Chapter 10

Eric barely heard Fez's voice and scrambled out of Jackie's arms as they were inconveniently placed around his neck. Jackie quickly jumped off the washing machine in front of him, straightening her clothes and making sure her hair was once again even. Fez had been upstairs for only a minute, but it was sufficient time for the both of them to become disheveled. He hoped to god that they didn't look guilty, but thankfully by the time their foreign friend was back downstairs, they each looked presentable.

Fez quickly guided him to the couch, making a point of sitting in-between himself and Jackie. He wasn't exactly sure if it was because the man was uncomfortable with what he had seen or if it was simply convenience. Eric looked over at Jackie as the man in the middle began to flip through a pile of pictures in his hands. They had only kissed a couple times, but every time they did he could feel his heart race. It was one thing to simply make out, but when his senses heightened and he could feel butterflies in his stomach, he knew it was more than simple attraction. There were feelings that had begun to surface. He was scared what they might be for he hadn't experienced anything quite like this. Donna and his relationship had progressed more naturally, very slowly in fact. There was no abruptness, no spark at the beginning. He knew it had started out of convenience, especially with her living next door. That feeling had always been there but he had ignored it during those years with her and didn't pay attention to them until he was in Africa.

Jackie smiled at him suddenly, pouting ever so slightly. It had to be one of the sexiest things he had ever seen, but he mustered enough restraint not to say something. With Fez between them he realized it was only one smaller person between him and her. If he wanted to he could tell his friend to beat it so he could be alone with Jackie, but he wasn't an asshole.

Jackie barely found herself paying attention to Fez, her mind fantasizing about the man to her far right. She was scared as hell about was happening between them, especially since Fez had been right. They had hated each other. What they had been doing was something that was more unlikely than herself and Hyde being together. But unlike before with Steven, it didn't feel wrong. If she and Eric were going to pursue anything at all, total secrecy would either be the key or they would have to tell everyone right away. Suspicion ran ramped through small suburbs, and their friends gossiped like little old ladies. Maybe she liked Eric because he was one who never betrayed another's trust?

She could remember when she had cheated on Michael, kissing the cheese guy right as Eric had walked by. No matter how much Eric had tortured her over it, he never actually tattled on her. At that time she had struggled with whether or not the trust among her and Eric was more important than his friendship with Kelso. It seemingly was, which she found incredibly endearing.

"Here I am on my first night," Fez said as he showed both Eric and Jackie the pictures.

Eric coughed forcibly. "You're practically naked."

"I know," Fez replied quickly, "don't I look great?"

Jackie smiled politely and said, "Yes," while Eric was looking away in either disgust or modesty. Either way, he was blushing slightly, causing a smile to creep onto her lips. He was still the same old Eric Forman in some respects.

Fez watched as both Eric and Jackie looked at one another again, seemingly paying little to no attention to him. "That's it!" he said loudly. "I'm not going to sit here and talk to myself all afternoon!"

"What?" Eric asked, his attention ripped away from Jackie.

"I'm leaving. I think I'll go find Hyde and Sam and see if they want to look at my photos."

"No, Fez," Jackie urged as the young man stood up. "We're paying attention."

"No you're not!"

Eric couldn't argue. His friend was right. "We're sorry," he said a second later.

"Okay," Fez said as he lowered his voice, "but I think you two need to sort this out."

"Sort what out?" Jackie asked, looking up at him.

Fez rolled his eyes and almost sneered at their forced clueless expressions. "You two," he said. When they both frowned, he growled in frustration. "I'm leaving, and when I come back I hope you two will have come to an understanding and then I can show you the rest of my photos."

As Fez went for the stairs, Jackie looked over her shoulder and said, "You'll keep what you saw to yourself, right?"

Fez sighed heavily and let his shoulders sag. "I promised you I would."

"We know how you are, Fez," Eric said suddenly. "I suggest that you keep quiet until we've hashed this out."

"Fine, I'll be back later."

Eric watched as Fez disappeared from view, knowing the likelihood of his friend keeping his mouth shut was remote.

"He's going to tell everyone," Jackie said.

He looked at her and smiled weakly. "More than likely."

