Chapter 11.

10:50pm.
The Woods by the Water Tower.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone." Jackie's friend Troye whispered to her.

The party was being held in a clearing in the woods, there was a bonfire lit in the middle and cars lined the outskirts of the clearing, one had its doors open so that everyone could hear the music playing from inside. Keg's were lined up along the far-right side, 80% of the party occupants were already wasted but there was still enough beer to keep the night going 10-fold.

The clearing was full of teenagers from their high school, it looked like the whole senior and junior year were in attendance. All the girls from the cheer-leading squad had made it, yet Jackie had found herself spending most of the night with Troye.

They'd been chatting about all the kids in their year when Troye's secret had come out.

"I won't say anything. Although I do think you should just come out. Who wants to live their life with a secret as huge as this? When I lived in New-York, I had like a ton of gay friends and they were all out of the closet."

An embellishment, she had known one other gay man in her life and he was in his forties, but he was out and proud and a lot happier for it. She just wanted her friend to be happy. Secret's crushed people, she knew that first hand from her father's situation.

"Except this isn't New-York. This is Point Place, Wisconsin. If I came out, my parents would kick me out of the house and I'd lose my spot on the football team. The scholarship, my friendships… Everything would be ruined."

Jackie took a sip of beer out of the red cup in her hand, she hated the taste but there was nothing else supplied so she'd have to make due. She'd had the same drink for an hour now, choosing to take her time instead of downing every cup in 5 seconds flat like half of the other girls at the party.

Plus, her and Troye's conversation had taken up a lot of time and so it should. When she'd made an offhanded comment about Justin Roberts good looks, she never expected Troye to agree and then continue to spill his life story to her.

But she was glad he did, and she felt a lot closer to him now. She just wished people weren't so close minded.

"I think that is so wrong in so many ways. But I get it and don't worry I'll keep my mouth shut," she promised to him and Troye sighed in relief.

She was surprised he'd even doubt her for a second, like she would spread a rumor that life damaging… Well maybe last year she could have, but not this year, not after everything she'd been through.

"Thanks Jackie… I actually feel a lot better being able to talk about this with someone now. No-One else at school knows." His voice was low as he ran a hand through his blonde hair.

When she'd met him earlier in the week, she had thought how the old Jackie would have probably found him incredibly attractive. With his blonde hair, bright blue eyes and modelesque stature, but her tastes had recently changed thanks to a certain boy who slept two floors below her on an army cot.

Even though that boy was currently doing everything in his power to avoid her.

"Oh, I'd love to talk boys with you. That's like, one of my favorite subjects," she pointed out with a laugh and Troye loosened up. "It's perfect actually, because I don't think I can trust any of the girls on the cheer squad."

Troye nodded his head "I don't blame you there," he said and turned to scan the crowd around them, every-one in their vicinity looked a lot drunker then the two of them currently were and there was a group of girls to their left who were currently scream singing the lyrics to 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' by Rod Stewart.

"This party is getting out of control… Everyone's hammered!" He exclaimed as he waved a hand over at the group of girls, none noticed but one girl turned away abruptly to vomit up her dinner onto the grass.

"Wow… Okay, we're way too sober for this," Troye turned back to Jackie.

She cringed and moved a couple steps away from the group, taking Troye with her. "I know, but I just don't really feel like drinking tonight. It's kind of hard to relax and have a good time with Julie constantly sending me bad looks from across the party."

She nodded her head in the direction she'd last seen the cheer-leading captain and they spotted her instantly. Julie was currently talking with one of the guys on the football team, directly across from them. The conversation must not have been that interesting, because a moment later she turned to glare at Jackie, proving her point to Troye. That, or the girl had eyes in the back of her head, which wouldn't surprise Jackie either.

"She really hates you," Troy stated the obvious before gasping suddenly and grabbing hold of Jackie's wrist. "There's Justin Roberts, God he's gorgeous," he pointed out the quarter back, who was by the Kegs getting himself another drink.

Justin Roberts was your typical good-looking jock. Not quite 6 feet but broad as hell with the arms of a line-backer, dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a perfect smile.

