Summary: Steven Hyde comes to realize after some ups and downs in his most serious relationship that he loves the one person he never dreamed he could ever like—Jackie Burkhart.
AN: So this is my second story that I'm currently writing. I must admit that I hadn't seen too many episodes of the show when it originally aired, but from the ones I had seen, I knew automatically that I liked the characters of Jackie & Hyde (hence joining the legions of J/H shippers). It wasn't until I caught the reruns on FX that led me to watch the show. So as I've been watching the show, I've been studying the characters while ideas swirl through my mind. The story starts off towards the end of "Nobody's Fault But Mine (aka Hyde Loves Jackie)" and will continue on into the summer 1978. Then it will pick up again in the summer of 1979 and into the fall of that same year, perhaps concluding on New Year's Eve 1979. The break in-between the summers is to let things that happened in Season 6 (and maybe some of 7) to take place.
Oh yeah, "That 70s Show" belongs to Fox and the creators of the show. This story is a result of that, so I hope you all enjoy!
Two Wrongs & a Right
Chapter One—Somebody Done Somebody Wrong
He keeps his secrets so he doesn't even tell himself.
He keeps his ringer off and doesn't hear the telephone.
How could he know a pretty girl could mess him up?
And he wants to know.
More than anything he wants to know.
For the first time in his life, Steven Hyde felt like he was home; and he was. Over the last couple of years he lived with the Formans, who did their best to make him feel like part of their family, and he did. For their love and kindness did fill a part of that void he felt inside himself, but something was missing.
That something came in the form of a small brunette cheerleader full of love. Yet it amazed him that she craved love so much; after all, a spoiled little rich girl who had everything given to her on a silver platter had all she could ever want—except, he found out, for love. She clung to her "on again off again" relationship with Kelso in hopes that he really loved her (and to gain a little attention from her parents), but Jackie learned time after time that what Michael Kelso really wanted from her he could get from any girl in the tri-county area.
So it was a long lesson to learn, but Jackie realized that Hyde—Steven Hyde, Zen Master—was a different breed of male. Sure he was a smart, bad ass, tough guy on the outside, but underneath the suit of armor he wore—way down deep in his core—he was a sweet sensitive guy who always did the right thing, even if it nearly killed his exterior armor to do so.
And that's how zen came into play; zen was his way to hide his emotions from the world. And he nearly succeeded with that too. After all, his parents didn't give a damn about him. Heck, they left him several times before leaving for good. So why would he care about anyone else?
Because he craved love too, just like Jackie did. He needed someone to care for—someone who wanted him and it was nice to be needed by someone. Hyde liked that feeling despite what he would say or do in front of his friends. But best of all, he was happy with her and she with him. She was just what he needed.
Unnatural, the gang had called it, probably because they never fathomed two opposites—two wrongs—to fall for each other and make a right. But if they read the signs, they would have discovered the truth sooner—that Jackie and Hyde were a natural fit. Through all the burns and sarcastic banter and annoyed glares, their growing attraction for one another was there. If only the gang read between the lines; it was so elementary. It had been six months since Jackie and Hyde started dating and the gang slowly became accustomed to them. All except Kelso, that is.
Kelso inexplicitly thought he truly loved Jackie. In reality, he liked her reliability more than anything. So he really was crushed upon hearing the news about Jackie and Hyde. Not just because Hyde broke "the code", but because his girl Friday actually fell for another guy and left him—for good.
Friendship or relationship was Hyde's choice, according to Kelso. Hyde didn't want to lose either, but his relationship with Jackie took top priority. Kelso, he figured, would understand—someday. And even though Kelso was okay with his friend's relationship with his ex, after six months he started pursuing her again, and eventually causing a misunderstanding between the two that ended with tragic results. Neither Kelso nor anyone else in the gang had ever seen Hyde look so down, so lost, so alone. And that's exactly how Hyde was feeling as he sat in his usual chair down in the Forman's basement, listening to (record needle being taken off a LP and scratching it) country music??!!
Eric, Fez, and Kelso came bounding in the basement from the outside door until Eric came to a halt while Fez and Kelso bumped into Eric and each other.
"Hyde," Eric slowly began to question as he took in the scene around him, "is that country music coming from my turntable?"
"No," Hyde lied with a zen mask on.
"Then why does it feel so depressing down here?"
"Because there's nothing on TV and I was bored and alone," Hyde quickly replied keeping his guard up.
Eric furrowed his brows not believing a word that his best friend and live-in brother spoke. No, he thought, something's wrong; it's like there's an unbalance in the force. Scanning the room again, Eric slowly put two and two together as Fez and Kelso took a seat on the couch while Kelso turned on the TV before taking his seat.
