SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY
SE01:E10

The friend group was playing basketball in Eric's driveway, Jackie and Babe stood to the side. Brett also joined the group playing basketball, he had been spending more time with them and he was surprisingly very welcomed.

Mostly because Eric, Kelso, Jackie, and Fez wanted to hang out with the popular Brett Dunphy. Donna and Hyde could care less but the former was nice to the boy, Hyde had been acting a little cold but nothing out of the usual, just Hyde being Hyde. At least that's what Babe was trying to convince herself to believe.

"Damn!" Kelso scolded himself as he missed the shot and the ball landed in Eric's hands.

"Oh! Kelso misses another one. I believe that's H-O-R." Hyde told him.

"Ah! You are a whore." Fez spoke confidently, Brett tilted his head in amusement and confusion.

"No, the game is Horse." Kelso explained.

"Oh." Fez smirked mischievously placing his index finger on his chin in thought as he walked away, staring back at the group.

"Okay. You know what, Michael? I'm gonna go home." Jackie hit his shoulder, as babe followed behind her and joined the group. "I'm gonna do my homework." Brett wrapped his arm around her shoulder, leaving a kiss on the top of her head.

"You do your homework on a Saturday night?" Eric questioned the girl.

"Yeah." She nodded like it was obvious.

"Okay. Look, I mean, look at me. I've got a 1,000-word term paper due Monday... but you don't see me sweating. I've got a whole crappy Sunday to do it." Eric told her.

"Jackie, don't go home. I mean, Steve Martin's hosting Saturday Night." Kelso tried to convince his girlfriend.

"I hate that show, okay? They have commercials that you think are real but they're not real. And then you wanna buy the stuff. Okay. See you, Michael." Jackie bid her goodbyes and left.

"Bye! Bye-bye!" Hyde, Eric, and Donna spoke in unison:

"Shut up." Jackie exclaimed.

"Kelso, Jackie does her homework on Saturday night. That's so hip." Hyde mocked.

"You guys don't have to worry about Jackie anymore 'cause I'm breaking up with her." Kelso told the group, making them scoff.

"We are so tired of hearing you say that." Eric said.

"No. I am. I'm breaking up with her." Kelso reassured them.

"Okay, yeah, right." Babe laughed at his words.

"Yeah, when?" Hyde asked him.

"I'm picking my moment." Kelso answered, Hyde nodded as he didn't believe him.

"Hey, where's Fez?" Brett asked the group. Suddenly the ball landed in the hoop, they all looked to see Fez behind the fence of Eric's backyard having made the shot.

"Make that shot, whore." He pointed in glee. As the group stared in awe.

—

The group minus Babe and Eric were sitting in Eric's basement watching television. None of them knew where the Ruth girl was but they just figured out she was with Brett, so they didn't pay much attention to her absence.

"Welcome to Worship for Shut-ins." The tv man spoke.

"Change it." Hyde commanded Fez, as he changed the channel.

"All right, change that." He ordered again.

"How did we change channels before Fez?" Donna asked.

"I don't think we did." Kelso answered.

"Oh, you guys, I gotta work on my term paper." Eric announced as he walked down the stairs.

"Where's Grandma?" Donna asked him making a scary face and action with her hands.

"Oh, she's in the bathroom, so I've got, like, 20 minutes, half-hour tops." Eric said.

"What's the assignment?" Donna questioned.

"All right. 'In 1,000 words describe the three branches of the United States government and their functions.' I'll never make it." Eric gave up. "Where's Babe when you need her, I could have just gotten her to write my paper." He lamented, looking around for the girl.

"She's probably with Brett." Jackie shrugged.

"Well, go up and tell them you have homework to do." Donna told Eric.

"No, I wanna keep peace in the family." Eric stated.

"Yeah, Donna, Forman wants the Hallmark card family." Hyde explained.

"The what?" Eric asked confused.

"You know, Grandma comes over. To my mother-in-law on this beautiful Sunday. Your smiling face, your kind embrace has made my home a happy place. And I'm so happy you're the one... to whom I gave my loving son. And I'm so happy you're both happy... 'cause otherwise life would be crappy." Hyde imitated Eric's grandma, Red, and Kitty and made fun of them.

"I don't want that." Eric frowned.

