Chapter 7.

2 hours later.
The Campsite.

Eric's plan to get drunk had sufficiently stopped him from ruining things with Donna. An impulse urge he got on the regular and in turn had to consciously act against. Which is where the drinking came in.

He knew if he brought up what was playing on his mind, he'd say something stupid or beg Donna to stay and then they would argue, which would definitely ruin Vanstock for the both of them and probably for the rest of their group too.

He just needed to make it through this weekend and then he could talk to her about his concerns once they got back. Whether he'd ask her to stay or not, he was still unsure of. He needed advice and the one person who he'd trust to steer him in the right direction still hadn't come back to camp yet.

"Eric, don't you think you should slow down?" Donna wondered, she was perched next to him on a log and was watching him carefully as he downed another beer.

"Yeah Eric, save some for the rest of us," Jackie scolded him from the other side of the campfire where she sat, sharing a log with Fez. She'd been sipping on the same beer for an hour now and Eric knew she'd only need another 1 or 2 before she was done for the night.

But he also knew she'd take any opportunity to berate him.

Before he had the chance to tell her off, Kelso came running into the campsite and everyone turned to face him. It was the first time the group had seen him in hours.

"You guys!" Kelso shouted as he reached the group, completely out of breath. The group watched impatiently as he took a moment to try and catch his breath, bending his head down between his legs and wheezing.

Eric grabbed a beer out of the cooler (which he'd strategically placed directly beside him,) and waved the can to get his friends attention. "Here," he added right before throwing the drink over to Kelso.

Unsurprisingly he caught it with ease before standing up straight, cracking it open and chugging the entire contents in less than 10 seconds. When he was done, he smiled and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Guess what?" He started.

"If this is about those two girls who are going around and making out with each other, don't bother. We've already seen them," Donna guessed.

"What? Oh man I missed out on lesbians?!" Kelso groaned in annoyance.

"Michael, just tell us what's going on," Jackie urged him on.

"Oh yeah," Kelso lifted up a pink halter top that Eric was only now noticing he'd been holding the entire time. "I found the topless chick!"

"Nobody say anything. It's about boobs, it's always about boobs," Jackie warned the group.

"Why didn't you give her shirt back to her?" Donna questioned anyway.

"Did you see boobs?" Fez asked eagerly.

Eric just kept drinking.

"No… Unfortunately, she was wearing a bra," Kelso responded to Fez. "Now guess who the topless chick was."

Donna groaned. "Just tell us you dill-hole!" She yelled impatiently.

"It was Laurie!" Kelso cried with laughter. "Yeah, she's not in Chicago, she's here man. And she's walking around without a shirt on."

Eric froze, trying to figure out how he felt about the news of his sisters sudden return back into their lives. He knew his parents would want him to find her and try convincing her to come home but he'd rather not have to speak to the little she-devil. Besides, he had bigger fish to fry right now.

As he made the mental decision to stay out of his sister's affairs, his friend Fez had seemingly came to a different conclusion.

Fez stood up from the log and walked over to Kelso, snatching his wife's shirt out of his friend's hand. "Laurie is here?" He questioned.

Kelso nodded. "Yeah man, I ran into her during Heart's set at Stage 2."

"Did she ask about me?"

"I don't know man, she saw me, then hit me when I wouldn't give her shirt back. Then I ran here to tell you guys about it," Kelso told his friend, who promptly stormed off. "Fez, where are you going?!"

"To find my whore of a wife!"

10 minutes later.
Stage 2.

Fez arrived at Stage 2, just as Heart began to perform their hit 'Barracuda'. He clutched onto the pink halter top as he pushed through the large crowd, looking for his wife.

It didn't take him long to spot her in the middle of the crowd. And that was only because she was sitting on top of someone's shoulders, causing her to stand out above the rest of the crowd.

Fez mustered up all the courage he had and used his elbows to push through the mob, which was getting thicker and fuller of people as he got closer to the stage.

As he reached Laurie, he noticed that Kelso was right. His wife was the topless girl, she had a red lacey bra on and denim cut off shorts, but she looked as comfortable as ever as she scream-sung the words to 'Barracuda'. Trust Laurie to be so nonchalant in front of thousands of people in only her underwear.

Fez glared at the man underneath her who remained oblivious to his presence, his hands were grabbing onto Laurie's bare thighs as he supported her weight, too busy looking up at the blonde perched on top of his shoulders to notice the angry foreign boy next to him.

He reached up with his free hand and grabbed hold of Laurie's wrist, pulling down to get her attention.

"Fez!" Laurie exclaimed as she finally noticed him. "What do you want?"

"Laurie, get down! We need to talk," Fez shouted, the loud music coming from the stage was making it hard to hear even his own voice.

Whether Laurie was having the same problem or not, he couldn't tell. She didn't seem to care what he was saying. "Go away Fez," she said before turning her attention back to the concert happening in front of her.

Fez reached up to tug on her arm again, but the guy holding up his wife pushed him backwards before he got the chance. "She said go away man," he warned him.

