A/N: Hey y'all! Thank you so much for your support and reviews! I love you guys! This one's just a filler, and the next one is already on its way! It should be out either late tonight or tomorrow.

Donna hadn't left her room since her conversation with Eric in his basement. Despite her father's coaxing and cajoling, she would not come out. Even Joanne, her father's girlfriend, had sincerely expressed her concern and understanding, bringing Donna food when she didn't come down for dinner.

The morning after Eric had called home to tell his parents that he was okay, Donna peered out of her window to see if the gang had gathered in the Forman house as always. No one appeared to be there, so she got dressed and made her way to the Hub.

She was embarrassed at what had happened over the previous days, and was glad that none of her friends had come to try and cheer her up.

As she made her way down the sidewalk, she wondered how on earth things were going to return back to normal. First, she figured she would apologize to her friends for how she'd treated them while dating Casey. Next she would attempt to patch things over with Eric and carry on with their friendship. More anxious than she'd ever been to see her friends, Donna pushed open the door of the Hub and went in.

She had been correct in guessing they'd be here. Fez, Jackie, Kelso, and Hyde were sitting around a table, various plates of fries and sodas sitting between them.

But for some reason, Eric was not there.

When Donna approached them, her friends looked up at her with a disturbing combination of sympathy, worry, and sadness. Even Jackie seemed bothered by something.

"Hey guys," Donna said awkwardly, sitting when Hyde pulled a chair over from the next table over for her. "Where's Eric?"

Hyde and Kelso shared a nervous glance, each challenging the other to tell her what was wrong. Jackie did it for them.

"Eric ran away," she blurted out. "The police were looking for him all day yesterday."

"Jackie, he did not run away," Fez corrected. "Hyde knows where he went."

Hyde started, almost imperceptibly, but did not admit it. How did Fez always know these things?

"All I know is he skipped town," Hyde lied, trying to infuse some bitterness into his voice. It would have fooled anyone who didn't know him very well, and Kelso, but Donna, Jackie, and Fez could tell that he wasn't telling the truth. The bitterness was halfhearted, and nothing like the way he spoke about his parents.

"Uh-huh, so where is he?" Fez pushed, leaning in.

"I don't know!"

Meanwhile, Donna was trying desperately to conceal her shock and worry. Eric was gone? Why would he just…leave?

Was it because of her?

"I'm not telling you, Fez! Stop asking!" Hyde was saying.

Ah-ha! So you do know where he is," Jackie interjected.

Hyde simply took a sip of his coke.

"If we guess, will you tell us?" Kelso asked enthusiastically.

"Hyde didn't respond, but Kelso began to guess random places anyway.

"How about Kenosha? Is it in the state? Did he go to California? New York? Is Eric actually a spy? Did he go to kill someone for the president?"

"Kelso, shut up!" Hyde groaned.

"Yeah, Michael. Eric's not cool enough to be a spy," Jackie said. "He's not handsome or strong. Or dangerous."

Hyde frowned and cocked one eyebrow out from behind his sunglasses, wondering just how drastically Jackie's tune would change if he revealed that Eric had hitchhiked to Chicago in the middle of the night. But he kept his mouth shut.

It was quiet for a minute, before Donna decided it was the right time to speak her mind.

"Guys," she sighed. "I'm really sorry about how I acted when I was with Casey. I was a jerk."

"Yeah you were," Jackie said, but everyone ignored her comment.

"Donna, it is okay," Fez said and Hyde responded with "Its cool."

"Surprisingly, it was Kelso who made her feel better./div

"Donna, its okay. Casey's bad news. I love him, but he's a jerk to everyone. Its not your fault."

"She wasn't sure if she agreed that her behavior wasn't her fault, but she appreciated the compassion. "Thanks, Kelso," she said, glad that at least she could make amends with most of her friends.

"So when is Eric coming back?" Kelso asked Hyde.

"He said before school started," Steven admitted.

"Wait, you talked to him?" Donna asked.

"He called last night," Hyde said.

"Can we call him?" Kelso asked excitedly, hoping to ask Eric if he was a spy.

"He didn't leave a number."

Donna put that thought aside, hoping that if Eric did call again, she might be able to talk to him. Wherever he was, she knew she would most likely not be able to get it out of Hyde.

"I cannot believe he would just leave," Fez said.

"He'll be back," Donna said, feigning confidence. Honestly, if it were her, she probably wouldn't come back to Point Place.

That being said, she was floored by Eric's actions. In fact, of all the teens in their group, Eric was the least likely to leave town, save perhaps Jackie. He was the most cautious, the most level-headed, and the only one who had never really expressed much interest in living anywhere else.

Apparently, they had all been wrong.

...

It was only 9:30 in the morning, and already Kitty had baked a cake, two pies, and multiple servings of pancakes. She also had a meatloaf cooking while she squeezed fresh lemonade. It was her way of dealing with stress- as she had told Laurie when Grandma Forman had died, "Busy hands are happy hands!"

Red revealed very little about what Eric had said to him on the phone, though he did promise that he would be back by the end of the summer. However, Kitty knew that whatever Eric had said to Red had changed his opinion on their son. Whether that was a good thing or not, she didn't know.

A timer dinged, and she put on oven mitts so as to retrieve the meatloaf. After she exhausted their pantry of supplies, she planned to deep clean the house, maybe organize her closet, and then go to the store to get more ingredients for other recipes. Just as long as she had something to do. The moment she stopped working, she would begin to think about Eric, and she would dissolve into a teary, sobbing mess.