Jackie smiled back and raised an eyebrow. "Hashed things out?" she asked.

"I couldn't think of anything else," he replied. Silence suddenly set down upon them as they continued to sit on opposite sides of the couch, feet planted on the floor and hands in their lap. "So," he said softly, finally breaking the silence.

Fed up with the growing tension, Jackie asked, "What's going on here? What are we doing? You heard Fez, this is crazy!"

"Is it really?" he asked. When she nodded, he thought about it for a second. She was right of course, it was incredibly crazy, but for some reason it felt right too. "Then why does it feel so-,"

"Right?" she blurted. He nodded and she shrugged. "We're supposed to make each other sick, remember?"

"Right." He sighed heavily and looked at the television. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know," Jackie replied helplessly. "Do you think we should just put a stop to it? It's bound to get out to the public and we would have everyone questioning our sanity every second of the day."

"I don't think my parents will be that upset," Eric said.

"It's not your parents I'm worried about."

"I know," he replied with a sad smile. "Do you think they'd really be that shocked?" Jackie laughed suddenly; it was a majestic and beautiful sound.

"I think they'd do back flips," she said through her laughter.

Eric sighed again as he finally looked over at her. Her eyes eventually met his and he smiled weakly again. The situation felt hopeless. "Well, even as we speak Fez is likely spilling the fact that we kissed, so we might as well tell everyone it was a mistake and we have put this all behind us." When she wilted slightly, he said, "Or, we could take this further and tell no one. We could say that we just wanted to see what it was like since we were both feeling lonely, but then we quickly realized there was no spark."

Jackie snorted a laugh. "No spark my ass!" she said. "My stomach jumps ten feet in the air every time you touch me."

"Same here," he replied.

She smiled and scooted closer to him until her left knee was touching his thigh. Placing her right elbow on the back of the couch, she stared at him and said, "We could tell them that we're both being adults and we've decided to start something."

"But what fun is that?" he asked with a devilish grin.

Slapping him playfully on the arm, she admonished him. "This is not about having fun with our friends; they may get hurt by this."

"They're not children anymore."

"No," Jackie said softly, "but there is a lot of history between me and Kelso, and Hyde."

"All the more reason not to tell them," he said, gently drumming his fingers on her knee as she drew a figure eight on his shoulder.

"But we'll have to tell them eventually, this isn't like when I was with Steven. In their eyes this would be wrong, but…"

"It feels right, doesn't it?" When she nodded shyly, her eyes falling to her lap, he lifted his hand and put it on her cheek, guiding her eyes back up to him. "Then what do we do?"

She put her left hand over his right on her cheek and closed her eyes. His touch was so warm and inviting that all she wanted to do was kiss him. "I don't know. I'm so confused and scared."

"Me too, but didn't we promise we'd help each other?"

"We did, didn't we?" she said rather than asking.

"We did, and I told you I would help you in any way possible."

Jackie smiled slightly at that. "So you're saying we'll only continue this because it would help me?"

Eric shrugged. "If you want to spin it that way you can, but I know why I'm doing it." He gently placed his other hand on her leg and kissed her. He pulled back after a second and said, "This is what I need, Jackie. I need human contact. I won't force you to be that touch, but all I'm saying is that you fill that need."

"You make it sound so cheap," she said with a grin.

"It's anything but."

"I know and I'm just teasing you. Of course I want it to be me. Maybe I need you too."

"Then you'd have your fairytale romance you always wanted."

She nodded slowly and brought her lips to his again, surrendering herself to his touch. Any concern at how quick things had transpired between them was instantly forgotten when she melted into him, her hands going to his cheeks as she tenderly moved her lips on his. They went slow, the moment definitely not one for heated passion.

Eric thought he could hear her crying, but he kept his eyes closed and returned the kiss. Not only did she do that well, but she smelled so good he thought he might get swept away. With Fez gone and only his parents upstairs, obstructed from view, he gently dropped farther into the couch and put his hands on her hips. She responded to him a second later by dropping her pelvis down onto his. He could feel the heat in his pants begin to rise, but decided to focus on her lips to keep himself under control. Finally, with his head on the armrest and his back on the couch, he gathered her into his arms, easily wrapping them around her small body.

