Chapter 6.

Vanstock day 1.
The Forman's driveway.

"Woo Vanstock!" Eric shouted as he crossed the driveway, a backpack and a sleeping bag in hand with a big smile on his face. Donna had filled him in earlier that morning about their plans and Jackie had never seen someone so excited to go camping (of all things).

"This is the best surprise ever," Eric continued as he reached the group. Jackie was standing by the garage, joined by Steven, Donna and Mrs. Forman. They were waiting on Michael to arrive, he was the one with the van and their official ride to the festival but of course, he was running late.

"Eric honey, did you remember to pack an extra pair of underwear?" Kitty began.

Eric groaned back. "Yes mom," he mumbled, his cheeks turning bright red. His mother's over-bearing ways were clearly a source of embarrassment for the boy, but Jackie knew first hand that an over-caring mother was a hundred times better than one who didn't care at all.

Eric didn't know how lucky he was.

"Now Jackie," Kitty started, surprising Jackie. She turned to face the older woman, spotting a look of concern on her face. "I want you to be safe at all times. I promised your mother I'd look after you and if anything happens to you I would just be devastated."

Pam had never cared what her daughter did back in New-York or even where she was. Jackie remembered back to a week where she hadn't come home at all, she'd stayed at a friend's the full week and her mother hadn't even noticed that she was gone. Now Mrs. Forman stood in front of her, visibly concerned for her safety when she was only going to be away for 1 night.

The stark difference was upsetting, and she wasn't used to the consideration, but she supposed it was a nice change from the alternative.

"Mrs. Forman, you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine," she smiled to reassure the woman.

"I know you can look after yourself… But just promise me that you won't drink any alcohol, and don't take anything from anyone! Better yet, just don't talk to any strangers at all… Oh and stay close to Steven if you can."

It was sweet that Mrs. Forman wanted her to stay close to Steven, as if he would be able to protect her from anything bad that could happen. Jackie wasn't 100% sold on the notion but she didn't think sticking by him was a horrible idea either.

"Okay Mrs. Forman," she agreed to appease her.

Hyde was talking with Eric and Donna a few steps to their left but had seemed to overhear the girls' conversation. He suddenly turned to face the two of them and grabbed hold of Jackie's elbow, pulling her gently to the side and away from the others.

"Jackie, you better not follow me around everywhere when we get to Vanstock," he warned her with a stern voice and Jackie huffed, placing her hands on her hips. She was getting sick of him pretending that he didn't actually enjoy the time they spent together.

"Steven, Mrs. Forman says that you need to look after me."

Hyde groaned, letting go of his hold on her arm. "Jackie man, you don't get it… Vanstock's a great place to meet chicks and I can't have you sticking to me, scaring away all the hot ones."

Jackie frowned, she didn't like the idea of Steven hooking up with random girls. Especially when it meant he'd be ditching her to do it. And she didn't get it, he had told her not long ago that he wasn't into dating. So why would he be more interested in meeting girls then hanging out with her and their friends?

"But you told me that you don't date," Jackie pointed out.

Hyde looked at her as if she had missed the point that he was trying to make. "Who said anything about dating? You don't date chicks at Vanstock, you love em' and leave em,'" he said the last part with a big grin on his face.

Jackie gasped and reached out to smack him across the arm. "You're a pig," she told him.

"Finally, you're learning," he responded, and she rolled her eyes.

"Kelso's here!" Donna exclaimed as Kelso's van pulled up into the Forman's driveway, a full 30 minutes late.

Donna began walking off to meet Kelso and Fez by the van. Jackie picked up the single bag she'd managed to fit all her clothes into (thanks to Donna's help) before following after Steven and Eric.

The three headed towards their friend's van when they were stopped by Mr. Forman who was at the porch by the kitchen.

"Alright," Red began, giving the three teens a moment to prepare themselves for whatever was coming next. "Dumb-ass number 1," he turned to Eric. "Don't do anything stupid. You've got my last name, you embarrass yourself, you embarrass me."

Red turned to Hyde. "Dumb-ass number 2," he pointed his finger at the curly haired teen. "Make sure dumb-ass number 1 doesn't do anything stupid. And look after Jackie."

"Yes sir." Hyde nodded his head, looping his thumbs into his pot leaf belt buckle.

