Eric woke up the next morning. His mother, Kitty, had made scrambled eggs, toast, hash browns and bacon for him and Red. Hyde left early to go to work. Red and Kitty took Hyde in, as Hyde had a very dysfunctional home life. His parents, Edna and Bud, abandoned him as a child, and again in his teenage years. Both of them were also constantly in and out of prison. Kitty was very sweet, if tempermental and smothering. She was usually on Eric's side, except for where his relationship with Donna was concerned. The last time they broke up, Donna got mad at Eric for seeing other people after the breakup, yet she briefly dated Kelso's brother Casey, who was handsome but also a scumbag, making Kelso himself look like a gentleman in comparison. In fact, Kelso of all people took Eric's side in this, stating that Casey was bad news and tossed women aside like beer cans when he got bored with them. When confronted by Eric about this, Casey told Donna he loved her right in front of Eric, before casually telling him "it's just words. You don't have to mean it." when Donna wasn't within earshot.
The next day, Kitty and Eric caught an inebriated Donna skipping school with Casey. It didn't stop there; she continued to sneak around with him and blatantly disrespect her father, Bob, who was too big a pushover to put his foot down. Red did it for him, as Bob forbade them from seeing each other, which Donna protested to but Casey had no problem with, which hurt Donna, who brought up that Casey said he loved her. Casey cruelly responded, "I have a tendency to say things that I don't really mean." As Eric, who tried to warn Donna about Casey, offered his condolences, she childishly responded with, "You're not sorry, you got exactly what you wanted!", then proceeded to try and use Eric as a rebound. Eric told her he didn't want to be a second choice. Upon hearing about this, Kitty of all people was angry, calling him a "dumbass", as Red told him he wasn't good enough to be so proud.
Eric dreaded telling Kitty and especially Red, but they were gonna find out sooner or later, so he decided to face the music. "Good morning, sweetie." Kitty greeted. "Morning." He sat down at the table. "Mom, I have to talk to you about something." He said. "Is everything okay?" Kitty asked. "It's about Donna. We broke up again last night. I was the one to break it off with her. I realized that even though we care about each other, we just aren't right for each other. We fight all the time and we have nothing in common, and I realized we've been holding each other back. I need to find my way and she needs to go to college, get out of Point Place and follow her dreams, and we just can't do that together." He explained.
He was worried about what her reaction would be, especially because after getting back together with her, he got engaged to her and went to a lot of trouble to prove to them (mostly Red) that they were ready for marriage. Kitty looked at him for a moment, almost like she was trying to read him. She said in a gentle voice, "I understand." Eric was taken aback by this. "R-really?" he asked. "Of course. I know it must have been hard, but it sounds like you made the right decision." She told him. "Wow. Thanks, Mom! I'm glad you see it that way. I was worried you'd be mad." Eric admitted. "Now why would I be mad?" she asked. "Well, because, when I turned her down after our last breakup, you yelled at me and called me a dumbass, and I went to all this trouble to prove to you and dad that Donna and I were ready to be married, only to not marry her and call it off again." Eric said.
"Yeah... listen, Eric, I know it's long overdue, but I'm sorry I yelled at you and called you a dumbass for not wanting to be a rebound. Your father and I were the ones being dumbasses, not you. It's just that, I saw how hard you took the first breakup and how much you hated Casey for dating her, and when Casey broke her heart, I thought for sure you'd take her back. But when you didn't, it didn't make sense to me because you wanted to be with her so much, and then you rejected her when she finally wanted to get back with you. I thought it was a pride thing. But then I thought about it from your point of view, and I realized I would've done the same thing. You made the right choice by not wanting to be a second option." Kitty said.
By the look on her face and tone of her voice, Eric could tell she really regretted what she did. He couldn't help but wonder if telling Donna he was tired of always being wrong started some kind of a chain reaction of his friends and family finally acknowledging when they did him wrong and apologizing to him. "Thanks, mom." Eric said, accepting her apology. "So how are you holding up? Are you okay?" She asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. I don't know how to describe it - it hurts, but it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as last time. I mean, I miss her, and I'm not happy about it, but a part of me feels free. Maybe because I knew it wasn't working out?" Eric said.
