Hey y'all! Sorry for making you wait for this chapter. College life is unpredictable and I haven't gotten a chance to write in a while! But we're almost finished with this story! Let me know what you think.

...

Later that week...

Eric and Hyde had spent the last few days hanging out in the basement with the gang, just watching tv and enjoying their time off of school. Kelso, Fez, and Jackie had all come by several times to hang out, and even Donna had popped in every once in a while. However, it was always awkward between her and Eric, and they were never alone long enough to talk about everything that had happened over the past few months. The young Forman had resolved to go over to her house at some point in the next few days, but was struggling to find a good opportunity given the fact that Red and Kitty had him on a very short leash.

Since Eric was no longer working at Price Mart, Red went to work alone each day, which not only gave Eric more time to hang out with his friends, it also gave Red more time to himself. The quiet commute to the store, despite its brevity, was Red's time to go over what he needed to do each day, at work and at home.

They had not yet discussed new job options for Eric. At the moment, Price Mart wasn't hiring, so the youngest Forman would have to look elsewhere for employment. He'd only been back a few days, and even Red didn't think he had to look for a job right away (he was only in high school, after all). Also, since he was grounded indefinitely, the teen wasn't going to need a steady income- where would he be spending it?

Anyway, the time in the car was when Red went over his daily "To Do" list. After work, he had to fix the garage door again. Kitty had asked him to repair the gutters over the front door. The grass needed to be mowed, but he would just get Eric to do that….and that reminded him: he'd planned to take his son to the barber to get a haircut. The place closed at 7, and he got off of work at 5, so they would have plenty of time.

After a long but uneventful work day, Red got back into his car and made the trip home. The elder Forman was tired, but satisfied. He liked a productive work day, wherever it may be. Even though he wasn't living out the American dream he'd been promised as a boy, with the great career, the big house and the loving family. Well, he did have the house and the family, though his children were certainly not the archetypes he'd imagined they would be. Which reminded him once again that he had just enough time to get Eric that haircut before the barbershop closed.

The heavenly smell of frying chicken met his nostrils as he slid back the kitchen door. Kitty was still obsessing over how thin Eric appeared. Despite Red and Eric's protests that the young man was the same weight he had been before Chicago, the motherly woman was not satisfied. Red did notice that the boy was looking rather lean, but he had always been that way.

"Hi Kitty," he greeted his wife.

"Hi honey, how was work?"

"Oh, it was fine. Is Eric home?"

"He's watching TV with Steven. Why?"

"I was going to take him to the barber today."

Kitty looked up from her cooking warily, but Red didn't notice her trepidation.

"What time will dinner be ready?"

"Not for another hour or so."

"We should be back by then," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek and continuing on to the living room.

"Hey, Eric," he said. Both teens looked up.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Come on, let's go."

"Sure," Eric agreed, quickly hopping up and following his father out the door. Normally, he'd question their destination or take his time, but he was on incredibly thin ice with his parents and he knew this. Anything to win back their patience and trust, he would do.

"So, where're we going?" Eric asked as they closed their car doors and buckled up.

"To the barber. Thought you could use a good haircut. My treat."

Eric's expression dropped into a frown. "Wait, what?"

"A haircut. I figured since you didn't have a job, I'd buy it for you," Red offered again, still in good spirits.

Eric looked at his dad in confusion. They hadn't discussed getting his hair cut; this seemed very out of the blue. Well, that isn't entirely true, Red had been on about Eric's hair since he was twelve. And now that it was grown out even the slightest bit more, his father wanted it cut.

"Actually, Dad, no thanks," Eric said as cautiously and as politely as he could.

The car came up to a red light, and in his surprise, Red stepped on the brake a little too hard, causing Eric to lurch against his seatbelt.

"No?" Red asked incredulously. Was his son actually saying no to him?

"Yeah…I was gonna keep my hair the way it is. I sort of like it."

Eric knew he was crossing into dangerous waters by refusing a nice gesture from his father. In fact, this was a dance with death that he never would have made before. But he had grown fond of his new look -clothes, hair, and all- and he had no intention of changing it back to the way it was before.

Red turned in his seat to face his son. "You're turning down a free haircut?"

"It's not that…I mean, I do appreciate it, but I don't want to change…my hair."

Eric drew in a breath and steeled himself against what was about to happen. It felt as though all of the air had been sucked out of the car; there was a dry tension, a silence. The hair on the back of Eric's neck stood on end, as he sensed the proverbial lightning storm about to strike.

"But you look like a hippie!" Red argued.

"Dad, I don't look like a hippie. My hair isn't that different."

"Then why does it matter if you keep it like that?"

"Well...I could ask you the same thing!"

That was a horrible mistake. It was one thing to disagree with Red, it was another to talk back to him. The pressure was building in the car. It was no longer an impending lightning storm, but a tornado about to break.