"And you," Red turned to Jackie and paused, giving her nerves plenty of time to grow. "Here," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a 20-dollar bill. "You'll need to pay for food up there, use this."

Jackie smiled, relieved by the surprising turn of events.

"What? Why does she get money and we don't?" Eric complained as Jackie took the cash from Mr. Forman.

"You got your own money. Now stop whining or you'll be going to Vanstock with my boot in your ass," Red threatened, giving Eric a serious look. His son didn't respond but Steven's chuckle broke through the silence that followed.

"Classic foot in the ass joke, Red," Hyde grinned at Mr. Forman while Eric glared over at him.

"Get the hell out of here," Red ordered.

Steven and Eric turned to leave while Jackie leaned forward to give the older man a peck on the cheek in goodbye. "Thank you, Mr. Forman," she smiled up at Red before following after the two other boys who were heading towards the rest of their friends.

When she reached the group by Michael's van, she quickly noticed an older boy and girl, whom she'd never met before, standing together by the back of the van. Michael stood next to the two, helping Donna load her bags into the back.

"Kelso, I don't think we're all going to fit anymore," Donna mentioned, eyeing the two new comers.

"Who are they?" Jackie whispered to Fez, who had moved to stand next to her.

"That is Kelso's older brother Casey and his girlfriend Jessica… She gives me tingles."

Jackie rolled her eyes, everyone gave this boy the tingles.

"What are they doing here?" She questioned further. The trip was supposed to be just the 6 of them, throwing in Michael's brother and his girlfriend seemed like something she should have heard about earlier.

"They are just catching a ride into Vanstock with us," Fez responded.

Jackie looked over at the newcomers, the resemblance between the two Kelso brothers was now clear, he had the same facial features but was slightly shorter than his younger brother was. Jessica (who was cuddling up close to Casey and in turn marking her territory), was the height of Donna, with long blonde hair and dressed in a mini skirt and belly top.

"Stop worrying Donna, we'll fit… It'll just be a tight squeeze," Kelso informed the group. Jackie investigated the back of the van and could tell just by looking that there was no way 8 of them would fit comfortably.

Steven seemed to pick up on the same thing. "It's cool, I'll just follow Kelso up in the Camino," he offered.

Jackie smirked, spotting an opportunity to bug Hyde, which had become one of her favorite hobbies in the past week. "I'll go with Steven," she told the group, to Kelso's disappointment and followed Hyde as he walked towards the El Camino, parked in the street.

Hyde sighed as she fell in step beside him. "Of course," he muttered in annoyance and Jackie smiled.

"Couple of rules, doll. My car, my tunes. I'm not listening to ABBA and the Captain and Tennille all the way to Vanstock."

Jackie couldn't understand why Steven hated her music so much, what was so wrong with ABBA? Everyone loved ABBA, he was in denial.

"Fine," she shrugged, it was a small price to pay and she was willing to concede if it meant not having to ride up to Vanstock in a confined space with Michael Kelso.

Hyde threw his bag into the back of the Camino and then reached for hers.

"And no talking," he added as he placed her bag in the bed of the car for her. "2 hours of your nonstop jabber will drive me insane."

Jackie frowned. "No talking? What are we supposed to do for 2 hours?" She wondered as the two moved to get into the Camino. He was delusional if he thought he could get her to shut up for that long.

"I'm gonna be driving, I don't care what you do."

Hyde opened the drivers-side door and Jackie stepped inside first, scooting down the bench seat. "You can't ban me from talking," she pointed out as he sat down behind the wheel.

"Fine, then you can be in charge of directions."

"Yippee," she muttered sarcastically.

She supposed things could be worse, as Steven handed her a large map with their route highlighted. And anyway, he would perk up once they were on the road, she just knew it. Maybe she could even get him to play her favorite radio station once he relaxed a little.

Hyde turned the engine on and right as he went to put the Camino in drive, the passenger-side door swung open to reveal an out of breath Fez.

"Move down," he said to Jackie, forcing her into the middle of the bench seat as he jumped into the car and closed the door behind him in a hurry.

"Fez, what happened?" Jackie wondered as she looked over at Fez, who was breathing loudly next to her.

"Kelso's brother might have caught me staring at his girlfriend's wonderful breasts."

"That'll do it," Hyde nodded his head.

