Sadly, I do not own the rights to this show. I am just playing with the characters. But I am convinced that even as a middle schooler I would have written a way better series final.
Let us begin. Hope you enjoy. And as always, let me know your thoughts in the reviews!
Chapter two:
"You're back," a chipper voice said to him as he sat down at a booth in the corner of the bar. Man, he hated chippers, they were exhausting to be around.
Hyde looked at the waitress from the other night, whose name he couldn't care to read on her name tag. "Good beer," he answered before looking away.
"Are your friends here tonight," she asked looking around. Hyde rolled his eyes. Does it look like they're here, numb nuts?
Instead, he said, "Not tonight. I'll take a beer."
She nodded and left.
Thank God, he thought as she walked away. Now he could watch and wait in peace. Jackie should be starting her shift any minute.
Hyde crossed his arms and leaned onto the table. He had been coming here for a couple evenings now, without the basement gang. They always asked him where he was going at night. The first evening he said he was going on a date. The next night he said the movies—that ended up being a mistake cause they were all like "What movie, that sounds life fun, we should all go," and Hyde had to shut that shit down and said that he needed some time to himself. After that, Hyde stopped responding when they asked where he was going. The fuckers were so damn nosey.
It was none of their business where he went. Hyde knew they wouldn't approve of him watching Jackie. But the last time he tried to approach her; she made a break for it. The brunette really just up and left in the middle of her shift. He thought he was being slick by cornering her at the bar and asking for a beer before trying to get personal with her. But just as she had done to Donna that first night, she hightailed it out of the bar and was gone before he even knew it.
All he wanted was to talk to her. He had shit to say to her. How was he supposed to talk to her if she ran away from him all the damn time?
But Hyde was a patient guy. He could wait her out. Not like he hadn't done so before.
So instead, he watches Jackie from his little booth. The lighting over head was dim—mainly because he unscrewed the bulb a little bit and, also, the one in the booth next to his. It must not have bothered the other patrons or the waitresses because every time he came back, the lights were never changed.
"Here you go, need anything?" Hyde shook his head and kept his eyes on the bar as he grabbed the beer and brought it to his lips. He drank from it like a man who had been in the desert without food or water for days. "Let me know if you do." Again, the chipper voice spoke. He nodded.
She smiled awkwardly at him and with a nod, she walked away.
Hyde was never good a small talk. He was also never good a being polite when he didn't give a shit about someone; he struggled being polite to the people who did matter to him. This waitress, he didn't care about. And if he hurt her fragile feelings, then it was on her for being so damn soft. He wasn't there to make friends. Hyde was there to watch and wait for the petite girl with the bossy attitude. He would wait for as long as it took for her to talk to him.
And that's what he did. He waited.
And waited.
Until he was done with his second beer of the night, and it was an hour later. He had waited. "Hey," Hyde said as the waitress, what's her face, came to ask if he wanted another round. "Where's the bartender?"
The waitress looked at him with a furrowed brow, "Mary Anne is right there, need me to go get her?"
Hyde clenched his jaw and felt his nostrils flair, "No the small one. Dark hair."
"Oh, Jackie." The chick said, finally connecting the dots. "She has class on Wednesday nights."
Hyde's face scrunched up in confusion, "Class?"
She smiled at him, "Yeah, but don't worry, she'll be back Friday."
"What about tomorrow?"
The waitress blinked at him, and her smile slowly began to drop.
Shit, was he creeping her out? That wasn't his intention. He needed to fix this. What would Forman say to stop looking like a creep?
Hyde forced a smile at the girl, "I have been coming here for a while trying to get the courage to ask her out."
He felt like vomiting.
"Awe," she said placing her hand on her chest and covering his name tag. Not that he cared what her name was, but if she ever asked…he could honestly say that she covered it with her hand. "That's so sweet. But I gotta warn ya, I think she might already be seeing someone."
In that moment, his whole body clenched up and froze. What the hell did she mean? Jackie was seeing someone? Who?
They were barely broken up and she was already dating someone new? Wow she worked fast. Of course, she did. Look how quickly she jumped from Kelso to him.
He was really going to be sick now.
As the anger began to rise in his stomach, Hyde tried to ignore the voice that sounded a lot like Forman telling him that he had gone and married a stripper just to spite Jackie. He ignored the voice that sounded so much like Kelso that pointed out that technically, this would have been the second time he cheated on Jackie. He ignored the voice that sounds identical to Donna saying that Jackie could date whoever she wanted now, they weren't together. There was another voice, a smaller, whinier voice that Hyde was choosing to listen to. It had an accent as it said Jackie was his, and therefore, had no right to be with another man. Good day.
