A/N: Alright, second time out on the field. Despite the fact that there have been many wonderful expressions of both support and critique, there have also been a few extremely unpleasant comments lately…reviews that we found seriously upsetting and unhelpful. We have sat by and taken the abuse, and now, it's our turn: if you're one of our readers hate it THAT much, then don't read. It's a really simple solution. Seriously, there should never be a situation where you tell us in chapter 10 that you've hated it since chapter 1. That's ridiculous. We know…we know it's been confusing, we know you don't know why we've written it, we know our characters don't seem quite like themselves. We really meant what we said about shooting for the "most original story ever." This is more than a dark comedy or a smut story, and hopefully it will all make sense after this chapter. He's almost ready…
(Oh, and we had to fib a bit to keep you reading this far, sorry.)
Previously:
The pain and horror of losing Jackie and being abandoned by his friends collided with the drugs in his system, and Hyde could feel himself slowly losing consciousness, but not before a deep belly laugh seemed to bubble through his body, leaving him shaking manically in the backseat of the cruiser. He vaguely saw Kelso and the other cop look strangely back at him and then at each other before he completely passed out.
Brain Damage/Eclipse
"Alright Mr. Hyde…"
"It's just Hyde."
"Okay…Hyde," the admitting nurse said, correcting herself. "You know, how about I just call you Steven?"
"Whatever. I don't care." Depressed to the point of indolence, Hyde slouched down in his chair as his admitting nurse, Rachel, took his vital signs and put his chart together.
"I'm gonna need your belt," she informed him casually.
Hyde scoffed. "Why? I'm not gonna fucking kill myself."
"Well, no. You're not on suicide watch, but a lot of patients here are…so I'm gonna need it."
"Fine," he grumbled. Loose pants were the least of his fucking problems anyway so in one slick movement, Hyde pulled off his belt, handing it glibly to the blond. "Anything else you wanna take from me?"
"No," she answered flatly, unaffected by his attitude. "We're done here. So let me just show you where your room is." She stood up, straightened her pink scrubs, and headed down the hallway behind Hyde, dumping his belt off in a locked closet along the way. He followed cautiously, praying for a room to himself. They might be adding one more murder to his charges if he was forced to deal with any of the nutjobs in this place.
"This is your room. You don't have a roommate yet, but that could change anytime. So just go ahead and settle in because group starts in twenty minutes."
"Group?"
"Yeah, while you are here, which may only be for three days, you are required to attend groups. Some are psychiatric based, some are just for fun. Like I think your next one is art, so that's not so bad…"
"Art?" Hyde interrupted, laughing. "No, no, no. See, I don't do art… unless it involves spray paint and the risk of prison."
"Well, this does, minus the spray paint," she said sarcastically, making Hyde's face fall.
"Crap." Rachel walked past him toward the door and turned around.
"Oh, and your doctor will be in later to conduct your first evaluation."
"Can't wait."
After settling in to his practically empty room, Hyde decided to explore his new home—his home for the next three days anyway. At the end of his particular hall was a dayroom and inside were the scattered bodies of other patients, lazily lying about and watching television. Hyde looked around and instantly decided that he hated them all.
"Hi!" Out of nowhere, a shaky hand was thrust at his belly. "I'm Charlie!" Sneering at the oddly cheery dumb ass, Hyde stepped around, only to be followed. "So what are you in here for?" Charlie continued as he tailed Hyde.
"For killing some douche bag who wouldn't stop following me," he growled menacingly.
"Really? Wow, I'm in here cause my ex-girlfriend is trying to get rid of me."
"Gee, I can't imagine why," Hyde poked as he continued to walk, making his way out of an open door that led to a small cemented courtyard outside. Deflating his spirits instantly was a sixteen foot high fence surrounding the perimeter. Barbed-wire coiled over the top, locking him inside.
"Oh, so you smoke, too," Charlie concluded excitedly. "Thank God, cause sometimes I sit out here by myself and it gets really boring. But there is this cat that comes around and talks to me; he keeps me company. I named him Fluffy."
