Chapter 20.

10:30am
Saturday, October 21st
The Basement

It had been over a week since Laurie Forman had returned to the Forman household, bringing along her baggage and the mayhem and devastation that usually came hand-in-hand with it.

Hyde had found himself to be somewhat of an outsider since her return, the blonde's wrath had been targeted elsewhere for a change, so he had mostly been sitting back and watching the rest of the house go crazy for the past 8 days.

Normally he'd enjoy such a scene.

Back when he and Laurie were sharing a living space, pre the whole marriage/heart-attack incident, he'd enjoyed sparring with the complicated prodigal-daughter but that was when Laurie had been the only complicated prodigal-daughter in the house.

Now there was two of them and he was dating one.

After 8 days, he couldn't take anymore of it. The constant fighting, screaming and complaining was starting to get to him along with the rest of basement gang and something had to be done.

"I'm going to kill her!" Jackie yelled as she came trudging down the stairs into the basement.

All week his chick had been stressing over her current living situation and he felt bad for her, he really did but he wasn't sure how much more he could listen to.

Between Jackie's rage-blackouts and Fez's sad rants, he badly needed a day off and maybe a fat joint or two.

"She's up there right now drawing a line through the middle of our room with masking tape," Jackie continued, almost red in the face as she began pacing up and down behind the couch. "Says she doesn't want my skank germs on her side of the room… Like she has anything to worry about, I should be worried about catching one of her multiple STD's!"

"I think Fez should be the one worried about that actually," Donna pointed out from her spot on the couch in-between Fez and Eric.

"Well jokes on you missy but my wife and I don't have sex," Fez responded, naively burning himself in the process of his comeback.

"Wait… Does Laurie actually have a disease?" Kelso wondered suddenly, shooting a worried glance over at Hyde from his seat on the lawn chair across from him.

Hyde leaned back in his seat. "Don't worry Kelso, that rash cleared up right?" He reminded his friend who nodded back quickly. "So, you're fine," he told him and watched as his friend visibly relaxed at his words. "But I could be wrong," he added after a moment's pause just to freak him out.

Before Kelso could respond, Jackie's voice was ringing through the small basement once again.

"I'm so glad we're going to Fun-land today, this is exactly what I needed," she started, walking around the couch and over to Hyde before sitting down on his lap. "If I had to spend one more second here with that woman I think I'd lose my freaking mind."

It had been Kelso's idea to go to Fun Land, a suggestion the guy made regularly considering it was pretty much his favorite place in Wisconsin. Normally his suggestion got shut down quicker than Fez when trying to sleep with his wife, but this week had been stressful for everyone and a few hours of fun at a theme park far away from the Forman house seemed like a great idea.

"You and me both, doll," Hyde agreed, loosely wrapping an arm around Jackie as she leaned back into him to get comfortable.

Lately Jackie's new favorite spot in the basement was his lap, sometimes they sat in the same position for so long his legs would get all tingly and numb but still he never complained.

"We better head out before the traffic gets bad," Eric stated suddenly, looking down at his Scooby-Doo watch.

They were taking the Vista Cruiser today which made Forman in-charge, he'd already mapped out the route they'd be taking as well as scheduled an arrival and departure time to ensure minimal traffic.

Hyde had wanted to drive up in the Camino but the whole group would fit in the Cruiser so there was no point wasting the gas.

"What traffic is there going to be at 10:30 on a Saturday morning?" Donna questioned, frowning over at her fiancé.

"Fun-Land traffic missy, it's the worst kind. Everyone's heading in the same direction, trust me," Eric responded bluntly.

Fez groaned, getting the attention of the room. "I cannot believe I am missing out on Fun-Land," he complained for the hundredth time that morning.

Fez's presence was needed at the Forman's house today. Red and Mrs. Forman were running intervention on Laurie and his marriage debacle. With the agents visit looming any day now, the couple needed to set their story straight and learn basic trivia about the other.

So, Fez would spend the rest of his day learning about Laurie's favorite color and weird habits, while the rest of the gang would be riding the Looney Coaster and eating fairy floss off of sticks.

