Chapter 14.

Thursday, September 7th.
The Hub.

It had been three days since Jackie and Hyde had agreed to keep their (sort of) relationship a secret and already it was harder than she had anticipated. Despite living in the same house, finding time or opportunities to be alone together without arousing the suspicion of their friends, was proving to be a difficult task.

Between her spending her days at school and her afternoons at cheer-leading practice and Steven's busy work schedule, their free time rarely lined up in their favor. But today they had their first secret rendezvous planned and to say Jackie was excited, would be an understatement.

She had just finished up at cheer-leading practice and he had time to spare before his shift started at the Holiday Hotel, so they had arranged to meet up at the Hub. A neutral zone, in the middle of Point Place High and the hotel where hopefully they could get the alone time she had been craving since Monday.

It was hard being so close to Steven but not being able to touch him or kiss him the way she wanted, and she knew he was having trouble with it as-well, his little actions told her as much. Whenever their friends weren't looking, or if they found themselves alone in the same room (even if it was only briefly), Steven would make the most of the opportunity and pull her in for a quick kiss.

But whatever small moments they had, wasn't enough to curb her cravings. So, she had been looking forward to their pseudo-date all day long and had even spent an extra few minutes in the locker rooms after practice to make sure her hair and makeup were perfect. She'd left the uniform on though, knowing he liked it on her.

She entered the Hub with a skip in her step. The bell above the door rang, signaling her arrival but no-one in the hangout seemed to care. Thursday afternoons weren't as busy, so the Hub was quieter than usual, and her entrance hadn't stirred any type of arousal.

Jackie scanned the room to look for an empty table that she could sit at while she waited for Steven to arrive. And while she looked, a pair of green eyes met her gaze from the opposite side of the room. She froze as she recognized who the green pair belonged too.

Donna and Michael were sitting together at the back of the Hub, unknowingly destroying her and Steven's plans.

Donna had spotted her and was waving her over to join them. Jackie slumped, disappointed. She didn't want to hang out with those two right now, she wanted to hang out with Steven but if she ignored them and left, they would get suspicious. So unwillingly she walked over to the pair.

"Hey Jackie, what are you doing here on your own?" Donna wondered, ever the curious cat, as Jackie approached them.

"Oh um," Jackie sat down in an empty chair between the two, racking her brain to come up with a good reason as to why she would be here all on her own.

"I like the burgers here…" She said before inwardly cursing herself for her inability to lie decently. No one would believe she had come alone just for a burger, especially since the burgers here weren't even very good.

"Me too! I like the little meat chunks," Kelso agreed, naively adding validity to her cover story.

Jackie nodded her head, momentarily distracted as the bell by the entrance rang again. She turned to look in that direction hoping to see Steven, but to her disappointment it wasn't him who had entered the hangout, but a nerdy looking freshman instead.

"Are you going to order one?" Donna questioned, snapping Jackie back to reality.

"What?" She frowned, confused.

"A burger. Are you going to order one?"

"Oh no thanks," she shook her head, peering back at the door and missing the odd look Donna was giving her.

"Uh okay… So, how was practice?" The taller girl questioned a moment later.

"Long… Julie is working everyone really hard trying to prepare for the first game of the season but she's pushing me even harder. She says it's because I'm new and she wants to see what I can do but I know it's because she wants to break me and get me to quit."

"You can't let her get what she wants," Donna pointed out.

"Oh, I won't. I'm not going to quit. I'm going to stick it out until she gets bored and moves onto tormenting some other poor soul."

"Uh, well good for you Jackie..."

Jackie smiled back at the red head. She was grateful for Donna's friendship and she'd been feeling really guilty lately, not being able to tell her about her and Steven was hard and causing a strain in their friendship. She just hoped Donna would understand their reasoning in keeping things between the two of them and would be forgiving when the truth came out (if it came out).

"Thanks lumberjack… You guys should come to the game next Friday to watch me," she suggested suddenly with a big smile on her face. She loved being the center of attention and would love to show her new friends just how talented she really was.

