The four teens sat in the basement, Eric dialing the number Donna left for Kitty that morning.

"It's ringing," Eric nodded, "It's ringing! Oh my God it's ringing!" he exclaimed, slamming the phone down.

"Oh my God, call her or I will! I need to talk to her!" Lucy whined.

"Forman, what's the problem?" Hyde sighed.

Eric shook his head, "It's just I want to tell her to come home, that I miss her, that I love her. I mean, it's too much to say over the phone."

"Eric, just write her a letter. That's I how broke up with Michael," Jackie nodded, "Yeah, I was able to take my time and find synonyms for cowardly, won't-marry-me loser, run-away-to-California jackass."

Eric sighed, "Jackie, I'm charismatic in person—"

"You are?" Lucy asked seriously.

"Uh yeah," Eric shook his head as if it were obvious. "I've got these awesome hand gestures. And I kind of, like, waggle my eyebrows when I talk."

"Wait, you do that on purpose?" Fez asked confused.

Eric rolled his eyes, "Thanks you guys, that's helpful. You know what? That's it. I'm going. I'll just show up in California and, like, blow her mind. Yeah! I mean when the Empire killed Luke's aunt and uncle did he just call them up?"

"As you remind me daily, no, he didn't," Lucy teased.

"That's right, dear sister! No! He hopped on the Millennium Falcon and paid a little visit to the Death Star!" Eric said excitedly.

Lucy sighed, resting her head on Hyde's shoulder, "Might I add that he would've never known about the Millennium Falcon if it were not for the true hero—Princess Leia Organa."

"You're just as bad as him sometimes, you know that?" Hyde said, looking at the girl, who just smiled childishly with a shrug.

❁

Eric had been moping the entire day, wanting to go to California for Donna, but not knowing how—especially when Kitty and Red said he couldn't.

"Forman, there's a plane to California in four hours and you're on it!" Hyde said as the four teens walked into the basement where Eric sat on the couch. "Now before you get all gushy, we didn't pay for it. We stole the money from your secret stash and the Scooby-Doo thermos."

"Hey, wait, that was my stash!" Lucy whined, "Dammit, alright little brother I guess you owe me."

"It was a good try Lu, but you should've known that eventually I would need some cocoa on the go," Fez smiled with a shrug.

Eric sighed, "Well, thanks you guys, but my parents will kill me."

"Well that's obvious, but luckily you have the best sister in the world!" Lucy smiled.

Eric furrowed his eyebrows, "Really, there's a third sister I don't know about?" Causing Lucy to promptly hit him upside the head.

"No, Eric, we'll cover for you!" Jackie explained.

"Yeah, believe me, I got no problem fooling whitey," Hyde nodded.

"Hyde, you're white," Eric said, confused.

Lucy stifled a laugh, "Just because I told you the beard makes you look tough doesn't change that babe."

Hyde frowned with a scoff, "Whatever."

"Eric, if you love her, you have to go," Fez encouraged.

"You're right," Eric nodded, "I'm going to do this!" he exclaimed, jumping off the couch and running up the stairs. "Damn it, I'm going! I've got to pack!"

Fez jumped up eagerly, "Hey, let me help! I love putting outfits together!"

"I'll help you plan the romantic reunion with Donna!" Jackie squealed excitedly.

Lucy and Hyde exchanged a look before shrugging and following the others upstairs.

"Would you go to California for me?" Lucy asked as they walked upstairs.

"You kidding? For you? I would've left months ago," he smiled at the girl as she rolled her eyes with a faint blush rising on her cheeks.

❁

Lucy walked through the living room with Hyde and Fez, where Red sat reading the newspaper.

"Hey Red!" Hyde greeted.

"Good day, Mr. Red," Fez patted his shoulder.

"See you later Daddy," Lucy chimed.

Red didn't even look up, "Wait a minute, where's the other idiot?"

"Other idiot?" Fez asked, turning to the other two, "Do we know another idiot?" Hyde and Lucy both shrugged in response.

"Where's Eric?" Red snapped.

Lucy laughed, "Oh Eric! See I think of Eric as a dumbass not an idiot," she stalled, not able to think of how to cover.

"Where's Eric? Where are you man? And who wants to know?" Hyde asked, sitting down on the couch, "The U.S. Government, that's who!"

"Oh boy, not this again," Lucy sighed.

"Like I read, by 1984, the government will have tracking devices on all of us!" Hyde continued, "And after that, they're gonna jam electrodes in our brains, so they can read our memories!"

"Okay, that's good, that's enough," Lucy said urgently, pulling on his sleeve.

"Damn U.S. government!" Hyde exclaimed, not hearing Lucy.

Lucy sighed, "Dammit."

Red's newspaper snapped down as he looked up at the boy, "Damn U.S. Government? Without our government, you'd be stuck in Siberia now, sucking the juice from a rotten commie potato." He threw down the newspaper and stood up, "Let me tell you something, if the U.S. government decides to stick a tracking device up your ass, you say Thank you and God bless America!" Red finished before storming out.

"God, he's so easy," Hyde chuckled at how riled Red got.

Lucy softly slapped his arm, "Yeah! But when you stress him out I almost have a heart attack!"

"Oh, poor LSD, afraid to make dad upset" Hyde said mockingly.

Lucy rolled her eyes, pushing herself off the couch, "Oh shut up!"

Hyde stood up, a satisfied smirk on his lips, "Make me."

Lucy pursed her lips, looking at Hyde with a mischievous glint in her eyes and attempting to hide a smile. "Bye Fez," she said nonchalantly without looking away, Hyde's grin growing.

