Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.
Sorry about the super late updates; I've been having some major writer's block for this story, as well as my other story 'You Shook Me.' On the plus side, I've already gotten a few later chapters written and saved :) I just need to get to them now.
Note: This chapter has 'Circle Time' in it, which is done like a script because it's much simpler to follow.
Warning: Implied child abuse in this chapter
Pairings in Chapter: Donna/Hyde; Eric/Jackie
Hyde released a long sigh, glancing at Donna as she and Jackie worked on Eric's report. They've been playing cat and mouse for about a week now, and he really wished he didn't agree to just be friends with her.
Fez was upstairs; according to Eric, grandma really likes him. Kelso took off to home, barely glancing at Eric's assignment before spastically yelling, "Oo, I got it! I did this last week!" and sprinting out the basement door.
As if, Hyde thought. And even if Kelso did do this assignment, he probably didn't pass. But it was all they had to work with, so they were stuck here, waiting on him.
He leaned back in his chair, glancing at Donna again, catching her eye, and she jumped slightly, quickly looking back at the binder, her face pink.
He couldn't help but grin at that.
Donna huffed through her nose, trying to pay attention to Jackie's words, hoping the mismatched eyes didn't catch her pink face, wishing Hyde didn't catch her staring. She can practically feel his stupid smirk.
She can't help it; they've been this way for about a week now. They've been sharing glances, spending much more time together, and he's been more protective than usual, doing little things to make her laugh, and she couldn't help but think of it as sweet.
She wishes she could kill these thoughts, especially the most frequent one; how she wished Hyde would kiss her again like at the disco, just to see what it would be like.
She sighed, tuning Jackie back in, wishing she never told him to just stay friends.
"Eric, are you down here?"
Jackie, Hyde, and Donna glanced up at Kitty's voice, seeing her step down the stairs.
"He's not in here, Mrs. Forman," Donna answered, drawing Kitty's attention to her and Jackie on the couch.
"Donna, Jackie, good," Kitty smiles, "Why don't you come eat dinner with us? I need all the help I can get."
She, Jackie, and Hyde attempt to stand, but Kitty placed her hand on Steven's shoulder, sitting him back down while rubbing his arms soothingly, "Steven, honey, you stay here, grandma doesn't like you."
Donna couldn't help but snicker at the affronted look on Hyde's face, following Jackie and Kitty up the stairs.
"Well, what am I supposed to eat?" Hyde called after them.
"Help yourself to the deep freeze," Kitty answered.
"But everything's frozen," Hyde pouted, and Donna covered her mouth, finding the look rather hilarious on him.
"I'll bring you something," Donna said, glancing at Jackie long enough to catch her teasing smile. Donna couldn't help but smile back; despite what the guys may think, Jackie's a great friend, and Donna's been confiding in her a lot recently about her 'Hyde feelings.' Surprisingly, Jackie gives rather helpful advice, which Donna has taken to heart.
"Thanks," He responded surprisingly shyly, and she bit her lip, smiling as she made her way up the rest of the stairs.
Hyde sighed, glancing around the room, figuring it would be a while before Donna and Jackie could escape grandma's claws, his eyes stopping on the dryer.
"I have a dryer," He smirked.
CIRCLE
FORMAN DINING ROOM
CUT TO RED
RED: (with a big, fake smile) "These, uh... cheesey potatoes are real good, honey." (takes a bite of one) "Mmmmm."
PAN TO KITTY
KITTY: (smiles nervously) "Thank you, honey."
PAN TO DONNA
DONNA: (with a fake, toothy grin) "They really are delicious, Mrs. Forman."
PAN TO JACKIE
JACKIE: (smiles nervously, glancing around the room; takes a small bite of the potatoes, nodding) "Real good, Mrs. Forman."
PAN TO ERIC
ERIC: (smiles shakily) "We have them whenever Gramma comes over cuz Mom knows how much she loves 'em, right Gramma?"
PAN TO BERNICE
BERNICE: (gives a blunt stare, smoking a cigarette) "They make me sick. I'm allergic to dairy."
