A/N : Another Sunday, another new chapter, and hopefully another bunch of supportive reviews?
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 4 - Deja Vu
"Is it safe to come back in here now?" Eric asked as he opened the back door to the basement and stuck his head in.
"What are you talking about, Forman?" Hyde frowned as he looked over from where he sat in his usual chair, his feet propped up on the table and his arms folded across his chest. He'd been sitting there for about an hour, watching TV without really seeing it, his mind wandering to Jackie way too many times for his liking.
"We had to leave because Jackie and Kelso were here" Donna explained as she followed Eric into the basement, and Fez followed her.
"Yeah, there was yelling and tears" Eric explained, "And that was just Kelso"
"But they got back together right?" Hyde checked, finding it strange that the two were fighting, after all, when Jackie had left him at The Hub it had seemed like she wanted to make her peace with Kelso, convince him to forgive her and get back together. Surely even Kelso wasn't so stupid he wouldn't forgive her for her minor indiscretion, especially not when he'd done much worse in the past.
"Oh I hope it is not true" Fez said, sounding disappointed, "I do not want Jackie to get back together with Kelso" he admitted, "It is my turn now!"
"Er, Fez" Eric frowned, "Don't you, and I mean this very literally, kind of have your hands full with Big Rhonda?"
"I am a young, virile man, Eric" Fez snapped at him, "I have needs that are too great for merely one woman" he explained, "And how dare you insult my precious Rhonda that way. Good day to you!" he said as he went for the door.
"Wait, Fez..." Donna tried to stop him but he wasn't interested.
"I said good day!" he said firmly, slamming the door behind him as he left the basement in a foul mood.
"Did somebody put something in the water today?" Hyde complained, "Geez, it's all hissy fits and slamming doors. It's like being back home"
"Well then I promise to treat the door with some respect and close it quietly as I leave for my date with Casey" Donna smiled before doing just that, telling the guys she'd see them tomorrow.
Eric climbed over the back of the couch to sit down, and looked at the TV.
"Er, Hyde?" he said, with a strange look at his friend, "Why are you watching... whatever the hell this is?" he asked, quite bemused to see a group of old people eating fish on the television screen.
"I'm not" his friend said quickly, getting to his feet and heading into his room at the back of the basement. Eric was frowning as he got up and followed.
"Hey, are you okay, man?" he checked, "You seem a little moody, even for you"
"I'm fine, Forman" Hyde snapped, as he sat down on the end of his bed, not happy to have his friend following him around, "Seriously, man, if I wanted to be nagged this much I'd get a girlfriend" he said frustratedly.
Eric opened his mouth to answer but was prevented from doing so as his mother made her way down the basement steps, calling to him to come try on some possible shirts for the class pictures which were to be taken tomorrow.
Hyde was glad when he was finally left alone, at least he was glad not to face Forman asking him dumb questions and rambling in his ear. He was less glad of the silence that now deafened him.
Whilst alone he had more time to think, and thinking was leading to no good of late. Telling Forman nothing was wrong had been a lie, there was something seriously wrong, but he'd learnt a long time ago that hiding behind his well practised Zen was better than talking about feelings and emotions.
Opening up, showing your vulnerable side, it only led to people taking advantage or thinking you were weak. That was exactly what he'd tried to stop happening to Jackie. She made it too easy for Kelso to cheat on her by letting him back in every time. She was so strong about everything else, but where her precious Michael was concerned she just let down all her defences. He hated to think they were back together again now. Okay, so this time she'd kind of cheated on him, but it was such a minor thing, and besides, it'd only happened because Kelso was being an ass. He may not have been cheating with another woman right now, but he'd pretty much made cheating his career. He was living Jackie's own dream, and on top of that was ignoring her in the process. There was no way he deserved someone like her, not that Hyde thought for a second that he did either. He'd never had a serious girlfriend, he didn't feel he needed one and, his messed up feelings for Donna a while back not withstanding, he never really wanted one. Now he was having some serious thoughts about Jackie that he'd like to ignore, but it was increasingly difficult to block them out as he lay on his bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling as nothing but silence surrounded him.
