A/N so this part starts during 'the pill', of course the universe is the one I'm making…is that how this works? Whatever, anyway, after I re read what I'd already posted I began to worry that the idea wasn't clear enough, so let me be clear – they're not faking a relationship – anyhow if anyone has any suggestions or things they'd like to see, just let me know, I can usually incorporate ideas in.
I don't know how long this is going to run? Right now, my plan is just for season 1 cus that's all I have ideas for.
weeks after valentine's day found Steven j. Hyde sitting in the basement in the same worn out chair as always, his arms crossed over his chest staring at the tv as always, but the thoughts running through his curly head were definitely not the same ones as always. There were no conspiracy theories, no government oppression, just one tiny, loud, opinionated brunette with different colored eyes running rampant through his head.
After their valentine's date, they'd woken up the next day and agreed that they wouldn't talk about what they'd done, Jackie was shaken and Hyde wasn't much better, it had been a big step and even though both had wanted to, they admitted that they hadn't been ready. His problem was that now, for the last week, he hadn't seen or spoken to Jackie? It was confusing at first, until it dawned on him that she had always been the one to initiate contact of any kind. Jackie came to find him at lunch break, Jackie came to the basement or his house to see him, Jackie called him in the evening to see about making plans, he didn't do jack didly.
So, if she wasn't there…it was because she didn't want to see him? That was not a thought he welcomed, in fact, it made his stomach drop in an unpleasant manner.
He knew he was a crappy boyfriend even though he'd promised to give it a real try, but he had found that he just didn't get how it all worked. However, I did know that if you slept together you were supposed to have some sort of contact the next day, or the next seven freaking days! But every time he spotted Jackie at school she either, pretended not to see him and disappeared – or coincidentally didn't see him, but either way it was starting to put cracks in his uncaring façade.
With a grunt that his friends knew better than to comment on, Hyde got up and stormed – as uncaringly as he was able – out of the basement and back to his house. If Jackie wasn't going to call him, well, he'd break his personal code and call her! With his intent, firmly in his mind Hyde marched straight to the yellow rotary phone on the table (it hadn't been a yellow phone when purchased) and picked it up dialing Jackie's number and preparing to wait, since Jackie had mentioned that she screened her phone calls by urgency, and she believed that if people waited until the 8th ring it was something important.
Hyde didn't have to wait until the 8th ring, because there wasn't a first ring, there was however a voice telling him that the call could not be completed as dialed due to service interruption, which was a message he knew all too well, it was a polite way Ma Bell had of telling you you hadn't paid your bill in long enough that your service was suspended!
He would have been a lot more pissed off at Edna about it except that it meant there was a chance Jackie HAD tried to call but couldn't get through. Which also meant that he had to do more leg work, so back to the basement he went, with a parting yell at his mom about not telling him the phone had been shut off he slammed the door and started walking.
When he got to the basement again he found Forman sitting like a statue on the couch looking dazed? He was curious, but not enough to let it distract him from his mission! He had to know why Jackie was suddenly avoiding him, had she decided that she didn't want to have a loser as a boyfriend? Sure, he didn't get her gifts, or take her out, or…. fuck! what did he do that even considered bordering on being 'boyfriendy'?!
The answer was – nothing.
He hung out with her when she showed up, they grabbed food if one of them said they were hungry, and if she suggested an activity that wasn't too distasteful he followed along without any snide comments. But, he was beginning to think there was a big gap between 'not making snide comments' and actually being pleasant company.
But if he was so apathetic about his girlfriend, why was it getting to him so much that he hadn't seen or spoken to her? He was certain that there was an answer to that question, he just wasn't ready to find it.
Finally, he saw Jackie, she showed up at the hub when he and Forman were eating, without a word she took a seat at their table with her basket of food, he was just about to say the line he'd decided on after a good 15 minutes of planning 'hey, how's it going?' (he also suspected he wasn't good under pressure) when Kelso and Fez showed up and made conversation impossible.
After glaring at them for longer than was really necessary, he was about to ask her to leave with him so they could talk, when donna walked in and stopped at the table to say she had to go to the bathroom and asked Jackie to accompany her, Hyde had to hide a smile with how happy that made Jackie, she always tried so hard to be friends with donna and the red head treated all her attempts with disdain, so her doing the girl bathroom thing made Jackie smile like he hadn't seen in a while, to his surprise he missed that smile.
"what do you think that was about?" Kelso asked with his mouth hanging open in his signature smile, which for some reason was really rubbing Hyde the wrong way just then.
"why don't you mind your own business Kelso?!" Forman cried manically, again Hyde was almost curious about what the hell was up with Forman, but decided his time would be better spent eaves dropping on whatever Jackie and donna were discussing.