Jackie tilted her head to get a better look. "Yeah I mean, he's-"

Troye's gasp cut her off. "Oh no, he saw us looking!" He turned in the opposite direction as if that would cover up the fact that they'd been caught staring blankly over at him.

Jackie kept looking, Justin had not only seen them staring at him, but he was coming over towards them as well. "Don't look now, but he's coming over," she whispered, with an amused smile on her face.

Troye straightened up and turned back around right as Justin approached them.

"Hey, Troye man!" Clearly, Justin was wasted. He clapped a strong hand over Troye's back. "Where've you been all night?" He asked, swaying as he spoke and spilling beer out of his red cup onto the ground.

Troye looked over at Jackie, "just hanging out with Jackie."

Justin chuckled and eyed the couple, as if there was something going on between the two that was much more scandalous than in reality.

"I get it man, right on!" He once again clapped his hand over Troye's back. "Hey, look man, when you're done with her… You gotta come play this game with the guys, it's called quarters, gets you totally fucked up."

Troye eyed Jackie and she nodded her head to let him know she was fine with him leaving her. "I'm down let's just go now… I'll see you later Jackie," Troy said his goodbyes and the two left a moment later.

As her only real friend at the school walked away from her, she contemplated whether of not she should just go home. She knew she didn't want to hang out with a bunch of drunk, bitchy cheerleaders and that it might be time to call it a night.

It was getting late and clearly, Steven wasn't going to show. Earlier she'd thought there was a possibility that he'd make an appearance even though he'd said he wasn't interested in high school parties, but it looked like she was wrong once again.

Now that Troye had ditched her to play drinking games with Justin Roberts, there was really no point her staying any longer. Except Heather, a girl from the cheer-leading squad, had been her ride to the party and Jackie hadn't seen her in hours. She'd have to wait until Heather showed her face again, before she could leave.

Until then, she was stuck.

10 minutes later, Jackie was standing by the kegs - refilling her drink, when she was approached by a familiar face.

"Hey there, pretty lady."

She turned around to come face to face with Casey Kelso. Whom she hadn't seen since Vanstock, where he had hit on her even though he'd been with his girlfriend at the time. It didn't surprise her to see him at a high school party, if she knew anything about Kelso's it was that they loved a party, especially one with younger women.

"My name's Jackie, actually," she pointed out, folding her arms across her chest and preparing herself for the uncomfortable conversation that was about to follow.

"Oh, I remember... How's about I get you a drink?"

She rolled her eyes and raised the cup she had just filled up. "I already have one."

"Well, guess I'll just have to get you the next one."

11:05pm.
The Water-Tower.

Hyde, Fez and Kelso arrived at the water tower to the sounds of loud music and drunk teenagers, so naturally their plans to deface a town landmark changed quickly to crashing the high school party.

Hyde had pretended to be just as shocked as the other boys, but it was Kelso who suggested the change in plans first. With Fez eagerly agreeing, Hyde found himself being dragged towards the party, moments after arriving at the water tower.

As they walked through the woods, Hyde thought of his plan of attack. Somehow, he'd lose Kelso and Fez (which shouldn't be hard, as they normally disappeared quickly at parties) and look for Jackie.

After that… Well, winging it had always worked out for him before.

"Alright!" Kelso called out as they reached the clearing in the woods where the party was currently happening. "It's a high school party! And look, cheerleaders!" He exclaimed excitedly as he pointed at a group of uniform clad cheerleaders.

Hyde turned to look at where his friend had pointed, but Jackie wasn't among the group of girls. He looked around the party quickly, scanning the area.

"And look, they got beer!" He grinned and pointed at the row of kegs that he spotted at the other side of the party.

There were so many people in such a small space, finding Jackie would be difficult. It was beginning to look like staging a casual run in might be harder then he'd initially thought, but at-least if he couldn't find her, he could score some free beer.

"Alright, lets spread out. If we aren't together, there's a better chance that you two will lay a chick. Cause let's be honest, if we stick together they're all just gonna want me." Kelso informed the group, leering at the same group of cheerleaders as he spoke.

