Disclaimer: I do not own 'That '70s Show. Shocking, I know.
It was raining outside, and a distraught brunette named Jackie Burkhart laid in Laurie's old bedroom, crying. Jackie had just gotten her period and was suffering from major cramps. It was 5:00 and Steven hadn't called once, and he still wasn't home from work yet!
"Ugh! Why did God make so many problems for girls?" said the raven-haired beauty as she rolled over on her back.
Hyde had been upgraded from the old, ratty cot in the basement to a plush, full size bed in Laurie's old room. On most nights of the week, Jackie came and spent the night with him. Today, Donna was off so they had spent the day in Eric's room snooping through his stiff (including a very entertaining journal, filled with fantasies of a scrawny Luke Skywalker stealing an 'ultra-force chastity belt' from a red-headed Leia.) But Jackie just realized around 2:30 that her "Aunt Flow" came in for her monthly visit, and that's where the fun stopped.
Now, Jackie was reduced to a sobbing mess, as she spent the rest of the day crying herself to sleep with half-chewed chocolate bars in her mouth.
And Steven wasn't even home! Someone was getting a punishment when they got home, and it surely wasn't a sexy one. Donna was just as cranky as the period she started yesterday was just starting to kick in.
Just then, the phone rang. Jackie quickly hopped off the bed and reached the phone connected to Laurie's room before anyone else got it.
"Hello?"
"Hey. What's going on, babe?"
Jackie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put a smile on her face, forcing herself to remain calm.
"What's going on, babe? I'll tell you." Jackie said, a smile still on her face.
Suddenly, as if Jackie had been replaced by the devil, she was overtaken by rage that accompanied her monthly menstrual cycle.
"What's wrong? WHAT'S FREAKIN' WRONG? YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW, YOU LAZY BASTARD! I have been sitting here waiting for you to call me all day and you didn't bother talking to me once, and you're here getting home late, and I feel like shit, and I'm hungry and..." Jackie began to sob all over again.
"St-Steven? W-why do girls h-have to have a period?" Jackie blew her nose.
"I don't know, doll, but just get through-"
"DID ANYONE ASK YOU TO TALK?"
Jackie hung up the phone.
Hyde stopped at the red light and put his head on the steering wheel.
"I wasn't expecting to die and go to Hell this soon in life."
Hyde walked into the convenience store and was surprised to see Eric there.
"Forman! What did your mess of a girlfriend send you here for?"
The lanky guy grabbed Hyde by the shoulders with terror in his eyes.
"Shhhhh! They can hear you!" Eric said, as he looked around the store nervously. "Um," he said in a loud voice, trying to make his imaginary visions of Donna hear what he was saying. "I'm here to pick up some orange juice for my LOVELY girlfriend!"
"Forman, you moron." said Hyde as he rolled his eyes. "They can't hear you."
"So, what are you here for?"
"She didn't send me, just looking for something to shut her up with. I wonder if they sell chloroform?"
"This is actually my second time here today." said Eric, shoving his hands in his pockets as he and Hyde walked around the store.
"Really? What'd you mess up?"
"I bought orange juice with pulp." Eric shuddered. "Apparently I wasn't supposed to get orange juice with pulp." Eric put a hand on his stomach, probably feeling the bruise hidden underneath his shirt.
"What's the difference?" asked Hyde.
Eric stopped.
"We don't ask those kind of questions."
Hyde walked into Laurie's room with a bag full of stuff for his favorite girl. He didn't know why he did the things he did for her, especially when she wasn't grateful during her special time each month. But he couldn't help it. He would never tell her it, and Jackie probably never realized it, but Hyde spoiled her.
Jackie was still lying on the bed, surrounded by tissues.
A pang of guilt swept over Hyde as he remembered what he had said about the chloroform in the store. How could he say that about Jackie? No matter how cranky Jackie was, she wasn't feeling good and it was his job to make her feel better.
"Hi, doll."
