A/N: Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been so much longer than usual since I've updated. I was sick for a while, and after that it was hard to get back into the habit of writing. And honestly, most of the planning I've been doing has been going towards a future chapter, which, because I'm impatient, will probably be next chapter. I hope you enjoy this one! Thanks for sticking around!

"Fez..." Hyde grumbled, essentially stuck as Fez wandered ahead to look at the sale rack. Soon both he and Jackie were hidden in the sea of clothes racks and other shoppers. Hyde pushed a wheel, but he whipped in a tight circle. The other wheel was caught on the metal leg of one of the clothing racks. He sighed.

"Excuse me, do you need a hand?" A girl appeared to his left.

He tapped his cast. "I need a leg, but I'll take a hand."

With a shy smile, the girl pulled the wheelchair back so that is was clear of obstacles.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Nice shorts. What grade are you in?"

He tilted his head. "What?"

"Those gym shorts. You go to Point Place High too?" It was then that he noticed she was wearing a varsity soccer shirt bearing the logo and school colors of his former high school.

"Kid, that ship has sailed. Do I look like I still go to high school?" This was exactly why he needed to buy new shorts. Well, that and they were generally lame. But if some kid thought he was a kid, that was an added problem.

"No. I don't know? I just assumed. I have those same shorts."

"I used to go there. Before I graduated."

"Oh, so do you go to college now?"

"I run a record store." He scanned the crowd for either Fez or Jackie, but saw neither.

"Awesome! What's it called?"

He didn't want to have a conversation with this random high school girl. "Grooves."

"Neat." There was an awkward silence. Both of them looked around the store, searching. "I broke my leg playing soccer once," the girl finally said.

"And here I thought I was the only one who's ever broken anything. It's a relief to know I'm not alone."

Fez suddenly appeared, holding an arm's load of colorful shirts. "Hello, Hyde." He turned to the girl. "And hello, pretty lady. What's your name?"

The girl answered "Janie," while Hyde shook his head, mouthing she's in high school.

Fez didn't see, so Hyde was forced to speak out loud. "Janie goes to our old high school," he said, hoping Fez would take the hint not to flirt with her.

"Oh," Fez said, understanding. "Do you have an older sister? Maybe...we went to school with them." The second sentence tumbled out awkwardly.

Janie nodded. "I have a sister, but, uh...since your friend got back to you I better get back to mine. See you." Seeing as she left as soon as Fez showed up, Hyde wondered if she had intentionally stuck around just long enough to make sure he wasn't alone. As if he wasn't capable by himself.

"Wait!" Fez called after her, "what is your sister's name?"

"Give it up, man. We'll get you hooked up with some chick at the record store."

"Is that the same thing you said to Kelso before he did it with your sister?" He looked at Hyde expectantly.

Hyde sighed. "I can't hit you from here, just say it."

"A-burn!"

Finally, Hyde spotted Jackie halway across the store, and heading in their direction.

"Man, does she look mad to you?"

Fez shrugged. "It's Jackie."

Jackie approached them, several pairs of shorts draped over her arm. Her eyebrows were furrowed. "Where did your new friend go?"

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Oh god, you're not going to get jealous over some random girl, are you?"

"I am not jealous. I don't need to get jealous. Jealousy is for ugly girls and for pretty girls who are insecure, and I mean hello, of course I'm beautiful. Everyone knows that."

Fez nodded. "It's true."

"So don't worry about me being jealous," Jackie continued, "because I know no other girl can compete with me."

"Remember this morning when I said you're dramatic?" Hyde asked.

"I'm not being dramatic! You asked me a question and I just answered it."

"Whatever. I'm pretty sure that girl just stuck around until Fez showed up 'cause she felt sorry for me."

"Oh, if anyone is going to feel sorry for you, it is me."

"You're doing the dramatic thing again. And no one should feel sorry for me."

