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!
Also, I should mention this chapter gets a bit spicy. But it stays on the pg-13 side of it. Just so you know. You've been warned?
Chapter five:
To say that Hyde was pissed would be an understatement. It was like he couldn't breathe—almost like he couldn't drag enough air into lungs. He watched the group in front of him and saw red. What the hell did Jackie think she was doing kissing that loser? What a damn joke of a guy! He was too skinny, his nose was too pointy, and at the diner the pansy didn't say one damn word! He was a scrawny, geeky version of Eric Forman that thought he was so much better than Hyde and all his friends.
He watched them as the group stood there outside of The Hub talking and joking around. He saw the Dick wrap his arm around Jackie's shoulder and kiss her temple.
Hyde's nostrils flared.
He watched as they all laughed at something the steroid abuser said and then they began walking towards the cars. Jackie and the Dick followed Rhonda to the car that Hyde remembered from the bar and Hyde watched as the Dick opened the door for her and then kissed her again before she slid into the passenger seat.
Hyde gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
It took everything in him to stay in the Camino and not go over to the geek and trounce the shit out of him. He knew that he wouldn't stop if he began to swing on the lanky kid. It took everything him not to follow Rhonda in her car as she pulled out with Jackie. He knew that if he followed, he would start a fight with Jackie.
Instead, he sat in his car. Hands still clutching the steering wheel and trying to breathe in a way that wasn't gasps.
So, the chipper waitress was correct when she said that Jackie was dating, Hyde thought bitterly. She freaking knew this whole time. Was the waitress laughing at him? Thinking that he was pining after a woman who had clearly moved on and he just didn't know it?
She and the other waitresses must have been having a great laugh at his expense. Because of course they were. Wasn't this the kind of drama girls lived for? Him visiting Jackie night after night must have been the best entertainment they've had in a while.
He didn't remember the drive home.
He didn't remember walking into the basement.
He didn't remember picking up the nearest thing he could find and throwing it across the room with as much force as his body would allow.
"Whoa!" Forman and Kelso yelled as they shot up from the couch.
"What the hell?" Forman continued trying to take a step forward but stopped when Hyde picked up another thing and hurled it across the basement.
Hyde looked around the main living area for something else he could throw and ended up grabbing a record. He looked at it and saw that it was an Abba album. Without hesitation he took it out of the sleave and threw it on the ground and watched it smash into thousands of shards.
Again, he turned to the records and grabbed another. Captain and Tennille. He smashed it on the floor and stepped on the bigger chunks to make sure they were good and broken. Barry Manilow? He broke that one with his bare hands. Hyde grabbed another record and went to throw it before he even looked at. When he did, he quickly put it back. Just because he was angry didn't mean that he was gonna destroy a Zeppelin album. He wasn't that out of his mind.
"Hyde!" His friends both yelled at him as he reached for a different record. There had to be others that she had left here. Or others that his stupid whipped ass had bought her when they were dating. He had gotten Barbra fucking Streisand just to make her smile. Now he would be the one to smile as he broke it to pieces.
A hand resting on his shoulder had him stopping and taking a deep breath. No one could see but he closed his eyes and banished the burning feeling behind his eyelids.
He turned and looked at two of his best friends. If this was any other moment, he would have laughed at how they both took a step back from him with just his look. But this wasn't a moment he found funny. Actually, he was still pretty pissed and wanted to break something again.
"What happened?" Forman asked because he wouldn't have seen. None of them saw her lip action with the Dick.
Calling upon every shred of Zen he possessed, Hyde ran a hand through his hair and began to walk towards his chair and took a seat. "Looks like Jackie moved on."
"What does that mean?" Kelso asked still standing a good distance away from him.
"I saw her tonight kissing some other guy."
Kelso held up his hands. "Wasn't me, man. I came home with Forman. He can testify."
Hyde looked at Kelso with his face pinched in confusion and wondered again for the millionth time since meeting him, just how many times he was dropped on his head as a baby. Christ. "Of course, it wasn't you, dumb ass. She was kissing that Dick guy."
Both his best friends looked at each other with shock. He would have laughed if he could.
"You mean the skinny guy who didn't talk?" Forman asked with a smirk.