Mrs. Forman set the meatloaf onto the stovetop to cool a few minutes. It would make a nice dinner. She knew they couldn't eat all of this food by themselves…maybe she could give one of the pies to Bob and Joanne….

...

Eric woke up feeling insanely sore, but at least both eyes could open all the way.

Sitting up slowly and gingerly, he raised a hand to his head and found that the swelling had almost completely gone down. A quick glance in the mirror wasn't encouraging- the bruises covered almost half of his face- but he felt better than he looked.

Groaning as he pulled on his last clean pair of clothes, he realized that he was soon going to have to buy new clothes, and locate a washing machine.

The hotel offered a complimentary breakfast, but the breakfast was better at a diner across the street, so that is where Eric decided to eat.

The waitress who served him expertly avoided staring at his bruises, although surrounding customers sure didn't. Ignoring their collective gaze, Eric ordered pancakes and coffee, sitting at a booth in the back.

When he was done, he found himself wandering back towards the record store, feeling that he had to once again thank the people who had saved his life.

However, when he arrived at the store, there was an unfamiliar young woman behind the counter. She had thick dark hair that fell across her shoulders. There was a very reserved air about her, but she smiled warmly when she welcomed him into the store. Clearly of Native American descent, she was very beautiful.

"Hi, are you looking for any particular album?" she asked, obviously trying not to look at his bruised face.

"Actually-" Eric began, but stopped when a door to the back of the store opened, and Aaron entered.

"Hey, Eric's back!" he called, coming over to clap him on the shoulder. "How're you feeling' kid?"

"Wait, you're Eric?" the girl behind the desk said. "I heard a lot about you last night. I'm Valerie."

"You should have seen his face last night, Val," Aaron said. "His eye was swollen shut. How's your arm?"

"Better than last night, thanks to you," Eric said, pulling back the bandage to inspect the wound. It had begun to heal, though it probably should have been stitched. It was going to leave quite an impressive scar.

"Don't sweat it," Aaron said. "I've been roughed up two or three times myself."

At that moment, Ritch came in from the back.

"How're you feeling, Eric?"

"Still alive."

"Good," Ritch smiled, rounding the counter and kissing Valerie. "I see you've met my wife."

"Wife?" Eric asked, eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"I didn't…I mean…"

"He's kidding," Valerie assured him with a gentle smile.

"You've got to hear this kid's story from the beginning," Ritch said to his wife.

So, with enough prompting, Eric recounted his story, explaining how he'd broken up with Donna, how she'd tried to get back together with him, and how he had been struck with the crazy idea to hop a bus to Chicago in the middle of the night. He followed that with his experience at the nightclub, and then his subsequent mugging.

Valerie listened in fascination; even though everyone in the city had an interesting backstory, Eric's had such a hopeful end to it, that she couldn't help but be taken by the young man.

Aaron shook his head at the story, even though he'd heard it the night before. "I admire your guts, but at this rate you'll be dead before the end of the month."

"…So I got that to look forward to…" Eric snarked, trying to hide his disappointment at the discouraging words.

"You've definitely got the stones to live here," Ritch conceded. "You just have to wise up."

"Joy and I were gonna go out tonight. You should come, see what a real nightclub looks like. We'll make sure you don't get jumped or hit this time."

At Eric's hesitation, he added, "We'd be happy to take you man, its what friends do."

The Point Place teen happily accepted, then realized that there was something, or rather, someone, missing.

"Where is Joy?"

"Oh, she's at work," Aaron shrugged. "She'll be off at four. She's a secretary. "

Eric blinked. He'd only known her for a day, yet he had a hard time reconciling the sweet, young, metropolitan Joy with such a mundane job as that. He vaguely heard Aaron invite Valerie and Ritch out as well. They accepted readily.

That was another thing- since when were married people cool?

The only real married couples Eric had known were his parents, and the parents of his friends. Red and Kitty were awesome individuals, and their marriage was very modern in the sense that Red didn't push Kitty around- as if she'd allow it.

Of course, Donna's parents were nice people, but certifiably insane. They weren't cool, or young, and they certainly didn't own record stores or go out to nightclubs.

Granted, Ritch and Valerie were both under the age of thirty, but still. Eric assumed that after marriage, A couple just slipped into a sort of coma that was equal parts domesticity and happiness. Donna had assumed the same thing, which is why they broke up in the first place- he wanted that, she didn't.

Never did it occur to them that things were different for their generation. "After all," as Eric had said to his father once, "it is the 70s."

...

Red was hiding out in the garage, fully intending to stay there until he was called inside for dinner. Kitty was a nervous wreck, and any time he tried to get her to calm down, she either began to cry, or she snapped at him. No, it was better just to stay here until he absolutely had to.

He knew she was worried about Eric, and truthfully, he was too. In fact, he wasn't able to spend more than a few moments without wondering what Eric was doing, where he was, and if he was okay.

More than any of that, Red questioned why the teen had run away at all. He wanted to blame himself, but he knew that his harsh parenting methods couldn't possibly be the only reason. Eric had said "this is just something I have to do," and the older man had immediately understood, remembering that he had said those exact words to his parents before he shipped off to Korea. Of course, he was sure that Eric wasn't joining the military, but the sentiment was the same. He probably needed to find his way, to evaluate his life and his goals; something like that. Yes, Red understood.

That didn't mean he wasn't terrified for his son.