Throwing money on the table, Hyde stormed out of the bar.
He was pissed.
Jackie blew the gang off for months because she got a new boyfriend?
Hyde laughed to himself as he got behind the wheel of the El Camino. He had to admit her dating outside of the basement was finally a change. Who else was left, Forman and Fez?
He needed to calm down. As he slowly began to drive, his knuckles turned white on the wheel. Hyde didn't know this feeling. Whatever it was, it ate him up. It was almost jealousy. But he knew what that feeling was. It was almost rage. But that would not explain the wanting to puke. Jeez, did he finally feel something that has never been named before?
Here he fucking was, trying to talk to her. Explain his side of things. Shit, he wasn't even seeing anyone, and she was…what, dating some lame rich kid who probably had everything handed to him and a silver platter?
That was what she had wanted all along in a guy. Someone rich. Someone who could take care of her.
But then again, a voice that sounded so fucking much like Donna asked, why she was in class? And a new voice that sounded ridiculously like his gangly best friend said, how does that waitress even know Jackie is dating someone?
Shock ran through him. In all the nights he had watched Jackie at the bar, she seemed close to three people. Not one of them was that chipper bitch who took forever to bring him his beer. Hell, aside from last Friday, he never saw them work the same shifts.
With a calming breath, all the jealousy and rage began to leave him.
While Jackie had gotten with him early in the summer before his senior year, she had once admitted to having feelings for him for a while. At the time, he had snickered at her and reminded her about how she chased him for a few good months and even conned him into taking her on a date on Veterans' Day.
That was also the night that Jackie told him she had felt something when they kissed. But every doubt that he had spewed at her for those few months had made her pull back and try to be just his friend.
That was the night that Hyde, very gruffly, said that he had also felt something after the kiss but was following her lead.
Jesus. Hyde again had to laugh at himself. He was being ridiculous. There was no way Jackie could be dating someone new.
Not right now.
Not yet.
"Shit," Hyde said as he hit a pothole. He heard his back tire blow and his muffler scrap on the concrete before he felt it snap. "Shit."
Pulling over, he got out to inspect the damage.
….
…
…..
It could have been worse, Hyde reminded himself as he pulled into the Forman's driveway.
He grimaced. His car was loud, and it was a little on the late side. It took him longer than he expected to change his tire. The freaking bolts weren't coming off. His damn muffler had completely come off and he had to go and fucking search for it. Hyde rested his head against the steering wheel and sighed. He was sure he was gonna have to leave his car there and walk to the nearest place that had a phone. If he hadn't been in Kenosha, he would have just walked home or found the nearest place and called Forman to come pick him up. And if the damn bolts hadn't have finally turned that would have been his plan.
Looking at the muffler in the seat next to him, he groaned. He was gonna have to get that fixed. How much would it put him back? Now that he was only working part time, Hyde couldn't spend too much if he wanted to continue to save.
Maybe Red could just slap his old one back on? Save him a little money.
Of course, that was when the sliding backdoor opened and Mr. Forman came out of the house.
"What the hell is all that noise," Red asked angry that his evening was interrupted. He looked back into the kitchen, "Don't worry, Kitty. Its just the second dumbass home making that god awful noise."
Both men could hear her laugh but Hyde couldn't make out what was said before Red shut the sliding glass door.
Mr. Forman walked over towards the car and looked at him. "What did you do this time?"
Hyde rolled his eyes and shuffled out of the car with the broken off muffler. "Hit a pothole."
Red looked at the muffler for a second. "You sure you hit a pothole, or did something tear it off?"
Hyde snickered, "It was massive, man." Red just stared at the muffler with a frown. After a moment Hyde sighed, "You think this could be salvaged? I can bring it to your shop tomorrow and have you take a better look."
Red hesitated. "Tomorrow?" Red raised his eyebrows in thought. "If you bring it in the afternoon around three I might be able to look at it for you."
Hyde didn't think twice about his hesitation. The potholes must be destroying more cars that just the El Camino.
"Thanks Red." Hyde nodded at his father-like figure, grateful for the help. That was the thing about Red. You could always depend on him.
Red didn't say anything. Not that Hyde thought he would. The older man just turned to walk into the house. "Steven," Red stopped and looked at him before entering the house. "If you make that much noise at this time of night again, I will shove my foot so far up you ass that you won't be able to make a noise for the rest of your time on this earth. Do I make myself clear?"
Hyde nodded quickly, "Yes sir."
…..
…
…...
