Welcome to "A Lack of Indifference 2.0!" I'm just kidding about that, but you're one of the readers that requested my new penname, I thank you. Your support is so very important to me and knowing that this story is touching someone is an amazing thing. The story was previously posted under the penname "RegardstoBroadway;" I'm moving it to this new penname chapter by chapter because a younger brother managed to find it. I'm also going to go through and tweak mistakes that I've found before re-posting them to make it read better for you. Since this was my very first fanfiction story, there were many.

Again, thank you for taking time out of your day to pay tribute to our favorite star-crossed couple and a special thanks to everyone who originally beta'd or reviewed this for me. Your guidance has been invaluable.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from That 70's Show; the people who did screwed them up and left them for loyal fans like me to fix them.

Rated T: Some language (Hyde is in this story) and some possible adult content.

The Masquerade of Indifference

Chapter 1

January 1, 1980 - 1:04 am

The Forman Residence - Living Room

It was only an hour and four minutes into the New Decade and Jackie had already decided it was going to be much better than the last one.

In the Forman family living room, surrounded by friends and ex-boyfriends, she breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't single anymore. She and Fez had finally gotten their act together; they were happy and Jackie was determined to keep it that way. She knew that, in the past, she told her guys that they were the ones who were supposed to plan the romance, but after the disastrous relationships that were Michael Kelso and Steven Hyde she decided that it was time to take matters into her own hands. She had a plan! The way that she was going to keep Fez in line was to give him what he'd wanted what seemed like forever: her.

Jackie's plan was absolutely fool-proof: she was going to party, hard. She was going to gulp down as much of Mrs. Forman's cheap champagne as she could, calories be damned, and get so wasted that Fez would have to carry her home. Once there, she would put the moves on Fez. This way it would be easier to get past the nervousness of becoming intimate with one of her closest friends and they could move on to becoming the happiest couple to ever appear on the Newlywed Game. Wait, that was phase two of the plan. Oh, well… moving on.

Looking around the Forman living room she felt rather good about this plan of hers. Yes, she would get exactly what she deserved: a loving boyfriend. One that wouldn't cheat on her repeatedly or run away and marry a stripper in Vegas at the first sign of needing to make a commitment. Those problems were things of the past. They were mentally out with the trash, like her ex's, both of which were present at tonight's New Year's Eve celebration. Along with said ex's the people surrounding her included the newly reunited Eric and Donna, Red and Kitty Forman, Bob Pinciotti, and Leo. Michael was showing new pictures of Betsy and his baby-mama Brook to Eric and Leo. Her most recent ex, Steven, was sitting down guzzling beer after beer after… well, you get the picture.

Her first boyfriend, Michael, had been two years older than her and her first in more ways than one. But, in the end, she was just too mature for him. He was a beautiful boy, almost as attractive as Jackie, who bought her presents, took her places, and always made sure to tell her how much prettier she was than every other girl. For the most part Michael did everything a good boyfriend should do. There was one major problem with him: Michael may have bene the prettiest man that Jackie had ever laid eyes on, but he had made sure that every other girl in a fifty-mile radius had also laid eyes on him. Jackie had been broken up with him and dating Steven by the time that Michael knocked Brook up, but Michael had still named her and Steve Godparents of his daughter, Betsy.

As Jackie's eyes wandered from Michael's proud father grin, her eyes landed on her most recent ex-boyfriend, Steven. His brown curly hair was washed and as controlled as it could get, he was clean shaven except for that Male Prostitute mustache that he insisted on sporting these days, and his clear blue eyes were covered with his trademark aviator glasses. All in all, he was in much better shape than usual. Even though Steven had never been as obviously handsome as Michael, he was good looking none-the-less; he would have to be to date Jackie. With his rebellious ways and subtle charm, he had always seemed just a little bit dangerous. Jackie had fallen completely in love with him but her Steven seemed to be allergic to relationships.

Looking at him now, he wasn't smiling like the other people in the room. Steven was sitting in Red Forman's pea soup green recliner, staring off into space and looking a little more depressed than a guy with a refrigerator full of beer in the next room should. Ever since that slutty stripper Sam's real husband showed up and Steven realized that his marriage wasn't valid, he had been doing a lot more just sitting around than usual. Which is something that had been previously thought to be impossible. He must have felt the weight of Jackie's assessing stare on him, because his eyes wandered to meet hers. Unable to resist flicking her eyes away the moment a sardonic smirk lifted his lips, Jackie felt a slight blush heat her cheeks as she tried not to think about much she used to love the feel of his eyes on her.

She was silently berating herself for spending so much time thinking about the ex-boyfriend that she was determined to get over when Steven loudly announced that he was going downstairs for some peace and quiet. As soon as he got to his feet the entire gang left their respective conversations and followed him. Letting out a sigh, Jackie grabbed her glass of Champagne and an unopened bottle –so that she could keep her plan on track by re-filling her glass – and followed everyone downstairs. Once the group was seated in their usual spots around the table in the basement, except for Jackie who was sitting in Fez's lap instead of Steven's, it was just business as usual. While everyone else did what they always did when they were in "the circle," Jackie was finishing her second glass of Champagne. She was reaching down to the floor to get the other bottle so that she could re-fill her glass, but her hand didn't find what it was looking for.