"Hey." Jackie said, immediately sitting up. She sat on his lap, her chest facing his, wrapped her legs around his waist, and wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face into his neck like a baby.
Jackie wiped her nose on Steven's shirt.
Although the snot left on his shirt was kind of revolting, he liked this part of the period stage where Jackie wanted to be babied. He loved to take care of her, something else he would never tell her.
He decided not to talk much, no matter what he said would be used against him. So he just rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.
He looked at her hair cascading down his back. He couldn't help himself. Losing all Zen, he whispered in her ear.
"You're so beautiful."
Jackie leaned back and slapped him on the arm. Hard.
"CUT THE CRAP! NO ONE ASKED YOU TO TALK! CAN'T YOU JUST BE NICE FOR ONCE?"
"I was just saying-"
"No one asked you to say! JUST SHUT UP!" Jackie jumped off his lap and laid face down, going back to her sobbing.
"Jesus Christ, Jackie, are you on your period or something?"
Uh-oh. He realized what he said; he didn't mean to say it. That phrase was usually saved for when Jackie wasn't on her period and his shins were safe from gory injuries.
He stiffened, expecting to get a kick in, well let's just say the places he'd really rather not get kicked in.
Instead, Jackie gave him a threatening piercing look, before throwing her head back into the covers and crying even louder than before.
'Ok,' Hyde thought to himself. 'Bitch phase is back in session.'
Suddenly, Hyde got scared. What if Jackie could hear his thoughts?
Amongst the loud wails of sobbing, Hyde mentally slapped himself. He was turning into a wimp like Forman! Soon, Jackie was going to have him reduced to a bumbling, blubbering mess.
Hyde dumped the bag of stuff onto the bed, and stared at it, ashamed of himself. Chocolate, a small teddy bear, and a chick flick were just a few of the things Hyde had bought for Jackie. What had this girl done to him? Maybe Forman was right, she was a devil.
Jackie timidly turned around, looking at her bag of goodies. She crawled across the bed slowly, like a curious but dangerous tiger.
After examining treats, magazines, and various forms of painkillers, Jackie looked up at Steven. Hyde stiffened as Jackie stood up and walked towards him.
He braced himself for the toes of steel that were about to make contact with his shins.
"You are so sweet!" She said, hugging him with such force, that Hyde was almost knocked over. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much!"
Jackie kissed his scruffy cheek. "Thank you, baby. I love you."
Hyde got nervous and turned Zen mode back on. "Yeah, you're welcome." He cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Steven." Jackie said, with a pout on her lips. He could tell she was trying to act cute for him so he would forget about the brutality that was the Jackie of 5 minutes ago.
He kissed the pouted lip. "Yeah?"
"Carry me to the bed and sing me a song."
Hyde rolled his eyes, and was glad that he was wearing sunglasses. "Ok, Jackie. I got you a bunch of treats. That's doesn't turn me into Grandma Burkhart."
He winced, forgetting Jackie's vulnerability for the possession of Satan.
"Pwease? I don't feel good."
Steven sighed. "Grab onto my neck."
She smiled happily and grabbed onto her beloved boyfriend's neck. Steven carried her wedding-style to the bed, and sat down next to her.
"What do you want me to sing?"
"Anything." She squirmed in the bed, trying to get comfy for the show Steven was about to perform.
"Am I hard enough? Am I rough enou-"
"Steven Hyde! How dare you?" Apparently she wasn't in the mood for the explicit nature of the Stones.
"You said anything." Hyde rolled his eyes and laid down next to Jackie. He pulled the covers over, and gently lifted her head onto his chest. He adjusted the pillows just the way he knew Jackie liked it. He had work tomorrow, and he knew he wouldn't get to sleep tonight if he took a nap now. But whatever.
"How 'bout we try this instead?" Hyde said, turning the lamp off beside him.
Jackie closed her tired eyes. "Ok."
How'd you like my second oneshot? Good? Bad? Please review! And don't forget to check out my other oneshot and my story 'I Don't Want To Give Up'!