"Cheerleaders, hot dogs and beer? Count me and Fez in," Kelso accepted her invitation quickly.

She turned to look at Donna, who was taking her sweet ass time deciding.

"Please Donna?"

The red head sighed. "Although I think football is an overtly sexist sport… I'll go because you asked nicely."

"Yay," Jackie clapped her hands together, excited. "You guys are going to have so much fun," she pointed out genuinely.

"Yeah right," Donna stated sarcastically, obviously doubtful.

Jackie looked over at Michael hoping to see some excitement returned, but the boy was no longer paying attention, instead choosing to focus on his pop and sucking on the straw loudly.

"So, what were you guys talking about before I got here?" She wondered, only now noticing how strange it was to see Donna and Kelso hanging out alone together.

All thoughts of Steven and their ruined date left her mind as she focused on the mystery that was in front of her.

Donna smirked. "Kelso has girl problems," she teased.

Kelso gasped and glared back at her. "I do not Donna… People with faces like this," he motioned a hand over his face, "Don't have girl problems".

"What girl?" Jackie asked, curiously. Keeping track of Michael and all the girls he was interested in was proving to be a difficult task.

Donna nudged Kelso with her elbow. "Go on, tell her."

Kelso groaned, leaning his head down onto the table. "Brooke," he said, his face was pressed against the flat surface and in turn, muffling his voice.

"Who?" Jackie scrunched her nose up.

"Remember the girl from Vanstock?" Donna filled in for him.

"Wait, you're still thinking about her?" Jackie questioned Kelso, surprised by the sudden turn of events. She hadn't heard anything about the girl from Vanstock since they had gotten home and had thought he had moved on long ago.

It looked like she was wrong.

Kelso lifted his head from the table. "No, I'm not still thinking about her," he repeated stubbornly. "It's just… A man has needs and until you come to your senses, I'm going to have to look elsewhere to fulfill those needs."

Both girls rolled their eyes.

"So, what's the problem. She won't put out?" Jackie guessed a moment later, figuring that was the only thing Kelso would get so upset about.

"No," Kelso muttered. "Must have been so blitz out by my good looks that she gave me the wrong number."

"Kelso was telling me about her the other day and I realized she sounded familiar. Turns out Brooke from Vanstock is actually the same Brooke that I used to work on the school paper with," Donna told Jackie.

"No way!" Jackie responded.

"She works at the library in town," Donna nodded.

"Did you go down there?" Jackie questioned Kelso.

"Yes, but she refuses to go out with me. I mean how do you get a girl to come to you when you repulse her?"

Jackie paused to think before gasping. "Oh, you should ask Eric how he does it!"

Kelso blinked back at her before grinning. "That's a great idea Jackie. You know what… You aren't just good to have around for your looks, you're smart too," he complimented her in his own special way.

"But it is good to have another beautiful person in the group. Before you, we were out-numbered by the ugo's," he added a second later.

Donna rolled her eyes. "Kelso, if you want Brooke to like you. Maybe you should go to the library and show her that you can be smart."

He groaned. "I hate the library." He said just as the bell to the front door rang.

Jackie wiped her head around quickly, spotting Steven instantly as he walked through the door into the teen hangout.

He noticed their group less than a second later and began to walk towards their table. He was wearing his sunglasses, so Jackie couldn't tell whether or not he was as disappointed by Donna and Michael's unexpected presence as she had been.

"Hey," Hyde greeted the friends as he reached their table, his eyes lingering on Jackie's before he took the empty seat across from her.

"Hyde, what are you doing here?" Donna questioned.

"What are you my wife? Why do you care?" He shut her down smoothly, impressing Jackie in the process.

"Aren't you working later?" she continued.

Hyde shrugged. "Had some time to kill before my shift started… Anyway, why you asking me so many questions? Kelso's the one blowing off work."

"Na uh, I'm not working till Thursday," Kelso responded.

"Today is Thursday you moron."

"Oh… Hey Hyde, can you cover for me at work?"

Hyde exhaled, clearly annoyed but nodded his head anyway.

