[Hyde POV]
I was quite surprised to find the man who abandoned me here at the bar. People call him Bud– his real name was Bernard.
"Hey! Steven!" He shook my hand happily.
"Wow! So you're Hyde's Dad?" Kelso asked, a beer in his hand.
"Well, that's what his mother says." He laughed out loud then paused, as if trying to spare my feelings and said, "Kidding."
"Hello, Mr. Hyde's Dad. I am Pez. I've heard much about you." Fez interjected.
"Good things, I hope." Bud laughed.
"Well, if running out on your family and becoming a drunk is good," Fez looked at him innocently, "then, yes."
Bud gave him an annoyed look.
Eric caught it and said, "Okay, guys. Let's... look over here."
All of them walked off, leaving me with my father. Bud walked out of the counter and approached me.
"Wow! Look at you! You're... bigger and you got your mom's hair...and her sideburns." He joked, but I wasn't amused. He asked, "So, how long has it been?"
"Eight years, 51 Days." I replied calmly.
"Wow!" he laughed again. "Time really flies when you're…"
I interjected, "Drunk"
"Y-Well. I was gonna say "havin' fun," but…" He belly laughed again, "...same thing."
"Yeah, so, uh, how long you been back for?" I asked.
"Well, let's see. Ah, that must be about a year." he held his waist as he tried to figure it out.
"A year?" I was disappointed.
"Yeah! Hey, I was gonna call ya." He said quickly.
"Oh, you were gonna call me? Oh, man, that makes you, like... I don't know, what, father of the year?" I snapped with a calm tone.
"Steven–"
"No. Actually. I don't need to be angry at you. I should thank you." I said suddenly.
"Thank me?" He was confused.
"Yes. If I had lived with you, I'd surely become an alcoholic too. So we don't need to pretend that we're family anymore."
"Steven–"
Bud called me with a pitiful tone, but I had already walked away from the bar. My heart was burning with anger, and I really really wanted to lash out, but I held myself back.
He didn't even deserve me spending all that energy on him.
"Oh, man, Hyde's upset. Better go see how he is." Eric said as he sipped on his beer while sitting on the table.
"Yep. One more round, we'll go see how he is." Kelso called Bud to order another drink.
I went outside and walked away instead of waiting for Eric to come out. After a hundred meters, I took out the motorbike I got from the gacha because there was no way I was going to walk all the way home.
The motorbike was sleek black with green accents. It came with a helmet and the oil tank fully stocked. So I ignited the engine and sped through the empty roads.
…
The Forman's basement. I sat on my usual seat, stewing in anger, tapping my leg and crossing my arms.
Donna came to the basement wearing a flannel shirt and bandana tied on her head.
"Why do you look like that?" She asked curiously.
I turned to her and sighed. "Nothing."
She sat near me and asked, "What's the progress on the film? Did you finish editing it yet?"
"I have a rough draft. No music scoring yet so it's not complete. And I'm still figuring out the credits."
She nodded and smirked, "Can I see it? The rough draft?"
Since she was the scriptwriter, she was quite excited to see her story come to life.
The conversation greatly helped me ignoring the matter at hand. I didn't want to think about my dad or the implication of him being in the episode.
'I'm not going to get kicked out of here, would I?'
I turned to Donna and quickly said, "I'll show it to you later."
"Great! I'll wait right here." Donna went under the stairs to pick up an album.
Suddenly, the door bursted open. Eric, Kelso, and Fez finally came back home.
"Hyde! How in the world did you get here so quickly?" Eric asked with disbelief. "We drove around but we couldn't find you."
"I hitched a ride." I told him and raised an eyebrow, "You stopped… to buy magazines too?"
Eric looked at the magazine in his hand and said, "Well. Yeah. Since we're already at the gas station– Oh hey Donna."
He quickly threw the magazine to Kelso. It's a PlayPen magazine. A nudie magazine.
Donna didn't see it and asked him, "Why did he come back home himself?"
"Well–"
"Shh." I shushed Eric instantly.
