A/N – This chapter is longer than the last one. It's almost 5000 words. Marla's Lost – There will be more Hyde and Eric arguing type stuff soon, Hyde might want to fight. Let's hope nobody gets hurt. Lol. Reviewers keep reviewing, it makes me happy and inspires me to write more. Anyway, there's a bit of a plot twist in this one. So, be prepared as Scar would say.

Disclaimer – Blah, blah, bloop.

March 6, 2001

Donna had had a hard time sleeping that night, she was constantly tossing and turning. She had a hundred things on her mind. How she was going to run the new record store on her own, how Callie was going to adapt to a new place, especially an unfamiliar big city, and why Eric had left. It just boggled her mind how Eric had left and stayed out of touch with everyone. He didn't even call his parents or write them letters, telling them how he was. He didn't even know his Dad was sick or that Laurie was paralyzed.

Donna tossed and turned a few more times, trying to get comfortable in this very uncomfortable guest room bed, Jackie and Callie sleeping soundly next to her whilst Hyde slept on the floor. But she just couldn't get comfortable, so she decided to get up and stretch, maybe go get a drink.

Donna pushed the blankets off her legs and swung her feet over the side of the bed and hopped onto the floor, making sure not to land on Hyde, who was right next to the bed. The only other movement in the room was Callie groaning tiredly and pulling the blankets further up on her body.

Donna made sure she was asleep before she turned and went out the door, the door creaking just a bit, but it made Donna wince at the sound.

After she closed the door, Donna made her way down the short hallway, the sound of TV at low volume pricking at her ears. Was somebody still up? Was Chris's mother awake? Oh God, Donna hoped not, that would be awkward. Donna didn't even think that the woman knew there were people visiting.

So thank God that it was only Eric in the living room, his eyes glued to the TV. He didn't notice Donna enter the room, so it gave Donna a moment to watch him, see if he really had changed that much.

He was still as thin as ever, never really put on too much weight, his yellow shirt hung over his shoulders heavily, as if it were two times his size, and the be truthful, it probably was. He did seem paler though, a lot paler, almost sickly pale, it almost worried Donna. He had dark circles under his eyes, they were very noticeable against his pale skin, and another thing Donna noticed was Eric's slightly greying hair. It wasn't grey all over, but there were several streaks in his still dark hair, but the grey in his hair complimented him more than it made him look older. And Donna could see the stubble on Eric's chin, he looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days.

Donna walked a couple of small steps into the living room, now noticing Chris's presence as well. He was asleep, leaning against Eric's shoulder, his glasses still on.

Donna decided now she should make her presence known. She cleared her throat quietly as she entered the room further, but it was loud enough for Eric to notice she was there. He looked up at Donna and smiled tiredly, "Hey."

Donna smiled back, "Hi."

Eric looked at her curiously and whispered, "What are you doing up?"

Donna shrugged, "Couldn't sleep."

Eric nodded in acknowledgment and looked down at Chris as he moved a tad, but his eyes stayed closed as he let out a gentle breath.

"What about him? Do you guys just stay up late and watch TV?" Donna asked curiously, stepping a bit closer, her hands clasped at her waist.

Eric shook his head as he peered down at Chris, "No… He had a nightmare, so he came out here to talk. He just fell asleep a minute ago."

Donna nodded, "Does this happen often?"

Eric shrugged, "It's on and off. He'll go a couple of weeks without nightmares, then they come back."

Donna smiled as Eric slowly inched away from Chris and laid the boy down on his back, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch and laying it over the boy's body up to his shoulders. Eric then took off his glasses and rested them on the coffee table before he turned to look at Donna, "Um, would you a glass of water or…"

Donna nodded, "Uh, yeah. Sure."

Donna then followed Eric quietly into the kitchen and waited as he pulled out some glasses from the cabinet. She looked at the photos on the fridge that Callie had been looking at earlier. She smiled at some of them.

