ʚ ɞ

I'll stop the world and melt with you

You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time

There's nothing you and I won't do

I'll stop the world and melt with you

ʚ ɞ

Donna leads Eric up to her bedroom once again, something she has done many times over the past couple of years. She opens the door and welcomes him into her room. She stands beside her desk, discarding the earrings she had put on the occasion. For some reason, she found herself trying to impress him, even though she knew she didn't have to. He is standing near her bed, looking at the posters on her wall. Some have changed, some have stayed the same since they were in high school. As his back is turned to her, she takes this time to look at him and truly notice what has changed about him.

She hadn't noticed this back in January (likely due to either the heavy winter clothes or her intoxication), but he was a lot tanner now. He was easily two or three shades darker than her, while before, they were similar tones. His hair was shorter, and he was sporting a slight five o'clock shadow. She assumes he hasn't had time to shave yet.

She approaches him from behind and places her arms around his waist. He turns around to face her and places his hands on her hips. They smile at each other once again, embracing the warmth they feel being close to one another again. They share a kiss, and Donna subconsciously begins to run her hands up his shirt, just as a sign of affection. Her fingers run along the smooth skin at first, until they hit the diagonal line running across the right side of his abdomen. She pulls back from him, concerned, and lifts his shirt up to examine what she thought she felt.

"What the hell, Eric?!" she asks him, staring at the slash across his stomach. She also takes note that he had developed a ton of muscle while in Africa. He looks down, not expecting to be in such a position.

"Oh - um - it's nothing. Really. I just fell real bad." he tries to push it off, but she can tell that it was a recent injury. She pokes lightly around the wound and he winces.

"It's nothing? Eric, it's definitely something." She is genuinely concerned for him. She doesn't want to see him hurt. He removes her hands and lowers his shirt.

"Donna, I'm fine. I promise." He places another kiss on her lips and moves to sit on the floor beside her bed, and she gives him a puzzling look.

"I'm assuming the bed's off limits, right?" he smirks. She was right earlier. He is a dork. She sits beside him, closer to her bedside table. Like she did earlier, he is also making note of what has changed about her since they last saw each other. Her hair was red again, but she had changed that back in January. Her hair is shorter, now just past her shoulders. There's a slight wave to it, he thinks she had purposely curled it. She's dressed differently, she's wearing denim shorts (something he doesn't think he's seen her wear since they were kids) and a t-shirt that's just a little too big for her. Looking at the shirt a little closer, he believes it was once his. They sit in a comfortable silence for a moment.

"Did I see you smoking earlier?" Eric groans at her question, knowing it was going to come up sooner or later.

"Yeah.." he mumbles, hoping she would leave it there.

"Why?" He knew he wasn't that lucky.

"It's just a habit I picked up in Ghana. Couldn't find any pot, so cigarettes were the closest option."

"Did you pick up anything else over there?" She uses this as an opening for him to discuss more about his time in Africa. It was something he hardly spoke about.

"I didn't", he holds his hands up as quotations. "'Pick up' anything else there. I did learn a lot. I met a ton of cool people."

"Hm?" She encourages him to go on.

"There were three mentors in charge of the volunteers. I formed a real connection with one of them, George. He's a lot like me, but not. He's a lot more courageous, he's going to speak his mind. A lot like you, actually." he grins at this realization. "We shared a ton of interests, same movies, same music. He had the coolest stories from his time across the globe. He was a teacher, and said he wanted me to become one too." She nods, telling him she's listening. "My closest friend there was Leslie, she's a really nice girl. I think you guys would get along. I want you guys to meet if we ever get the chance to."

"I'd love to meet her." she smiles, he did mention Leslie and George briefly in some of his letters. "I'd love to meet both of them, if the opportunity presented itself."

"They'd love to meet you." He went on to share more stories, like how terrified he was when he got there, some stories of the kid's hijinks. "Enough about me, what were you up to?"

"Oh." she has to think for a moment, not liking being put on the spot like this. "Well, firstly, I love college." She goes on to list everything she enjoyed about college, from her classes to her new friends. "I made really good friends with my roommate, Marjorie. I can easily say she is one of my bestest friends."