"Nothing. He just wants to walk. It's a bet." Eric laughed awkwardly.
"Alright. I can go first." Kelso opened up the magazine and sat on the couch. "I wonder if Miss June is better than Miss May."
"Of course she's going to be better. Otherwise Miss May would already win again." Fez snarked.
Kelso looked at him weirdly. He flipped through the magazine, and Fez was watching over his shoulder to peek through. Eric also sat near them.
"Hello! She is just my type." Kelso laughed dumbly. "Naked."
"I too, like the naked ladies. I find them so... naked." Fez added. Both he and Fez snickered childishly.
Donna looked over behind them and said sarcastically, "Yeah, that's realistic. I think I'm gonna change the oil in my car... but first I'm gonna take off everything but my cowboy boots!"
Eric replied with deadpan, "Well sure, I mean if you're in bare feet, you could slip in the oil. Come on, Donna. Safety first."
"Whoa! Surefire ways to pick up women." Kelso scoffed as he saw the article. "What kind of lonely losers read this stuff anyway?"
Fez snatched the magazine immediately, "Gimme!" He quoted the instructions there. "Look deep into her eyes, and use her name often... showing that this conversation is just for her."
Fez stood up and walked to Donna. She was changing the records and turned to him.
Fez cleared his throat and said, " Hey, Donna. I think they're onto something, Donna. What do you think, Donna?"
Donna held back laughter and grabbed the edge of her flannel shirt. "Oh, my God. I'm taking off my shirt. Stop it, hands! Stop it!"
Fez turned to us, face full of expectation as he thought the method works.
Although it was funny, I couldn't get into it. I went inside my room and made a copy of the movie for Donna on the VCR.
"The next two days are going to be crazy. As long as I bring everyone to the festival, there will be no episode recording."
I thought of this method a couple days ago. Hopefully, it will work.
Mr and Mrs Forman weren't home yet, so I had some free time.
I gave the VCR to Donna and said, "Once you're done watching it, tell me if it's good or not."
"Sure." She replied excitedly. "You should go now." She said suddenly.
"Why?" I was confused.
"I'm going to watch it with Jackie." Donna replied.
"Thanks for the heads up." I showed her a thumbs up and left hurriedly.
…
That night, I decided to go to a bar.
The place was rowdy. People were dancing on one side of the bar, and played pool on the other side.
I decided to play pool while drinking beer.
Suddenly, a pretty blonde girl approached me.
"Hey. Aren't you the guy from that tv show?" She asked.
"Huh?" I slowly looked up to her. She wore a tied up shirt that showed her belly, and jean shorts that clung tightly to her figure.
With her red lipstick and blue eyeshadow, her curly blonde hair covered half of her face, framing it nicely.
"Batgirl?" I was confused as she looked really similar to the actress- Alicia Silverstone.
"What? No, I'm not Yvonne Craig." She was quite pissed off about that.
"Oh no. I don't mean the actress." I waved it off and said, "Let's start over. Hey, I'm Hyde."
"Janine." She replied, shaking my hand slightly. "I saw you're playing pool alone. Shall I join you?"
"Sure." I gestured her to join me with my hand. She smirked and asked flirtingly, "Why is a guy like you going to a bar alone? It doesn't make sense."
"Why? Should I have girls all around me?" I said playfully, holding the pool stick like a cane.
She batted her eyes and said, "So you don't have a lot of girls throwing themselves at you?"
"You really overestimate the popularity of a local celebrity. It's not like I'm in Hollywood or a major network."
"Really?" She was elated. "But you're still young. Your future is still bright."
I chuckled and said, "Do I look like I need comforting?"
"I don't know. You look really stressed." She replied flirtingly. "And scary. If I didn't recognize you, I wouldn't even approach you."
'Huh. I guess my dad coming back is bothering me more than I admit.'
We played for a while before she decided to up the ante. She won one game, and I won one. Our shoulders bumped into each other. Our waist met as we walked to get to the ball. I wasn't really competitive anyway. I played just for fun.