Hyde turned around to face Charlie. "Stop talking."
"Okay," Charlie agreed, smiling and pulling out a pack of Lucky Strikes. Hyde snatched them away and took a cigarette, shoving the pack into his pocket.
"So you got a light?"
Charlie laughed. "Oh no, we're not allowed to have lighters in here. That would be crazy."
"Crazy like talking to a cat crazy?" Hyde asked flatly as he glared at the moron.
Charlie nodded spiritedly. "Yeah!" Hyde shook his head and although he didn't smoke, a cigarette would have been a nice vice to replace his usual one. He sighed as his new 'friend' continued. "But Sammy will light it for you," Charlie explained pointing to the large Samoan mental health worker who stood menacingly in the corner. "Sammy's real nice. He likes me. Don't ya, Sammy?"
Sammy smiled. "That's right buddy." Strolling over the 300 pound beef-eater, Hyde nodded for a light, receiving one instantly. "You better hurry, you've got group in two minutes."
"Yeah, I'm not going," Hyde replied, grinning upon the large man's raised eyebrows.
"Steven!" Nurse Rachel called out, "It's your turn to see the doctor." Hyde's grin grew as he stomped out his cigarette at Sammy's feet.
"See."
A little while later…
"No fucking way!" Hyde yelled. "I'm not drinking that shit! So you can just tell Doctor Stink Breath in there that he can bite me, cause I'm not doin' it!"
The medication nurse glared at him. "Mr. Hyde, if you're going to refuse your meds by mouth, then I will be forced to administer them another way."
Hyde smiled wickedly. "Well then, lots of luck to you, Nurse Ratched, cause I'm NOT fucking taking them, and you can't make me! I happen to know that! I'm not one of these crazy fuck morons in here! I know! I know all about my rights!"
"You lost those rights the minute you got arrested and put on a psychiatric hold by the police." Hyde's eyes narrowed at her.
"Fuck you, lady. You're gonna have to get ten Sammys in here to get that shit in me."
"Fine. I can have that arranged," the older woman said calmly.
"Whatever," Hyde grumbled, heading back into the dayroom. He sat down on one of the couches and watched television for a while until the rest of the patients began to file in; group time was obviously over. All of their doped up faces and hands were speckled with green and red paint and Hyde shook his head. There was no way in hell he would allow himself to be turned into one of those zombies. He didn't need help. He needed to go home and find Jackie because he just knew that it wasn't her they found. Even with all of his nightmares, something told him that she was close; he could sense her.
"Hey Hyde!" Charlie screeched, plopping down beside him. "You missed a great group! We painted Styrofoam rocks!"
"Oh, darn it!" Hyde said, snapping his fingers as he got to his feet and pointed sternly at Charlie. "Look, Opie…"
"Charlie."
"Whatever… I'm going to my room right now and if you follow me, I'm gonna be forced to kick your ass. Got it?" Charlie nodded his understanding as Hyde walked away.
"Okay… I'll just see ya at dinner then! …You could sit at my table!" Charlie called after Hyde's disappearing form. "It's Swedish Meatball night!"
Hyde returned to his room, no longer able to tolerate the ridiculousness of the unit's milieu, and dropped his body, face first, over his pathetic excuse for a bed. The safety of the cold space was the only familiar place he could find. It reminded him of his dank basement room, furnished with 'crappy bed' and all. The only activity he could manage was to lie there and think about how warm she had made his room back home, branding it with her version of comfort: fluffy pink things that he ended up digging thoroughly. She had made his world comfortable and loving. All the things she was, she had gifted to him.
"Steven?" Hyde lifted his head to find the nurse who had admitted him, Rachel, standing in his doorway holding a rabbit's cage. "Uh, some little drunk lady dropped this off," she said, shaking her head in confusion, "she was bawling and said that you would need it." From her enclosure, Miss Z stared back at him pitifully, five babies curled beside her now slimmer body. Hyde jumped to his feet and grabbed the cage, smiling weakly at his pet.
"Thanks…Do I um, you know, get to keep her?"
