She didn't have to tell Eric.

He figured out the truth, or at least, part of the truth, about a week and a half into her stay with the Formans.

She supposed it was only a matter of time, considering the fact that other than Steven and maybe Donna, Eric was the smartest person she knew.

When she kept refusing the I'm-just-trying-to-be-civil beers that Eric would occasionally offer her, and when her "stomach bug" continued off and on for over a week, what other conclusion was he going to come to?

She was sitting on Laurie's bed (it still didn't feel like hers) when he came storming into the room.

"You know, I knew you were selfish, but this is a new low, even for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, even though she had a fairly good idea of what he was talking about.

"Fez got you pregnant and you two broke up, boo who! You couldn't have found somewhere else to stay considering, I don't know, the fact that my parents just lost a child?"

"Eric-

"You need to get over yourself. God, you are such a child, Jackie! You knew that my mom was too nice to say no and you took advantage of her in her time of grief, didn't you?"

"She asked me to stay here," she said evenly, doing her best to stay calm despite the anger and hurt bubbling inside of her.

Eric doesn't know. He's grieving. Don't take it personally.

"Oh did she now? Well that makes it all better! Listen Jackie, I don't care about you or your drama and I never have. I should have never let you back into the basement after you Kelso and broke up, because it would have saved us all a lot of trouble. All you ever did was make Kelso miserable, and then make Hyde miserable, and now you've gone and gotten Fez miserable and stuck with you for the next eighteen years. What's next, are you going to put the moves on me?"

"Eric, you don't understand," she growled, tears starting to prick at her eyes.

This wasn't Eric. The dislike of her, well, that was Eric. But this ruthless yelling at her, tearing her apart? That wasn't the scrawny, kind boy she grew up. She was trying to just let him get it all out and let him destroy her as an outlet for his pent-up grief, but he had hit a nerve.

Eric's words hit her saliently because maybe she believed them.

He hadn't outright called her a slut, but she could hear the insinuation.

And maybe that's what she thought of herself, too.

Maybe she laid awake at night, blaming herself for Steven's death, because if she had just been able to stay faithful to her boyfriend at the time, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant and Steven wouldn't have drove himself into a tree.

Maybe.

"What don't I understand? That you're a selfish, manipulative, childish excuse for a human being who throws a hissy fit whenever she doesn't get what she wants? Because I sure as hell understand that! You're pregnant. So what? Deal with it and stop making it my family's problem, because in case you haven't noticed, we're going through some real problems right now!"

"Eric-

"God, did Hyde ever mean anything to you at all? Were you just trying to get back at Kelso? Because now Hyde's gone and all you care about is yourself."

"It's Steven's."

"What?"

"The baby, Eric," she choked out through tears, "the baby isn't Fez's. It's Steven's."

She watched the blood drain right out of his face and thought he might pass out right then and there.

"What?" he asked again, this time weak and devoid of malice.

"I was dating Fez and I slept with Steven, so you're right, I'm a slut. I'm just a dirty little slut who's managed to ruin everyone's lives again and again. I know that I just need to leave you and your family alone, but your parents found out that I was pregnant and with Steven's baby and insisted that I stay here. I'm sorry, okay? You're right, all I've ever done is cause you and the rest of our friends pain and it's my fault that Steven's gone! The night he crashed into that tree was the night that I told him that I was pregnant!"

"Jackie," Eric whispered, walking toward her on the bed.

"No, just save it! You've said more than enough. You hate me and I don't want you to start being nice because you feel sorry for me."

"Jackie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-

"Get out."

"Jackie-

"Out!"

"No," he said definitively, and Jackie's eyes widened in shock. She had never heard him speak to her or to anyone else with that much force in his voice before.

"You hate me and I hate you, so why won't you just leave me the hell alone?"

"Because I don't hate you."

"Why not? You hated me about two minutes ago. But now that you know I'm carrying a dead man's baby you feel bad for me?"

She saw him flinch at the words "dead man" and almost felt bad for being so crude. Almost.

After all, it was the truth.

"I don't think you're a slut," he said quietly, "and I don't think that you made Kelso or Hyde miserable. Well, maybe Kelso a little bit, but he cheated on you all the time so it was only fair. I think that you made Hyde as happy as I've ever seen him, even if he might not have admitted it. I said all that horrible stuff to you because I didn't know the truth and I thought you were taking advantage of my parents and I just got so angry at you."

He looked at her carefully for a short moment, sighing when he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"And I also said all of that because I really, really miss Hyde. And I shouldn't have taken that out on you and I'm sorry."

"I-I miss him, too," she sobbed, hating that she was showing so much raw emotion in front of Eric, especially since he had just verbally torn her to shreds, but was unable to stop the pain and despair from bursting through her.

"God, I know you do, Jackie. I know you do, I promise."

Jackie was sobbing in front of him, crying so hard that he actually was afraid she might hurt herself, and he wasn't sure what to do. His first inclination was to try and hug her, but he wasn't sure if she would let him touch her.

He moved closer to her and tentatively put an arm around her shoulders, and when she leaned into him instead of pushing him away, he wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her into his chest.

"You didn't kill him," he said quietly.

He felt her shake her head against his chest and his stomach dropped. Jackie had never been his favorite person in the world, but she was in an unimaginable situation and he didn't want her making it worse on herself by blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault.

"Jackie, he was the one who went out and got hammered and decided to drive. Maybe you telling him that you were pregnant set him off, but he's still the one who made the choices that he did. And what were you supposed to do? Never tell him?"

"I-I'm so mad at him," she sniffled, feeling a little uncomfortable in Eric's arms, but desperately needing to be held.

"I am, too."

Eric didn't say anything else for a while, waiting for Jackie to more or less cry herself out and calm down before they continued their conversation.

He had felt bad for Jackie before, sure. When Kelso cheated on her with his sister? He felt bad. When her father was sent to jail and her mom abandoned her? He felt bad. When his mother told him that Hyde had went off and married a stripper? He felt bad for her.

But nothing compared to the way he felt about the raven-haired girl quaking in his arms because the man she loved wasn't going to be around to love her anymore, and he had left her as a single mother, too.

Eric didn't really believe in heaven or in departed souls being able to watch over their loved ones from up above, but there was a part of him that wondered if Hyde was aware that he had died, and if he had any cognizance of the mess he had left behind.

Hyde had (rightfully) never been able to forgive his (step) father for walking out on his mom and his kid, leaving him to grow up without a father.

Eric wondered if Hyde would ever be able to forgive himself for doing the same thing to Jackie and their son or daughter.

(If Hyde's spirit still existed or whatever it was that his mother believed.)

"I'm going to help you however I can, okay?"

"You don't have to. You don't owe me anything," Jackie murmured, her sobs having turned into quiet sniffles.

"I know I don't have to do anything, but I'm going to."

"You're a good guy, Eric."

"You're not so bad yourself, little devil."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away," she said so quickly that Eric could hardly make out what she was saying, "I just was so overwhelmed and I-

"Hey, no, it's okay. You didn't have to tell me until you were ready to. I'm sorry that I didn't let you tell me on your own time."

"It's fine. If you hadn't figured it out I probably would've waited until it looked like I shoved a watermelon down my top."

"You know," Eric said tentatively, "Donna and I used to joke about whether I would accidentally get her pregnant or Hyde would accidentally get you pregnant first."

Jackie was silent for a minute, and Eric worried that he had said the wrong thing, and if he should just avoid mentioning Hyde around Jackie in general for the time being.

"Well," she said quietly, "I guess Hyde and I won."

"Yeah," he said with just the tiniest hint of a smile on his face, "I guess you two did."