𝑷𝑳𝑨𝒀 𝑫𝑨𝑻𝑬 - Steven Hyde

thirty five

35|SECRET REVEALED

Marigold sat around the circle with Kelso, Hyde, Fez and Donna.

"You guys are never going to believe this." Kelso grinned, his eyes staring straight at the wall behind Donna. "Jackie cheated on me. With the cheese guy!"

"No!" Hyde said dramatically after realising he was supposed to be faking a reaction. Goldie burst into laughter beside him, not expecting him to go that over the top.

"Yeah. I was just as shocked as you are." The boy agreed with Hyde.

"Well, thank God all she did was kiss him." Fez inputted with a grim smile and glanced at Donna.

"Yeah." Donna nodded before stopping and staring at him. "Wait. How do you know all she did was kiss him?"

"Kiss?" The foreign exchange student suddenly got very awkward. "Gee, I didn't say "kiss". Don't make fun of my accent."

"That cheese guy's lucky he's a little fella, or I'd kick his ass." Kelso said while punching the air. "Just, boom! Right in the ass!"

"Wait, hasn't Kelso cheated on Jackie repeatedly?" Goldie whispered to Hyde, Donna overhearing her.

"With Eric's sister." The ginger girl nodded to her.

"Hey, man, you gotta kick his ass." Hyde informed the boy with a serious tone. "Like, on Fantasy Island if Tattoo took one of Mr. Roarke's women up to his little tower and put it to her. Roarke would slap that little dude like a drunk Southern widow! Then he'd hit him off with some vicious voodoo."

"Voodoo on Tattoo." Donna giggled to herself. "Voodoo. Tattoo. Peek-a-boo. Honeydew. Kung Fu. Koo-koo-ka-choo. I'm done."

"No, keep going! I was enjoying that!" Marigold cheered, falling back off Hyde's lap and on to the floor. "Okay, no more voodoo for me."

"You okay?" Hyde chuckled, scooping her up and holding her tightly to him as he sat back down.

"I need sleep! Someone kept me up all night." She pouted at him while Donna high fived Hyde. "Yeah, I'm off to nap."

Goldie waved at everyone excitedly and wandered into Hyde's room, instantly collapsing on his bed and falling asleep. She felt a blanket be placed over her body and a kiss on her head before the door shut once more.

~•~

"I missed the ass kicking!" Marigold whined as she leaned her head on his shoulder, still feeling tired. "And Kelso got beat up?'

"It was hilarious!" Hyde laughed, remembering the fight perfectly. "Turns out he was a black belt!"

"I hate feeling tired!" She sighed, stumbling to her feet with Hyde's help as they began to walk into the main part of the basement.

"You have been very tired lately." He glanced at her with worry as she sat on the footstool, Donna, Jackie and Fez watching her.

"The doctors changed my meds." Goldie explained to him, happily accepting the soft drink he passed her. "From anti-depressants to weaker anti-depressants. I must be getting better."

"You're on anti-depressants?" Jackie question, shocked by the casual reveal.

"Self-harm comes in all shapes and sizes, the doctor was worried I might suddenly end it. Especially since the anniversary just passed." She smiled sadly at the girl, scratching at her palms. "But hey, I have you guys now so I am cheering up."

"Did Hyde tell you about Kelso?" Donna asked her, knowing she wanted to change the topic of conversation.

"He did." Eric soon entered the room, glancing around at his group of friends as they watched him strangely. Hyde gave him a brief update on what had happened as Jackie paced nervously.

"Wait, wait, wait." He stopped them with a chuckle. "So Kelso got beat up?"

"Yeah, by the little dude at the cheese shop." Donna added, trying to hold back her laughter.

"It was awesome, man." Hyde nodded in agreement. "Like a hurricane of tiny fists."

"All right, look." Kelso ran down to the basement and stopped in front of Jackie. "Jackie, here's the deal. You cheated on me."

"You used to cheat on me all the time!" She snapped back at him.

"Yeah?" He seemed confused on what to reply, not expecting her to comeback with that. "Well, yeah. But you cheated out of hate, and I cheated out of joy."

"I didn't cheat out of hate, Michael." Jackie said slowly so he would understand. "I cheated because lately, you've been acting like I don't exist."

"Well, I sure know you exist now that you Frenched the whole mall!" Kelso yelled back before lowering his voice again. "Look, I know that I need to pay more attention to you and I want to forgive you, but I have a this anger built up inside me and nowhere to put it."

"Eric knew about the kiss all along and didn't tell you." She said with a smirk, knowing where he could release his anger.

"You knew?"

"Jackie."

"What'd you expect?" Jackie grinned at him mischievously and raised a brow, daring him to defend himself.

"You're a dead man, Forman!" Kelso chased after Eric out the basement with Jackie close behind, yelling words of excitement.

"You ever cheat on me I cut your dick off." Marigold threatened her boyfriend with an innocent smile.

"I know." He gulped, knowing the extent of her anger.

"Well, guys, uh, just so you're up to speed, I knew about the kiss all along." Fez spoke up and addressed the three. "Eric told me. He made me his Secret Squirrel."

"What? That dill-hole said I was the only one he told." Donna bit her cheek with annoyance.

"Me too!" Hyde, Fez and Goldie said at the same time.

"It was hilarious. You guys should've seen it." Eric breathed heavily as he ran back into the basement with the three pissed off teenagers and a very entertained cousin. "Kelso's foot got stuck in a gopher hole, and, hey, why are you guys all looking at me like that?"

"I was your Secret Squirrel? You son of a bitch." Fez snapped at the boy while everyone else glared at him.

"Get him!" At Hyde's command the three ran after Eric while Goldie followed with a camera.