"Is this Chris in this photo here?" Donna pointed to the photo of Eric and a small child.

Eric turned to look at where Donna was pointing and nodded with a small smile on his face, "Yeah. That was taken a few months after I moved in."

"How old is here?" Donna asked.

"Uh… Probably about six," Eric replied as he turned on the sink and filled the two cups he had in his hands.

"And how old is he now?" Donna just kept asking more and more questions, but never the one that was really on her mind.

"Fifteen," Eric responded, handing Donna a glass of water.

"Thanks," She said, "So you've pretty much watched him grow up, huh?"

Eric nodded, "Yeah… He's kind of like the son I never had."

Donna smiled at that, but then asked, "So… You've never been married?"

Eric shook his head, "No."

"Never had any kids of your own?" Donna was very curious as to what was holding him down here.

"Chris is all I've got," Eric said, taking a sip of his water.

Donna was trying to find the right time to ask him the big question, and Eric knew it too. She just didn't know how to say it.

"So…" Donna said as Eric stayed quiet. Here goes nothing, I guess, "Eric. Why'd you leave?"

Eric sighed and looked down at his bare feet. There it was. The question he was dreading to hear, "It's really a whole slew of things Donna, and I'm not going to get into them right now."

"A whole slew of things? Eric, you were barely twenty years old? What happened that was so bad that you never came back?" Donna asked, getting a little upset.

Eric bit his lip before looking up at Donna, "Do we have to talk about this now?"

"We have to talk about it sometime!" Donna whispered harshly, her grip tight on the glass of water in her hand.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow!" Eric snapped back, "I don't want to wake Chris right now, I'm tired and I don't feel well, so I'm going to bed!"

Eric poured the excess water into the sink and left the cup on the counter before storming off to his bedroom, leaving Donna in the kitchen by herself.

Callie, as usual, was the first one up that morning. She had already gotten dressed, but she had decided not to shower right now, not really in the mood for it this morning. So she walked down the hall and into the living room, passing by Chris on the couch, not really even noticing him lying there.

She went into the kitchen, searched the fridge for something to drink and decided on orange juice. She poured herself a glass and drank up. She drank about half of it before she finally noticed that the couch was occupied.

Callie smirked and drank a little bit more of her OJ before setting it on the counter and stepping into the living room. She stood above Chris as he snored softly. He was curled into the fetal position, facing away from Callie.

Callie decided she needed some company, so she decided to wake him up. She poked him in the lower back with her bony little finger, causing him to jerk, but stay asleep. Callie rolled her eyes and poked him again, this time whispering for him to wake up, but Chris only groaned again.

Callie huffed and gazed down at the boy for a moment before coming up with the master plan. She stuck her finger in her mouth, pulled it out and jabbed him in the ear, causing him to jerk awake.

"Jesus! What the hell?" Chris cried as he rolled over and wiped his ear, then noticed a smiling Callie standing over him, "Callie?"

"Good morning, sunshine," Callie smiled smugly.

"Why'd you do that?" Chris asked in his nasally voice.

Callie shrugged, "I wanted company and you were conveniently lying here, so…"

"You could just shook me awake or something," Chris complained, avoiding her gaze.

Callie shrugged, "Yeah, but that'd be no fun."

Chris sighed and sat up, searching for his glasses, but couldn't seem to find them.

"Here," Callie said, handing them to him.

Chris took them and put them over his brown eyes, "Thanks."

After the small little tuft they had, Chris has resorted back to his awkward, quiet self and Callie went to teasing him for it. The two teenagers went into the kitchen to find something to eat, so as Chris did that, Callie examined the pictures on the fridge.

"You know, you didn't smile a lot as a kid," Callie noticed.

Chris just shrugged, "Yeah."

"How come?" Callie asked, genuinely curious.

Chris shrugged again, "I didn't really like pictures."

Callie looked over at him, "Do you like them now?"

