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Hyde sat in the basement, watching Gilligan's Island. Kelso and Fez were sitting on the couch. Forman was with his dad. Donna and Jackie were at the pool.
"Jackie's totally gonna choose me," Kelso said. "Yeah, I cheated on her way more, but she kind of expects that from me by now. But she didn't expect it from Hyde, which makes it worse."
Hyde bit back his anger. "So, what, are you gonna cheat on her more if she chooses you?"
"No. I'm past that. I think." Kelso leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. "I'll figure it out once she chooses me. Which she will. We have a deep connection." He craned his head to look at Fez. "Who do you think she's going to choose?"
Fez glanced between the two of them. "I really don't know. Honestly, I don't think she should pick either of you. You both cheated on her and treated her like trash. She deserves better."
"Fez, if you suggest that she should choose you instead of either of us, I will kick your ass," Hyde said.
"No, I am past my feelings for Jackie. I am married to Laurie, I don't want her anymore. But I know that she deserves more than cheating sons of bitches like you two." He looked directly at Hyde. "And I don't give a rat's ass that you thought Jackie cheated on you first. You overreacted and brought this on yourself. Son of a bitch."
"Are you angry or something?" Kelso asked. "You're swearing a lot."
"Yes, I am angry! Hyde cheated on Jackie." Fez folded his arms over his chest. "It is a disgrace."
Shame filled Hyde's chest. He was pissed at himself, for cheating and for telling Jackie he loved her. The latter was a selfish, asshole move. She deserved better from his first- and possibly only - 'I love you.'
Fez was right. She deserved better than him. Maybe… Maybe he had to accept defeat and give up. Maybe he had to start moving on.
~
"Steven, I've made my decision. I choose you."
Hyde didn't have time to process Jackie's words, because her lips were on his in seconds. He kissed her back, since it seemed like the only logical option. He poured all of his unspoken feelings into the kiss, hoping she got them.
"Wow," she said.
"Yeah, I'm a good kisser. Here's your gum back."
"Oh, Steven, I missed you so much." She kissed him again. She pushed him lightly to sit on the arm of the couch. As he did so the basement door opened and his stomach dropped.
"Hyde, you ready?" Raquel asked.
Hyde didn't say anything, because he could see everything unraveling right in front of him and he wasn't sure what to do. Jackie looked at the other girl angrily. "Steven, who is this?"
"I'm Raquel, I'm Hyde's date." She looked at Hyde. "You coming?"
"No," Hyde said. "No, I can't go out with you. Today or any other day."
Raquel scoffed. "Don't waste my time like that, man." She left the basement, slamming the door behind her.
Jackie turned on him. "What was that about?"
"I didn't think you were gonna choose me, okay? I don't think you should go back to Kelso, but I didn't think you were gonna go back to me, either."
"So you decided to go out with some skank? You weren't even gonna wait for me to decide?"
"I'm sorry," Hyde said earnestly. "Kelso and Fez got to my head. Kelso was sure you were gonna choose him because in his mind my cheating was worse than his. Fez said you shouldn't choose either of us because you deserve better. And he's right, you do deserve better. Especially after today."
Jackie softened. "I think we both deserve each other. You may have cheated on me, but at least you're doing the work to show that you won't do it again. Michael never did that. We have a lot to talk about if we're going to get back together, and a lot to prove to each other, but I want to be with you."
"I wanna be with you too."
She smiled. "Good."
"I'm really not going to cheat on you again. I hated seeing you hurt and I hated being the one who hurt you. I don't want to do that again."
"Me neither."
"And I'm sorry for what I said after the nurse."
Jackie's brows drew together. "You're sorry for saying you love me?"
"Yeah. It was a selfish thing to do. It was a last-ditch attempt to get your forgiveness. You deserved better from the first time I said that to you. I should have told you when we were together and because I wanted you to know, not when we were broken up and because I wanted you to forgive me."
"Wanna try again?" Jackie asked with a cute little smile.
Hyde couldn't help but smile back. "Jackie, I love you."
"I love you too." She kissed him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
~
Hyde sat with Jackie on his lap, his chin hooked over her shoulder. She was leaning back against his chest comfortably.
"I can't believe you took him back!" Fez said angrily. "How little self-respect do you have?"
Just as Hyde was about to tell Fez to shut up, Jackie said, "I have plenty of self-respect, which is why I never dated you."
"Oh, burn!" Kelso said.
"And I took Steven back because unlike Michael, he really apologized for cheating and knows he was wrong for it. And he only cheated on me one time, not hundreds of times with several different women, Michael ." She punctuated her last sentence with a death glare at Kelso.
"Jeesh, I'm sorry," Kelso said. "Probably good that you didn't take me back, huh?"
"Yeah, probably," Forman said.
"I will admit, it would be a lot worse if she took Kelso back. But come on, Hyde cheated on you because you were sitting next to Kelso!" Fez said.
"To be fair, he did tell her not to hang out with me," Kelso said.
"Look, what happened really isn't your business," Jackie said. "It's between me and Steven. It's our relationship, not yours. Whatever we say to each other in private is between us."
"Fine," Kelso grumbled. "I guess we're really over, then, huh?"
"We were really over the second you left for California!" Jackie said. "You just kept harassing me, moron."
"And if you keep doing it, I'll have to kick your ass," Hyde said. "'Cause I'm real sick of you trying to mess up what me and Jackie have going." Jackie smiled and cuddled closer to Hyde.
"Fine. Sorry," Kelso said. "I'll find someone else. Come on, Fez, let's go to the Hub."
"Okay. Hyde, if you cheat on Jackie again, our friendship is over," Fez said.
"That's fair. Have fun," Hyde said. Fez and Kelso left the basement.
"Yeah, same goes for me," Donna said. "No more cheating on Jackie. We're all sick of it."
"I get it. I'm not gonna cheat on her again."
"Great," Forman said. "Now, Donna… Kelso and Fez talking about the Hub made me hungry. Wanna get lunch with me?"
"Sure," Donna said with a smile. The two of them got up and left the basement.
Jackie turned a bit to face Hyde. "I'm glad we figured things out."
"Me too. I love you."
"I love you too," she said with a bright smile. "I love that I get to hear you say that." She kissed him, more lovingly than he'd ever been kissed.