"Yeah, you do. I can see it in those wide, hopeful eyes. But the reality is this... To my daughter-in-law, you took my son. You wrecked my life. You stole my youth. You hate my wife. I do my best. Now, that's a joke. I'm going out. I need a smoke."

"Damn it, Eric! Quit hiding from your grandmother. She's old, she could die. Now, move it!" Red told his son as he appeared from the stairs.

"I thought she was in the bathroom." Eric asked his father.

"False alarm." Red shouted back.

"Ah..." Eric grimaced in disgust.

"Look, go take care of your grandmother. We can do this." Donna reassured him,

"Thanks." Eric left the room.

"All right, how many words does he have?" Kelso asked the group.

"His name, the date, the class. Seven." Donna answered.

"He's screwed." Hyde stated.

"Yeah. Use his middle name." Kelso suggested, Jackie hit his shoulder.

"See? Now, this would never happen to me. That is why I do my homework on Saturday." Jackie proudly spoke.

"This is a moment, Kelso. Pick it." Hyde muttered to the boy.

"I think you all could learn something from me right now." Jackie continued.

"Moment number two."

"All right. Jackie, we need to talk." Kelso stood up determined and jumped over the couch to stand in front of her. Hyde celebrated.

"You know what? I did the same paper last year in history. I think I got an "A." You want me to go home and get it?" Jackie asked Donna, grabbing the notebook.

"Let me think... Yeah!" Donna said.

"Hold on, Donna." Kelso stopped her. "Jackie, we need to talk about this whole..." Donna twisted his arm.

"Jackie, why don't you go ahead?" Donna told the girl, making her smirk and leave the house.

"Do not break up with her yet, you understand me?" Donna grabbed Kelso's head between her hands. "Say you understand me."

"All this time I thought you didn't like Jackie." Kelso said, Donna, made him drop to his knees.

"Just don't break up with her yet." She scolded him.

"Okay. Okay. All right." Kelso answered, leaving.

"Hey, what do I need Jackie for, man? I know more about this stuff than she does. The three true branches of the government are military, corporate, and Hollywood. I need a pencil. I got it. I got it." Hyde confidently said, Donna looked exasperated and opened the door. Which revealed Jackie and Kelso making out.

"Jackie, run!" Donna pushed her making Kelso and her fall over as he was holding her up by her waist, her legs wrapped around his waist. Donna closed the door again and ran a hand through her hair.

—

A couple of minutes later the door opened as Babe walked in angrily. Donna, Hyde, and Fez stared in shock as the girl was sporting a giant now healed scratch on her left cheek and multiple now healed bruises on her arm. She dropped down on the couch next to Donna and turned a glare towards the three gawking teens.

"What?" She questioned.

"What happened to you?" Fez asked her with wide eyes. Hyde stood up trying to closely inspect her face, she swatted his hand away.

"Brett, two of his friends, and I got into a car accident." She informed them.

"Oh my god! Are you okay? Is everyone okay?" Donna worriedly asked, grabbing Babe's shoulders as she gave her a once over.

"Yeah, we're all alive, just minor cuts and bruises. The biggest cut was my fucking relationship." Babe scoffed, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"You and Brett, broke up?" Fez asked her.

"We didn't have a choice, his stupid friends threw us under the bus and told their parents it was our idea to go on a drive. We tried to explain the truth, that Brett and I joined them after they saw us walking down the arcade but the parents wouldn't listen. And Brett's parents and mine forced us to break up 'because we were a bad influence on each other.' or whatever." She finished explaining.

"Oh, sweetie." Donna cooed wrapping her arm around her.

"On the bright side, you get to spend more time with us." Hyde tried to cheer her up.

"That isn't a bright side." Babe groaned.

"So, I'm guessing you're not in the mood to write Eric's paper for him?" Donna questioned but just received a glare in return.

—

A while later Fez had left to go home and it was just Babe, Donna, and Hyde. Babe was watching the football game having no idea of what was going on but trying her best. While Hyde walked behind her ranting about the government. Donna not listening at all.

"With their sugar-coated ideals "designed to anesthetize the ignorant masses. "Why? So that the military slash corporate branches "can carry out world domination." All right, read that back to me." Hyde finished his rant sitting down next to Babe as the two girls had stopped listening to him since he began.

"Okay." Donna said, lifting the notebook and making sounds to mimic his talking.

