Chapter 13.

Sunday, September 3rd.
11:15pm

Hyde pushed the sliding door open, stepping aside so Jackie could walk into the kitchen first. They pair had just gotten back from Mount Hump. Jackie hadn't wanted to leave, but it was a school night and she needed to get back to the Forman's and reality. Even if all she wanted to do was go back to sitting on the Camino's flatbed with Steven, making out underneath the stars.

The night had started off terrible, the phone-call with her mother had sucked the soul out of her, but thanks to Steven it had ended up being one of her favorite nights yet. She hadn't been so blissfully happy since before her daddy went to prison, hadn't even thought it was possible to feel that way anymore.

Steven had proved her wrong and she was thankful to have him in her life.

But she still had no idea what their kiss had meant. They hadn't discussed it, not wanting to ruin what was happening between them with questions, instead they had chosen to just enjoy the moment and each others company. An unspoken mutual agreement that lead them to where they were now, unaware of where they stood and what the last 3 hours had meant to the other.

Now that they were back home, the chance to come clean was slipping through her fingers. She wanted to tell him that this was more than a fling to her, but the moment had passed, and she worried that she had missed her opportunity.

"Thank you for tonight," Jackie said, leaning her back against the kitchen counter top – an attempt to make the night last a little while longer.

Steven nodded as he closed the sliding door behind them. His sunglasses still hung from the pocket of his jacket, she thought it was probably the longest she had ever seen him go without wearing them.

"Don't sweat it doll," he said as he walked over to her. He stopped directly in front of her, leaving little space between the two.

She blushed under his intense gaze and smiled. "I had a really good time," she admitted to him, biting her lip and averting her gaze to the floor.

Hyde inched closer, reaching up to cup her face in his hands and turn her head so that she was looking up at him once again. "That's cool," he said, and Jackie rolled her eyes.

"That's cool?" She repeated, and his hands dropped from her face to her shoulders. "That's all you have to say?"

Hyde chuckled back at her quietly. "Alright man… Look, it was no worse than bowling," he added, shrugging casually.

Jackie frowned, "Bowling?"

"I don't hate bowling," he told her with a grin.

Jackie knew it was the closest she'd get to him admitting he had a good time with her and that she should just take what she could get. It would do for now but once she was done with him, she hoped he'd be able to express his feelings a little easier.

"I'm not crazy about the comparison of making out with me, to bowling… But I'll take it," she informed him, reaching her arms out to hug his waist and simultaneously pull him in a little closer to her, all in one smooth motion.

"Just so you know, I'm really lowering my standards here," she joked a second later.

Hyde nodded, moving his hands behind her neck and lacing his fingers through her hair. "That makes two of us," he agreed before dipping his head down to meet her lips with his in a slow kiss.

He had kissed her countless times that night, but every single one had felt like the first to her. He was definitely the best kisser she had ever experience, but it was more than that. She got flushed and hot by just the feel of him against her, as if his close proximity was all it took to turn her on and she had never experienced that with anyone else.

These new feelings she was experiencing around him were exciting, yet nerve racking all at the same time. But she was finding it hard to focus on feelings, good or bad, with him kissing her the way he was.

They both knew they'd have to stop eventually, she needed to go upstairs and him to the basement before the Formans caught them making out in their kitchen, but neither made a move to stop.

Hyde deepened the kiss; nudging Jackie's mouth open wider so that his tongue could slide over her own. His grip tightened in her hair, causing her stomach to drop and the blood to pool in her center.

She suddenly felt light headed as the need for oxygen increased. Less than a second later, as if he'd read her mind, Hyde was pulling away from her. A small moan escaped her lips in response, never wanting these moments to end with him, but her lungs were thankful for the much-needed air.

"Wow," she smiled, out of breath.

"I know, I'm a good kisser," he grinned, and she nodded to agree before he leaned down to kiss her one more time.

She was just relaxing into the kiss when the sound of the basement door opening rang through the kitchen, causing the couple to jolt apart from each-other just in time.

Eric walked into the kitchen, right as Hyde jumped away from Jackie.