Hyde was bored. Weekdays were usually slow at the Groove. But Thursdays? The worst. He could hear a few girls giggling and looking at the most popular albums and Hyde rolled his eyes in disgust. What ever happened to the love of Rock and Roll? He didn't know what the 80's held for music, but he really hoped that this poppy shit wasn't staying around for much longer. There was only so much he could take.
After checking the clock for the countless time today, he sighed. It was only noon and Red said he would be able to look at the Camino at three.
"Mr. Hyde," Hyde cringed and turned around and looked at the kid that he hired to help out around the shop.
"Its just Hyde man. No Mr." He couldn't remember how many times he had to remind this kid that he didn't need to call him Mr. Hyde.
"Sorry, Mr…I mean, Hyde. Just Hyde." Andy said with a nodded.
With an eyeroll Hyde asked what he wanted. Turned out that the Grooves was selling way more of that poppy shit that was making his ears bleed every time he listened to the radio. Hyde knew this was the beginning of the death of good ol' Rock and Roll.
Shit.
"Charge more for that crap. And the more ear piercing, the higher the price." If Hyde had to sell it, then these teens and conformists were gonna pay for it.
Andy nodded and walked away from him.
Hyde looked at the clock. Twelve-fifteen. Screw it, Hyde was gonna go early. Worst case scenario, Red threatens to shove his foot up his ass. Best case, Hyde can offer help and push the cars out faster.
Rubbing his forehead, Hyde called out. "Hey. I'm gonna head out. Cars acting up, gotta get it fixed."
"Sure thing, boss. I'll close."
"Thanks man."
The drive the Reds muffler shop didn't take long. He remembered when he was working there for a while. Red was actually pretty awesome to work with. And he learned so much while there. But music was his passion. When he was offered to take over as the manager of the Grooves, Hyde knew he couldn't pass it up.
But it was a hard decision. He wanted to make his dad proud, wanted his father to trust that Hyde could run his Point Place store. At the same time, he didn't want to leave the man whole raised him and took him in without any help. Turns out, Red was able to find decent help pretty quickly and from what he heard, the store was actually doing well.
Just the other day, Red had been telling Kitty a funny story about him and his coworker and one of the cars they had been working. Hyde smiled. He knew Kitty had no idea about shocks and suspension, but she listened to Red and nodded at all the right parts. And with a "Oh Red, that's so great that you're loving work again," she took his hand squeezed it.
He didn't miss that Red squeezed back.
Hyde really liked those interactions with the Forman's; the couple just talking about their days to each other. And while Red pretended not to be as involved with Kitty's work stories, Hyde knew otherwise. The older man could name all her coworkers. Remember gossip from months ago. Asked about patients that Kitty had been really concerned for. But Red would never admit that he paid that much attention to his wife and her stories at the hospital. He would hold the newspaper up in front of his face and pretend that he wasn't listening to his wife chatter on about her day or night at the hospital. The only tell was when Red would ask a follow up question.
You could say a lot about Red Forman. But the second thing that would be said was how much that man loved his wife.
The first was that he would shove his foot up your ass without hesitation if you pissed him off.
Pulling into the familiar parking lot, Hyde grabbed the muffler. This thing was honestly pissing him off. That had to have been the loudest car ride he had ever taken. To drown out the sound of his car, he had the music at full volume. It had worked…only when the car wasn't moving.
Hyde looked around. There were a few cars in the lot, probably getting some work done. He could see Red's car closest to the store. With an encouraged nod, and a prayer that Red would not shove his foot up his ass, he opened the door.
And stopped dead in his tracks.
Just like the night in the bar, Hyde lost his ability to breathe for a second.
Even with her back to him, Hyde knew who she was the instant he laid eyes on her.
Jackie.
Jackie Burkhart. Was working at a muffler shop?
Holy shit.
She had her hair in a bun at the top of her head. She was wearing coveralls. Coveralls! That had grease stains on them!
"Just a second," she said without turning around.
All Hyde could do was stand there and stare at her. Jackie on her most dressed up day was beautiful. Jackie with nothing on was drop dead sexy. But this Jackie? It was a version of a girl that he had only gotten a glimpse of years ago. He remembered he was talking to Red and out popped Jackie from under his car in the garage. She had grease marks all over her expensive clothes and all over her face. But Hyde remembered how happy she looked.
She was gorgeous.
Could Jackie be the new coworker that replaced Hyde when he left to take over for the Grooves? Why didn't Red say anything? He'd been wallowing in the basement for months waiting to see Jackie. And she had been here the whole time?
"How can I help—" Jackie turned around and faced him with a smile. It fell the moment she realized it was him.
They looked at each other.
Neither one said a word.
