DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I do not own anything you may recognize from That '70s Show, as it belongs to the producers and writers. However, I do own this one-shot =)

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Those Disregarded Feelings

Steven Hyde scanned the room through his dark sunglasses. It was very familiar – the yellow, three-person couch he was seated on, the few chairs that were scattered around, and the infamous wooden table. He smirked when his eyes laid on the round, wooden table… So many memories happened there. If only he could remember them all. There was a small television set up on a stand, but that was off. Hell, even the lights were off. He was just there, sitting alone in the darkness that belonged to Eric Forman’s basement.

He felt guilty every time he thought about his best friend. They’d been best friends since kindergarten, ever since that faithful bath that Mrs. Forman made them take together. The secrecy of the event had been what started the beautiful friendship. Plus, the Formans were always so nice to him. They let him hang out in the basement all the time… he practically lived there. Sometimes he wished he did, because it was so much better than going home.

He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. He felt guilty, and he was angry. Because while he felt guilty about Eric, he felt angry at himself. Why did he have to feel this way? He promised himself a long time ago that he would never feel this way—not to anyone, especially not to his best friend’s girlfriend. Well… he wasn’t actually sure if Donna was his girlfriend yet, but that seemed to be the direction Eric was hoping for, with that stupid fancy restaurant, and that stupid fancy coat that Mrs. Forman had found.

Hyde could never compete with that. But why did that make it so much more alluring?

Because she was the forbidden fruit. She was the one girl that Steven Hyde couldn’t get to, and that was the most frustrating feeling in the world.

It wasn’t like him to just sit around and mope in the dark basement by himself. He was honestly surprised that he wasn’t high, either—but he knew substances wouldn’t be able to help him feel better. Definitely a first. But there was a first time for everything, right?

He couldn’t get her image out of his head. She had looked beautiful tonight, wearing that long-sleeved, low-cut dress. As cliché would have it, it was really the first time Hyde noticed that she was a girl. Until tonight, he had just considered her another one of the guys.

He groaned in frustration and kicked the wooden table. He swore to himself that he wouldn’t become like this! He wouldn’t turn into Eric, the love-sick puppy that wouldn’t be happy unless he was chasing after Donna’s heels. Not for any girl, and certainly not his best friend’s girl! Eric had dibs on Donna for a long time. And Hyde was loyal—at least when it came to Eric. He wouldn’t hurt him. He would simply disregard these feelings.

Yes, that would have to be the answer. It didn’t sound appealing to him, but it was what had to be. He would forget about Donna Pinciotti—forget about her long, beautiful, red hair, pale skin, and green eyes. She would simply be a sister to him. Nothing more, nothing less.

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Forgetting about Donna Pinciotti was harder than Steven Hyde bargained for. The two of them practically lived over at Eric’s house, although Donna at least had a semi-decent family to go home to when she didn’t want to listen to their best friend be a total dumbass. But Hyde… he would much rather stay in the Forman’s and suck up Eric’s complaints.

What the hell did he have to complain about, anyway? Okay, so Red was a bit of a hardass on him, but at least he was his father. At least Eric knew his father, and his father wasn’t ashamed of him. Most importantly, though, Eric had Donna.

The lucky bastard. And the worst part about it? He didn’t even realize how lucky he was!

He had headed down into the Forman’s basement early that afternoon. He could hear the rain beating against the house, and he rolled his eyes. Thankfully—or, much to his chagrin—only Eric and Donna were in the basement today. He wasn’t sure where Kelso, Jackie, or Fez were, but frankly, he didn’t care. He’d much rather hang out with two people he genuinely liked as opposed to deal with Kelso and fighting the temptation (and losing, most of the time) to kick his ass, or listen to Jackie whine about petty things, and Fez being… well, Fez.

“Eric! Are you down there?!”

Red Forman’s voice boomed down the stairs, and Eric spazzed. Hyde smirked, but otherwise, didn’t change his expressionless face.

“Yeah, Dad!”

“Come up here! You have to explain to me why there’s a scratch on my car!”

Eric looked around for help, but Hyde just shrugged.

“Oh, come on, it won’t be that bad,” Donna encouraged. Hyde wanted to throw up. “Just go up now and get it over with—you know how he hates waiting.”