He knew he'd missed the first part of the conversation before he got to the door, but he sure as hell made it in time to hear donna yell loudly 'Kelso got you pregnant! How could you do that to Hyde?!'
Ice ran through every bone in his body and settled in his heart, but it made him cool and calm as he turned and walked back to the table, where he told Kelso to stand up and promptly laid him out cold on the floor. When he stormed out of the hub Fez was trying to revive Kelso while Jackie and donna stared at the scene from the bathroom's door, he missed the part where Donna called for Forman to come help Kelso, but Forman shrilly said that maybe Kelso had it coming! He was too mad to hear it, that's why she hadn't been around! She'd been cheating on him with fucking Kelso!
After everything with him, all the time and…. that was actually all he could think of, but still! Not only had she cheated and gotten pregnant (he didn't want to think about that at all) but she'd betrayed the very nature of their relationship!
He was back in the basement on his chair, still stewing in righteous anger, when Jackie walked into the basement looking calm and ready talk.
"what do you want?" he growled
"to talk to you" Jackie replied evenly
"nothin' to talk about" he said gruffly and shifted in his seat to look at the tv and not at her.
"Steven, you need to listen to me" she said urgently, but Hyde refused to look at her or even acknowledge her presence.
But Jackie didn't leave, so he decided to make her leave.
"why don't you go find Kelso and screw him behind my back some more?!" he snapped at her
"what are you talking about?" Jackie asked totally confused
"I'm not stupid doll! I heard you and donna in the bathroom, I heard that not only did you break our promise, but the moron knocked you up as well!" he accused angrily – so much for being cool.
But Jackie didn't react how he'd expected, there were no tears or apologies or any of the things one associated with someone when they were caught doing something bad?
"did he now?" Jackie asked with a tilt of her head while she crossed her arms
"I heard donna man! While you were in the bathroom telling her!" he yelled and in his anger stood up and kicked at the table to release some of the fury.
Its contents scattered across the floor, some rolling to Jackie's boots, without changing her expression at all, Jackie stooped and picked up the small candle and straightened back up. She looked Hyde straight in the eye and – chucked the candle directly at his head.
"oh of course! Because donna said it you think it's true! Well let me tell you something Steven Hyde!" she shouted angrier than he'd ever seen her – and that was saying something considering her short temper – and threw an incense burner at him, pegging him in the forehead.
"I didn't confide a damn thing to donna! The only person I told was Forman! And for your information, I didn't have sex with Michael, she came up with that on her own because she thinks so damn highly of me! But I did sleep with you and I am late, so not only is my life as I know it over, but I don't have a damn person to turn to for help!" she told him so far beyond fury that she didn't even wait around to see what impact her words had on him.
She spun on her heel and left the basement, while Hyde fell back into his chair stunned by what he'd just heard. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, but he was sure none of it was righteous, and he was also pretty sure he'd just fucked up royally?
He was still pondering where it had all gone wrong when Forman and donna came in and sat down on the couch.
"man, I cannot believe Jackie" donna began in her superior tone
"what are you talking about?" Forman asked mildly, he hadn't heard what she'd yelled in the bathroom like Hyde had because he hadn't had his ear pressed against the door listening
Donna gave him a condescending look and filled him in on what was happening "Jackie slept with Kelso and now she's pregnant! God! I still can't believe she did that to you Hyde" she said turning to him with a compassionate look
"no, she didn't" Forman said mildly, frowning at where she could have gotten such an idea?
"of course, she did! You're the one who told me she was pregnant you should know that's what happened!" donna said annoyed at his reaction.
"she really did tell you about this?" Hyde asked blankly
Eric gulped nervously, he knew Hyde better than the others and he knew what the blank uninterested tone of voice really meant, and he didn't want to be in the line of fire, but that was exactly where he was.
"yeah, she came over earlier and was really upset, she uh…. she uh told me that she was pregnant *gulp* from…." Fear tightened his throat too much to speak.
"from who Forman?" Hyde demanded with dangerous calm
"from Kelso!" donna interjected irritably, she'd already freakin' told them that!
"did she say Kelso?" Hyde asked softly of Forman, his hands balled into fists so tight his knuckles were white.
Donna threw her hands in the air, she couldn't believe they were still on this!
"no man, she said it was…. yours" he managed to choke out the truth and braced for impact, he didn't know how Hyde was going to react to the news, but experience taught him it would be bad.
