Izzy, Fez, and Hyde were all hanging out at the Hub on Saturday night. Hyde had convinced Fez to make some prank calls while the two of them watched in amusement.

"Hello, House of Chicken? How big are your wings?"

Hyde looked up from his paper, scowling. "Breasts!"

"Oh." Fez turned back to the phone. "How big are your breasts?" He paused. "This is Fez, who is this?"

"Fez, you ruined it! Hang up!" Izzy said, laughing.

He did, then rushed over to the table. "My first prank call! Every night with you two is an adventure!"

"Yeah, Fez, it's a real rollercoaster, ain't it?" Hyde asked sarcastically.

Just then, a girl walked into the Hub. She was wearing dark clothes, had messy hair, and immediately Izzy could tell they wouldn't get along.

"Hey, you!" She said, nodding towards Hyde. "Is there a motel in this puke hole?"

"We don't live in a puke hole. This is a very nice little-"

"There's a Sleepy Time Lodge three puke holes over." Hyde said, eyes wide.

"Thanks. I'm Chrissy."

"Hyde." Izzy looked at Hyde, a frown on her face. He was mesmerized by this girl. She felt her chest tighten.

"Who cares? You wanna hop on my Vespa and uh, show me where it is?"

Hyde looked outside to see a shiny blue motorcycle parked. "Mother of god, I think I love you."

Chrissy scowled. "Love is an outdated concept used by industrialists to keep women subservient."

"Mother of god I do love you!"

Izzy watched as Hyde got up immediately, following Chrissy outside to her bike. "Can you believe this?" She asked, turning to Fez.

"I know. You are head over heels."

"Yeah, I'm head over heels upset."

"That is not what the expression means."

"What? Yes it is" Izzy picked up a fry off her plate, then just threw it back. "I'm not hungry anymore."

-

Later on, Izzy was in the kitchen with Jackie and Kitty. Thankfully, Izzy inherited her mother's nervous baking gene, or else she wouldn't be there.

"Thank you guys so much for helping me with my home ec project." Jackie said.

Kitty smiled. "Well, you're welcome, honey."

"Yeah, I did this project last year," Izzy explained, her mind elsewhere. "It's easy, as long as you don't suck you'll get an A."

"Now, Jackie, have you ever made a pie before?"

"No, I don't really cook much. I just plan on getting by on my looks."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Well that'll get you far."

Kitty paused. "Ok, then!"

Right then, Kelso burst through the kitchen door. Jackie stood up a bit straighter. "Michael."

"Jackie... what are you doing here?"

"I'm baking a pie."

"I'm making small paddles."

Jackie paused. "Fine!"

"Fine!" Kelso stormed out.

"God, what is you guys' problem?" Izzy asked, frustrated.

"What's our problem?" Jackie sounded offended. "You're the one who's been stomping around your house like a child!"

"Okay, you know what?" Kitty asked, nervously laughing. "Isabelle, why don't you go downstairs. I can tell you're in a mood-"

"I am not in a mood!"

"Just go downstairs and take a breath, okay?"

"Fine." Izzy said, storming downstairs.

-

Izzy dragged her feet downstairs, her arms crossed. She sat in Hyde's seat, a scowl on her face. Eric, Donna, and Fez all looked at her, confused.

"Izzy? You okay?" Eric asked slowly.

"Yeah. 'mfine. Why?"

"You seem a little, um, how do I put this... murdery right now." Donna said.

"It is because Hyde has run off with a leather-cladden damsel."

"Fez!"

Donna raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Shut up."

Donna held up her hands "I didn't say anything."

"So, uh Donna, what say you and I take a little drive tonight?"

"I don't know... do you think you can unlock the car?"

Fez smiled. "Hmm... where should the three of us go on our drive?"

Eric laughed awkwardly. "Actually Fez, just, uh, just Donna and I are gonna..." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh, I see." Fez said, standing. "So you are going to ditch me! Just like Hyde. Everyday, I am here with my heart on my sleeve, hoping only for friendship and acceptance. And what do I get? Abandonment. Loneliness. When is it Fez's turn? Where is my whore?"

The basement door opened. In walked Hyde, taking larger strides than usual.

