THE RIGHT WAY AROUND.

Chapter 2 – Getting Through.

A/N: I cannot thank you all enough for reviewing! I expected one or 2 but to get 4 within an hour and so many overall was incredible. I won't be able to update more than twice a week because school keeps me busy so I will try to make up for it at the weekend. Thank you again for reviewing and thanks to cheskie as their story title "The Princess and the Burnout Diaries" helped with an analogy in this chapter. Only warning I'll give is for language. Nothing kinky… yet.

THE HUB.

(Immediately after Jackie slapped Hyde)

Eric Forman, Donna Pinciotti, Michael Kelso, Steven Hyde, Jackie Burkhart, and that creepy foreign kid have long been the unofficial patrons of the only worthwhile public hangout in Point Place. So one might think that their latest bit of drama and teen angst was nothing to talk about especially given the fact that this group of misfits switch partners more often than square dancers. Another common event is seeing resident bad boy Steven Hyde and town beauty Jackie Burkhart huddled together in the corner, having yet another frenzied make-out session.

A slightly less common event is seeing the two of them in a complete state of role reversal as 30 seconds ago, the princess stood up to the rebel and did what every adult who has walked the streets of Point Place in the last 5 years has wanted to do; she slapped the burnout. Now let us return to the drama because it doesn't get much better than this:

The Hub had been resigned to silence ever since Hyde's trademark accessory smashed to the ground leaving only shattered remains. However neither he nor Jackie was paying attention to a botched pair of sunglasses. They were only focused on each other, both anxious and eager to discover their next move.

Surprisingly enough, Hyde started talking:

Hyde: I guess I deserved that. I mean…

He was cut off by Jackie's outburst of laughter. Thrown by this he wisely kept his mouth shut while Jackie struggled to catch her breath. When she had finally calmed down she just smiled at Hyde, mockingly. She didn't even utter another sound, just turned around and walked to the door, not stopping except to check her reflection in the door.

Hyde had not heard the bathroom door open and didn't realise anybody was next to him until he heard his goofball best friend yell out:

BURN!

"Leave it to Kelso" Hyde thought. "Dammit" he muttered, bending down to pick up what was left of his glasses. To Kelso and the gawking crowd, it was understandable that he would be pissed about them being broken into pieces. If only they knew that it wasn't the glasses he cared about being shattered…

PINCIOTTI YARD.

"Come on, open up you lumberjack!" Jackie thought as she stood freezing outside her best friend's house. Relenting, Jackie turned around and instinctively walked out to the Forman driveway where she and Hyde would sit by the porch and make-out, or sit on the hood of the El Camino and make-out, or…

Jackie shook her head and told herself that she should be thinking of ways to separate Hyde from his genitalia, not of how he would graze her arm when they stood by the basketball net or how he would bury his nose in her hair and smile when she burned Eric about his scrawny ass…

And there she went again.

"DAMMIT!!!" she yelled, not even caring if she woke up the entire neighbourhood. "What is wrong with me?" she asked to no-one in particular. Well the love of your life just trivialised your entire relationship into a couple of sentences ran through her mind but she would not allow herself to wallow over Steven Hyde any longer. Slapping him had been the most liberating feeling in the world and she was expecting to get a bit of a buzz from it. After all, it was rare that she got to maintain a bit of dignity from any situation so one would think the normal reaction would be to spread it around that she had screwed over Point Place's bad boy.

That is well and good in theory but instead of feeling like a queen, Jackie felt like a failure. And not the kind of failure who could fix her life by getting a job or by living in a huge mansion since she had already done both. She felt like the kind of failure who wasn't enough for anybody and would have to be a, yuck, career woman. While Donna might be happy with her newly independent lifestyle, Jackie wasn't built that way and didn't see how it was possible for her to be remotely happy that way. However with Donna being a DJ, Fez being a shampoo boy, Eric going off to teach, Michael being a police officer and he-who-shall-not-be-named managing Grooves, Jackie was suddenly faced with the reality that her life had nothing worth getting up in the morning for. Her old job at the news station in Chicago was long gone and she was past the point of relying on a man to keep her fulfilled so where did that leave her? Right back where she began.

Alone.

THE NEXT DAY – FORMAN KITCHEN.