Fez wasn't ready to leave, he had questions that he needed answers to. Sure, they had only gotten married so that he could stay in the country, but she was still his wife, and this wasn't how a wife should treat her husband!

"Laurie!" Fez called out again, watching as the blonde groaned and looked down at him.

"What?!"

"Why did you leave Point Place? Was it because of me?"

Laurie furrowed her brow as her eyes focused on the item he was clutching in his hands. "Is that my shirt?" She questioned, spotting the halter top.

She reached out for the garment, but Fez moved it behind his back so that she couldn't grab it. The top was the only bit of leverage he had against her and he wasn't going to give it up that easily. Plus, he didn't think she deserved her top back, by the way she was acting.

"Laurie we are married now, and I think that you should come back to Point Place so that-" he started to confess his feelings, but Laurie promptly cut him off.

"Stop! I only married you as a favor and look what good that did. My dad had a heart attack Fez!... You aren't really my husband and you can't tell me what to do. Just, go away!"

She yelled, and Fez took a step back, he'd never seen Laurie get this mad about anything before. He had thought that because they were married, it meant that she cared about him, even if it was just a little bit. He knew he had feelings for her and hoped they had been reciprocated but it turns out he had been completely wrong.

"You heard her. Get lost," the guy next to him reached out and pushed Fez backwards.

Fine, if she didn't want to talk to him, then he didn't want to talk to her.

As he left, pushing his way back through the crowd, he thought he heard her shouting out something about the return of her shirt. But if she wanted it, she'd have to come looking for him this time.

Because he was done being the only one who cared about their marriage.

Meanwhile.
Somewhere in Vanstock.

Kelso had ventured off again, this time in search of the bathrooms. During all the excitement, he had neglected his need to use the toilet and now he was busting. He'd reached the portable toilets just in time, and as he reopened the door, ready to leave, he came face to face with a beautiful, tall brunette woman.

She was next in line to use the bathroom, but he stood in front of the door, blocking her from entering.

He'd been at Vanstock for a few hours now and all he'd managed to get done was find Fez's wife, it was about time he worked on finding a girl for himself. And this girl was the hottest he'd seen all day.

Smiling, he leaned against the cubicle and turned on the charm.

"Well, hello there beautiful," he smirked at the brunette. "I'm Kelso, but you can call me Michael."

He liked his women to call him by his first name.

"What's your name?"

"It's Brooke," Brooke responded, but looked less than impressed. "Now can you move? I really need to use the restroom and you're holding the line-up."

Kelso peered behind the girl, there were two pissed off looking ugo's behind her, but they would just have to wait their turn.

"So, Brooke… Beautiful name for a beautiful girl," Kelso continued on. "You know, we're probably the best-looking people here."

Brooke rolled her eyes, not interested in his pick-up lines but Kelso loved a chase. "That's debatable," she said.

He frowned. Did debatable mean what he thought it meant?

"Debates are for nerds," he stated simply, thinking of that weird class they used to have at high school where two kids would get up in front of the class and argue about things that Kelso had no idea about.

"Just move so I can get into the bathroom."

Kelso grinned, an idea entering his mind. "How's about I go in with you and we can do what comes naturally, baby?" He took his shot.

Brooke reached out to grab onto Kelso's shirt and for a second, he had felt like the luckiest (and sexiest) man in the world. But instead of pushing him into the bathroom with her, like he expected, she pulled him out of the way and entered the cubicle on her own, slamming the door shut in his face.

Oh well, can't win them all.

2 hours later.
The campsite.

"You ruined everything Eric!" Donna's voice bellowed through the campsite.

Jackie was sitting by the fire, uncomfortable on her own as Donna and Eric fought by Michael's van. She was trying to figure out when everything had went wrong, and pin pointed the moment to when Fez had wandered back into the camp earlier.

He hadn't said anything to anyone when they had asked him about whether or not he had found Laurie, but he was still clutching onto her shirt, so Jackie thought at first that maybe he hadn't. Of-course that opinion changed quickly as Fez began to drown his sorrows in drink after drink with Eric.

Now Fez was laying down on his sleeping bag, a few feet away from her, sleeping off all the alcohol he had consumed. While Donna and Eric continued to argue 10 feet away. Michael, the lucky one, had left the group before everything turned to crap.

Jackie hadn't wanted to leave with him at the time, choosing to stay with Donna, a choice she deeply regretted now.

"This was supposed to be a chance for us to have fun before I left! And you can barely stand! Do you not care that I'm leaving in 2 days?!" Donna continued to yell but there was no response and Jackie suddenly realized that she hadn't actually heard Eric say anything in a long time.

She stood up from her spot and peered around the other side of Kelso's van, where she spotted the couple. Eric was leaning against the van with his eyes closed as Donna stood in front of him, looking angrier then Jackie ever expected to see her.

"Eric!" Donna yelled after her fiancé didn't respond.

Jackie watched in horror as Eric suddenly sprung back to life, only to turn to his side and throw his dinner up onto the side of the van.