Fez scowled. "Damn you, Hyde! Did you go horseback riding without me?"

Hyde sat on the arm of the couch. "No, man! I just met the most amazing woman. Chrissy! And she just ditched her entire life to start over in New York, man." Izzy shifted uncomfortably in the chair, hugging her arms closer to her.

"Wait," Donna said. "Why is she going to New York?"

"She's gonna start a punk band."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "A punk band?"

"Cool!" Fez said, "What is punk anyways?"

Hyde leaned forward. "Punk is the annihilistic outcry against the corporate rock'n'roll takeover. It's the soundtrack to the revolution, man!"

Izzy scowled. "You said Blue Oyster Cult was the soundtrack to the revolution."

"Look! The point is, is that... she asked me to go with her."

"Why would you wanna go to New York?" Izzy asked, her voice small.

"Well, it's a big city, man! The bars are open 'til four, it's where all the music's happening. Hey. If I can make it there-"

"You can't make it there!" Eric exclaimed.

"But if I can make it there-"

"But you won't make it there!"

"Would you just listen? If I can make it there... damn it, Forman, now I lost my train of thought!"

Izzy got up and walked out the basement door, hugging her jacket to herself. She felt the breeze biting at her face and she went walking down her block, not to anyplace in particular. Just somewhere other than that basement.

-

Later on, during the boys' circle, Eric was trying to convince Hyde to stay in Point Place.

"I dunno, Hyde," he said, "I mean, here, you're the cool guy. But, you know how many cool guys live in New York? There's like... Lou Reed, man! Do you wanna mess with that?"

"Why do you want to leave Point Place? It is fun!" Fez said.

Hyde was eating out of a jar of peanut butter. "Yeah, it is fun, man! And, I'm gonna miss the hell outta you guys! But Chrissy's cool. And it's the Big Apple, man! Hey, do you think Lou Reed's in the phone book? Cause I bet he'd really like me."

He passed the peanut butter to Kelso. "Lou Reed. Where're you going? Who's Chrissy?"

Kelso passed the jar to Eric. "It's not so bad here! We got the TV, and peanut butter, and Izzy's here! What about you and Izzy?"

"Hyde, you cannot leave. You never told Izzy you love her." Fez said.

Hyde sighed. "Man, I've tried. I tried at her birthday party, and at the disco, in jail... if it was gonna happen, it would have happened by now."

"So you're really over her?" Eric asked.

"I dunno, man. I think so."

-

"Isabelle, get in here!" Red yelled from the kitchen. Izzy got up from the couch, walking into the kitchen to see Hyde sitting on a chair in front of Red and Kitty.

"What's going on?" Izzy asked apprehensively.

"Steven is trying to run away to New York!" Kitty said, laughing loudly.

"Yeah, I know." Izzy crossed her arms and looked at Hyde, and man, if looks could kill.

"We don't think that you should go." Red said to Hyde.

"New York is a dangerous place." Kitty added.

"A young man today needs a high school diploma!"

"In New York, you get mugged for no good reason!"

"Without that sheepskin you are nothing. And not the kind of nothing that you are now. An even lower, more pathetic nothing."

The lecturing went on for a while, Red and Kitty expecting Izzy to jump in and agree with them. Instead, she just leaned against the kitchen counter, scowling down at her shoes.

"I'm not afraid of anything, and I'm going!" Hyde said, cutting Kitty off and leaving the house.

Eric ducked his head into the room. "Hey, uh. Izzy. Wanna go for a drive?"

-

The car ride was silent, until Eric broke it with a "What's going on with you?"

"Hm? Nothing."

"Izzy?"

"It's just... he's leaving. This chick comes to town, one night spent with her and he's just leaving us all in the dirt! It's not fair!"

"I know, but-"

"And worst of all. Ooh, worst of all, is that he really... wants to leave." Eric said nothing. "And I can't do anything about that." Izzy's voice was quiet. "And maybe... if he stayed..." She looked up, out the window, seeing that they were parked outside Hyde's house. "Eric, why are we here?"

"Come on."

Eric and Izzy got out of the car, walking up to the house. From inside, they could hear Hyde and his mom arguing.