"There you are," Eric eyed Hyde, ignoring Jackie's presence altogether.

She used the opportunity to calm her breathing and stand up straight, running a hand through her hair - she fixed the mess Steven had made with his hands and hoped her lips weren't noticeably swollen from his kiss.

She couldn't deal with Eric freaking out on them, if he found out about what her and Steven had really been doing all night.

"Where have you been man?" Eric continued to question, rummaging through the fridge as he spoke.

Hyde looked at Jackie quickly, before turning his attention back to Eric. "Worked late at the hotel," he lied, but Eric seemed to buy it.

They hadn't discussed what they would do about their friends, whether they were telling people or not. They hadn't really discussed anything actually, so she couldn't blame him for lying.

It was probably best to keep whatever was going on between them, just between them until they had time to talk privately.

"So, what are you doing in here with her?" Eric continued to question, uncapping a soda as he closed the fridge door and turned to glare at Jackie.

"Just ran into each other man," Hyde shrugged, keeping things casual. She was glad he was so nonchalant about things, she had never been the best at lying but he seemed to be a pro.

"Mom and Red aren't happy about your little disappearing trick after dinner tonight missy," Eric pointed out, taking a sip of his orange soda.

Jackie felt bad for not tell the Formans she was leaving, it definitely hadn't been her intention to disappear all night. "I just needed space," she told him but made a mental note to apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Forman tomorrow.

"Yeah well, space isn't in Kitty or Red Forman's vocabulary," Eric informed her before turning to Hyde. "Let's go downstairs man, I've been waiting in the basement all night for some circle time," he began walking off before Hyde had the chance to respond.

Once Eric disappeared back into the basement, Hyde turned to face Jackie. "Want to join?" He asked her in a quiet voice.

Jackie shook her head, she needed a clear mind to think over the events from the past 4 hours and unfortunately that meant officially ending her night with him.

"I'm going to bed, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hyde come on!" Eric shouted from the basement stairs.

Hyde rolled his eyes and paused. "Night doll," he said softly a moment later, quickly stepping towards her to kiss her goodnight.

Jackie blushed, raising her fingers to her lips where the feel of his kiss still lingered as he disappeared into the basement.

She really was in trouble now.

Monday, September 4th.
The Forman's driveway.

Hyde had spent the whole day going over the events from the night before. It felt like that night had existed in some parallel universe where everything remained the same except for one huge difference, enter Jackie freaking Burkhart.

Breakfast had been a series of awkward glances in each-others direction. He'd caught her looking at him a couple of times, only to have her blush and look away quickly once she'd noticed him looking back.

She had been plaguing his thoughts every waking minute of the day and he had nothing to distract himself with.

Both him and Forman weren't scheduled to work until later that night, which normally meant spending the day together in the basement but instead, Eric had chosen to spend his day locked up in his room. The kid had only reappeared for lunch, before heading straight back to bed and offering Hyde absolutely nothing in the way of distraction.

Donna had community college, so she was no help to him. Fez and Kelso hadn't shown their faces all day, a rare occurrence for the two who normally spent all-day every-day at the Forman's and circle time on his own had been a bust.

So, he had 7 hours straight to go over the past night's events.

It was around 2 when he decided that something had to be done. He didn't feel himself, over thinking a situation just cause of a few innocent kisses, no matter how fuckin' hot those kisses had been, just wasn't something he did. That was Forman territory and he always thought he was better than that.

He needed to see her, speak to her alone before she got home from school and clear all this shit up before he went insane.

He was walking through the kitchen with his keys in hand, preparing himself to slip out of the house unnoticed to go pick her up from school when he ran into Mrs. Forman.

She was by the fridge, gathering baking supplies out of the top cupboards when she spotted him.

"Oh Steven, there you are," she smiled brightly at him, stopping him in his tracks. "Why don't you help me bake some cookies, I'll let you lick the spoon."

Hyde scratched at his beard, the offer was tempting but he had more important things to do. "Can't Mrs. Forman, on my way out," he told her.

"Well that's alright, next time," she waved him off and Hyde thought he was off the hook for a second. "Where are you off too?" she asked a moment later, shattering his hopes.

