the days to prom ticked down, culminating in him making a final attempt to humiliate Jackie at the actual dance by making a point of approaching her and Hyde with his vapid date on his arm. When Jackie hadn't given the reaction, Kelso wanted he'd said something that Hyde couldn't allow.
The rational part of his brain was trying to shout down the angry part by telling him it wouldn't be a good time during a trip to the punch bowl to knock kelso's teeth out of his head. But then he'd look at Jackie, and he'd see the cautious happiness on her face, she'd been so excited that he had asked her - 'asked' not been guilted into agreeing – to prom, it made him feel good about himself where she was concerned for one of the first times in their relationship, and his friends had ruined that with the way they were behaving.
He was not going to wait much longer to set them straight.
But out of respect for his chick, he had decided to wait until after the dance she'd so wanted to attend.
Not surprisingly, they all ended up in the basement after the dance, watching tv and winding down for the night. Hyde sat beside Jackie on the tiny couch, rubbing her feet under cover of her skirt to avoid comment. All he wanted was to finish the night on a decent note, all he hoped for was to get Jackie home without incident. He got neither of those things.
"you know what I don't understand is how you could have gone to prom with Hyde?!" Kelso cried out of nowhere, jarring them out of their sleepy thoughts.
"he's my boyfriend Kelso, who else would take me?" Jackie asked reasonably
Kelso scoffed "he's not really your boyfriend Jackie! Everyone knows that you just say that to get my attention, and I want you to know it's working, now let's drop all this run around and find somewhere to 'talk'" he said while preforming the sleaziest air quotes in history.
"Kelso, I'm warning you – back off her before I kick your ass" Hyde growled angrily at him.
"this doesn't concern you Hyde, you're just her bread" he said petulantly
"you mean 'beard' ya goddamn moron! And I'm not her beard I'm her boyfriend so back the fuck off!" he ordered dangerously, while keeping an eye on Jackie's reactions to make sure he could cut it off before someone upset her more than they already had.
"yeah Kelso, leave them alone Jackie might get upset" donna said in a mocking tone that set his teeth on edge, he shot her a warning look but kept his focus on Kelso.
"back off now, that's your last warning" Hyde told him bluntly, hoping that it got through to him but it was a small hope considering how damn stupid Kelso was.
"the thing is Hyde, I get it – you wanted to do it with her but now that you have its time to drop this whole thing, and don't worry Jackie ill totally forgive you for letting Hyde dirty you up, but you're going to have to do a lot of apologizing and ya know – look the other way once in a while, if you know what I mean?" he said insinuating she'd be expected to let him do whatever he wanted with whatever slut he wanted until she paid her imaginary dues.
"one last chance to shut your mouth Kelso" Hyde snarled, he could see a shimmer gathering in Jackie's eyes with each word he spoke, and he couldn't be held responsible for what he did if kelso made Jackie cry!
"Kelso man, back off" Forman told him seriously, he could see what was going to happen if Kelso kept going like this and it wasn't a happy outcome.
"wow I didn't realize team spirit extended into the basement?" Donna sneered at him, they'd been doing better up to prom but it looked like the peace was over now that everyone's favorite topic had come up again.
"it doesn't have anything to do with being on the track team donna, he's being a jerk for no reason, Jackie and Hyde are together now and no matter how weird that still is to all of us it's not our business. And besides how can you be ok with the things he's saying to her?" he asked confused at how she could allow anyone to speak to another woman like that? Wasn't she supposed to be a feminist?
"because even though his words leave much to be desired, she brought it on herself." Donna said in her lofty 'I'm the grown up here' voice, but it didn't stop there.
"she bounced from Kelso to Hyde and now she's paying the price for acting like she's easy, you don't get to go from friend to friend in a group and not have to answer for some things, have we all forgotten that you two hadn't been 'together' a month before she thought she was pregnant! So not only did she use you to make kelso jealous, but she almost got herself in trouble because she didn't think about anything like usual" donna finished her scathing review of Jackie to a tense silence, only Kelso looked like he was backing her opinion.
Hyde looked furious, Forman looked angry and worried in equal measure, but it was Jackie that took Hyde's attention, the tears were running down her face freely now. What donna had said had wounded her deeply and she didn't know what to do? So, she sat there beside him with her bare feet in his lap and her beautiful eyes full of pain.