"sure, she did, but Hyde never slept with her" donna pointed out confidently, she knew this because Hyde was in love with her and Jackie was just a cover so he and Eric didn't fight anymore, she was absolutely positive of that, until she looked at Hyde for confirmation and saw the totally terrified look on his face?
"right Hyde?" she pressed, beginning to worry.
"I'm going to be a dad?" he asked in a weak voice that his two friends present found deeply unnerving.
"wait, wait, wait! You slept with Jackie?! How could you?!" Donna yelled at him
Hyde and Forman gave her identical looks at her outburst, but it was Hyde who spoke.
"how could I what? Sleep with my girlfriend? It was extremely easy Pinciotti, I was there, she was there, she's seriously hot and it all just sort of happened" he said in a deceptively mellow tone
"she's not really your girlfriend though Hyde, we all know that's just a cover for you both, and now not only have you both ruined your lives but you betrayed Kelso who's like your oldest friend!" donna accused indignantly.
"look donna, A – this isn't your business and you've already 'helped' enough, and B – she is my girlfriend so watch your mouth ok?" he warned her
Donna just stared at him in stunned silence, and Hyde didn't wait for her to think of a comeback, he had stuff to do namely, find Jackie and grovel as much as he could in between the panic attacks he felt coming on. He knew how it had happened so there was no wondering about that, he'd been so lost protection hadn't crossed his mind and now here he was, looking for a pint-sized brunette who was super pissed at him and rightfully so.
He'd really done it this time, not only had he ruined her life but he'd called her a liar and a cheater as the icing on the cake, his biggest problem wasn't finding her to talk, it was getting her to listen to another word out of him.
"god I'm a moron!" he yelled to himself as he walked towards her house.
He knew where it was, but never went there even though Jackie had invited him to dinner with her parents more than once, but he'd never wanted to do the 'meet the parents' thing with her, and he was being honest enough with himself now to admit it was because he always kept one foot out the door. No matter how many times he assured Jackie that they weren't just saying they were together for their benefit, he knew he'd been keeping a part of himself back so that he was still mostly single.
He was amazed she put up with him at all now that he played back their relationship to this point, he sucked and no amount of explaining would change that.
He stared at the imposing front door so long waiting to work up the courage to knock that the door finally opened, and a maid stepped out.
"she's not here Steven" the middle-aged lady told him flatly
"how do you know my name?" he asked surprised
The lady rolled her eyes "because Jackie has shown me your picture about 300 times and tells me about 'Steven' every day" she said sternly
"she does?" he hadn't been expecting that, it made everything so much worse
"she does" the maid confirmed and then shut the door in his face, leaving Hyde alone with what he'd done.
He was positive Jackie hated him by now, and he hated to admit it – even in his own mind – but her hating him bothered him. When the hell had he started to actually care about her? He didn't know the answer, but he knew it was how it was and he needed to find her and apologize, he needed to make sure she was ok.
It took him awhile to find her, but after exhausting all the places he thought she might be he decided to check the water tower, he saw her perched on the platform with her feet dangling over the edge, before he could chicken out he climbed up the ladder and sat down beside her.
"go sit over there where the grates rusting though" she said flatly, gesturing to a patch near where he was.
Hyde raised an eyebrow "how come?" he asked
"cus either you'll fall through, or you'll get tetanus, either way it's a win win for me" she said coldly
"look man, I'm sorry I said what I said, Forman told me you'd talked to him and I'm sorry I accused you of cheating with kelso" he said as sincerely as he could manage, as an Olympic level liar Jackie would know instantly if he was at all dishonest.
"I'm not mad about that" she said softly
"why not? You should be pissed as hell I acted like such an ass" Hyde pointed out helpfully
"well, I'm not in love with how you acted" she said sardonically "but considering how we got together, I'm never going to be surprised if you get twitchy about Kelso, which isn't to say you have any reason to get twitchy, but, I do understand, now, go away and leave me alone" she said darkly
"wait, Jackie I don't understand? You just said you understood" Hyde had no idea what was happening? What did he miss?
"and I do" she confirmed with a nod of her head, making her curls sway. "I understand perfectly"
"then why are you still pissed at me?" he knew it was a risky move, because Jackie had an uncanny ability to draw offense from the smallest things, her nuanced view of the world was daunting.
"why do you care?" she said with a laugh that held no humor
"cus man, you're like – pregnant with my kid" it took some effort to say it, and he had to force down some bile afterwards.
"don't pretend to give a damn Hyde" she said fighting back tears
"I do Jackie, ok? Now will you please just tell me why you're still mad? Is it…is it because I did this to you?" he voiced his fears softly
Jackie groaned and rolled her eyes, "no ok?! I'm not as terrible as you all say you know? I know that we were equal partners in being stupid! Now will you please just leave me alone?" she said with a sniff
"not while I'm even more confused about why you're mad at me man" Hyde stood his ground – or grate? And waited for her to shed light on why she couldn't seem to even so much as look at him.