"Looking for this, drunkie?" Donna jokingly asked, holding up the practically empty bottle of Champagne. "There isn't much left, but you can have it," she said as she put the bottle in Jackie's hand.

"DONNA! I brought that down here for me!" Jackie practically shouted at Donna. As soon as the words left her mouth, Jackie's hand flew to cover it; she knew that she was going to regret that outburst.

Steven jumped at the chance to put her down, just like she knew he would. "What, Jackie, did you realize that Fez would be easier to handle if you were drunk off your ass?" Even though he was quite a few ahead of her in the drink department, he had a shit-eating grin on his face that melded into a knowing smirk. Clenching her fists under the table, Jackie sent a silent curse in his direction; he could always read her so well. Of course, she wasn't lucky enough to be so far off his radar by now that he would have stopped noticing her.

"For your information, HYDE, I am just so tired of drinking that dirty swill you call Beer! I was ready to indulge in something that I would actually enjoy the taste of, even if it is an off-brand." Turning his smirk back around on him, she hoped Steven knew she was calling his bluff.

"Whatever. I just thought that you would want to be sober to be able to enjoy whatever develops tonight in your new... RELATIONSHIP?" Jackie wasn't sure if the whole room could hear his eyes rolling, but she could swear the action had been audible; whatever it was, the sound of his disapproval was causing her stomach to churn. "Is that what you are calling the joke that is you and Fez?" The smirk hadn't left his face, and now he had insulted her new man; something that, in the past, would have prompted her to think he was jealous. As she aimed a pissed off glare in his direction, she decided jealousy from Steven was impossible; as far as she could tell, he had stopped giving a shit what she did with herself months ago.

Fez, for some reason, was cracking up at the exchange between his girlfriend and her ex. Jackie threw a look up at him that said she was going to unleash her claws and help his eyes out of his head and he had the gall to sound confused. "What, Jackie, he said that we were a joke..." Jackie just looked at him incredulously, waiting for him to comprehend, "Oh, wait... HYDE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Fez launched himself over the coffee table at Steven and Steven just sat there, letting out a maniacal chuckle as Fez tripped over said table and fell to the floor. "Ai, my knee!" Fez cried. Jackie was up on her feet immediately, flashing Steven a venomous look as she reached for her boyfriend. Steven just raised his eyebrows in response and watched as Jackie cooed over Fez's laughable injury. She helped Fez get up and over to the stairs, which he started climbing toward Mrs. Forman and the ice pack she would give him.

As Jackie began to climb the stairs, she tossed a look over her shoulder at the shell of the man that she had once been proud to call hers; the man who had once been the love of her life. "You know, Steven, if I didn't know any better, I would think that you were jealous... but we all know by now that you aren't capable of caring about anyone other than yourself." Before he could reply with one of his smart-ass comments, she followed her boyfriend up the stairs.

Hyde just sat in his chair, arms crossed, staring straight over the top of the dark television set. "Burn," he whispered to himself. No one heard him; but even if they had, the remaining basement occupants knew better than to try and talk to him about it… they knew to leave him alone.

Upstairs, after she finally found a tipsy Mrs. Forman, Jackie filled a new Champagne glass and gulped it down. The only problem was that this bottle was now empty, too. She followed Mrs. Forman out of the kitchen into the parent infested living room. "Mrs. Forman, where are the other bottles of Champagne?" She knew that Mrs. Forman wasn't aware of enough to figure out what she was up to, but she still wanted to make sure that Fez hadn't. Then again, after what just happened downstairs, she wasn't sure he would get it if she explained it.

"That one on the counter in the kitchen is the last one, Jackie, dear." Mrs. Forman looked over at her, "Didn't you get some earlier?"

"Yeah, I was just so relieved to have something else to drink, you know, other than beer... Yuck." Jackie flashed a smile at the loving woman, earning an eye-rolling from Mr. Forman across the room, "I guess I'll have to switch to wine."

Mrs. Forman looked at her, "I'm sorry, dear, but we're out of wine, too. It's all gone." She smiled at Jackie's disappointed face, "I know. That makes me sad, too." Mrs. Forman gave one of her trademark laughs and walked over to her husband, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Mr. Forman, looking annoyed as usual, spoke up. "It doesn't matter what we have left to drink, I want everyone out of my house so I can get some sleep!" A wry grin came over his features, "Unless you want a drink from the last bottle of My Foot in Your Ass," he said, laughing at his own joke.

Jackie was walking toward the kitchen, trying to figure out how to keep her plan on track. "I think that Fez and I will just get going, Mrs. Forman. Thank you for having us!" When she burst through the kitchen door, weaving around like she was drunk, it surprised her more than it did Fez. His knee must have been feeling better because he was up and across the kitchen to help her walk, leading her toward the sliding glass door.

"Let's get you home, Jackie, my Queen." Fez spoke sweetly into her ear. Biting her lip, Jackie silently wondered how long she was going to be able to keep up the act and if acting drunk would achieve the same result as the real thing.

Tightening her grip on Fez's arm, she decided it would just have to.

A/N: Now that all that exposition and set-up is out of the way, let us dispose of the Fez problem as soon as possible. Please review while I do that!