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.

Oh, yes. I reread my last chapter and it seems that I wrote Hyde was gone for four months instead of two at one time? Let's just PRETEND that it says two, could we? I knew you would understand. Thanks .

Let us begin. Hope you enjoy. And as always, let me know your thoughts in the reviews!

Chapter four:

Hyde didn't know how he agreed to this.

He didn't even want to be here.

As a matter of fact, he had somewhere he was supposed to be. It wasn't like an appointment or anything that he needed to show up for. Hell, it wasn't even a date. But to him, it was the one thing he looked forward to the most through out his day. Making the journey to the bar that Jackie worked at just to drink a few beers and have her ignore him all night? Hyde couldn't think of a better way for spending his nights.

Actually, he could. With her perched on his lap while they sat in the basement watching tv or burning their friends. That was how he would really like to spend his nights. And after everyone starts to leave, they would both head into his room where he could finally be alone with her. Finally have their one-on-one time.

Hyde would never admit it, but the nights that she had snuck into the house and slept with him on his cot while her dad was in jail and her mom was out whoring around the world were some of the greatest he had ever had. Hyde was never the 'boyfriend' type and certainly wasn't the type to sleep with a girl in his bed without fooling around. Actually, he was never the type to fool around in his own bed. Before Jackie, it was always somewhere he could make a quick exit. But with Jackie? Hyde had begun to prefer there to be no exits between them.

He just never told her that.

Maybe if he had, he wouldn't be spending his days and nights alone. Maybe he would still have the beautiful petite girl wrapped around him every chance she had. It didn't matter if they were alone or in a crowded room, Jackie always made it a point to invade his personal space; she would lean on him, wrap her arms around his waist, his arm, or his shoulders. Hell, sometimes she would take his arm and wrap it around her just so she could fit against his side better.

At the time, it had annoyed him. He wasn't what you would call 'touchy feely'.

Now, there was nothing he missed more.

Hyde remembered how he would pull her closer, just to feel her pressed up against him even more than she already was. He always tried to convince himself that it was just a physical reaction. Like when someone punched you and you flinched kinda thing. Now, Hyde could admit that he would pull her closer because he wanted her nearer.

"Guys isn't this great," Kelso said with a grin, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Just like old time my amigos."

Hyde lifted his eyebrow as they all stood inline at The Hub waiting to order food. He knew that he had been blowing off his friends. Just like they knew they were being blown off. Hell, he knew that they knew, that he knew that he was blowing them off. The only thing was, Hyde didn't give a damn.

He was spending time with her.

"Yeah, Kelso, really great." He said with an eyeroll and a quick glance at his watch. Right now, Jackie would just be starting her shift. That means that she would have gotten there maybe ten minutes ago. She liked to help the girls set up when they opened and talk to them about girly shit or bar related shit when she would join them later into the night.

Jackie didn't open tonight. Instead, she would get there around six-fifty and start her shift at seven. Because he knew she liked to get there early, he had begun to get there around the same time too. Not wanting her to walk in or out of the bar alone at night.

His favorite shifts were the ones where she opened. Usually, Jackie- and Hyde- would get to the bar around noon or one. The bar was almost always empty of patrons, and it gave him the privacy he needed to try and engage her while she dried and put away glasses or took inventory. Those were the days he would just talk to her. Hyde had long since stopped trying to ask her questions, he knew she wouldn't answer any of them.

While the bar was empty and it was the two of them- plus the owner in the back, Hyde would talk to her. Tell her about his day, fill her in on what their friends were doing. He would just…talk. Shit, Hyde had never talked so much in his whole damn life. But he spoke to her. And he knew that she listened. He would see her lips quirk up at a funny story he would tell. Roll her eyes at Kelso's antics. Smile whenever he mentioned Kitty.

Jackie never said anything in return. Never asked questions. Never laughed. But he knew from those facial expressions, she was listening. And because of that, Hyde would continue to speak to her.