"That makes sense to me. To be honest, I kind of knew deep down that you weren't right for each other. I noticed it after you got engaged to her in California. It seemed like all you did was fight with her. Everyone fights sometimes, but you guys fought all the time. I also hated the way she treated you, and how you were always the one who had to apologize, even when she was wrong." Kitty admitted. Eric's eyes widened slightly in shock hearing that last sentence. "See, mom, right there. That's the biggest reason why I broke up with her. She could never admit when she was wrong and apologize. She always thought she was right." Eric said. "Well, see, nobody is always right, everyone makes mistakes. It's just part of life." Kitty said. "Exactly, it isn't hard to admit when you make a mistake, but for her, it seemed impossible, and I never undersood why. I really don't understand why people do the things they do. Which actually got me thinking about my future. I want to get a psychology degree so I can understand people, and hopefully help people understand each other better. I'm gonna go to the University of Wisconsin to apply later today!" Eric told her.
"Oh, Eric, honey, that's wonderful! You'll do great at psychology! You've always been quick to help anyone in need, and that's one of my favorite things about you!" Kitty said. "Thanks, mom! I hope dad will agree, but I don't know. It's hard to say with him. Speaking of which, where is dad?" Eric asked. "Oh, he's outside, talking to Bob. He's been out there a while, I think I know why now. So how'd Donna take the breakup?" Kitty asked. "She, uh, didn't take it very well. She slapped me and then she left, crying. I felt awful. I didn't want to hurt her, but I knew this was the right decision. It seems like it's impossible for someone not to get hurt in a breakup. I hope she's okay." Eric said.
As if on que, Red opened the door and came into the kitchen. "Eric, Bob told me that you broke it off with Donna, and she's so heartbroken she won't get out of bed. Is that true? After all you did to prove to me that you were ready to marry her? You finally convinced me and I gave you my blessing! Now all I have to offer is my foot in your ass! So what is it? Is marriage going to interfere with your busy schedule of just pissing your life away?" Red asked indignantly. "Dad, it's not like that! I broke up with Donna because I realized we're not right for each other. The only thing we have in common is that we're the same age. We fight all the time, and I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm always wrong!" Eric said.
"You are always wrong! That Donna is a nice girl, maybe if you had half a brain in your head she'd like you more! You're making the biggest mistake of your life by not marrying her!" Red told him. "Oh, that's rich! Aren't you the one who kept telling me to break it off with her and went out of your way to sabotage our relationship and my life at every turn to get me to break it off?" Eric asked. "Only because I wanted to prevent you from making a huge mistake! Marriage is a commitment, it takes hard work. You finally convinced me you had what it took to make a marriage work, but I was wrong. You're still the same dumbass you were before you got back with her!" Red told him. Eric was angry, but not surprised. He had a feeling Red wouldn't understand. Red was just as bad as Donna when it came to thinking he was always right.
Eric stormed off. He was done eating anyway. A part of him hoped Red would understand, but he didn't. Eric didn't know if he ever would. He wanted so badly to make Red proud, but Red just didn't understand, or didn't want to understand that Eric wasn't a gruff manly man and he was never gonna be one, despite Red's best efforts to mold him into one. He just wanted to be accepted the way he was. But it seemed like impressing Red by being himself wasn't going to happen. He got in the Vista Cruiser, turned the car on and drove off.
"At least Mom, Jackie and Hyde are on my side." he told himself as he drove. It did help him feel a little better. He'd thought about the conversation Kitty had, and how she apologized to him for not supporting his initial decision to not take Donna back, and how she completely understood his reasons for breaking up with her this time around. He pulled into the University of Wisconsin parking lot, trying to find a parking spot. He'd wondered his whole life if people could change, and it turned out, they could, but only if they wanted to bad enough. As he finally found a parking spot, he begun to feel optimistic, hoping that maybe someday, Red and Donna will see the error of their ways. Not today, maybe not tomorrow. But someday.