"Sorry buddy," Kelso began to apologize as the rest of the gang stood up from their spots. "We'll bring you back a t-shirt or something," he offered, slapping a sympathetic hand over the guys shoulder.

"You will forget!" Fez groaned, standing up from the couch too. "I know! I'll just go with you guys and postpone with Laurie."

"Red will kick your ass if you postpone again," Eric reminded him.

"Fez, you and Laurie have been putting this off all week. Do you want to get deported?" Donna questioned Fez, placing her hands on his arms as she scolded him.

"No," Fez murmured back, keeping his head down low and avoiding Donna's angry gaze.

Hyde didn't blame him, Donna could get pretty scary sometimes.

"So, go up there and find out whether Laurie brushes her teeth with an electric toothbrush or a normal one!" Donna shouted back, motioning to the upstairs with one hand.

"Oh, I already know the answer to most bathroom related questions…" Fez pointed out and Hyde scrunched up his nose. "But I get the point. Okay fine, but you better not forget my t-shirt you son of a bitch!" He turned to shout at Kelso one last time.

"I wont man," Kelso assured him, shoving his hands in his pockets as he watched their friend head towards the interior staircase.

"What did Fez mean about already knowing the answers to the bathroom related questions?" Jackie asked Hyde in a quiet voice as they followed the rest of their friends out of the basement and up the stairs to the backyard.

Hyde frowned. "Uh, if there's a girl Fez really likes, or thinks is really hot… Or just any girl really. He kind of spies on em'," he told her, pushing his shades further up the bridge of his nose as the morning sun hit his face.

Jackie gasped. "Ew," she stated, and Hyde nodded. "Has he ever spied on me?" she wondered as the group began heading towards Forman's Vista Cruiser.

"No way," Hyde assured her, confidently. "He knows I'd kick his ass if he ever did," he added, wrapping an arm around Jackie's shoulders and pulling her into his body for half a hug.

Her arms wrapped around his torso. "My protector," she joked with a smile.

Just over an hour later the group arrived at Fun Land. Hyde walked through the gates, his arm still wrapped around Jackie with Eric and Donna hand-in-hand next to them and Kelso trail blazing a few feet in front of them.

"Hey Kelso!" Hyde shouted, getting his friends attention.

Kelso turned back around and walked back towards the group. "What Hyde? I wanna ride the Tilt-a-Whirl!" He complained, to full of energy for his own good.

"Kelso man, every-time we come here you get lost," Hyde reminded him sternly.

It was true, but not just for Fun Land, it seemed any time the group went anywhere Kelso wound up getting lost or venturing off never to be seen again until the end of the day or night. Hyde didn't normally care but the last time they'd came here, Kelso had wound up in the lost and found all day and Hyde had copped the blame when he returned home sans Michael Kelso.

"Do not!" Kelso whined back.

"Do too Kelso!" Donna and Eric responded back.

"Look just stick with us alright?" Hyde told him with a frown on his face. Man, he felt like Red right now and it wasn't a good feeling.

"And if you do get lost, just come to the entrance and we'll meet back up here?" Jackie added naively.

"You'd think it'd be that easy," Eric stated, looking over at Jackie. "Cept' this moron always forgets the meeting point!"

"I'll remember this time," Kelso assured them, but Hyde wasn't buying it and by the looks of Forman and Donna, neither were they.

"Just stick with us man," Hyde repeated with a sigh.

"Fine, but I'm going on the tilt-a-whirl!" Kelso exclaimed impatiently.

Hyde looked over at Eric expectedly. "Not it," he responded quickly. "Donna and I are going on the Love Tunnel," he added, turning to smile at his fiancée.

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Boo!"

"Okay so Steven and I will go with Kelso on the tilt-a-whirl," Jackie shrugged from next to Hyde, unknowingly becoming a traitor to him.

It's not that Hyde didn't like rides, he was something of a dare-devil after all. It was just that… Well the tilt-a-whirl was probably his least favorite ride ever and all that spinning was no good for him.