"I like taking them," Chris responded as he pulled a box of Pop Tarts out of the cabinet, but grimaced when he realized it was empty.

Callie looked at the photo of Eric and Chris, "Is Eric your Dad?"

Chris shook his head as he tossed the empty box into the trash bin, "No."

Callie looked at the picture of the woman and the baby, "What's your Mom like?"

"She's a—"

"Wonderful person," A womanly voice suddenly cut Chris off, causing the teenage boy to flinch and stop what he was doing.

Callie looked over to see the woman from the picture except now she looked like she was nearing her fifties and that she might be on hard drugs, she certainly looked like it. Her eyes were barely open as she stumbled into the kitchen, a pink bathrobe partially covering her half naked body.

"Chris honey, can you go get Momma's medicine?" The woman asked.

"Yes ma'am," Chris turned and left the room, leaving Callie in there with a hungover skank, as Callie has already lovingly decided to refer to her.

"Um…" Callie said, "I'm… Gonna go… Use the bathroom."

Callie then turned and left the room in a hurry as the woman pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Callie dashed down the hall to find Chris standing in his mother's bedroom, pulling something into a syringe. Callie gasped and dashed into the bedroom, rushing over to Chris.

"Chris!" Callie gasped, grabbing his wrist when she startled him, making sure he didn't accidently nick himself with the needle, "What are you doing?"

"I've getting Mom her medicine," Chris responded, as if it were obvious.

"Chris…" Callie said, knowing exactly what the dark orange liquid was, "That's not medicine."

Chris shook his head, "Yes it is. She says it helps her relax."

"No, Chris, that's not medicine," Callie informed him, "It's heroin."

Chris grimaced and shook her head, his brown greasy hair falling into his eyes, "No, no it's not."

Callie tightened her grip on his wrist, "Yes, it is."

"Chris!" Another voice suddenly called, a male voice.

Callie turned around to see Eric rushing into the room. He came over and snatched the needle out of the boy's hand and set it on the dresser next to him before grabbing the boy's shoulders, "How many times have I told you not to mess with this stuff?"

"As of today, thirteen times," Chris said. At first Callie thought he was just being a smart ass, but that was an actual number and that was an actual fact.

Eric grabbed the boys wrists and searched his arms, "You didn't stick yourself with it did you?"

Chris shook his head, "No."

Eric grabbed the boy's shoulder, "Get out of here, and don't let me see you touching this stuff again."

Chris nodded, "Yes, sir."

Eric rolled his eyes, "Don't call me that."

Chris nodded before he turned and left the room, leaving Eric and Callie in the room together. Callie for some reason felt very angry at Eric, "Do you do it too?"

Eric raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Callie clenched her fists, "Do you do it too?"

Eric, realizing what she was implying, widened his eyes and shook his head, "No! No, I don't."

Callie glared at the tall, thin man, "But you know that drunken woman does it and you do nothing to stop her?"

"I've tried, but nothing seems to work," Eric said.

"Rehab centers?" Callie suggested.

"We've already tried that," Eric informed the girl, "And the time she didn't try to escape, she just went back to her old ways in the end… You just can't help her."

"What if you just took it away from her? Made sure she couldn't have it?" Callie questioned, as if these were easy solutions.

"If she doesn't have her drugs," Eric started, "She gets violent."

Callie's face fell in realization, "How violent?"

"She punched Chris once," Eric said, his voice cracking a little bit.

"Is that why…?" Callie trailed off.

Eric nodded, "He seems uncomfortable talking about her? Yes."

Callie gulped, "Does she hit him often?"

Eric shrugged, "Only if she's deadbeat drunk. Which is several times a week. That's why I try to be home as much as I can to protect him."

Callie was pale. She kind of felt bad for picking on Chris yesterday for his quiet behavior and social handicap. She sort of felt protective over him now, "Is that why Chris is so quiet?"

Eric made a face at that, "Well, it may have something to do with it, but… Chris has always been like that. Ever since I knew him."