Nurse Rachel only offered him a stern expression. "Look. You're not allowed to have pets, and you can't keep this one, but as long as the other patients don't take notice, I think it's alright to let you have her for a few days until you find her a home…As long as you don't act out!" she added, pointing a scolding finger at Hyde.
Hyde shook his head fiercely. "No. I'm not gonna. I swear."
"Okay…she's adorable by the way," the nurse cooed with a sweet smile for the white bunny and her small, furry family. "I'll be back to check on you later." She walked out while Hyde set Miss Z down on his bed and lay down beside her.
"Nice going, Miss Z," he complemented her, admiring the results of her efforts, his thoughts automatically returning to Jackie. He wished she could have seen them. She would have loved the tiny rabbits like her own children, the ones she would never have now, because of him. "Jackie would have dug them," he told the mother of five, "The girls, and probably even the boys, would have, for sure, been dressed up like idiots by now," he teased sadly, choking on his own words. "God, she was crazy like that."
"She wasn't crazy, you were! You…You… jerk!" His face twisting in revulsion, Hyde glanced over to find Fluffycakes staring up at him from the floor, his furry little face, usually smiling gleefully, was now …glaring?
"What the hell?" Hyde muttered.
"I loved her, you jerk! She wasn't just yours! She was mine and you gave her away! Did you think it was alright to just abandon her like that?"
A few moments passed during which Hyde refused to converse with the angry unicorn. There was no way he was getting sucked into his own madness again. Maybe he should have taken his meds, he thought to himself. This was crazy.
"No. YOU'RE crazy! She loved you, and all you did was make her cry! … I hate you!" the doll continued to cry out. "You never loved her, so quit pretending you did!" Hyde ignored the outburst and closed his eyes.
"It's not real. It's not real," he told himself repeatedly.
"Well SHE was real, Hyde, SHE was wonderful," Fluffycakes sadly reminded him, his tiny, tearful voice cutting through Hyde like a jagged knife. "She took care of me…and you, even though you didn't deserve it."
"Leave him alone," Miss Z interrupted, defending her owner. "He loved her, he just made a mistake."
Hyde opened his eyes at the female voice, soothing and comforting and sounding remarkably like Mrs. Forman. "Oh Jesus Christ, help me," he muttered, tucking his head beneath his shoddy hospital pillow.
"Don't you dare hide from me," Fluffycakes continued, his voice getting closer, so close, in fact, that Hyde was afraid to peek. "Look at me!" Hyde did and found the doll on his bed, looking at him with righteous anger and a sadness that he'd never seen the large white unicorn's man-made face ever bear. "I loved her."
"I did, too," Hyde admitted.
"Then why? Why would you think it was alright to hurt her like that?"
"I don't know. I didn't know I hurt her that much. Maybe she's still okay."
"Well she's not. So just explain something to me, Hyde …When you realized that you DID hurt her, why didn't you fix it? Why didn't you make it better for her?"
"Because he couldn't," Miss Z answered quietly. "He wanted to, but he just… couldn't."
"That's such a load of crap, rabbit. He could've made it better but he was weak and afraid! He didn't love her!"
"Shut-up, I did…I still do," Hyde mumbled, shaking his head and staring at his guilty hands, wondering when exactly it was that he had lost touch with reality, when it was that he had lost himself.
The lunatic is in the hall.
The lunatics are in my hall.
Hyde closed his eyes against the angry unicorn as music seemed to fill his small room. "Just shut-up,' he yelled, not sure whether he was talking to Fluffycakes or the singing.
"NO. I won't! No one else is defending her! YOU should have been the one who defended her! You! It was YOUR job, she was YOUR responsibility and you abandoned her like trash! Well, she wasn't trash; she was beautiful! And you left her to die when all she ever did was love you with all her heart! You're worthless, Hyde!"
Sitting up, Hyde knocked the unicorn to the floor. "Shut the fuck up, Fluffycakes!" He fell back on his bed, dismayed that the fucking stuffed doll had it all so right. He HAD abandoned her when she needed him most, something she would have never done to him.