"Ew," Jackie quickly looked away and began to walk in the opposite direction from the arguing couple.

The sky was growing darker now, and with night settling in she knew walking off on her own wasn't the best decision, especially after having consumed one too many drinks herself. But she couldn't stay at the campsite any longer.

She'd spent all day in the same spot, watching her friends get drunk and make a mess out of the trip (and their lives). It hadn't bothered her so much when she'd missed watching most of the bands play, as this kind of music wasn't really her scene. But the headliners were due to start playing any minute now and tipsy Jackie desperately wanted to dance.

So, as she snuck away from the safety of their campsite, she made a plan to listen to the set and get her groove on. Maybe she would even find Michael in the crowd, or better yet, she'd run into Steven and then he could help her find the campsite after the concert was over.

Sure, she was drunk. Yes, it was dark, and she was alone in a place filled with thousands of drunken teenagers. And okay, it was possible that Mr. and Mrs. Forman would kill her for wandering off from the group like she had. But, she'd cross that bridge when she got to it and as for now all she wanted to do was listen to music and dance.

Damn it, she was going to dance.

The headlining band was playing at Stage 1 - the biggest stage by far, which was positioned at the opposite end of the large open venue. Finding the right stage wasn't an issue for her, as everyone was heading in the same direction and all she had to do was follow the masses.

20 minutes after leaving her friends, she'd managed to procure a spot at the very front of the crowd. Her small stature had made it easy to get through the mob without being noticed. She was so close, that if it weren't for the barriers put up to protect the band from screaming fans, she'd have been able to touch the stage.

She only had to wait a few more minutes before the band ran out onto the stage and the crowd roared in excitement.

During the beginning of the concert, she managed to make friends with the people standing near her (they loved her pretty hair and outfit and she loved that they noticed her hair and outfit. They became friends instantly,) and spent the next 45 minutes dancing and singing at the top of her lungs.

Maybe Vanstock wasn't so bad after all.

By the time the set was over, and the crowd was clearing out, Jackie's high on life (and alcohol) was wearing off. Her stupid new friends had disappeared somewhere, and Jackie couldn't for the life of her remember what direction she had come from.

She picked a random path and headed off into the camping area of the festival. It was now fully dark, and the only light around came from small camp fires, other people's torches and the occasional van's headlights.

She'd been wandering around aimlessly in the camp grounds for who knows how long, refusing to admit to herself that she was completely and utterly lost, when someone approached her.

"Hey gorgeous, you lost?"

He was a tall boy, a few years older than her with a familiar look about him. She had to squint to see through the darkness but as he stepped closer towards her, she recognized him as Michael's older brother Casey.

He had ridden up to Vanstock in Michael's van and then left the moment they had arrived at the festival, so she hadn't had a chance to properly introduce herself to him. She wondered if he recalled her now as his hand reached out to grab hold of her wrist.

"Um, I'm just heading back to the others," she muttered.

Looking around she noticed that the two of them were alone, wedged between a tent and the back of someone's van, blocking them from view of anyone else around.

"I can help you look for them," Casey continued, sliding his hand up her arm and leaning closer into her.

She had no idea if he remembered who she was, but all she knew was he was making her extremely uncomfortable and she didn't want to be around him another second.

"That's okay… I know where I'm going," a lie, but he didn't need to know that. Besides, she'd rather look for her friends on her own then with him.

Casey's grip tightened around her wrist and she could suddenly smell the stench of alcohol on his breath.

"Why don't you hang out with me for a little while?" He asked her, taking another step closer to her. Obviously, he'd forgotten all about the girlfriend he had arrived here with.

Jackie shook her head and backed away. "I have to find my friends… I've been gone for a while and they're probably worried about me."

If they'd even realized that she had left.

"Come on now… You're a big girl, you can do what you want."

"I want to go find my friends," Jackie responded in an angry tone, trying to shake his hand off of her but he wasn't budging. "Let go of me now," she said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, relax," he dropped his hold on her and held both hands up in surrender. "I like a feisty woman… I'll see you around Burkhart," he chuckled, and Jackie frowned as she watched him walk away.

His name-drop had proved that he did in fact, know who she was, which only made the situation that more unnerving and suddenly Michael Kelso's harmless pick up lines didn't seem so bad in comparison.

She shook her head, turning in the opposite direction that Casey had left in and began the search for her friends once again. As she stepped around yet another van, she spotted a familiar curly haired figure walking off in the distance, hand-in-hand with a shorter unrecognizable girl.

"Steven!"

So... I had initially planned for Vanstock to be 2 chapters long but as I was writing them out, the story just kind of took on a life of it's own and now there's going to be about 3-4 chapters worth of juicy Vanstock related content.

I know this chapter was a tad on the shorter side and had little to no Jackie/Hyde moments but don't worry, next weeks chapter will definitely make up for it. We'll get to see what Hyde's been up to all day, the return of an old friend and the aftermath of Eric and Donna's fight.

Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what your favorite parts of this latest chapter were!