"What are you waiting for? Step on it, Hyde!"

"Alright man relax."

"Great, so Fez… You can be in charge of the directions," Jackie handed him the map and turned her head to stick her tongue out at Steven.

2 hours later.
Vanstock.

Hyde parked the Camino next to Kelso's van. They had arrived at Vanstock and Jackie was officially impressed, the venue was huge with 3 main stages and a plethora of food trucks littered in-between. They had ended up in a large open area of the festival where everyone was parking their vans and setting up their campsites. Despite the thousands of other people who had arrived before them, the group had managed to find a decent sized area for themselves to set up camp.

Jackie exited the Camino after Fez and followed the two boys over to Michael's van where the rest of their friends were waiting for them.

"This is so great!" Donna smiled, full of excitement as she stepped out of the back of the van. "We're in such a good spot," she added looking around the bare space in front of their cars. "We should lay out our sleeping bags and stuff so that no one steals our spot."

Jackie grabbed hold of Donna's hand. "The boys can do that Donna, I need to go the bathroom," she'd been busting to go to the bathroom for an hour now. Steven had offered to pull the car over, so that she could go by the road but there was no way that that was happening. Burkhart's didn't pee in public.

"Fine, let's go midget."

As the two girls walked away together to find a bathroom, Hyde stood by the van and watched as Kelso pulled out a sleeping bag from the back. "Hey Hyde… Jackie's sleeping bag," he commented with a smirk as he held up the small sleeping bag.

"So?"

"So, I'm gonna hide it," Kelso told him with a chuckle.

"What the hell for?" Hyde wondered with a confused expression, he knew it would have something to do with the guys plan on seducing the petite brunette, but he had no idea how her sleeping bag fit into said plan.

All Kelso's attempts to hook up with Jackie had failed so far but he showed no signs of easing up and Hyde wasn't sure whether to be impressed with his friend's persistence or to be embarrassed for him.

"Tonight, when she can't find her sleeping bag… She'll have no option but to share my double with me. And then we'll finally get it on. Cause everyone knows you can't be in the same bed as someone without having sex."

Hyde shook his head at his friend and watched as Kelso walked away to hide the sleeping bag somewhere.

"Can't argue with that logic man," he muttered sarcastically and paused to contemplate warning Jackie. He could tell her about Kelso's plan to give her a forewarning, but was it necessary? The plan was sure to fail anyway.

He figured keeping Kelso's secret would be a lot more fun for him to watch. When it backfired, he couldn't wait to see Jackie unleash her wrath.

"Okay," Eric clapped his hands together as he walked over to Hyde with Fez in tow. "What should we do first? Go listen to some music? Or start up a quick circle?"

"No, we should eat first. Fez is hungry," Fez rubbed at his stomach.

Hyde shook his head, he already had plans of his own. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Got a date with some LSD," he rubbed his hands together with a smirk. Some of his buddies from his old neighborhood were at the festival too and they always had the best shit.

"You're ditching us already?" Eric asked, obviously not happy. "At least stay for a circle."

Hyde shrugged, reaching into his pocket to pull out his stash. "Here," he handed the brown paper bag to Eric. "Go nuts," he didn't need it where he was heading. "Just don't let Jackie smoke too much, she's a rookie and that's strong shit, she'll get high as fuck from one puff."

He remembered the couple of times she'd been in the circle with them, she'd gotten so high that she was laughing like a hyena at every little thing. He thought it was kind of cute, but if he wasn't gonna be around while they smoked, he'd rather be safe then sorry. Specially since Red and Mrs. Forman had put him in charge of looking out for her.

"Whatever," Eric couldn't care less as he shoved the brown paper bag into his own pocket.

"Thanks man… I'll see you guys later," Hyde hit Forman on the back before walking off to go and find his other friends. They had a flag up in their campsite with Bob Marley's face on it, so it should be easy to spot them.

Hyde ran into Kelso, coming back from where-ever he had hid Jackie's sleeping bag, just outside of the gang's campsite. "She's never gonna find it now," he smiled dumbly at Hyde as they passed each other. "Tonight's the night man," he added, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Hyde rolled his eyes. "It's not gonna work man," he told his friend. Jackie wasn't as dumb as Kelso thought, she was going to work out that he was the one who hid her sleeping bag as soon as she noticed it missing.

