Just Another Day
Summary: Jackie and Hyde try to improve their relationship, but it starts to struggle instead, especially when Kelso sees his chance to finally get Jackie back. Takes place in the summer between season 5 & 6, before the whole 'Brooke' thing. J/H, J/K, E/D.
Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own a single thing.
Chapter Three
Trouble In Paradise
"Mrs. Foreman." Jackie let her voice trail off as another heaping plate of scrambled eggs and bacon was placed in front of her.
She eyed the food hungrily and shook her head nervously, pushing the plate towards Eric, who gobbled it up, not noticing Jackie's hungry stares.
"Jackie," Kitty started, placing another plate in front of her as she picked up Jackie's lifeless arm. "You are too skinny. Eat, please. We have plenty."
Jackie sighed deeply as Red took the plate that had been forced in front of her, muttering, "Eric is the one who needs some plumping up."
"You're right, Red. He's lanky." Hyde laughed as he sipped his morning coffee at the kitchen counter, stifling his laugh when Eric rolled his eyes at him angrily.
"I'm really not hungry, Mrs. Forman." Jackie said for the millionth time. "I had a really big dinner last night."
That was a lie. Jackie hadn't eaten since yesterday's lunch, but she wasn't hungry either. Her appetite had pretty much disappeared and she wasn't sure why. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had moved back into her own house over the summer and hated being alone. Hated eating alone, because she would binge and stuff her face and she wasn't ready to go down that road again.
Jackie sighed again as she stood up, grabbing her purse from the table. "Steven, will you drive me to school?"
"Sure." Hyde smiled, grabbing her waist gently as they pushed their way to the camino parked in the driveway. "Are you sure you aren't hungry, Jacks?"
She turned to face him, staring into those baby blues, usually shielded by sunglasses, which she noticed were in his front shirt pocket. She forced a smile for his sake and put on his sunglasses for him. It hurt too much to look, and lie, into those eyes. "I'm fine."
"Jackie." Hyde pleaded, grabbing her wrist. "Don't lie to me. What's wrong?"
Jackie stared at her wrist blankly, where Hyde's hand was and looked back into his sunglass covered eyes, shocked that he was noticing her pain. Shocked that he cared. God, why was she so pessimistic about everything all of a sudden?
"Well?" He looked at her blankly, trying to keep a serious face. He could have sworn he heard her sobbing internally as she sighed for the millionth time that morning and waited patiently as she opened her lips to speak.
"Hey guys!" Kelso's voice rang out, breaking the tension between Jackie and Hyde. Hyde let go of Jackie's wrist, watching her as she regained composure, smiling at Kelso like there was no tomorrow. She was always so happy when he was around. It sickened him.
"Michael!" Jackie's voice screeched and Hyde let his eyes drop to the ground. She had started to call him Michael again. Hyde had to admit that hearing Jackie call Kelso by the name everyone else calls him, Kelso, made him feel a whole lot more confident in her choice. But, now. whenever he was around. he just wanted to stare at the ground.
"Hyde!" Jackie screamed and he looked up instantly, coming out of his thoughts.
"Huh?" He snapped up, looking into her eyes.
"Michael is going to give me a ride." Jackie said as she joined Kelso by his van.
"I'm going in that direction." Kelso stated quickly as he opened the door for her.
Jackie quickly jumped inside, throwing a weak wave and a smile as they pulled out of the driveway.
Hyde kicked the pavement with his foot and slowly went back to the kitchen, where Kitty, Red, and Eric were all enjoying breakfast.
"I thought you were driving the devil to hell." Eric laughed, taking a sip of orange juice.
"Eric!" Kitty screeched.
"Kelso took her to school." Hyde said gently as he walked into the living room and fell back down on the couch, not sure why he was so down in the dumps.
He couldn't expect Jackie and Kelso to stop being friends. They had history.
He sighed as he kicked off his shoes, leaning back onto the comfy couch.
As he closed his eyes, he heard Jackie screaming .. "Hyde!" as she had done a minute ago and he jumped up in realization.
"She called me HYDE!" He screamed and Eric walked in, shrugging. "She called me Hyde."
"The Devil called you Hyde?"
"Will you stop calling her the devil?" Hyde muttered. "And yes, she called me Hyde. Foreman, I think something's wrong with Jackie."
"I could have told you that a long time ago."
"Foreman, be serious." Hyde instructed as Eric sat down next to him.
"Ok, I have my serious face on." Eric chirped as he adjusted his smile to a frown. "Shoot."
