Title: Ghost of Christmas Past
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Set in the future, Donna and Hyde remember the Christmas of 1976. D/H (past), D/E and J/H (future).
Notes: Only two and a half weeks late, not to shabby. The idea for this came partly from one of my Christmas Exchange options, and partly from me wondering if I could write a Donna/Hyde fic that wasn't: Oh-my-god-I've-always-loved-you-what-was-I-thinking-all-these-years. I "borrowed" a line or two from The Ski Trip episode, 'cause you know, give credit where credit is due. Speaking of which…thanks to Annie for a wonderful beta. And, in case anyone was wondering, I'm still working on That Long Hot Summer, I just got to a part where I can't quite figure out how to get from point A to B.
~*~
Sounds of chatter and music filtered down the hallway and into the cozy living room. A Christmas tree with multi-coloured lights blinking off and on at random intervals stood in the corner. Under the tree festively wrapped gifts had been placed in a not so haphazard manner.
"An hour into the party and already running away?" Donna asked from the doorway.
Hyde looked up from the small gift he was wrapping. "Nah, just a last minute gift for Red and Kitty," he said and shrugged as he placed the last piece of tape on the corner of the small box. Satisfied with his work, he flicked his wrist and casually tossed the gift under the tree contradicting the care he took in wrapping it. When he stood up and turned around he was surprised to see her staring at one of the ornaments dangling from a branch of the tree.
"Is this--?" she asked, her voice full of wonder.
He watched as she lightly traced the outline of the snowflake ornament, "Yeah, Kitty was cleaning out the basement and found a box of my stuff."
Donna shook her head in amazement, her eyes still glued on the decoration. "Wow, I can't believe you kept it."
"How could you think I wouldn't?" The disbelief was clear in his voice.
"Seems so long ago…" she trailed off.
~*~
Christmas 1976
Hyde shook his coat and stomped his shoes to dislodge the thin layer of snow that accumulated on him from the walk over. The Pinciotti home was always warm; a safe haven from his own home life and a place where he could hang out without ever saying a word. Different from the Forman's, where Kitty always wanted to be a mother to him. Here, Donna was always his friend.
Which was the problem.
Somehow, over the past year, he had developed an incredible and insane desire for her; the type of infatuation that couldn't easily be pushed aside, or hidden with a friendly punch on the arm. What made it worse was he was actively pursuing her even though he knew she had been in love with Eric since forever, and they had finally taken their relationship to the non-platonic level.
But tonight she had called him and asked him to come over, so maybe his present had pressed one of the right buttons.
He could only hope.
Donna came though the swinging door into the kitchen and her face lit up when she saw him dripping on the welcome mat. "Hey! How long have you been standing there?" She didn't wait for an answer before she turned around and hurried back into the other room. Without missing a beat of the swinging door, she poked her head back in, and told him she'd be right back.
Within a minute she was back in the kitchen, a small gift in her outstretched hand. After a little silent prodding he opened the package and stared at the contents, "This looks familiar." He fingered the small silver ornament that was nestled in the box.
"It should, you were there when I got it." She smiled and continued when it became obvious Hyde couldn't recall the story. "Remember, sixth grade? You and me hitting every store on main street trying to find something under a dollar to give to our moms for Christmas? You saw these ornaments in the window and convinced me to get one even though I didn't have enough money. You even gave me the extra fifty cents I needed."
Donna's eyes lit up and she shifted excitedly on the balls of her feel as she finished the story. "It's my way of saying thank you of reminding me of how much our friendship had meant to me."
Her gratitude was obviously not what he was expecting. "Wow," he said stunned.
"Yeah. I loved that you kept that picture of us for so long, and I wanted to have something to replace it. Isn't it cool?"
Hyde looked slightly perplexed as he stared into the box. "A thank you. For being your friend." He took a deep breath and raised his head so that he was looking directly into her eyes. "Great."
She leaned in closer to get a better look at the decoration and he was distracted by the subtle perfume that always made him think of her. Slowly, he reached out and lifted her chin with his finger so he could see the happiness radiating off of her features.
"What if I wanted to be more than a friend?"
The smile didn't fade from her face, but confusion started to creep into her eyes. "What?"
He took a deep breath, "What if I don't want to be just a friend?"
"No…Hyde." She shook her head and took a small step away from him.
"Why won't you give us a chance?"
"Hyde, come on." She pleaded. "You know Eric and I are dating now. You can't keep pressuring me and trying to come in-between us."
"I know, okay, I know! You think I like having these feelings about my best friends girlfriend?" He paused and looked at her accusingly. "Well I don't! But I look at you…I mean look at you…I can't help it."
"Well try to help it. Eric and I need a chance…without your interference. No matter what you and I could have, I need to see this through. Or I'll spend the rest of my life wondering." She reached over and gently wrapped her hand around his, hoping to give him comfort. "You and I are great friends. I don't want to wreck that."
He looked down and examined their entwined hands. They were almost a perfect match.
"--You just have to give it a chance, you know, don't always go looking for a carbon copy of yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if the perfect girl for you is right around the corner."
He snorted. "The only people around the corner are Big Rhonda and Ethel Jones and her fifty cats"
"Hey, don't forget the Burkharts, they're not too far from here," she said in jest and tapped him on the shoulder.
"I don't want the perfect girl. I want you." The words escaped before he had a chance to rein them in and their lighthearted banter was silenced. He sighed and closed his eyes, knowing he was in danger of loosing control.