"Will so, Hyde!" Kelso fought back.

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Will not, Kelso," he argued back before spotting something interesting on the ground next to them. He grinned and bent down to pick the item up. It was some girls lost halter top.

He lifted the shirt into Kelso's face. "Looks like some things never change," he chuckled, remembering the last time they had came to Vanstock and he'd spent most of the day trying to reunite the random topless chick with her lost shirt.

Kelso snatched the flimsy top out of his hands. "Alright, man I love Vanstock!" He cheered. "Hey Hyde, want to help me find the topless girl?" He asked, claiming the shirt for his own.

Hyde didn't care. "She's all yours buddy."

Meanwhile.
The bathrooms.

Meanwhile, Donna and Jackie were leaving the bathrooms, which had ended up just being a row of portable toilets (to Jackie's horror).

"Well that was the most disgusting place I've ever been," Jackie muttered to Donna as she wiped her hands repeatedly onto her denim jeans.

"Oh, just wait till you see the bathrooms at your new school," Donna responded with a big smile and Jackie hoped to God that she was kidding.

"Oh my God, ew!"

"Relax Jackie, I was just joking," the red head laughed but Jackie didn't think it was very funny.

"Come on, I think we're this way," she added as she pointed aimlessly in a direction and the two began weaving in and out of campsites trying to find where they had come from.

The stench of marijuana hung in the air as the two girls continued forward.

Jackie sniffed the air and joked, "smells like Steven's around here somewhere". She'd come to notice the scent followed Hyde around where ever he went, she was surprised the Formans hadn't picked up on it.

Donna laughed and nodded her head. "He's definitely in his element here," she agreed before eyeing Jackie oddly. "You and Hyde have been joined at the hip lately. I mean you basically jumped at the chance to ride up here with him… Anything going on there?"

Jackie bit her lip nervously, no there wasn't anything going on with her and Steven, but the question still made her uneasy.

"No Donna, I just didn't feel like being squashed inside Michael's gross van for 2 hours." She responded, stepping carefully over a boy who laid passed out on the ground.

"Right," Donna paused. "So, you aren't like, into Hyde?"

Jackie stopped and turned to face Donna, they were sandwiched between a van styled to look like the mystery machine from Scooby-Doo and another that had a giant bong painted onto it.

"Donna, Steven and I are just friends."

She wondered why Donna had chosen this moment to question her about her feelings for Steven. Sure, she'd chosen to ride up to Vanstock with him instead of the rest of the group. And yes, she'd been hanging out with him, but she'd also spent a lot of time with Fez and Michael over the past 2 or so weeks.

Why wasn't Donna asking her about them? Was Jackie putting out some sort of vibe when she spent time with Steven? She'd thought that maybe he had been slightly flirty with her at times. Had Donna noticed it too?

"Sure, Jackie."

Donna went to walk forward but Jackie grabbed hold of her arm to stop her.

"Why?... Do you think, that Steven- I mean, do you think he's into me?" Jackie stuttered out, trying to make it seem like she didn't care either way.

Donna smiled back at her, a cocky look on her face like she had been right all along.

"Well I mean, he has seemed slightly less pissed off then normal," Donna admitted, and Jackie frowned, not really sure what to take from that. "But, you aren't really his usual type," She added.

Jackie scoffed. Not his type. She was Jackie Burkhart, she was every guys type.

Well whatever, if he wasn't into gorgeous, sophisticated women like her. It was his loss.

"Whatever, it's not like I care anyway."

Donna laughed. "Oh my God, you totally care. You are so into him!"

"No, I don't and no, I'm not!" Jackie argued back. "He's so not my type, either."

"So, what is your type?" Donna wondered, folding her arms in front of her. "Guys like Kelso?"

Jackie turned her nose up at the idea of dating Michael Kelso. "No, not guys like Michael…" She paused to think about it for a second. Technically she had dated Michael before, if you counted holding hands in the fourth grade.

"Okay well maybe guys who look like Michael. But personality wise, totally not."

She normally liked to play it safe in her dating life. She dated the good boys, the rich boys and the quarter backs. She'd never gone down that whole 'bad boy' path. The thought just never appealed to her. But then again, she'd never met a bad boy like Steven Hyde before.