Never.
"She would have disintegrated for you, Hyde; and she did, a million times. I was there. She would cry against me at night, calling your name, and begging for a word from you, any word, just letting her know that you loved her. But you never did…You were so selfish…God, I hate you …" Fluffycakes' voice disappeared into the fray of Hyde's dismantled mind, leaving only absolute truth behind for him to choke on, probably the doll's intentions. Fucking Fluffycakes.
"I said shut the fuck up, you fucking unicorn!" Hyde screamed at the voice echoing in his head; his angry yell rang through the ward. It especially startled Eric Forman, who was standing on the other side of Hyde's door with Rachel the nurse.
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
"Hyde, man?" he asked quietly as he pushed open the door, purposefully ignoring Rachel's plea to stay out. "Hyde, are you alright?"
Raising his head from where he had buried it in the pillow again, Hyde stared at his skinny friend. "Do you hear that Floyd, man?" he asked, craning his ear towards a guitar riff that only he could hear. Rachel stood near the open door as Eric walked inside, prepared to step in if Hyde became violent for any reason.
"No… Hyde, I heard what happened," Eric began, unsure of how to finish.
"Forman," Hyde addressed his friend, seemingly focusing on him for the first time. "I thought you were gone."
"I was, Hyde. I had to come back."
"This is your fault, you know," Hyde informed him matter-of-factly. "If you had been here…"
"Hyde, I'm sorry man," Eric whispered, staring into the face of the man he loved like a brother.
"Why did you leave…really?" Hyde asked, cocking his head to the side as Eric looked at him nervously.
And if your head explodes with dark forbodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
"I thought I was doing the right thing, you know? I was so sure. I was so sure…I thought it was the best thing for Donna and me…and maybe it was, you know? But now I've had more time to think about it, and I just don't know, man. I wasn't just leaving Donna; I was leaving my friends, too. I'm so sorry, Hyde." Eric was crying slightly as he took in the sight of his best friend, completely destroyed and blaming him for everything. "I think maybe Red's been right all along." Hyde didn't seem to get the joke, so Eric elaborated. "I'm a dumb ass."
"I'm really sorry about what happened with me and Donna," Hyde blurted, burying his head in his hands again. "I was so mad…and scared…and drunk. I just…" He looked to be on the verge of tears, so Eric jumped in, scared by his tough friend's behavior.
"Hey…that's not…that's not important right now, Hyde. Come on, man…"
"Why weren't you there, Forman?" Hyde screamed the question at his friend, jumping up from his bed to pace the room angrily. "Maybe I still would have screwed up a little…but it wouldn't have been that bad! You would have kept me away from the fucking stripper! I could have talked to you instead of running off to ruin everything with a blond whore! And then you wouldn't have let me make it even worse…"
"Hyde," Eric tried to capture his friend's attention, "everyone's here to see you…"
"Jackie?" His eyes lit up hopefully as he questioned his friend. "Is Jackie here? Did they find her? Is she okay?" Eric's face fell at his friend's questions, and he had to look away from Hyde's expectant face as he spoke.
The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
"They found her Hyde." His voice was broken and sad. "Pam identified the body today…the autopsy showed that she suffocated."
"No…" His hopeful expression slowly melted as the reality of Jackie's death sunk in.
"Everything is gonna be okay. Red got you a lawyer, and Hyde, everyone is here to see you."
"I don't give a FUCK about everyone!" he screamed, picking up Fluffycakes and throwing the ragged animal against the wall. Eric backed towards the door as Hyde became violent, ripping apart his room, and Rachel quietly called for help. "Stop fucking telling me that everything's alright! I killed her, and it's not fucking alright!"
Hyde was bloodying his knuckles on the wall when five large men ran into the room, tackling him to the ground before he had a chance to hurt himself or someone else. He was trapped on the floor while Nurse Rachel stood over him, carrying a large syringe as she spoke in a soothing voice. Hyde couldn't understand a word she said as she slid the needle into his arm and then continued speaking as the world went black.
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me 'til I'm sane.
