Chapter 9.

Vanstock day 2.

"Eric, what the hell is a matter with you?!"

The sound of Donna's angry voice rang through the campsite early the next morning and began to stir Jackie awake. The sleeping bag she was sharing with Hyde had slipped down her body in the middle of the night and she could feel the cold morning air against her skin.

As the initial grogginess of waking up began to wear off, she noticed her head was no longer resting on the pillow but something hard instead and she could feel someone's even breaths, tickling the hair at the top of her head.

She opened her eyes to find herself face to face with Steven, only inches separating the two. One of his arms had found its way underneath her head and she was now using it like a pillow, while the other lay casually over her waist, keeping her warm and holding her to him.

She had no clue how they had ended up cuddled together like they currently were, she remembered falling asleep facing away from him, while he'd been laying on his back. This was definitely an interesting development, but she knew that she had to act quickly and move before he woke up and things got awkward as hell.

"Donna, I'm sorry!"

Eric's apology ruined her plans, he'd yelled at Donna and someone had stormed right passed them, startling Hyde awake before she had the chance to roll away. His eyes sprung open, pouring into her own and they both froze.

"Morning," Jackie mumbled a second later. She was trying to play it cool but she could feel her face flushing red from embarrassment.

Hyde furrowed his brow, looking back at her with a confused expression. He moved his arm back from around her waist. "Morning," his voice was quiet but rough. "Uh, can I have my arm back?" He added, referencing the arm that remained trapped underneath her head.

Jackie shot up quickly. "Oh my God, you're so embarrassing," she whispered quietly to herself as Hyde sat up beside her.

"What?" He asked, and she turned to him, he was shaking the pins and needles out of the arm that she'd been using as a pillow for who knows how long.

"Nothing," she squeaked and not wanting to embarrass herself any further, hopped out of the sleeping bag and stood up.

Steven was opening and closing his fist, trying to get feeling back into the arm/hand that was probably completely numb because of her. "Sorry, for you know-" he began as he stood up after her.

She brushed him off quickly. "It's cool" and she wasn't lying, there were worse things to wake up to then a rugged (sexy) bad-boy spooning you. Namely, Michael Kelso's boner pressing into your leg, which could have been her reality if Steven hadn't agreed to share his sleeping bag with her.

Hyde just shrugged back at her, before running a hand down his face. "Have you seen my shades?" He asked, looking on the ground around them. Apparently, he couldn't even last 5 minutes in broad daylight without them.

She spotted them hanging out from under their shared pillow and bent to pick them up.

"Here," she handed them to him and watched as he slipped them over his eyes.

It was in that moment when Donna came strolling over to them. "Look who's finally awake," she flashed a knowing smile at the two.

"Guess we slept in, huh?" Hyde responded before raising his arms up in a stretching manner, his top lifted and Jackie was treated to a quick glimpse of his toned stomach and the small patch of hair that trailed low below his waistband. Her breath caught in her throat and she quickly looked away.

"You two just looked so comfortable, I didn't want to wake you up," Donna smirked and flashed them a look that let them know she had seen them cuddled up together.

Jackie felt herself blush again, but noticed Steven didn't seem phased at all- although his shades really helped in concealing his emotions, no wonder he wore them constantly.

"Don't worry, I don't think anyone else saw. Kelso and Fez have been gone all morning and Eric's currently laying, hung-over in the van… Oh and he's wearing one of your dresses, Jackie."

"What?"

Hyde began to laugh from beside her and she turned to shoot daggers at him. "Steven. Why is Eric wearing my dress?" She questioned him, placing her hands on her hips. She just knew he had to of had something to do with it. Eric hadn't been wearing her dress when they got to camp last night, he must have put him in the outfit while Jackie was looking for her sleeping bag.

Hyde grinned. "Cause it's a great burn, man."

Kelso and Fez came walking over to the two, interrupting Steven and successfully getting him off the hook. For now, at least.

"Hey Jackie," Kelso began. "How did you sleep? Bet it was pretty cold out here without me."

She rolled her eyes but refused to look at the boy, still pissed at him from the night before. "Michael, what did I tell you last night?" She questioned in a stern tone.

