You happen to stumble upon a group of friends waving in the driveway. They say you look like their friend who just left. You ask "who?". They say "Eric Forman"
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August 30th 1979
Ch.10 - Oh shit, Red
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It's a cold autumn afternoon, the leaves crunched under my shoes and I could faintly see my breath.
It's a few weeks since Hyde and I had a little talk, nothing major happened since then, Jackie and Donna remained anonymous to everyone but me. Fez and Kelso are still dating, they've grown a deeper bond with me and Hyde since the four of us know each other on a deeper level now.
I'm walking over to the Forman's house, slightly bouncing with each step because I get to see my scruffy haired hippie and I love seeing my hippie. I walk through the back door instead of through the kitchen door. I prefer to go the back way most days because I feel like Kitty and Red get annoyed of all of us constantly in the house so the less they see of me, the more they'll appreciate me in other circumstances.
"Right? Is that how that works?" I think, reconsidering my thought process.
I walk down the stairs, a pile of leaves were collecting at the bottom of the steps right up to the door way. I open the door and step over the leaves careful not to drag them into the house. No one is in the basement.
Hyde tends to be sitting on the couch when no one else is here or when he's not expecting me, as most times I arrive unannounced. It's like his room extends here when no one's present. He watches TV or listens to vinyl until he wants to nap, then he'll move into his bedroom to sleep.
"Hyde?" I call out and walk to his room, not there either. It was dark, he had the light off which means he's not in the basement at all.
I had to pause and rethink to yesterday, did we agree to go to the Hub? Donna's house? None of those ring a bell so I walked up the steps that lead to the hallway kitchen.
When Hyde's home and isn't in the basement, he also hangs out with Red in the living room upstairs and they watch TV together. But that's not until after I leave in the evenings. Odd...
I get to the top of the stairs and open the door, the door made no sound but as I got to closing the door, I see Hyde standing in front of Red and Kitty who are sitting at the table. The energy in the air was stiff.
Hyde had his head down and his arms crossed, he looked disappointed and ashamed. Red looked furious and confused all at once. Kitty just looked confused. I close the door and they all look at me. Hyde shoots his head up and walks over to me quickly. "Don't say a word. I got this, I wish I knew you were coming." Hyde said so quietly it was almost a faint hiss. He looked terrified, I've never seen him so scared.
"Wh-" I start to ask.
While this was happening, Red stood up and walked over to us, angrily. I didn't notice until Hyde whipped around to face him.
"Red-" He starts to say defensively.
"You! You have a lot of nerve showing your face to me." Red said with his finger in my face. I'm quite petrified as I have no idea what's happening.
"Red-" Hyde start to say again.
Red was really scaring me, I've never seen him like this. Hyde told me he had a temper, especially with Eric, but I never thought I'd see the day.
I'm starting to panic. "Hyde, what's going on?" I whisper to him shaking and slightly hiding myself behind him.
"They know." He says back without looking at me, still eyeing Red to make sure he doesn't do anything. I knew immediately.
"Fuck." I thought to myself.
"I can't BELIEVE this. I DON'T believe it." Red was turning red. "Eric you're grounded, give me the keys to the Vista Cruiser." He extended a flat palm out to me and turned his head to the side to not look at me.
I stop and freeze, I look at his empty hand.
He thinks I'm Eric.
"Red..." Kitty stands up and walks slowly to Red, she puts a hand on his shoulder as if trying to emphasize what he just said.
"I'm not-I'm not Eric, sir." I say barely audible, terrified for my life.
Red's face drops, still not looking at me, he carefully closes his palm and drops it to his side with a small pat. He walks over to his seat at the table and collapses into his hands and starts crying. The three of us stand there, not knowing what to do or say. Kitty sits next to him and holds him. Red doesn't move.
Hyde relaxes but not in a good way. His shoulders droop down to his normal posture, like he had been holding his breath. Thinking to how he was positioning himself just a few moments ago, I think he would've hit Red if he got any in more in my face. He was protecting me.
There was a solid minute of silence. Hyde and I haven't moved and were just staring at Red. Until-
"I love him." Hyde blurts out. He was still looking at Red at the table. He wasn't saying it to me, he was telling Red like it was a matter of fact. He said it with his entire chest.
I was caught off guard as I was also still looking at Red but when he said it, I couldn't believe it. He hasn't said that to me before so him saying it with an audience startled me.
Red takes a sharp inhale and stops crying. He sits up and looks at Hyde, this time with less hatred in his eyes, more compassion. I stay quiet, I can tell Hyde I love him later. My heart is pounding. I'm sure I was turning bright pink like I do when I'm flustered or embarrassed, which right now I'm both.
Red softly taps Kitty to let go of him and stands up, Kitty looks up at him terrified that he'll hurt the only kid she has left to parent in this house. He walks swiftly over to Hyde and stops about 6 inches from his face.
Was he going to hurt him? Hurt me? Yell at us?
Hyde didn't budge. He didn't flinch or shift positions. He stood his ground, he meant this, which made me worry more. This silence was going to be the death of me.
Red, still not moving from the 6 inch distance, quickly wraps his arms around Hyde in a big bear hug. Hyde jumps a little bit, I think he was expecting a blow to the face. It takes a few seconds before Hyde realizes he's not hurting him and he hugs him back. Kitty starts crying. I'm still freaking out and staring at this encounter.
Red lets go and lightly taps Hyde's cheek and says "You're a good man, Steven." He shifts his attention from Hyde and turns to me. I know I looked scared beyond belief. The thought of actively showing my fear made me panic more. Collectively, I was a mess watching this all fall through.
"You love him?" Red says to Hyde now.
"Yes, sir." Hyde says softly.
"Well," Red extends a hand this time, not a palm, "welcome to the Forman's." I look at his hand for a moment and then take it and shake it gently. I smile a genuine smile. It felt like more relief than happiness, I was happy he wasn't going to hurt us.
"Thank you, Mr. Forman." I say trying to conceal my quavering voice as I am holding everything in me to not burst out crying.
He puts up a hand objecting, "Red." He says smiling at me with a glint of tears shining in his eyes, these were happy tears now.
I now am letting the tears well and let out a sigh-laugh "Thank you, Red." I whisper correcting myself.
Hyde was crying now, I think also relieved more than anything.
So all of us were crying in the kitchen and the energy definitely shifted to more accepting than stiff from when I first walked in.
I guess I finally got my coming out? Wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I'll take it. It had a happy ending with some terrifying in between moments.