He wasn't sure what he did first, stand furiously to face them, or have Forman take Jackie upstairs and away from anymore hurtful words? But the end result was two vacant confused faces looking at him as he stood up trying to get his temper under control enough to speak.
"where do the two of you get off talking to her like that?" he began by asking, his voice was full of the promise of rage, but neither noticed that.
"sorry if you don't like the truth Hyde, but we all know what you two have been doing" donna said smugly.
"clearly you don't" Hyde said flatly
"yeah huh" Kelso butted in "you were all into Donna and then when you couldn't steal one friend's girl you stole another" Kelso said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world
"so much is wrong about what you just said I'm not sure what part pisses me off the most" Hyde said thoughtfully, then squared his shoulders and glared at them both.
"but let's start with how you both just made her cry because you can't keep your noses out of things that don't concern you" he said quietly
"oh wow, we made the resident drama queen cry, excuse the hell out of me!" donna scoffed snidely.
Kelso laughed and Donna opened her mouth to speak again "if she can't take the truth about what she's done, that's her problem and were not going to apologize for her being sensitive about- "but donna never got to finish her sentence because a loud crash interrupted her.
The loud crash was the result of all Hyde's pretenses of calm falling away as he hurled his chair across the room.
"stop! Just stop it donna! You're in the wrong and you know it! You can't possibly be so removed from reality to think the things you're saying are ok?!" he yelled no longer bothering to try to be calm.
"everything I said was true!" donna cried indignantly
"it was the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard! And you made her cry – you made my chick cry! I can't let that pass…no, I WONT let that pass! She wasn't doing anything donna, she was just sitting there and you went after her like a starving dog goes after a piece of meat, you did everything to mark your territory but piss on her leg and I'm done with it!" Hyde shouted, moving beyond rage now, he was livid and righteous, he'd never been righteous before and it allowed for a lot more elbow room than he usually got.
"I'm going to make something as clear as I can possibly make it for you both: neither of you are anywhere near as important to me as Jackie and Forman are, so stop presuming you are allowed to comment on me or my life, you will regret it" he said with chilling finality.
"whatever Hyde" donna said with a roll of her eyes, firm in the knowledge that it was her Hyde really wanted and Jackie was nothing more than a means of distraction, sure he was talking big to put on a good front, but she knew she could win any argument just by changing the tone of voice she used on him.
"yeah Hyde, were right and you're wrong so just accept having to say you're sorry and deal with whatever justice we decide" Kelso said with a pompous tone only achieved by the truly stupid.
The look of disbelief remained on his face for a solid two minutes while he let it sink in that they honest to god did not understand what they'd done wrong. It could have gone on indefinitely if kelso – emboldened by Donna's claims – hadn't decided to push him too far at last.
Later on, when Hyde tried to explain what had happened he could only remember bits and pieces, he knew Kelso had said something despicable about Jackie (some claim of ownership and Hyde having claim jumped?) and upon hearing it his vision went red, there was a muffled crunching sound (which he later learned was Kelso's nose breaking against his fist) and a pained cry.
Then when his vision cleared, he saw donna crouched over a bleeding Kelso and giving him a disgusted look.
"what the hell Hyde?!" she yelled accusingly
"he's lucky I only punched him after what he said" Hyde growled, still fuming and wanting to cause Kelso pain.
"how could you punch one of your oldest friends over a girl?! And Jackie no less" donna cried indignantly.
"I'd punch a stranger for talking like he just was, and would you knock off all the Jackie bashing before I can't forgive you?!" he shot back, deadly serious.
This was it, the last 10% of hang up Hyde had on Donna was directly linked to his long held belief that she was smart and a good person, he was starting to think it was all a smoke screen, a massive ruse to cover the fact that she was just as petty and catty as the most vapid gossip monger you could imagine, and somehow she seemed to think that by constantly pointing out Jackie's lesser qualities (and he wasn't a fool, Jackie wasn't by any means perfect) it would distract from her own.