He'd done a lot of partying in his time and his balance was off.

"Yeah Steven," Donna repeated his first name back to him with a grin on her face. "Sounds like a plan… Have fun," she waved back at him before pulling Eric in the direction of the love tunnel and leaving him there with Kelso and Jackie.

"Son of a bitch," Hyde muttered to himself as Jackie began pulling on his hand to lead him off to his worst nightmare.

It was a lucky thing he hadn't eaten anything yet, otherwise she probably would have gotten more than she bargained for on that ride.

"Hurry up guys, your walking to slow!" Kelso shouted back at them a few minutes later.

He was at-least 10 feet ahead of them, weaving in and out of crowds as he eagerly headed towards the ride that was conveniently situated at the very back of the theme-park.

"Kelso, slow down!" Jackie shouted back.

As the group approached the ride, Hyde felt his throat close up and his hands become clammy. His stomach churned loudly when they got in line, but he was determined to hide his unnerve from Jackie.

Turns out he wasn't doing a very good job at it because after only a minute or so in line, Jackie turned to him with a worried look on her face and said, "Steven, are you okay?"

Before he had a chance to respond, Kelso was laughing. "He's just bugging over the ride. He's hated the tilt-a-Whirl ever since grade school… One time he hurled all over Patty Bachmann and then she threw her pop in his face."

Hyde glared over at Kelso as he continued to laugh at him. The Patty Bachmann incident was a freak occurrence, still didn't stop him from hearing about it a full 8 years after it happened. He reached out to frog Kelso over the arm, successfully getting him to shut up.

"Wait are you scared of rides?" Jackie questioned a moment later as the line moved up.

Hyde shook his head quickly. "Not scared of rides, just don't like this one," he told her.

Jackie giggled at him. "Well you've never been on the tilt-a-whirl with me before. Maybe you'll have fun?" She questioned innocently.

Hyde looked out over the ride, watching the cars spin around and around and slowly shook his head. "Doubtful doll," he told her truthfully.

"Just don't puke on any of us this time," Kelso suggested.

Meanwhile.
The Forman's living room.

Fez was seated on one side of the Forman's yellow couch while Laurie sat on the opposite end. They had been here for over an hour now and so far, neither had learnt anything new or real about the other.

Fez had spent the first half an hour trying his hardest to get to know the Forman daughter, but after half an hour where none of his questions had been properly answered, he was ready to call it quits. So, they had spent the remaining 40 or so minutes sitting in an uncomfortable silence, pretending to watch the football game playing on the television in front of them.

The longer he sat there, with her ignoring his presence, the angrier Fez got.

He could have been with his friends right now at Fun Land having a much better time but instead he had chosen to stay here with his 'wife' and so far, she hadn't even asked him a single question about himself.

If they kept this up there was no way they would fool the immigration agent into thinking this marriage was for real and not just so that he could stay in the country. He couldn't understand why she was being so nonchalant about the situation they were in, if they were caught out by the immigration agent it wouldn't be just him who gets in-trouble, she could go to jail for helping him.

It irked him that she was refusing to take this seriously.

Why does she never take anything in her life seriously?

He suddenly turned to look at her, after 40 non-stop minutes of pretending she didn't exist. She was staring ahead at the TV, her blonde hair perfectly curled Farrah Fawcett style, her full lips coated with bubblegum pink lip-gloss, her long legs bare thanks to the short-shorts she was always wearing and a look on her face that made it abundantly clear that she was beyond bored in the moment.

Damn her for looking so perfect when he was so mad at her.

"Could you like stop staring at me perv? It's really starting to freak me out," Laurie spoke up suddenly, after a few minutes of him staring blankly in her direction.

Fez felt the anger rise up through his body until he could no longer keep his cool.

"Do not start me missy. Thanks to you I am going to be deported and you are going to end up in jail!" He exclaimed over-dramatically, letting off the steam that had been building up since he sat down on this couch with her earlier that afternoon.

Laurie just rolled her eyes back, keeping her cool like always. "And how is that going to be my fault?"

