Two - Woman With A Plan
Hyde put his bags down on the beige carpet of the room he was sharing with Forman. Forman flopped down on the bed farthest from the door. In the room to the left of theirs, Kelso and Fez were getting settled. Jackie and Donna were in the room directly across the hall. Bob, Joanne, Red and Mrs. Forman were one floor up, in rooms with only one bed.
"Not that I don't like sharing a room with you again…" Forman said, looking over at Hyde from where he was lying on the bed.
"You wanted to have sex with Donna?" Hyde asked. "Tough luck, Forman."
"Come on, don't tell me you're not gonna mess around with the ladies of Vegas," Forman whined.
"Nope. Those chicks got nothing I want," Hyde said. Because what Hyde wanted was Jackie, for a very long time. Only Jackie didn't want him anymore.
"Aww! Hyde's not gonna sleep with other girls because he still loves Jackie!" Forman crooned. Hyde grabbed the pillow from his bed and chucked it at Forman, who caught it, against all odds. "Come on, man, it's been three weeks since Chicago."
"And how long did it take you to get over Donna when you broke up? Oh, that's right, you never did," Hyde said.
Forman gasped and stood up, tossing the pillow on his bed. "Are you saying Jackie's your Donna?"
"What? No." Yes, of course Jackie was Hyde's Donna. Hyde was pretty sure he would never love anyone else as much as he loved Jackie. "No, she's not my Donna. I'm just comparing this to your breakup."
"Uh-huh. Sure." Forman grinned and looked at the door. "I'm gonna go see how the girls are doing."
"Great idea," Hyde said. He followed Forman out the door, grabbing their room keys before closing the door behind them.
They walked across the hall to the girls' room, where Jackie's voice could be heard through the open door.
"Donna, I said I wanted that bed!"
"Why does it matter which bed you have?"
"Seems like things are going great in here," Forman said as they entered the room.
Donna turned to them. "Hyde, can you please take her back so I don't have to share a room with her?"
"Oh, don't worry about it, I'm sure she'll be sleeping with Kelso tonight," Hyde said.
Jackie glared at him. "No. I. Won't."
"As much as I'd love to watch you guys have this fight again, I'm freaking starving," Forman said.
"I saw a cool little restaurant on the bus ride here, if you don't mind walking," Donna said.
"That sounds great!" Jackie said sharply before pushing past Hyde and leaving the room.
Jackie poked at her salad with her fork. Donna, Eric and Fez had claimed one of the booth seats and Steven had grabbed the chair at the end of the table, leaving her to sit next to Michael in the other booth seat.
A month ago, she wouldn't have minded. Now that she had slept with him and effectively destroyed what was left of her relationship with Steven, she minded a lot. She didn't like being so close to Michael, especially not when Steven had just thrown their brief affair in her face.
She'd tried to explain it to him so many times. The only reason she'd slept with Michael was because she thought she'd lost Steven forever. She thought they were done, never to get back together. That was the case now, but it hadn't been that night in Chicago.
Steven had visited that night to propose, so Michael said. She didn't totally believe him, especially after Steven's reaction to her and Michael doing it.
"Jackie, we haven't eaten since breakfast. Why are you picking at your salad?" Donna asked.
"I'm just tired," Jackie said. "Kinda out of it from the plane ride."
The plane ride had messed her up a little bit. Steven's fear of flying had led to the first civil moment between them in nearly a month. Telling him about her trips to Europe, it had almost been like when they were together. Of course, had they still been together, she would've held his hand on the plane, given him the physical reassurance she knew he wanted.
Michael had made sure that would never happen again. But she couldn't blame her relationship with Steven being in shambles on Michael. Jackie was the one who suggested he stay the night. Jackie was the one who suggested they have sex again.
She was the one who broke Steven's heart.
"I think I'm gonna go back to the hotel and take a nap," Jackie said, starting to push Michael out of the booth.
"Jackie, you gotta eat, man. Can't have you passing out in Vegas. People will think you're drunk." Steven said.
His words cemented Jackie to her seat. He still cared that she ate when she needed to. She picked up her fork again and started eating. "I'm only eating because I don't want people to think I'm drunk. I would never get drunk at one in the afternoon."
"You would never get drunk, period," Steven said, smirking.
"I could get drunk if I wanted to!" Jackie protested.
"Oh! Tomorrow we're gonna be hanging out at clubs all night! I wanna see drunk Jackie," Michael said, excitedly.
"Drunk Jackie is very affectionate. She wanted me to kiss her," Fez said.
"Ew! That was a long time ago. I don't ever want to kiss you. No offense," Jackie said.
"None taken. I don't wanna kiss you either," Fez said.
"I will definitely be available if you wanna kiss me. Or more," Michael said, bumping her shoulder with his.
She put as much distance between them as possible, pushing herself against the wall. "No, thanks."
"Well, I'll still be around if you change your mind," Michael said, leaning back in his seat. Jackie risked a glance at Steven, who was staring intently at his half-eaten cheeseburger. Judging by the tensed muscles in his temple, his jaw was clenched.