"Jackie's been acting really depressed when she's around me, but when she's with Kelso, she acts all bubbly and stuff."
"Hmmm."
"Do you know why she could be unhappy? I mean, we haven't fought, really."
"Well," Eric burst into a smile. "Maybe the devil is having her monthly visitor."
"Grow up, Foreman." Hyde laughed as he went towards the basement. "And she's not the devil. Laurie already took that position."
"So true." Eric muttered, leaning back onto the couch as his sister came down the stairs, throwing him a dirty look as she lazily went towards the kitchen.
******
"So, is everything okay with you and Hyde?" Kelso asked softly as he made another right turn towards his old high school.
"Yeah, we're good." Jackie muttered, sifting through her purse for her strawberry lip gloss.
Kelso threw a concerned look her way and stopped at a red light. "You sure?"
"Michael," Jackie whined, "I'm so sick of everyone doubting my word. I said we're fine, that means that we're fine."
"Sorry, you just seem so unhappy lately." Kelso muttered and Jackie shoved her lip gloss back into her bag, grunting as she crossed her arms.
Jackie stared out the window for the rest of the ride, only glancing over at Kelso when she noticed he was glancing at her.
She couldn't quite figure out why she was so dissatisfied. Things with Hyde had been steady and calm. Maybe that was the problem. It was. boring.
And she still couldn't help feeling that he didn't care about her. That he didn't love as much as she loved him. She almost felt as if she was second best, but there was no first. She needed certain attention, gifts and compliments that Hyde simply wouldn't give her. Maybe she was too demanding, expecting too much, but she couldn't help her feelings of resentment towards Hyde when he chose an episode of Charlie's Angels over spending an hour with her.
"Michael, I don't feel too good. Can you just take me home?" Jackie said softly, lifting her hands to brush away some of the curls that had ended up in her face.
"Sure." Kelso prompted with concern as he made a U-turn towards Jackie's house. He wasn't sure why Jackie decided to move back into that huge, empty house over the summer. She couldn't possibly feel safe there, or happy. He had tried to convince her to stay back with Donna, but Jackie said she didn't want to be too much of a burden to anyone anymore. And Hyde, what a dillhole, thought Kelso as he remembered the night he had brought it up in the basement.
A/N) Flashback.. if you couldn't tell)
"Jackie, why are you living all alone in that house?" Kelso asked quickly as he sat down beside Donna on the couch.
"Yeah, Jackie, you know you're welcome to stay with me." Donna chirped, even though living with Jackie could be a pain, she was still her friend.
"No, Donna." Jackie said slowly for the millionth time, leaning against Hyde, who she was sitting on. "I don't want to rely on you so much. Besides, this way, you and Eric can have some privacy." Jackie grinned at Eric who mouthed a thank you.
"And we can have our own privacy in that big, empty house." Hyde smiled.
"Ok, ew." Kelso said quietly. "And what about when you aren't around Hyde? Jackie, you hate being alone."
"It won't be so bad." Jackie insisted, looking down at Hyde for support.
"She's not a little girl, Kelso, man." Hyde insisted, squeezing Jackie's hand.
"Yes, she is." Kelso said firmly, but quickly backed off when Hyde threw him the nastiest of glares. There was still tension between them ever since Jackie chose Hyde.
"Whatever." Hyde spat out. "If Jackie had a problem with living alone, she would tell me. Don't worry about it."
"I'll be fine, Kelso, seriously." Jackie smiled and Kelso winced. He hated being called 'Kelso' by her, but he took it with stride these days.
"I have work, I'll see you guys later." Hyde said, giving Jackie a kiss on the cheek as he left the basement.
"We have to go meet Fez at the Hub." Donna said, grabbing Eric's hand and following Hyde.
Jackie slid down into Hyde's chair, eyeing the TV screen. Kelso moved down the couch, towards her, watching her intently.
"Jackie, it's just us now. Tell me the truth."
"I'm telling the truth, dammit." She whimpered, not letting her eyes lead up to his.
"I've known you long enough to see through that." Kelso said, keeping a serious face as he watched her head fall down into her lap.
She looked up, her eyes red and whispered, "Don't tell Steven."
Don't tell Steven. And he never did tell Hyde about Jackie crying that day. Or every other day. Kelso wasn't sure why Jackie didn't want Hyde to know she wasn't as strong as he was. I mean, Hyde should know that Jackie hates being alone, that Jackie needs him, but he just doesn't get it.
"I'm coming in with you." Kelso demanded as he opened the door for Jackie and she nodded in defeat. Jackie needed someone to be there for her, if Hyde wasn't going to.