"You mean the guy who looked like a smarter and taller version of Eric?" Kelso asked at the same time.
Forman turned to Kelso with a frown, "That geek looked nothing like me."
Hyde tuned his friends out. Any other time he would be all for comparing the nerd that was Eric Forman and comparing it to what a geek that the Dick was. Any other time he would have laughed at how incredulous Forman became.
Not tonight. Tonight, it hurt.
With him not being able to handle his feelings, Hyde knew that he needed to take the edge off. So, without any thought to his still arguing friends, he stood up and went into his room and grabbed his stash out of his hiding place.
As he returned both friends were smiling at him and already sitting in their usual spots around the table. "Twice in one night! Alright!"
Forman and Kelso high-fived each other. "We haven't had two circles since high school."
Hyde rolled his eyes at his friends' antics and proceeded to roll a joint. When he was done, he lit the weed cigarette and took a long and much needed drag before he passed it to Forman.
After the joint had been passed a few times, Hyde felt himself begin to relax. He had just finished telling Kelso and Forman what he saw outside of the diner. "You guys should have seen it. It was like a nightmare. Their lips and arms." Hyde shuddered and made a face.
"You cannot have been that surprised. I mean, you did move on first." Forman said. When Hyde just continued to look at him, his nerd friend continued. "The stripper Hyde. You married a stripper."
Hyde shook his head. "That doesn't count."
"How does that not count. From what I saw and heard; you certainly were married in all the ways that count." Kelso added, unhelpfully.
Hyde winced. He and Sam had made out in front of the group every chance they had when they first came back to Point Place. Looking back Hyde knew that he did it just to get to Jackie. The efforts were for nothing though because Jackie never saw them. And sure, while she was here, he did sleep with her a few times. But when he realized Jackie wasn't coming around…when the thought of Jackie wasn't enough to keep him going with the blonde bimbo…he stopped even trying with the stripper.
It became suffocating to be around her. She was loud and always smelled like smoke. Sam always wanted to know what he was doing and where he was going. Like she was his damn wife or something. Ugh. She quickly wore out her welcome to the point where just looking at her made him sick. He stopped sleeping in his room after he realized that Jackie wasn't coming back. He stopped talking to Sam when he realized she still expected things from him, like conversations or hanging out.
That was when he asked his dad, W.B., for help getting rid of her. He knew that if anyone would be able to get Sam gone it would be her. Two days later, W.B. showed up with their license that read Sam was married to a man named Raw Hyde. Even now, sitting in the basement, months later, stoned out of his mind, Hyde chuckled. That meant that even in his drunken, messed up brain, he knew he didn't want to be married. At least not to her.
Also, it was a damn good burn.
It was a relief to finally return to his room and his cot again without her there. Just as quickly as she came, she left and took all her shit too.
The gang didn't miss her either. The only one that kind of got upset with her leaving was Donna. And now that Hyde was high enough to think clearly, he could see that Donna just missed having another girl around. Not Sam. He began to see that she had been missing Jackie just like he had been. There were a few times even when Sam was still around, Donna would ask the basement gang in general if anyone had heard from Jackie. He could recall a dinner where she asked the Forman's if they had seen Jackie around. Damn, Red and Kitty are great liars when they want to be. None of the knew that Jackie had kept in contact with Red. Hell, even Forman had them convinced.
"Hey, Forman. How were you able to lie to Donna and us about Jackie?" Hyde knew that if he were not stoned, he would never ask his friend this. But this was a genuine question that he needed the answer for. All their lives, Forman sucked at lying. Hyde knew his every tell. So how could he pull one over on him?
"Oh, um, fear. Red swore that if I told you and you guys showed up at the shop, he would make living in the house with him a nightmare. There was no 'foot in ass' threat. This one was different, man. And that fear of not knowing," Forman looked so serious that Kelso and Hyde both sat back to get away from him. "It was frightening. Uncharted territory. And if there was anything that I picked up from my father and his war stories is to always trust your instincts. My instincts were screaming at me to do whatever the scary bastard said."
Kelso and Hyde nodded their head in understanding. They both didn't know what to do with a different kind of threat from Red Forman.
"Wait," Kelso said with a confused look. "Does this mean that Josie is butch for Rhonda?"
….