"Wait so you really just came here on your own to 'kill time'?" Donna asked, bringing the conversation back to Hyde's cover story. The look on her face proved to Jackie that she knew something was up.

"Yeah, so what? Get off my back man," He responded coldly, avoiding Donna's gaze.

The red head was clearly on to them, her eyes darting back and forth from Hyde and Jackie who were both looking anywhere but at each-other.

"Whatever Hyde… So, we're all going to watch Jackie cheer at the game next Friday. You coming?" she wondered, watching Hyde carefully.

Jackie looked back over at Hyde with a pleading look in her eye. She knew Donna was testing the two right now, but she did really want him to come and watch her perform.

"Yeah right, Hyde at a high school football game," Kelso laughed first.

"I'm sure Jackie would love it if you came to support her," Donna pointed out, raising an eyebrow up at Hyde. The two were now engaged in a stare off, unspoken words filled the air, but Jackie couldn't read any of them.

"Yeah well… Like Kelso said, I don't do high school football games."

Jackie knew he had to throw Donna off, but she was still disappointed. The afternoon had officially become a disaster, she'd wanted to spend the next hour making out with Steven in the Camino, but Donna and Michael had crashed their plans and now she'd have to wait for the next opportunity to get him alone.

Whenever that would be.

Sunday, 1:00am.
September 10th.
The Forman's basement.

Hyde had finished a long night of work at the Holiday Hotel when he returned to the occupied basement just after midnight. Working 8 hours with both Roy and Kelso had been grueling and the only thing he wanted to do when he got home was smoke up and head to bed.

Well maybe that wasn't the only thing he wanted to do, but Jackie had plans with her cheer-leading friends and considering their recent bad luck he didn't expect to find her waiting for him in the basement like he'd hoped.

Instead he'd found Forman and Fez, hanging out on the couch.

A circle was started up within minutes of Hyde's return, and the three friends sat around the spin-wheel table. Incensed burned, smoke filled the room and The Rolling Stones played softly in the background.

They'd shared a single joint, it hadn't been enough to get Hyde as high as he'd have liked but watching a giggling Forman and Fez had proved to be just as entertaining.

Almost an hour later and the friends were coming down from their high.

"I wonder what Laurie is doing right now," Fez randomly stated after a few minutes of peaceful silence.

"Probably down on her knees somewhere…" Hyde pointed out with a grin and Eric laughed.

"You laugh now, but when your good friend gets deported because of that Jezebel you will regret it," Fez glared back at his friends.

Hyde had heard all about Fez's issues trying to track down Laurie since Vanstock. An agent from immigration had recently contacted the family about some home visit they'd be inducting within the next month or so to verify if the marriage was legitimate.

If immigration found out the marriage was a fake, Fez would be deported.

"Fez man don't worry about it… I'm going to help you track down my floozy sister," Eric offered although Hyde wasn't sure how much help he'd really be.

Everyone knew the Forman siblings didn't get along, Fez would have more luck finding Laurie with Kelso's help.

"You will?" Fez questioned, perking up slightly and Eric nodded. "You are the best bother in law a man could ask for."

"Don't call me that," Eric informed him, scrunching his face up.

Hyde looked over at Fez and noticed a sad look on the guy's face, instantly he felt bad for him. "Fez, I know what'll cheer you up man. Forman's got a stack of nudie mag's hiding in the back-left corner of his closet… Go nuts buddy."

"Hyde, what the hell man?" Eric responded, looking annoyed.

Fez sat up straight, looking back and forth from Hyde and Eric. "I am too upset to enjoy pornographic magazines," he told the two and paused. "On a completely different note, I'm thirsty… I will be in the kitchen," he added a moment later, standing up from the lawn chair.

"Don't come looking for me," he warned both of them as he ran up the interior stairs.

Hyde chuckled at the obvious ulterior motive as Forman sent daggers in his direction.

What he didn't notice was; as Fez exited the basement, another had entered.

It wasn't until he heard heels coming down the stairs that he turned to look and saw Jackie. She must have just gotten home from her friends because she still wore her jacket.