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Whatever man," he said and watched as Kelso ran off. When he turned to look at Fez, he noticed a concerned expression on his face.

"What's up, Fez?"

"I did not think it would be a high school party…" Fez mumbled, his eyes darting around the party widely. "It is not a good idea for me to be here… The football team and I are currently in a disagreement."

Hyde frowned, what the hell could Fez and the entire football team have to disagree about?

"They think it is funny to chase me around and throw things at me… I disagree," Fez informed Hyde. "I need to stay out of their sight to save my family jewels."

He watched as Fez ran off, disappearing into the crowd and away from the group of footballers that were situated by their left side.

Well, getting rid of Kelso and Fez had been easier then he thought. But he made a mental note to look out for his little buddy. Back in high school he used to fight the footballers if he saw them picking on Fez, he'd do it again tonight too and he'd be happy about it.

But watching out for Fez was his side mission, his main mission now was to locate Jackie.

He just wanted to make sure she was alright. There were a lot of people here and most of them looked loaded. Endless possibilities of where she was or what could be happening to her, ran through his mind and none of them were good.

Once he saw that she was fine, he'd be able to relax.

And surprisingly, it didn't take long before he spotted her. He'd done half a loop of the party, elbowing his way through the crowd when he found her. She was near the edge of the clearing by the row of kegs, still dressed in her uniform, with a red cup in one hand, talking to…

Talking to Casey Kelso?

What the hell was that creep doing here?

He briefly contemplated waiting until they were done talking before he approached her, but Kelso's older brother was standing just a bit too close to Jackie and even from afar, Hyde could see the uncomfortable look on her face.

He knew Casey Kelso, and the guy was bad news.

Making up his mind, he pushed through a group of drunken girls to make his way over to them.

When he reached the two, he moved so that he was standing next to but slightly in front of Jackie, forcing a space between her and Casey.

"Steven," Jackie said, her tone full of surprise. "What are you doing here?" She questioned, and he looked over at her just in time to catch the relieved expression on her face. She was clearly happy to see him but the same couldn't be said for Casey, who was looking at him with malice.

He was sizing him up, but Hyde wasn't interested in this game. Casey would have to look somewhere else for his next victim cause' he wasn't about to let him mess with Jackie. He'd seen how this guy treated women and there was no way he was getting anywhere near her.

"Yeah, Hyde… What are you doing at a high school party?" Casey asked, his tone full of spite as he completely missed the irony in his own question.

Wasn't surprising, the guy was a Kelso after all.

"I could ask you the same thing," Hyde pointed out anyway.

"Came for the hot chicks," Casey smirked, moving his gaze back to Jackie.

Hyde's jaw twitched with annoyance, he could see Jackie was uncomfortable around this guy and wondered what else Casey had been saying to her before he'd arrived. If he had to guess based of her body language, it was nothing good.

He just needed to keep his anger under control, wouldn't fight Kelso's older brother at a high school party but he did still want to send the guy a message. Make it clear he couldn't mess with her.

"Hey, where's your girlfriend man?"

Casey turns his attention back to Hyde, a blank expression on his face. "Who?"

Hyde rolled his eyes, but Jackie spoke up first.

"I think her name was Jessica."

"Oh, her. Yeah, she's not my girlfriend," Casey laughed it off, but he was delusional if he thought Hyde was going to fall for his bullshit.

"Yeah, she is man," Hyde had spent enough time around the Kelso family to know that Casey had been dating Jessica for at-least 6 months now. The girl deserved better, but that was another conversation entirely.

"I mean, she was my girlfriend. But we broke up last month," Casey spat his sob story and sent Jackie a sad look, but Hyde knew she'd see right through him. All the shit she'd been through recently, she had to be able to pick up on bullshit like a pro by now.

"You were with her last week at Vanstock?" Jackie reminded him.

"No, I wasn't." He shook his head, unwilling to cave.

Hyde could see this going on for a while and knew he had to be straight forward if they were ever going to get rid of him.