"Uh, just… Picking up Jackie from school," he mumbled and shrugged his shoulders casually.

He'd always had an issue when it came to lying, especially to Mrs. Forman. He just hoped she wouldn't make a big deal out of his omission and he could get out of the house without having to answer any more questions.

Looking at the older woman now, he realized that was probably just a pipe dream.

"You're picking up Jackie from school?" She questioned him, unable or unwilling to hide the telling smile on her face.

Hyde stood uncomfortably in front of her. "Yeah well, she's been bitching about how long the walk is and I'm not doing anything anyways…"

"That's very nice of you Steven," Kitty responded, moving around him, with a mixing bowl in her hands, to the bench top space next to the stove where her cooking ingredients lay spread out on the counter.

"I've noticed the two of you have been quite close lately," she added just as Hyde thought he could get out of the kitchen unscathed. "And I just want to say that I think you and Jackie make a very nice couple."

He froze in the middle of the kitchen, temporarily stunned by her insight. "Mrs. Forman, Jackie and I aren't dating," he pointed out a moment later, walking over to her.

When she didn't instantly respond, he continued, "We're just friend's man". It wasn't technically a lie, but that didn't change it felling like one coming from his mouth.

Kitty laughed as she poured some flour into the mixing bowl. "Are you sure?" she asked, clearly not buying what he was selling.

Having Mrs. Forman suspicious of Jackie and his relationship was something he couldn't deal with right now. He needed to shut this down before she started planning their non-existent wedding and naming their imaginary children before he even had a chance to figure out what was really going on between them.

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't like Jackie… She's shallow, and mean and bossy."

Kitty turned to face him, putting down the baking materials. "She's also beautiful, and smart and caring."

Hyde paused. "So, what are you getting at?" He wondered, not denying any of the words that had come out of her mouth.

"Well that maybe you like her for her good qualities, despite the bad ones. Because, I kind of think you do."

Hyde sighed and made one more attempt to throw her off course. "No, I don't like her. I can't like her, Mrs. Forman if I like her, shoot me."

The older woman turned to him, reaching her hand out in the shape of a gun and saying, "Pow".

He stared back at her as she smiled, impressed with herself. There was no point in pretending with her any longer, Mrs. Forman had seen right through him and called him out for his bullshit with one simple hand gesture.

"Now run along. If you don't leave soon you're going to be late and Jackie hates tardiness," she waved him off, turning her attention back to the cookies.

Hyde moved passed her. "See you later, Mrs. Forman," he mumbled, leaving the kitchen through the sliding doors.

He couldn't spend anymore time trying to convince Mrs. Forman that he didn't in-fact have feelings for Jackie. The woman always seemed to know what was going on with him, sometimes before he even realized it himself. She had her mind made up and there was no convincing her otherwise, he just hoped she'd keep the information to herself while he worked out things on his own end.

There were more pressing issues he needed to deal with in the moment anyway.

Like what the hell he was going to say to Jackie when he picked her up from school.

Things were still messy and clouded, feelings between them remained up in the air and he had no clue what she was thinking.

All he knew was, besides all of the things he had just said to Mrs. Forman, he liked Jackie. He liked her despite her bad qualities, he liked her for her wit and her humor and her brains and beauty and he was probably screwed for it, but he didn't care.

Monday, September 4th.
Point Place High.

The final bell rang through the school, signaling the end of the day. Jackie was by her locker, shoving her homework into her handbag as her friend Troye waited beside her.

"Do you want to go to the Hub?" She asked him after closing her locker and swinging her hand bag over her shoulder. The football team didn't have practice on Mondays and cheer practice had been rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so she had a few hours to kill.

Troye shook his head as the two began walking down the main hall towards the front doors. "Can't, Coach wants the team in the gym Mondays now. First game of the season is next week, and he wants us in shape."

Jackie knew all about the game next Friday, being in the cheer-squad had made her privy to these sorts of events. The team had already started choreographing a new routine for the occasion and Jackie couldn't wait for the opportunity to show Julie what she was made of.

