Hello, It's Me ? Steven Hyde

[11] - hyde moves in

"So... what are you... what are you going to do?" Eric finally asked.

Hyde let out a defeated breath, slapping his hand to his knee. "Sell the house."

"You rent," Liz pointed out, eyes growing wide.

Hyde only shrugged again, getting up to grab one of his ketchup smothered crackers. "I guess I'm in more trouble than I thought."

"No, Hyde. No, Hyde, I'm serious here!" Eric hissed, standing up and jabbing a finger in his friend's direction. "You need help, my friend."

"No, Forman. You would need help. I'll be fine," he insisted.

Liz glanced down at the sandwich bag in her hands, turning it over a few times. Hesitantly, she got up and held it out to Hyde. "I brought you this sandwich."

His eyes flashed back and forth between her face and the bag. As much as he didn't want the help, he couldn't resist with how hungry he was. And, also how sad she looked. "Fine. I'll take your sandwich." He sat down with it, taking two big bites before mumbling, "After this, no more help."

The twins shared another look, unsure of what to do.

❁

Later that day, Eric was so hyper fixated on Hyde's situation that his other friends gathered in the circle barely even registered with him. He had only taken one hit of the blunt, as they had given up trying to grab his attention.

After thinking it over for about the twentieth time, he finally shook his head. "Hyde's mom is gone, and he is going downhill. I mean, he's sitting over there in the dark, eating ketchup off crackers."

"I ate gum off a parking meter once," Kelso added while chuckling, "But it was on a dare. Made a dollar. Man, there's some suckers out there, huh?"

"Crackers and ketchup and 'K' words, which makes them naturally funny," Fez said while munching on some jerky.

Donna, who had joined the circle for the first time and was finally feeling the effects, started to laugh. "Oh my God. I can feel, like, all the molecules in my body." She snapped her fingers, her face lighting up. "I'm gonna count them. One, two, three..."

"You guys disgust me," Eric hissed, shooting a look around the circle. "Doesn't anyone care about Hyde?"

As if on cue, the back door opened, and Liz walked in with a sigh. She immediately approached her brother, saying to him, "Eric, we need to talk."

"About Hyde?" He already knew it was playing on her mind just as much as it was his.

"Yeah." She waved for Kelso to scoot over so she could also sit on the couch. Once she was eye level with her twin, she drew her arms around herself. "After what we saw today, I'm really starting to get worried."

"You know what's freaking me out?" Kelso cut in, leaning towards her. "I saw Jackie sick without makeup, and it was, like, the freakiest thing I've ever seen in my entire entire life."

Liz shot him a look. "Kelso, you make me sick with how shallow you are."

"No, I'm serious. This is including the class trip to the sausage factory," he insisted, shuddering at the thought.

"Ay... if I ever see the inside of another cow, it will be too soon." Fez then offered his snack out to Kelso. "Jerky?"

"Eighteen... nineteen..." Donna slowly opened her eyes, noticing her best friend sitting across from her. "Oh my God, Liz. When did you get here? Wait, did you see hands? Look how big they are!"

The brunette's eyes widened at the sight of her friend high. As shocked as she was, she was quick to turn a glare on her twin. "You got Donna smokin' this stuff now, too??"