All That's Left Of Me (Part 2)
By Relic
Pairing: JH
Summary: Hyde's thoughts as he sits in the strip club
The club stank of tabacco, alcohol and dried semen. The tables around the stage were full but Hyde managed to find a seat at the bar. Probably for the best, he thought, in this shithole, the girls were probably good from far and far from good. From where he was sitting, with the alcohol starting to run through his veins and the thick smoke wrapping the stage in a mysterious fog, any girl looked good.
The patrons around him ranged from a few testonerone pumped college boys to pervy old men, practically drooling all over themselves. Everyone was well into their cups. Some rambunctious and others sullen and depressed. What else could be expected at a strip club on Christmas Eve? At least no one was feeling chatty and Hyde could be left with his thoughts.
Waving the bartender over for another beer, he let his thoughts run back to Kelso. No one could deny that over the years, Kelso had grown up considerably. He was less accident prone, never cheated, adored his daughter and somehow he was still employed and doing well. Still, Kelso loved a good burn, probably more than anyone else did. So what was his problem tonight? It's not like they hadn't burned Jackie before and they had had a good laugh at how badly they had messed her up. Kelso had never been quick to defend her before so maybe he was sleeping with her again.
That wouldn't surprise him. He remembered how often he had practically had to peel Kelso off of Jackie back when they were dating. No matter how many times Hyde would frog him or hit him in the eye, Kelso always cluelessly came back for more. Jackie barely reacted. Sure she would push him away sometimes but for the most part she would just roll her eyes or ignore him. Probably why Kelso kept trying, Hyde realised. She was probably playing hard to get. God! He felt like such a tool! He wondered how many times Kelso had nailed her while they were dating. She really was a slut, he thought to himself and smirked bitterly.
He remembered the first time she said she loved him. And like a dumbass, he believed her. The words came so easily out of her mouth, it was like talking about the weather. She loved Kelso, himself, Fez for a short, disturbing amount of time. It was all a game to her. She used love, like most women use sex, to get what they want.
Why the hell hadn't he seen it before? Eric was right, she was the devil. Tempting and beautiful, the way she smiled at him, she kissed his neck, said his name, "believed" in him, the way she did little things like make him lunch to make his day a little better... Damn her! And damn him for believing her. He had been happy with her. Like a moron, he had let her pull his string, playng into her hands like a puppet.
"$10 for a lap danse," said a curly haired blonde that looked far too young to be working here. Hyde shook his head and waved her away but she helped him remember something.
He had gotten his revenge. Sam. The day his stripper wife had come home had been the day he had won. Jackie's little love games had ended right there. He'd gotten control of his life again and he enjoyed the smug satisfaction of having beat her at her own game. She had spent the last two years pushing and pushing him and all of a sudden all her hard work had crumbled right in front of her. He loved it. He loved the thrill of seeing her crushed. Loved that he was no longer her pawn.
When she pulled herself back together pretty quickly, he knew he had been right about her. She didn't miss him, she missed having someone to shove around. Now, he was loving more than ever that Fez and Kelso now drooled over his wife. Even Donna was more interested in welcoming Sam than helping her friend out. Maybe they had all seen it. Maybe they all knew she had just played him. Had they all known? Well, no one made an idiot out of him. He burned her every chance he got. He was brutal about it and he could practically see her confidence crumbling away. It thrilled him.
He hated her, just as much as he had loved her. And he had loved her. So much it made him sick. He loved everything about her, the way she tasted, her evil streak, her beauty, the sparkle in her eyes when she looked at him, her passion whether they were in the bedroom or they were arguing, she never did anything half assed. God he loved her. Time didn't do anything to dim the feeling. That was even more apparent when she started showing signs of liking Fez. He was so jealous he could barely stand it. That was about the time when he and Sam began their screaming fits followed by intense brutal nights of sex. Anything to keep his mind off of someone else touching Jackie. When she finally bagged Fez, Sam was long gone, not that he cared but it became harder for him to flaunt her in front of Jackie. His burns became even sharper, he couldn't help himself. Somehow, they worked this time. Jackie had dumped Fez and was off to Chicago less than a month after new years.
It should have ended there. He was sure it would have but how wrong he was. He missed her, thought of her everyday and it just got worse as time went on. He hated himself for it. He hated that even when she was gone he still couldn't stop wanting her. She was terrible for him. He convinced himself that she would have tossed him aside. She knew she was too good for him, he knew as well. It was only a matter of time. So instead of missing her, he countered thoughts of her with ideas of what she might be doing now. More often than not, he imagined she had turned into her mother, knowing how much Jackie would have hated that. It made him feel a little better. But not much.
He ordered another beer and looked to the stage as they announced the new girl. Maybe he should stop drinking now, even the new stripper was starting to look like Jackie.