"You guys have practice almost every day of the week now. Don't you think that's a little over kill?"

Troye shrugged. "It'll be worth it if we win. My parents are coming to watch the game and if we lose I'll never hear the end of it."

Jackie rolled her eyes. Troye's parents were hard on him, especially when it came to football and he was always doing his best to try and please them even if it meant making himself miserable in the process.

"Stop worrying so much Troye," she told him as they exited the main building of their school. "You guys are going to win."

Troye didn't seem so convinced. "I hope so. I'm sorry I can't give you a ride home, gym session starts in like five." He'd offered her a ride home earlier in the day, back when they both had the afternoon free from extra-curricular activities.

"And I want to get there on time. Justin offered to spot me," he added quickly with a smile.

He'd told her earlier that nothing had happened between the two at the party last weekend but that hadn't stopped Troye from crushing hard. Even if Justin was notoriously known through campus as a womanizer and was most definitely not interested in men.

"Sounds fun," she said sarcastically. "And that's okay… I could probably convince Trish to give me a ride."

It may have only been her second week at the school, but she had climbed the social ladder quicker than any other before her. Julie still didn't like her, but Jackie had managed to win over everyone else despite her constantly rallying against her.

"Looks like you won't have too," Troye commented, looking over her shoulder at the car park. "Isn't that Hyde, over there?"

Jackie turned her head quickly to see what he was staring out. She spotted Steven instantly, he was leaning against the hood of the Camino, parked at the front of the car park.

He must have come here to pick her up, after the awkward breakfast they'd shared with the Formans that morning she'd thought he would go back to avoiding her like he had last week. The fact that he'd came here unprompted, for her, put a huge smile on her face.

"Why is he talking to Julie?" Troye's words pulled her back to reality and she quickly spotted the blonde cheerleader, standing next to Steven. She was smiling up at him as he responded to something she had said, and Jackie watched in horror as the blonde suddenly reached out to place a hand on his arm, throwing her head back in laughter.

She felt anger bubble up inside of her. "Troye, I'll see you tomorrow," she said to her friend, not bothering to wait for his response as she stormed across the quad and towards the El Camino.

Hyde noticed her before she reached them, and she watched as he pushed off the hood of his car, ignoring whatever Julie was saying to him in the process. He never took his eyes off her as she approached them.

"Hey Jackie," Hyde greeted her casually, interrupting Julie in the process.

Julie had turned her gaze to Jackie, she could feel her practically burning a hole in the side of her face as she glared coldly at her, but Jackie refused to acknowledge the blonde, instead keeping her eyes on Steven.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, trying to suppress the anger she felt by him merely talking with her nemesis.

"Thought you could use a ride home," Hyde responded casually, as if it should have been obvious.

Julie, never the one to be ignored for long, spoke up before Jackie had the chance to respond. "Jackie, I didn't know you were dating an older man. Let alone one so foxy," she turned to the blonde just in time to spot the flirtatious smile she was throwing in Hyde's direction.

"We aren't dating," Jackie informed her through gritted teeth.

Julie looked back at Jackie and grinned. "Well, lucky me."

Hyde cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to him. "Unlucky you, cause I ain't interested," he said to Julie and Jackie couldn't help but smile. It was exactly the kind of response she was hoping for.

Julie was laying it on pretty thick and any other guy would have loved the attention. Things between the two of them were left unclear from the night before and she'd panicked when she'd seen him and Julie flirting. But he'd rejected Julie's advances and, in the process, proved to Jackie that it was still her, he wanted.

"Oh, I'm sure," Julie responded sarcastically, seemingly unaffected by his rebuff. "Don't forget about practice tomorrow Jackie, we need to get you up to speed before the game next weekend," she turned to Jackie to pull rank on her once last time before taking her leave.

"I'll be there," Jackie responded before Julie walked away, leaving her and Hyde alone.

"That chick doesn't take no for an answer," Hyde spoke up once Julie was far enough away that she wouldn't hear their conversation.

Jackie looked back at him and crossed her arms over her chest, still slightly annoyed by the whole situation. "Why didn't you just tell her to get lost?" She questioned him harshly.