"I gotta get out of here" Hyde told himself, deciding he seriously needed company, someone to talk to, only not Forman, he was too full of dumbass questions.
He was thinking maybe he'd go find Fez. The foreign boy would be over his little mood by now and the pair of them could go grab some food at the Hub and then go cruising for chicks or something.
Hyde was smiling to himself as he decided on his plan of action for the evening, at least until he opened the door that led out of the basement.
"Jackie?" he was surprised to find her sitting half way up the staircase, her face streaked with tears and her hair all a mess where she'd randomly pushed it off her face too many times.
"Oh, Steven" she cried, practically launching herself into his arms from the step.
He caught her easily and held her as she sobbed.
"What's up, man?" he asked her with a frown, "Didn't you and Kelso kiss and make up already?"
"No" she admitted, her face buried in his chest so her words were muffled at best, "I did a stupid thing"
"Are we talking about the cheese guy again?" Hyde checked, "Cos y'know, Jackie, we all make stupid mistakes, and it was just a kiss..."
"I don't mean that" she shook her head, pulling away from him a little, her red-rimmed eyes flitting up to meet his as he held her still, "I... Can we go some place and talk?" she asked and Hyde hardly had to consider his answer as he immediately nodded.
Slipping his hand around hers, he led her up the steps and to his car. He didn't know exactly where they were going, but he still needed to not be here right now and it seemed Jackie felt the same. They'd go somewhere and talk if that's what she wanted. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he'd do absolutely anything she asked of him, anything at all.
"Mom, please!" Eric complained as Kitty pushed the magnifying glass closer to his face and squinted through it, "Mom! I do not have any zits!" he assured her, but his mother was undeterred from her task.
"Well, Eric, honey, you never know when those little things are just gonna flare up" she told him, putting the magnifying glass down on the kitchen counter at last, "And I would like you to have one year book picture without the focus being a zit. Now is that too much for a mother to ask? Is it?" she asked him, almost sounding a little crazy.
Eric found it easier to just agree with her, as she handed him some cash and a list of various products she wanted him to buy from the drugstore that should ensure he did not develop any kind of blemish on his face for the next twenty-four hours. He was then despatched to go fetch the lotions and potions she'd recommended whilst she started on making dinner.
It was as he passed through the kitchen door and went out onto the driveway to his car, Eric spotted the back end of Hyde's El Camino headed around the corner. He could make out two figures in the front of the vehicle, and the passenger looked decidedly like a girl.
Eric shook his head as he climbed into the Vista Cruiser. Hyde was all messed up over a girl? Man, that was why he didn't want to talk. Now Eric understood, his friend always thought he knew it all about women, when clearly he must be having some problems with whichever girl was currently in his life. It ought to hurt to know one of his best friends couldn't talk to him about this stuff, but Eric knew Steven Hyde well enough to know he didn't talk about feelings and emotions, he was all Zen and stuff, and everybody knew you didn't mess with that.
Jackie hadn't really been aware of the route she and Hyde were travelling, she was just glad to be away from home and the basement, and all the places that reminded her how alone she was right now, and how lacking in the boyfriend department too.
She knew dumping Michael for good was the right desicion, she knew in the long run she'd be glad she did it, but right now it was painful and raw. His past betrayals and her own current indiscretion took turns to do laps in her head, and each one hurt a-fresh each time. She felt so dumb for having put up with Michael's cheating for so long, and yet she was still kind of ashamed of herself for letting anything at all happen with Todd. She needed someone to talk to about all of this and her first port of call had been Steven. Somehow it always had been, though she'd never quite known why. She figured he always seemed like the grown-up of the group, despite being all anti-establishment and the most in favour of certain circular habits. He always seemed to know the answer to stuff, the best thing to say or do. He was smart on a different level to other intelligent people Jackie knew, and he could be so nice when he wanted to be. Most of the time she just figured he didn't want to be nice to people, but when his background was considered, it was hardly surprising. It had occurred to Jackie a long time ago that Hyde was most likely blunt and a little nasty to people because for most of his life that's all he'd got from anybody else, his parents included.
