Sorry for the delay in posting – there were some technical probs uploading to Fanfiction

Chapter 13

Hyde did not know which was making him more nervous, the silence that followed his knockout blow or the adoring expression on Jackie's face.

"Stop staring at me," he commanded her. Her rapt gaze continued. "Quit it! I'm not this guy! Oh God."

"Oh, is Hyde fighting for Jackie too?" Fez said uneasily. He looked at the groaning Chip struggling back to consciousness. "I did not know he was competing. Damn it, I am out!"

"What? No, I'm not – "

"Damn, Hyde," Kelso protested as explosively as ever. "So that's why you've been spending all that time with Jackie lately – you were plotting to steal her away from me! I can't believe you dogged me like that!"

"Kelso, I didn't – "

"Oh, leave Steven alone," Mrs Forman interposed, setting down a bowl of Ambrosia salad on the picnic table. "I think it's sweet that he finally has a girlfriend. And such a relief – you know, I was starting to wonder about him," she said with her distinctive laugh.

"Will everybody just shut up!" Hyde burst out. "Jackie is not my girlfriend! I don't even like her - " the hurt look on her face prompted him to finish "- that way."

Luckily for Hyde, Red chose that moment to holler that the hotdogs were ready. As the crowd around Hyde dispersed, favouring food over drama, Eric sidled up to his friend.

"Oh really? Then why did you just punch a guy for insulting her?" Eric asked, grinning at Hyde's discomfort. "Not very zen of you, Steven"

"What are you saying, Forman?" Hyde ground out.

"Just that I'm thinkin' you kinda like her."

"No! How could I like her. Because I don't like her! Because I can't like her! Forman, if I like her...shoot me."

Eric draws an imaginary gun on his friend and mimes a gunshot. "POW!" Then, catching the menace on Hyde's face, he scampered off to aid his father in the great Forman-Pinciotti conflict of '77.

During this little by-play between Eric and Hyde, Trevor reached down and pulled the fallen Chip groggily to his feet.

"You OK man?" he asked in a concerned voice that inspired an indignant gasp from Jackie until her old friend winked at her. "Right, just walk a little way over here… now, watch out for that tree over there," - as he walked Chip straight into the sturdy oak tree - "Ow! Man, that's gonna leave a mark. Now whatever you do, don't trip over that thorn bush – damnit Chip, you sure are clumsy today."

Jackie threw Trevor a conspiratorial grin; the Camp Pukawangi oath of loyalty remained unbroken.

Turning back to Jackie, Hyde found himself alone with the cause of all this ruckus. He suddenly had a sense of how Chip must be feeling as the reproachful look in Jackie's eyes hit him right across the chin.

"You don't like me?" she asked in an uncertain sad voice.

"Jackie – c'mon."

"So why did you punch Chip?" Her tone hardened – the cross examination had begun.

Hyde slid a hand through his hair nervously. "I don't know. It was nothing. Just... he said "bitch"...and it was nothing."

"Liar!" Jackie denounced. " You don't punch a guy for nothing – especially not you, Mr Zen. This can only mean one thing – you love me!"

Hyde didn't know what to say. It is not easy to defend your actions when you don't even understand them yourself. Why had he been filled with such fury just because some stranger called Jackie a word that he had been known to apply to her himself? The only way it made sense was if… but no, it was impossible.

He opened his mouth, preparing to put a sledgehammer through her dream castles. What actually came out was "Jackie, get your car, we're going on a freaking date!"

Jackie's face lit up, both shocked and overjoyed. "Oh my god! It's a Veteran's Day miracle!" With a skipping step, she followed Hyde's stormy figure towards her father's Lincoln to commence the historic moment of their first date.

It was much later that day that peace was restored between the houses of Forman and Pinciotti. When it became known that Bob's barbecue was his last big blowout before the closing of his business was announced, Red and Eric sent all the "freeloaders" (as Red would say) over to Bob's barbecue thereby making it more successful than Red's. The young lovers were particularly glad to have harmony restored, and were having their own celebration, smooching on the hood of the Vista Cruiser.

"Time out, Donna," Eric called. "I think my jaw is starting to cramp up."