"What, like you told Casey to get lost on Friday?" Hyde pointed out.

Jackie shook her head. "That was different. Casey isn't out to get you every waking minute. Julie hates me, she probably saw you and I at the party together on Friday and was flirting with you to get back at me!"

Hyde frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? What's she got to get back at you for?"

Jackie groaned, stomping her foot on the ground. "You don't get it. She thinks I'm trying to steal her title as the most popular girl at Point Place high."

"Are you?"

"No, well… Okay technically yes, but that's not the point. She's threatened by me, so she'll try to do anything she can to get under my skin. Just please don't talk to her again."

Hyde stared back at her, looking at her like she was speaking a different language. "Jackie, I don't give a shit about that stuff. I didn't even want to talk to her, she just came up to me and started going on about my beard."

Jackie paused and took a moment to breath, realizing she was probably over-reacting and had nothing to worry about when it came to him and Julie.

"Well… It is a pretty sexy beard," she told him quietly, flashing him a flirty look.

Hyde nodded. "I know, that's what she said man."

She glared at him and he laughed.

"I'm kidding. Just get in the freakin' car." He told her, walking around the hood of the Camino to get into the drivers-side.

Jackie followed him into the car, sliding across the bench seat to the middle just to be closer to him. She smiled over at him and he ignored her back, starting up the engine and pulling the Camino out of the parking lot.

"Thank you for coming to pick me up, you didn't have to do that," she pointed out.

"Uh, yeah well…" He cleared his throat and Jackie eyed him curiously, now that they were alone she noticed that he seemed almost nervous about something. "Wasn't doing anything anyway," he added a second later.

"Okay…" she trailed off and the car fell into silence.

She watched him as he ignored her presence, his eyes were glued to the rode in front of him and his hands were at the perfect 10-2 o'clock position on the wheel. He was a stiff as a board, an unusual look on a guy who was normally cool calm and collected.

They rode together in silence for a few minutes.

The events from the night before were looming over them. Unspoken words that poisoned the air around them until the awkward toxicity was almost choking. She knew they needed to talk. But as she opened her mouth to bring up the elephant in the room, no words came out.

She needed a distraction, something else to focus on instead of the tension in the air until they reached the Formans house. So, she leaned forward and began to fiddle with the radio, changing the stations rapidly to find one playing a song she knew.

"Jackie," Hyde grumbled as she continued her search. "What did I say about touching the radio?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Not too," she mumbled, settling on a radio station playing a Sonny and Cher song before sitting back against the bench seat.

Hyde reached out and turned off the radio, she thought just to annoy her.

"Steven, I liked that song!" She argued back, going to turn the device back on but Hyde bet her to it placing his hand over the on/off button.

"First off, Sonny and Cher are both idiots and don't belong in the Camino," he started. "Secondly… Don't you think we outta' talk?"

She frowned. "About what?"

Hyde sighed. "About last night man."

Jackie paused, surprised that out of the two of them, Steven had been the one to bite the bullet first. She'd expected him to act as if nothing had changed, or that last night had never happened, she hadn't expected him to want to talk about it.

"Hang on," she began, turning her body to face him in her seat. "You want to talk about last night? Steven Hyde actually wants to discuss feelings?" she reiterated.

Hyde turned his head to look at her, glowering. "You know what, don't worry about it."

Jackie shook her head quickly. "No wait, I'm sorry," she was in damage control now. "I want to talk about it, I do. I was just surprised you wanted too… I mean let's face it, you aren't exactly a 'let's talk about our feelings' kind of guy."

She watched him carefully as his focus remained on the road in front of him, hoping her big mouth hadn't ruined things. Steven took his time but responded a moment later.

"Yeah well uh… Situations a little different this time."

Jackie nodded, agreeing with him. "So, let's talk…" They fell into a silence and she nudged him with her elbow. "You start."

Hyde looked at her, his brow furrowed. "Uh…" He sighed and reached up to rub at his neck. "I'm no good at this kind of stuff," he admitted a moment later, making it evident just how nervous he really was.

