Chapter Text
It was a Sunday morning when Hyde was in his office smoking a joint. Randy, the new guy he hired during a circle, was in the front taking care of the store while Leo snored soundly on the beat up couch. Life was good. He was his own boss, except for the part where W.B still owned the store and checked the books and sales. He had a huge bag of weed and was apparently married to a Las Vegas stripper named Sam.
Except, if he was honest with himself, he really hated his life. Mainly the being married part, because not that long ago, he had told Jackie that he wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to get married. Life long commitment, happily ever after’s, and a white picket fence home was something made for people like her, not him. Of course, there was a shrivel of hope that they’d both make it. That they’d prove everyone wrong, that they were more than a fling. More than a creepy and unnatural couple, but then she had to nail Kelso. Hyde sighed. Goodbye pipe dream.
Hyde decided it was time to get up and do his bare minimum of work when he heard chatter in the store. More specifically, the shrill, demanding voice of his dreams. Jackie.
As soon as he walked out, he saw Jackie, Donna and Fez talking to Randy. They seemed to be mingling with the newest member of the gang, which worked perfectly because Hyde’s a lazy man, and proper introductions weren’t his thing. Soon, Donna and Fez came up to him to talk, but what Hyde was paying more attention to was how Jackie stayed with Randy. They both seemed deep in their conversation, with fluttering eyelashes and million dollar smiles. ‘Not on my watch, ’ Hyde thought.
“Hey man, you ought to be careful with her. She likes to sleep with her ex’s friends ya know,” Hyde said with malice.
Randy looked at Hyde oddly, while Jackie’s face fell. She stared at him with eyes full of hurt, but then turned to Randy with a small smile.
“Yeah well, Hyde here likes to run off and screw the first skank he sees whenever he thinks I’m cheating. Only now, he marries them while black out drunk too. It was nice meeting you, Randy.”
Jackie then waved bye to Donna and Fez – who were both standing there in shock – and walked out of the store. Hyde glared at her as she walked off. Since when does she call him Hyde? It stung more than he cared to admit or show, so he stormed off to his office and slammed the door.
Donna and Fez looked at each other and then back at Randy who stood there staring curiously at the front door.
“So uh, Jackie and Hyde used to date?” Randy randomly asked the pair.
“Yeah, they were together for 2 years, with a few break ups in between. And not the ‘ we can still be friends’ kind. This last one was a doozy, and most likely the final straw,” Donna said with a sigh.
She knew Jackie was still hurting, and she didn’t exactly help when she invited Sam to their girls night. It also didn’t help that Eric had left her and their friends, and well, she missed him terribly.
“But what Hyde refuses to believe is that Jackie didn’t nail Kelso. It was all a big misunderstanding that didn’t get cleared up because Hyde’s whore-y wife came,” Fez said with a pout.
“I thought you liked strippers, Fez?”
“Yes I do, but not the kind that comes to destroy my friends' lives. Especially Jackie’s. The amount of tears I’ve seen and heard her cry could drown the whole planet. All because Hyde is a stupid son of a bitch,” Fez growled and began to walk out the door when Randy interjected.
“Fez, where are you-“
With one hand up and the other on the door, Fez yelled, “I SAID HE’S A STUPID SON OF A BITCH!” And stormed off. Randy then turned to Donna who gave him a smirk.
“He tends to do that when he’s upset. Usually you have to say: “but Fez,” to which he’ll respond: “I said good day!” Donna mimed.
The two blondes laughed, and Donna used that opportunity to get a good look at Randy. He wasn’t bad looking, he was actually kind of cute. He was a mixture of Kelso’s vain nature and Eric’s quirkiness. Oh how she missed the two of them. Donna sighed.
“Uh, are you okay Donna? Did I do something wrong?” Randy asked.
Donna shook her head. “No, you just remind me of two friends that are currently away. Kelso and Eric actually.”
“Oh okay. I mean, I’m sorry you’re missing them, but I'm glad I didn’t do something wrong,” Randy said, then looked back at Hyde’s office.
“So Kelso is Jackie’s other ex, huh? Is she still into him, by any chance?”
“No, they’ve been over each other for a long time, it’s just that Kelso is, well…. Kelso . And unfortunately Hyde found them both in a compromising position again, due to Kelso's stupidity. Now Hyde has made it his life mission to make Jackie miserable. Why are you so interested in their relationship?” Donna asked curiously.
Randy opened his mouth but then closed it when he heard Hyde coming out of his office, seemingly in a much better mood.
“Hey man, where did Fez go?” Hyde asked Donna.