"I want to meet her, Donna." he smiles. She continues to share about her life at Madison.

"Then there's this absolute douchebag, Doug Copolla. He's the biggest dick walking this planet, and I do not mean that lightly." her tone grows angry, he does not like how her mood is changing as she mentions this guy's name. She notices, and tones it down. "We're rivals." she tries to explain to him.

"Rivals?" he asks, not sure what she means.

"He thinks he has to one-up me on everything. If I share something with the class, he has to piggyback on to seem smarter. Eric, all he is is a fragile man who is intimidated by an intelligent woman."

"I'll have to look out for this Doug character." he grins. "I applied to Madison back in January. The decision letter is waiting for me on my desk." She reaches across and frogs his shoulder. "Hey, what was that for?"

"You applied and didn't tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" she frogs him again. He rubs his bicep, Donna could throw a serious punch.

"And you haven't opened it yet?!" she actually seems upset by this.

"Well, let's go over and open it then."

He stands up, it's now his turn to lead Donna to his bedroom. They're able to get into his house pretty easily, Kitty had gone upstairs by then and Red was sitting in the den, reading something in the dim light. He hears the two sets of footsteps going upstairs and calls out, "No funny business in my house!"

She steps into the room behind him and a wave of nostalgia hits her, and it hits her hard. This was the first time she had been in his bedroom in over a year, and absolutely nothing has changed about his bedroom since their teenage years. The posters are the exact same, the same books and magazines are splayed on the desk. On the very top of the pile, she notices the large envelope from the University of Wisconsin. He picks it up and hands it to her.

"Open it, let's see the decision." She takes note of the weight, thinking of the saying that the thicker the envelope, the higher chance you got in. She takes her time to open it, leaving both of them in suspense. She slides out the papers enclosed, and reads him the first word listed on the very first sheet. She grins.

"Congratulations."

ʚ ɞ

They returned back to the Pinciotti residence shortly after, and fell asleep in each other's arms. They were up late, both of them just wanting to stay awake just a little bit longer just to embrace the moment that they were in. It was nice to be in love with someone again.

Her slumber is interrupted as Bob knocks gently on the door, not opening it.

"Donna, Jackie's on the phone for you." he says through the door. Donna groans, upset she is awoken after only a mere few hours of sleep. Eric, on the other hand, is still fast asleep beside her. She gently lifts his arm from around her waist - he was always the "big spoon" - and gets out of bed. She doesn't want to wake him, knowing that she would be pissed if the roles were reversed.

She leaves Jackie waiting for another three or so minutes, she needs to get herself somewhat situated for the day ahead of her. She shuffles down to the kitchen and picks up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Donna!" Jackie exclaims, getting ready to hang up the phone. She assumed that Bob forgot to actually get Donna, that he got sidetracked on his way to her room. Bob had a tendency of doing so.

"Jackie, why the hell are you calling at 6 in the morning on a Saturday?" her head aches at the thought of having a deep conversation with lack of sleep.

"Brooke called me, she wants me to come over."

"And you're calling me.. Why?"

"She wants you to come over, too, dummy! I told her I would save her the phone call, so I'm calling you instead. I'll be over in twenty minutes."

"Jackie, hold on. Did you ever think I might have plans?" She is beginning to wake up.

"I know you don't. Look, it'll be fun."

"Whatever you say." she says into the phone. "I'll see you in twenty, then." Jackie has successfully convinced her to join her in Chicago.

She pours herself a cup of coffee that her father brewed earlier. She chugs down the cup of black coffee and shuffles back up to her bedroom to wake up Eric. If she's going to Chicago, he's going, too.

She lifts the covers of the bed and climbs in beside him. She places delicate kisses along his jaw and neck, hoping it would cause him to stir. She whispers his name back to him, runs her hands along his arm. He stirs, opening his eyes gently. He smiles wide, knowing who he is looking at. He realizes then he would be perfectly content with Donna being the first person he sees in the morning, and the last one at night for the rest of his life. He returns her kisses and plants one of her lips.

"Hey," she says. "Get up, we're going to Chicago." his eyes widen, not expecting this to be the reason he is being woken up.

"What?" he asks, wanting to make sure he heard her correctly.