"I can't just sit back and watch you change so much from who you were" donna defended staunchly
"change? I wish I could say I'm changing man! I know who I am – who I've been, and not being that guy sounds pretty damn good from where I'm sitting! And while we're on it – if you're really my friend like you say you are, shouldn't you want me to change? Can you look me in the eye and tell me the way I am is a good way to be?! You fucking know it's not! You know it because I've told you! So, drop all the bullshit donna, you don't like me having a girlfriend because it means you're not as important to me, just like you don't like you don't like Forman being on the track team because it means his life isn't all about you! And not only that, but for the first time in his life he's proud of himself and if he's proud of himself then he doesn't need you as, much, does he? so why don't you get off your high horse and see what you've really been doing?" Hyde told her angrily, the angrier he got the clearer a lot of things were becoming.
But he didn't feel like dealing with it anymore just then, he had a lot of other things that should be dealt with, for instance his hand hurt like hell, his girlfriend was somewhere in the house possibly still crying, and he was in the basement, in a lavender tuxedo shouting back and forth with a sanctimonious red head!
"I'm done man" Hyde said wearily passing a hand over his eyes
"what's that supposed to mean?" donna demanded with her hands on her hips
"it could mean I'm done talking for tonight if that's how you want to take it, but I think we both know you're incapable of dropping any subject before you've worn the other person into taking your side. So, let's drop that notion and get to what I'm really saying right now – I'm done talking to you right now, get out!" he growled with enough fury that small woodland creatures would have been scurrying away in terror if there had happened to be any in the basement to do so.
"you can't kick me out of the basement Hyde, its Eric's house and he's my boyfriend" donna countered with a pomposity that Hyde suddenly recognized as being a normal tone for her that he'd always let his brain explain away so that he didn't have to see her for how she really was.
As he was drawing in a deep breath to retort he was saved from having to by Forman descending the stairs again to join them.
"hey donna, Hyde, my dad says it's time for – and this is a direct quote – all my dumbass friends to get the hell out of his house before he starts charging them rent and…. why is Kelso on the floor?" he finished with a curious tilt of his head waiting to hear what had happened while he'd been upstairs.
"Hyde punched him out" donna informed him with a glare directed at Hyde who just rolled his eyes.
Forman looked back and forth between them trying to make sense of what he was hearing vs. the amount of time he'd been gone?
"fifteen minutes" he said weekly
"what?" asked donna, not understanding
"I was gone for fifteen minutes, in that fifteen minutes kelso got punched out and you two look like you're about to go around or two also, so would anyone like to use their words and tell me what the hell is going on?" he asked curiously
He did not get any takers on that.
"ok then, Donna, help me get Kelso up and out of here, Hyde, Red wants you upstairs" he said unemotionally, if he didn't get his friends out of the house all the goodwill he'd recently had with Red would go up in smoke if he had to miss part of his TV show to kick teenagers out of his house again.
Without another word, Hyde climbed up the stairs, thankful that he'd be long gone before Kelso came too and he had to hear his voice again, if he'd had to he'd probably punch him again.
"you wanted to see me Red?" Hyde asked respectfully, he'd known the Forman's long enough to know your manners should increase concurrent with each hour that's passed after 8pm, it was almost midnight so he probably should have called him 'sir' now that he thought about it.
"yes, I do, you see Steven I've been up here for the last twenty minutes listening to Jackie cry in the study to kitty about what one of you dumbasses said to her, now, I know it wasn't Eric because he brought her to kitty, and I know it wasn't you because you're not as subtle as you think you are" he said with a hard glare.
"I'm not following sir?" he remembered protocol at least
"if it wasn't Eric and it wasn't you, then what I'm asking is which one of them was it?" and Hyde knew better than to play dumb about what he was asking when he used the tone he had used.
"both of them" he said with a tone that he wasn't aware of, but which told Red clearly it had been bad.
"are they gone?" he asked brusquely
"should be by now" Hyde answered promptly
"good" Red said bluntly
"is she okay?" Hyde asked then trying to sound less interested than he was
"as good as can be expected considering she was just ambushed by people she thought cared about her" now it was red who could barely hide his anger, and Hyde wisely kept silent until Red spoke again.
"I don't pretend to understand all of you, a bunch of bright kids – apart from Kelso – who choose to waste time in a basement instead of doing anything with your lives. But you're all decent kids over all so I put up with it, I put up with all of you always being underfoot, eating my food, ruining my silence, but I draw the line at what's happened here tonight! This is my house and I will not abide this sort of thing! So as of now – fun time is over!" Red yelled
Hyde had no idea what he was talking about? But again, wisely chose not to speak.