The anger -the absolute rage- on Red's face was incredible. It would have been enough to stop Eric's heart, but the teen was so frightened that he continued to babble, and he found that he couldn't stop.

"My hair doesn't look bad, Dad. I like it, and I'm not going to cut it. I don't know why everyone cares about it...It doesn't look all that different, anyway, so I don't see what the big deal is. I appreciate the gesture, but I don't want it."

His delivery was hackneyed and awkward, and Eric knew it. But he continued to talk.

Why was this stupid thing so important? At first glance, it wasn't. What did Red care if Eric's hair was just a couple inches longer and slightly thicker? What did Eric care if his father wanted the hair a couple inches shorter and thinner? If any outsider tried to understand this conflict, it would look absolutely ridiculous. But there was a power struggle at play here; one that even Red and Eric didn't realize.

Red, who had always prided himself on running a tight ship when it came to family, hated the thought of losing influence over his son. It sounded bad, but most parents have that fear of their children "outgrowing" them. For example, Kitty had become depressed when Eric and Donna accidentally revealed their sex life to the world; her sadness came from the worry that her son might not need her anymore.

Red had been raised in a household where the ultimate show of respect was obedience. It was for this reason that he'd gone crazy when Hyde had been busted for possession. It was a stress reaction- the more he felt that control over his kids was slipping away, the more he tightened his grip. It hadn't worked when he'd nailed Eric's window shut all that time ago, and it wasn't working now. He could feel his son becoming more independent and strong-willed. Ultimately, that's what Red wanted for Eric, but he'd expected to keep some of the teen's respect. While Eric definitely respected his father, Red had a hard time seeing that in the midst of this disobedience. It wasn't about hair, it was about respect.

Meanwhile, Eric was completely focused on maintaining the identity he'd worked so hard to build for himself in Chicago. His greatest fear was that he would revert right back to the way he had been before he'd left Point Place. He didn't want to bend to the will of his parents or his friends anymore- he always ended up sacrificing his own happiness in the process. If he cut his hair against his own wishes, he would be going backwards. He refused to fear his father anymore- it wasn't about hair, it was about self-respect.

Red glared at Eric. "You're cutting your hair."

"No, I'm not."

After a beat of silence, Red shifted gears in the Vista Cruiser and swung the car around, back towards the Forman house. He was very angry, but he wasn't going to fight with his son until the car was parked.

…

Kitty heard the Vista Cruiser pull into the driveway and the screech of tires as Red angrily halted the car. Her stomach twisted- they'd only left five minutes ago, and were back already... which meant that things were about to get very unpleasant in the Forman house.

She put down her cooking utensils and quickly rushed into the living room, hoping to get Steven into the basement before the fight of the year could occur.

"Steven, would you-" she was interrupted when the kitchen door slid back with a bang.

Eric shoved his way into the living room, Red on his heels. They wore identical expressions of anger and frustration- never before had Kitty seen her son look so much like his father.

"So, the barbershop was closed?" Kitty asked, hoping to god that the answer was yes.

Hyde looked up from the couch and raised his eyebrows. He knew he should probably leave the room and let the Formans fight in privacy, but he wanted to find out what was going on.

"No, this dumbass refused to get his hair cut!" Red yelled.

"Why does it matter to you?" Eric asked loudly, not quite bold enough to shout back at his father.

"What matters to me is that you obey an order when I give it to you!"

"We're not in the army. 'Because you say so,' isn't a good reason to do anything," Eric snapped back. Both Kitty and Hyde looked at the teen in surprise- when he was upset, Eric was often reduced to incoherent expressions of anger. He'd never been this comfortable during a fight with anyone, much less Red.

"It was a good enough reason before you ran off to Chicago!" Mr. Forman raged.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Hyde weighed the pros and cons of getting up and leaving, but decided he was more interested than uncomfortable.

This was the epitome of freudian slips. The thing everyone had been thinking for the past week was now out in the open.

Eric's eyes widened as he looked around the room and saw that Kitty and Hyde had both been thinking similar things. His head titled back in his frustration, and his eyes closed for a moment before he snapped back to reality. Could this possibly be happening?

"Ok, my whole life you've told me to be a man, and to stand up for myself. Now that I'm doing that, you get angry!"

"It's not that, dear," Kitty cut in gently. "You've just been acting a bit different since you got back, and we're a little confused."

"Acting different? He's been acting like a dumbass," Red said.

"Well you know what? I'm glad I've been acting different! That was the whole point!"

Another revelation. Of course, this was followed by another beat of awkward silence as Red and Kitty (and to a lesser extent, Hyde) took this in.

Eric was on a roll, so he kept going.