Red Forman loves two things; a Commie-free world and a kid-free house. With his son on the other side of the world he had made a silent wish that the rest of the freeloaders, who appeared to have taken up residences in his house since a time when his head wasn't so shiny, would take it upon themselves to stay out of his basement. Then, perhaps his fantasy of a game room could become a piece of reality.

Seeing an empty kitchen Red took it upon himself to utter the words he had longed to say for years, "Peace at las-"

"Red! Come quick! That spoiled bitch has mauled by beautiful baby!" came hollering from beneath him. Dropping his head he yelled "Coming dear…" and then muttered "… too bad the loud one never dated Eric. Would have saved my foot a lot of pain."

DONNA'S ROOM.

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Donna spluttered out. "You," she pointed to Jackie, "hit Hyde?" Jackie nodded enthusiastically. "And this is a good thing?"

"Well, duh!" Jackie exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Right, duh," Donna said, her eyes furrowed in confusion. She had not moved from her sprawled out position on her bed after being abruptly awakened by a bouncing black haired girl at the crack of dawn. "Wait, what?"

"Ergh!" Jackie groaned from her perched position at the foot of the bed. "I don't know how much clearer I can be. It's not like you have to strain to hear with those big ass clown ears. Steven was being his normal, delightful self and I took it upon myself to dish out a little punishment, Jackie style!"

Donna just stared, blankly. "OK, Jackie have you been hitting the Circle solo again? Because we've been through this, Fluffycakes and a Captain and Tennille poster do not count as actual people."

"Why are you not getting how cool this is?" Jackie asked, growing impatient. "It's not like you never wrestled with Eric or pushed him around. How is this any different?"

"Well for one, I only ever did that because Eric brought out the inner-child in me" Donna responded, serenely. "Not because he FREAKIN' TRIVIALISED OUR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP AFTER I GAVE UP A DREAM JOB TO MAKE UP WITH HIS SORRY ASS!" she exclaimed, giving up on the banter and determined to find out why Jackie was not acting heartbroken. "Why are you not hugging your Donny Osmond doll or watching re-run after re-run of Another World while criticising my outfit between tears? The day Hyde cheated on you we both looked like drag queens." Jackie and Donna both shivered at the memory of Jackie destroying Donna's confidence and the two of them crying while watching Love Story with mascara soaked faces.

"Because Donna, I got to be the bigger person and I got to leave him sitting there looking like a loser. Aren't you always telling me to be independent and not to shave under my arms like your feminist freaks of friends?" Jackie shrugged off Donna's glare. "Look, the entire time I was with Michael I got humiliated and I know that you all pitied me and thought of me as a loser…

"Jackie, no." Donna forcefully interjected.

But Jackie waved her off. "…and you were all right. I let him walk all over me because I was terrified of being alone. As much as I like to think I've changed, I let Steven do exactly the same thing to me for exactly the same reason. I'm done with it and I know that I'm never going to be strong enough to be in a relationship unless I stop whining about things. I can move past Steven and be happy by myself for once."

Donna couldn't help but smile with admiration for her friend. She was really tougher than they had all thought and she deserved a lot of credit for becoming the confident young woman that sat in front of her. "I'm really proud of you Jackie," she said honestly. "You are without a doubt the most stubborn person on this planet, except of course for Hy…" Jackie's eyes narrowed. "After you-know-who." Jackie grinned.

"Thank you Donna. It really means a lot that you're there for me. I know it's been really hard with Eric leaving…"

Donna interjected, "Hey, forget about me. I can't believe I'm going to encourage this in you but be selfish for today. Actually I think I'm going to take my own advice so get out so I can go back to sleep."

Jackie chuckled.

"Later, lumberjack."

"Later, midget."

Jackie walked out, closed Donna's door and leaned against the wall, defeated. What's wrong with you Donna? Jackie thought, can't you see that this is killing me?

Plastering a smile back on, Jackie flounced down the stairs and strode across the kitchen muttering a "Hi" to Bob, and then opened the door, coming face to face with the last person she had expected to see…

To be continued…

A/N: Who could it be??? Thanks again to all who reviewed and I promise there will be some Jackie and Hyde interaction soon. Just need a breather from the drama for a bit. I'm a bit unsure about the bit with Red and had intended it to be longer than it was but I figure it's not necessary to hear Red's reaction to Jackie hitting Hyde just yet. R&R, please.

Stay safe.