"Uh, that I'm on a time out and can't come near you for 24 hours."

"So why are you talking to me?"

"Damn Jackie, fine!" He groaned but instead of walking away like she had hoped he would, he just turned to face Hyde and Fez. "What's her problem?" She heard him whisper to one of the others.

Steven's voice answered. "You hid her sleeping bag, man."

"So? I was gonna give it back… I mean, after I found the person who stole it and kicked their ass…"

"You're gonna kick your own ass?" Hyde questioned.

"No-"

Jackie didn't think she could take anymore of Kelso's crap, but Fez snapped first surprising her as well as the rest of the gang.

"Who cares?!" He cried, and everyone looked at him with shocked expressions. "Oh, I am sorry but Fez is not having a good time at Vanstock this year… I just want to go home," he expressed sadly, and Jackie felt for him. She wasn't sure what had gone down yesterday when he had went looking for Laurie, but judging by his mood, whatever happened hadn't been good.

Jackie was just happy he had brought up leaving early. She was done with Vanstock and just wanted to go back to the Forman's house, to her lovely room with her comfortable bed where Mrs. Forman was waiting to bake her cookies and do her hair (well she hoped so, at least).

"I'm fine leaving early. And Eric's going to spend the next 8 hours passed out in a frilly dress anyway so I'm going to say he's fine with leaving early too," Donna responded bitterly, clearly still not happy with her fiancé's recent behavior.

"Well I didn't get laid or hook up with Jackie like I'd planned… But I got that hot girl Brooke's number so at least this trip wasn't a total waste," Kelso added with a big grin. She wasn't happy with the part about herself, but at least he'd voted for going home early as well.

Everyone turned to face Jackie and she raised her hand in the air. "I didn't even want to come. I'm only here because I didn't want to spend the weekend alone like a loser," she pointed out, making it clear what side she was on.

The group all turned to Steven, Jackie knew he probably wanted to stay and watch some of the bands he liked perform but he was outnumbered so anything he said was a moot point anyway.

"Fine... at least we won't get stuck in traffic on the way out, but Fez is riding back with Kelso. He sang David Bowie all the way up here, and if I gotta listen to another 2 hours of 'Be My Wife' I can't be held responsible for what I'll do."

"Awesome, Fez you will ride with us in the van and everyone gets what they want! Now, let's blow this popsicle stand," Donna cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "Oh, and Hyde, you can take Eric. If I have to spend 2 hours staring at his annoying, trip ruining face. I can't be held responsible for what I'll do."

"Sounds like a good trade to me," Hyde agreed, and Jackie tried not to let it show on her face just how annoyed she was that it wouldn't be just her alone with him for the 2-hour car trip. She also didn't want to have to deal with a hungover Eric, especially not one that was still currently stretching out her favorite dress.

"Let's pack everything up so we can get out of here," Donna suggested to the group and the boys nodded, breaking off into different areas of their campsite to clear everything up.

10 minutes later, Jackie had given up on pretending to help pack and was finishing freshening up in one of the bathroom cubicles. It was a dingy little portable bathroom, but it included two sinks and a medium sized mirror, which was all she could ask for from a place like this.

She was spraying her hair with dry shampoo as a blonde girl in a skimpy tank top and short shorts combo came through the door and took up space at the sink next to her. Jackie couldn't quite place it, but she knew she had met the girl before, or at least seen her somewhere previously.

She was trying to figure out how she knew her, when the blonde girl met her eyes through the dirty mirror. "Can I help you?" She questioned with a snooty expression.

Back in New-York, Jackie would have met her back with the same hostility, but since her life had taken a turn for the worse and she'd lost everything she had, she'd been trying to be a nicer person. So, she sucked in her pride and smiled back at the blonde.

"Sorry, I just…" She searched for anything to compliment the girl about. Definitely not her outfit, Jackie would never wear something so skimpy and definitely not her makeup, it was applied way too heavily.

"Really like your hair," she settled on. The familiar blonde had perfect Farrah Fawcett styled curls and, in this place, without a shower or hair dryer in sight, that was definitely something to be proud of.

