A/N: As always, thank you so much to anyone who leaves reviews, favorites or follows this story. It means a lot. This is the start of part 2, the third and final part of this story will begin in chapter 9. I hope you guys enjoy this.

Part 2: In which the gang celebrates New Year's Eve in Chicago, and have probably the most eventful New Year's Eve since 1979.

Chicago, Illinois

December 31st, 1989, 3:15 pm

Kelso and Brooke's kitchen

"God, why couldn't I be with Fez and Michael looking after the kids?" Jackie complained, when a tomato slice splat on the floor. She hated cooking, despised it actually. Usually, she got by with takeout and the food court at work. Brooke gave her a sympathetic smile. They had actually all managed to make it to the New Year's party this year. But even though, it was already 3 PM, she and Fez were the only ones, who had gotten here. Apparently, there was a pile up, so Steven, Eric and Donna were stuck in traffic. Fez' fiancée Kelly was on a job in Europe, so she couldn't be there either. If Jackie hadn't actually met her, she would have seriously started to think that she was just a figment of Fez' imagination. But that meant that Jackie was stuck helping Brooke cook. "Sorry, I know you probably hate this too," she said.

"It's okay. I'd ask Michael to help, but you'd be surprised by the amount of times, he's burnt either himself, food or a tea towel," Brooke said. She looked almost endeared by that, judging by the smile on her face. "I figured, you would be less of a disaster."

"Actually, I'm not surprised by any of that," Jackie replied with a small smile, not even annoyed by that. It wasn't a secret, that she hated cooking. It was funny, she'd always thought the fact, that Michael could act like such an idiot, was annoying. For Jackie, it used to be a reminder than Michael couldn't be the kind of fancy rich lawyer, she wanted him to be, just like her father said, he wouldn't be. Of course, that was a little stupid in hindsight. But Brooke seemed to like it, actually genuinely like it. It wasn't a bug, it was a feature.

Sure, they'd fought, like when Brooke found out the only reason, she and Michael had broken off whatever they had been trying to make it work, when she was pregnant with Betsy, was because of her mom interfering. Or about how to take care of Betsy, and later Will. But for the most part, they were stable, they just seemed to work. They were completely different people, but somehow it just seemed to work. It was weird, like they had the right kind of things in common. Jackie and Michael had always seemed to be similar when they were together, but in reality, a world away from each other. Jackie had thought her problem was, that she fell in love with people, who were too different from her. At least, that had been her conclusion after she broke up with Steven. She and Fez were similar, she was sure even Fez would admit that.

"Jackie, you haven't said anything in 5 minutes. Is everything okay?" Brooke asked with a small smile. She and Steven had been different people, disagreed on absolutely everything. Sure, he'd caught her humming some of his songs, when they were together. But Led Zeppelin songs were easy to get stuck in your head. And Steven had kept the lavender scented candle, she'd given him. He had said, it was to cover up the smell of the Circle, but the lie was so half-assed, Jackie could easily tell, he was lying. But that kind of stuff wasn't enough, they were still too different. God, why was she even thinking about this? That kiss was still screwing with her head, clearly, even though she had been trying to push it out of her head for a good 5 months.

"I don't know," Jackie said, weighing whether or not to vent at least some of her frustrations to Brooke. Fez and Michael seemed to be occupied with the kids, and unlike any of her other friends, Brooke probably wouldn't say anything. "Can you keep a secret?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll just listen, while I keep stirring the sauce, if that's okay," Brooke said, turning back towards the stove. Jackie was actually kind of grateful, that Brooke wasn't looking at her.

"That's fine," Jackie started, trying to get back at it with the tomatoes. "I guess- I mean, I really love my job, and it's not like I need a boyfriend, not really. But I guess, I've just been thinking about some boyfriend related stuff. I guess, I was just thinking about, how did you just forgive Michael after everything that happened?"

"Well, it helped a lot, when I figured out my mom was basically the one, who had made him drop our plans," Brooke admitted, worrying her lip between her teeth. "But before that, I guess. He really started trying with Betsy- You know, he wasn't just going to ditch her. And I guess, it was some of the same stuff, that made me kind of like him in the first place. I mean, he always tried to make me laugh, he was surprisingly sweet, tried to be honest and sincere. And I guess, I just liked Michael more than I was mad at him. And after he moved here, we started talking more and more, and stuff just- worked itself out. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Jackie admitted. She did know, but she wasn't exactly sure, she wanted to tell Brooke all the grisly details of that. The kiss was the problem. It hadn't felt like kissing a guy, who had been her boyfriend, broken her heart and stomped on it, and she'd moved on. It hadn't felt like it meant nothing. "Just weird stuff, I've been rethinking some things, I guess."

"Is it about that guy, you came with to Eric and Donna's wedding, who kept trying to shush Betsy and complain about her being loud?" Brooke asked. Jackie flinched, she hadn't known, John had done that. Nobody had told her.

"Did John really do that?" Jackie started, and looked over at Brooke. Jackie gave her an apologetic look. She loved her goddaughter, and she'd thought John at least tolerated her. "And no, it's not about him."

"And I'm guessing it's not about Fez either," Brooke continued. Jackie nodded. As much as she loved hanging out with Fez, it was just that. Hanging out. "So, I suppose that means, it's about Hyde?"

"Hey, it could be about someone else!" Jackie protested, even though she'd already known, that was the conclusion Brooke was going to jump too, after making sure it wasn't Fez or John. Brooke gave her a sceptical look, she clearly didn't believe Jackie for a single second. Jackie swallowed hard. "Alright, fine. You're right, it is about Steven," Jackie said a little quieter with a small sigh.

