Disclaimer: I don't own.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one will be much more in Jackie's perspective. This one needed to be focused on Hyde. I think maybe he's coming around. Of course, his timing isn't great, is it? And do you think he's right about Jackie's feelings for Fez?
Hmmm. Guess you'll see!
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I love 'em!
Warning: Language, a short bit of violence. Not too graphic, though. :)
Clichés and Things "They" Say
Chapter 6 – Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater
January 27, 1980, 9:00 am, Fez and Jackie's apartment
"You're apartment is wonderful, Fez. Very classy looking."
Fez nodded, smiling at the back of the tall, curvaceous and very, very tan Pam Burkhart. She was wearing a dress with an off the shoulders top and a straight skirt that fell to her knees. It fit tight, and so as he'd guided her around the place, he'd followed her and appreciated that fit around her backside. "Yes. I decorated it myself." He frowned. "None of my friends would help me, those sons of bitches."
Pam turned a flirtatious smile and stepped towards the dark, handsome young man. "You have such good taste. Have I told you how much I like this shirt?"
A hand with long and slender fingers topped by proportionally long red fingernails reached for the collar of his shirt, and Fez looked down, fascinated by the way they lightly scratched the polyester he wore. He smiled and looked up, immediately fascinated by Pam's beautiful face. "You are so lovely, Miss Pam," he breathed without thinking.
Pam's smile faded, and she moved around Fez to the couch. She sat down and crossed her legs, looking up at Fez with a pout that should have, but didn't, remind him of Jackie. "Well, I know that, and you know that," she said. "But apparently, Carlos doesn't. He left me, Fez. He broke my heart."
Fez sank down on the couch next to her and stared at her, a befuddled expression on his face. "I do not understand, Miss Pam. How could any man leave you? You're so…so lovely, and so…tan!" He shook his head, now angry. This lily of a woman was obviously distraught, and the man who'd put that look on her face was a fool. "What an idiot! You deserve so much better, Miss Pam."
She smiled sweetly and slowly ran her tongue across her perfectly colored lips.
Fez's wide eyes watched every second of its seductive movement.
"You know, you remind me of him, Fez," Pam purred sexily, leaning over towards him. Her shirt dipped off her chest, and she smirked when his eyes immediately gazed towards her revealed cleavage. "Only younger. Handsomer. And…" Her eyebrows shot upwards. "And much, much sexier."
He began to breathe hard. A little voice inside his head told him that he should look away from the olive toned, firm appearing, half-moons his eyes were fixated on, but he couldn't. His stomach, and another, lower part of him, tensed. Oh, go to hell, little voice!
"Fez…"
The back of her hand touched his collar bone.
"You haven't shown me your bedroom."
He watched in awe as the hand slowly moved down his chest, all the way to the waist of his pants, where it stopped and hovered teasingly. Oh…what is she doing? Is she doing what I think she is doing?
"I'd really like to see it."
He looked at her and found her smiling sexily, her eyes gleaming, and he gasped when her hand moved just a few inches lower, giving the ache in his pants a teasing brush.
Holy shit, she IS doing what I think she's doing!
His mind whirled.
Okay. It is only 9:OO. Jackie's said she would not be home until 10:30. That is more than enough time! No. I should not do this. I should not do this. But…it is Pam. And she is so tan. And beautiful. And so sexy. I will never again have the chance to do it with a woman this sexy! What would Kelso do? He would do it!
He looked at Pam. "Miss Pam, you are the best cake ever!"
She looked confused, and he grinned nervously. He took her hand and stood up. "I will show you my bedroom."
On the way, he stopped to turn on the radio. Hopefully this would keep him from humming inappropriately.
"And here's to you Mrs. Robinson…"
10:05, the hallway in front of Fez and Jackie's apartment
Hyde and Kelso walked towards Fez and Jackie's apartment, one grinning in excitement, the other with a blank expression.
Kelso grabbed Hyde just before he knocked on the door. "Wait a sec, Hyde, we gotta go in without knocking!"
Hyde glared at Kelso. "Why?"
"In case Pam is naked! We can catch her by surprise. She'll be so startled she won't do anything for a minute, and we'll get to see her jugs!"
Hyde continued to glare. "Moron, why would Pam be naked? She's in there with Fez."
Kelso shrugged. "Fez can be very charming, you know." He turned to the door and tried the knob. Looking back with an excited grin, he whispered. "It's open!"