"where did you get the idea that I cheated on you and got knocked up?" she asked sounding tired
"like I said I was listening through the door at the hub" he reminded her
"did you hear me say that id slept with Kelso? Did you hear me say that he got me pregnant?" she asked in a neutral tone – light even.
"uh no, I heard donna saying that" he answered thoughtfully
"did you ask me if it was true?" she asked in that same dangerously calm tone
"….no" he admitted regretfully
"why was that you think?" it was a trap, he knew it as well as she did, but he didn't know how so had to answer.
"because I heard donna say it and I trust her?" he asked it more than said it
"but not me" this was issued as a statement "donna said it, so you didn't even think of waiting to ask me if you had the real facts, nope, if donna said it that MUST be what happened! Even if she just assumed what she yelled at me for no actual reason, if donna says it – you listen! But me? Nope, you don't even give me a tiny chance to explain." She told him so deeply hurt that every word cut him.
He got it now, and he couldn't blame her.
"Jackie man, I'm really sorry. I should have listened to you before I believed what I heard eaves dropping" he made a real attempt at an apology.
Jackie stared silently out at the view before them.
"everything that makes me 'me' is over now that I'm pregnant" she began in a soft tone that made him feel like a piece of shit.
"I'm not going to bail on you jacks" Hyde tried to tell her comfortingly
"I'd rather you did, I'd rather you left right now and went back to your friends in the basement and listen with rapt attention to anything donna says, because that would be the best punishment for you that I can think of!" she said angrily, and turned to him with a fury that made him shrink away a bit
"she – does – not – want – you!" Jackie spat at him brutally honest in her rage.
"I know that Jackie you don't need to – "but he couldn't finish what he was saying as Jackie was not done shoving the truth in his face.
"no! you know it, but you haven't accepted what it means! Do you know what it means Hyde?!" she demanded
"that I'm not going to be with her?" he wasn't sure what to say but figured that was the gist of what Jackie was telling him.
"it means that no matter what you do, what you say, how much more important you treat her than anyone else, she still doesn't want you! The only reason I'm not kicking your ass across the county, is that it's not entirely your fault that you're such a dumbass! she does all she can to keep you on the hook, and it's disgusting to watch how easily you fall for it" she told him scathingly
"she's just my friend Jackie" Hyde told her reasonably, wondering how pregnancy hormones had kicked in so fast?
"you believed the worst about me just because she said it, you don't care now that she basically called me an amoral slut, or that she said I was stupid for getting pregnant – me! Not 'us', me! Or that because of what she did, Kelso called me a slut in front of everyone at the hub! Because I don't matter!" she said in cold fury that felt like hit after hit right to the gut.
"Jackie, I didn't know about that, I'm really sorry and I will make sure to kick Kelso's ass as hard as humanly possible" he promised hoping it would bring her out of the dark place she was in, where she hated him and he deserved it.
Jackie turned then and looked him full in the face, her eyes were huge and sad and he knew he'd hurt her more than 'I'm really sorry' could hope to fix.
"what's the point? You're still going to forget I exist the second donna walks in, I am no one's second choice Hyde- "
"Steven! Its Steven, don't call me Hyde man, I know what you're doing, and I get it, but please stop doll, please?" he asked pleadingly
Jackie stared at him, but didn't respond. She didn't know what else there was to say?
Hyde stared out at the night skyline, thinking over what Jackie had just said, did he really act like that much of a tool whenever donna was around? He hated to admit that Jackie was probably telling an accurate version of it, he knew, as soon as he saw the red head he stopped functioning the way he had before. He sickened himself, all Jackie had done was be cool to him and how did he repay her? By letting donna corner her in a public bathroom and accuse her of some low down nasty acts.
It would be one thing if donna had done it to protect Hyde, but Jackie was supposed to be her friend and he had a sneaking suspicion that it hadn't been a noble intent that brought donna to the hub that day.
He also knew with sickening clarity, that he had about two minutes to fix what he'd done or Jackie would break up with him for good and he'd be back to being the guy without anyone who spent his time sitting angrily in a basement. And it wasn't just that he'd be single again – he didn't give a shit about that – but when he thought about it, considered all the facts, he had to admit that he was more than a little fond of the small girl with the big mouth.
He liked hanging out with Jackie and he didn't want it to end yet.
"Jackie look" he began softly "I don't know what the right thing to say here is, I never have, but I don't want this to be over yet" he said truthfully, who knows, maybe honesty was the best policy?