"We're going to see Brooke and Kelso in Chicago," she explains, getting out of the bed.

"Why would we do that?" he whines, he doesn't want to get up.

"Because our friends want to see us and we want to see them." She digs through her drawers to find something to wear. "Besides, you've never been to Chicago. It'll be fun, we'll make a night out of it."

"Is that an innuendo?" He moves to lean on his elbow, grinning.

"God, I think you've gotten hornier." she sighs, "Eric, I mean it, we're going. Get your ass up and get moving."

"Fine.." he mumbles, pulling the covers up. He moves to stand beside her, she now has her underwear drawer open. He grins, and pulls out a bra in the front. He holds it in front of his own chest and looks at her. "Do you think this matches my eyes?" She looks over at him and laughs. She can't help it.

"You know that's not your color." she takes her bra out of his hands and places it back in the drawer. She fishes out a hot pink one from the back and holds it in front of him, his eyes go wide. He hasn't seen this one before. "Here, this one matches better."

"It might, but it'll look a hell of a lot better on you!"

ʚ ɞ

In about three hours time, Eric, Donna, & Jackie arrived in Chicago. Brooke and Kelso lived in a small townhome on the outskirts of the city, they had a small front yard with a boastful garden along the front of the home. It was all brick, definitely an older home. But, it was theirs.

The front door is already open, to let some light in. Jackie is the first to approach the home, while Eric and Donna are still walking up the driveway.

"Brooke!" Jackie calls out as she comes closer. Brooke comes over to the entrance and holds the storm door open for her guests.

"Hi!" she beams, excited to see her friends again. Well, she's excited to see Donna and Jackie. She's still a little wary of Eric. She's heard stories from both Kelso and Donna, and she's met him a couple times. She doesn't want him to screw things up. "Jackie!" She pulls her into a hug. By this point, Donna and Eric are standing on the porch, with him slightly behind her. Brooke greets Donna the same way, pulling her into a hug as well. She leans to look at the guest behind them. "Eric." she says, almost blunt.

She leads them into her home, which is impeccable considering that a sixteen month old lives there. Kelso is sitting in the living room, on a sofa right beside the door. He stands up as his friends file into the room. He has a similar greeting as Brooke, hugs and such. This time, Eric is pulled into a hug as well.

"Good to see you, man." Kelso says as he pats Eric's back.

"You too." Eric pulls back from the embrace. He was not expecting that. He clears his throat, hoping somebody else will talk next.

"C'mon, man. The girls don't want us in here, let's go downstairs." Eric follows Kelso through the unfamiliar home to the basement. It was smaller than his parents, but Kelso's was finished. It also didn't reek of marijuana, which was a bonus. To the side of the room sits a playpen, where Betsy is sleeping.

"Is that your kid, dude?" Eric asks jokingly.

"That's my baby girl." Kelso beams, proud to call her his daughter. Eric also wasn't expecting that response either. Donna was right, having a kid did mature Kelso. Eric agreed that wasn't a bad thing. Kelso needed it. "She's napping right now, she's cool."

"So, how've you been, man?" Eric asks, sitting on the comfortable sofa in the center of the room. Kelso opts to sit in an armchair beside the playpen.

"I've been great. I'm a cop down at this small little station about twenty minutes away. I've got my baby, I've got Brooke. Everything's good." Kelso smiles, thinking back on his life currently. "And, I can do whatever I want. I'm in control now!" he boasts, returning to some of his teenage ways. His tone slightly changes, "Well, I'm kinda in control. Brooke does a lot of the controlling too."

"That's awesome, man. I'm glad to hear it."

"So, what's up? You and Big Red are back together?"

"Me and Donna are dating again. Happened last night."

"Good for you, man." Kelso stands up and walks towards a minifridge towards the back of the room. "Want a beer?" Eric nods and holds out his hand, and Kelso hands him a bottle of a pricier beer.

"You've got the good stuff here," Eric says, popping the lid off.

"Why would I drink cheap, crappy beer if I don't have to?" Kelso reasons. Eric groans, he was still drinking cheap and crappy beer. But, he kinda had to. He didn't have a ton of spending money for the good stuff, which Kelso obviously does.