Hyde rolled his eyes, but followed Kelso as he walked into the apartment. And to their shock, there was Fez, standing near the kitchen and staring back at them in horror.
He was naked.
Kelso pointed at him angrily. "Damn it, Fez, YOU'RE not the one who's supposed to be naked!"
Fez quickly grabbed a cushion from the couch and put it in front of his body. "Wh…what are you doing here?"
Hyde took in Fez's demeanor. His voice shook. His eyes darted. His cheeks were reddening. Even from the distance, Hyde could see the trembling of Fez's hands.
It was a sure thing. Whoever Fez was with was NOT Jackie.
"Fezzie, do you need some help? Oh….we have company." A nervous laugh. "Hi, boys."
They turned, and there was Pam Burkhart in all her tan, sexy glory. Wearing only a towel.
Kelso grinned. "Oh, YES!" He turned back to Fez, his entire body spastically jerking. "You nailed Jackie's mom!" He gasped. "Oh my god, Fez, you're my HERO!"
Hyde reached out, still staring at Fez, and punched Kelso's arm, but he didn't hear Kelso's yell of protest. He couldn't move. Fez had slept with Jackie's mother. Jackie's mother had slept with her boyfriend. Two people that supposedly loved her had betrayed her, and in the worst way possible, at least for Jackie.
"Man, this is sweet! A double burn! You're her boyfriend, and you slept with her mom, and you're her mom and you slept with her boyfriend!"
Hyde closed his eyes. Kelso had to be the biggest moron on the face of the planet. Didn't he understand how brutal this was? How devastated Jackie would be when…if…she found out?
Oh god. Jackie.
Even she didn't deserve this.
Now he HAD to tell her. He HAD to. She HAD to know about this. Fez wasn't gonna stop. Once a cheater, always a cheater. And as the anger began to rise up from his stomach and into his chest, Hyde's fist clenched. Someone was gonna pay. And that someone was gonna be Fez, although he found himself wishing he could punch a girl. Pam would be sleeping for a hundred years longer than
Everyone stared at one another. No one heard the door open.
"Fez, Mom, I'm home…The inter...view…was…."
The coat she'd taken off in the hallway slipped from her hands and fell to the floor. There was Fez, nude from the waist up and a cushion in front of him. There was her mother, wrapped in Jackie's favorite pink bath towel and standing next to Fez.
Oh god…oh my god…no…no…NO…..NO! NO! NO!
It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Her mother…her new, supposedly perfect boyfriend…both of them naked…both of them…nak…naked….
It was written all over their faces.
The world around her began to spin. She heard voices, her mom saying something that sounded sickeningly sweet, Fez stuttering out something that sounded like "you were not supposed to be back until later", Michael – was Michael here? Was that Steven next to him? – chirping something about Fez nailing her mom. She thought she saw Steven punch Michael in the arm.
She was going to be sick. The vomit was right there in her chest, ready for an explosion up into her throat.
Get out of here. Run, Jackie, run. RUN. RUN NOW!
She did.
Hyde noticed that she hadn't stopped to pick up her coat, and he hoped that she was heading for her car. It was a frigid day, ten degrees below zero already, and was looking like snow when they'd arrived.
Pam smiled uncomfortably. "I uh…I think I'll just…go get dressed." She rushed out of the room and into Fez's bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Kelso smirked at Fez and moved to him, pounding his little buddy on the shoulders. "Fez, I never thought I'd say this, but you are the MAN!" He shook his head in admiration. "You nailed the hottest chick in Point Place!"
Hyde's throat was burning, and he could hardly open it to speak. "Kelso, you moron, don't congratulate the bastard." He glowered at Fez, who returned a very nervous, almost frightened stare to him.
Kelso frowned at Hyde. "What's your problem, man? He NAILED Pam!"
"Yeah. Pam. Burkhart." Hyde's voice was low, eerie even in his own ears. "Jackie's mother."
Did Kelso really not understand? Was he just so ga-ga over Jackie's whore of a mother that he didn't give a damn that Jackie was brokenhearted? By her boyfriend AND her mother?
The mother who'd left her repeatedly. The mother who'd loved alcohol and getting laid more than her own daughter. The mother whom Jackie still and endlessly hoped for even just a tiny bit of affection from.
"Yeah, it's harsh, but damn, Hyde, Jackie'll get over it. She's been cheated on before."