Kelso knows what Jackie needs.
Jackie led Kelso up to her bedroom, the room filled with memories of their time spent together, and she fell back onto the bed, moaning in pain.
"Do you want anything?" Kelso asked and Jackie jumped up.
"Oh my god!" She huffed, running towards the bathroom, with her purse.
*******************
"Donna, have you talked to Jackie lately?" Hyde asked her as he sat down on the couch.
"Sure, we've talked." Donna said gently.
"What's going on with her?"
Donna winced. She knew everything. She knew how Jackie had these dumb notions that Hyde didn't care, that Hyde was too good for her. She also knew that Kelso wasn't over Jackie and Jackie wasn't exactly over Kelso. But she promised not to say a word to Hyde, and she was a woman of her word.
"I have no clue, Hyde." Donna lied as the phone rang, jumping up in relief as she grabbed it.
"Hello." Donna chirped. "Um . . ."
Hyde looked up at Donna, who gave him a pathetic glare.
"Yes, well, she doesn't live here anymore, but you can try her former residence."
Hyde looked again, recognizing who she was talking about, jumping up to Donna's side.
"Ok, thanks, bye." Donna hung up.
"Who was that?" Hyde grimaced, staring Donna down for an answer.
"The attendance office at the high school. Jackie's not in school."
"But Kelso drove her." Hyde said slowly, but quickly panicked. "What if something happened?"
"Why don't you call Jackie's house?" Donna said quickly, comforting Hyde. "I'm sure she just didn't feel well or something." Donna said passing the phone to Hyde who quickly dialed Jackie's number.
"Hello?" Kelso's voice rang out.
Hyde blinked widely, not expecting Kelso to pick up the phone. "Is Jackie there?"
"She's in the bathroom." Kelso said quickly, realizing how awkward this was. "She didn't feel well, so she asked me to drive her home."
"Well, I'll come over and watch her. You have the morning shift anyway at the hotel." Hyde said firmly, feeling his car keys in his pocket.
"Um, fine." Kelso grumbled and hung up the phone.
"She's sick. I'm going to go over there." Hyde said to Donna curtly as he left the door.
"Good idea." Donna said, falling back down on the couch in relief that Hyde was going to console Jackie instead of badger her.
Summary: Jackie and Hyde try to improve their relationship, but it starts to struggle instead, especially when Kelso sees his chance to finally get Jackie back. Takes place in the summer between season 5 & 6, before the whole 'Brooke' thing. J/H, J/K, E/D.
Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own a single thing.
Chapter Three
Trouble In Paradise
"Mrs. Foreman." Jackie let her voice trail off as another heaping plate of scrambled eggs and bacon was placed in front of her.
She eyed the food hungrily and shook her head nervously, pushing the plate towards Eric, who gobbled it up, not noticing Jackie's hungry stares.
"Jackie," Kitty started, placing another plate in front of her as she picked up Jackie's lifeless arm. "You are too skinny. Eat, please. We have plenty."
Jackie sighed deeply as Red took the plate that had been forced in front of her, muttering, "Eric is the one who needs some plumping up."
"You're right, Red. He's lanky." Hyde laughed as he sipped his morning coffee at the kitchen counter, stifling his laugh when Eric rolled his eyes at him angrily.
"I'm really not hungry, Mrs. Forman." Jackie said for the millionth time. "I had a really big dinner last night."
That was a lie. Jackie hadn't eaten since yesterday's lunch, but she wasn't hungry either. Her appetite had pretty much disappeared and she wasn't sure why. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had moved back into her own house over the summer and hated being alone. Hated eating alone, because she would binge and stuff her face and she wasn't ready to go down that road again.
Jackie sighed again as she stood up, grabbing her purse from the table. "Steven, will you drive me to school?"
"Sure." Hyde smiled, grabbing her waist gently as they pushed their way to the camino parked in the driveway. "Are you sure you aren't hungry, Jacks?"
She turned to face him, staring into those baby blues, usually shielded by sunglasses, which she noticed were in his front shirt pocket. She forced a smile for his sake and put on his sunglasses for him. It hurt too much to look, and lie, into those eyes. "I'm fine."
"Jackie." Hyde pleaded, grabbing her wrist. "Don't lie to me. What's wrong?"
Jackie stared at her wrist blankly, where Hyde's hand was and looked back into his sunglass covered eyes, shocked that he was noticing her pain. Shocked that he cared. God, why was she so pessimistic about everything all of a sudden?