"So Hyde, where's Jackie?" Fez asked as he quickly looked around the room not seeing her about the basement.
"I don't know," came the Zen Master, even though he had an idea or two about her whereabouts.
Sensing something was askew Fez dropped the conversation letting all voices become silent, minus the singing from the stereo and the soft noise from the TV.
Eric quietly took a seat in the lawn chair while he rested his forearms on his legs and folded his hands together between his knees as he leaned forward. He took in the sight of Steven Hyde—arms crossed over his chest, a foot propped up on the makeshift footstool, his eyes glaring at the. . .wait, his eyes! Hyde's not wearing his sunglasses! Oh good Lord! Eric thought to himself, there really is an upset in the force! Immediately Eric jumped out of his chair and backed away from it.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" he cried.
Shifting his gaze from the TV, Hyde gave Eric a confused look—one eyebrow arched as the other straightened—before saying, "Forman is there a problem?"
Fez and Kelso looked from Eric to Hyde and then back to Eric as if they were watching a tennis match, waiting for his explanation as well.
"This music sucks, man!" he exclaimed as he pointed a finger towards the stereo. "It's making me feel so lonesome that I could die. I'm changing it."
Hyde shrugged his shoulders as he returned his stare to the TV. Kelso and Fez did the same. Eric walked over to the stereo looking for a different LP to put on. He quickly found one and as he was about to remove the needle from the record, Hyde said coolly, "Forman, touch that needle and I'll break you in two."
Slowly retrieving his hand, Eric turned to look at Hyde. "Duly noted."
"Good, because BJ Thomas is soothing my mind right now," Hyde answered.
Not missing a beat, Kelso calmly stated, while his eyes were fixed on the TV, "Jackie dumped you, huh?"
Silence filled the air as well as a cold tension in the basement for a moment. Quietly Hyde replied, "Yeah."
"Ah man, what a sweet burn!" Kelso returned.
"Kelso!" Hyde yelled.
"What the hell man!" Eric screamed after smacking Kelso upside the head, upon which Kelso screamed, "Damn, Eric!"
"Jackie dumped you, why?" Fez asked as he turned his attention to Hyde.
Hyde sighed uncomfortably as he shifted in his seat. "Because I cheated on her with a nurse after I thought she was cheating on me with Kelso."
Astonished, Eric replied, "Hyde, man, I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, well not as sorry as I am," he returned.
"Yeah," said Kelso as he stretched his arms up over his head. "Isn't that such a sweet burn? Guess good old Jackie will come crawling back to old reliable me."
All three guys turned and stared at Kelso for having the audacity to say such a thing. "Oh please!" Fez spoke up, "as if you were ever reliable to her! Yeah, maybe reliable to cheat on her!"
"Nice burn, Fez," Hyde complimented his foreign friend with a nod of approval.
"Yeah Kelso, um here's the thing," Eric slowly started to explain. "Jackie's over you and is really upset with Hyde. So why would she want you back after Hyde?"
"Because, Eric, I'm hot!" Kelso answered without missing a beat while he rolled his eyes.
Hyde took in a sharp draw of air. "Kelso, shut the freak up, okay? Jackie's done with you, so go find some other girl to shack up with and leave mine the hell alone!"
"Well, apparently she's done with you too, Hyde, so now you know the depths of a Jackie break up," Kelso responded. "And since you two are broken up, she's fair game."
"Kelso!"
"Alright, look!" Eric interrupted before a knock down drag out brawl rumbled between Hyde and Kelso, "Hyde's feeling down, so what can we do to cheer him up?"
"I know," came Kelso as a smirk grew on his face. "I could do Jackie in front of him." Laughing at his own burn, Fez and Eric shared a painful look as Hyde glared at Kelso before snapping up out of his chair making his way towards Kelso. Seeing Hyde coming towards him, Kelso quickly scrambled off the couch and ran for the door. Hyde was directly behind him, now climbing the outside stairs two at a time trying to catch Kelso.
Meanwhile, Eric climbed over on top of the couch, his feet resting on the cushions as he sat on the back of it. Staring at the TV, he shrugged his shoulders as he told Fez, "Man, I was thinking more like we'd have a circle. Damn Kelso!"
AN2: For those who are curious, the title for this story comes from the Normals' song, "Two Wrongs & a Right", which was heard on a Season 4 episode of "Dawson's Creek". Lyrics from the song will start off each chapter to help set the mood or tone. The title for this chapter is the song "Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by BJ Thomas, which was the song that was playing on the radio of the El Camino after Jackie left Hyde's car once he was truthful with her. But those of you who are obsessed with the show already knew that. ;) Anyway, tell me what you think; read & review! Thanks!