Fez took a step back, mumbling to himself about how awkward it was being in the middle of a lovers' quarrel. As Hyde and Jackie continued arguing, he scurried away, apparently deciding to get back to his own shopping until they were done at this store.

"I'm not trying to start a fight with you," Hyde was saying. Jackie hesitated to speak so he continued, "can I see the shorts you picked out? That chick thought I was in high school because of these lame-ass gym shorts. I gotta trade up."

"She thought you were in high school?" Jackie's mouth betrayed a hint of a smile.

"It's not funny."

"You're right," she said, handing him the shorts so she could cover he mouth to keep from laughing. "Mr. Cool is in high school."

"Laugh it up," Hyde said flatly as he sifted through the clothes. "These will work. Thanks, doll."

"You're welcome."

It was only after they had bought their purchases that the couple noticed their friend was gone. "Hey, where's Fez?" Jackie asked.

"Probably looking for a candy shop."

Jackie sighed. "First floor, other side of the mall." As they left the shop, Jackie took a quick second to discreetly glare at the girl who'd been talking to Hyde.

"Do you have the entire mall memorized?

"What, are you surprised?"

"Nope." He was surprised he ended up with Jackie Burkhart, but not that she was a girl who knew the layout of the mall by heart. "C'mon. Better find Fez before he racks up a car payment in candy."

After getting home from the mall, Jackie helped Steven clean up. With a bright smile, she said, "don't you feel better? I love this new shampoo. Your hair smells like lavender!"

"Of course you love it, you bought it."

"Oh, you love it too."

"Whatever," he brushed her off. Jackie took this as an agreement.

"Do the new shorts fit?"

"Yeah."

"Good! Which shirt do you want?"

"Don't care."

"Zeppelin?" She held up the black shirt.

"Yeah."

Carefully, she took off his sling and maneuvered the shirt on.

"Can't even put on a shirt," Steven muttered. "What a world."

"You don't have to wear a shirt," she said, smirking.

"Heh."

Someone knocked on the door. "Hyde, you ready to go?" Kelso called.

"Yeah." He grabbed his crutch, stood, and unlocked the bedroom door.

"Hope I wasn't interrupting anything," Kelso joked as the couple joined him in the main room of the basement. "But I told Angie I'd be at the store like half an hour ago, and I still have to get gas, so we should hurry up."

"Alright. See you later, Jackie."

"Bye, Puddin'!"

Kelso snorted. "Puddin'. Man, that never gets old."

"Hey, Steven!" Angie stepped out from behind the counter. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doin'." He moved to one of the chairs. "The store looks good. Saw you finally got around to sweeping the cigarette butts out front."

"Yeah, you were supposed to be doing that all along, but you're welcome."

"By the way," he started, "I haven't exactly thanked you two for getting help or whatever after I crashed, so. You know. Thanks."

Kelso patted his shoulder. "All in a day's work, buddy. I'm probably going to get called to that kind of thing pretty often, being a cop and all, so I should probably get used to seeing people bleeding, and...screaming, and..." He trailed off, looking into space.

"Kelso?" Hyde snapped a finger in front of his friend's face. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah, I'm good." He looked into Hyde's eyes. "It's just...like, I was thinking. If you hadn't...like, I just wanted to tell you that I love you, man. You're like my brother. Or like a really cool cousin."

"Okay, well, now that Kelso's made things weird, I'm going to get to work."

Angie put her hands on her hips. "You're going to work?" Her tone was skeptical tinged with concern.

"Work. Pretend to work. It's all the same."

"Knock yourself out, I guess. Just stay away from ladders."

"Damn, there goes all of my plans for the afternoon."

A bell rang as a small group of people came in. Angie greeted them, and went back to her place behind the register. The customers went about looking at music, and Hyde grabbed a guitar catalogue from the table. He casually flipped through it, half listening to the people in the shop. He heard them wondering what to get for someone they knew, so he put down his catalogue to offer them his assistance. That's how he noticed Kelso had snuck on the floor and was drawing something on his cast.

