Okay, so here's chapter two, and I think that this may be the quickest that I have ever updated a story. Go me!
Thanks for all of the reviews, and another big kiss goes out to Tania.
Two: The Price Is Wrong….
"Evelyn Peabody!" The voice of the TV announcer bounced across the walls of basement. "Come on down! You're the next contestant on "The Price is Right!"
Jackie rolled her eyes, groaning as she settled back further into the old couch. "Another old lady!" Leaning forward, she yelled her frustrations at the old TV. "She can't even reach the wheel."
"I can't watch "The Price is Right" again. I just can't." Hyde moaned from his position sprawled out beside her.
Jackie shrugged her shoulders, sighing in utter defeat. She was hot, she was bored, and there was no end to the misery in sight. She needed a distraction. "This summer totally sucks. There's nothing to do." She glanced over at him, waiting for some sort of agreement. Not that she actually expected one. She and Hyde had never really been about the conversations that didn't involve insults. She was more than a little surprised to find that he had even spared her a glance.
The room must have been too hot and the summer just too uneventful because Jackie found her eyes pulled down to his mouth. Her heart skipped a beat at the sudden quirk of his eyebrows beneath his dark glasses and the slight glimpse of tongue as he licked his lips.
Oh God. A slight flex of pecs, and Jackie felt her own chest inflate with the sudden intake of breath. That was hot.
And then thought ceased as she leaned over, meeting his lips half-way. The kiss was short and chaste, but oh so soft.
Jackie leaned back, forcing her gaze back to screen. Her head spun, but it had nothing to do with the heat, the boredom, or the little old lady that had just won a new dining room set.
She turned back to Hyde, and this time, there was nothing experimental or chaste about it. His fingers wove through her hair and her hand clutched at his forearm as their mouths met once again.
Hyde's mouth was insistent as it slid across hers, tugging at her lower lip. His fingers clenched in her hair, tilting the angle of her head to bring her even closer as her hand caressed up his arm and fisted his sleeve. Using his arm as leverage, she pulled herself up and pushed him to lean back against the couch.
His hand slipped from her hair and moved down to lightly grasp her hip. His other hand found the other hip and he lifted her, guiding one leg over him so that she straddled his lap. His fingers tightened, pulling her down so that she was flush with his chest.
The impact of her chest to his had Jackie opening her mouth to push out a surprised breath. Hyde took the opportunity to dart out his tongue, lightly caressing against the sensitive inner skin of her lips, waiting for her to respond.
Her head was absolutely spinning out of control, her senses surrounded by his soap clean smell, the rasp of his beard against her cheek, and his deep groan as her tongue smoothed out to meet his.
She couldn't tell exactly how much time was passing; all she could focus on was her hand clenched in his hair, his body heat soaking through her shirt, and his mouth moving under hers. There was definitely nothing boring about this.
Jackie's mouth froze against Hyde's at the loud bang of the basement door being slammed open. Her eyes opened wide to find Hyde staring straight back at her. She pushed hard against his chest, leaping off his lap and to the opposite side of the couch. The panic pounded against her ribcage as Eric's footsteps thumped against the stairs.
Don't look at him, don't look at him, she told herself. If I don't look at him, he won't know. There's no way he could know. Jackie sat ramrod straight, her hands clenched in her lap as she tried to control her heavy breathing. She was sure that she could feel the heavy weight of Eric's stare on her. He knows. Oh God, he knows!
"So, what're you guys watching?" Eric dropped down on the couch between them. He stretched his legs out onto the table and slumped down, sighing heavily.
Jackie glanced at him quickly out of the corner of her eye. He was staring blankly at the TV, his expression buried in the depression that had been plaguing him ever since Donna left. He was so fixated on his problems that he had no clue about what was going on with everyone else. What a selfish dill hole! He really needs to get over himself.
Her eyes slid past Eric to meet Hyde's, but as quickly as their gazes met, they shifted away.
Hyde recovered first, crossing his legs and clearing his throat. "It's the end of "The Price is Right," man."
"Oh goodie, cause, yeah. Who doesn't love "The Price is Right?"
Jackie rolled her eyes, crossing her legs at the knees. Her heart was starting to slow down and her breathing was evening out. But the quiet also gave her time to think. She had just made out with Steven Hyde. Steven Hyde! This summer had just gone from deathly boring to something straight out of the Twilight Zone.
Okay, so obviously thinking is bad. Now is not the time to think about what just happened and how completely wrong it was. Now is the time to repress, focus on something else. Her nose twitched as she looked at Eric once again, careful not to let her gaze slid toward Steven. "You know, Eric. I get the fact that you're broken-hearted and all, but that really doesn't give you the right to neglect your personal hygiene."
Hyde let out a short laugh, looking away from the TV for the first time since Eric had entered the basement. His mouth opened to agree, but he quickly snapped it shut, gluing his eyes back on the screen.
"Jackie, I don't really think that you can understand what I'm going through, being as that you don't have a heart and all." Eric shrugged, staring forlornly at the screaming old lady that had just won a new Winnebago. "And anyway, this is my basement. I can smell bad in it if I want to."