"Good point." Eric holds out his bottle and taps the top of it against his. Kelso gets up to turn on the TV, a small color one similar to the one in his parent's basement. A M*A*S*H rerun appears on the screen, and, surprisingly, he doesn't turn it off. Eric can count multiple instances where Kelso whined and moaned whenever he and Hyde watched it, saying "this isn't funny, it's war!". He assumes that this is a part of his recent maturement.

ʚ ɞ

Upstairs, Jackie, Donna, and Brooke are sitting around the living room, Jackie's binder center on the coffee table. Both Donna and Brooke glared down at it and decided not to address it. Jackie and Donna are holding glasses of wine, while Brooke has a glass of soda.

"So, tell us about you and Eric," Brooke turns to Donna. She feels so out of the loop.

"We're dating again," Donna responds, swirling her wine in the glass.

"We can see that, Donna! When did this happen?" Brooke grills into her. Donna sighs, not knowing where to start. She thinks back to when they first broke up. She'll fill Brooke in on some more details, she always kept her relationship details brief, mostly because it hurt her to speak about it. She decides to start there.

"The dillhole broke up with me in a letter back in July. I was so, so pissed." she starts.

"Donna, we already knew that." Jackie chimes in, wanting to learn the gossip as well.

"I know you know that. I just want to make sure you remember." Donna continues telling the timeline. "So, we stopped writing to each other. I learned from Hyde that he was coming back at New Year's." Both Brooke and Jackie nod, taking in the information. "I saw him at New Year's, we had sex. Everything was awkward."

"You had sex with him?!" Brooke asks, not knowing about this detail. She knew from Kelso that they were hanging out around New Year's, since he was there. Jackie, on the other hand, knew about the sex, solely because Hyde told her he saw Eric walking back from her house. But, Donna didn't know Jackie knew. She had to act surprised.

"I did, not my greatest decision." Donna groans, hearing the disappointment in her friend's voice. "Afterwards, we talked it out. We were friends again. Not dating, though."

"But, you're dating now?" Brooke chimes.

"I didn't finish yet," Donna takes a sip of her wine. "Yesterday, he called at like 1in the morning from an airport in DC. He told me he loved me."

"And?" Jackie asks, not knowing anything about this.

"I went and picked him up from Appleton. We officially got back together last night. I think we're going to take it slow this time."

"You still want to date him after dinner last night?" Jackie asks her. Donna groans, thinking back to what Kitty said.

"I love him. He doesn't belong to his mother, you know."

"Kitty doesn't know that." Brooke giggles. As this part of the conversation comes to an end, Eric comes strolling up the steps of the basement. They stop as they hear the footsteps approaching. He can sense that they went silent due to his presence.

"Were you guys talking about me?" he jokes as he walks across to the front door.

"Yes." Brooke answers, very blunt. Yikes, he shouldn't have asked that. He starts to fidget with his belt buckle, something he always does when he's nervous.

"Anything good?"

"I can't answer that." she responds, her tone has not changed. Jackie quietly laughs, enjoying watching her pick on Eric. No wonder she and Michael got along so well. He chooses not to say anything in return, and just walks out the front door, remaining on the porch.

"Smoke break," Donna says, peering out the window.

"He smokes?" Brooke questions.

"Apparently." Donna says. It's just one of the many new things she has to learn about him since his return from Ghana.

"So what happened at dinner last night?" Brooke asks, continuing the conversation now that he's left the room.

"Oh, Kitty asked Eric when he's gonna have kids, and she assumed it wouldn't be with Donna." Jackie fills her in. "She asked us, too, but Steven handled it." she grins.

"So, she doesn't expect you to be a baby machine. What's wrong with that?" Brooke asks Donna this time.

"It's not that she doesn't expect me to be a baby machine, she doesn't expect me to be Eric's baby machine." she pauses, shaking her hand out to emphasize her point. "Which trust me, I will not be."

"Oh, I see. You want Kitty to recognize that you will be the mother of his children."

"Mother of our children. But, not a baby machine!" she stresses again. "I'm going to be a successful woman with kids. But, my education is coming first right now."

"Good for you, Donna. Stand your ground." Jackie cheers her on. "Which, you didn't, by the way. You just sulked the rest of the dinner." Jackie had matured, but she still had some of her snarky tendencies.