“He had to get more candy. So uh, how about a circle?” Donna gave Randy a look that said ‘don’t talk about it’ , to which he nodded.
“I’ll go put the closed sign on,” Randy said as he walked towards the door. Meanwhile, Donna and Hyde gathered around the couch, lighting up the incense and waiting for Randy to get back.
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Jackie couldn’t believe how cruel Steven was to her just now. Not even when she was first dating Michael did he burn her so bad. It was laced with so much venom, and she knew this was only the beginning. Hyde took no mercy on anyone that fucked him over. Or at least anyone that he thought stabbed him in the back.
There was only so much begging she was willing to do to get him to talk about that night in Chicago. If only he had listened, if only that dumb, blonde stripper hadn’t come to steal him away. She took that moment as the final blow to their relationship. There just wasn’t any going back after this, but she knew in her heart that she’d always love him.
She sighed as she entered her empty mansion. Her mom had gone on a men and margarita bender, but was at least kind enough to pay the bills for three months. After that, she was on her own. As if she needed more things to stress about. She’d lost her job opportunity and all her emotional support.
It didn’t help that Donna invited Sam to their girls' night and stumbled over her words when Sam asked why they were friends. Of course, Donna had come after her and profusely apologized and promised to work on being a better friend. But who knows how long that will last.
Jackie put on her A Night At The Opera record and threw herself on her bed. ‘Death On Two Legs’ played loudly in her room, while she cried on her pillow. She was tired of being hurt repeatedly – especially by Steven. No, not Steven. This was Hyde. Her Steven could never hurt her this way. Not intentionally. More tears fell, but the sadness was quickly replaced with anger.
Death on two legs
You're tearing me apart
Death on two legs
You never had a heart of your own
Killjoy, bad guy, big-talking, small fry
You're just an old barrow boy
Freddie’s words rang loudly in her head, which allowed her to turn her grief into pure rage. ‘Fuck him’ she thought. Jackie began to tear her room apart, removing anything that reminded her of him. With tears running down her cheek, and anger flowing aggressively through her veins, she packed her ‘Steven box’, including the precious Led Zeppelin shirt he gifted her.
Have you found a new toy to replace me?
Can you face me?
But now you can kiss my ass goodbye
Feel good, are you satisfied?
Do you feel like suicide? (I think you should)
Is your conscience all right? Does it plague you at night?
Do you feel good? (Feel good)
“Then make yourself null and void…make me feel good.. I FEEL GOOD!” Jackie screamed as she dropped to her knees. She was exhausted, but also felt amazing. She had to stop crying over him and finally let him go. If he couldn’t appreciate her after all these years, then what’s the point in holding on?
She got up and dialed a familiar number, impatiently waiting as she tapped her foot.
“Donna! Forget your food lumberjack, go take a shower and put on the only dress you have. We’re going to the bar tonight! No, don’t invite Hyde , or his wh- er, wife . But I am inviting Fez. Yes, yes, no, not those shoes! Randy? Oh the new guy with the gorgeous hair? Um, yeah sure invite him too! Okay, I’ll see you then.”
Jackie immediately hung up and began to get ready. She was getting her groove back no matter what. Gone was the little girl afraid of being alone.
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Hyde had gone outside to throw out the trash like Mrs. Forman oh so politely asked, with Mr. Forman glaring from behind. It was obvious that Red wasn’t very happy with his stripper-wife situation, but didn’t say a word besides appointing him the town dumbass. As he was walking back inside, he heard familiar voices, so he decided to snoop.
What he found was his little pixie dressed in the sexiest dress he has ever seen her in. She was talking to Donna, who also looked good, and Fez who kept trying to peek at the girl’s breasts. ‘Where the hell are they going like that? And why wasn’t I invited?’
He was about to go and say something to them when he realized someone in a car honked at them, they responded with waves as they walked towards the car. Hyde was curious to know who it was, and it only got worse when Jackie walked to the passenger door and sat down with a radiant smile. He didn’t like that.
As the car took off, Hyde couldn’t help but feel jealous. ‘How can she move on so quickly? How could she be so happy? I thought she loved me,’ he thought angrily, as he kicked the trash can.
The trash littered the driveway, and he couldn’t help but compare it to the mess he made of his relationship with Jackie. He overreacted again, and went off and married a stripper. The universe seemed to be telling him something.
“Pick that shit up, dumbass. We’ll get raccoons,” Red said from outside the kitchen, and then went back inside. Hyde sighed and began to clean everything up. If only he could clean his life up, too. But that would take a big hit to his pride, and he wasn’t strong enough to do that.