"You wanna know why I really went to Chicago? Because I couldn't stand to be in Point Place anymore. I was mad and tired and I hated it here and I hated myself. It was my fault that Donna and I broke up, my fault that we weren't together, my fault that you guys thought I was weak and a dumbass. I wanted to change all the things I hated about myself, and I wanted to learn what's going on outside of this place. Dad, you were always telling me I needed to shape up and be an adult, and I wanted to see what that meant, because I knew if I stayed here for the rest of my life I'd never know. I wanted to change, and I wasn't going to do that if I stuck around here, because as much as you guys talk about how I need to grow up, the moment I do, you freak out. And I know that running off without telling you guys where I was going was stupid and immature, and I really am sorry for that, but I'm not sorry for going to Chicago. Yeah, I changed a little bit, but I'm the same person, just a little happier and smarter. I look a little different, but I like the way I look. I love you guys, but I can't go back to letting you push me around. I'd never forgive myself. And I don't know why that bothers you so much. I thought that's what you wanted."

At the end of his rant, he glanced back and forth between Red and Kitty, who were both shocked by this new load of information. Taking their stunned silence for a lack of understanding, Eric sighed, feeling beaten.

"You know what? Forget it."

He turned and stormed into the kitchen, past the frying chicken, (which was dangerously close to burning), and out the back door.

Despite her clouded emotions, Kitty had a stroke of panic that Eric might be running away again, and with a worried look, turned to Steven. Understanding her trepidation, the curly-haired teen gave the slightest of nods and went after his best friend.

Eric had only made it to the end of the driveway when Hyde caught up with him.

"Hyde, I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to put you in the middle of that. You know I didn't mean you when I was yelling, just my parents-"

"No, I get it, Forman," Hyde assured him gruffly. If he was being totally honest, Steven was in awe of Eric's little speech. He'd felt that way about Point Place for years, and was always so vocal about it. Everyone else in their little group always just shook their heads and smiled, because that need for escape and freedom was just a part of who Hyde was. If anyone truly understood that need, Steven would have guessed it would be Donna. Eric always seemed so content, he never let on just how miserable he was before Chicago. The big difference was, where Hyde had always wanted to get away, it had always been to get out of Point Place, plain and simple. Apparently, Eric had gone not just because of Point Place, but because of his own personality.

"So where're we going?" Hyde asked.

"I was just going to go to Kelso's…"

"What, no late night trip to New York?"

Eric grinned ever so slightly, but kept his eyes on the sidewalk. "You can't run away twice in one summer. It makes it less special."

Hyde followed his friend to the Kelso residence and stood quietly as Eric rang the doorbell.

Luckily it was Michael who answered the door, and not one of his many siblings.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

Eric opened his mouth to speak, but Steven cut him off.

"We're going out. Come on."

"Are we going to Chicago?" Kelso asked giddily.

"No you idiot, we're going to a bar," Hyde said.

"Wait, Hyde-"

"No, Forman, I am not sitting around here all night. Come on."

"Alright," Kelso whooped, then turned back into his house and shouted, "I'M GOING OUT WITH ERIC AND HYDE," before shutting the door behind him.

"Let's get Fez on the way there."

Always happy to go out with the guys, Fez immediately accepted. Within thirty minutes, the four of them were sitting around a wooden table in some dive at the edge of town.

Hyde and Eric explained the quarrel with Red, and Fez and Kelso listened raptly. No one stood up to Red. Nobody. The fact that Eric had been the one to break that record was even more impressive.

Approximately an hour after arriving, Kelso spotted a cute girl leaning up against the edge of the bar. Her long legs, clad in an immorally tight pair of jeans, allured Michael up out of his chair and over to where she stood.

"Hey," he grinned, putting his hands in his back pockets.

The girl looked him up and down, and raised one eyebrow in amusement. Fez, Hyde, and Eric watched on with the same enjoyment.

"Hi," she smiled. Before the teen could try to flirt with her, she said, "Look, you're really cute, but I have a boyfriend. He's in the bathroom right now."

"Oh, ok. Sorry," Kelso said, backing up, and backing straight into a burly man. The stranger, who was clearly intoxicated, had just picked up a fresh beer from the bar, and Kelso's impact caused him to spill the drink down his front and all over himself.

"Hey!"

"Woah, hey, I'm sorry dude," Kelso said, backing up. The dimwitted teen started to wipe off the beer with his hands, which proved very ineffective. The drunk man, irritated that this strange guy was feeling him up, shoved Kelso backwards. The lanky teen stumbled back against the barstools and almost feel over. His three friends rose from their table in worry, prepared to intervene.

"It was an accident, man," Hyde stepped in. "Why don't you just lay off."

"i don't think so, buddy," the drunken man said, getting all up in Hyde's face and shoving him back, ready to start a brawl.

Eric, very sick of fights, tried to diffuse the situation.

"Look, we don't want any trouble."