"We're supposed to be learning about each-other so that the agent will believe we are a real couple. You've been back for almost 2 weeks and this is the first time you have spoken to me and only because Mr. Red and Miss Kitty forced you to be here!" Fez exploded, turning his body in her direction. "It is like you want to go to jail…" He added after a moment's pause.

Laurie groaned loudly, turning her head in his direction and making eye contact with him for the first time since her return. "Obviously I don't want to go to jail dingus… Look, I don't know what you want from me, I married you so that you wouldn't have to go back to that sad pathetic country of yours and you weren't happy. I came home when you asked me to and you weren't happy, I'm here when you asked me to be here - even though I could have been on a date with the guy who owns a Mustang and you're still not happy!"

Fez frowned, trying to take in all that she had said. "I thought you said you didn't come home for me?" He questioned quickly.

Laurie sighed and shifted on the couch so that her body now faced his. "Well after the like 50th call I thought it was probably important…" She admitted to him in a quiet voice.

Fez didn't know what to say, her admission had taken him aback. He had hoped she had returned to Point Place for him but after their encounter at Vanstock and all the un-returned phone calls since, he'd given up hope.

Maybe she did care for him? If only a little.

"I thought you'd actually be happy to see me. Clearly, I was wrong there," she added nervously a minute later after he still hadn't responded to her.

Fez suddenly felt bad at how he'd been acting towards her over the passed few weeks. He shook his head in denial. "Laurie, I was happy to see you," he said, although he wasn't even sure himself if it was the truth or not, his feelings towards her had been pretty conflicted since their impromptu marriage all those months ago.

"Don't lie… I know what everyone thinks of me," she began, her voice oddly low and full of trepidation. "Eric thinks I'm the devil, Jackie can't stand me, Donna hates me… Even Hyde avoids me now and Mom and Dad only love me because they have too but even that's debatable."

Fez watched the normally confident blonde crumble in front of him and felt himself begin to feel bad for her. It was no wonder she was always running away if this was how she felt about the people who were supposed to be her family.

"Even you! You used to worship me and now you hate me too… I've ruined every relationship I've ever had and I'm going to ruin this as well… So, what's the point in even trying, you know?" She added, her eyes drifting from his down to her lap.

Fez shifted uncomfortably on the couch, scooting across to the middle of the three-seater so that he was closer to her. He'd never been in this position before, cheering up women wasn't exactly a skill he had in his wheel-house but he couldn't stand to see Laurie so sad.

Awkwardly he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. She looked down at his hand with a frown but didn't yell at him to stop touching her, so he took it as a sign to continue.

"You aren't going to ruin this Laurie... We're going to pass this test and you want to know how I know that?" He said after clearing his throat.

She stared back at him blankly before indulging him. "How?"

"Because I already know you so much better than I did this morning… And I don't hate you, I could never hate you. You are a beautiful blonde Goddess and I am the luckiest man in the world to be married to you, even if it is a fake marriage."

Laurie rolled her eyes and pushed his hand off her shoulder. "Stop it Fez, before I barf."

"I'm serious," he told her watching as she peered back up at him.

He'd never been this open with her before and truthfully it scared him to death. She scared him to death but if this worked in getting her to smile again, then it was worth the fear of rejection.

There was an extended period of silence where he waited for her to respond, and an awkward air engulfed them. After a few minutes of silence, he couldn't take it anymore and decided to change the subject.

"What's your favorite color?"

It was the first question he had asked her an hour ago, which she'd responded to earlier by saying 'monkeys' sarcastically and throwing him a bad look. This time though, she smiled at him.

"It's red…" She admitted to him and he smiled back at her.

"See how easy that was?" He pointed out and watched as she shrugged back.

"What's yours?" She asked him back.

"Blue… Like the color of your eyes," he smiled brightly at her.

Laurie laughed, reaching behind her to grab the cushion she was resting on before hitting him with it. "Shut up you weirdo," she told him but the smile on her face proved to Fez he had said the right thing.

He hadn't lied… Blue was his favorite color and he couldn't help that her eyes were the prettiest shade of blue he'd ever seen.