Jackie did cry, her tears falling from her cheeks and mingling into her mouth. If he tasted the salt, he didn't show it, but simply continued to kiss her back. She wondered how it was possible that things had started so quickly and how soon she could begin to feel herself falling for him. She was hesitant to call it love, especially since he had only been home a day, but there wasn't really anything else she could call it. The last thing she would do was say she loved him, but the more she felt the butterflies in her stomach, the more she knew it was quite possible that she was in fact in love with him. That simple realization would have crippled her in fear if it was not for Eric's large arms and tender embrace. It felt so natural she could have sworn she was melting.

Still with his eyes closed and his mouth on hers, he gently put a finger under her shirt at the small of her back. When she didn't pull away, he softly slid the rest of his fingers up under, then eventually his hand. Realizing that she wasn't going to stop him, he slid his other hand up under her shirt. With his hands eventually reaching her shoulders, he hardened the kiss. She suddenly gasped hoarsely and he thought he might have done something to hurt her, but when she pulled back from his lips with ecstasy slapped across her face, he realized what had happened.

"Oh, God," she whispered softly, shaking a little as a tiny orgasm rippled through her body. There was a little pressure at the front of her jeans, but she knew it was the touch of his hands that had caused it.

"You like?" he asked smugly. When she opened her eyes, biting her bottom lip seductively and nodding, he grinned and removed one hand from under her shirt. She pouted momentarily, but as soon as his free hand went to the back of her head and onto her scalp, she moaned. He didn't know where her pleasure spots were, but if he had enough time he was going to make sure he found them.

"Don't stop," she almost cried as his hand running through her hair caused her to arch her back and indecently push her pelvis harder into his crotch. She could hear him gasp suddenly, but he didn't stop massaging her head. "Eric," she wheezed as she let herself get completely lost in hands. With one hand on her back and one on her scalp, she could have sworn he had to be a magician to be making her feel this good.

"Shh," he quieted her. "If you keep moaning my parents will hear us."

"I don't care," she replied, her eyes finally back open, but she was having difficulty seeing straight as his hand was moving her head around.

"I think you'd care after we get caught."

"No, I wouldn't." She moaned more softly this time, but the pleasure had increased twofold as he had run his hand down her shirt and slipped it below her pants.

Eric gently cupped her bottom in his hand and noticed how easily it fit into his palm. He thought about reaching down farther and rubbing her from behind, but his parents were upstairs and he had a limit to far he would go, even though the heat was rising and he wanted her more than anything. When goose bumps suddenly popped up on her bottom, he smiled and kissed her again. She had opened her eyes for a moment, but they were closed again.

Jackie fought back another tiny orgasm, knowing that she was a screamer, and it worked. It didn't hit her, but it did slowly dissipate enough to cause her body to go cold momentarily. She could feel her underwear become wet, but she forgot about it as she kissed him again and again. He seemed to be doing all the touching, so she quickly put a hand under his shirt and slid her palm up over his hard stomach. There didn't seem to be and ounce of fat on him as she ran her hand higher and found his left nipple. They were small, un-ordinarily so, but she didn't care. It quickly hardened in her fingers and the pressure on her pants began to grow. It took all the strength she had not to reach down and undo his zipper, but she knew his parents were upstairs.

"Eric!"

They both froze, he with his hand down her pants and her with hers up his shirt. When he realized that his mother wasn't coming down the stairs, only just yelling at him to get his attention, he relaxed and yelled back. "What?"

"Do you want a snack?" his mother yelled.

He laughed softly, Jackie's head slowly falling onto his chest. As it lay there, rising and falling along with his chest, he answered back. "No, I'm good!"

"Okay, honey!"

Jackie laughed on his chest, allowing the heat of the moment slip away. His fingers did likewise out from under her pants, one of his fingernails dragging just enough on her bottom to cause her to jump a little. She kept her hand under his shirt, but only let it lie on his left pectoral.

"Parents!" Eric said with a laugh.

"Parents indeed." She nestled her head into him even more, searching for the perfect spot to get comfortable. When she had finally found it, she closed her eyes once more and sighed happily. The moment was perfect, even with his parents' only one floor above them.