"What was I going to do? Throw a fit and walk out?"

"Yes! That would have been so funny!" Jackie grins, now just lovingly picking on her. She leans forward, picks up her binder from the coffee table and places it on her lap. "Since we're on the topic of weddings, let's discuss mine!"

"We were on the topic of weddings." Brooke and Donna say simultaneously.

"C'mon, did you really expect me to come here and not discuss my wedding with my bridesmaids?"

"Yes!" they say together.

"Oh, look, I have a fun idea!" Jackie closes the binder in front of her. "We're in Chicago, how about we go and see Angie! She's one of my bridesmaids, afterall." She claps her hands together excitedly. Brooke and Donna look at each other, considering this new option. Brooke met Angie briefly at a party Kelso dragged her to, and she did like her, even though Michael did briefly hook up with her.

"How far is she?" Brooke is the first one to respond.

"Not far at all. Maybe twenty minutes?" Jackie knew her apartment was close by.

"Okay, let's go then." Donna stands up. She didn't particularly like Angie, but thought it was better than sitting around that binder for at least an hour. She turns back to Jackie, pointing at her.

"No wedding talk."

"Oh come on!" Jackie pouts. "How about just for an hour?"

"No."

"Half an hour?" she's hoping they're feeling generous.

"Fifteen minutes."

"Fine!" Jackie moans. At least she sorta got her way. As she turns to grab her bag, Eric enters the home again. The girls were surrounding the door, getting ready to head out.

"Oh, Eric," Donna stops and grabs his arm. "We're leaving."

"Alright! 'Bout time." He grins, getting ready to turn around.

"No," she stops him. She gestures to Brooke and Jackie. "We're leaving. You're staying here with Kelso."

"Ah man," Eric whines, shuffling past them to the basement. He didn't want to pick a fight with Donna this early in their reconciliation.

"You've seriously got a hold on him," Brooke says to Donna as she pulls the door open.

"I totally do," Donna chuckles.

ʚ ɞ

Eric returned back down to the basement, finding Kelso sitting on the ground beside the playpen, his daughter sitting down in front of him. He turns around as he hears Eric come down the steps. He lifts his daughter up and places her in his lap.

"Betsy, this is your Uncle Forman," Kelso lifts her hand to wave at him. She's all giggles. "Say hi to Forman!" She smiles brightly at Eric, happy to be in her father's arms. "'Hi, Forman!'" he increases the pitch in his voice as she laughs with him.

Eric is blown away by how Kelso is acting. He's just, so, parent-like. He's acting like a real dad. And, he's proud of him for it. He sits down beside them on the sofa, leaning down to say hi to her. She grabs at his hands, she's a very affectionate little girl.

"You've got quite the girl here," Eric grins, congratulating his friend.

"I know." he places Betsy back down on the ground, she grabs a doll off of the ground and walks over to Eric. "I love her so much, man." Kelso smiles, watching his daughter.

"Bawbie!" she calls out to Eric, lifting her doll to hand it to him.

"Forman, she's showing you her doll," he nudges his friend's leg from the ground. "What do you say?" Eric looks down at him, he can't believe this from Kelso. He thinks back to when they were kids, how many toys Kelso stole from other girls on the playground when they did the same thing.

"What a pretty doll," he responds, smiling at her.

"Like Mama!" she giggles, twirling her doll around.

"Just like Mama," Kelso says as he grabs her again and pulls her into a loving hug. "You're so pretty, just like Mama." He starts to tickle her belly, and she bursts into even more laughter. Eric just watches, taking in who his friend has become.

He couldn't believe how much had changed in the year he was gone. At this moment, he regrets leaving to go to Africa. He regrets abandoning his friends, hell, they were his family that he left behind. This was the second time he had ever seen Kelso's kid, and she was already so grown. He barely wrote to either Kelso or Fez, and he feels really bad for it. He chooses to use this moment to speak up about it.

"Hey, man, I'm sorry I never wrote to you. That was kinda shitty of me to do." Kelso lifts his head to look back at him, still playing with his daughter.

"Oh, no big deal, dude. I was busy, too, obviously." his eyes return to the girl in his arms.

