Song: Etta James- I've been long you too long.
Disclaimer: that 70s show is not mine.
It will take a little while to get to the smex but if you just wait it out it will be good i promise!! This is post S8 or the 6th level of hell as i like to call it. There will be a couple of orginal characters who play minor rolls. This is a jackie /hyde fic~!!! there will be minor k/b, e/d f/whoever.
She looked out the Vista Cruiser window. She had been distant as of late, though with everything that had gone on in the past year it was to be expected. The year of 1980 wasn't shaping up the way Jackie Burkhart had hoped. She had ultimately dumped Fez a couple days after New Years and was surprised that he wasn't surprised. He had said that he had always known it would end between them but he was happy that she gave him a chance however brief. They were still close as ever, hell they still lived together!
As much as she wouldn't admit it, she was still crazy about Steven Hyde. It had been almost an entire year since the stripper incident and it hurt just the same to not be with him. He still took every chance available to burn her, and although she burned back, it didn't have its usual sting. She couldn't muster the energy it took to burn him when all she wanted was to be held in his arms again.
As an outlet, she wrote. She wrote her feelings in songs, poems and prose. She began to write so much that she often wrote small articles for the local newspaper. She was changed in ways she never showed her friends, ways she couldn't show her friends, at least not from the gang. At one point, she took off for a few weeks, stating later to Donna that she just needed to clear her head. When she left she honestly had no idea if she would come back to Point Place, but she couldn't stay away for long. She met new and interesting people on the road, and by leaving home she started writing.
She missed her friends that she met. They never judged her, and she was allowed to show how she was really feeling. She called them often, and they often stated she should come back because she was clearly missed. She almost always turned them down, telling them she was needed here.
"Jackie, i can hear the pain in your voice. I hate hearing you like this," her friend Erica would state.
"I know. But i can't leave now I'm busy with work," She replied.
"The newspaper won't be lost without you for a few days. Please Jax! We miss you!"
"I know. I miss you too and I promise I'll come soon, okay?" Jackie sat at her windowsill in her bedroom.
"You'd better bitch!! Because you know I'll come to you if I have to," Erica laughed.
Jackie laughed too. She missed Erica dearly, her friendship with Donna still rather estranged, Erica was the rock that Jackie had been missing for a while.
Jackie thought fondly of the phone call a few days ago, a small smile gracing her lips.
"What are you smiling at?" Donna asked.
"Hm. Oh, its nothing really. I just can't believe Brooke is actually marrying Michael. I mean what is she thinking?"
"Personally, i think she was over-taken by the evil Emperor," Eric stated calmly, before he was flicked by Donna, "Ow...maybe not"
"How many times do i have to tell you not to reference Star Wars?!" Donna shrieked.
Hyde sniggered, his trademark smirk fully in place. "I'm pretty sure she'd like the father of her baby to be her husband, because besides being super hot, she's also rational. I think she grabbed him by the nuts and told him to man up or else. Wish i could've watched..."
"Me too! That would've been so funny to see!" Fez exclaimed wildly.
Jackie just grimaced, looking back out the window. It still hurt that Steven thought she was hot, even after all this time. She sincerely hoped she could get through this wedding in one piece. It was getting harder to compose herself, and not lash out over meaningless travesties. Besides, Steven wasn't hers, so he could say anything he truly desired.
"Hey look we're almost to the hotel," Donna stated causing Jackie to glance at the hotel, in front of the car, "So we should unpack and hang out for a while because we all don't need to be at the practice dinner until 6."
"I thought Kelso told us not to get there until 6:30," Eric questioned, parking the car. The gang minus Kelso quickly jumped out of the Vista Cruiser, huddling at the trunk. Grabbing her bags, Donna said, " Brooke said to get there a little early so we have time to find the place."
"Oh, ok, so let's get checked in," Eric said closing the trunk after all the bags were taken out.
Jackie watched as her "friends" moved ahead of her. She moved sluggishly, reaching her friends as Donna handed her a key.
"You get to either room with me or by yourself, cause Hyde and Fez are rooming together."