Hyde couldn't help but soak her all in with eyes. They were gladly hidden behind his shades, and he was able to look at her without her able to look back at him.
He has missed her. Everyday that had passed these past four moths had been hell. Being on the road and so drunk he barely remembered anything helped during the first two. But being back in Point Place, in a house filled with nothing but memories or him and her together? It was painful.
There was nowhere else he would rather be.
He snapped out of whatever trance he was in and watched as she took a step towards the counter and folded her hands on top. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Hyde blinked. And blinked again.
She was using fucking Zen on him. Again.
"Jackie." Hyde could barely recognize his voice. It was something between a whisper slash croak.
"Yes, Hyde?" She asked with a raised brow.
Just like that, Hyde felt like he had been kicked in the nads. For the past three years, Jackie had called him Steven. Even when he asked her not to. She had always called him Steven. He didn't know when exactly he stopped being Hyde and became Steven to her. Just like he didn't know when he stopped being Steve and instead turned into Hyde.
With a frown he said, "Don't call me that."
Jackie looked confused. "What?"
"Hyde." He said through gritted teeth.
Jackie didn't say anything. She just continued to look at him. "What can I help you with?" She gave him a tight smile that barely lifted at the corners of her mouth.
Hell. She was still the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen. Even when she was looking at him with her emotionless, mismatched eyes. A smile that probably hurt her to try and force out. Hyde couldn't help but think of all the times she had smiled at him. They were so easy to come by back them. All he had to do was look at her and she was already smiling at him. Her smile it light up a whole damn room. Jackie could grin at him and it lit him up more than any joint ever had. There were times where Jackie would just smile or laugh in his direction, and he had a high for the rest of the night.
But it all fell apart. And with a stab to his chest, Hyde realized that the petite girl in front of him, might never genuinely smile at him again.
How could he have let his happen?
Standing in front of the most magnificent girl he had ever seen, and that included her whore of a mother and all the centerfolds in his playboys, Hyde wished that he was in one of Forman's stupid space shows that allowed for time travel.
He wished. For possibly the fourth time in his life, that he didn't make the choices he had. That he could go back and change things.
Realizing that he had been staring at her for a few minutes without saying anything. Hyde stepped up to the counter. "Jackie. We need to talk."
"Is it about that muffler?"
"What," Hyde was confused. The hell was she talking about. And then he remembered the weight of the muffler in his hand. "No Jackie. We need to talk about…personal stuff." He could barely say it. Shit like this? Hyde never talked about. He pretty much spent the entirety of their relationship dodging conversations like this. But here he was, wanting to speak to her. There was so much he had to say.
"I can't help you with personal. I'm not a shrink. But I can help you with that muffler," she said with a nod towards the item.
"Jackie," he tried again.
"Hyde," she said back.
"Damnnit, don't call me that!" Hyde yelled at her.
Jackie's eyes widened and she took a quick step back.
"Who the hell is yelling?" Reds booming voice beckoned from the doorway. He took one look at Hyde. Looked at his now timid employee. Red's face swung back to him with pure anger. "Out. Now."
Hyde didn't have the energy to fight with him. Even though that was what he wanted to do. He wanted to tell Red that he wasn't leaving until he spoke to Jackie. That he needed her to hear him out and give him a chance to explain. But the minute Jackie stepped back from him, Hyde deflated. He felt like a monster. No, he felt like scum. There was no mistaking that he had frightened her. In all the years he had known her, she had never backed away from him. Even before they were dating. Jackie was never intimidated by him.
What the hell changed?
"I'm leaving." Hyde whispered.
He left the muffler shop. Sparing one last look at the pretty brunette on his way out. Red had one of his hands on her shoulder and was crouched down to look at her at eye level.
The older man must be checking on her. Asking if he had done anything. Like I would ever hurt Jackie!
That's when it hits him. He had hurt her. Many times.
When he cheated on her with the nurse.
All the times he refused to tell her he loved her.
Never believing her when she said that she and Kelso were over.
Too cowardly to answer her about the future.
Letting her leave for Chicago.
Not once stopping to listen to what she had to say in Chicago.
Sam.
"Fuck!" And in a fit of rage, Hyde hurled his muffler as hard as he could onto the cement and watched as it broke even more apart.
Just like he was.
WOW! I'm back. I haven't been this motivated to write since I was still in high school. But look at me, already on my second chapter in a week. *Go me, it's my birthday* Just kidding. But seriously, I do want to thank everyone who reviewed. As of right now, I have no intentions of going to AO3 and will continue to post here instead. You all have no idea how happy you have made me this past week hearing your feedback. Please let me know your thoughts! Your feelings! Any questions?
Have a great day