"Do you want to place a bet?" She smirked.
"What's the bet?" I asked.
"A pool bet. 20 bucks."
"Sure. But I don't want twenty bucks. Can I get something else?"
"What?" She was intrigued.
"If I win, I can kiss you."
Taken aback, she giggled and said, "I'm wondering why it took you so long to make a move."
"Well, I did feel you purposely bumping your butt into me when you bend over." I teased.
She gasped and touched her butt slightly. "You like my butt? You pervert."
"It's a very nice butt. It's very aesthetically pleasing." I said playfully. She approached me and leaned in to grab a ball on the table, making sure I was watching her back the entire time.
"You love this?"
"Very much."
As we were giggling, suddenly a muscular man approached the pool table. "You bastard! Are you flirting with my wife?!"
He swung at me, and it hit my face.
"Oh. You shouldn't have done that." I smirked as I realized this was what I wanted.
"I'm not your wife?!" Janine was in disbelief.
The man scrunched his eyes at Janine and said, "Wait. You're not–"
"Clench." I said, balling my hand into a fist.
I hit him back, but since I had stuntman training, I accidentally hit him in the jaw, short circuiting his brain. He fell down unconscious.
"Hey!" I was honestly surprised. "Are your lights out? I want to fight more! Hey!" I slapped his face, but he wasn't waking up.
"Damn it." I stood up from the ground and asked loudly. "Anyone want to fight? I'll give you 100 bucks."
The question was met with an awkward silence.
"No takers? Seriously? The one time I'm hoping for a bar fight, and I got none."
One of the regulars there shouted back, "We just did it this afternoon. We're tired to do it again."
"Oh fucking hell–"
Janine hugged my arm, breathing heavier and her skin got hotter. "Steven, that's so hot. Do you want to go to your car?"
Taken aback, I grinned and said, "Sure."
"While we're going there, you can tell me about all the men you've beaten up before." She said while moving her body cutely.
Inside my car, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kept suckling on my tongue. We drove to Mount Hump first before we started making out.
"Do you have any… rubber?" She paused and asked.
"Definitely." I replied and reached for the dash box.
She took off her shirt, revealing a black brassiere. She unhooked her bra and covered it with her hand.
I chuckled and took off my shirt too. "It's better if we go to the backseat." She suggested.
"Damn, you're really skilled at this."
"Thanks. My husband enjoys this a lot."
"What?" I was surprised when I heard that. "Your husband?"
She was taken aback and replied, "It's fine. He's also doing another girl tonight. We have …an arrangement."
I paused for a few seconds.
"Oh. That's fine then."
…
The next day, I woke up with a groan.
"She's insatiable. I have her number, right?"
I checked the nightstand and saw the number she gave me last night.
She wrote, 'Call me' and kissed the paper so her lipstick mark was there.
"Now it's time for the festival."
After taking a shower, I went to get breakfast with the Formans.
"Steven Honey. You didn't come home last night." Mrs. Forman said worriedly as she served us orange juice.
I ate my sandwiches and said, "I went for a ride. That's it."
"Because of your–"
"Shh!" I shushed Eric immediately.
"What– What happened last night?" Mrs. Forman asked curiously.
"Nothing. Let's talk about something else. Such as Laurie's new work." I turned to Laurie with a grin.
She scowled and whined to Red, "Daddy. I don't want to work as a cashier."
Mrs Forman interjected, "Honey. I think the best way to teach you a lesson about life, is to stop coddling you. You're already twenty. You flunked out of college, and you're just wasting away."
Red grumbled, "Not to mention, you're dating that screwhead."
Eric and I snickered.
Eric added, "Wow dad. It's like, for the first time ever, you're finally making sense to me."
Red shot him a glare.
"Daddy! I don't want to work, and you can't force me–"
"If you don't want to work, you can break up with Kelso." I suggested. "Then Red will love you again."
Laurie took the bait and said, "I promise I'll break up with him today!" She looked at Red with hopeful eyes.