Again, Hyde found himself wondering just how he got roped into coming out to The Hub instead of the bar that was calling to him.

When the entire basement crew - minus a loud brunette - came and sat down around him like normal, Hyde should have been on guard. He had noticed the looks. The head nods between all of his friends. He chose to ignore the others in the room and focus on the show he was previously watching. If they had something to say to him, they would have to come out and say it.

But after a full half hour of them watching him and gesturing as if he has suddenly gone blind, he had had enough.

He realized now, too late, that he never should have engaged them. But Hyde always believed that the best defense was to have a greater defense than the other team. So, when his show ended and he could still feel their eyes on him, he finally asked what the hell was the matter.

"Well," Kelso said from the beach chair across from him. "We were all talking about how you no longer spend anytime with us. And I gotta say, man, that's not very nice."

Hyde could feel his eyebrows knot together in his confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're totally blowing us off, man."

"Yes. Now that you know where Jackie is all you do is follow her around and stalk her like the creepy stalker you really are." Fez said with a pout. Hyde could see Forman trying to hide a smile and Donna's shoulders shake with her quiet laugh.

"Hey, I'm not stalking her." When the group just continued to look at him, he rose from his chair. The pressure of their gazes finally getting to him. "I go to the bar to…to watch her. Make sure that she's alright. There is no stalking happening."

"So that explains why for the past three weeks you've done nothing but plan your days around going to a bar out in Kenosha and making up excuses to go to my dad's shop." Forman drawled from his seat on the couch.

"What was it this time?" Donna asked with fake confusion. "Wasn't his right front tire making a squeaking noise?" She asked Forman and he nodded at her with a smirk.

"No, that was last week." Kelso laughing, "This week he needed new oil. I guess that guys at the last place gave him synetic."

"Synthetic," Hyde corrected before you could stop himself.

"Right. That's what I said, Synetic. And for some reason he could feel it driving funny."

"I already told you. My El Camino is a classic. It wasn't made to take any synthetic oil crap. That shit was created by the corporations to up charge their prices and make hard working people pay even more for the 'cleaner oil' when we all know that it is the same oil, just bottled different. But this time, I think they may have actually mixed my oil with something. Because my car really was driving funny after I got the oil changed."

"When Hyde says his car was driving funny, he means that it was driving in the direction of Jackie." Fez snickered and the rest of the group laughed.

"That is not what happened. It really was driving weird. I should know. I drive it every day." Hyde crossed his arms as he sat back into his chair.

"Yeah, you do. Every day you drive it in the direction of Jackie." Again, the gang laughed at Fez because he was just so damn funny today. A real fucking comedian. He wondered how many jokes he would make when Hyde frogged him.

"You know," Forman started holding up a finger in mock thought, "What if his car has like a built-in sensor to wherever Jackie is. Like as soon as he gets in, his car will low jack onto her and just take him there."

Donna tried to hide her smile behind her hand as Kelso chuckled loudly.

"I don't know if I would call in low jack." Donna said, ignoring Hyde and his menacing looks. "Cause his car was taking him where his heart wanted to go."

She and Forman both place a hand over their hearts and look at him with fake awe. "To Jackie." They said together.

"Wouldn't that mean that Hyde's car has heart-jack?" Kelso asked with a giggle.

Fez frowned and looked around the room, "You know. I'm just now realizing that since its Hyde, this is funny. But whenever I would follow a woman, it was called 'creepy' and 'scary' and 'harassment'."

Hyde shook his head. "I'm not following her. The bar and the muffler shop are public places and I have every reason to be there. Fez, you would be outside their windows and watching them."

"I gotta side with Hyde on this one," Donna said from the other side of her boyfriend. "I can't even tell you how many times I have caught you in my closet or in the shower watching me and Eric together. You're a perv."

"And I can't even tell you how many times you didn't catch me." Fez said as he crossed his arms.

"What," The couple asked looking at him.