"You didn't get that?" He asked hurt,

"All right, let's just use the encyclopedia." Donna suggested.

"Oh, oh... You just want to vomit up facts from an encyclopedia?" Hyde asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Donna answered.

"Score!" Babe cheered. "God, the packers suck." She laughed at the losing team. Not paying attention to the other two.

"Okay, fine. You know what? Vomit away. I will not be a part of this, then." Hyde couldn't believe her.

"Eric, are you down here?" Kitty spoke walking down the stairs.

"He's not down here, Mrs. Forman." Donna answered.

"Donna, good, why don't you come up and eat with us? I need all the help I can get." Kitty told the girl, Hyde began to stand up but was shut down by Kitty. "Not you, Steven. Grandma doesn't like you." She then turned towards Babe. "She likes you, but you already look like you've been through enough. You can stay here." Kitty then began walking up the stairs.

"Lucky bastards." Donna glared at the two.

"Well, what are we supposed to eat?" Hyde questioned.

"I already ate, It's okay." Babe smiled at the kneeling Mrs. Forman on the stairs.

"I haven't."

"Oh, um, you know, help yourself to the deep freeze." Kitty left.

"But everything's frozen." Hyde shouted. "And I have a dryer." He smirked as he walked up to mess with the dryer.

"That's nasty." Babe told him.

"Yeah, well I don't care." He replied, as he threw a peck of french fries in the drier and set up the machine. He then walked back to the couch and sat beside the girl. He lifted his glasses and stared seriously at her making her frown.

"What's up?" She asked confused.

"I'm glad you're okay, you know because of the accident." He told her concerned, she grabbed his hand in thanks and squeezed it. "I'm also sorry because of the whole breakup."

"Are you?" She asked him.

"Yeah I mean, I know you were happy and I'm happy that you were happy even if it was with...Brett Dunphy." He struggled to say the boy's name. He squeezed her hand back.

"That means a lot Steven." She responded with a smile.

His gaze then turned to focus on the cut on her cheek. He lifted his hand to graze under the cut being careful to run his finger over it, she leaned her face into his hold. As she stared at his concentrated eyes that were inspecting the damage.

"You look beautiful even like this." He sincerely spoke, she let out a giggle. Abruptly stopping as his thumb caressed her lips. Her mouth opened slightly in shock at the action, his finger rubbing her bottom lip lightly. She inhaled deeply as his gaze lowered to her lips, and hers did the same to his.

As soon as she realized she was staring at his lips, she moved her gaze away and tilted her head down making him break the eye contact had with her lips. He sighed and moved his hand away from her face, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and giving her a tight hug. Before standing up and walking over to the drier, the two of them ignoring each other for the rest of the time, thinking deeply about what had happened.

—

"Fry time. Hot! Hot!" Hyde cheered as he carried the fries to the table away from the drier.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked him.

"Huh? Um, just working on your report here, and having some fries." Hyde replied, opening up the bag of fries.

"Wait, you put French fries in my mom's dryer?" Eric persisted, in complete shock.

"Yeah, well the fish sticks are too flaky, so I just... I don't even need to..." Hyde shrugged.

"What happened to your face?" Eric queried as he stared at Babe.

"What happened to yours?" She shot back, making him shake his head, Jackie and Kelso then walked in, Kelso's hair a complete mess.

"Finally. Where have you guys been?" Donna asked them.

"We had to look for the paper... and eat... and then some stuff happened, you know." Kelso lied.

"Your shirt's on inside out." Eric pointed out.

"Yeah, that's the stuff." Kelso said awkwardly.

"Where's the paper?" Donna wondered.

"Right. Okay, see? It wasn't on the three branches of the government... it was on the four food groups." Jackie corrected.

"Okay, look, my dad's got the World Books. I'll just run next door and get 'G'." Donna proposed.

"Ooh! I'll go with you." Jackie offered and left the room.

"You can break up with her now." Donna advised Kelso, as she left after Jackie.

"You know, I'm tired of everybody trying to tear me and Jackie apart." Kelso declared in anger.

"Moron, every day you say you're breaking up with her." Hyde reminded him, Kelso took off his shirt to fix it.

"Well, you guys don't know her like I do." Kelso noticed the hickey on his chest and covered it up with his hand. "It's not just about fooling around. She buys me stuff."