It was a waste of time, Hyde knew, trying to get through Kelso's thick skull. So instead, he addressed Fez, pointing a finger that was shaking with the anger beginning to twist out of control. "I just have one thing to say to you, Fez. You're…you're a fucking bastard." He turned and stalked towards the door, but stopped. Closed his eyes. Fist clenched. That wasn't enough. Not for what he'd done to Jackie.
She didn't deserve this.
In a blind rage, her whipped around and walked back over to Fez. "One more thing." He threw a punch as hard as he could, making brutal contact with Fez's face. The guy fell into Kelso with such forced that both he and Kelso both tumbled to the floor.
A few minutes later, the street outside the apartment building
Hyde found her less than a minute after he'd started up the El Camino. She was walking, her head down, her arms covered only in short sleeves, and it was snowing. Hard. Damn it. He couldn't let her keep walking out in the cold. He couldn't. And so he pulled to the side of the road, a bit in front of where she was and hurried out of his car. "Jackie."
She looked up, but ignored him, or maybe she didn't recognize him. She was sobbing hard, her make up was running like a summer snow melt down her cheeks and leaving ugly mascara streaks on her face. She looked bewildered and confused, and he stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "Come on, Jackie. Get in the car."
She shook her head and mumbled something incomprehensible, and she tried to get around him. He grabbed her shoulders. "Jackie, you're freezing." She was shivering badly. "It's snowing, and it's gonna get worse. You can't stay out here. Get…in…the car."
She looked up at him, and the pain in her eyes made him shiver. God. He could never handle seeing her hurting. But he couldn't think about now. She was collapsing, and he quickly caught her before she slumped to the ground. "Okay. Come on. Don't…" He put his arm around her shoulders and turned her around towards the car. "Come on."
He got her in the car and started to drive, though he wasn't sure where he was going. He wasn't sure where he could take her. She was cuddled up against the door, her feet on the seat, her knees raised to her chest, her head laying on her knees, but he could hear her sobs. Her gasps for air that didn't help the pain.
And for some reason, despite all the months that he'd hated her, that he'd tortured her with cruel burns, that he'd scorned the fact that he'd ever been involved with her…despite all the millions of times that he'd tried to convince himself that he'd never given a damn about her…
Despite all that, he wanted to help her. Wanted to make her feel better. Wanted to be the one who eased the pain for her.
Damn it, Hyde!
He drove to the mall, and parked, not coincidentally, in front of Sears. With a wry smile, remembering that one time he'd tried to comfort her about Kelso so long ago, he glanced at her. "Uh, hey, we've done this before, haven't we?"
For a moment, she didn't move, and Hyde sighed and looked away. He didn't know what to do. What in the hell could he say? I'm sorry your mom nailed your boyfriend? I'm sorry your boyfriend nailed your mom? Oh, and by the way, your boyfriend also nailed some random chick at the party?
He swallowed hard.
"Steven?"
He looked at her. She looked so young, and scared; so many tears, so much pain. He cleared his throat. He was never good in these situations. "Yeah, Jackie?"
Her voice was tiny. "What is wrong with me? What do I do to make everyone cheat? And why…" A broken rasp for air. "Why am I never enough?"
You were enough for me, Jackie, I just…I fucked up. Maybe you were too much.
He shook his head. Couldn't say that. Wouldn't be fair. He wracked his brain, trying to think of something else to say.
He couldn't come up with anything, and so instead of talking, he reached over and put a hand on her thigh. She immediately took his hand and held on so tight. Like she was completely dependent on him. He stared out the windshield and blinked when he felt her body pressed against his, her head on his shoulder, their joined hands on his thigh. She let go of his hand and slipped her arm underneath his so she was hugging his arm, holding it close to her chest like a teddy bear or something.
Damn it, Hyde, so what if her breasts are pressing against your arm? Ignore it! God, now is NOT the time!
She was sobbing, and muttering through her sobs.
"How could SHE do this to me, Steven? My mother! I…She knew how Fez and I were…I wrote and told her…told her that he was gonna be the one…and she…she still…she….he….they…."
His stomach turned upside down, and his heart seemed to be falling.
He swallowed hard yet again.
Fez was gonna be the one.
She really loves him.
He never had actually thought she was really in LOVE with Fez. Not the way she had been with him. Not even the way she had been with Kelso. His ego had repeatedly whispered to him that she was only with Fez because she couldn't be with him.
But she loved Fez. It wasn't just because she couldn't be with him. She'd gotten over him. She'd really gotten over him.
