She woke up the next morning curled and cuddled into her sister, who smirked at her. "Good morning." She laughed, and the small brunette groaned, rolling over onto her stomach, and buried her face into the pillow, hiding from the sunlight, that burned her eyes. She hated camping, and now she remembered why. She also remembered why she didn't drink, because her head spun.
She was wide awake now, the hour of ten am bringing patrons out of their vans and sleeping bags, and over to the live music festival starting.
"Jackie." Steven's gruff voice was close to her now, and she groaned, sitting up, and looking at him. He smiled, biting back sweet words, and pointed at the main stage, where Fleetwood Mac was setting up, and grabbed her hand, helping her up, as she slipped off her jacket and Grateful Dead t-shirt, leaving her in a bra and camisole. She slipped the shirt he gave her last night over her body, and put the denim jacket back on herself, and washed her mouth out with mouthwash. "C'mon Steven, Stevie Nicks is waiting for me." He laughed, holding back a sarcastic comment. She dragged him, and looked at Laurie questionably, and she waved them off. "I know you guys wanna get lost."
"Why can't you get lost with us?" She asked, and the blonde smirked, waggling her eyebrows, making her turn red. "Never mind." The brunette coughed. "Doll, they start at eleven, we'll lose the front." He pulled her, and she giggled, waving goodbye, as Eric woke Donna up. They made it to the front, squeezing their way in, pressed up against each other, against the gate. The stage wasn't that big, but it was high enough that everyone could see. Steven knew enough about Jackie's music taste to know that she was all over the map. She listened to Johnny Cash and June Carter, ABBA, Zepplin on occasion, but this band was her favorite. That was part of the reason why Laurie came, because she knew Jackie would feel guilty leaving her to go to a concert. It was warm today, in the high forties, but the thin denim jacket, and bell bottoms she was wearing still made her shiver. She was in front of him at the gate, and he pressed against her, as she leaned into his chest. His arms wrapped around her.
The question burned at her throat, desperate to ask what it meant. What any of it means. The touching, the kisses, the chicken moves they were both making. But she didn't. Because it was comfortable, no labels, no asking. She wanted to know, because that part of her wanted to know about her future. Wanted to know his feelings. Wanted him to be that prince charming fairy take, but that just wasn't him. He was hazy conversations, thoughts that went unsaid, passionate moments, and numb cuddles on the couch. He wasn't labels and proms and football games.
Stevie Nicks stepped on stage, and Jackie squealed in delight, at how close she was. Mystical and magical, and just that rawness drew her in like a moth to a flame. She knew why, because everything her entire life had been masked. Her faith, her parents, her feelings, her adopted father, Laurie's issues, Steven and her's relationship. Monday Morning played first, and she sang along, her voice raw after the first set of songs as she swayed with Steven, who was smiling like an idiot.
Then that song came on. Ready? One, two- He looked down at her, as she swayed in his arms. "I need someone to stand up, and tell me when I'm lyin," She sang to him. Her words got quieter and quieter.
Tell me that you love me,
He leaned in.
And stopdrivin' me mad.
Her breath hitched, as they did every time, and they shared that kiss that she had so desperately been waiting for all week as they danced to the song they were playing to "slow it down a bit."He couldn't help it, she just looked so damn hot swaying to the music, and nobody was around. Once they got home, they'd be sneaking around again. She pulled back, her head lolling, hands coming to rest on the ones draped over her torso. "What was that for?" She yelled lightly, and he smiled, shrugging. "Just 'cause."
Need a soft voice, to talk to me at night.
She smiled, before kissing him again, this time turning around, and giving him a real kiss, on her toes, arms wrapped around his neck.
Because I need your love so bad.
The song ended, and they cheered, still wrapped up in each other, as they jumped right into Landslide. She started to sing along, swaying softly, still hugging him, and riding the high they had alone. She had expected him to be off and gone on the other side again, and expected to be dancing to Fleetwood Mac with Donna and Laurie, and maybe Jason, who was still sleeping in the van. Her head rested on his chest as they swayed lightly to the popular song, listening to it ring out of the speakers.
"We're gonna bring it to the last song of the day." They spoke, and Jackie pouted, but Steven kissed it away, whispering in her ear how there were multiple other bands to choose from, as Third Degree started to play, and they made their way to the next stage setting up.
She squealed as he dragged her across the pavilion, the two of them giggling like kids, dodging random patrons, and stopping at a stand for chicken fingers and a pop quickly, before shoving their way to get to the stage, where they were setting up. "Ya know," She munched on their chicken fingers, giggling, and taking a sip of her pop. "Steven Tyler is my second favorite Steven." She spoke, teasingly, and he grabbed her, laughing. "Who's your first favorite?"
"You." She booped his nose, and he rolled his eyes beneath his sunglasses, but a smile tugged at his lips. He hated corny bullshit, but with her it was different. They squished into the gate again, checking the time, and it was nearing noon time. The party beside her lit up a joint, and the party behind her was engaging in a drug deal, and she shifted. "Now I know why Laurie hesitated with coming." She thought out loud, and Steven nodded. "Yeah, but, she's practicing that self control stuff. She's with Donna and Foreman. And Fez." He laughed. "She'll be cool."