"Casey, just get lost. She's not interested."

He stood his ground as Casey took a step closer to him, obviously pissed. But he didn't scare Hyde and if it came down to it, he knew he could take him.

"Why don't you make me?" Casey threatened as he got up in Hyde's face.

"Get out of my face, Casey," Hyde warned him.

Casey was too close now, staring down at Hyde like being a few inches taller would scare him off, but the most it was doing was pissing him off. The guy needed more than height to frightened Hyde into submission.

He told himself he wasn't going to fight the guy, but Casey looked to have different plans and he wanted to get his ass kicked, well then that was on him.

But before Casey had the chance to respond or do something he'd later regret, Jackie was stepping in-between the two of them. She pushed both of them apart and turned to face Hyde, grabbing hold of both his wrists.

"Steven, I'm thirsty," she said quickly, giving him a pointed look. He saw through her intentions and knew this was less about quenching her thirst and more about getting him away from Casey before things got ugly.

"Let's go get me a refill," she added, pleading with him with her eyes.

He wanted to ditch Casey just as badly as she did, so he didn't need to be told twice. Fighting with one of his best-friend's older brothers probably would have been a bad idea anyway, no matter how bad Hyde wanted to wipe that smug look off his stupid face.

"Yeah, alright Jackie." Hyde nodded, and Jackie pulled on his hand, leading him away from the scene.

"I'll see you round Jackie," Casey called out from behind them as they crossed the party together.

"Is that guy serious?" Hyde questioned, looking back to see Casey Kelso disappearing into the crowd. Probably off to find another underage, helpless girl he could hit on and manipulate with his genetic Kelso charms.

"Just forget about him," Jackie suggested as she led them past the row of kegs and towards a less crowded area where they could talk in private.

She stopped the two of them just outside of the clearing where the party was happening so that they were enshrouded by the cover of surrounding woods.

"Thank you for saving me from that creep but… Why are you here? You told me earlier that there was no way you'd go to a 'lame high school party'," she let go of her hold on his wrist and stood in front of him.

"Kelso and Fez wanted to hang out at the water tower, I came with… Forgot your party was happening here." He lied, winging it like her normally did.

It wasn't like he could tell her the real reason why he'd come to the party, he wasn't ready to have all his cards out on the table just yet. Needed to know how she felt first.

She didn't look like she was buying it, he forgot about her ability to see through his bullshit.

"You want to know what I think?"

"No."

She smiled and continued anyway, "I think you came here to see me."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't." He could tell she was getting ticked off, but he thought she looked cute when she was mad, so he kept it going.

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. Now shut up, you're ruining it," she huffed angrily, and Hyde grinned back at her outburst. "Anyway, I am really glad you decided to show… We can hang out and I can introduce you to all my new friends," she suggested with a big smile on her face, but Hyde couldn't think of anything worse then hanging out with a bunch of cheerleaders.

Besides, he'd hooked up with half the cheer-squad in his last year of high-school so the chances of an awkward encounter where extremely high and he didn't want Jackie finding out about his promiscuous past with her team-mates.

He'd been using those girls for sex, but then again, they'd been using him too. They had only seen him as an opportunity to slum it and possibly piss their parents off in the process. As a result, he'd behaved like a jerk and had a time limit for hook ups. Focused solely on getting himself off, then going back to pretending the girl didn't exist the week after.

It wasn't exactly a side of him he wanted Jackie knowing about.

He groaned, making his feelings clear. "Jackie, cheerleaders don't like me," he pointed out, hoping it would be enough to change her mind, but he was learning that Jackie was as stubborn as he was.

"That's not true," she shook her head and Hyde looked back at her with confusion. "I'm a cheerleader, and I like you," she lit up, looking up at him with those big eyes and that million-dollar smile he was growing so fond of.

He managed to hold back his own smile, but it was getting pretty hard to hide.

"Yeah well… You're crazy, doesn't count," he joked but Jackie didn't find it so funny.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "So, you really won't come and meet my friends?"