Callie nodded as Eric finished fixing Chris's mother 'medicine.' Eric put it on the tray with some other cup of pills before he turned to Callie, "You can't tell Chris's mother you know what this stuff is. I don't want you getting hurt too."

Callie gulped nervously and nodded, "Okay."

"Thank you," Eric said, "I'll try to help her, okay? Just give me some time."

Callie nodded once more as Eric left the room, she following close behind, only she turned the other way and went to Chris's room, to see if he was in there.

He was, so Callie went in to see him.

"Hey Chris," Callie said in a small voice.

Chris acknowledged her presence, but stayed silent.

"Um, listen," Callie started, "About yesterday… I'm really sorry for picking on you. I didn't mean all the things I said."

Chris didn't seem to care about all that though, as he spoke, "It's not true."

Callie raised an eyebrow, "What's not true?"

"She doesn't use heroin," Chris said, "She doesn't. I know she doesn't."

Callie nodded, "Okay."

Chris seemed to get angry all the sudden as he turned around and pointed angrily at Callie, tears in his eyes, "Take it back! She doesn't do drugs! Take it back!"

Callie nodded, a little frightened by his sudden angry behavior, "O-okay. I take it back, she doesn't use heroin."

Chris sniffled and dropped his hands by his sides, looking down at his feet as Callie shakily turned to leave the room, "Wait!" Chris called, making Callie stop in her tracks, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, I just get a little upset sometimes. Please don't leave."

Callie felt her heart break a little bit at the sound of his voice when he spoke those last three words. She turned back around and stepped towards him, "It's okay, Chris. I understand."

Chris nodded, but kept his head bowed as he sniffled. Callie gently put a hand on his arm to calm him down, knowing he's not really a huge fan of people touching him.

"Callie," The sound of Jackie's voice said from behind her. Callie turned around to face her, her face sad. Jackie noticed that the two were having a moment, but brushed off to talk about later, "Clean up. Eric's taking us out for breakfast."

Eric and the other four had piled up in Hyde's car, since apparently Eric didn't have one, he said he takes his skateboard everywhere, and the group went to some little diner near Greenwich Village that Eric says serves the best pancakes. They had taken Chris with them, but they dropped him off at a library close to his home before they continued on their journey.

After they got to the diner and all got sat down and ordered their food, they sat in silence, nobody really knew what to say.

Eric could tell Donna and Hyde weren't speaking as they didn't want to cause a scene. Jackie was the only one who really wasn't infuriated with him, which Eric found odd.

"So…" Eric started, "How's Kelso?"

Jackie smiled at the mention of her old boyfriend, but she was more excited to talk about her god-daughters, "He's doing great! He and Brooke are still married and they had another baby in the early nineties. She's a peach."

Eric smiled and nodded, "Is he still a police officer?"

Jackie shook her head, "No. He's a stay at home Dad."

Eric raised his eyebrows at that. Kelso? A stay at home Dad?

"I know, I thought it was weird at first too, but he's a great father, surprisingly," Jackie replied.

Then it was quiet again. Eric felt like somebody was going to say something to start it soon, he just didn't know who and he didn't know when.

"What about you, Hyde?" Eric spoke, "You married?"

Hyde shook his head, "Nope."

That was all he said and Eric frowned.

"He's seeing a girl right now named Quinta," Jackie rambled on, "They've been dating for a while. Hyde told me he thinks they're going to get married soon."

Eric then looked to Donna, "What about you, Donna. You said you were married, right?"

"Yeah. Was," She said.

"What happened?" Eric asked, "Did you get a divorce?"

Donna shook her head and dropped her fork down onto her plate as she looked over at Eric, her eyes angry, "No, he died. In a car accident. The one that paralyzed your sister."

Eric's face dropped and he looked down at his plate, starting to poke around at his food.

"You would've known that if you stuck around," Donna snapped, glaring at Eric spitefully.