"What did you do last night?" She asked. He stiffened, sniffing. "To be honest? I tried cocaine." He spoke, and she stiffened. "And?" She asked. He shrugged. "Didn't like it. The drip was gross, and I felt too jittery." He told her, kissing her forehead. "I'm not gonna do it again."
"Plan to try anything else?" She asked nonchalantly, playing with the buttons on his coat, and sipping the drink he held through the straw, looking up through her lashed. He shrugged. "I've tried pretty much everything there is to try except a shot in the arm, but I know enough to not do that." He referenced Laurie, and Edna, and Pam. Maybe even Bud. But he didn't have to speak their names to know what he meant. "MDMA." He finished. "It's supposed to make you feel good." She nodded, furrowing her brows, before she heard clicking, and squealed, pointing at the stage as they started to walk out.
They opened with Mama Kin, which wasn't Jackie's favorite, but she would deal, as she danced her head lolling, and body moving. It was a change of pace from Fleetwood Mac, and she even sang along to some of the songs. "This next song." He spoke into the microphone, breathing out , running a hand through his hair. "Is fairly new." Cheers rang out, and she clapped jumping up and down. "It's from our album, Toys in The Attic, that came out last year." He smirked, as the guitar started to play, and Jackie cheered, shaking her hips, and moving her head, her ponytail swinging, as she danced with Steven, who sang as well.
Backstroke lover, always hidin' neath the covers,
Til I talked to my daddy he said-
She chanted, voice raw, lips chapped. She wore no makeup, and was giggling. She looked so beautiful and in her element. She had no room for insecurity, as she swayed to the song, singing along. He smiled.
Walk this way!
She was screaming, and laughing, thrashing her head around. They were pulled apart as much as they could be. "Eric should be here!" She yelled, pouting. This was their band. As if on cue, the shaggy boy, and the red head trailed up, squeezing through, and coming to see them. "Where's Laurie?" She asked, looking around. "With Jason and Fez! They're on top of the van!" Donna answered, as the four of them jammed to the song. Her and Eric screamed the lyrics to Dream On in each other's faces, thrashing heads, and passing a joint between the four of them. "That's Jackie's favorite Steven." Donna laughed and pointed at Steven Tyler teasingly. Steven laughed, shaking his head. "That's her second favorite."
And it was true. They jammed to hits like No more No more, Rocks, Same Old song and Dance, and Lord of the Thighs.
The last song they played was Sweet Emotion, which was a song that played often, as it was one of Jackie's favorites. Hyde froze watching her bump hips with Donna, and giggle with her brother, and then they locked eyes, and his breath hitched like hers often did when they were doing whatever it was they were doing.
Steven Tyler screamed his goodbyes, smiling, and the four started making their way back to the camp. It was still three, and the Grateful Dead wasn't supposed to be playing til six, but they were close enough to the main stage that they could watch from the camp. He was too sober to have to do this, so he looked at the the trunk of the Toyota, and lightly debated day drinking, until they got closer, and found Kelso serenading Brooke, who was nursing a beer. He grabbed one. Fez and Laurie were missing. "Where is Fez and my sister?" Eric questioned, and Jason rolled his eyes. "They went to the big rock to watch the show."
She had been fiddling with her charm all morning. It was different yesterday. Steven was reassuring her, and Jackie was present, and her brother was by her side almost all night.
Today was nothing like that, and rather than keeping to themselves today, the drugged out hippies were all up in their business. One of them had even recognized her. She shivered, and that overwhelming urge took over, the Toyota trunk and the third row of vans looking like her own personal playground. But all it took was one to get back on the Merry Go Round from hell.
Fez and her listened to Jason babble on about last nights escapades, and the three had traded thoughts about hot rollers. They talked about Gay Rights, and how it was becoming a movement. They talked about Donna being a feminist, and RBG, and racial equality. The conversation was intelligent, and she felt the flow going nice. They talked about how Jason's box in the closet wasn't filled with material items from boys or even girls, but clippings from Gay Rights articles, and feminine fashion. Fez wrote home once a week, and one day they stopped writing back.
Eventually, Jason found someone that piqued his interest, and Fez noticed how every time somebody out of their minds would walk by, she would fiddle with the necklace that they had made for her with her four month charm on it. Her pink nails were chipped from picking all the polish off, and then that dude had walked up to her, and he found himself dragging her away from the scene. "Where are we going?" She squeaked, and he laughed, helping her climb up the hill, to sit on the rock that overlooked the two main stages. Her brows furrowed. "How did you know about this?" She asked, and he shrugged. "I got bored and went exploring last night." He shrugged, his lisp shining through. She laughed.
They sat in silence, before she looked at him, watching intently as Fleetwood Mac played, before dramatically gasping, and pointing. "Jackie and Hyde!" He cried, and Laurie froze. "What about them?"
"They-" He sputtered, squinting. "They're kissing! They hate each other!" She shook her head. "Fez, that could be anyone." She tried to cover for her sister. He sighed. "I guess you're right."