"Uh no. But come on… Let's just hang out alone for a while," he suggested, hoping the prospect of his company would be enough for her.

"Well okay… Let's go somewhere else though, the woods kind of creep me out," Jackie pointed out, looking around them at the thick mass of trees they were currently standing in.

Hyde had an idea of where they could go to get some privacy that would be significantly less creepy.

"Follow me."

He led her through the woods, past the water tower and to the lake where the sounds from the party were almost non-existent.

It was colder out in the open and a thick layer of fog covered the water, masking the normally picturesque view, but at-least they were out of the woods.

There was a small dock nearby that extended out into the middle of the lake. Hyde and Jackie walked to the very end and sat down on the edge, their feet dangling just above the water.

"I didn't know there was a lake here," Jackie commented in a quiet voice, the eerie silence of the still water forcing the two into a strange calmness.

"Came here skinny dipping with the gang once…" He admitted, and Jackie laughed.

"That would have been fun," she sighed, and he couldn't help but think that it would have been a lot better if she had been there with them.

"You ever done it before?" He asked, turning to look at her. She was staring out at the water and avoiding his gaze, but he didn't care. He thought that she'd never looked better then she had in that moment.

The lake supplied a clearing for the moonlight to shine through, breaking apart the fog and lighting up the area so that he could clearly see her even with his shades on. She was beautiful and way out of his league.

"No," she admitted.

Hyde smirked, spotting an opportunity. "Then I know what we're doing tonight…"

Her laughter echoed through the empty space and she turned to smack him over the arm. "Good try but there's no way. I'd probably freeze to death," if she wasn't right, he would have fought her on the subject just to rile her up more.

But it was cold out here and she looked half frozen in her current outfit. Taking off clothes wasn't an option right now.

"So if it was warmer, you'd do it?" He asked, not sure he believed it.

Jackie shrugged. "Maybe."

The thought of her taking off all her clothes and jumping into the lake in front of him was enough to make his heart pound and his dick throb. He had to focus on anything else, anything that wasn't a naked Jackie.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pre-rolled joint that he'd brought along just in-case. He felt like it was necessary in the moment.

"I'll believe that when I see it," he muttered with the joint in his mouth as he fiddled with the lighter in his hand.

Jackie laughed. "You wish," she joked but probably didn't realize that she had never been more right. "Are you going to share?" She asked a moment later after he'd gotten the joint lit and taken a puff or two for himself.

He wordlessly passed the joint to her and watched as she pressed it to her lips and inhaled like a pro. She'd come a long way since her first time in the circle, when he had worried that she was going to cough a lung up.

"Think I'm a bad influence on you," he added as she blew the smoke from her mouth and passed it back to him.

"Yeah… But I kind of like it though," she admitted with a smile and he chuckled. Damn she was fucking charming, no wonder her old man spoiled her, a weaker man wouldn't be able to resist giving her whatever she wanted.

"Your parents would have hated me."

"They did hate you… Mother used to tell me to stay away from you. She thought you had fleas."

Hyde couldn't help but laugh at Pam's prejudice, that woman really had no fucking clue but there was no point in him being mad about shit the was said years ago.

"Your mother's a lunatic," he stated simply, passing her the joint again.

"I know," she agreed quietly and the two fell into a comfortable silence as they finished their own private circle up.

As he was stubbing out what remained of the joint a few minutes later, he felt her move closer to him so that her side was now pressing into his.

"Hey, Steven?" Jackie looked up at him as she began to rub her hands up and down her bare arms. "I'm cold… Could I have your jacket?"

He looked down at his jacket, he'd left the Forman's in one of his concert tee's and thrown on a blue denim jacket on his way out. It didn't supply much heat but if he took it off, then he'd be the cold one.

"Jackie…" He started but she cut him off.

"Please?" She was pouting at him again and he felt like a sucker. That pout of hers had to have some sort of cosmic power, cause for some reason it won him over every damn time.

"Fine," he shrugged off his jacket and handed it to her. If she was going to be wearing anyone else's jacket, he was glad that it was his.