Stupid Michael.
Hyde stood in front of Jackie in her motel room in Chicago. Something was wrong, he could tell. Her hair was slightly messy and her makeup wasn't in it's usual perfect state.
She looked the way she did after they made love, just… less satisfied and giggly.
"Jackie, what-"
The door to the motel room opening cut Hyde off. Kelso came in, wearing only a towel and carrying a bucket of ice. "Jackie, I checked, no one saw us doing it from the parking l- HYDE!" He hid behind Jackie. "Please don't kill me."
Hyde stared at Kelso for a second, then at Jackie. He shook his head and stared at the beige carpet. "Right."
Kelso came out of hiding and stood close to the door, like he was prepared to make a break for it.
Jackie stepped forward and put her hand on Hyde's arm. "Steven, this isn't-"
Hyde pulled away from her. "Whatever, Jackie." He pushed Kelso out of the way, harder than he should have, and left the room.
He'd driven her away. He'd pushed her into Kelso's arms with his stupidity. He shouldn't have waited until the last second to give Jackie an answer. He should have just given her hope for their future when he had the chance. Because now, they had no chance at a future.
That night kept replaying in Hyde's brain. At night, when sleep evaded him, he continued to relive that horrible night. A night that was entirely his fault. A night that had single handedly ended his and Jackie's relationship forever.
Sitting in the dark hotel room he shared with sleeping Forman wasn't helping anything. As quietly as he could, Hyde stood up and left the room, taking his room key with him. A walk around their floor would clear his head a little.
Maybe he should just talk things out with Jackie. Maybe she had actually wanted to marry him. She had forgiven him for the nurse, so he should forgive her for Kelso.
Hyde turned the corner. On the side of the hallway was a little alcove that held a vending machine and the ice machine. Jackie was standing in her pajamas with her arms crossed by the vending machine. Kelso was wearing only sweatpants and holding a bucket of ice.
"Well, this is a horribly familiar scenario, isn't it?" Hyde said.
"Steven!" Jackie looked over at him.
"Oh man, this is exactly like last time. Except this time me and Jackie didn't do it. I was just getting ice and she ambushed me," Kelso said.
"I did not ambush you. I just wanted to talk," Jackie said.
"I don't need to be here for that, so… See you guys tomorrow," Hyde said. He walked away from them. Clearly this walk wouldn't help either.
Jackie woke up with determination and a half-formed plan burning in her mind. After Steven had walked away from her and Michael last night, she'd grown angry with her situation and the helplessness she felt.
So, she'd essentially given Michael a restraining order. He was to never sit next to her, avoid touching her, stop flirting with her and stop mentioning that night in Chicago. She would no longer be helplessly pining for something she knew she couldn't have.
Tonight, Jackie was going to make herself look irresistible. Once she had achieved peak sexiness, she would find some good-looking Vegas guys and have fun. She was sick of continually falling for men that just ended up breaking her heart. Tonight, in the city of sin, Jackie Burkhart would take back her life.
Her plan started in the small bathroom of her and Donna's hotel room. Her makeup was strewn over one side of the counter, with Donna's makeup neatly organized on the other side. They were standing side-by-side, sharing the wide mirror.
"You haven't worn that red lipstick since sophomore year," Donna commented.
"Yeah, well, I have a mission tonight," Jackie said, putting the finishing touches on her lips. "And you might want to rethink that eyeshadow color if you're gonna wear that aqua dress."
Donna looked down at her eyeshadow palette. "You don't even know what color I'm gonna pick."
"If it's from that palette, it's not gonna be good." Jackie grabbed one of her own shimmery palettes. "Use one of these."
"Thanks." Donna started applying her eyeshadow. "So, what's your mission?"
"To take back my love life. I'm done with falling for guys that are just gonna break my heart. We're in Las Vegas, so I am going to have a fun night."
"Good for you," Donna said. "Just don't get too drunk, please. And don't accept drinks from random guys. If you get assaulted- or worse- Hyde will end up in jail for murder."
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'll be safe. Can't have Steven killing anyone tonight. That might ruin Bob and Joanne's wedding," Jackie said. She examined her makeup in the mirror. She looked damn sexy with her red lips and feathered hair. No man would be able to resist her.
Jackie gathered her things into her makeup bag. She left Donna in the bathroom and got her dress from the closet. She'd hung it up as soon as they'd arrived at the hotel so it wouldn't wrinkle. It was the perfect dress for Las Vegas. It was silver and sparkly and worked perfectly with her body.
She put it on while Donna finished her makeup. When Donna eventually came out of the bathroom, Jackie finished putting on her heels and stood up.
"Damn, Jackie. Kelso's gonna have a tough time following your restraining order." As soon as Jackie had come back from talking to Michael, she'd told Donna about her rules for him. Donna had offered to help enforce those rules.
Jackie grinned and walked over to the full-length mirror. The heels she'd picked were stylish, yet easy to walk and dance in. That was a necessity for tonight.
"I'm gonna break some men's hearts tonight," Jackie said.
"I don't doubt that," Donna said.