Fez's eyes got really big and he began to laugh awkwardly. "What did I say? Oh right, Hyde has been ignoring us cause the woman he loves can't stand to be near him anymore because he broke her heart and without my goddess, I have also been suffering from heart break."

Hyde rolled his eyes.

"Man, I never thought I would say this, but the basement sure is quiet without Jackie." Leave it to Kelso to ignore the huge elephant that was just dropped into the room.

"Yeah, I guess you just get used to her incessant talking and now that its gone you miss it. She really is the Devil," Forman cried with a loud gasp that had Donna shaking her head. "Who else could make you miss torture."

"You know what's torture?" Kelso asked as he stood from his chair. "Being the only pretty one in the group again." The four friends all turned to look at him, Kelso nodded and continued, "Before Jackie, you don't even want to know the weight I had on my shoulders always having to be the pretty one. Not like it was hard or anything, cause look at me, evolution really gifted me."

"I am looking at you, man. You're proof that evolution can go in reverse."

"Thanks, Hyde." Kelso smiled at him.

Shaking his head, Forman looked at his glasses wearing friend. "Listen man. We just want to spend some time with you too. It seems like all you do is go to work, make excuses to go and see Jackie and then come home and crash."

"Am I missing something, or did we not just watch tv together? And we all had a circle." Hyde was really starting to get pissed. He sees his friends every damn day. Its not like the basement isn't still the center of their little universe and where they all still spend the majority of their time.

"Yeeees, and you talked about Jackie the whole time and killed our buzz with your whining and you're complaining about missing her." With and eyeroll, Fez also stood up. "We are tired of your moping my silent and angry friend. It is time for you to come and hang out with us. We are all going to have a good day."

Hyde shook his head as he glanced at his watch, "Fez, man, I cant—"

"I SAID A GOOD DAY, DAMNIT."

And that was how Hyde found himself at the diner with his friends taking up their regular table. If he wasn't so worried about making it to Kenosha before it gets too late, he might even say he was having fun.

Sitting here and talking to his friends was something he had missed. Even before his visits to Jackie, Hyde knew he had clocked out on his friends, preferring the company of beer and country music. When Jackie stopped coming to the basement, he began to keep everyone at arms length, thinking they would follow her too. But instead, they had stayed…because she had left them all too. It wasn't just him that was hurt and feeling abandoned.

Donna had lost her best friend.

Fez and lost his goddess.

Kelso had lost his friend and the only other contender for beauty queen in the gang.

Forman had also lost his friend, even though he would never admit it. Hyde knew that Jackie and Forman were weirdly friends to each other.

The whole group had lost her, not just him.

Maybe he should start spending more time with them? It wasn't like she was any closer to actually having a conversation with him. She still ignored him. Still treated him like he was some regular customer. He could start spending more nights in the basement hanging with his friends.

Hyde tried to unclench the knot he felt forming in his stomach. Just the thought of not seeing her was making him feel queasy and his palms turn clammy.

What the hell was happening to him? Was he getting sick? He hadn't heard of any flu going around, but then again, he did spend a lot of time in Kenosha and around randoms in the bar. Maybe they had been somewhere with a flu going around and passed it to him.

Yeah. A flu.

Shit. Hyde couldn't even convince himself of that bullshit excuse. He knew what was really wrong.

He was in love. And the dime that he had his eye on didn't seem to want to give him the time of day.

"So," Forman said after they all got their food and took their seat at their usual table in The Hub. Hyde tried not to think about how every time they came to the diner this table was always open for them. He just brushed it off as good timing. Or just circle thoughts. "Has Jackie spoken to you yet?"

"Not yet." Hyde answered taking a bite of his burger.

"Damn," Kelso began to laugh. "You messed up really bad, Hyde. Cause whenever Jackie and I broke up, it never mattered what I did, she would still talk to me." Hyde looked at him and even though he was wearing his glasses, their three other friends knew that he was glaring at the taller boy. "I guess that's the difference between you and I, huh?"

"And what difference would that be?"

"That Jackie may have never actually gotten over me. Maybe when we were in Chicago, I should have made the moves on her."