"Okay," Donna replied, snuggling into his side. "But I'm sending you back into the game in 10 minutes."

"What a day, huh? Not just that barbecue war – which was really all Red's doing, by the way – I mean, I was just following orders – but also what happened with Hyde and Jackie."

"Yeah, I was so mad that I missed that," Donna sighed. "Hyde really punched a guy out for calling Jackie a bitch? That just seems so out of character for him. Applauding, I could understand. Punching, not so much."

"And now they're on a date right this minute." Eric shuddered.

"I know. God knows what evil forces they are unleashing on the universe with their unholy practices."

"Yeah, well I don't think anything will come of it."

"What makes you say that?"

""Cause Hyde has the hots for the drummer chick from that new band." Eric felt Donna's body suddenly go rigid.

"You don't mean… That Band with the Hot Chick?"

"That's the one. You should come with us and hear them play sometime. They're really good."

"But that's impossible! You've seen her? Couldn't you tell – " Donna's remembrance of her promise cut off the rest of her sentence.

"Tell what?"

"Um… nothing. I meant – what does she look like?"

"Well, like I said, she's hot," Eric replied. "And she's blonde. Hard to say exactly what her face looks like as she's always wearing those dark glasses."

"Like Hyde," Donna breathed.

"Yeah, just like Hyde. I tell ya, Blue is a much better match for him than Jackie," Eric chuckled. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Donna had suddenly removed the warmth of her body from Eric's and was breathing quickly in a panicky way. As she realised the utter juiciness of the secret that she now had in her possession, she was finding her powers of confidentiality strained to the limit.

"Oh God, I can't believe this!" At Eric's questioning look, she ordered, "Don't ask me any questions, Eric. All I can say is I'm sitting on a secret bigger than Watergate but I can't tell anyone."

Eric's gossip-loving ears pricked up at the word 'secret'.

"But baby, a loving couple like us don't keep any secrets from each other." He began to kiss her neck as he looked at her with puppy-dog eyes. "C'mon, you can tell your secret squirrel, can't you?"

For a moment Donna was tempted to give in, then her eyes widened as she remembered the penalty for spilling the secret and pushed Eric away so forcefully he fell off the car.

"NO! Eric, I can't tell anyone or the consequences would be… unthinkable." Eric's curiosity was now a raging force. His fox face took on a crafty look as he approached his girlfriend again.

"OK, Donna, let's forget about your secret and go upstairs to my bedroom." He took Donna into his arms and began pecking her lips with slow kisses. "We'll light some candles, put on some Barry White, get all nice and relaxed…"

"Quit it, Eric," Donna said in a hard voice. "You're not going to pillow talk this secret out of me."

"Oh Donna," Eric replied with an amused shake of his head. "Sweet, naive Donna. When have you ever been able to withhold information from me during the post-sex cuddling stage?"

"Damn it, you're right," Donna conceded. "But I really can't tell you this secret. I guess I'll just have to stop having sex with you."

"What!"

"I'm sorry, Eric. You're right, it's like I'm on truth serum after lovemaking. You know I love what we do, but it's not worth me having to dress up in a tiny skirt and skin-tight t-shirt and make an exhibition of myself for the privilege."

"Huh? How did you know… Donna, I swear I just bought that hooker outfit for you in case you were into a little role playing but I can totally get a refund… or perhaps an exchange? I saw this Princess Leia costume…"

Donna rolled her eyes. "No, you pervert. I told… the person whose secret this is that if I blabbed I would join the cheerleading squad."

"You? A cheerleader?" Eric thought about this for a moment. "You know, that would be kind of hot."

"What? Eric! There is no greater symbol of the oppression of women than cheerleaders. They represent everything I stand against and there is no way I am ever putting on the pleated skirt of male bondage."

"Donna, you can't just cut me off like this," Eric pleaded in a panicky voice. "I have needs!"

"I'm sorry, I just can't risk it," Donna said wistfully. As she turned to walk away, Eric gave her his "sexy" look. "Oh God, what have I done?" she cried, running away towards her house.

A/N Next chapter is the big date, I plomise.