"Sorry hun." Red touched her shoulder and said firmly.
"Damn it." She cursed and turned to me. "This is all your fault!"
Suddenly, Leo came into the kitchen through the sliding door. We were all shocked to see him there.
"Hey, honey, I'm home!" He greeted us.
"Oh, good. The hippie's here." Red said with discontent.
Leo looked at me and said, "Hyde, man, your dad come by lookin' for you, man. Which is really freaky 'cause I thought this bald dude was your Dad."
I sighed and said, "Thanks, Leo." Then I left the table.
-TV-
"Steven's father is in town?" Mrs Forman asked worriedly.
Laurie sneered and said, "Yeah, right. Like he even knows who his father is."
Red asked, "Eric, you know something about this?"
Eric replied casually, "She's a bitch." His eyes followed Laurie, and he smiled since he was proud of the joke, but shrank back as he saw Red's glare.
"Right. Okay. Uh, yeah. We bumped into Hyde's dad last night. He'd been back in town, like, a year....hadn't even talked to his own son."
Leo ate Hyde's sandwich and said, "Cool. Egg salad."
Everyone glanced at him for a bit before refocusing.
"W-Well, I'm gonna talk to Steven...and see how he's feeling about this." Mrs Forman said and turned to the basement slightly.
Eric interjected, "You know what, Mom? I wouldn't do that. Hyde likes to bottle those things up."
Red smiled, "Good for him. That's where those feelings should be kept."
" Well, what is he gonna do? Pretend he doesn't have a father?" Mrs. Forman was worried.
"Based on what he said last night to his dad, yes. He's going to do exactly that." Eric added.
"But–"
Red interjected, "Kitty, this is a family issue, and, for once, it's not about our family. Look, the bond between a father and a son...is complex and subtle…" He pointed at Eric who was smirking.
"You wipe that damn smirk off your face!"
Eric burst into laughter.
Mrs Forman said seriously, "Red, when we took that boy into our home... it became our job to see him through thick and thin...and now it's thick... or thin... I don't know," She shook her head slightly, "but he needs us."
Leo repeated himself, "Cool egg salad, man."
Red grumbled, "Fine. Stick your nose in where it doesn't belong. Go ahead."
Mrs. Forman stood up and said excitedly, "Okay. Will do. Bud's comin' over for drinks tonight."
Eric looked worried, "Uh, Mom, do you really want to invite an alcoholic over for cocktails?"
Mrs. Forman's smile disappeared from the realization, "Oh, right. Okay, well, I'll just, um... I'll make him a nice Shirley Temple... and he can fill up on cheese."
…
Inside the basement, Eric told me about his mother's plan.
"Really? Damn. Alright, thanks Eric. Now I know not to be here tonight."
Eric laughed and said playfully, "We're all not going to be here tonight. I'm not going to miss out on the concert just because of your family issues."
I chuckled and said, "Yeah. That sounds about right."
Donna came to the basement, bringing back the VCR with her.
"Hyde! Where were you!? I waited for you all night long."
"Whoa Donna– Your boyfriend's here. Be more subtle about your desire for me." I teased.
"She doesn't have any desire for you." Eric replied with disbelief. "Do you?" He turned to Donna.
"What– NO!" Donna snapped. "I want to talk about the movie."
"Oh, is it that disappointing?" I asked worriedly.
"No you bastard! It's really good! It's great even! I really enjoyed the movie!" She smiled in excitement.
I shrugged and said, "It's not complete yet."
"But the story is really good. And the way you bring it to life is really amazing. I don't know you can show Shell Shock that way."
Eric laughed and said, "Donna. Since you're the one who wrote the movie, aren't you just bragging right now?"
She burst into laughter and said, "What– Alright, I'm bragging a little bit." She played along with his joke.
I scowled and said, "Don't be lovey-dovey in front of me. It's barely 9 right now."
"Nine?" Eric stood up quickly. "Then we should go to the festival now! It starts at 10!"
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