In the moment, she had moved closer towards him on the couch so that they were now sitting directly next to each other. He grabbed the cushion out of her hand and paused to take in her beauty.

He'd always thought she was pretty but up-close she was more beautiful then he could have imagined.

He must have lingered too long because suddenly she was clearing her throat uncomfortable and looking away from him. He could have sworn he saw her cheeks turn red but as quick as the blush came, it was gone, and he had no proof of the telling bodily function.

"So, I guess if you wanted to ask me some more questions or something, that would be cool," she stated a moment later.

"And you will actually answer them this time?" He had to ask.

Laurie nodded. "I promise alright?"

Fez flashed her a smile and watched as she sat back into the couch, getting comfortable. He took a pause to think of a good question he could ask her.

"Did you really have a date today?" He questioned, suddenly recalling the small bit of information she had given him during her earlier emotional rant.

Laurie shrugged back. "He owns a Mustang and has one of those handle bar mustaches," she explained to him as if that was reason enough for a date.

Fez furrowed his brow, picturing the man she was explaining to him. "Wait… are you talking about Mr. Gruner from down the road? The high school vice principle?"

"Yeah!" Laurie nodded her head quickly with a smile.

"He's like 40!"

Laurie shrugged. "Hey, he's not married… Good enough for me."

Later that day.
Fun Land.

"That was the house of mirrors? I have more mirrors in my purse," Jackie pointed out disappointedly as her and Hyde exited the fun house mirror maze.

"Yeah I don't doubt that," Hyde agreed, reaching out to grab hold of her hand and lacing their fingers together.

Jackie smiled and leaned into him as they walked together towards the next attraction. They had been at the park for a few hours now and as far as she was concerned, it was the best date she'd ever had. Made even better when they had managed to ditch Kelso with Eric and Donna over an hour ago.

It was fun being with him, always was but there was something different about him today. He'd been overtly nice to her, taking her on any of the rides she wanted to go on (including the Ferris-wheel and the love tunnel which he claimed were the girliest rides ever invented) and buying her funnel cake (with extra powdered sugar).

He'd even gotten her the plastic crown that she now wore on her head after she'd seen it in one of the gift shop windows. A few times he had even indulged her role-play and called her 'princess' (which she loved and secretly wished he'd continue once they got home).

She suspected that his sudden romantic acts were to cheer her up after her week from hell, sharing a room with Laurie Forman, and that she couldn't expect it to last much longer after today but for now she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Hyde asked her.

Jackie took a moment to think her options through, but it was the small row of carnival games to their right that caught her eye first."Oh, carnival games!" She exclaimed, tugging on his hand as she began to lead him in the right direction.

There were ring toss games, basketball games, water gun games and even the duck pond one. But it was the shooting gallery that stopped her in her tracks, hanging on the side of the tent next to the carni-operator hung the cutest pink teddy bear she had ever seen.

Not obnoxiously big like all the others she had seen, but small and petite just like her. Suddenly, she had to have it.

"Steven, can you win me that pink teddy bear?" She questioned sweetly, turning to face him and grabbing hold of both his hands in the process.

"Jackie you know these games are rigged right?" He responded but turned to study the target game anyway.

"All you gotta do is knock down 5 of these targets here… Simple as that boy," The carnie stepped forward and said to Hyde, who glared back at him.

"See, easy!" Jackie added with a big smile on her face.

"Jackie, these games are designed so you can't win," Hyde told her.

"Oh, that's just a myth!" She brushed off.

"No… It's a proven fact," he responded, looking down at her through the shades that covered his face.

She shrugged back at him, a smile still planted on her face because she knew how this was going to end, regardless of what he was currently saying.

"Come on now, how could you say no to that face?" The carnie suddenly said, looking over at Jackie.

She watched as Hyde flashed another dirty look at the carnie. "That's the problem man," she heard him say in a low voice before reaching a hand to the man and handing over a quarter.

