— FOUR !
004. can we talk?

THE FORMAN BASEMENT | 1977

—"OH YEAH, UH, I walked in on her in the shower once. It was gross," Hyde said nonchalantly in an attempt to avoid discussing the actual reason he'd seen Margot's naked ass.

Jackie laughed as she stood up to go upstairs to the toilet, none the wiser.

Kelso's mouth hung open for a second as he thought about what Hyde said, "See even I'm not dumb enough to believe you if you use the word gross. I mean— have you seen her? Besides, you used to talk about wanting to bang her too, man!"

Eric snorted, earning a glare from Margot.

He couldn't help the smirk that crept to his face, knowing they'd struggle to get out of this now without telling the truth.

Despite his teasing, he had their best interests at heart. He hoped that telling the gang about their past would mean they'd be forced to properly, openly address it to each other maturely so things wouldn't be awkward.

He knew that mature was hardly a word in Steven Hyde's vocabulary, but he hoped for the best. Besides, Margot had always seemed to evoke at least some level of maturity in him before she left.

Besides, he always thought they'd be a cute couple.

"Fine," Hyde's expression softened as he looked to Margot, silently asking if she was okay with him telling the truth. She nodded slightly with a shrug, "We were seeing each other before she left."

"Hyde? Dating someone?" Kelso crossed his arms as he thought about it, torn between knowing Hyde didn't usually date and the fact he was always all over Margot and scolded him for talking about her.

"We weren't properly officially dating, but sort of yeah— I mean maybe? When I told him I was going for the summer we had a big argument and... said some things. And I didn't feel ready to face him again at the end of summer so I stayed in the UK." Margot bit her lip as she spoke, all eyes on her.

Hyde felt everyone quickly look at him, but he avoided eye contact with anyone so he didn't have to say much more.

His chest ached, wracked with guilt that it was his fault she'd endured living with her mother for an entire year and not a mere month or two.

Kelso didn't seem to actually be phased by what had been said, Fez was oblivious to it all, Donna wasn't even remotely surprised and Eric just sat smiling knowingly.

"Wait, so that's who you said you were trying to get over?" Kelso mused, "Hyde?"

Hyde couldn't help but smile, though he knew he shouldn't have been so happy when he'd hurt her enough that she felt she had to try and get over him with Kelso. But he'd missed her so much that the very notion of her missing him too sent electricity coursing through his veins.

"Can we just, uh, end this conversation here?" Margot gently pleaded, feeling the crimson blush on her face and awkwardness hanging over her head.

She finally made proper eye contact with Hyde now, and her stomach swarmed with butterflies again as she saw his soft smile. She'd missed it. God, she had missed it.

Eric coughed, picking up the television remote and switching the channel to watch reruns of M*A*S*H and ease the tension that was thick in the room. It worked, somewhat, but Margot was conscious that everyone would briefly spare a look in her direction every few minutes.

Kelso's hands were still curled around her waist, his thumb rubbing circles just above her hipbone was he absentmindedly watched the television, laughing every once in a while.

Jackie returned, scowling at Margot and Kelso's position but still blissfully unaware of the discussion about her and Hyde.

Her brain whirred with ways to stir things up between Margot and Kelso, unable to stop herself from hoping they'd split.

"Hey Margot?" she spoke up, squinting as she stared into the girl's eyes, "Meet any hot British guys in the UK? Any summer romances?"

She knew Margot would feel awkward about answering it, even though she seemed to have settled back into the group now.

"Nope." she simply replied with a smile, eyes accidentally flickering to Hyde's, "Nobody."

Hyde had gone from looking nervous to grinning softly in a split second, and again Margot felt the butterflies flitting in her stomach at his smile.

"Can we talk?" Hyde mouthed to her, gesturing towards his bedroom so they had a bit of privacy.

She nodded, beginning to get up before Jackie perched herself on the edge of the couch, thus stopping Hyde from getting up from his seat.

"Hey Steven, have you done something different with your hair?" she purred, biting her lip as Donna and Margot shared an irritated glance.

Hyde scoffed, hand reaching up to tug a strand of his hair as his face twisted in confusion at her question, "No... I don't do anything with my hair so why would I have done something different?"

The room was awkward and silent for a moment, before filling with Jackie's feigned laughter as the others looked between each other.

"It just looks extra... cute today," Jackie giggled, reaching up to twirl one of his curls around her finger. He pulled back, scowling, and gently nudged her aside to jump to his feet.

"Look, i need to talk to Ste— Margot, alright?"

The atmosphere was thick with tension again as all eyes passed between him and Margot, aware of the nervous pout on the girl's face.

Eric really hoped this 'talk' would go well, for the sake of Hyde and Margot mostly, but also for the sake of the group in its entirety.

He just wanted to see everyone happy, really.

"Margot? Why?" Jackie asked, growing agitated at her importance to seemingly everyone. Jackie hadn't really known the group that well before Margot left, she had still been barely with Kelso, so she wasn't quite aware that Margot had been around as long as the gang had existed.

"We have some important stuff to talk about," Margot snapped, thin lipped, "It's between us, so leave it."

She couldn't deny the butterflies swarming her stomach at the way Hyde smirked at what she'd said. He, on the other hand, couldn't deny the butterflies swarming in his stomach as Margot snapped at Jackie for the sake of what was between them.

He loved that she'd said those words, deep down praying their still was really something between them, more than just unspoken apologies and long gone memories.

She too rose to her feet, Kelso rubbing her back a little reassuringly. Sure, he didn't like the idea of Margot running back to Hyde — especially since Jackie seemed to suddenly be interested in him too — but he did care about Margot and, moreover, hoped maybe Jackie would want him back once Hyde was an impossibility too.

He leaned up, kissing her cheek softly, "Good luck, babe," he whispered gently, his smile for once appearing comforting as opposed to, well, his usual blank smile.

She nodded, whispering a shy thank you as Hyde's eyes burned holes in the side of her head, before turning to follow him into his room with silent strides.

"Now this," Eric grinned, "Is gonna be good!"

———
sorry this took sO GOD DAMN LONG
guys but i hope u enjoyed all the same!
i love writing this so much but i'm just
making sure i don't rush chapters out
so they're not awful ❤️ love u all for
being so sweet n so patient w me xx