He closed his eyes, and admitted to himself something he'd never, ever admit to anyone else.
It hurt like hell.
Damn it. He'd have to do something, anything to get rid of THAT thought!
"Am I ugly? Am I not…am I not sexy enough?"
Her voice was bordering on hysterical now, and when she looked up and pulled away, he looked at her. She was flushed, her face seeming to erupt in some deep need. He frowned when she turned sideways so her body was facing his, and watched as her fingers began to fumble with the buttons of her blouse. "Jackie…"
"You think I'm sexy, don't you Steven?"
He licked his lips, both out of sudden nerves and a rather inappropriate anticipation. "Jackie, what are you doing?"
She mumbled over and over again as she took off her shirt and threw it to the floor of the car. "You think I'm sexy….Steven….you think I'm sexy, don't you?"
She took her bra off, and it joined her shirt.
He couldn't help but stare at her, although he knew he shouldn't. He knew this wasn't really what she wanted. HE wasn't what she wanted. She was just upset, looking for any way to make her feel better. She wanted to feel sexy.
She WAS sexy. She was beautiful. Her breasts were beautiful, he'd always thought so. And he hadn't seen them in so long….he just couldn't stop looking at them, even though her crying was getting louder and more uncontrolled.
"Touch me, Steven." She grabbed his hand and put it on her chest.
And again, he couldn't stop himself from gently gripping her, feeding his starving hands with her sweet flesh. Just as soft and as firm and as arousing as he remembered.
For a moment, he touched her. One tempting, torturous moment, until like a flash of bright light in his eyes, his sense returned.
She doesn't want this. She doesn't really want you. Stop it. STOP IT!
He pulled his hand away and twisted his body around so he was facing his door. He was panting, his erection was aching, his heart pounding, his blood boiling hot. He wanted her. And for a second, his thoughts betrayed him. Why shouldn't he do this? She wouldn't say no. She'd probably be even hotter than he remembered, just because she was so worked up.
And it would probably be the only chance he ever got to be with her again.
No. It would just be hot sex. Hot sex wasn't wrong. Not in this situation.
Why shouldn't he?
"You don't want me either, do you, Steven? YOU DON'T WANT ME EITHER!"
He whipped his head around, wanting to scream back at her that he did, wanting to press her down on the seat and show her that he wanted her. Show her what she could do to him, even now, even after everything, even though he still wanted so badly to deny it all had ever happened.
He didn't, because she was crying. Crying over Fez. Not him. Over Fez.
"You don't want this, Jackie. You don't really want…this."
Or me.
She stared at him, her chest heaving with her tears, her face an absolute disaster, and the pain still vibrant, almost glowing, in her gorgeous, mismatched eyes.
"You're upset. This…it's not…you don't…need this….now."
And then she was in his arms, hugging him. For a second, he resisted, but then slowly put his arms around her. His hands rubbed her naked skin, and he had to swallow several times to keep himself in line. She needed a friend, not a lover. Just someone to hold her and let her cry.
He supposed it was only appropriate that it was him.
He'd done it before. He'd been second best before.
Some things never changed.
An hour later, the Forman driveway
Jackie had asked him to take her to Donna's, and now they sat in his car, unsure of what to say. She'd calmed down a little bit, but Hyde knew that her tears weren't over. Not by a long shot.
He cleared his thickened throat. "So…you gonna be okay?"
Jackie chuckled sarcastically. "No." She looked at him, and she didn't know what to say. She didn't understand why he'd done what he'd done, forced her into his car and let her cry, let her scream, let her try to seduce him. She didn't understand why he'd been there for her. She wanted to ask him, and yet, she couldn't. It was too much. Too much to think about today. And her head hurt already.
Her entire body felt brutalized. Emotionally raped. By two people she'd trusted and cared about. Two people she'd hoped loved her. Two people…
She had to get out of here. She had to be alone.
Hyde watched as she opened the door of the car and got out, and he met her eyes when she turned and looked back, so damn sadly, so damn brokenly.
She tried to smile. "Thanks, Steven." She probably would never be able to tell him how much what he'd done today meant to her. A thank you didn't seem enough, but what else could she say?
He couldn't say anything. He couldn't move. She closed the door, and his eyes followed her as she crossed in front of his car and headed towards Donna's house.
And then he managed to speak quietly, even as her form retreated from his view.
"Anything for you, doll."