Jackie squealed and leaned over to hug Hyde. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cheered, clutching him in her arms as he took the fake shot-gun out of the Carnie's hands.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't go getting all watery eyed on me when I lose though," he told her, stepping up to the mark to take his first shot at one of the targets in front of him.

"I promise," Jackie agreed with a smile as she watched him raise the gun to eye level and aim his first shot.

He was trying to lower her expectations, but she believed in him and if anyone could beat the rigged game, she knew it would be him.

He had 7 shots to hit 5 of the targets and then the small pink teddy bear would be hers. His first shot hit the board behind the targets, missing by only an inch.

He cursed under his breath and aimed again, Jackie watched quietly from next to him struggling to contain the excitement that was building up inside of her. His second shot missed, but he'd gotten closer to the target than his first.

"Close but no cigar," the Carnie expressed annoyingly from the side line. "5 shots left to win the pretty girl a prize."

"Yeah I get it man," Hyde responded coldly before setting up his next shot.

He took his time and the next shot hit it's target by the edge. Jackie couldn't help the little squeal that escaped her lips, but Hyde barely responded, instead choosing to keep his focus on the targets in front of him.

Within the next minute he'd taken the remaining shots, landing each and everyone onto the targets. His last shot even hit the bullseye, even the carnie looked impressed.

Jackie jumped up and down, clapping her hands as she watched Hyde point to her prize.

"Sure, you don't want something bigger?" He asked her as the carnie handing him the pink teddy bear.

Jackie shook her head quickly. "No this is perfect. Pretty, pink and petite just like me," she smiled brightly as Hyde handed her the stuffed bear. "Thank you baby," she said before pulling him into a tight hug.

Hyde's arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest. She felt herself melt into his embrace and thought about how she never wanted today to end.

The day had started off like every other since Laurie had moved back, she'd been so wrapped up in fighting with the Forman daughter that she'd allowed it to take over ever other aspect of her life. But only a few hours spent with him and she'd forgotten all about her troubles, he'd managed to make her feel like the luckiest girl in the world (even if she was probably one of the unluckiest), just like he always did.

"Aw, look at this." Donna's voice broke the couple apart. Hyde's arms dropped from around Jackie's waist and she stepped away from him to see their friends approaching them.

"Hyde won Jackie a teddy bear that is so cute!" Donna continued, smiling widely at Hyde.

"Hyde you are like the best boyfriend ever!" Eric exclaimed in a girly voice, making fun of Hyde.

"Would you two get bent," Hyde responded with an annoyed look on his face.

Jackie clutched her teddy in one arm, while wrapping the other around Hyde's back and snuggling into his side. Donna and Eric loved given him crap about his relationship with her, but she loved the softer side he showed only to her and worried their taunts would eventually make that side of him disappear.

She felt him relax into her and breathed a small sigh of relief when his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Hey maybe I should try win Brooke one of those!" Kelso suddenly expressed, changing the subject off of them.

"That would be really nice of you Michael," Jackie told him.

"Yeah and everyone knows that chicks put out if you win them a giant stuffed bear!" Kelso added with a big grin on his face before turning to the shooting booth to play his turn of the carnival game.

"this'll be good," Hyde whispered in her ear, squeezing her arm lightly and turning them so that they could watch their friend try and win a giant purple rhinoceros.

They spent the next half an hour at the booth, watching Kelso fail over and over again before he finally hit all 5 targets to win his prize. The remainder of the day was spent together as a group, riding the roller coaster and the ghost train, pigging out on fairy floss and curly fries and laughing, so much laughing.

Before she knew it, night had rolled around, and the park was closing. They were heading back home in the vista cruiser, Donna and Eric snuggled up in the front seat and Hyde's arm around Jackie in the back. Kelso sat happily beside them with chocolate ice cream on his face.

Her life might have been the furthest thing from perfect but in that moment, there was no-where else she wanted to be. She fell asleep 5 minutes into the ride home, resting her head on Hyde's chest, content and happier then she'd ever been.

Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait, been a crazy time but I thought we could all use something to lighten the mood during these strange times. I hope you enjoy the new chapter and I hope everyone is healthy and being safe!