"Well?" He looked at her blankly, trying to keep a serious face. He could have sworn he heard her sobbing internally as she sighed for the millionth time that morning and waited patiently as she opened her lips to speak.
"Hey guys!" Kelso's voice rang out, breaking the tension between Jackie and Hyde. Hyde let go of Jackie's wrist, watching her as she regained composure, smiling at Kelso like there was no tomorrow. She was always so happy when he was around. It sickened him.
"Michael!" Jackie's voice screeched and Hyde let his eyes drop to the ground. She had started to call him Michael again. Hyde had to admit that hearing Jackie call Kelso by the name everyone else calls him, Kelso, made him feel a whole lot more confident in her choice. But, now. whenever he was around. he just wanted to stare at the ground.
"Hyde!" Jackie screamed and he looked up instantly, coming out of his thoughts.
"Huh?" He snapped up, looking into her eyes.
"Michael is going to give me a ride." Jackie said as she joined Kelso by his van.
"I'm going in that direction." Kelso stated quickly as he opened the door for her.
Jackie quickly jumped inside, throwing a weak wave and a smile as they pulled out of the driveway.
Hyde kicked the pavement with his foot and slowly went back to the kitchen, where Kitty, Red, and Eric were all enjoying breakfast.
"I thought you were driving the devil to hell." Eric laughed, taking a sip of orange juice.
"Eric!" Kitty screeched.
"Kelso took her to school." Hyde said gently as he walked into the living room and fell back down on the couch, not sure why he was so down in the dumps.
He couldn't expect Jackie and Kelso to stop being friends. They had history.
He sighed as he kicked off his shoes, leaning back onto the comfy couch.
As he closed his eyes, he heard Jackie screaming .. "Hyde!" as she had done a minute ago and he jumped up in realization.
"She called me HYDE!" He screamed and Eric walked in, shrugging. "She called me Hyde."
"The Devil called you Hyde?"
"Will you stop calling her the devil?" Hyde muttered. "And yes, she called me Hyde. Foreman, I think something's wrong with Jackie."
"I could have told you that a long time ago."
"Foreman, be serious." Hyde instructed as Eric sat down next to him.
"Ok, I have my serious face on." Eric chirped as he adjusted his smile to a frown. "Shoot."
"Jackie's been acting really depressed when she's around me, but when she's with Kelso, she acts all bubbly and stuff."
"Hmmm."
"Do you know why she could be unhappy? I mean, we haven't fought, really."
"Well," Eric burst into a smile. "Maybe the devil is having her monthly visitor."
"Grow up, Foreman." Hyde laughed as he went towards the basement. "And she's not the devil. Laurie already took that position."
"So true." Eric muttered, leaning back onto the couch as his sister came down the stairs, throwing him a dirty look as she lazily went towards the kitchen.
******
"So, is everything okay with you and Hyde?" Kelso asked softly as he made another right turn towards his old high school.
"Yeah, we're good." Jackie muttered, sifting through her purse for her strawberry lip gloss.
Kelso threw a concerned look her way and stopped at a red light. "You sure?"
"Michael," Jackie whined, "I'm so sick of everyone doubting my word. I said we're fine, that means that we're fine."
"Sorry, you just seem so unhappy lately." Kelso muttered and Jackie shoved her lip gloss back into her bag, grunting as she crossed her arms.
Jackie stared out the window for the rest of the ride, only glancing over at Kelso when she noticed he was glancing at her.
She couldn't quite figure out why she was so dissatisfied. Things with Hyde had been steady and calm. Maybe that was the problem. It was. boring.
And she still couldn't help feeling that he didn't care about her. That he didn't love as much as she loved him. She almost felt as if she was second best, but there was no first. She needed certain attention, gifts and compliments that Hyde simply wouldn't give her. Maybe she was too demanding, expecting too much, but she couldn't help her feelings of resentment towards Hyde when he chose an episode of Charlie's Angels over spending an hour with her.
"Michael, I don't feel too good. Can you just take me home?" Jackie said softly, lifting her hands to brush away some of the curls that had ended up in her face.
"Sure." Kelso prompted with concern as he made a U-turn towards Jackie's house. He wasn't sure why Jackie decided to move back into that huge, empty house over the summer. She couldn't possibly feel safe there, or happy. He had tried to convince her to stay back with Donna, but Jackie said she didn't want to be too much of a burden to anyone anymore. And Hyde, what a dillhole, thought Kelso as he remembered the night he had brought it up in the basement.