"Oh. Thanks," the girl responded, looking a little taken back by Jackie's compliment. "You know. You look familiar. What's your name?"

"I'm Jackie Burkhart."

She watched as the blonde's face fell, turning from a relaxed look to an angry one. "Wait a minute. Jackie Burkhart? As in the orphan who's currently living in my bedroom, Jackie Burkhart?"

It took Jackie a moment before she caught on, when she realized the girl standing in front of her had to be non-other than Laurie Forman, she gasped. "Oh my God. You're Laurie Forman!"

"Duh," she flipped her hair and Jackie frowned. So, this was the girl who had put her friend Fez through so much.

"You know. You could be nicer to Fez. He is your husband," Jackie started, she realized their unique situation had zero to do with her, but she just couldn't help herself. She had always been the type of girl who stood up for her friends, even though historically none of her friends had ever returned the favor.

Laurie scoffed, turning her attention back to herself in the mirror. "I am nice to him, I did him a favor when I married him. Without me, that little weirdo would be back on whatever island he came from, using a stick to dig ants out of the ground like a monkey."

Jackie could virtually hear Kelso shouting the word 'Burn!' in her head. But she had more loyalty than that.

"You at least owe him an explanation for why you ran away... Not to mention your parents."

Laurie turned on her. "Do not start with me. You aren't their daughter, I am and what I choose to tell and not tell my parents has nothing to do with you," she poked her finger into Jackie's chest hard, causing her to take a step backwards.

She had to fight the urge to push her back. Jackie had been raised to behave like a lady and ladies didn't fight skanks in public bathrooms, no matter how much she wanted to punch Laurie in her dump face.

"You know, your brother told me you were a bitch, but he also thinks I'm the devil so I didn't believe him… Until now," Jackie responded coldly, she wasn't going to fight her but that didn't mean she was just going to back down. "No wonder your parents don't seem to care that you've left."

Laurie laughed back, infuriating Jackie further. "Nice try little girl… I wouldn't be getting too comfortable in my old room if I were you. Cause you better believe I'll be taking it back when I come home. I hope you'll be comfortable on the couch in the basement, that's where we keep all the strays."

Jackie huffed, she hated that word, she hated that she'd also brought Steven into their fight and she hated her. She was sure Laurie was bluffing, but the thought of her returning to Point Place and having to live under the same roof as her, was almost too much to bare.

"See you around, loser," the blonde smiled and walked out before Jackie had a chance to retaliate.

Oh, she was so ready to get the hell out of here.

Eric's 18th birthday.
The Forman's living room.

Eric's 18th birthday hadn't been going well, Donna and himself hadn't made up since their fight at Vanstock the day before and so he had spent most of his birthday trying to fix things. But of course, he had only managed to make things worse.

He couldn't help himself, she was leaving for college tonight and like Kelso, Hyde and Fez had pointed out the night before, she was probably going to find someone much better and forget all about him. So, naturally he'd ruined everything, he hadn't meant to but somehow, he'd thrown a toaster and pissed her off in the process.

Which was what had led him to the position he was currently in. As he entered into his living room to find his friends and his fiancée hanging out together, he was prepared to grovel for her forgiveness if necessary.

Donna was sandwiched between Fez and Kelso on the couch, Hyde was seated in Red's green arm-chair and Jackie was across the other end of the room on the piano bench. He didn't care that they were all there, he was big enough to admit to his mistakes in front of them. Even if Jackie would probably use his vulnerability to burn him later on.

"Donna. I'm so sorry I was such a jerk earlier. It's your last day, it's my birthday. And I just want to spend it together," he apologized as Donna got up from the couch to stand in front of him.

"Eric it's okay, I know you're just worried about us being apart from each other. You're sad I'm leaving and I'm sad too," Donna accepted his apology and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Eric felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders, glad that he could spend what was left of his birthday and her last day, together without fighting.

"Hey, don't take him back. He threw a toaster!" Fez cried out, breaking up the moment between Eric and Donna.