PAN TO FEZ
FEZ: (sympathetic) "Oh, how sad..."
PAN TO RED
RED: (annoyed) "Mom, this is Wisconsin. You're not allergic to dairy."
PAN TO KITTY
KITTY: (gives an annoyed smile) "Well, Red, maybe she's just allergic to my dairy."
PAN TO DONNA
DONNA: (sucks in her lips; she grabs a spare plate and a bun, placing some potatoes and chicken on it for Hyde while nervously glancing back and forth between Kitty and Bernice, knowing how crazed Kitty can get when she's upset)
PAN TO JACKIE
JACKIE: (looking a bit confused) "But you put creamer in your coffee, and cream is dairy, so-
PAN TO ERIC
ERIC: (interrupts Jackie, smiling nervously, placing a hand on her shoulder) "Jackie, Jackie... no, no."
PAN TO BERNICE
BERNICE: (annoyed) "You shut up, Eric." (looks at Jackie) "And who the hell are you?"
PAN TO ERIC
ERIC: (looking quite annoyed himself, feeling a bit protective of Jackie) "Gramma, let's not talk to Jackie like that, okay?"
PAN TO BERNICE
BERNICE: (mad) "Excuse me?"
PAN TO ERIC
ERIC: (protectively) "Let's just leave Jackie alone, yeah?"
PAN TO BERNICE
BERNICE: (rolls her eyes) "Whatever. I like your new friend better." (smiles at Fez)
PAN TO FEZ
FEZ: (smiling in his seductive 'Fez way') "The feeling is mutual."
PAN TO RED
RED: (begins stuffing his face, talking in between bites of food) "Well, I should - Noise in the garage - Raccoons - Bye." (quickly stands, exiting the kitchen.)
PAN TO KITTY
KITTY: (smiles fakely) "Well I just- I just- I couldn't eat another bite." (quickly follows Red)
PAN TO DONNA
DONNA: "I'm going back downstairs. Excuse me." (takes Hyde's plate of food, quickly sprinting toward the kitchen)
PAN TO JACKIE
JACKIE: (smiles nervously at Eric) "So, um... I guess I'll just go with her... are you coming?"
PAN TO ERIC
ERIC: (glances at Bernice) "You wanna watch Lauren's Whelk, Gramma?"
PAN TO BERNICE
BERNICE: (smiles at Fez) "No, I'm gonna watch Lauren's Whelk with my new friend." (her smiles turns seductive) "You up for another foot rub, Dezzie?"
PAN TO ERIC
ERIC: (looking horrified; begins speaking rather quickly) "Okay Jackie, let's go."
PAN TO JACKIE
JACKIE: (looks just as horrified; Eric places a hand on her shoulder as she quickly stands, following him to the kitchen)
The dryer dings, and Hyde hops off happily, exclaiming, "Oo, fry time!"
As he digs through the dryer, Donna, Jackie, and Eric make their way downstairs, watching him as he tosses the hot bag back and forth before carelessly dropping it on the coffee table.
"What're you doing?" Jackie giggled, and Eric couldn't help but smile at the sound.
"Uh, just uh," Hyde stuttered, opening the bag of fries, steam pouring out, "Ya know, workin' on Forman's project and havin' some fries."
Eric gives him a funny look, bewildered and speaking slowly, "You put french fries in my mother's dryer?"
"Well, the fish sticks were too flakey, so..." Hyde cut himself off, knowing how stupid that sounded, throwing his hands up, "Bah!"
"You didn't have to do that, Hyde," Donna said, holding out the plate with the chicken sandwich and cheesey potatoes, "I told you I'd bring you something."
"I didn't know how long you'd be, so..." Hyde trailed off, taking the plate and smiling at her. She smiled back, and Jackie glanced back and forth, giving a secret smile.
Kelso chose this moment to run through the basement door, grinning, "Guys, you'll never believe this, I ran into a bunch of dogs and I-"
"Kelso," Donna interrupted, "Where's the report?"