"why, cus you think I'll sleep with you again?" she snapped bitterly
"no man, nothing like that. I like you ok?" he admitted grudgingly
"huh?" a stunned wide eyed Jackie said blankly, of all the things she expected him to say that wasn't one of them.
"somehow along the way, I…. started to like you?" he explained badly and frowned with concentration while he searched for the right words.
"and it was before we…you know? In fact, it's probably why I started that that day" he took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts to be clear in what he was trying to tell her.
"I don't want to break up Jackie, not because I think I'll get some and not because you're pregnant, I want to keep going out with you because I like you" he said as clearly as he could, and for a guy who didn't like to share his feelings it was no easy thing.
Jackie held his gaze for a long time without saying anything, he noticed after a moment that he was holding his breath and tried to exhale Cooley so she wouldn't notice how down right scared he was that she was finding the best words to kick him to the curb once and for all.
"will you take me home? I'm tired" she said softly and allowed him to give her a hand up, when he immediately sprang to his feet to do as she asked.
Jackie had him drive her car, and didn't say a word all the way to her house, he would have been worried except for the fact that her tiny hand held his tightly the whole way and he wasn't complaining. When they got to her mansion Jackie slowly pulled her hand away and stared at it laying in her lap.
"if you mean what you said, you could come over tomorrow and have lunch with me? My parents are out of town so you don't have to worry about looking like a couple or anything" she said, recalling one of his crappier excuses to avoid meeting them.
"I don't mind looking like a couple doll, because we are a couple unless you say we aren't" he told her quietly, his eyes locked firmly on the steering wheel as he couldn't bear to face her.
"if you were telling the truth then I guess it's safe for me to do the same thing" Jackie told him in the softest voice he'd ever heard
"I was telling the truth" he assured her
"I like you too, and even if I wasn't pregnant I wouldn't want us to be over yet" she admitted awkwardly, looking like she was bracing for him to say something cruel now that she'd made herself vulnerable.
Hyde felt a massive weight rise from where it had been crushing his chest, he felt like he could float away now that she wasn't going to tell him to take a walk, and finally his lungs worked properly.
"I won't let you down again doll, whatever this is with us? I'll see it through" he promised her
"good night Steven" she murmured sweetly and kissed his cheek before going inside,
The grin on his face was a mile wide, she'd kissed him goodnight sure, but what really made him smile like he had few times in his life, was that she'd called him Steven again. It wasn't much, but it was something and he'd take that in a heartbeat!
Two days later Hyde was watching cartoons with the rest of the gang when Jackie burst through the basement door.
"hey, what's up?" he asked sitting up straighter in his chair to greet her
"I'm not pregnant!" she cried happily,
A collective sigh of relief went through his friends (except Kelso who was still being a baby about Hyde sleeping with Jackie). And donna stood up to talk to her.
"Jackie that's so great, but if you pretend this never happened and do something stupid again I'm going to kick your ass" donna threatened playfully
Jackie answered with a smile, and Hyde was sure he was the only one that noticed it didn't touch her eyes "of course donna" Jackie replied with a small laugh.
It was the moment of truth, they'd discussed it the night before but it would take a lot of nerve and Hyde wasn't sure if Jackie could, do it? He watched passively while donna sat back down and Jackie moved slowly across the room, all eyes were on her when she passed in front of the couch and every last one of them was staring blatantly when Jackie took a silent breath for courage and stepped to the side of Hyde's chair.
Eyes trained on the television, acting as casual as he could (which was pretty damn casual) Hyde reached out his arm and hooked Jackie by the waist, pulling her onto his lap without a word. His arms went around her waist as hers circled his neck, Hyde was just thinking to himself how surprisingly good it felt to have her there where he knew she was safe, when cries of protest and indignation rang throughout the basement.
All four of their friends were shocked, even though they'd been told repeatedly that Jackie was Hyde's girlfriend for real and honest and all that jazz, it hadn't been real until he shared his chair with her in their basement?
Whatever.
He didn't give a damn what they thought about it, he wasn't in love, but he really did like Jackie and whenever he replayed her voice saying she liked him too his chest felt pleasantly warm, so who gave a damn what his friends said?
With that firmly in mind, Hyde turned his head towards Jackie and kissed her in full view of them all, they could except that he and Jackie were together or they couldn't, either way he didn't care.
"I'm glad you're here" he murmured softly in her ear
"I'm glad you're here too Steven" she replied in the sweetest voice anyone had ever used when speaking to him, he tightened his arms slightly around her and let out a contented sigh, this wasn't bad at all.