Eric ignored his foreign friend and wrapped an arm around Donna's waist. "I'm just glad we made up before the party," he pointed out with a smile. It would have been a little hard to celebrate his birthday knowing how mad Donna was at him.

His friends groaned loudly back at him.

"Man, we keep telling you there is no party. It's like you're deaf," Hyde told Eric in a frustrated tone.

"Okay this is getting old," Eric muttered, turning to face Hyde. "Am I getting a surprise party or not?"

They had been telling him all day there was no party, but Eric was convinced they were just trying to throw him off. His mom always threw him a surprise party for his birthday, why would this year be any different?

"No!" Donna, Jackie, Hyde, Kelso and Fez all yelled at once.

"Are you stupid?" Jackie added quickly after and Eric turned to glare at her from across the room.

And to make things even worse, Kelso stood up and turned to face him. "Eric, there is no party!" He yelled as he made movements with his hands as if using sign language to communicate with him.

Eric wasn't sure whether the sign language was real, but knowing Kelso, he had a pretty good idea.

"This blow's!" Eric stated as Kelso took his seat back down on the couch. "It's my 18th birthday. Mom didn't even make me my special birthday breakfast this morning and now you're telling me that there's no party?"

"Forman. What's your problem man?" Hyde spoke up, getting Eric's attention. "We got you a present."

Eric nodded, they had surprised him with a case of beer the night before but after getting black out drunk at Vanstock, he hadn't felt like drinking any more. "Yeah, which you guys drank last night," he reminded them.

"We all went to Vanstock for you," Fez pointed out.

"Right, like I can remember anything from Vanstock," Eric responded, he'd gotten so drunk that all he could remember were blurs of Donna yelling at him and then vomit… So much vomit.

"Well, who's fault is that?" Jackie said, never missing an opportunity to bug him.

"Eric, we still have like 5 hours left of your birthday. We can go celebrate it together… Alone, In my room… If you know what I mean," Donna pulled his attention back to her and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively with a smile.

"That means they're gonna do it," Kelso stated the obvious with a chuckle, effectively ruining the moment for Eric.

A second later, his parents made their appearance and came walking down the stairs hand-in-hand. It was the first time he'd seen them in a few hours and he wondered what the hell the two had been up to for so long. His mom hadn't even made dinner that night, she'd gotten home from work and disappeared straight away, forcing Eric, Hyde and Jackie to come up with their own dinner plans.

It was a lucky thing Hyde knew how to cook. Eric could reheat a damn good eggo, but other than that he was utterly useless in the kitchen, and turns out, the same went for Jackie.

"Oh Jackie, honey," Kitty began as she reached the bottom of the stairs, fussing over the tiny brunette. "Are you all ready for your first day at school tomorrow?" She wondered, turning all of her attention to the little devil by the piano.

"I think so Mrs. Forman. I just need to choose one of the three outfits that I've picked out. It's so hard, I like them all. It's just really important that I choose the right one. I mean, everyone knows that kids instantly judge you based off what you're wearing."

Jackie rambled on, her shallow side more evident than ever as she went on about her outfit. Eric knew she didn't have to worry, she'd fall in with the popular crowd just like she wanted but he wasn't going to tell her that.

Besides, today was his birthday and his parents should be focusing on him not her.

"Do you have money for lunch?" Kitty questioned.

"Uh hello?!" Eric snapped and walked over to his parents. "Who cares about her first day of school. It's my birthday and there's no party!" He waved his arms around the living room, as if to prove his point. "How can there be no party mom? What's more important than your sons 18th freaking birthday?"

He watched as his parents blinked back at him, one with a guilty expression on her face, the other with a look of annoyance.

"Honey-"

"Oh, for God sakes Kitty."

"Come on mom, I want to know," Eric demanded, and a silence filled the room as his friends watched the scene play out in front of them.

"Okay fine," Kitty paused, looking from Red to her son. "For the first time since his heart-attack, your father and I were making love."

All of the teenagers in the room gasped and looked away, Eric felt his stomach turn at the thought of his parents getting it on. He quickly turned and walked back into his fiancée's embrace.

He shouldn't have asked, oh God why did he ask?