With more power than he intended, Hyde frogged his idiot friend in his shoulder.

"Ouch!" Kelso grabbed his arm and glare/pouted at Hyde. "Too rough, man!"

With a shake of her head, Donna looked at Hyde. "It doesn't bother you that she doesn't say ANYTHING to you?"

Hyde leaned back against the leather in the booth and crossed his arms. "The way I see it is Jackie spoke nearly constantly for four years. God has finally gifted us with a break from her incessant chatter. And now that she is silent, I am doing the talking. For once, the girl is finally listening."

Forman shook his head and Donna hid her smile in her shoulder.

"I think I would have given up," Kelso piped up, still rubbing his arm but also digging into his fries.

Fez shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I could never give up on my Goddess. If I had the chance, I would be there to constantly remind her that I am hers and that she is all I want." As the rest of the group stared at their foreign friend, Fez chuckled nervously. "This is a what if scenario, yes?"

Shaking head and deciding that getting up to frog Fez wasn't worth it, he continued. "I honestly don't care that she isn't talking to me."

Yes, he did.

But he wasn't about to mention to his best friends that he's had since elementary school some pansy ass thing like how much he missed the sound of her voice.

Not on his life.

That's okay. Hyde figured that she deserved this. No matter how annoyed he was with her and how…hurt he was with her blatant disregard of him. He knew that she needed this.

It was like an ego boost.

After all her chasing, Hyde thought that this was a good time to allow her to play hard to get. He was confident that soon Jackie would eventually give in and talk to him again. And once she is talking to him, Hyde knows that he will be able to convince her to forgive him. It will be as if little to no time at all had passed. They would pick up their relationship from where they left off.

Remember that higher power and how it was laughing at him?

He should have known that karma was a nasty and petty bitch.

Because who should enter The Hub in that exact moment?

Jackie Burkhart.

And she wasn't alone. She was followed in by a group of people who were all chattering over each other, and they were all carrying book bags.

Hyde knew that he wasn't the only one that had noticed her entrance. It seemed like the whole table was turned to face the beautiful brown-haired girl as she laughed at one of the girls in the group. It wasn't one of the laughs she gave the people at the bar—which he just remembered that she was supposed to be at. Her laugh was genuine. Deep. It was her really laugh. Something she didn't do in public cause her mother said it was unflattering.

It was the sexiest sound he had ever heard. Jackie laughed from the back of her throat and it was always deep. Always sexy.

The group took two tables and pushed them together. He watched as a few of them went and got in line to get food and the others that stayed with Jackie began to empty their bags and pull out books and school shit.

"Hyde, I thought you said she was working tonight. This doesn't look like bartending to me," Forman said ironically.

"I thought she was," Hyde said confused as she again laughed with a girl that looked familiar. "That's one of her coworkers." He couldn't think of anything else to say. He had no idea what was going on.

Fez released a screech so loud the who group winced and the entire restaurant turned and looked at him. "That is not a coworker," Fez exclaimed as everyone stopped looking at him. "That is the love of Fez's life. The one that got away. The red headed vixen in the flesh. The dream girl of many, many, many of Fez's sexual awakenings."

"Eh," Hyde cried grossed out.

"Dude, we didn't NOT need to hear that." Forman said covering his ears.

"Big Rhonda?" Kelso said checking out the group. "I don't know, little buddy. I don't see…" Just then, Kelso must have noticed her. "Holy shit! Big Rhonda is smokin'!"

"AYE! Stop looking at my woman like that!"

Hyde tuned his friends out as he continued to focus on Jackie.

What the hell was she doing here? She usually closed tonight. For the past few weeks, he had learned her schedule. Hell, he knew her work schedule better than he knew his own for the Grooves. And he was the one that made the damn thing.

His plan had been to finish his burger, stay for roughly forty minutes tops and then book it all the way to Kenosha.

But here she was. Sitting not ten feet away from him. Holding a text book?

