![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennickelsHomecoming
by jennickels (aka Jen Connelly)
That 70s Show
Jackie/Hyde
23,369 words
rating: PG-13
Twenty years ago Hyde left Point Place without so much as a look back. What happens when he suddenly finds himself back in town and trying to restart his life? Will his friends take him back?
Chapter 6: Party Time
"Breakfast!" he heard Donna yell. Hyde yawned and stretched. Life was good. At this exact moment life was good, he thought. As he was pulling on a clean t-shirt he heard a knock on the door. Kate was standing there looking at her shoes.
"Mom said to tell you breakfast was ready."
"I heard," Hyde laughed. He smiled at Kate trying to ease her nerves. He didn't want the kids hating him. He put his arm around her as they walked up the stairs. "You know what, Kate? You look just like your mom did at your age, except you're much prettier," he told her. "But don't tell you mom I said that. She might kick my butt."
After breakfast Donna and the kids set up the yard for the party while Eric made a beer run. Hyde helped when he could, like hanging an awful banner that said, "Welcome Home Hyde." The closer it got to noon the more his stomach knotted up. He couldn't believe how nervous he was.
"So," Donna said sitting next to him on the porch. "You ready for today?" Hyde wasn't sure. He didn't know how he was going to feel seeing everyone together and having a good time, knowing he missed out on the last two decades of their lives.
"Do you think she'll come?" he asked, quietly. Donna shrugged. Hyde remembered something else he had been meaning to ask-"How did you find me all those years ago?"
Donna smiled sweetly, like a mother would to a child. "I have a little pull at the police department."
"Kelso helped you?"
She nodded. "He wanted to find you just as much as any of us." Probably not as much as Jackie. He was sure that was what Donna was trying to say with her eyes. Hyde sighed. He had been doing a lot of that lately.
"Why'd you keep writing, even when I never responded."
Donna laughed this time and patted his arm. "I just wanted you to know we were thinking about you." She got up at that and went in the house. Donna was a good friend, probably one of the best he ever had. Growing up he had always considered Forman as his best friend, but now he knew it had always been Donna. She had always been there for him and never judged him or tried to burn him when he was down.
At 11:30 people started arriving. Fez and Skylar were the first, followed by Bob Pinciotti and his girlfriend, Elsa-a blond bombshell from some tiny European country Hyde had never heard of. Donna didn't seem to like her much, but who could blame her. Elsa looked like she couldn't be more then thirty years old.
Shawn left at noon to pick up his grandma. He came back just after Kelso pulled up out front in his police cruiser. Kelso grabbed Kitty around the waist and carried her up the drive.
"Michael!" she shouted. "Put me down!" Hyde kissed her cheek as she went in the house to help make the potato salad. He was sure he saw tears in her eyes. Sarah dropped the girls off a little while later. Hyde enjoyed showing them off. Everyone told him how beautiful they were. They must get that from their mother, he thought. By 1pm, Hyde had talked to everyone and had settled himself in a lawn chair near the garage. He scanned the growing crowd. He knew she wasn't there but he looked none-the-less.
He watched a black Pontiac park in front of his car at the end of the driveway. Mike Kelso got out of the driver's seat and helped his sister out from the back. Mike went around to the passenger side and leaned in the window a little, then opened the door. He practically had to drag Steve out of the car. Hyde noted that Steve looked as nervous as he felt. Hyde shifted in his seat, wondering what Steve was thinking right then.
"I don't think she'd gonna come." He was surprised to see Eric standing next to him and instead of Donna. Hyde shrugged, trying to act like he didn't care. Eric slapped him on the back then sat in the chair next to him.
"It's okay to admit you're anxious to see her."
"Get bent, Forman," he sniggered. Eric looked at him with that knowing smile. Hyde couldn't fool him. He exhaled slowly. "I wasn't really expecting her to show up, anyway. I don't deserve to have it that easy." He finally put into words what he had been feeling. He really didn't deserve it, any of this. His friends were being entirely too nice to him after what he did.
"Don't worry, Hyde. Just give her some time to get used to the idea that you are here. I'm sure she'll talk to you eventually. You have, um, a lot to talk about." Hyde noticed Eric watching Steve as he said that. Hyde nodded.
"I think I need a break from all this," Hyde said. He grabbed a six pack from the fridge in the garage and went down to the cool, quiet basement. He slumped into the recliner, rubbing his temples. He ran his hand over his face, smoothing his beard. It was hard carrying on a conversation when all he could think about was all the wrong he had done. He had been so mad when he caught Kelso and Jackie together that he had gotten in his car and drove and drove, never looking back.
He had never even considered how his leaving would effect his friends. God, how they must have worried, fearing the worst. He had been so selfish. Lost in his self-pitying thoughts, he didn't hear the door creep open.
"Hey," Steve said, half way through the door.
"Hey," Hyde answered.
Steve hesitated with his hand still on the knob, then shook his head and closed it all the way. Hyde sat up straighter in the chair. Steve took a deep breath then dropped into the couch. They sat in silence for a moment then Steve spoke in a low, even tone.
"So, I guess, you're, like, my dad, huh?" Hyde's heart raced. He had spent the last few days trying to figure out what he would say to Jackie when he saw her. He was unprepared for Steve to come looking for him. He hadn't even started to consider what he would say to him. There was a lot then needed to talk about too.
"Looks that way," Hyde answered in the same monotone. He looked over at Steve. He missed nineteen years-his entire life because he was having a hissy fit in St. Louis. Hyde couldn't think of anything else to say. Steve just stared at his shoes. After a minute Hyde found his voice. "You look like you could use a beer," he said pulling a bottle from the cardboard container next to him. Steve looked surprised.
"But I'm under age." Hyde got up and slapped the bottle into his hand then sat on the couch next to him.
"It'll be our little secret," he smirked. They both sipped their beer, not knowing what else to say.