"Okay look. Just in-case you're lying to me, and you are into Hyde. I'll give you some advice." Donna began and paused, as if waiting to see if Jackie apposed. Jackie blinked up at her and waited for her to continue, figuring it couldn't hurt to hear out what she had to say.

"Hyde's a complicated guy. He's never had a relationship before. His experiences with the opposite sex revolve around an abundance of one-night stands, totally a no strings attached kind of guy."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Donna how is that advice?"

She knew all this stuff already, Steven didn't date and even if he did, he wouldn't date girls like Jackie.

"Just listen, midget," Donna warned her, and Jackie shut her mouth. "The only female friend that Hyde's ever had, is me. And that's only cause we've known each-other since preschool. He doesn't hang out with other girls unless he's boning them. The fact that he's spending so much time with you, willingly, has to mean something."

Jackie couldn't keep quiet, there were some major plot holes in her friend's theory. "We live together it's not like he could avoid hanging out with me."

"Trust me, if he wanted to avoid you, he definitely could. Anyway, Hyde's an easy-going guy, so my advice to you is play it cool. High maintenance isn't his thing and he hates being told what to do."

"Donna, I'm bossy and I'm high maintenance. I'm not going to change myself for some guy. I'm not Olivia Newton-John and this isn't Grease."

"Whatever. This was just hypothetical anyway, cause you and Hyde are just friends. Right?" She raised an eyebrow.

Jackie shrugged uncomfortably. "Exactly."

Meanwhile.
The campsite.

"Ah Vanstock."

Eric smiled as he openly stared at the two girls in the campsite across from theirs, who were making out with each other pretty-heatedly.

"Eric, I think this is the happiest day of my life," Fez commented from next to him, intensely staring at the same view. "Oh no, do not stop now," he groaned in annoyance as both girls pulled away from each other and began walking off, hand in hand.

Eric laughed and got back to unrolling his sleeping bag, positioning it right next to the one he had just laid out for Donna.

"Donna has got to be like the best fiancée ever."

Fez nodded, still staring off in the direction that the two girls had disappeared into. "Yes, she is… why is she with you again?"

"I'm serious Fez," Eric ignored his friends burn and continued. "I mean, she surprised me with this trip to Vanstock for my birthday. She supports me staying home from college to help my family out even though it ruined our plans of moving in together."

"You are a lucky man," Fez agreed, as he sat down on one of the logs they had found by the Camino.

They'd rolled a few logs into the middle of their campsite, circled around a small space where they planned to build a fire later that night.

"Man… I'm really going to miss her when she leaves," Eric admitted sadly, as he sat on a log across from Fez. He'd been trying not to think about how much it was going to suck when Donna left town, but as the day crept closer and closer, it was almost impossible not to think about it.

"And everybody knows long distance relationships don't work," Fez informed him, and Eric frowned at his friend's pessimistic opinion.

"Just ask my wife."

"You and Laurie aren't in a long-distance relationship Fez."

"Is she here?" Fez asked Eric with a blank expression.

"Uh no, she's in Chicago."

"Exactly! Therefor, we are in a long-distant relationship… And it is not working," Fez shook his head sadly.

"Fez, no offence but my relationship with Donna is nothing like yours and Laurie's. We're going to be fine," Eric said but doubt filled his body. Fez, although not the best person to go to for relationship advice, did have a point. Long-distance relationships were hard, and most ended badly.

"Even if I wasn't sure we'd be fine… Which we will! It's not like I could ask her to stay," Eric rambled on, cutting Fez off before he had the chance to respond.

"Wait, should I ask her to stay?" He continued. "No… I can't do that to her," Or could he?

"Do you think she'd stay if I asked her too?" Eric looked at Fez expectedly.

Fez looked around quickly, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. He reached into his pocket and pulled a sandwich bag full of candy out. "Here Eric, have some candy. It always makes me feel better."

Eric groaned, he didn't want candy, he needed advice. But it looked like he'd have to wait until Hyde came back and who knows when that would be? And Donna would be returning any minute now, he needed something to stop himself from ruining things.

He stood up and walked over to the cooler where they were keeping all the beer. "Fez, put your candy away. We're getting drunk," he told his friend, grabbing two beers out and throwing one to his friend.

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all he had.

Thank you for reading!

Vanstock part 2 coming next week where we'll find out how Eric and Kelso's plans work out...