Kitty stood up from the kitchen table and took Red and Hyde's plates out from in front of them.

"Okay, who wants brownies?" she asked in her chipper voice. She pulled the brownie pan off of the counter where it was cooling, and proceeded to slice up the confections and put them on a serving plate. Kitty's stress-baking had slowly waned, and stopped altogether once Eric started calling twice a week. That didn't mean she was not constantly thinking of and worrying for her son, but she now placed all of her nervous energy towards awaiting those short conversations. These brownies were a sign that she was in a relatively good mood; for some reason, she felt better than she had since her son first ran away.

As Mrs. Forman placed the full plate on the table, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Red offered, but Kitty waved him back into his seat.

"No, no, you eat your brownies," she said, before turning and heading for the living room.

The idea that it might have been Eric never even crossed Kitty's mind, which only added to the absolute bombshell that awaited her behind the door.

Putting on her usual smile she wore when greeting guests, Mrs. Forman opened the front door to her house, and the smile immediately fell from her face, replaced by a look of pure shock.

It didn't look like him, that's for sure. This young man had longer hair, and a more mature countenance. He stood up straighter, which made him look taller, and his clothes were somehow different from the outfits she'd ever seen him wear before. This person in front of her even gave off a wiser vibe that was definitely new.

But Kitty Forman noticed absolutely none of this, because there, with his bags by his feet, was Eric. Her son, her baby, her angel.

Eric.

…

Eric had prepared himself for screaming, or something along those lines, so Kitty's momentary freeze threw him off. He smiled slightly, hoping she would blink or something, and said, "Hi, Mom."

Blood started to circulate in Kitty's veins again and she breathed out a single, "Eric," before grabbing him and yanking her son into the house, gripping him to her.

"Hi," he said again, hugging her back, and his mother began her signature, breathless laugh-cry, the likes of which she'd only used in her happiest moments. (When was the last time she'd done this? When she found out she was pregnant with Laurie? Most likely.)

In the kitchen, Red heard the door open, but couldn't hear anything else. After a minute of this quiet, he stood and swung the kitchen door forward.

"Who is it Kitty-" he began, but stopped in his tracks when he saw his wife's crying face buried in the chest of a person who could only be their son.

"Eric!" he exclaimed, rushing across the den to reach them. At this interjection, Hyde's head snapped towards the sound and jumped up from the table.

When Red drew closer to his little family, a momentary dilemma made him pause. Did he immediately start yelling, or did he embrace the fact that he was overjoyed to see his son alive and well? Deep down, the eldest Forman just wanted to hug his prodigal son, but his pride stood in his way. Luckily for him, the expression on Kitty's face told Red that if he even tried to remove their son from her grip, it would not end well for him. So, he stood there awkwardly waiting for them to finish their hug.

Hyde was not far behind Red, and aside from his excitement at seeing Eric, the very first thing he noticed was just how long Forman's hair had gotten. It wasn't down to his shoulders like Kelso's, but it waved over Eric's forehead, giving the illusion of bangs.

He didn't have a chance to comment on this, because Eric ended the embrace and Kitty looked up at him, hiccuping the rest of her sobs away.

"Your hair," she began, using her fingers to brush it away from his face.

"Yeah," he smiled, immediately using his hands to put it back. "I grew it out."

"Forman," Hyde cut in, and Eric pulled his oldest friend to him for a quick hug.

"Hey, Hyde," Eric said, already excited to recount his experiences to Steven.

Turning to his father, Eric was faced with the same problem his father was. The teen was fairly sure that if he moved to hug his dad, that Red would kill him. What did he say, that he was sorry?

"So…I guess I'm in trouble, huh?" he said.

What a stupid thing to ask. What better window could he have given Red for an ass-kicking than that? Realizing his mistake, Eric stiffened, waiting for retaliation, but Kitty didn't give Red a chance to speak just yet.

"You're grounded for forever," she said, her voice muffled as she hugged him again.