"Do you think he's gonna be alright in here, Eric?" Kitty asked her son as several large men carried a barely conscious Hyde past the room where the gang was assembled.
"I'm sure he'll be fine…at least given the circumstances. He took the news about Jackie really hard, though." Everyone lowered their eyes as they tried to wrap their minds around everything that had happened in the last several weeks.
"I should have been a better friend to her…" Donna sighed to herself, remembering how quick she had been to sell Jackie out, how easy it had been to forget that they were supposed to be best friends.
"I shouldn't have left," Eric whispered, tears sliding down his cheeks as he looked over the family and friends that he had taken for granted. He stood awkwardly next to Donna wondering if anything would ever be happy again.
"I shouldn't have been so into the stripper," Kelso shook his head sadly, knowing that he had done his share to make this horrible situation what it was. He might have saved both Hyde's sanity and Candie's life if he had only thought with the head outside his pants.
Fez just sobbed quietly in the corner, heartbroken over the death of Jackie and the absence of Hyde, while Red and Kitty held each other tightly, watching as Hyde was placed into a small padded cell.
Some time later…
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me.
As tainted blood, thick with anti-psychotic medications, sluggishly pumped through his veins, Hyde found himself artificially anesthetized from every emotion he should have been feeling. His features suggested near catatonia as he lay flat on his back, limbs spread wildly over the cold comfort of white padding. The only parts of him deliberately searching for outside stimulation were his wandering blue eyes as they scanned the water-stained ceiling, taking in every awkward shape. Then he heard it again, "Steven," whispered from nowhere in particular, deep from within his psyche, he guessed. Ever since he had entered the room, Jackie wouldn't leave him be; she was haunting him and he wished she would just let him go. It was driving him mad to hear her voice, to see her crying in the dark corner of the room, but to be unable to reach her. She wouldn't let go or maybe she couldn't. And as much as he didn't want to, Hyde knew he had to make her go home. Heaven had sent the girl to him, and now it wanted her back; who was he to question fate? "Steven," like a heartbeat pumping new life into him, echoed throughout the cold room once again, warming the air around him.
Sensing her breath in his ear, Hyde listlessly rolled onto his right side and settled his gaze on her colorful eyes. Her tiny hands were tucked up beneath her cheek as she smiled at him with pure love. Looking over her body, lain sideways to face him, Hyde admired the deep valley of her side and the arch of her hips leading down to her thigh, every curve draped in white silk and lace. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered before suffering a thought. "Is it really you?" Her nod registered lethargically in his eyes, the drugs still robbing him of all feeling.
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear.
"It's me, baby," she assured him. "Those other girls were cruel…and they won't be back unless you want them."
"I don't want them, Jackie, any of them. I swear to God." One of her hands slipped out from underneath her head to soothingly comb threw his hair. It WAS her; he could feel it. Her touch brought with it a sliver of lucidity, clearing his foggy mind. "Just you, Jackie," he whispered.
Jackie smiled sadly. "Then why, Steven? Why, baby? Please tell me." Hyde could only stare back at her; he had no answer. Why had he done it? He didn't know. Consoling his thoughts, Jackie's delicate fingers slithered around to the back of his head and gently twisted locks of his hair around themselves. Hyde nearly closed his eyes at the new sensation, but held eye contact, only breaking briefly to catch a glimpse of her lips, full and pink as they called to him. "Was it because you love her? That stripper?"
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
"God, no," he replied desperately, sweeping his palm over her warm cheek, "You're the only…I've never…" His thoughts derailed and there was only one question left to ask, "Jackie, what happened with us?"
Smiling softly, Jackie watched her own fingers lovingly coil around his curls as she spoke. "You gave up, Steven."
"I didn't."
"You did…You never had faith…You refused to believe all the things I promised you." His eyes dancing from green to blue, Hyde could only look at her in wonder. She was right. He never believed, never trusted that she loved him. "You only saw what you wanted, Steven."
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean that you saw me how you wanted to see me …and until you wake up, that's all you'll ever see." Hyde was confused as she continued. "I'm not going to come to you anymore, baby. If you want to be with me, you'll have to come find me."