Oh right. He did remember Forman telling him something about her going to school. She was taking classes at a campus in Kenosha. While visiting her in the opening shifts, he would see her reading or writing sometimes. He never really paid that much attention. Hyde was kicking himself now for never realizing before that she was probably doing her homework. After all, Jackie used to do her homework on Saturdays before coming over to the basement while in high school. Why would she change her ways?

But today wasn't Saturday.

So why wasn't she working?

And just like that, Hyde realized that he would have made the whole trip out to the bar to see her and she wouldn't have been there. He was irritated because she could have at least told him yesterday that she wasn't going to be working. It was the courteous thing to do, damnit.

It didn't matter that Jackie barely said two words to him that didn't ask what he was drinking. His anger wouldn't let him think rationally.

Or stop him from getting up and crossing to her table.

He could hear his friends behind him.

Donna, "Hyde, what are you doing?"

Kelso, "I gotta see this!"

Fez, "Me too. You know I don't like to be left alone."

Forman, "This should be good. Why not?"

Their footsteps were like a freaking stampede as they all came up behind him as he stopped next to her table. It looked like the whole group was finally seated and there were baskets of food placed in the middle of the tables they had pushed together.

Taking a quick look around the table, he saw that Jackie was sitting between Big Rhonda, who seemed to have been visited by the beauty fairy or something cause she was a nice sight for the eyes, and a dorky looking guy with thick glasses. He kind of reminded him of Forman, if Forman was actually good at school and had nice hair. Across from them was a beautiful black girl. She was a little darker than his sister and she had some of the best curls he had ever seen on a woman's head. Next was a big beefy guy. Hyde would bet the fifty bucks he had on him that he was a football player. His arm was wrapped around the tiny Asian girl sitting next to him. She had very striking features. He could also tell that she was short. Even shorter than Jackie.

"What the hell are you doing here, Jackie?" Okay, Hyde could admit that even to himself that came out sounding more dick-like than he intended.

"Who the hell are you?" The meat head asked with agitation.

"Hey," Forman said stepping up to the table. "Were friends of Jackie's. We thought she was working tonight. Didn't know she would be here is all."

"Friends," the tiny Asian girl said. "I've never heard of you guys before."

"You haven't?" Donna asked with non-disguised hurt in her voice.

"Well allow me to introduce myself," Kelso said, walking up to the dark-skinned girl on the other side of the table. "The name is Michael Kelso, and I am proof the evolution goes in reverse."

Both groups snickered at him. "What?" quickly shaking their heads, both groups decided not to mention how badly Kelso just burned himself.

"Jackie?" Hyde asked.

She looked at him. Then slowly let her eyes roam to the rest of the gang. Hyde didn't know what she was searching for, but she took her time to scrutinize them all. Finally, she signed and leaned back into her chair. That was when he noticed that the dorky kid had his arm wrapped around the back of her seat.

"We have a group project coming up."

Hyde was immediately pulled away from the guys arm and too Jackie. She had just spoken to them. To him. Holy shit.

"Jack, you gonna introduce us?" Big Rhonda said eyeballing the group with mistrust.

Seemed like somethings never change.

Rolling her mismatched eyes, Jackie sighed. "Kelso, Fez, Donna, Eric, Hyde. These are my friends, Rhonda, Richard, Josie, Patrick, and Esme."

"Yes, Fez remembers Big Rhonda fondly."

"Listen pal, I haven't been called Big Rhonda is almost two years. I don't know what you think you know, but you better watch it cause I'm not that girl anymore."

"Rhon," Jackie said in a placating voice. "This is that foreign kid that you allowed to kiss you and he tried to grope you on the school stairs."

With a raised eyebrow, 'Rhon' looked at his short friend and then nodded. "Oh yeah. I remember you. I punched you."

Fez smiled broadly. "Indeed, you did."

"Why did you never mention you had friends in Point Place?" The dark-skinned girl asked. The hell was her name. Jony? Jolene? Josie.