….
…..
I must really like to punish himself, he thought as he took at seat at the bar. He knew the moment Jackie noticed him because her shoulders tensed and her smile because a little too forced. But that was fine. She didn't have to be happy to see him. He wasn't here for his normal visit anyways. Tonight, he was gonna get some damn answers.
"What do you want?" Rhonda asked standing in front of him, her arms crossed. If Hyde hadn't been coming to the bar for months now, he would think that she was being hostile to him on account of what happened the other night. Instead, Hyde knew that this was just how she operated. So, he told her he was gonna drink a beer and to keep them coming.
He was on his third one by the time Jackie got close enough for him to talk to her.
"I didn't realize you were dating." When Jackie continued to pour a drink and not answer him, he felt his anger rise again. "Were you going to tell me?"
Finally, she looked at him. "Tell you what?"
"That you were dating that Dick."
Jackie's eyes narrowed and she slammed the glass she had just poured in front of the person next to him. "His name is Richard, and I also don't think its any of your business."
"Of course, it's my business. You think I drive all the way out here to this damn bar every night because I like the beer and pretzels? I come here for you."
Jackie just shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "I don't know why you keep coming here, Hyde."
"It's Steven." Hyde ground out at her.
Jackie began talking as if he hadn't just said anything. "I was actually wondering about that too. I'm very sure your wife doesn't enjoy you coming all the way out here night after night. Unless she doesn't know, seeing how these are her working hours." Damn, that was a great burn. Damn himself for always having to acknowledge when a burn is good too. "But then again. Its none of my business."
Like hell she was winning this argument. And like hell he was gonna talk to her about Sam right here in a crowded bar. "I have been trying to talk to you for the past month and you've just blown me off."
"Because there is nothing to say anymore, Hyde."
His back teeth mashed together. "It's Steven."
Jackie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not doing this." And she walked away.
For an hour, she stayed on the other side of the bar and continued to ignore him.
Okay, so maybe Jackie really was going to ignore him. Looks like there is nothing to talk about. Which was just fine with him. She wanted to be that way, fine. But he wasn't gonna have to do it sober. Hyde kept Rhonda pretty busy over the next hour.
Beer after beer and he was just now starting to feel the effects. He wondered just how trashed this bar would let him become before they asked him to leave. Because he knew that was where he was headed tonight. In the past he had kept his drinking to a minimum in front of Jackie, like her innocent, mismatched eyes couldn't see the shame that was him drinking himself into a drunken stupor. Tonight, Hyde no longer cared.
"Easy there Tiger," A feminine voice said from next to him. "You're knocking those tall ones back like you're a fish out of water."
Hyde looked at the girl sitting to his right and took a good look at her. Yeah, she was interested. Blonde hair and big boobs are usually the ones that throw themselves at him at bars. Sometimes the women had been brown haired. But tonight, it was the usual menu. She was wearing a skirt that was barely there, a shirt that covered just enough of her bar to make it look trampy instead of trashy. He had learned over the years that there was, in fact, a difference.
With a glance over in Jackie's direction, he noticed that she was watching them. He smirked and looked at the lady next to him. "Oh, and what could possibly entice me enough to slow down."
The blonde leaned into his personal space. "I noticed you said slow down and not stop, sugar. What does a girl have to do to get you to stop." She batted her eyes at him.
Again, Hyde sought Jackie out from the corner of his eye. She was still watching. "Maybe you and I can find out?" He suggested. The girl flung her head back and laughed. It was not a cute laugh. It took everything in Hyde not to blanche and pull away from her. But the blonde was still laughing; it was somewhere between a dog clearing its throat and someone coughing with pneumonia.
"Why don't we get out of here and we can test your resolve." She placed a painted finger on his chest and let it drift down. In that moment, Hyde fully turned to look at Jackie. She was standing there, arm resting on the bar, full amusement on her face. She was even smirking at him.
"You know what? No need." Hyde grabs her hand and leads her down the hallway towards the bathrooms.
…..
…..
…
Hyde shakes his head at himself in disgust. The hell was his problem? Before he never had any problems hooking up with some floozy in a dark corner, car, or bathroom. So, what the hell was going on? He and the blonde were going hot and heavy. Making out and groping. He thought he was enjoying himself. But there was…nothing below the belt.