"But I do want to be with you, I'm right here," he pleaded. "I want you, Jackie." Hyde rolled over her body and stared down at the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his life. Her smile was infectious beneath him and her hair was spread around her head like a halo, making her look like an angel. "I've always wanted you," Hyde smiled warily, "even when I acted like I didn't."
"I know," she giggled. "You told me when we got back together." Hyde's brow furrowed in bewilderment, he couldn't remember saying that.
"I did?"
"Yeah," she said, placing her hands over his cheeks and pulling him down for a kiss. "The same day we found out that we were going to be Godparents." Hyde closed his eyes at her kiss, soft and lingering, as a rush of sensations and emotions coursed through his chest, awakening him.
"Godparents," he repeated softly to himself, as he seemed to remember something. "Betsy."
"Mm-hmm," she confirmed. "Our Goddaughter." As if on cue, Jackie smiled at a hum of music as it floated freely throughout the small padded room. "Dance with me, Steven."
All that you touch
And all that you see
"Jackie…Wait… Please…" He still wanted to make her explain herself, he was starting to remember things, strange things, but she had already slipped out from underneath him and was on her feet, her arm extended out to him.
"We probably won't be seeing each other anymore, Steven." Hyde got to his feet, too, and watched her smile exuberantly. "So just…dance with me, baby…Please," she whispered dreamily.
All that you taste
All you feel.
"Why won't we see each other?" Instead of answering, Jackie took his hand and placed it to her waist, just above her hip, and held the other to her chest as she drew him in, pressing her body intimately against his. "Jackie, stay with me."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because…you wanted someone else, Steven…and it killed me inside." Hyde's eyes fell to her bare feet, shamed at hearing the words come out of her mouth. They had not discussed it until now. He had tried so hard to pretend it wasn't real, that he hadn't really done it. But he had and he had to face his mistake—face her.
And all that you love
And all that you hate
"Jackie…I'm so sorry," he nearly whispered as he buried his face into the soft crook of her neck. "I don't…I have …no excuse. I screwed up so bad, baby." As they danced, she soothed and hushed his faint sniffles, even after what he had done. After everything, she somehow still had the grace to love. "I don't deserve this, Jackie."
"Don't say that, baby. You deserve so much more than you'll ever know."
"I don't deserve your forgiveness…"
"Shh," Jackie hushed, lifting his head to make him see the truth in her eyes. "You already have it.." Overwhelmed, Hyde captured her lips, savoring the suppleness and taste of what he would never enjoy again.
All you distrust
All you save.
"Baby…" Hyde pulled away. "Why? I don't get it. Why are you always forgiving me?"
"Because," she said simply. "I love you, Steven."
"I love you, too." He watched a peaceful smile become her as tears filled in her eyes. "I love you so much, Jackie."
And all that you give
And all that you deal
"Thank you, Steven," she whispered, taking hold of his cheeks and bringing their mouths together for a deep kiss that was clouded and steeped in love. Hyde couldn't believe he had given this up willingly. Reveling in her soft lips as they moved so amorously and languidly against his, Hyde's only thought was that he wanted to go with her, wherever she was going. And if being with her meant the end of the fucked up world that she had left behind, left him alone in, then so be it. This bliss was worth his death. "I can go now, Steven."
"No, Why?"
And all that you buy
beg, borrow or steal
"Because I got what I needed, Steven. All I ever wanted was to know that you loved me. All of it, everything I ever did, all those fights, my ultimatum… I just wanted to know that you loved me. It was all you ever had to say so… thank you," she whispered, giving him a sweet smile. "I love you, too." With that, Jackie closed her eyes and Hyde felt her legs stop moving beneath them as she collapsed in his arms.
"No, Jackie, wait, take me with you. Please don't leave me here. I wanna be with you. I love you… Please."