"But can I—" Fez began.

"Bye Fez," the couple repeated.

Fed sulked, standing up, "Good day," he said before closing the door.

As soon as the door closed and it was clear that her parents were no where in sight, Hyde closed the gap between the two, kissing Lucy.

"You're such a jackass," Lucy mumbled between the kiss.

"Jackass that you love," Hyde retorted, obviously smirking.

Lucy laughed softly, moving towards the couch, "Oh shut up and kiss me," she mumbled as she straddled his lap.

❁

Lucy and Hyde were in the kitchen. Lucy sat on the counter, eating M&M's out of the dish her mom left out while Hyde looked through the refrigerator.

"You know what that girl Theresa Willis said to me when she saw us at the pool together?" Lucy asked, popping an M&M in her mouth while swinging her feet.

Hyde closed the fridge, "What?" he asked curiously.

"That we're dirty and weird," Lucy said in a high pitch voice, mocking the classmate. She scrunched her nose in thought, "Are we?"

"Well," Hyde raised an eyebrow, "You do make me think dirty things—and think dirty things in weird places."

"Oh really?" Lucy smiled as Hyde stepped closer, draping her arms around his neck, "Do I even want to know what the weird places are?"

"No," Hyde laughed.

Just then Kitty walked in the kitchen, and took one look at the teens, "You're going to have to be more careful than that if you don't want your father to see you Lucetta!" she chided in a sing song voice.

"Sorry Mama," Lucy giving an apologetic smile as she unwrapped her arms from Hyde, who looked equally amused and mortified, even though Kitty had known for months now.

"Speaking of, when are you going to tell him? You better tell him soon before he's the next one to walk in on you two," Kitty said with that tone that only mothers seemed to have.

"Uh, I haven't quite figured that out yet," Lucy mumbled.

Kitty tilted her head, full well knowing her daughter was putting it off and offered sympathetically, "If you can't tell him, then I can." She smiled and began to whisper giddily, "It's just, you know I hate keeping secrets from your father but this secret is okay because it's just so romantic! Who would've guessed? Veterans' Day!"

"Yeah," Lucy began to laugh awkwardly.

"But you know what's even more romantic? Protection," Kitty said quickly. "Not that you two need it because you know Lucy, your flower is very—"

Heat immediately flushed to Lucy's face and she thought she must have been hallucinating. Somehow, this seemed much worse than the time Eric and Donna got caught.

"Eric went to California!" Hyde quickly interrupted.

Kitty's placid smile remained on her face before she promptly hurried out the kitchen door.

Lucy chuckled, "My hero!" she said, kissing his cheek. "The science lab?" she asked, continuing their previous conversation.

Hyde furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait, how'd you know that?"

Lucy shrugged, hopping off the counter and going to the basement, "I just know you."

❁

The next day, the teens stood reunited in the driveway. Lucy and Donna were speaking incoherently as they were both between laughing and crying, their words becoming a jumbled mess. The two girls hugged and Lucy winked at her twin, proud that he finally followed his gut and got with the only girl Lucy could see as her future sister-in-law.

Then Kelso came over to Lucy, with a balloon poodle, "I got this for you!"

"Thanks Kelso!" Lucy cooed, stepping on her tiptoes to hug him, his hands instantly going down to her backside. "Yeah didn't miss this," Lucy rolled her eyes, pushing him back.

"Damn Lu! This is how you greet your friends?" Kelso yelled, offended.

Lucy crossed her arms, "So, you didn't get any in California?"

"None!" Kelso moped, lowering his head.

"Oh come here you big baby," Lucy scoffed, hugging him again.

"So my folks have no idea I was gone?" Eric asked nervously.

Hyde smiled, "No idea, you're golden man!" he lied while the blonde shook her head, hiding a smile.

"Hyde! You grew a beard! You look so old!" Kelso said, petting the beard.

"Of course I look old, man. I party more than you, work more, drank more, and slept with way more chicks," Hyde replied.

All three girls simultaneously turned to look at him with questioning and warning looks.

"And by way more I mean by default because you didn't get any whatsoever," Hyde clarified.

"Low blow man," Kelso frowned.

Lucy went to hug her brother and then walked over to Hyde, "You better stop making the same old jokes about sleeping around otherwise you won't be getting anything," she whispered and when he looked back she wore an innocent smile.

"Damn you're hot when you act all threatening," Hyde said in awe.

Lucy bit her lip, looking away, "Shut up," she mumbled.

Just then, the Forman's and Mr. Pinciotti walked through the kitchen door. "Hi Daddy!" Donna greeted, arms open wide.

"Don't you Daddy me!" Bob scolded before softening, "Although, it does sound good to hear those words again."

"Bob!" Red chastised, reminded the man he had to be firm.

"Right, you're in big trouble, young lady! Now, get home! Now!" Bob ordered, he followed Donna as she walked next door.

Eric nodded, "Well, guess that's what happens when you want to disobey your parents," he laughed softly, turning to face his parents—who were obviously displeased. "Whoa, why the long faces? Did you think that I? No, no, funny story—true story, I'm walking home from the library, and who should drive by? Kelso and Donna! Back from California, where they were—not me."

"About that..." Lucy started.

"Yeah, they know," Hyde nodded.

Red pointed to the kitchen while Kitty stayed out, arms crossed, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Eric began to stammer, "I—uh—I brought you a seashell."

"Just get in the house!" Red yelled.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" Kitty asked.

"Oh yeah," Eric nodded, "And it was worth it."

"You gotta admit, he's an idiot, but knows when to plan his moments," Lucy nodded.

❁