"It is too my suitcase!" He yelled.

"Nothing in this house is yours!"

"Shut up!" He left the house, muttering a quick "Bitch" under his breath. "Hey guys."

"So your mom's taking it pretty hard, huh." Eric said. Izzy just stood awkwardly off to the side, picking at her nail polish.

"Oh, I haven't told her yet."

"So Hyde, you're like...really going through with this."

"Yeah, man. I mean, you know, I know people spit on you there and the rats are as big as your head or whatever, but this might be my only chance to escape."

"Hey, you can't leave now. Hyde, we're finally getting old enough to do some serious damage to this town! Remember? We were gonna paint that pot leaf on the water tower?"

Hyde chuckled. "Vandalism, while tempting, is not enough reason for me to stay. Plus, you can do that without me."

"We won't though." Izzy said. Hyde looked over at her, his jaw clenched. "You're the reason I do so many stupid, senseless things."

"Yeah, that is true." Eric paused. "Hyde, I've never told this to another human being, but I... I cannot get Donna's bra off."

"Okay, that's my queue to wait in the car." Izzy went back into the Cruiser, watching as the boys talked on the porch. If Hyde left... she didn't know what she was going to do. He was always there for her. If she fell asleep in the car, he'd walk her up to her room. If she was drunk, he'd stay with her all night. She knew she'd be completely lost without him. And she hated it.

-

In the basement that night, Eric walked down the stairs to see Hyde sitting on the couch. He immediately went hopping over the couch to sit next to him.

"You surprised to see me?" Hyde asked.

Eric smiled. "Nah, I knew you'd stay."

"Yeah, we've been friends way too long."

"No, Chrissy just drove by with some guy on the back of her bike."

"Poor kid. She's grieving." He took a sip of his pop. "How's Izzy?"

"She's in her room, I think. Working on a new painting. Very angry, Red'll like it."

"Man, I've never seen her so pissy before."

Eric chuckled. "You really gaslighted her, man."

Hyde paused. "I don't think you know what that word means."

"Just... go upstairs. Let her know you're staying."

-

Izzy heard a knock at her door. "It's open!" She yelled over her music.

Hyde opened the door to a mess. She had a tarp over her floor, but that only barely saved it from all the paint splatters. She had her easel and a canvas set up, and the canvas was covered in splashes of different paint colors. Then again, so was she. She had a particularly bright spot of orange on her cheek.

"Hyde. What are you doing in here?" She asked, swirling colors around on her palette.

He chuckled and turned down her record player. "Looks like you've just been throwing paint everywhere."

"That's because I have." She took her paintbrush and flicked it, spraying red paint onto the painting.

Hyde raised an eyebrow. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not in New York right now."

"Yeah, I saw Chrissy and some skinny dude leave the Hub today."

Hyde walked up to Izzy, using his thumb to try and wipe away the paint on her cheek. "You don't seem very happy to see me."

"That's because I'm mad at you."

"Isabelle Forman, mad. Now that's something I never thought I'd see."

"Well take a good look."

"Okay, sit down." Hyde took her wrist in his hand and guided the two of them to sit at the foot of her bed. "I hate saying this, you know I hate saying this, so I'm only gonna do it once. I'm sorry. I totally gaslighted you-"

"That's not how you use that word."

"I shouldn't've been so quick to take off. Forman reminded me that you guys desperately need me here. I mean, remember when I taught you how to get out of a speeding ticket?"

"Yeah. Cry and say my dog's getting put down."

"See? I'm prepping you for when you learn to drive. And once you do learn to drive, you're gonna need a lot more help."

Izzy looked up at Hyde. "You scared me."

"What?"

"I really thought you were just gonna leave and... never come back."

"What, you're admitting ya need me?" He said with a laugh.

She shoved him lightly. "Maybe just a little."

"Is that a smile?"

"No."

"I think it is."

"No!"

"Well come on. Forman's in the basement watching All My Children, and we gotta save him before he grows a pair of, well, those." He said, pointing to Izzy's chest.

"You're a doofus." She said, laughing.

"Yeah, but you love me."

Izzy stayed quiet.