“Eric! Get your ass up here or I’ll—”

“I’m coming!” he interrupted, giving Donna a quick kiss on the cheek before jumping over the yellow couch. He walked up the stairs, and for a few minutes, there was silence.

“Hyde?”

Her voice nearly sent chills down his spine. He would slap himself if he didn’t think that she would notice.

“Yeah?” he asked gruffly.

“Can we talk for a minute?”

What could she possibly want to talk about? Not about the other night—the night when he’d told her that he had feelings for her, and that he was certain that she had feelings for him, too. Talking about it would make it harder to forget. Forgetting was easy.

Well, sort of.

“Sure.”

“About the other night…” she began, glancing over at him. He sat up straighter, conscious of the fact that she was looking at him. He raked a hand through his hair and looked back. “You said… you said that you had feelings for me.”

He exhaled. He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until he let it out. “Yeah. Look, Donna, I’m real sorry about that, let’s just forget…”

“I don’t want to forget,” she replied, her words rippling with emotion he’d only heard her use with Eric. He furrowed his brow in confusion. “Look, you were right, okay? Right about me. I do have feelings….”

“Well, I’d hope so. Otherwise you’d be a lifeless shell floating around, and Forman might be disappointed that the girl he’s madly in love with is a zombie.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean, Hyde.”

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you spell it out for me?” he asked sarcastically.

“I have feelings for you. But I also have feelings for Eric, so… I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s not really a competition. Be with Forman.”

“But—”

“Donna, listen to me. Forman’s the better choice here. He’s the king against my jack—he’s safe, and you feel comfortable around him.”

She sighed. “That’s true…”

He could tell there was reluctance in her voice, though. He glanced over at her. “I’m serious, Donna. We just wouldn’t work. You’d be frustrated, I’d be bored, and Forman’d be heartbroken.”

“You think you’d be bored with me?” she asked, an edge to her voice. God, he hoped she didn’t start crying or something—that’d make him feel awkward. He never knew what to say or do in situations like that, so he usually left it up to Eric.

“Yes. We wouldn’t last. Just trust me, alright?”

“But Hyde…”

“No. No ‘but Hyde’. You’re supposed to be with Forman. I get it. Even if you do have feelings for me, they’d fade as time went on.”

“Stop trying to push me away,” she growled.

“Stop trying to fool yourself. This isn’t what you want. I’m not what you want. I’ll get over this in a few weeks, so just forget about it, okay?”

She stared at him, and he wondered what was taking Eric so long with Red. But then again… he didn’t really care. “Then what the hell was the point in telling me?”

“I had to get it off my chest, see if there was a chance. Now I know there’s not.”

“There’s not? But I told you, Steven, I had feelings for you too…”

“Shit, Donna! Don’t you listen? Eric is your better choice.”

“Yes, Eric’s the better choice. But who says I want the better choice?”

“I do!” he exclaimed. “I know you, Pinciotti, and you’d die if you weren’t with him.”

She was about to respond when there were footsteps on the wooden stairs. Hyde shut up immediately, knowing it was Eric. He wanted to keep his feelings to himself—and to Donna—because he was pretty sure Eric would freak if he found out.

Eric must’ve noticed the tense atmosphere in the basement as he jumped back to sit on the couch with Donna. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him, though never taking her eyes off of Hyde.

“What’d I miss?” he asked cheerfully.

“Nothing,” both Hyde and Donna responded at the same time.

Eric looked between the two, and Hyde could detect some suspicions. “…Are you sure? You could cut the tension down here with a knife.”

“Yeah, Forman. Did Red freak out about the car?”

“Of course he did. He kept lecturing me before taking away the keys to the car.”

“Ouch. How long are you suspended from driving?”

He shrugged. “A while.”

Hyde could feel Donna’s gaze on him the entire time. He made sure to specifically stare at the wooden table, though no one would be able to tell through his dark sunglasses.

“So… I guess that means we’ll be stuck here for a while,” Eric remarked after a few minutes of silence.

“Fine by me. I don’t like change,” Hyde responded, glancing over at Donna. She made a face at him, and then started talking to Eric about something. Though normally he would pay attention to the conversation, he found himself tuning out.

It seemed like forgetting was going to be easier than he thought.