A/N) Flashback.. if you couldn't tell)
"Jackie, why are you living all alone in that house?" Kelso asked quickly as he sat down beside Donna on the couch.
"Yeah, Jackie, you know you're welcome to stay with me." Donna chirped, even though living with Jackie could be a pain, she was still her friend.
"No, Donna." Jackie said slowly for the millionth time, leaning against Hyde, who she was sitting on. "I don't want to rely on you so much. Besides, this way, you and Eric can have some privacy." Jackie grinned at Eric who mouthed a thank you.
"And we can have our own privacy in that big, empty house." Hyde smiled.
"Ok, ew." Kelso said quietly. "And what about when you aren't around Hyde? Jackie, you hate being alone."
"It won't be so bad." Jackie insisted, looking down at Hyde for support.
"She's not a little girl, Kelso, man." Hyde insisted, squeezing Jackie's hand.
"Yes, she is." Kelso said firmly, but quickly backed off when Hyde threw him the nastiest of glares. There was still tension between them ever since Jackie chose Hyde.
"Whatever." Hyde spat out. "If Jackie had a problem with living alone, she would tell me. Don't worry about it."
"I'll be fine, Kelso, seriously." Jackie smiled and Kelso winced. He hated being called 'Kelso' by her, but he took it with stride these days.
"I have work, I'll see you guys later." Hyde said, giving Jackie a kiss on the cheek as he left the basement.
"We have to go meet Fez at the Hub." Donna said, grabbing Eric's hand and following Hyde.
Jackie slid down into Hyde's chair, eyeing the TV screen. Kelso moved down the couch, towards her, watching her intently.
"Jackie, it's just us now. Tell me the truth."
"I'm telling the truth, dammit." She whimpered, not letting her eyes lead up to his.
"I've known you long enough to see through that." Kelso said, keeping a serious face as he watched her head fall down into her lap.
She looked up, her eyes red and whispered, "Don't tell Steven."
Don't tell Steven. And he never did tell Hyde about Jackie crying that day. Or every other day. Kelso wasn't sure why Jackie didn't want Hyde to know she wasn't as strong as he was. I mean, Hyde should know that Jackie hates being alone, that Jackie needs him, but he just doesn't get it.
"I'm coming in with you." Kelso demanded as he opened the door for Jackie and she nodded in defeat. Jackie needed someone to be there for her, if Hyde wasn't going to.
Kelso knows what Jackie needs.
Jackie led Kelso up to her bedroom, the room filled with memories of their time spent together, and she fell back onto the bed, moaning in pain.
"Do you want anything?" Kelso asked and Jackie jumped up.
"Oh my god!" She huffed, running towards the bathroom, with her purse.
*******************
"Donna, have you talked to Jackie lately?" Hyde asked her as he sat down on the couch.
"Sure, we've talked." Donna said gently.
"What's going on with her?"
Donna winced. She knew everything. She knew how Jackie had these dumb notions that Hyde didn't care, that Hyde was too good for her. She also knew that Kelso wasn't over Jackie and Jackie wasn't exactly over Kelso. But she promised not to say a word to Hyde, and she was a woman of her word.
"I have no clue, Hyde." Donna lied as the phone rang, jumping up in relief as she grabbed it.
"Hello." Donna chirped. "Um . . ."
Hyde looked up at Donna, who gave him a pathetic glare.
"Yes, well, she doesn't live here anymore, but you can try her former residence."
Hyde looked again, recognizing who she was talking about, jumping up to Donna's side.
"Ok, thanks, bye." Donna hung up.
"Who was that?" Hyde grimaced, staring Donna down for an answer.
"The attendance office at the high school. Jackie's not in school."
"But Kelso drove her." Hyde said slowly, but quickly panicked. "What if something happened?"
"Why don't you call Jackie's house?" Donna said quickly, comforting Hyde. "I'm sure she just didn't feel well or something." Donna said passing the phone to Hyde who quickly dialed Jackie's number.
"Hello?" Kelso's voice rang out.
Hyde blinked widely, not expecting Kelso to pick up the phone. "Is Jackie there?"
"She's in the bathroom." Kelso said quickly, realizing how awkward this was. "She didn't feel well, so she asked me to drive her home."
"Well, I'll come over and watch her. You have the morning shift anyway at the hotel." Hyde said firmly, feeling his car keys in his pocket.
"Um, fine." Kelso grumbled and hung up the phone.
"She's sick. I'm going to go over there." Hyde said to Donna curtly as he left the door.
"Good idea." Donna said, falling back down on the couch in relief that Hyde was going to console Jackie instead of badger her.