Callie didn't like all this conflict, but she did want to know what had happened, so she stayed to watch it all go down.

"I'm sorry," Eric said quietly, not looking up at his friends.

"No you're not!" Donna spat as she stood abruptly, "You're weren't sorry then and you're not sorry now!"

Eric looked up at Donna and dropped his fork onto his plate, giving his old girlfriend a sympathetic look, "Donna—"

"No Eric! Let me speak!" Donna snapped, garnering the attention of the two men and older woman eating at the diner, as well as the three women working behind the counter, "You left all those years ago, and not once did you have the decency to drop by or call, or even right a damn letter! You don't even call your parents! Sometimes they think you're dead! But your mother never gives up hope that one day you'll come home to see her! She NEVER gave up!"

Eric felt his eyes sting with unshed tears as he averted his gaze again, "Can we talk about this outside?" He asked in a shaky voice.

Jackie never liked seeing people cry, especially people she cared about. Maybe when she was a teenager she was mean to the other girls at school, or she made fun of Fez every once in a while, but she's matured now and seeing people cry made her feel bad, even if she wasn't the one causing it.

All five of them stood and went out the door, but it took a minute for anybody to say anything. They all just stood out in the cold for a minute, the only thing in the air was tension.

"I want answers, Forman!" Donna snapped, her fists clenched as she took a daring step towards him, "I want you to tell me why you left!"

"I'm sorry that I left, okay?" Eric said, trying to avoid the topic at hand.

"Eric!" Donna yelled, grabbing a fistful of his shirt, surprising him as she pulled him close to her face, that anger glint in her eye, "Why did you leave?!"

Eric was getting tired of her being pissed at him. She's only been here a day, but Donna's anger was too much to handle, so he finally spoke, "Okay, I'll tell you why I left!"

Donna released his shirt after staring into his eyes angrily for moment before she pushed him back roughly.

Eric brushed himself off before he looked around at his three old friends, "I left, because I didn't want to fall in love with you again."

Donna seemed taken aback by this, "W-what?"

"I couldn't handle a relationship like that again," Eric went on, "I just couldn't."

"What do you mean by 'a relationship like that?'" Donna questioned, feeling a tad worried.

"I'd rather not say this in front of your daughter," Eric said, having a little sympathy for the girl.

Jackie pulled some money out of her back pocket and handed it to Callie, "Go get some ice cream or something, let us talk."

Callie nodded and walked past the four adults. She wanted to stay, but she had the decency to let them hash this out on their own.

After Callie was out of earshot, Donna asked again, "What did you mean by that, Eric?"

Eric shook his head and wiped a hand across his eyes before he finally let it out, "You can't stand here and tell me our relationship was a healthy one."

Donna's gaze softened at this, "W-what? What do you mean? I was always happy to be with you."

"Donna, you were always mad at me for one thing or another," Eric said honestly, "I couldn't keep anything to myself, you wanted to know every little thing about me, and even people in relationships need their private time. And you didn't want that."

"That's not true," Donna said, "I wasn't like that."

Eric nodded, "Yes you were," He replied, his voice shaky, "Everything I did, you got mad at. When we were broken up that time and you wrote that story about me, it upset me, but you didn't care. I did the same thing to you, though immature, I did it and you got bent out of shape about it and thought I was being an asshole."

"Oh come on, that's just one thing," Donna said.

"That one time you found out I dated another girl while we were broken up, you got pissed cause I didn't tell you about it," Eric said, "I didn't tell you about it because I wasn't an asshole and I didn't parade around in front of you with another girl on my arm like you did to be when you were dating Casey!"

"Eric…" Donna tried, but was cut off again.

"I when I told you I was getting ready to go to Africa, you called me selfish and said I didn't care about your feelings on the whole thing, but if you think back when you wanted to go to Madison and go to college I was completely ready to let you go, because I knew it was what you wanted!"

Donna looked hurt, and she tried to convince herself that she wasn't like that when she was with Eric.