"starting tomorrow, the basement door is locked. You will all come to the door like normal people who don't live somewhere and I will decide who can come in! I put up with a lot going on down there that I don't approve of but this is where I draw the line!" he was still shouting, and Hyde thought it best not to mention he was repeating himself.
"go take Jackie home Steven" he said in a calmer voice "and she's had a rough night, so try not to be an ass ok?" he added seriously
"will do sir" Hyde promised quickly, eager to get out of there and the uncomfortable conversation he'd been a part of…well, kind of a part of? He also wanted to see with his own eyes that Jackie was alright.
Getting Jackie away from Mrs. Forman wasn't as hard as he'd been anticipating, which didn't mean it was easy, but aside from a stern look that spoke volumes, she handed Jackie over without a word and went to call out the back door or Eric to come in for the night.
The ride back to Jackie's house was silent, and Hyde wasn't really sure why? He knew that Jackie had been gone by the time Hyde went to bat for her, but he still couldn't think of a reason that she would be upset with him?
When they arrived at Jackie's house, Hyde got out and walked her to her door before making the trip home on foot, and it was there that he learned what was making her so withdrawn.
She had put her key in the door when she turned and looked at him.
"I'm not weak!" she said in a low but determined voice
"don't think I ever said you were?" Hyde said with a raised eyebrow
"good because I'm not!" she reiterated angrily
"why are you telling me this?" he asked carefully
"because…because I cried when they started talking to me like that, and I wanted to make sure you know that I am not weak!" she said adamantly
"that stuff tonight didn't make me think you re weak doll, I made me think they're assholes" he told her honestly
"good! Because I'm not!" she said again
"and I know that already" he said slowly
"I'm usually pretty good at handling things, but I…. didn't see it coming you know?" she defended
"oddly yes, I'm aware you were taken off guard by what happened, maybe it was how you were half asleep that tipped me off?" he joked with a small smile
"what's going to happen now?" Jackie asked nervously,
"well let's see?" he said putting an opportunistic arm around her "Red banned everyone from entering the basement without clearance, I broke Kelso's nose so I'm probably going to have to deal with that somehow, I also perhaps…got in a small argument with Donna and there could be some backlash from it?" he told her thoughtfully
Jackie stared up at him with very wide, very surprised eyes.
"it seems I missed some stuff?" she murmured
"a little" Hyde admitted
"should I worry about tomorrow?" Jackie asked seriously
"no, you've got me, and I won't let them say a word to you" he vowed
Jackie looked up at him with a curious expression he couldn't quiet put a name to?
Then her lips curved into a tiny smile
"I've got you?" she asked in the sweetest voice he'd ever heard
He felt his mouth go dry, this was it.
Taking a deep breath to keep his voice steady when he answered Hyde looked her full in the face.
"yeah Jackie, you've got me" he confirmed softly and pulled her against his chest tightly.
All along there had been a choice he'd needed to make about what he wanted, and it took him until that moment to see that he'd made it a while ago.
Jackie was his chick, there was a lot more about her that he liked then he didn't, and he could no longer say that about donna. If fact, if he did a quick mental calculation, the haunting 30% was now down to about 1%, and that was just nostalgia.
"you better be telling the truth Steven, because if you're with me, I need you 100% with me" she told him quietly,
Hyde paused before answering, mainly because he was busy wondering if she could read his mind? That was not a good scenario for him. But then he just couldn't help but grin when he thought of how to answer.
"would you settle for 99%?" he asked with the same grin
Jackie narrowed her eyes while she considered his offer.
"well for you I will, but just know – I am really lowering my standards!" she said firmly
"I'll keep that in mind" he told her trying to sound serious, but failing seeing as how he couldn't stop smiling.
After a minute, Jackie, couldn't help but smile back at him. She took him firmly by the hand and without a word, led him into her empty house. There would be no sex he knew – they were both too gun shy for that after the scare, but staying with her was an offer he wasn't willing to pass up.
A/N not sure what I think of this chapter? But there's still a way to go before it's over so let's all hope the next chapter goes more smoothly. On the one hand, I needed all this stuff to have happened, on the other I found myself lacking ideas for dialog with the situations I made, but I'd like to think I did the best I could with what I had, also its long, but I like that so I don't apologize for that at least.