"Oh God. Is this the part where you start complaining about how it's been three weeks and she still hasn't called?" Jackie asked, ignoring the jab about her not having a heart. "Because if it is, isn't it a little early for you to be up? You should be upstairs, bemoaning how retarded you were to let Donna go. Cause, seriously, nobody here really wants to deal with your whining right now."
"Huh, well that's funny, Jackie, because nobody here wants to deal with your whining either. And yet, you still come around all of the time." Eric waved a hand at her, dismissing her comments.
"Oh, whatever," Jackie snapped back, the craziness of the morning putting an extra bite into her words. "You're not the only one who lost someone this summer, you know. And Michael and I were actually together. But you don't hear me complaining about it all the time, do you?"
"Yes we do!" Eric turned his attention from the television to her, his eyebrows drawn up high on his forehead. "Everyday you come down here, it's all "Michael's a dumbass," and "I hate Michael." Why are you even here?"
"Hey! I can be here if I want to be here, mister." Jackie turned in her seat, folding a leg beneath her, and poked a finger into Eric's arm. "This isn't just your basement, you know."
"Yes, it is!"
"Okay, you know what? You two need to shut up," Hyde said, standing and walking around the couch toward the door. "You're giving me a headache."
Jackie and Eric's both watched as Hyde started to leave. "Wait, Steven. Where are you going?"
"Yeah, man. If anyone has to go, we'll just kick Jackie out."
"Hey, shut up!"
"I'm going to work. Leo isn't nearly as whiny as you two little girls." The door slammed behind Hyde, shuttering slightly in his wake.
"Now, see what you did, Jackie." Eric gestured toward the door and scooted to the far end of the couch. "You made him go away."
"Ha," Jackie scoffed, pointing a finger back at him. "If somebody would take a shower a little more regularly, then maybe they'd have a few more friends."
Eric simply stared back at her, a slow, smug smile wiping across his mouth. "Oh yeah, that was me, Jackie. That was me."
Jackie crinkled up her nose in disgust as the foul smell came waffling toward her. Pushing herself off of the couch, she headed toward the door. "Ugh! You're horrible!"
************************************
Tossing her shopping bags down on the bed, Jackie pushed out an exasperated breath. She had been shopping all day, she had spent tons of money, and she had gotten tons of pretty new things. But had it helped? No. Not at all.
A short whine escaped her lips as she flopped down onto her bed. Shopping always made her feel better. When Michael had cheated the first time, she had gone shopping. When she first found out that he was dating Laurie, she had gone shopping. When her dad told her that he would cut her off if she didn't break up with Michael, she had gone shopping. And each of those times, she had left the mall feeling tons better, if even just for a moment.
"Not this time," she grumbled, picking up Llama Cass and looking her in the eye. This time, the knot that had formed in her stomach just seemed to be getting larger with each passing moment.
Steven Hyde. Steven Hyde. She had made out with Steven Hyde.
Jackie shivered as of jolt of electricity shot up her spine at the memory. She remembered her first kiss with Steven, all those months ago at the Veteran's Day barbeque and it was definitely hot, but that morning? Hot couldn't even begin to describe that.
And sure, of course Steven was a good kisser. He always seemed to have some slut of the week, but Wow! She had had not idea.
Who knew that Steven's lips would be so soft, or that his hands would be so warm? Who knew that he would smell so good, or that he would just feel so amazing?
A soft smile curved the corners of Jackie's mouth, her fingers coming up to touch them lightly. Her eyes fluttered shut, and for a moment, she could almost feel the rough caress of his tongue.
Her eyes shot open at the thought and she sprung off the bed, pacing around the room. This was wrong. This was so very wrong. Making out with Steven was nothing but wrong.
Hours later and her head was still just absolutely spinning from the very idea that she had been on top of him, kissing him and touching him; having him kiss her and touch her. It didn't make any sense.
She remembered the air quotes – crush she had had on him all of that time ago, and the kiss that had come as a result, but this was nothing like that. She wasn't blinded by a broken heart and a stupid infatuation. No, this time had been out of pure boredom and curiosity, but that just made it ten times worse because now she knew that he was so completely not an option.
"I mean, he's just so poor and scruffy. Can you believe that he doesn't shave anymore?" She scoffed in the back of her throat. "Please, beards are so on their way out. Like last year, when Michael was growing that beard, and he looked so hot in it. Beards were in then, but it's summer and that horrible fashion trend has thankfully passed us all by. This season is really more about…" Jackie trailed off as what she had just said finally hit her.
Michael.
All of this craziness going on with Steven, and she had yet to think about Michael all day. And while that was definitely a good thing, she couldn't stop the thought from popping into her mind. What if that make-out with Steven hadn't been about boredom at all? What if that had, in the back of her mind, been some kind of way to get back at Michael leaving her?