"And yeah, I was a jackass sometimes," Eric admitted, "There were times where I was in the wrong and I was the one that needed to apologize, but half the time it was me doing the apology."

"Forman, you can't tell you left because you didn't want to 'fall in love' with Donna again," Hyde suddenly but into the conversation, "Have a little self-control, man."

Eric shook his head, "That's not the only reason I left," Eric said, "I also left because if I came back and my I saw my parents, I know my mother would've convinced me to stay and I couldn't stay in Point Place my entire life."

Hyde didn't buy that. He was hiding something, "What's the real reason, Forman?"

Eric looked up at Hyde, "That is the real reason."

Hyde shook his head and glared at Eric, "Don't give me that bullshit, Forman. I was talking to Chris last night and I asked him why you didn't have a car, because I was curious about that since when you were teenager you loved to drive. He told me that you can't get a driver's license for 'medical' reasons."

Jackie and Donna both looked at Eric in alarm, both suddenly concerned for his well-being. Hyde continued, "When I asked him what the medical reason was, he shut up and told me he'd already said too much."

Eric stayed quiet as he looked down at his feet, his fists clenched by his sides as his friends looked at expectedly, "Eric?" Jackie piped up, "Why can't you drive?"

Eric looked up at his friends, his eyebrows furrowed in a nervous way, "Um…"

Jackie stepped towards him a little, sympathy for him returning, "Eric?"

Eric let out an uneasy breath before he spoke, "I have seizures."

Everybody was quiet besides a collective gasp. They all stared at him in surprise, even Hyde was shocked. He thought he was going to say something like, a heart condition or his finger lock up, or something, but… Seizures?

Eric sighed, "I never came back because I was afraid of disappointing everybody. My Dad always wanted me to be something great, but I can't do anything like he wants me to, like join the Navy or be a firefighter, or something amazing, I had a hard enough time finding the job I have now."

Donna shook her head, "You couldn't have disappointed us because you have a disability, Eric."

Eric nodded as a tear fell from his eye, "You guys just don't understand. When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy, I was very sick. I almost died. It took the doctors forever to find me the right medication. I was in and out of the hospital for almost three year before they finally found the right medicine for me to take, and even then I was still having more seizures than I should be. It was just a few years ago that I was finally given the right medication that evened it all out."

"You… You almost died?" Jackie asked, her heart sinking a little bit.

"I had a violent seizure in '83 and I hit my head when I fell," Eric said, "I was in a coma for a few days. Then in '85 I had brain surgery, but it only seemed to make the seizures worse, a year later, they went back in, but it didn't seem to help."

"But… You're okay now, right?" Jackie asked.

Eric nodded, "I don't have full blown seizures but once or twice a month, but I have partial seizures several times a week."

"And… What happens during those?" Jackie asked.

Eric shrugged, "It depends on how severe it is. If it's small, to other people it looks like I'm just in a trance of some sort, but if it's complex than I might repeat the same thing over and over again and my arm sort jerks a bit. That's what I've been told anyway, with complex one's I usually don't remember."

"So, you just sort of… Black out?" Donna asked.

Eric nodded, "Sort of."

Hyde was still mad at him, "You could've at least called."

Eric shook his head, "I didn't want anybody knowing where I was."

Hyde shook his head, "Why? Nobody would've been upset with you for something you can't control."

Eric stayed silent as Hyde scoffed, "Red was right. You are a dumbass."

Hyde then walked past everyone and got back into his car and just sat there, waiting for everybody to decide to get in. After Callie came out of the diner with a cup of ice cream, Donna directed her into the car. Jackie continued to stare at Eric, her facial expression sad.

She stepped over to Eric and squeezed his forearm supportively, "I forgive you."

Eric looked up at Jackie and smiled sadly, "Thanks Jackie."

Jackie nodded and grabbed his hand, "Come on, let's get you home."

Eric nodded and followed Jackie back to the car.