"Oh, about that..." Kelso trailed off, avoiding her eyes, "Yeah, it was actually on the food groups, not the government."
Jackie rolled her eyes in embarrassment of her boyfriend, wishing he could focus long enough to at least try to help his friend.
At this moment, Kitty comes running down the stairs, breathing quite heavily in her stress. "Alright," She muttered, obviously far passed annoyed, "Alright, now you listen up. I have had a very stressful day and I am not proud about what I am about to say, but someone get me a cigarette. Now."
"Mom, we don't smoke..." Eric trailed off, glancing around, grinning a little at Jackie's teasing look. Well, it was partially true; the only one who smoked literal cigarettes as opposed to, uh... film was Hyde.
"Cut the crap, Eric," Kitty snapped, making Jackie jump a little and grab onto his arm, "I am a nurse. I know that one in every five teenagers smoke. Look!" She began counting them in a bit of a crazed manner, her stress getting to her, "One, two, three, four, five! Now, I am going to close my eyes and when I open them, there had better be a cigarette between these fingers!"
There was a small pause before Hyde slowly and awkwardly stood, still holding onto his plate of food. Everyone watched him as he dug through his pocket with a single hand, tapping a cigarette out of his pack, and placing it between Kitty's outstretched fingers.
"Light," She demanded, and, without much thought to it, everyone, minus Jackie, used their lighters.
"Kitty!" Red's voice called down, and Kitty panicked, handing Eric the cigarette. He and Jackie stressfully glanced around the room before Jackie snatched it from him and tossed it into the deep freeze just as Red reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Well, there ya are, Red," Kitty smiled fakely.
"Mom says the cat bit her, so I came down here to look for it."
Eric furrowed his brows, looking confused, "Dad, we don't have a cat..."
"That's what I thought," Red said, turning the knob on the TV to a football game before settling into Hyde's chair, using the stool as a foot rest.
Everyone glanced around for a moment, standing awkwardly.
"We-well-well," Kitty stuttered, slowly sitting down on the couch, "We shouldn't leave your poor little foreign friend all alone with Gramma."
Everyone stared at her, Jackie looking at Eric, who only shrugged. Taking the hint, Hyde grabbed Donna's arm, pulling her onto the couch next to him, grabbing the bag of fries from the coffee table and offering Kitty one.
"Eight hundred and twenty-five, eight hundred and twenty-six," Jackie counted, but was cut off by Kitty's groggy voice.
"Jackie, Eric, it's one in the morning," She said sleepily as she took a seat next to them on the couch, "What're you doing?"
"I'm working on homework," Eric answered, "And Jackie decided to stay here and help me... what're you doing up?"
"Snow White came down to gun a stick," Kitty deadpanned, lighting a cigarette.
"Mom, I wish you wouldn't smoke," Eric mumbled, a worried note in his voice, and Jackie rubbed his arm soothingly.
"I know, I know," Kitty sighed, "But this is my last one. I promise. And thanks for helping me with your grandmother, by the way."
"Mrs. Forman, what does she have against you anyway?" Jackie asked.
"Well," Kitty answered, "About twenty-five years ago, Red was dating this really attractive, well-to-do woman that Bernice really liked, but, um... he married me instead. And she never forgave me for it."
"That bitch," Eric and Jackie said at once, not putting much thought into it, but then glanced at each other wide-eyed, looking at Kitty.
She only laughed.
Donna jumped, hearing her window suddenly open. She turned to see Hyde climbing through, gently closing it.
"Hyde, it's one in the morning..." She trailed off, catching sight of his left eye; there was a rather harsh bruise sitting right where eye circles form, his actual eye a bit pink and red-rimmed.
Obviously his mom's new boyfriend.
"Hyde..."
"Can I, uh... Can I crash here?"
A small pause.
"Yeah... always."
Yay, a chapter that's actually long! See, once the story starts getting to the major changes, I'll actually be writing the full episodes, so...
Yeah, again, sorry about the slow updates...