"Stay there. I'm coming to get you"
Hyde was pleased to finally have the basement to himself this Friday night. Eric and Donna were at the movies, Fez and Kelso were throwing shit into the rock quarry, and who knows where Jackie was. Hyde didn't care; as long as she wasn't near him.
He was watching Little House on the Prairie, almost dozing off, when the phone rang. Why do we even have a phone down here?, Hyde grumbled to himself. He waited for Mrs. Forman or Red to answer it upstairs, when he remembered they were having a date night of their own. Sighing, he picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Steven, is that you? Can you put Donna on?" Hyde instantly recognized Jackie's voice, but she sounded different. She sounded panicky.
"Donna's on a date with Forman."
"Oh, God," Jackie moaned.
"What's up with you tonight? Why do you need Donna?" Hyde was getting kind of worried, but he knew Jackie overreacted. She'd probably broken a nail or something.
"I went to this party with my friend Cheryl and her older sister who's at UW and it's all college kids here and there was this guy and he-he…" Jackie sounded like she was crying now and Hyde could feel his hand clenching tighter around the phone.
"Jackie, where are you right now?" Hyde sounded calm, but he was about to boil over.
"I'm at Kevin Keller's. I went in a bedroom and locked the door," Jackie said, trying to pull herself together.
"Stay there. I'm coming to get you." Hyde hung up the phone, already pulling his boots on and grabbing his keys.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly the whole way over, his knuckles white. If she's hurt in any way, I'll kill everyone there, he grimly vowed to himself.
He pulled up and quickly got out of the car, hurrying across the lawn and into the house. The music was crazy loud and there were people everywhere. Why would Jackie come to something like this without any of the gang?
He went towards a hallway, opening every door he could. He walked in on a lot of couples who were trying to have a little alone time, but Hyde didn't care.
Finally, he came to a locked door and started beating on it.
"Someone's in here!" he heard someone call.
"It's Hyde, I'm looking for Jackie!" he yelled back. At that, he heard the lock click and the door swung open, revealing a crying Jackie.
"I can't believe you-
"Jackie, we can talk later, let's just get the hell out of here." Hyde grabbed her hand without thinking and pulled her towards the door and out into the yard.
He didn't relax until they were in his car, driving down the street.
Jackie was sniffling, trying to surreptitiously wipe away the tracks her mascara had left on her cheeks.
"So...do I need to go back there and kick someone's ass?" Hyde said cautiously.
Jackie laughed quietly and said, "No...no, nothing bad happened. I just...I got so scared, Steven. This guy….he grabbed my butt and tried to kiss me, and when I wouldn't, he grabbed my arm and-and-" She was starting to cry again, and Hyde reached over and grabbed her hand again.
"Hey, hey: you're okay now. As long as he didn't…" Hyde trailed off, not sure how to say it. But Jackie knew what he meant. She shook her head.
"I kicked him in the shin and ran to the bedroom."
Hyde chuckled at that. Yep, that was Jackie, alright.
"Do you want me to take you home?"
She sniffled and looked out the window. "Um, can I come back to the basement with you? I'll spend the night with Donna, I just...don't wanna be alone right now."
Hyde could literally feel his heart breaking.
"Of course you can, Burkhart. Long as you don't mind watching Little House on the Prairie."
