Hello, It's Me ? Steven Hyde

"Hey," Hyde greeted the Forman twins as he walked into their basement.

Kelso smiled as he followed him in and sat down on the couch. "Whatcha doing, you two?"

"Just counting my secret stash," Eric replied, sorting through a stack of bills. "I'm getting something special for Donna."

"Something special, huh?" Kelso raised his eyebrow, but then his expression grew more serious. "Oh, is it firecrackers?"

Eric shot him a look. "No."

"No, no, 'cause if it's something that blows up, I'll go halfsies."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Kelso," Liz said with a shrug, getting up to go and sit on Hyde's lap. "But what he's getting definitely doesn't blow up. Well, at least I hope it doesn't."

Eric sighed, his eyes following Kelso over to the freezer. "It's a promise ring, 'cause, you know, Donna and I have been fighting a lot lately."

"Forman, you get mushy with Donna, she's gonna see the secret girl inside the man. Now, trust me, you don't want to let Erica out," Hyde warned.

Kelso chuckled with his newly acquired ice cream sandwich. "Erica. That's a good burn. You can't do that with Michael. I'm lucky."

Hyde's lips curved up into a smirk. "Oh, really, Michelle?"

"Oh, I forgot about Michelle." Kelso sighed. He then shook his head, going back to the previous conversation. "Look, Hyde obviously doesn't understand mature relationships, but I do, and a promise ring is not only a gift from the heart, but it also means more sex and less mouthing off."

Liz turned to share a look with her boyfriend. "Oh, he's the mature one, alright."

Kelso, not picking up on her sarcasm, simply nodded. "Yeah, that's why I'm getting one for Jackie, too."

"Great." Eric patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go."

"Alright. See you later, Liz and Hyde...da...licia," Kelso tried, starting towards the door. He then turned to Eric, asking quietly, "What's a good girly name for Hyde?"

"Uh... Hyde... drangia?" Eric stammered.

"It's Heidi, you morons, Heidi!" Hyde spat.

Liz glanced back at him. "I was gonna say Stephanie."

He shot her a smirk before pulling her even closer, then turned back to the two at the door. "See, you guys? We're already so much more clever than you."

"Yeah, whatever." With a look of disgust, Eric waved them off. "Come on, Kelso. Let's go."

As Kelso followed him out, he quickly stuck his tongue out at the couple before slamming the door shut.

While Liz simply giggled, Hyde shifted nervously in his seat, trying to plan out his next words. Finally, he drew in a deep breath. "Hey, uh, Lizzie? You're not, like, uh... jealous or anything, are you?"

"What?" Her head whipped back to face him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Why would I be jealous?"

"Well, with your brother and Kelso going off and getting rings for their girlfriends, you're not gonna, like... expect one from me?"

To his surprise, she giggled once more. "Hyde..." she started, holding up her one hand. With a wiggle of her fingers, she showed off the ring he gifted for her seventeenth birthday and hadn't taken off since. "I have my ring right here."

"God, I love you," he breathed before pulling her into a passionate kiss.

❁