More silence, before she nudged him. "Is it really that bad in Point Place for you?" She asked. She was referencing to the slurs hurled at him on a daily basis that she was so blatantly unaware of. Ignorance is bliss, and privilege is a virtue. He shrugged, and she gave him that look that Mrs Foreman always gave them when she knew they were bullshitting, but it was all her father's features.
"Yes." He nodded, and she pursed her lips, but didn't show that pity that everyone showed her.
"You didn't give me the look. Very nice." He observed, and she giggled. "I don't like when people would do it to me, so." She tapped her hands to the beat of the Fleetwood Mac song, watching Eric and Donna dance in the back. More silence, and she shivered. "Do you want my top coat?" He asked her, and she shook her head, scooting closer, and leaning a head on his shoulder. "I'm good."
"So am I." He waggled his eyebrows jokingly, and she threw her head back laughing. More silence, before he breathed in. "You know, Point Place is not the best to me. They make fun of my feminine side, and they don't like that I am hispanic." He shrugged. "But, I found home in friends." He admits.
She looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Kelso helped me from the football team. Jackie and Donna walk with me at school so that people don't call me gay. Hyde is scary to other people so he protects me. Eric invites me over all the time." He nodded. "Jason is very understanding because discrimination is a prominent detail in his life."
"Do my parents ever make you feel badly?" She asked, after a long pause, and he shrugged. "A few times they did, but I don't think they meant to."
"What do you mean?" She furrowed her brows, and thought about her mother and father.
"Their upbringing was different. They're from a time when segregation was normal." He shrugged. "Mexicans were dirty, and Asian people were evil, and there were commies, and nazis, and everything was one against the other." He looked down at her. "I don't hold it against them, because Mrs Kitty and Mr Red have always been very nice and welcoming. Even if Mr Red has a... special way of showing it." Laurie giggled about her father, but leaned her head against his shoulders.
She doesn't know how much longer they sat there, or how many jokes they cracked. But the conversation flowed like a faucet. Her ass was going numb, and by the time she checked her watch it was four o'clock. And she raised a brow, nudging him, and pointing. "Wanna try going back?"
"You feel better, Laurie?" He asked, and she nodded, which made him smile. "Then let's get moving."
Four pm rolled around, and Steven's chugging and smoking had him deliciously shitty, and leaning against a log on the ground. Jackie raised a brow, and he closed his eyes, making her roll her own. Too long for you to stay in the moment, I guess.
Her high had worn off hours ago, and she silently thanked the lord when Laurie and Fez came back to the camp ground. "How was the concert?" She asked, smirking, and she shrugged. "It was cool. I was happy." She grinned at the blonde, who sat beside her, as Kelso went to start a fire, and Eric and Donna immediately took the flammable objects from him before he burnt the place down.
Jason was munching on a funnel cake from the food stand, smiling like an idiot, and looked at the setting sun. Two hours until Grateful Dead. Something else Jackie didn't mind. Donna say beside Eric, Laurie beside Fez, and Steven absentmindedly patted the extra spot in his sleeping bag. "C'mon, Doll."
She climbed into the sleeping bag, and he rolled over, wrapping his arms around her waist, and burying his head in her hip. She fought to not caress his curls. He looked up at her, his shades forlorn, and his blue eyes bored into her head. He mumbled incoherently, and Jason smirked, raising an eyebrow, but Jackie shot him a glare, motioning to her brother, who was turned around towards the trunk of the Toyota.
Laurie and Fez were caught up in a conversation. Brooke and Donna talked about the school paper. Jason and Eric were laughing at some guy who's hair was on fire. The sunset looked really beautiful, and she sighed, closing her eyes, but then Fez passed her the joint, and she smiled, puffing on it, and enjoying the dizzying sensation. She didn't smoke much, just enough to take the edge off slightly, so Steven didn't feel like a barnacle on her side.
Most of them wandered off to go see the Grateful Dead, as it was 5:30, and by now it was just Laurie, Jackie, and Steven. She woke him up so he would be able to see them, and he groggily stood, looking around, and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"I'm still shitfaced." He mumbled against her mouth, and she hummed in agreement, getting a taste of Jack Daniels. Laurie coughed, and they pulled away, moving to sit on the hood of the van, and watched, lightly singing songs they loved, but watching contently.
Jackie looked over at her sister, who's smile was wide and genuine, even as she played with her charm. The buzz from the joint was wearing off, and she nudged her. "How are you feeling?"
"Less anxious than this morning. People were all over the place, and then one came to talk to me. I kinda geeked." She admitted, placing her free hand on her sister's knee. "Thank's for asking."
"Is that why you and Fez disappeared?" She asked, and the blonde nodded. "There was a hill where you could see the concerts and nobody was there. Like, in the woods." Jackie's nose wrinkled. "You followed Fez into the woods?" She asked, giggling. Laurie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. He's actually pretty cool." She shrugged, and Jackie smirked. "Pretty cool?" Laurie's cheeks turned pink, and Jackie giggled. "You have a crush on Fez!" She accused, and Laurie glared. "Do not!" The eighteen year old shot back. Jackie smirked. "Whatever you wanna believe, Laur. I'm just along for the ride."