Jackie rolled the idea over in her mind, replaying the days events in her mind. No, she told herself. Michael had certainly not been anywhere in her mind when she had crawled up onto Steven's lap. She groaned again as the thought prompted imagery to flood back into her mind.
She pushed herself back up into a sitting position, crossing her legs Indian style, and shook the pictures from her mind. "Whatever the reason, it won't be happening again. I'm sure that will be devastating for him, but Steven is just going to have to accept that. I am not opened for business." She punctuated each word by tapping a finger on the bedspread.
She nodded to herself. She would just go back down into the basement like she did every morning and she would set him straight. He probably wouldn't be very happy about it, but that's just the way things were.
************************************
Jackie smiled at herself in the rearview mirror, making sure that she didn't have any lipstick smeared on her teeth and that her hair was in perfect order. She climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Her hands smoothed over the length of the cute pink skirt she was wearing, pulling the non-existent wrinkles out.
She had gotten up just a little bit earlier than usual that morning, and although she always looked cute, she put just a little bit more effort into her appearance. The pink skirt and soft white halter top made up one of the cutest of her new outfits. She knew that it probably wasn't fair to be dressed like she was when she was getting ready to shoot Hyde down, but she was Jackie Burkhart, and Jackie Burkhart was always a heart breaker.
Giving her hair one last fluff, she headed down toward the basement. Once she got there, she was surprised to find that Hyde wasn't there. He was pretty much always in front of the television by that time.
She shook her head and refused to let her composure slip. Sure, her plan was a little put off by the fact that he wasn't there and she couldn't start her little Dear John speech right away, but she was still in control. She was always in control.
Jackie sat down on the couch to wait and crossed her legs. The edge of her heels bounced against the table, each passing second accented by a small tap. She glanced at her watch and felt the annoyance seep through her veins. That was just so like Steven. He couldn't be here when she was all ready to let him down kind of easily. No, he had to make her wait.
He could be so selfish sometimes.
Well, as captain of the cheerleading team, she didn't wait on anybody. Pushing herself off the couch, she decided that she would just come back later. If anybody was going to be waiting, it was going to be him.
"Jackie."
Hyde's voice stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned to see that he had just come out of his room. His hair was still damp from his shower and he hadn't put his sunglasses on just yet. It was rare to see him without his sunglasses, and she couldn't stop herself from thinking that he really did have very pretty eyes.
"Steven." She could tell that he was a little surprised to see her there, though she didn't know why. She was always there by this time. He nodded at her, and she smirked slightly as she noticed that he had dark circles underneath his eyes from a seemingly sleepless night. Oh yeah, somebody was definitely going be unhappy with her news.
The surprise quickly dropped off Hyde's face to be replaced by his usual zen-like mask. He gestured her toward the couch as he walked to his chair. "Jackie, we need to talk," he said, sitting down.
She raised one eyebrow at him and walked over to the end of the couch closest to him. Dropping down onto the cushions, she recrossed her legs, making sure that the skirt rose a little over her knees. "I agree," she told him.
Hyde began talking, and Jackie couldn't stop her eyes from traveling down to his lips. She watched as they moved from behind that beard that he refused to shave, and for a moment, she let herself remember what it felt like to kiss him. Jeez, had that really been less than 24 hours ago?
"So, basically, you're annoying."
Jackie snapped to attention as his words finally made their way to her brain. "Excuse me."
Hyde held out his hands in a placating manner. "It's nothing personal, Jackie. It just ain't happening again."
"Whoa! Whoa!" Jackie held up both of her hands, her fingers spread wide, to stop him from talking. She paused and let his words soak in. "Are you –" She jabbed one finger into his tricep. "Telling me –" She pointed the finger at herself. "That you don't want to fool around with me?"
"Uh, yeah." Hyde stood up to turn on the television, obviously considering the conversation to be over. He sat back down, crossed one leg over the other, and settled in to watch "Let's Make A Deal."
Jackie snapped out of her state of shock. "Oh, no, no, no." She waggled a finger at him. "I don't think so, mister. I am a cheerleader. The captain of the varsity squad, in fact. All guys want to fool around with me." She shook her head at the way he rolled his eyes. "No, I am the one who is saying that it will never happen again."
Hyde continued to stare at the T.V., not giving her a second glance. "Whatever."
Jackie leaned back into the couch and shot him a dirty look. "Yeah, because I am the hottest girl in Point Place. Everybody knows that."
"Whatever."
Jackie propped her elbow up on the arm of the couch and looked at the television, deciding that she was just going to ignore Hyde. After one more comment. "You even said it yourself. You think I'm totally hot."
Hyde was silent a second before throwing that word back out at her. "Whatever."
"Yeah," Jackie grumbled back quietly. "Whatever."
The room fell back into silence as "Let's Make a Deal" ended and the opening chorus for "The Price is Right" filled the small basement.
Jackie couldn't tell who reached for who first, but if asked, she would have most certainly said that it was him. All she knew was that his lips were covering hers, his weight was pressing her back down into the couch, and she was deliciously warm.
But this was most definitely going to be the last time that it happened.