She smiled like she did when she got her way and put both arms through his jacket, pulling it up onto her body and snuggling into it. It was way too big on her, but just like when he'd caught her in the basement wearing his sweater, he thought she looked incredible in it.

"Thank you, Steven."

"Anything for you, doll."

He didn't know where the phrase came from, but he knew that he meant it.

He watched as she reached out and grabbed hold of his hand before pulling his arm up and over her shoulders. She smiled at him like she'd won some sort of prize and he decided then and there that he wasn't going to fight her anymore.

"Okay," he nodded his head and looked back out over the lake. The two sat in a blissful silence and he wasn't sure if it was the effects from the joint they'd shared or if it was just cause' he was with her, but he hadn't felt this good in a long time.

If this is what it would be like to be more then friends with her, then he was finding it hard to see a reason why he should be holding himself back any longer. Sure, there was still the possibility of royally fucking things up, but Hyde was starting to think that it might be worth the risk.

Cause' if just sitting here in silence, with his arm around her and her head resting against his shoulder felt this good. Then kissing her was bound to feel fucking incredible.

Hyde was working up the courage to make a move on Jackie when the sound of running feet against the dock echoed out through the lake and ruined the moment, breaking the two apart. They both turned around to see the culprit behind the noise.

Kelso was running towards them and Hyde had to hold in a groan, wondering why the Kelso family were so against him and Jackie getting together tonight.

"Man, I've been looking for you guys everywhere!" Kelso exclaimed, out of breath as he reached the end of the dock where Hyde and Jackie were waiting for him.

"What's going on?" Jackie questioned with a look of concern on her face. Hyde felt less concern and more annoyance by the presence of his friend.

He could guess what was wrong without even being told. Either Kelso or Fez had gotten themselves in trouble with an angry boyfriend after hitting on their girl. That's how it usually went when they were at a party together.

Hyde was always the one they came running too, then he usually had to deal with the pissed off guy which would result in a fight. Normally, he wouldn't mind beating up on someone who was coming after his friends, but Kelso had interrupted an important moment between Jackie and him, so as far as he was concerned, he could deal with whatever problem he had on his own.

"The football team chased Fez up a tree and he's stuck," Kelso informed the group and although it was a slightly different situation then Hyde had thought (albeit much funnier), it was still the same thing. Fez had gotten himself in trouble now Hyde had to bail him out.

It looked like he'd failed his side mission while pre-occupied with his main mission.

"What? Why would they do that?" Jackie gasped, she was friends with the football team, to her this revelation must have been shocking but Kelso and Hyde knew the kind of people her new friends really were.

"Cause it's funny?" Kelso guessed with a chuckle. "You guys should have seen him shoot up the tree, he's as quick as a cat… Got less funny when I realized he'd gotten stuck all the way up the top. And I can't climb that high, I'm prone to falling on my head," he explained to Jackie, nodding his head.

It was true, Hyde couldn't count all the times he'd watched Kelso fall off the water tower.

"He'll get down on his own. Let it be a lesson for the guy, if he's gonna climb up shit he's gotta learn how to climb back down." Hyde shrugged.

"Steven!" Jackie scolded him, sending daggers his way. "You have to go help him, poor Fezzy could really hurt himself if he falls."

Fezzy? Man, she really cared about that guy.

He sighed, already knowing he was fighting a losing battle. Besides, he felt kind of bad about failing the side mission, almost like it was on him that Fez had ended up stuck in a tree.

"Alright, fine. Let's go get him."

The moment had passed, and it looked like he'd be spending the rest of the night trying to get Fez out of a tree instead of how he really wanted to spend it.

But at least now, he knew what he wanted. And she was it.

I'm back! I had such a great time while I was away but I'm so happy to be home and it feels so good to finally get this chapter out to you guys. (Hopefully it was worth the wait)

Next weeks chapter is a big one, and the moment you've all been waiting for! (Seriously, you won't want to miss it)

Thank you for your patience and for continuing to read/love this fanfic. Don't forget to fav/follow this story if you're liking it so far and review to let me know your fav parts xx