"Kelso-"

"What?" Kelso said with a goofy smile and all of the innocence of a toddler caught red handed.

"You know, man, drawing pot leaves is funny on the water tower, or on Forman's face when he passes out, but not on a cast I'm stuck with for three months and have to wear to work."

"It's pretty funny."

Hyde made a move, so Kelso lunged back, and held up a hand in self defense. "Nuh-uh. You can't frog me from here."

He was right. So instead, Hyde threw the crutch at him.

"Ow," Kelso complained, "dude, that hurt!"

"Scratch it out."

"Well, I can't, now that my arm is hurt."

"Boo hoo."

Kelso uncapped the marker and scribbled over his doodle. "Work's changed you, man."

Angie crossed the store, and as she passed them she whispered, "do I have to tell you not to throw things?" Before Hyde could answer, she was already gone. Kelso, rubbing his arm, went to follow her. Hyde picked up the catalogue again, but middle-aged man sat down in Kelso's place, holding two records.

He asked the guy, "can I help you?"

"You work here?"

"Yeah, I'm the co-manager. I'm not technically working today, but I'm here, so if you want help with anything, I'm your man. Unless it involves high shelves. Then you'll want her." He pointed at Angie.

"Well, thanks." The older man's look lingered, and then he dropped his gaze to his records. There was a brief pause before he looked up again. "Sorry if I'm over stepping, but I gotta ask. Did you, uh...was it a motorcycle accident?"

Hyde was genuinely surprised. "Is it that obvious?"

"There was a crash just around the corner from my house the other week. I put two and two together. That, and you learn to recognize road rash." He gestured to the leg that wasn't in the cast, but was indeed covered with road rash. "That stuff's nasty. I should know."

"Yeah?" Now he really had Hyde's interest.

"Yep. I got my first bike twenty years ago, and I was in my first accident sixteen years ago. First and only, luckily."

"Whoa. What happened?"

"A deer jumped in front of me, and I swerved to avoid it, but the road was slick because it had been raining like hell. I'm still kicking myself for that mistake. But hey, at least the deer walked away unscratched."

"Damn. Do you still ride?"

"Oh yeah. You live and you learn. I haven't had an incident since. I know some people who weren't so lucky as you and me, though." He momentarily looked down, shaking his head slowly. "So anyway-" he looked up, "-what was it for you?"

"What, how'd I wipe out?"

"Yeah. You don't gotta tell me-"

"No, it's okay. I'd tell you if I could, but my concussion swore me to secrecy."

Kelso leaned over the back of the sofa and added, "yeah, he's got amnesia."

"And my friend's got two brain cells," he said, more to Kelso than to the man. "The actual crashing of the bike is a blank. It's not like in the movies, like, I knew who I was in everything. But that couple of minutes is totally gone."

The man raised his eyebrows. "That's wild, man. You're probably lucky, it's not a memory you really want to be thinking about too much."

"I guess not." There was an awkward pause, so Hyde introduced himself. "The name's Steven Hyde, by the way."

The man shook his hand. "David James."

"And I'm Michael Kelso," Kelso said as he hopped over the back of the sofa to sit, in a phoney bashful tone.

"Pleasure to meet you guys." For the sake of being polite, David shook his hand too. "So, Mr. Hyde, which of these records would you recommend I get for my sister?"

A/N: So there we go! I've been waiting to write some parts of this chapter for a while now. Interactions with strangers are going to be a reoccuring theme in this story. They'll be varied and serve a purpose (again, reread the summary hint hint) and I hope you don't mind them. They won't be every chapter, just every once in a while. I really hope you guys liked this chapter, and I hope you like what's coming up next! Just a warning, I have the outcome of the next one planned out, but I may be willing to sway based on your opinions. You'll jut have to wait and see what I'm talking about. Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day!