"I'll room by myself if you don't mind, and this way you'll get alone time with twitchy."
"That works out. So just meet in the lobby around 5:45 and we'll head out from there."
"Sounds good."
"Alright! Time to go boob hunting at the pool!" Fez exclaimed.
"Whatever." Hyde said, already heading towards the stairs.
Jackie found her room quick enough. It was small but comfortable; A queen bed with two night stands, a mini bar, radio, dresser, and bathroom. Jackie found herself dropping her bag on the floor and moving straight to the radio. Flicking the knob, some soft jazz came on. She decided to shower and change seeing as there wasn't much time until the rehearsal dinner.
After her shower, she put on her underwear and then began the intense process of drying her hair. Once the task at hand was done she took the simple, black dress out of her suitcase and put it on. She did some light make-up and grabbed her shoes. A soft melody drifted in. She glared at the radio, before falling onto the mattress, closing her eyes and taking in the song. Her mind supplied images from her past with him.
The soft piano drifted in, before a beautifully sad voice sang.
I've been loving you...too long...to stop now
The music began to pick up.
You were tired
And you want to be free
My love is growing stronger
As you become a habit to me
Jackie listened and relaxed on the bed. She mouthed the words, and her heart ached as the beautiful lyrics hit home.
I've been lovin' you
Way too long
I don't wanna stop now
Tears began to leak out of her eyes, the song's melody and lyrics giving her minds fresh images of her and Steven's broken relationship. She could remember the good times like when he was there to protect her from the hardships of the world. When her mother abandoned her and she was all alone in the mansion, Steven was there to hold her through the night. It was in moments like those that she truly fell for Steven Hyde.
With you, my life
Has been so wonderful
I can't, I can't stop now
You were tired and your love is growing cold
My love is growing stronger
AS our affair, our affair grows old
I've been lovin' you--
Hey--
A little too long
I don't wanna stop now-
She heard a banging at the door, and quickly dried her eyes and lowered the radio.
'Who would be knocking on my door?' She wondered. "I'm coming!" She exclaimed as the knocking got louder.
She opened the door to see Hyde casually standing against the doorframe, his aviators firmly in place.
"What are you doing here?" Because frankly she was surprised to see him, of all people, at her door.
"It's 5:45 Jackie! We're all waiting on you. Are you even ready yet?" He stated firmly.
Sure enough as she turned around to look at the clock on the wall it had, in fact, said 5:45. She quickly looked in the mirror, fixed her make-up, grabbed her purse and was ready to go. She walked along side Hyde on the way to the elevator. She normally would have thought the silence maddening but today she relished in the quiet.
The elevator doors opened and they both got in. Hyde pressed the button to the lobby. Being that she was six floors up, ride would take a minute or two. Hyde fidgeted with his clothing. It wasn't a suit or anything. He wasn't even wearing a tie. Just a button-up white shirt, with a black undershirt and jeans. She hated herself for wanting to immediately undress him. A small smile drifted to her face as it reminded her of the time he went to work for his father. Flowcharts...
"What are you smiling at?" Hyde asked, still facing towards the doors.
Jackie quickly Zen(ed) her features. "Just thought of something funny my friend told me."
"Oh. Who?"
She looked over at him. 'Why is he even talking to me? Can't he just figure out that I don't want to speak to him?' " It's nobody you know."
"You mean there are people out there that want to be friends with you?" The burn was harsh, she knew this, but he had fed her worse before.
"Surprisingly, yes," And she left it at that. He turned to look at her, surprise etched on his handsome features. He wasn't used to seeing her like this, complacent and depressed. He was used to angry, bitchy Jackie or bubbly cheerleader Jackie. It completely threw him off his horse when she just agreed with him. 'Where was the fight?! ' He thought as he looked at her, he realized there was something different about her. Mind you he didn't really care, it was just that no one could ever throw him off as much as she could. And she did it a lot more than he was willing to admit.
But as he was eying her, the doors opened and she brushed by him like he was nothing. She walked over to the group, Hyde following close behind. Once Donna was sure they were all there they hopped into the Vista Cruiser and headed to the rehearsal dinner.