"You guys broke up ten years ago, and you were about to marry someone else. What changed?" Brooke asked. Jackie shrugged.

"I don't know. Something happened a couple of months ago, and it just made me think about things," Jackie said. She looked down on her own hands. She hated feeling unsure about things, she usually always knew what to do. It reminded her of when she'd found out about Michael and Laurie. Or any of the times, she and Steven had broken up. "But you're right. It doesn't make any sense."

"Hey, I didn't say that," Brooke replied with a small smile. "I mean, I didn't know either of you that well, when you were together, and you didn't exactly make that double date any less uncomfortable. But around each other- you guys seemed like you got along like a house on fire."

"But we never agreed about anything," Jackie argued, even though she knew that wasn't entirely true. Jackie tried to concentrate on the salad again. "Whatever, it's never worked out."

"Well, you seemed comfortable around each other, like you meant a lot to each other. Maybe with a little less arguing, it was probably the kind of relationship I would have wanted to have, when I got pregnant with my first baby," Brooke said. Jackie squirmed, and didn't meet her eyes. "But try talking to him. It sounds like you still need to either put it completely behind you, or something else."

"See, that I can do," Jackie said, already knowing what she was going to do. No way in hell, was she going to talk to Steven. He would probably get the wrong idea and go marry a stripper again or something. But putting it behind her, and never thinking about it again. That she could do. "And Brooke, can we just forget, we had this conversation?"

"Sure thing," the older woman said. Jackie smiled at her, and Brooke smiled back. "Now get back on the salad, Burkhart."

There was always something kind of nice about visiting Kelso in Chicago, besides seeing his friend again, if Hyde was honest. The house was always loud. It was a small house with a toddler, a ten-year-old girl and a guy who still loved firing off bottle rockets despite being 30 years old, it was bound to happen. Sure, Hyde liked being alone, always had. But he'd gotten used to the noise, when he'd been living at the Formans. It was nice, that there was noise, that there were people around. Unless, he blasted music, his apartment was usually pretty quiet.

Someone had put on Michael Jackson in the living room, that had to be Brooke. But it was essentially deafened by Fez and Betsy laughing. Betsy was practically trying to sit on top of Jackie, giggling at her. Fez was trying to stick stickers on Jackie from a sticker book. There was a cartoon monkey sticker from that videogame, sitting on Jackie's nose, only half stuck and askew. Clearly, Jackie wasn't an easy target. "I thought, you said, you were better at this than me!" Betsy complained.

"Well, if you could keep her still, little lady, that would help a great deal," Fez fired back. Hyde wasn't sure whether it was part of the joke, that Betsy was the one trying to hold Jackie down, or whether Fez just didn't realize, that maybe getting a ten-year-old to hold down Jackie, regardless of how small she was, wasn't the best idea. It could easily be either one of those. Kelso came back from the kitchen with little Will on his arm. Will was busy staring at his own hands, and Kelso was clearly about to burst out laughing, when he saw what was going on. "Ai! She pinches," Fez complained.

"Think she'll struggle less if you stick to the princess stickers, Bets," Hyde interjected, crossing his arms. Both Forman and Donna had already headed for the kitchen, as soon as the three of them had gotten here, to help out Brooke. "They're prettier."

"You don't like these?" Betsy asked, looking a little disappointed, and Hyde wanted to eat his words immediately. Jackie and Fez would have thought, he was joking, but that was no guarantee a ten-year-old kid would think so, no matter how smart she was.

"No, I love them, Bets," Jackie hurried to reassure her, and glared at him, before turning her attention back to the girl. Fez had let go of Jackie. Jackie sat up and fixed her hair. Her hair was a little shorter, compared to last time, he'd seen her. Not that he was noticing. "Steven is just being mean."

"She's right. Hyde is just a grumpy old man, Betsy," Fez added, and he was almost annoyed both his friends had turned against him, until he saw the smile on Betsy's face.

"Tell you what, you can pick any one of those stickers and stick it to my face, and I won't take it off tonight," Jackie said, and that was a little surprising. He wondered, if she actually meant that. Betsy even gave Jackie a sceptical look. "I mean it, any one of them all night," Jackie said more stubbornly.

Betsy opened the sticker book, and peeled off a King Koopa sticker, at least that's what Hyde thought it was called, unlike Kelso he didn't play those games all the time and stuck it to Jackie's cheek. It was probably one of the biggest stickers in the book, besides one of Mario himself. "There you go," Betsy said with a brighter smile, clearly knowing exactly what she was doing.

"Betsy, honey, come say hi to Eric and Donna," Brooke called from the kitchen, immediately making Betsy hurry out of the living room.

"I should say hi to Eric and Donna too," Fez said, before leaving. Jackie shifted a little from foot to foot, like she was unsure about what to say. He felt the same way, he was just a little better at hiding it. They hadn't had a single conversation, since their walk back to the Burkhart mansion.

"So, you really gonna keep that thing on all night?" Hyde asked, because he had nothing else to say. He had his hands buried deep in his pockets.

"Well maybe, I thought she'd pick the princess one?" Jackie said, almost teasingly. It was the least hostile thing, she'd said to him, since they'd jumped each other at the mansion, like there wasn't a whole lot of shit between them. "And yes, of course I am, Steven."

He had noticed that. Jackie had started calling him Steven again, after what happened in August, he wasn't sure if she had yet. Like things were back to square one between them, like they were Jackie and Steven, instead of Jackie and Hyde, two separate people who had nothing to do with each other. Hyde shook the thought from his head. Jackie could call him whatever the hell, she wanted. It didn't change that they still had nothing to do with each other. That was the way, it worked best.