"No, it's not that. I was busy, but I had time to write to my parents, to Donna and Hyde. Hell, I even wrote to Jackie. But, I never wrote to you."

"Dude, don't worry about it." he did not turn around this time, he's still focusing on his daughter. "I didn't write to you, either. We're both to blame here."

"Maybe." Eric ponders. When Donna first told him they were going down to see Brooke and Kelso, he was nervous. Not only because he thought Brooke didn't like him (which he feels he now knows Brooke doesn't like him), but also because he worried things would be awkward between him and Kelso. While he was one of his oldest friends, he wasn't necessarily one of his closest. He was rarely ever alone with Kelso, usually Hyde and/or Fez accompanied them. Most of the banter between him and Kelso were burns back and forth to each other. He doesn't know if he's ever had a serious one-on-one with Kelso. Maybe that just wasn't the kind of friendship that they had.

Kelso interrupts his train of thought as he stands, Betsy in his arms, to head upstairs.

"We're gonna grab something to eat, let's go." Eric stands up after him, following him up the steps. Kelso places Betsy on the sofa by the door, the one Donna was sitting on, and grabs her shoes to place on her feet. Eric stands awkwardly next to the door, hands shoved in both of his front pockets. "We're gonna go to McDonald's. Brooke always says no." Kelso explains, almost in a whining tone. See, there's the Kelso that Eric has known for all of these years.

ʚ ɞ

Hours later, after both parties have returned home from their respective outings, the group of friends are sitting around the living room, the TV quietly playing in the background. The phone rings in the kitchen, and Brooke quietly excuses herself to go to the kitchen. After a brief moment, she sticks her head out into the room, the phone outstretched in her hand.

"Jackie, Hyde's calling for you." she calls out into the room. Jackie gets up and grabs the phone from Brooke, and talks with her fiance on the other line. The room went quiet, out of respect for her being on the phone. After another minute or so, she places the phone back into its cradle and returns to the room.

"Steven's here!"

"No, Jackie, he's not. It's just us." Kelso blurts out. He still has his moments.

"No, Michael. He's in Chicago."

"So, I'm right. He's not here."

"Michael, you know what I mean." she ends their bickering, moving onto her next point. "He's on his way over, he wants to go bar hopping around the city."

"That sounds like fun," Eric adds, looking forward to seeing his friend.

"Well, do you guys want to go?" Jackie asks the room. Brooke and Kelso look at each other for a moment, neither of them able to go. They have a daughter sleeping upstairs. Jackie and Donna notice this exchange of looks between them. They look almost disappointed, they want to spend some more time with them. Afterall, they did drive this far for them.

"If you guys can't go we can just stay here," Donna says, she doesn't want them to feel like they have to be excluded.

"No, no, you guys go without us." Brooke reassures them. "Besides, it's getting late anyways. Both me and Michael have work in the morning."

"Are you sure?" Jackie asks, feeling the same way as Donna.

"I'm positive. Go, have fun." she smiles.

Surprisingly, Kelso isn't disappointed he can't go along with them. If it was a year prior, he would be jumping at the opportunity to scour the streets for women and beer. But, now at this point in his life, he just doesn't want to. He's got the woman he loves and a daughter he cherishes right here, why would he leave that to go to some dirty bars?

Hyde arrives just a couple moments later, and the rest of the group says their goodbyes. Donna and Eric are the last ones to leave the Kelso residence, and as Donna is about to step out the door, Brooke gently grabs her arm. Eric notices her stop, and lingers for a moment. Donna gestures for him to go out to the car, she's fine.

"What's up?" Donna asks, not sure why Brooke stopped her.

"Just don't let him break your heart again."

A/N

I just wanted to share that I feel like I'm just making stuff up as I go, which isn't cool in terms of continuity.

I was rewatching parts of season 6 and 7 to get a feel for the characters in this episode, I noticed foils I created myself. Pretend that, for this story, Grooves HQ is located in Chicago, and Angie moved there after her and Kelso broke up. Also, I'm envisioning Point Place being near/around Fund du Lac, and I am using that for any distances.

I fear they may be a little OOC, and if that is the case, feel free to let me know.

As always feedback is appreciated.