"She hoovered your chest, man." Hyde exclaimed, pointing at Kelso's chest.

"You know what? I don't care anymore. All I wanted was a little help with my paper and you've done nothing!" Eric proclaimed.

"We put your middle name in." Hyde informed him. Eric and Babe leaned forward to stare at the paper.

"Jean-Claude?" Eric asked incredulously.

"Yeah, that's two words." Hyde notified him.

"You guys suck. Just thank God for Donna." Eric thanked.

"Okay, bad news, my mom sold some out at the garage sale. But we have 'B,' 'X,' and 'R'." Donna announced as she and Jackie walked in.

"You know what, Eric. Since you're so desperate I can write up until the 500 mark." Eric offered, he stood up and lifted her up the couch by her waist wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and wringing her around.

"Thank you, thank you." He repeated over and over.

"Bruised rib, Eric. Bruised rib." She told him making him separate instantly.

"Sorry."

"All right. All right. Now, you listen up. I have had an extremely stressful day. And I am not proud of what I'm about to say... but someone give me a cigarette! Now!" Kitty said trying to hold in her anger.

"But, Mom, we don't smoke." Eric tried to bullshit her.

"Cut the crap, Eric. I am a nurse. I know that one in five teenagers smoke. One, two, three, four, five, six. Now, I'm going to close my eyes, and when I open them... there had better be a cigarette between these two fingers. Come on, people. Hop to!" Kitty waited patiently till Hyde placed a cigarette in between her fingers. "Thank you. Light?" She asked impatiently. All of the teens minus Jackie put their lighters near her cigarette. She quickly took in an inhale.

"Kitty. Kitty. Kitty." Red called out as he walked into the basement. Kitty passed Eric her cigarette and he panicked by throwing it inside the freezer.

"Well, there you are, Red." Kitty didn't turn to look at him.

"Ma says the cat bit her, so I'm down here looking for it." Red walked around looking for a cat.

"Dad, we don't have a cat." Eric informed his dad.

"That's what I thought." Red said, as he walked over to the tv and turned it on, and sat down on a chair.

"Well... You know, we really... We shouldn't leave your poor little foreign friend up there alone with Grandma. It's really kind of nice down here." Kitty said, sitting down on the couch. Hyde sat down next to her and offered her a fry from the bag. She began eating it.

—

Later that night as Babe was about to go to sleep, she heard a knock on her bedroom window. Confused she stared over at it, after all, she was on the second floor and the only way up to it was by getting on the roof and the only people that knew how to were Hyde, Donna, and... Brett.

There he was anxiously waiting for her to open the window in the cold night. She hurried to open the window and let him inside her bedroom. They gave each other awkward smiles, as she shut the window up again and turned towards him.

"Hi."

"Hi."

The two of them spoke at the same time, making each other quietly laugh. Trying to wake up Babe's parents or her dog who would most likely begin barking if he heard Brett.

"What are you doing here?" She broke the silence that had formed.

"I wanted to see you." He replied biting his lip as he shifted uncomfortably. He winced when he accidentally bit the part of his lip that was broken. That's when she noticed the bruise on the right side of his jaw. "I'm sorry for forcing you to join them in the car if I would have known..."

"How would you have known? Don't worry about it, Brett." She didn't let him finish, flashing him a quick reassuring smile.

"I didn't wanna break up with you." He said.

"Me neither." She replied after a while, her mind unsure of her words.

"Maybe we can get back together, in secret?" He asked hopeful. She sighed and avoided making eye contact.

"I gotta think about it." She told him.

"You have to think about it?" He repeated unsurely. "Look, like I said, If I –"

"No, it's not you, Brett. I just..." She looked for the right words to say, as he patiently waited. She needed to make her mind clear about whatever she was feeling for him and Hyde. She couldn't keep dragging behind both of them. "I just need some time to think clearly to myself, and make up my mind about what I want and how I feel."

"Is this about, Hyde?" He asked, she looked at him in shock. "Yeah, I know. It's kinda hard not to notice he has feelings for you, I guess I just didn't notice you might reciprocate those feelings." He chuckled without humor.

"I'm sorry." He shook his head and walked towards her, grabbing her hands in his.

"It's okay. I'll give you all the time you need, you figure it out." He gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek before climbing out her window. And there she stood as the cold breeze entered through her open window lost in her thoughts.