She smiled and reached out to place her hand on his thigh. It was okay if he wasn't any good at this kind of stuff, cause' she was.

"Okay, then I'll start," she offered and noticed his shoulders loosen and relax. "I really liked what happened last night and I definitely want it to happen again."

If her honesty and forwardness threw him off, Jackie couldn't tell. She saw no use in hiding her feelings any longer, she was pretty certain now that he was feeling the same way she was. But when he didn't respond instantly, her confidence wavered.

"I had a lot of fun… Didn't you?"

"Course I did man. You're freakin' hot… It's just, there's a lot riding on this."

She frowned, not knowing exactly what he meant.

He turned to look at her and must have noticed the concerned look on her face because he quickly continued. "We live in the same house, think that changes the game. We fuck things up, there's no going back."

She bit her lip and paused. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't worried about the same thing, but she also thought that what she felt for him was worth that risk.

"This's got the potential to end badly, you sure you're gonna be cool with that?" He added, given Jackie a little time to think her answer through.

She knew this could end terribly. She liked him so much already and he had the power to completely destroy her. But if she didn't try, she knew she'd always regret it.

"It also has the potential to be something pretty great," she pointed out, flashing him a small smile in the process. "I want to see where this goes, don't you?" she asked right as they reached the Forman residence.

Hyde parked the Camino at the front of the house that they both called home. Jackie spotted their friends in the driveway, Kelso and Donna were playing basketball while Fez and Eric watched by the Vista Cruiser. They looked like they were having fun but that wasn't a surprise, they always had fun together, no matter what they were doing.

Jackie wondered if her and Steven's relationship, or whatever they were calling it, would change the group dynamic. Sure, she fit in with the group, but Eric was Steven's best friend, and he didn't exactly love her.

Michael would certainly be jealous and probably do everything he could to try and ruin their relationship.

Donna and Fez would be the only ones who wouldn't care. She wasn't sure how Mr. and Mrs. Forman would react, but there would probably be a whole new set of rules the teens would have to adhere by once they found out.

This was going to be hard, but she knew in her heart it would be worth it. Hopefully Steven did too.

He looked back from her to their friends in the driveway, luckily the Camino was parked far enough away that none of them had spotted the two yet, but Jackie knew they had a limited amount of time to work this out before they were busted.

Steven must have come to the same conclusion, but instead of responding to her last question, he leant forward and captured her lips with his.

Jackie responded to the kiss instantly, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of his lips against hers. He cupped her small face in his hands and she moved closer to him so that their bodies were pressed against each-others.

When he broke away from her, he kept her face in his hands and stared into her eyes.

"Fuck it… Lets just do what we want."

Jackie smiled brightly, happy he'd come to the same conclusion as her. But the sounds of their friend's chatter, and laughter broke through the moment and Steven moved his hands away from her before turning to look back at them.

"What are we going to do about them?" She wondered. "They're going to freak out… I mean, Eric hates me."

"I don't care what Forman thinks," Hyde responded and even though she was glad he didn't care about his best friend's opinion of her, she knew it still complicated things.

"It's going to be harder trying to figure out what this is," she signaled a hand between the two of them. "With everyone watching and judging us."

Hyde sighed. "So, you want to keep this a secret?" He put two and two together.

She shook her head quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "Not exactly a secret, just… Just not tell them until we know that this is real."

It wasn't like she wanted to hide her feelings for him, or that she wanted to keep them a secret. But Steven was right before, they had a lot riding on this. And until they could label whatever it was going on between them, they needed to protect it at all costs.

"Keeping this just between us, could be fun," he told her, and she let a sigh of relief out.

"I'm in doll… If you think you can keep your hands off me for long enough," he grinned back at her and she laughed, slapping him lightly over his shoulder.

"I'll try my hardest."

Thanks for reading! And a special thanks to everyone who took a moment to review last week, I was nervous about that chapter and it meant so much to hear that you all loved it!

Next weeks chapter will delve into Jackie and Hyde's secret relationship. Do you think its going to be as easy at they think to hide from their friends? Or will their plans wind up biting them in the ass?