As the car came to a halt, she glanced his way and caught Hyde smirking.
"What?" she asked, wondering where the humour in this situation was.
She couldn't imagine he found her sadness so amusing, that would be too cruel.
"You recognise this place?" he checked as he got out of the car, and Jackie frowned as she followed suit.
"No, I..." she started, only to realise as she gland around at the dimly lit area that yes, she really did recognise it. They'd been here before, herself and Steven, on their one and only date, "Huh" was all she could find to say as they glanced awkwardly at each other.
"Honestly, I have no idea how we ended up here" he assured her, and it was the honest truth.
He'd just started driving, looking around for a quiet spot and suddenly, here they were, back where they'd been before some months ago now, back where she'd given him the big speech about being worthy of love and so forth, before he finally relented and let their little trip be a real date. They'd kissed that night, for the first and only time, both denying any feelings right after. Whether she'd lied or not, he couldn't be entirely certain, because he'd been too busy making sure his real feelings didn't show, just like always.
"So" he said suddenly as he pulled himself up to sit on the front of the car, "You wanted to talk" he reminded Jackie, who nodded in agreement and pulled herself up beside him.
"I told Michael that I was sorry" she admitted, "and then, that we had to be over"
Her words stunned Hyde who was so sure up to this point that Point Place's answer to Joanie and Chachi were bound to be back together by now. It seemed he'd been very wrong in his assumption, and that was not something he was used to.
"Wow" he said, glancing over at her, "So what's stupid about that?" he checked.
"Well, nothing... and everything" Jackie said sadly, "Now I don't have a boyfriend, which is fine really, cos y'know it's the seventies and Donna is always telling me how women don't need men to define them"
"She's right, man" Hyde agreed, "Nobody needs somebody else to make them a whole person. You're cool all by yourself"
"But I'm not" she disagreed, "It's different for you, Steven" she told him, "You're all Zen and cool and you don't care that you're alone in the world" Jackie explained with her usual lack of tact, "But me, I need someone to be there for me. I need Michael" she whined like a little girl, which annoyed Hyde to no end. She was capable of being a strong and confident young woman, and yet once in a while she chose to be a whiny little baby - he hated that!
"No you don't!" he snapped at her, making her physically jump and pay attention to him, "You do not need Kelso, Jackie, you're better off without him. You have to know that, why else would you dump him?"
"I know!" she yelled back, waving her arms emphatically like a malfunctioning windmill, "I know it was right to dump Michael but... now I feel so alone" she said, her voice dropping from the loud abrasive tone that Hyde despised to the soft little girl he hated himself for wanting to take care of. As much as he wanted her to be strong for herself, he knew she couldn't just do it, she needed his help, just like he'd helped her before by teaching her to be Zen like him.
"You're not alone, Jackie" he told her, putting a hand to her hair, and pushing it back over her shoulder, "You're never alone" he told her, his eyes conveying much more than his words did Jackie realised since he wasn't wearing the glasses he usually hid behind. He meant he'd be there for her, she was sure of it, and she loved to know it could be true.
Somehow they'd ended up quite close together on the hood of the car, and his fingers were still in her hair.
"Steven..." she whispered as his hand slid behind her head and they both leaned in closer till their lips met.
Neither were sure how this had happened or even why, but it felt strangely familiar and overwhelmingly good for the few seconds that the kiss lasted. When they parted they both looked a little astonished that this had happened, and that they'd felt as much as they had.
"Uh, yeah" Hyde said, backing away fast, "I should really be getting you home, it's getting late" he said quickly, hopping down from the front of the car and urging Jackie to do the same.
"Okay" she said absently, her hand going to her lips just briefly before she got into the car beside him.
This couldn't be happening again, those feeling she'd thought she had but convinced herself weren't real, they couldn't really be back, could they? She glanced across at Steven who had his eyes firmly on the road as he drove towards her house as fast as the speed limits allowed.
Inside he was panicking too, though Jackie didn't suspect at all, and that was how he wanted it to stay.
To Be Continued...