It was embarrassing. He actually gave up before the blonde did. She was determined. But try as they both might, nothing worked. Not even him closing his eyes and imagining Jackie there in front of him. Just when he started to feel it working, the blonde leaned in and kissed his neck, and he was done. Down for the count. It was like his body knew what his brain was trying to trick him into believing was a lie. His body knew that the woman wasn't Jackie and so far, it had been doing a damn good job in only responding to the pint-sized brunette for the past few months.
To say the girl was disappointed was a bit of an understatement. But Hyde was never one to let a girl leave without some kind of a good time. So, he helped her get off. And if he thought the sound of her laugh was horrible, it was nothing compared to the sounds she made in the bathroom stale behind him.
He wondered if he could bleach the last ten minutes out of his brain, without any real Kelso type of damage happening?
Hyde quickly washed his hands and thought that right now would be a great time and finish getting drunk. Maybe this time he would succeed without any interruptions.
On the way back to the bar, Hyde noticed that a few people were looking at him. Okay, not a few people. It was the whole damn bar. And quite a few of them were snickering at him like he was a punchline to whatever joke they had been told.
What the hell was funny?
Shaking his head, Hyde went back to the bar and ordered a drink. It was the other bartender. She had short blonde hair and bangs. He had never really talked to her. Just said beer and then would wave his empty at her when he wanted another. Now, he looked at her and saw that she too was also laughing at him. "What is everyone laughing at?"
She placed the beer in front of him and shrugged.
"I'll tell you, "A loud voice said from a few stools away. It was a regular here at the bar. He was a big man, bald and spoke as loud as his stomach was wide. "We are all laughing at the little show you put on earlier." A few others snickered with the big man and shook their heads at Hyde.
"Show?"
The bald man moved over to sit next to Hyde and leans heavily on the counter. "You know, taking the blonde into the bathroom to get a rise out of Jack-Jack. Were you hoping that she would stop you? Cause, man, you had to know that she wasn't."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hyde said looking away from all the faces staring at him.
This did deter that bald man in the least, "We've all been watching. Us regulars and the waitresses and been watching you guys for a while. I thought when you finally moved to the bar that you would finally get up some nerve."
Hyde had been right. The chipper waitress and the other girls who worked here were all laughing at him. Why wouldn't they. Stuff like this was better than cable. It was free fucking drama that wasn't theirs. As mad as Hyde was for being the laugh of the joke, he could respect their reasoning. To a point.
"This was the first time in a month that she actually talked to you, and you thought what? You would make her jealous by getting with the woman who has had more trips into the men's bathroom than you have?" At the look on his face, the bald man and half the bar started laughing at him. "Man, when you get here, do you watch the bar or do you only watch her. Cause you would have seen that the blonde uses the bathrooms like her own personal play rooms."
"I don't think this is a guy who pays much attention to anything, Al. He would have known she was taken if he did." A skinny man said from the side of the bald man, Al.
Al's shoulders shook as he laughed again. "You're right about that. Our Jack-Jack talks about him nonstop. And if we didn't know Rhonda and Josie, we would think those were her girlfriends. If you know what I mean." Al winked at Hyde and he shook his head.
"Maybe Rhonda and Josie are a couple?" Both men turned and looked at each other and shrugged. It could be possible, is what Hyde is picking up from them. Interesting.
"Let's just say we wouldn't be surprised, but we doubt it. Josie has gone out with guys before."
Hyde nodded and kept his cool. Okay, these guys liked to gossip. He could do this. Sure, they were talking about the wrong women, because he didn't care about Rhonda or Josie. But he wanted info on Jackie. So, he let them talk about whatever they wanted as long as he finally got information about her.
No matter how much he pried, Red refused to tell him anything about Jackie. And while Kitty had shared enough to let him know that Jackie really was doing better, her lips were sealed because they had been 'sealed with a kiss' and Hyde had to leave the kitchen when she began to tear up about how honorable of a man Red was. Her mood swings were gonna be the death of him. Forman was helpless. Because the first and only little bit he told Hyde? That was all his nerd friend knew.
That left him no choice but to sit here and listen to these guys.
