Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THAT '70S SHOW.

A/N- First, let me say that this is a pretty weak chapter. I'm aware of this. But it's just kind of my way of letting everyone know I'm still here. And not only am I here, but I've got a severe case of laryngitis, :( and I am NOT having fun. I've had it for about a week and a half now, but it wasn't as bad before as it is now. My doctor says it should go away in another week, two weeks tops, as long as I rest and try not to talk too much. Unfortunately, I'm kind of useless at both of my jobs if I'm having trouble speaking, so I'm mostly stuck at home until I can speak without being in pain. But fortunately for this fic my voice isn't needed to type…unless I'm swearing at my computer because it isn't working properly.

Anyway… my point in telling the story is that I should have another and hopefully more interesting chapter up very soon and a couple more right after that, so look out for them. Until then, I hope you guys enjoy this one :-)

Chapter 36: Snowbound

Snow fell lazily, barely dusting the parking lot of Point Place's shopping mall as it fell from the sky. The cold pavement was illuminated by the street lights as the sun began to set. Inside females from all over the community descended on the place, laughing and gossiping with cheerful spirit from the past holiday still flowing through them. Heels click-clacked against the tile floors as they struggled to carry the many colorful shopping bags in their hands that were full of items they'd gotten in exchange for that thoughtful, but not quite their taste present from the day before.

Jackie was among them of course, but she wasn't laughing or gossiping. She was desperately trying to make the time pass until she went back to Chicago. Sometimes Jackie forgot that she was only visiting and her friends couldn't spend every moment with her. They had their own lives and responsibilities to attend to. And with the holiday over, she felt particularly abandoned while they did exactly that.
Determined to make the best of the situation, she decided to partake in a bit of retail therapy. Usually a new pair of shoes was always enough to brighten her mood. But this time it just didn't seem to be working.

Glancing as casually as she could at her watch, she sighed. She'd only been in the mall for forty minutes. And she told herself she would stay for two hours at least. She couldn't go to Formans. If she stayed holed up for one more afternoon she was sure to go crazy. Instead Jackie walked slowly browsing the display windows and stopped when she noticed a posh looking mens clothing store. The display mannequins were covered in attire she knew her beau Christopher, to wear quite often. She still wasn't sure if they were giving each other gifts as the subject never came up. But eager to spend some money, Jackie figured there was no harm in getting him something anyway, just to be safe.

"You look like you're having some deep thoughts about something." A male voice said from behind her. Startled she turned quickly; the air whooshed out of her lungs when she collided into the man. She yelped and fell back as he stumbled only slightly.

"Shit! I'm sorry," he began, leaning down to help her pick up the bags that had fallen from her fingers. A small group of shoppers had stopped to watch them as Jackie sat up with a huff. An enormous amount of insults on her tongue, ready to deliver them to the person who'd caused her to fall on her behind. But her offenses quickly trailed off as she looked up into Hyde's eyes.

"Sorry," he apologized again. "Why do you scare so easily?"

She mumbled something in reply and took the bag from his fingers before standing.

"Jackie…" Anything else he had wanted to say seemed to get lost in his throat as he looked at her. Her brunette hair was loose and flowing over her shoulders and her face had very little makeup. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a snug emerald sweater underneath her unbuttoned coat. The black heeled boots she wore brought her almost eye level to him. She looked beautiful, if a bit distressed.

"I shouldn't have turned around so quickly," Jackie said quietly, readjusting the bags she had been carrying.

"No, I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that, it's my fault," he insisted, wondering where all the fury he had been feeling towards her days before had gone. He had blamed her for a lot of his problems that night at the hospital, and now all he wanted to do was touch her. Shoving his itchy hands into his pockets, he looked for a distraction. His gaze dropped to the bags in her hands.

"Doing a little shopping?" He said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I had to get out for a while." She followed his eyes and glanced inside the heavy bags. "I thought this place here could have something Christopher might like. I'm trying to find him a Christmas present…"

"Oh." His gut twisted painfully. Change the subject, he told himself quickly, before you start acting like an ass again. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Steven, I really need to get going," Jackie said, the distance in her voice causing his back to go up. She moved by him quickly and Hyde stood alone watching her walk farther away from him.

Without giving it much thought, Hyde hurried out after her, touching her arm briefly when he finally caught up to her.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"I don't think so." Jackie continued to move through the crowd, sighing loudly when his hand wrapped around her elbow. She stopped and turned to face him, annoyance filling her eyes.