"Kitty," Red said, and his wife pulled away. The Forman parents really weren't in the mood to yell at the son they hadn't seen in months, but they had to. It was their way.

"Kitchen," Red commanded, and Eric nodded. However, the defeated slump that always affected the teen when he was in trouble didn't reach his shoulders this time. No one really noticed this except for Red. There was no fear or resignation in his son's eyes, but expectation. Mr. Forman was not quite sure how he felt about that.

Hyde clapped his hand on Eric's shoulder, which was an invitation to meet him in the basement whenever this lecture was through. (Of course, it was also encouragement, since everyone knew what was about to happen.) Then, Hyde withdrew to his basement. But instead of turning on the TV, Steven sat on the top stair, leaning against the door to the kitchen so that he might listen in on the Formans' conversation.

Eric's parents followed their son into the kitchen, where Eric dragged a chair from the table and placed it in the middle of the room. The teen sat and took a deep breath.

Kitty and Red lined up in front of him, and the kind of stillness that preceded a gunshot seemed to settle over the room.

Mrs. Forman opened her mouth to speak, but Red narrowed his eyes and stopped her. Going over to the basement door, he swung it open and Steven spilled onto the ground with a huff. Looking up at Red, who said nothing, he nodded by way of apology and went back down the stairs. The head of the Forman house shut the door and returned back to where his wife was standing.

Before they began, Kitty cleared her throat and calmly asked, "Where were you?"

"I, uh, I went to Chicago," Eric said, with all of the confidence he could muster.

It was like an atomic bomb went off in the kitchen. Truly, as abruptly as a nuclear reaction, Red and Kitty's months of worry, sadness, and anger channeled themselves into a hailstorm of shouting and ranting like Eric had never experienced before. Insults were flung at him, and language was used that he never would have expected of Kitty (Red was no surprise at all, but Kitty's vulgarities and obscenities were all the more potent because of how surprising they were.)

The fact that he'd gone to Chicago, a dangerous metropolitan city, only incensed their rage. All of their questions were rhetorical, which was a good thing, because Eric knew they didn't want to know the answers to "what did you possibly do there?" and "please tell me you didn't get involved with drugs," and the like.

The youngest Forman's ears were actually ringing by the halfway point of their lecture.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Red asked, and the silence after startled Eric as he realized they both expected him to answer this one.

"Because I knew you would come after me or call the police to come get me," the teen answered, pleased with the fact that his voice did not quiver.

"You're DAMN RIGHT WE WOULD!" Red and Kitty roared at the same time, which would have been funny if it weren't so scary.

Then, they switched gears and zeroed in on his appearance.

Red's comments were more along the lines of "Look at your hair!" and "You look like a hippie," while Kitty focused more on the fact that "You look like you haven't eaten in weeks!"

It was, without a doubt, the ass-kicking of the century, both impressive in its length (they must have shouted for an hour), and its sheer force (volume and intensity). Eric learned an important lesson that night: no matter what you person do or how grown up you become, you're never too old or mature to be afraid of your parents.

Yet the entire lecture, while packing a punch, didn't hurt Eric's feelings, or make him feel bad about himself, or strike fear into his heart. Instead, he looked back at his parents and realized just how much he loved them and missed them. Even more, it comforted him to know just how strongly his actions affected them. As he sat there and listened to his parents call him "dumbass," for what was the sixtieth time that night, Eric had never felt more loved.

Somewhere around the hour mark, the lecture came to a close. Whether that was because the Formans' voices were giving out or because there are only so many ways to creatively insult someone was a mystery. Eric was once again put on the spot when Red asked him, "What in god's name would possess you to run away, and to Chicago! What do you possibly have to say for yourself?"

What to say? Trying to explain his actual reasons would only come out jumbled and confused, and they wouldn't understand what he was saying. Eric took a deep breath and spoke, not exactly answering the questions, but with a statement that would do the trick, for now at least.