"Hey, Al, did anyone win the pool?"
"Let me check," Al pulled out a piece of paper and looked at the date. "Jim! You're tonight winner. You had Jack-Jack and this guy down for arguing by the end of shift. A free round on me." The guy named Jim tilted his beer at Al.
"Wait. You guys have a betting pool going on us?"
"Yes," The whole bar replied.
"Holy shit. You guys don't have anything better to do?" When Al shrugged and began to fold up that paper, Hyde nodded at it and asked, "Out of curiosity, anyone bet on us getting back together?"
Al didn't even unfold the paper. "No, man. No one."
Hyde looked around the bar and felt his temper rising.
Of course, they didn't see them getting back together. All these clowns saw was the now. They hadn't been there for the past. None of them knew just how great they were together. But he knew. Right now, this was a bump in the road. Hyde still planned to win Jackie back. Now it was just gonna take a little more time.
He finished his beer and through some bills on the table. Then he turned to Al and slipped him a fifty. "That's for me and Jackie getting back together."
Al looked at him with a raised brow. "You sure you wanna make that bet after the whole bathroom scene?" Hyde winced, but nodded. "I need a time frame."
Hyde took a moment and thought about this. "A year. That will be enough time to win her back."
"Sure kid," Al said pocketing his money. He laughed with his buddy and even the waitress behind the bar snickered at him.
For fucks sake.
With his temper rising, Hyde walked towards the exit but stopped when he heard a familiar voice coming from the storage room. Jackie and Rhonda were both in the room laughing at something.
"They weren't in the bathroom for very long, Jackie. Why were you with him for so long?"
They were laughing about him!
"Rhon, stop." Jackie shook her head laughing.
"No," Hyde cut in. "Please go on, 'Rhon'. Enlighten us on how hilarious it was how quickly we finished in the bathroom."
"Okay," Rhonda said stepping up to a challenge. "I've heard of a minute man, but I've never actually met one before." Next to her, Jackie covered her mouth to hide her smirk.
They both thought this was so funny.
"I don't know why you're laughing Big Rhonda. I don't know a man who is willing to even try a minute with you. And you?" He turned to Jackie. Hyde knew that he should stop. He knew that he should walk out and go home. But he couldn't help himself. With her slouching there against the wall with her arms crossed and her eyebrow arched? She was asking for it. "You did me a huge favor when you ran away. Marrying you would have been the worst mistake of my life. I am actually better off alone than having to spend my life with a petty, spoiled rich girl with enough daddy and mommy issues to fill a whole bus. I really don't know what I was doing with you for two years. I'm glad we broke up when we did because I realize now that you, Jackie, will never be enough."
Hyde watched with satisfaction as the smirk left Jackie's face. He watched as her so very expressive eyes finally showed him the hurt that he had been waiting for since the night he introduced Sam. He waited to feel glee or even a little sliver of pleasure. Instead, he felt sick to his stomach. Hyde wanted to take the words back. He wished he could go back in time and take them all back. But he had said them. And Jackie had heard them.
Jackie had tears in her eyes, and she straightened from her slouched position on the wall and walked right up to him. And then the tears were gone.
It was like slow motions. Hyde saw Jackie hold Rhonda back as she made to strangle him. Then Jackie took a step towards him. And punched him in the face with more force than he ever thought she could wield. As his head snapped back, he grabbed for his jaw with a groan. But Jackie wasn't done, she brought her knee up and clocked him in the balls. While he was bent over, Jackie and Rhonda pushed passed him. On the way out, Rhonda shoved him into the wall. Hyde let himself fall to the ground still leaning into the wall.
He was an asshole.
He was scum.
He was going to need to tell Al that his one-year plan was just extended to two.
Hey everyone! How are you? Sorry I have been MIA. I went on vacation to see some of my family and didn't have time to write. And the two times I did try it turned into a huge mess with my original beginning getting erased somehow and I had to rewrite it and I'm still not that thrilled about the one I rewrote. But, alas, it is done.
Please let me know your thoughts and feelings on this chapter. This is a hard one. I know. But this is all a part of my master plan. Oh, who am I kidding. Right now, Hyde is basically writing this story himself lol. I'm just putting the words on screen for you all to read. And Enjoy, I hope.