The drunken man, not listening, swung. Hyde winced, bracing himself even though it was Eric who was about to be hit. However, Eric ducked, expertly avoiding the punch.

Since the fist didn't find it's mark, the man's equilibrium was thrown off, and he stumbled forward, hitting his head on a barstool on the way down. He fell to the ground, momentarily stunned. In fact, everyone involved seemed to be stunned. Hyde looked at Eric and couldn't miss the look in his friend's eyes. It was a blend of resignation and regret: a very innocuous look, as it he wouldn't be Eric without that touch of innocence. But it was clear from his set jaw that Eric had done this before.

Once the silence broke, the four teens tore out of the bar before the whole thing could escalate any further.

...

Kitty sat on the couch, running the recent argument through her mind over and over again. She was alone, as Red had gone into the garage to gather his thoughts in peace. Menial labor always calmed him down.

Kitty felt a little guilty at having upset her son over such a trivial matter; it wasn't Eric's fault that his family wanted him to stay exactly the way he was, against his best interests. Heck, Red was always going on about how Eric needed to shape up, and now the teen was doing just that. Yes, he did run away, but he was facing the consequences for his actions. And if he was standing up for himself and trying to make his own decisions….wasn't that a good thing?

The matriarch of the Forman house sighed. At least she was sure that Eric wasn't going to run away again, since Steven had gone with him. Kitty was determined to talk things over with her son when he returned. She had no idea what she might say, but still...

In the meantime, she had chores to do. After standing and brushing her hands on her skirt, Mrs. Forman went upstairs and grabbed her laundry basket from the corner of her bedroom. It was only half full, but she went to the bathroom and gathered Red's garments, filling it to the brim. Next stop was Eric's room. There were only a few pairs of pants and a handful of shirts on the floor, and they followed Red's clothes into the bin.

With the overflowing hamper in her hands, Kitty had to back up in order to nudge the door with her foot.

She accidentally backed into Eric's desk, effectively knocking several action figures (collectables, Eric claimed) and a thick envelope to the ground. This wouldn't have been so bothersome if the loaded envelope hadn't fallen open. Dozens of polaroid photos fell out and slid across the floor.

Sighing, Kitty put down the laundry basket and bent to retrieve the photos. She didn't think much of the little squares until she saw them, and a small frown came over her features.

There was Eric, along with some other people, doing various crazy things, clearly during his stint in Chicago.

There he was, holding a beer, being hugged by two different young girls. Another shot depicted him and two other men- behind bars, in jail! Eric dancing with one of those girls in a nightclub. Eric walking the streets of Chicago, candid and posed alike. The pictures made Kitty's heart hurt a little bit. He looked so grown up, so reckless. Who knows what he was doing when there wasn't a camera around?

But as she collected more polaroids from the ground, the theme of the pictures seemed to change. Eric working in that record store he talked about, and attempting to play guitar. A group shot of her son and his friends (they were featured so often in these pictures that Kitty had to assume they were his friends), all smiling faces and denim and fringe. Mrs. Forman studied the other young adults in the pictures: two pretty girls, two handsome guys. They all looked older than Eric, but not by much. They certainly didn't look dangerous, but they did look very different from the average Point Place teenager.

Most of all, when Kitty looked at those photos, she noticed there was a constant element that appeared in every single picture of Eric: a smile.

He looked happier than he had in years. Even when he didn't know the camera was on him and was looking elsewhere, there was still that look of contentment and those bright eyes. Kitty had to admit, he looked relaxed, more so than he ever did around the house. And who could blame him? Red was always on his case, Donna was always present, even after they'd broken up, and his friends were always getting him into mischief. Since his birth, Kitty had known her son to be the careful sort, never a risk taker, and one who loved Point Place- family and friends included. But from these snapshots of the life he'd been living, it seemed like he had to go and do a stupid thing like running away, in order to have a vacation from all of the most stressful things in his life.

The last picture she picked up was a cute one, one that made her smile faintly. It was just Eric, grinning at the camera, sitting in some sort of reina chair. Kitty discreetly tucked this one away into her pocket. Eric would not miss it, but his mother would certainly cherish it. Red was usually the one to work the camera during family moments, and he always naturally gravitated towards Laurie. That wasn't a problem, since Eric normally hated getting his picture taken anyway, but that meant that there were very few snapshots of him lying around the house. Kitty planned on putting this one in her photo album.

...

Don't worry, Eric will resolve his problems with Donna, his parents, and even Hyde in the next chapter. As for the bar fight, I felt that it would be more realistic if Eric only dodged the hit. Hitting back was a one time thing (Chapter 14: Nowhere Man). I did this to bring the story full circle, and also because Eric and Hyde are going to talk about it later. I felt that of all the things Eric picked up in Chicago, besides the drugs, this was the only other thing that Hyde would find more startling and interesting. Let me know what you guys think! We're almost done!