"Donna, man, I'm sorry." He whispered before leaning in to close the small gap between them. Startled by the admission, Donna took a sharp breath and prepared to push away, if he got any closer. But, as she watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he tried to calm his own breathing, her anger slowly slipped away. Curiosity got the better of her, and she started to wonder what it would feel like. To give into him. Let the long suppressed craving she had for him surface, just this one time.
"Hyde—" she made a token protest, but the moment his lips touched hers she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. Any thought of the boy next door or comparison between the two was pushed aside by the feel of his lips pressing against hers. Her thoughtless mind deepened the contact, letting her tongue probe the inside of his warm mouth, vaguely wanting to categorize what would be their one and only kiss.
She felt herself being gently nudged towards the living room, and willingly complied with the change of location. The part of her brain that was working could help wondering why they hadn't done this before. Just to see what it would be like.
"Can't tell Eric…"she murmured as she shrugged off his shirt.
"Right." He nodded in understanding, whatever was happening would only be tonight and it would never be spoken outside of this room. His last coherent thought before guiding her to the couch and covering her warm body with his own was that he would take only as much as she was willing to give. And be thankful for that.
Later, he rose onto his elbows and noticed darkness had blanketed the room, the only light came from the random blinking of the lights on the Christmas tree. He watched as her skin was alternately bathed in a blue and green glow.
"Hey," she broke through his thoughts. Suddenly shy, he moistened his lips and looked around.
"I should—" he gestured vaguely towards their discarded clothes.
She nodded in understanding, "Yeah…I guess we should be glad my mom and dad are such party animals." She tried to joke, but once she met his gaze she became serious. Reaching a tentative hand up she brought his head down for one final kiss." Merry Christmas Hyde." She whispered against his lips.
He closed his eyes and committed the scene to memory, "Merry Christmas Donna."
~*~
"—wait a minute," Donna said as she leaned over and examined the ornament in more detail. She could see someone had gone to great lengths to restore what had been, all those years ago, a tarnished and faded snowflake.
"That," he gestured in the general direction of the tree. "Was not my doing. And this," he pointed to the decoration, "you'll have to thank Jackie for. When she found it in the box she got it into her head that it needed to go on the tree."
Donna laughed, "I suppose she does that a lot."
"You should have seen the production she made. Said something that important shouldn't have been stored in a box in someone's dirty basement all these years. She really wanted this Christmas to be perfect; 'cause next year--"
Donna was too preoccupied to listen to the rest of Hyde's explanation. "You told Jackie?"
Hyde tilted his head in confusion and nodded yes.
"Hyde, what the hell! In case you haven't noticed; Jackie doesn't keep the best secrets. Now that she knows, she'll tell Eric…"
He held up a hand in hopes of stopping her rant. "Hold up a second…you never told Forman?"
"No." The agitation was evident in her voice.
He nodded in understanding. "So he thinks he's your first—"
"In every way." Donna finished for him, "and now Jackie's going to ruin that." She tried to push by him, but before she could reach the door he softly caught her arm and turned her to face him.
"Donna." He looked into her eyes and made sure she was paying attention before continuing. "If Jackie was going to tell Forman, she would have done it years ago. When she first found out."
The revelation made the colour drain out of Donna's face. "How long has she known?"
Hyde paused, as if counting the time. "Six, maybe seven years. After we graduated, but when she was still living at your house."
"Oh my god." She murmured, and quickly looked up with shock in her eyes. "Why would you tell her?"
"She asked," he said simply. "Don't worry about it, ok? If you still want to keep it a secret no one will hear it from us."
Donna stared at the wall over his shoulder and shrugged reluctantly.
"So we're ok?" he prodded and laughed when she rolled her eyes in agreement and let herself be pulled into a hug.
"If you two are just about finished, I could use some help in the kitchen." The sound of the voice broke them apart. They looked over to see Jackie leaning against the door jam, arms crossed in front of her. Donna stepped back guiltily, but both Jackie and Hyde smiled at her.
"Donna and I were just remembering the good old days." Hyde supplied for explanation.
Jackie mocked disbelief, "Sure you were."
He looked wounded, "Would I lie to you?"
"Every day," she said with a twinkle in her eye.
The casual banter pulled Donna out of her stunned surprise, and she quickly walked over to her friend and enveloped her into a hug. Jackie looked over her shoulder and silently questioned Hyde, who just watched in amusement.
"Thank you for being such a good friend, I don't deserve you." Jackie's eyes went wide as Donna hugged her even tighter. She met Hyde's gaze again and raised her eyebrows at the antics.
"Love you." He mouthed, which earned him a brilliant smile. Donna had been right about one thing. The perfect girl for him wasn't a blame-the-man conspiracy minded rebel. She was his complete opposite, and it worked for them; she brought him down to earth, grounded him and he mellowed her out, taught her how to have a good time.
He'd have to remember to thank her one of these days.
"'kay, enough of this. You--" Jackie stepped back and pointed at Hyde. "need to carve the turkey before Red gets his hands on the knife and does it for you. And Donna needs to get her skanky sister-in-law out of my kitchen or I'm going to accidentally slip something into her drink." She almost burst into laughter but stopped, thought about what she had just said and looked at them horrified. "Oh my god. I'm turning into Kitty!"
Hyde and Donna watched as she rushed out of the room and started barking orders in the general direction of the kitchen.
Donna looked sideways at him, "Is it me, or was she acting a little…odd?"
"You don't know the half of it." Hyde said as he looped an arm around her shoulder and ushered her out of the room. "And I have it on good authority it's only going to get worse."
The End