This was almost as bad as that time he had walked in on them doing it a few years ago. And he was still getting over that.

"Sexy," Fez's voice rang through the living room and Eric looked at him with a grossed-out expression.

"Okay. I'm going to bed," Jackie jumped up from the piano bench and practically bolted up the stairs.

"Eric let's go too," Donna pulled at his hand, trying to get him to leave the living room.

He didn't need to be told twice. Even Hyde and Kelso were standing up to leave the room.

"Well look at that Kitty. Now we know how to get rid of them," Red pointed out with amusement just as Eric left with Donna.

He wasn't sure he'd be able to get this disturbing new information out of his head for a while, but some alone time with Donna might help to take his mind off it.

Later that night.
The Forman's basement.

Hyde was returning home after a long night. Eric's birthday had officially ended hours ago but the celebration of Donna's decision to stay in Point Place had continued on into the early hours and it was past 3 in the morning when he entered through the external stairwell into the basement.

What he hadn't expected to find was the basement TV on, with a sleeping Jackie cuddled up on the couch in plaid pajama pants and what looked like his black crew neck sweater. He had no idea why she was sleeping down here but she sure looked cute in his baggy clothes, no makeup on and hair up in a messy ponytail.

He'd been trying to keep his distance since Vanstock, waking up with her in his arms like that had stirred up a strange feeling inside of him that he wasn't ready to face, yet. But he couldn't lie, it had felt nice being so close to her, her small frame had fit perfectly against his as if they were made for each-other.

But those kinds of thoughts had no business inside Hyde's head and only managed to freak him out further. So, his plan had been to stay away from Jackie until they subsided. Staying away was hard to do when the person you were trying to avoid was sleeping on your couch in your favorite sweater.

And wasn't it her first day of school tomorrow?

If he let her stay here, Red or Mrs. Forman were bound to notice in the morning when she came to breakfast from the basement instead of the upstairs floor. That would only lead to questions that he definitely didn't want to answer.

He needed to wake her up.

Hyde walked over to her and bent down in front of her, Jackie looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, it was a shame he had to wake her. He reached a hand out to her shoulder, shaking her lightly until her eyes opened.

"Hey."

Jackie smiled tiredly at him before slowly sitting up. "Hey," she repeated, taking a moment to look around the dark room that was lit only by the TV which remained on in the background. "What time is it?"

Hyde looked down at his watch. "Just after 3… What are you doing down here?" He asked, watching as she crossed her legs underneath her. He moved so that he was sitting next to her on the couch.

"I couldn't sleep, I came down here to hang out, but no one was around… So, I thought I'd wait till you got back, and I guess I must have fallen asleep," Jackie explained.

She'd been waiting for him while he'd been getting Fez drunk and hanging out at bus stops. If he knew she were waiting here for him, he probably would have thrown the whole 'staying away' from her plan out the window and returned home much earlier.

But he'd never wanted to ditch his friends to hang out with any other chick before. What was so different about her?

The explanation she'd given had answered most of his questions about her late-night appearance, except one and he eyed his sweater on her body, wondering how it ended up there and if it would smell like her shampoo once she took it off.

Jackie must have noticed, because she started fiddling with the sleeves. "Oh… It was cold down here, and this was sitting on the couch. I didn't think you'd mind. Sorry," she mumbled, as if embarrassed under his gaze.

He wondered why she seemed to get so nervous around him, when he had seen how confident she could be around others. Yet when they were alone together he would regularly catch her blushing or biting her lip.

Was she feeling whatever it was he was feeling? Could this chick actually be into a burnout like him?

"It's fine," Hyde assured her.

It shouldn't have been, he never let anyone else wear his clothes before, that was something a boyfriend would do, and he wasn't her boyfriend. But, he also wasn't going to let her freeze and plus… She looked pretty fuckin' hot in it, made him think about how good she'd look in one of his Zeppelin shirts.

"Oh, cool." Jackie moved closer to him on the couch and warning bells were ringing in his head.

He'd told himself he was going to stay away and there was a reason for that. Being around her was bad for his health, it turned him into someone like Forman, all mushy and soft. And that was dangerous for more reason's then just the destruction of his reputation.