Eric's other hand was still on her head, resting in her mane of hair. He gently kissed the top of her head as if she was a child, and then put his right hand on her back again. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Knowing what he was apologizing for, she said, "It's okay, we'll find a time and a place."

"It'll be hard with Fez back in town."

Jackie sighed yet again, this time out of disappointment. "Things would be so much better if he'd just stay away."

Eric laughed and kissed her head again. "It would, but you and I both know that our friends are more important."

"No Eric, you're more important to me than anyone."

"You're just saying that," he replied, blowing softly on her hair.

"No I'm not," she said as she lifted her head and set her chin between his rib plates to stare at him. When he seemed unconvinced, she said, "What you told me yesterday and what I see in you today tell me that there is no other I care more about. I have no family, Eric, my friends have always been the closest thing I've had."

"And you still felt alone," he stated. When she nodded, he rubbed her back up and down. "I know how you feel."

"You're the only one who does," she answered, closing her eyes and resting her ear back onto his chest. "Thank you."

"It goes both ways," he said as he continued to rub her back. He could feel her spine just under her clothing. It was faint, but every time he brushed his hand he could feel the bumps.

Jackie said, "I'm going to sleep."

"Okay." He laughed softly as she moaned and found a better spot on his chest. It wasn't a few minutes later that he had dozed off with her body lying on top of him, and for the first time in almost a year his dreams were untroubled.

-

It was almost three thirty when she called for her son again. Kitty knew she was pestering him, but he had just gotten home and she had missed him terribly. When there came no response, she went to investigate. Stepping down the few first stairs and peering into the basement, she saw something on the couch but couldn't be sure if it was her son. "Eric?" she asked again, and yet again no response. She walked down the stairs and closer to the couch, only to freeze mid stride as she caught the sight in front of her.

On the couch lay Eric, but on top of him was Jackie. She thought about waking them up to see what in the world was going on, but they looked so peaceful she actually said, "Aww," and put her hands up under her chin. It seemed innocent, as if he had stolen a moment in the madness of returning home. She knew her son was a man and he could do anything he wanted to, but the sight before her was a little perplexing. Again forcing herself not to bother them, she watched them. A smile had spilt her lips and she rocked back and forth on her feet, almost giggling. Jackie stirred a little and she quickly popped out of view, crouching just in case the little spitfire looked up.

After a few seconds she braved a look and once again both her son and Jackie weren't moving. Slowly setting herself straight, she wiped the wrinkles from her knee length skirt and tip toed to the stairs. She went up them as slowly and quietly as she could, watching the two on the couch to make sure they didn't see her. When she finally got to the main floor, she let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the doorway.

She smiled again at the picture she could so vividly remember. Her son's right hand had been on Jackie's back while the girls left arm had been tucked underneath her on Eric's chest. Knowing that she wasn't supposed to see what she did, her motherly tuition kicking in, she decided it would be her little secret. If her son or Jackie brought it up at any point, she would tell them what she had seen, but otherwise she would be as quiet as a mouse.

Kitty rounded the corner into the kitchen to find her husband picking at the cupcakes on top of the stove. "Red Forman," she said softly, slapping his hand away. "Those are for dessert."

Red pulled his hand back and said. "They'll go stale if I don't eat them now." He reached for the cupcake again.

Once again she slapped his hand away, but with more authority. "If you're that hungry, we can go down to the corner and get a hot dog."

"Why?" Red asked, frowning deeply.

"Why not?"

He stared at her for a second. There was a glint in her eye that he had seen before, but he knew enough that understanding it would prove a difficult task, so he said, "Dinner is in a few hours, Kitty."

"So," she replied, wiping icing off a finger. She quickly turned from the oven and went to the door, sliding it open and heading out. "Hurry Red!"

Red Forman stood in silence as he watched the door, expecting his wife to come back for him, but when she didn't he finally darted out the door, closing it loudly behind him. He didn't know what had gotten into Kitty, but a hot dog sure sounded like a good idea. It wasn't often since his heart attack that she would let him eat greasy food. That bothered him to no end, wounding his pride, but he knew she only did it because she was concerned for his well being. It took a few moments, but he finally caught up to her walking down the sidewalk.