Hyde lowered her listless body to the floor and laid her down amidst the white fluff of her wedding gown. Lying on top of her dying form, he kissed her lips and felt her last breath save his soul. "I'll be with you soon, baby…"
And all you create
And all you destroy
And all that you do
And all that you say
Hyde woke with a start on his basement cot as Roger Waters's voice radiated the lyrics of 'Eclipse' from the small radio near his bed. He could hear Kelso and Fez laughing and listening to 'The Wall' in the outer room of the basement, enjoying some private joke between themselves. Looking around the room, lit only by his pink twinkle lights, he breathed a sigh of relief: it had been a dream. God, one hell of a crazy nightmare, too. While his head was still full of bizarre images and false memories, he looked across his room to the chair in the corner and was filled with a feeling of dread as he saw a blond woman curled into it.
And all that you eat
And everyone you meet
"What are you doing?" he was getting nervous as he looked around the room, trying to gather his bearings from the crazy dream.
"Just listening to the radio, Hyde. I mean, I'm not that big a Floyd fan, but it's nothing to get upset about." She rearranged herself on the chair, turning to face him. Her pink tube top looked eerily familiar, and as she gazed up at him with cold blue eyes, the awful reality of the past few weeks came crashing down. The hotel room in Chicago…Jackie and Kelso…Vegas…the strip club…getting married…Jackie's horrified face when she had found out…knowing he had fucked everything up beyond repair…the lingering feeling that he had hurt her—killed some part of her.
And all that you slight
And everyone you fight
"Baby, that must have been some dream you were having," Sam's voice screeched through his brain like nails on a chalk board. "During that first song, you looked really happy, but then it just looked like a nightmare, and I couldn't wake you up!"
And all that is now
And all that is gone
As the song crescendoed to its conclusion, Hyde swung his feet down to the floor and sat on his cot with his head in his hands. He remembered falling into a fitful sleep earlier that evening as Sam had flipped on the radio, the crazy events of the past few weeks still swirling through his head. He was fucking married. So he really had fucked everything up with Jackie. And he hadn't even proposed to her. It had ALL been a dream, he realized, a crazy dream beginning from the precious memory of Jackie looking so fucking beautiful in that wedding dress.
And all that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon…
"This is Hot Donna," the radio announced, "and that was the complete 'Dark Side of the Moon' by Pink Floyd, part of our Floyd tribute. The band just released their new album 'The Wall' this week. If you haven't already, run out and pick it up, it's…" Hyde stood from the bed and snapped off the radio before turning back to his wife…
To Be Continued.
A/N2: What, did you think we were…miracle workers?
We've squished our last three chapters into two, so hopefully you'll be happy to know that there is only ONE chapter left.
Firstly, we'd like to say to the people who noticed, that yes, it was indeed important that in every single chapter, someone asked Hyde whether he thought something was alright. (Y'all get a gold star.) Secondly, all chapter titles have been from Dark Side of the Moon, and if you read carefully, you might have noticed lyrics and references sprinkled in, slowly becoming more obvious as the dream progressed. Lastly, yeah, this story has been our lovely way of dealing with Season 8 and the Season 8 Hyde… we hope everyone can see that it wasn't so veryweird that Jackie slept with a Kelso; Eric left; Donna was a back-stabbing, Jackie-hating bitch; a blond, beer fetching, tube top wearing stripper was around and fucking Hyde; and Hyde was an ass who screwed up everything with Jackie beyond repair and did something to seriously hurt her. If you were to reread, we believe you would see it, and if you choose to stick around for the last chapter, things will perhaps come into focus (like Miss Z).
This is normally where we'd tell you that reviews are better than Naked Hyde dancing to ABBA, but the truth of the matter is that this is a very personal story for us, filled with references and things we've deigned to call "clues" that probably wouldn't be noticeable without a second read-through. We're really happy with how our story has gone, and that's what's most important to us. If you haven't enjoyed it, there are no hard feelings, because really…we wrote this for ourselves: part fixing what went wrong, part commentary on what happened in season 8, part just being fun, silly people who thought maybe others would feel the same catharsis we do as Hyde comes to terms with what a colossal jackass he became. Plus, we freakin' love the Floyd. :)