"Come on, Jackie. You didn't say anything else to me after we left the hospital the other night. Then yesterday and the day before that you just acted like nothing even happened."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I did Steven. It was Christmas! What was I supposed to do? Bring up the fact that you basically called our whole relationship a joke while we were sitting around the tree?"

"I didn't say that." he muttered, letting his hand drop to his side. "Look, I just wanted to apologize for it."

"Okay," she said simply, stepping aside to walk by him. A sound of frustration escaped her when he blocked her path.

"So you're just going to let it go? Just like that?"

The opening of the nearby exit door made the cold wind breeze by them, causing him to shiver slightly under his t-shirt. His eyes fixed on the ends up her hair that whipped up and danced around her face.

"Look, Steven, I'm just sick and tired of—" She paused stiffly when Hyde reached out and brushed the hair out of her face with his fingertips, sliding the strands behind her ear. His fingertips seemed to linger long enough to send tiny shock waves straight through her body to her toes. She felt her skin flush at his touch. She knew what he was capable of doing with those hands. They could be soft and gentle, or rough and demanding.

The cold gust of wind along with holiday scenery brought back memories of she and Hyde's last holiday as a couple. It frightened her to know that he still had the power to make those same shock waves flow through her now as he did then.

The Formans' house felt especially cozy that year due the untimely snow storm that had begun outside.

With nowhere else to go, the gang gathered around the basement to engage in their usual juvenile activities.

Jackie leaned up against the wall, boredom washing over her as she watched everyone goofing around. She noticed Hyde observing her, his usual smirk widened and he leaned down to say something in Kelso's ear. Suddenly Kelso's eyes were on her as well, sparkling with amusement. Ready to mock.

Jackie looked away, pretending she hadn't seen them. She wasn't worried so much about Kelso, she knew a shiny object would be a distraction enough for him, but Hyde would take great pleasure in teasing her for her earlier less than amazing singing and dancing routine of Christmas carols. She thought she was alone and hadn't heard him walk up behind her. Peeved at the memory of finding Hyde leaning against the wall and red with laughter when she had turned around, Jackie lowered her gaze to her shoes and studied them extensively.

Clearing her throat, Jackie pretended to adjust her clothes as Eric began talking with Hyde and Kelso. Glancing up, she saw Hyde's eyes upon her, his gaze intense before she saw the tiniest curve of his lips. Then he was moving towards her, his hands slipping into his pockets.

"I was wondering when I would get another performance," Hyde said when he stopped in front of her.

He was standing close to her, so close she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Despite her best intentions not too, she smiled, her fingers itching to run through that mound of curly hair on top of his head.

"I make special appearances only," she replied arrogantly. "You don't appreciate it. You'll be lucky to ever hear me singing again anytime soon." She didn't know when he did it, but suddenly he was closer than before and leaning down until his lips were by her ear.

"I kind of like it when you sing," he whispered, his breath hot on her skin.

"Really?" she asked in surprise.

He smirked. "No, but I like other kinds of noises that you make."

Having nothing to do with the cold, Jackie shivered and felt her eyes drooping heavily with desire. She felt his rough hand take hers tightly and lead her casually away from the group, who were too busy talking amongst themselves to notice them.

She didn't question him when he gently pushed her into his room and closed the door. He lifted his hands from her hips until they were fisted in her hair. She felt her skin flush as his lips captured hers. She moaned softly when his tongue pushed past her lips and flicked against her own. He tasted like beer and the slightest hint of a candy cane.

With every stroke of his tongue against hers, Jackie felt lust shoot to her center. It grew nearly painful, but she ignored it, wanting to focus on the sensations Hyde was building inside of her with his mouth. The image of him lying between her thighs only the night before flashed in her mind and had her moaning again. He had done something no other boyfriend—granted, she had only one before him—had done before and explored her body thoroughly with his tongue and lips until she had come at least twice.

Wanting to let herself indulge, Jackie slid her hands through his hair as Hyde backed her up against the hard wall. The sound of laughter from outside pierced her thoughts and Jackie snapped her eyes open when she remembered where they were.

"Steven!" She gasped as she placed her palms against his firm chest and pushed. "They're going to notice that we're gone."

"So?" He kissed her cheek and jaw before sliding his tongue over her earlobe. She trembled and felt her knees shake but shook her head and attempted an alerted tone.