"I don't." Jackie shrugged and opened her textbook pretending that they all weren't looking at her.

Both groups became quiet, and Hyde could literally feel the awkward reach out and strangle him.

"You don't have any friends in Point Place?" Donna asked outraged. "I'm your friend."

Jackie cut a look to Donna that even made Hyde flinch back. Donna took a step behind Forman and Fez hid behind Hyde.

"Whoa," Kelso said, getting out of Josie's personal space. "Jackie that's not a nice thing to say to your best friend. Obviously, you girls need to make up. And as a former officer of the law, I have the authority to make you girls. Now, go ahead and kiss."

"Back off, Kelso." Jackie said.

"Jackie. What the hell?" Hyde said wondering where the sweet and innocent girl was that wanted…needed everyone to love her.

"Look, we have to study." Jackie said with a dismissive tone.

Before Hyde or any of his friends could say anything, the Asian girl spoke, "Maybe it would be best if you leave?" It didn't matter how soft spoken the little girl was, Hyde was about to give her a piece of his mind when the jock, Patrick, stood up and clenched his fists.

Shit. If he wasn't still recovering from the blow Red gave him to the ribs, Hyde might actually take a swing. But he knew that his ribs wouldn't be able to take it. Closing his mouth, Hyde shot Jackie a long glance. "This isn't over."

Her mismatched eyes just blinked at him.

So, she was going back to the silent treatment, huh. Okay.

Real fucking mature, Jackie.

Hyde and the gang didn't know what else to do. After her verbal dismissal and the roid-rage physical dismissal, the gang sat in silence watching the table for a while.

"Is it just me or has Jackie turned into such a bitch?" Donna asked with anger.

Forman rubbed her shoulder but didn't say anything. Hyde notice that this was the first time Forman has never jumped on the chance to bad mouth Jackie. In all the times in the past, his Star Wars loving friend would be the first of the gang to burn or insult her. Now, Hyde noticed that while he didn't defend the small girl sitting at a table across from them, he didn't agree with Donna either.

But Hyde did.

Jackie not talking to him? Fine. He could handle that.

Jackie suddenly calling him Hyde? He hated it, but sure. Whatever floats her damn boat.

But blatantly saying they weren't friends? Asking him to leave? Un-fucking-real.

….

…

…

Hyde sat in his car after his friends all drove away.

He was waiting, like he always did, for Jackie.

After the group ate in silence and continued to watch as their 'old friend' worked and studied with her 'new friends', they all decided it was time to go home. Mostly to get a pissed off Donna away from the tiny girl. She was becoming increasingly confrontational, and all the boys knew that at any moment, Donna was gonna snap.

So, they left. Or well, his friends had left, and Hyde had continued to sit in his car for another hour and wait.

Wait for Jackie.

Because even though he was mad at her, he needed to make sure she got into the car with Rhonda safe. Then he could drive away and stew in his anger until he was able to confront her himself at the bar.

The door to The Hub opened and he watched as the group of college kids exited the building. The Jock had his arm around the tiny Asian girl and laughing as the tall black girl was play fighting with Rhonda. What the hell was he watching? Was he still high from earlier when he had a circle with his friends before they left to get food? The two girls were trying Kung Fu moves on each other and cracking up.

But that wasn't what had his attention. What was the most fascinating to Hyde was Jackie. Jackie and the Dick.

The tall geek had his arm around her shoulders. She was looking up at him and nodding her head. And right before his shades covered eyes, Hyde watched as Dick leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

Holy fucking shit!

Hello! Listen, I know I missed last weeks update. But I just want to say, I never made any promises on how often I would update! There was no signing of contract. But, with that being said, I am so glad I wrote this. It is time to finally get the plot rolling.

So it looks like the waitress was right. Jackie is dating someone. Wow. And how is Hyde gonna take it? Hell, even I don't know, LOL! I guess we will ALL see in the next chapter.

As always, I hope you are enjoying this story and I want to thank everyone for their kind words and reviews! See you next chapter!