"Look, I really am sorry for scaring you guys, and for running off like that. I can't explain it in any way that won't make you mad, but I promise I won't run away again. I mean, obviously after high school I'll move out or something, but I won't leave Point Place until then."

So that they wouldn't have a chance to get angry, he continued with, "I'm grounded, right?"

Now that the rant was over, Kitty took a deep breath, and her eyes grew all misty once more. "We'll talk about it tomorrow," she said, and when Eric stood she grabbed him and hugged him again.

"We love you," she said.

"I love you too."

The teen put his hands in his pockets and went to go talk to Hyde, but before he made it there, Red wrapped up the past hour by threatening, "If you ever do something so stupid again, I will put my foot so far up your ass that every time you breathe you'll smell the leather from my shoe."

"Yes, sir," Eric nodded, then turned and quickly flew down the stairs before they could add anything else.

When he was gone, Kitty smiled up at her husband, who pulled her close, a small smile on his own face.

"Thank god."

…...

Hyde muted the TV when Eric came down the stairs and sat next to him on the couch.

"I might actually be sore tomorrow from that lecture," Eric said.

"I'm surprised they didn't kill you," Hyde said, tossing the remote onto the table and shifting so that he faced his friend. "Tell me man, how was Chicago?"

"Oh, it was incredible," Eric began, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. With a little prodding from Steven, Eric told him the whole story, starting with his first day, his mugging, meeting his new friends, the nightclubs, the women, getting arrested, Pink Floyd….but, the young Forman was careful to leave out the drugs, or the entire night after the concert. He also left out how much he wanted to return to Chicago after they graduated high school. Those things were too personal; he didn't want to freak Hyde out.

Hyde relished every bit of Eric's detailed odyssey, asking questions and shaking his head at the life his most docile friend had led over the past few months.

"I wish I'd gone with you," Steven said. "Which reminds me," he finished by punching Eric in the arm.

"Ow!"

"That's for ditching me and running off to Chicago."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Eric said. "I really wanted to tell you where I was going…but thanks for not telling my parents."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, Opie," he deadpanned.

"Opie" didn't seem like such a fitting nickname any more. Eric looked far too grown up for that. He was still seventeen, of course, and that innocent look hadn't left his eyes, but his usual "deer in headlights" look was gone. Of course, Hyde wasn't going to say any of that. Instead, he went with, "Your hair looks cool."

"Thanks," Eric said, absently running his fingers through it to catch any loose strands. "I like it a lot."

"What's with the coat?"

"Oh, yeah," the teen took of his denim jacket, and the scar along his forearm was promptly revealed to his friend.

"Woah, what happened?"

"That mugger I told you about nicked me with his knife. It's not as bad as it looks."

Hyde doubted that very much, but let it go. He leaned forward to grab the remote again so that he might turn on Saturday Night Live, but before he restored sound back to the TV, Eric blurted out, "I missed you guys."

"You, too, Forman."

They went quiet when they heard the door to the kitchen open. Kitty appeared, her plate of brownies in hand.

"Here you go," she said, giving putting the dish on the table in front of them, and giving Hyde a kiss on the head, then squashing Eric with another colossal hug.

"Thanks mom," and "Thanks Mrs. Forman," were answered with "You're welcome," before Kitty went back upstairs.

"Just wait till everyone else sees you," Hyde said. "Kelso told everyone you went to L.A. to do the Charlie's Angels."

Eric laughed, but frowned when he thought about who "everyone else" included.

"How's Donna doing?" he asked.

"She's alright. She took you leaving pretty hard, though."

"Really?" Eric asked, surprised. "Huh."

"You're not still hung up on her, are you?" Hyde demanded.

"No."

The conviction in Eric's voice surprised Steven, but he let that go as well.

"You're gonna be grounded for the rest of your life," Hyde said.

Eric grinned. "After Chicago, Point Place is punishment enough."