"So, where were you all night?" Her quiet voice reached through his thoughts and pulled him back to reality. She looked nervous again, probably thought he had been out all night with some other chick. Truth was, he hadn't been interested in other girls for a while now.

Even when he was getting ready to sleep with Chrissy, he hadn't really cared whether it happened or not and he'd been thinking about her anyway. When she showed up out of nowhere and interrupted his impending hook up, he hadn't cared at all. In fact, he'd actually been glad to see her.

"With the guys," he told her, scratching at his beard. They were making direct eye contact, he'd taken off his shades when he was driving home from the bus stop and had forgotten to put them back on. He felt exposed, vulnerable, under her intense gaze and wished he hadn't left them back in the Camino.

Jackie bobbed her head up and down, he wasn't sure if she was buying what he was selling but she didn't question him any further. A strand of hair had fallen out from her pony tail and was dangling down her face, he had to stop himself from reaching out and tucking it behind her ear, just another Forman-y act he needed to suppress and kill.

"Right," she wet her lips with her tongue, his eyes zero in on her mouth and his dick throbbed in response.

No, no, no.

"Jackie," he swallowed hard, trying to stop his throat from drying up.

"Steven," she answered in what he thought was probably the sexiest way someone had ever said his name. She moved even closer to him. He watched as her hand reached out, landing high on his thigh and his pants grew tighter.

Think about baseball. Baseball and… Bob Pinciotti.

She was looking at him like he'd seen Mrs. Forman look at Red, or Donna look at Forman and he panicked. Because this couldn't happen, she couldn't like him, and he definitely couldn't like someone like her. She was a cheerleader, and although he'd spent a lot of time inside cheerleaders before, that was different. They had just wanted to slum it with him.

Girls like her never thought of him as a viable option for anything beyond sex and there was a reason for that.

It would just end badly. Very badly.

Plus, she was a virgin and if they slept together, she'd regret giving it up to someone like him.

And they'd still have to live in the same house after he fucked it up.

She was closing her eyes and leaning towards him, her face inches away from his. His gaze lingered on her lips, she was puckering them in anticipation and he was beyond tempted to just throw caution to the wind. But no matter how badly he wanted to kiss her and wrap his arms around her, he knew he had to shut this down.

This couldn't happen. He wouldn't let this happen.

Hyde stood up from the couch quickly, forcing her hand to drop from his thigh. He turned so that he could readjust his pants to hide his hard-on from her.

"Don't you have school tomorrow, man?" He questioned as he turned back to face her.

She was looking up at him with a confused expression, he thought she probably wasn't used to being rejected and it made sense… Why would she? She was freaking gorgeous. Only someone as dumb as him would turn her down.

And fuck was he dumb because he was pretty sure he could have her. Kiss her, right there. Maybe even go further than that.

But this was about more then attraction, giving into his urges and allowing himself to touch her, kiss her, like he wanted to would just fuck everything up.

Soon she'd see he wasn't worth her time. He just needed to stick to his plan and keep his distance for a while.

"Yeah… I do," Jackie nodded, standing up from the couch herself. "I should go to bed…" he watched as she tugged his sweatshirt up and over her head, giving him a glimpse of her flat stomach as her tank top shifted up. He averted his eyes but the memory was already imprinted in his mind.

"Here," she threw the sweatshirt at him and he caught it.

She was clearly pissed at him, but he was doing her a favor. She might not see that now, but soon she would.

"Night," he muttered as she stormed out of the room, up the interior stairs and out of the basement without another word.

"Great." Now she was mad at him, his sweatshirt smelled like her shampoo (freaking coconuts man) and his dick was still hard.

He threw the sweatshirt into the washing machine and headed to bed. Tomorrow he had to put his plan in motion, but tonight he'd fall asleep thinking of her.

Thank you for reading!

Next weeks chapter explores how Hyde's 'avoid Jackie' plan works out for him (*Spoiler alert* not well), as well as Jackie's first day at Point Place high school and the first ever hub scene in this fic!

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