"What if they wonder where we've gone and walk in on us?"

"Jackie, the fact that the both of us are gone probably tells them enough. I think they all know what we're doing, just relax."

"But still, what if…" She trailed off when Hyde's hand slid under her shirt. His palm was slightly cold against her warm flesh as it closed over the curve of her breast. All thoughts escaped her mind when his hand tugged the material down and began rubbing her nipple gently. She let her head fall back against the wall with a thud and sighed, jerking her hips forward unintentionally when he rolled the firm points between his finger and thumb.

Then he was kissing her again, his lips slightly rougher as he pressed his hips against hers. She felt his arousal straining against her belly and without a second thought she slipped her hand between their bodies to cup him through his pants. He inhaled sharply and tore his lips away from hers to look down at her. His blue eyes were dark and daring, closing when she began to stroke him through the material. He moved his hips in rhythm with her hand for a moment before he groaned and clutched her wrist to stop her movements.

"I gotta be inside you." He whispered, his voice bordering on a growl before he began to undress her.

She closed her own eyes against the feel of his touch but shook her head when she absorbed his words. "We can't, Steven...not here."

He looked up and around quickly, his eyes narrowing in thought before he pulled her against him and turned her around. Her back was pressed up against his chest and she gasped loudly stunned when he bent her over one of the Forman's large junk filled boxes that were in his room. He was bunching her skirt up around her hips, causing her to tremor when the warm air from the heat danced around her thighs. She was trying to find the words to protest, to shout at him for thinking this was appropriate at the time. She lifted and poised herself on her palms, shocked with herself that she said nothing. A dark, mischievous thrill surged through her veins when she heard the clinking of his belt, following by the sound of his zipper.

Suddenly jolting back to reality, Jackie took a quick step back, as she searched her mind frantically for the words she was going to say before he had touched her.

"Saying you're sorry doesn't always make it better, Steven."

"I know," he replied quietly.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she asked, wanting to change the subject. "You hate shopping."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do. But I'm not really here to shop. My dad came by and said that the record store looked too plain. Said it doesn't have anything exciting or unique that catches people's attention right away. So he told me to go look around at other places to see if I could steal some ideas."

"Oh," she replied awkwardly. "Well, since you're here, do you think you could give me a ride back? I have a lot of bags."

"I noticed," Hyde said with a small chuckle. "Where are you gonna put those? The stuff you came here with barely fit in Kelso's car."

Jackie's gaze suddenly left his as she looked around nervously. Almost as if she felt guilty about something.

"Michael isn't coming to get me." she murmured.

Hyde raised his eyebrows as he stood quietly, waiting for an explanation. "So, how are you getting back to Chicago?"

Jackie looked back up at him, her eyes still not directly meeting his. "Well…I uh, I talked to Christopher yesterday. You know, to wish him a merry Christmas. And… I was telling him about how Mrs. Forman keeps asking about him, wondering when she'll meet him." She paused, looking for a reaction.

"Okay, but that doesn't really answer my question." Hyde said slowly, his eyebrows still raised. He knew very well where she was going, but dreaded hearing the words come from her mouth.

"And," she continued, "When I told him that, he thought it'd be a good idea if he drove here so he could meet everyone else." Jackie paused again, and continued when he only stared at her.

"So, he's going to come here, meet everyone. I'll show him around a bit, even though there's not that much to see… and then he's going to take me back home."

Hyde watched as she bit her lip anxiously and cleared his throat before replying. "When?"

"Sometime tomorrow." She answered softly.

"Cool," he said as nonchalantly as he could, turning to walk towards the exit.

"You're okay with this?" Jackie asked from behind him.

He shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be? It's not like I haven't met him before." Even if I was massively plastered at the time, he thought to himself.

"Yeah, I guess…" Jackie said with uncertainty. Following in suit as Hyde walked out of the mall and into the once light snow fall that had turned heavy. "I just thought that maybe you'd feel a little… uncomfortable."

Hyde sighed and stopped in his tracks. He turned around abruptly to face her. "Look, Jackie. You're with this guy now and you really like him. I get it. I'm over it. I don't care anymore. Okay?"

"Okay," she replied, doubt still clear in her voice.

They walked to the El Camino in silence through the sharp cold. Jackie squinted against the icy snowflakes that flew at her face as they walked. While Hyde wondered how the hell he was going to make it through a whole day of watching Jackie fall more and more in love with another man.

Life was really a bitch.