They hadn't made plans to meet up tonight so her sudden appearance was a surprise, but a pleasant one at that. After Kelso and Donna had ruined their plans the other day they hadn't had another opportunity to get together. The past week had been a series of stolen touches and kisses and he was desperate for more.

And judging from the look on her face as she noticed Forman still in the room, she felt the same as he did.

"What are you still doing here?" Jackie crossed her arms over her chest as she stopped by the couch and glared at Eric.

"This is my house?" Eric responded.

"Yeah but, isn't it passed your bedtime?"

"I don't have a bedtime. Unlike some people, I'm not still in high school."

Eric wasn't budging but Jackie wouldn't cave either.

"I may still be in high school, but at-least I don't need my mommy to tuck me in every night," she continued, a look of determination in her eye.

"You're just jealous that I still have a mommy to tuck me in," Eric pointed out and Hyde watched as Jackie's expression changed from determination to hurt.

He always tried to stay out of Eric and Jackie's sparing matches, but he wouldn't let a comment like that slide.

"Low blow man," Hyde interjected, sending Eric a look of warning.

"What are you talking about? That was a good burn… What's happened to you lately?" Eric questioned, looking at Hyde like he'd just grown another head.

Hyde couldn't give a shit. Forman had no clue what it felt like not having parents, burning someone cause their rents' had abandoned them wasn't something he'd sit by and allow. Specially when that someone was Jackie, who he knew still struggled when it came to her mother's abandonment.

Thankfully Forman's comment hadn't done too much damaged as Jackie wasn't crying or retreating back up the stairs but standing her ground.

He'd turned to look at her and met her gaze, those big eyes of hers pulling him in to a point where he almost forgot all about Forman's presence.

Damn she looked good tonight.

She was biting her lip, probably knew it drove him crazy.

His jaw tightened, and his heart pounded faster.

He wanted her. It had been too long since their last rendezvous, all he needed to do was ditch Forman and he could have her in his arms like he craved.

"Nothing's wrong with me… Just don't think it's funny to burn someone cause their parents split on em'," Hyde commented as he turned back to look at his friend, he was trying to keep his tone light while he thought of ways he could get rid of Forman without seeming suspicious.

"You're forgetting that Jackie's the devil and doesn't have feelings," Eric said.

Hyde glared back at him. "Forman, you better shut-" he began but was cut off when Jackie, who now stood in-between himself and Eric, reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine Steven," Jackie said, removing her hand quickly as if not wanting Eric to notice what she'd done. Hyde could see his friend staring at the both of them in his peripheral vision, but he couldn't care less in the moment.

It had been her idea to hide their feelings to begin with, he'd just as sooner become public if it weren't for her hesitation. It didn't matter to him what Forman was going to say, or what anyone else thought either.

But Jackie had valid reasons for keeping this thing between the two of them a secret and he would do his hardest to play along until she was ready.

"Eric's lame burns don't affect me," Jackie continued moving her gaze from his to Eric.

She was sending daggers towards Forman, but he wasn't looking back at her, instead his eyes were trained on Hyde's. Maybe he was working out how Jackie and Hyde really felt about each-other, but Hyde couldn't focus on damage control now.

All he could think about was Jackie. Her lips on his. Her body pressed against his. The sexy moan she made when he kissed her neck. He was intoxicated with thoughts of her, racking his brain for a way out.

But Jackie bet him to it.

"Now if you excuse me… It's after my bedtime," she spoke out first, turning towards the interior stairs and only looking back at Hyde when she reached the first step. She gave him a sultry look and disappeared up the stairs a second later.

Hyde returned his gaze to Eric's.

"You alright man?" Eric asked him, eyeing him oddly.

Hyde nodded as he stood up from his chair. "Fine… I'm going for a drive," he told him quickly.

He headed towards the back door, hoping it would through Forman off and look less suspicious then if he had just followed Jackie out the way she'd left.

"Meeting a girl?" Eric questioned right as Hyde reached out and grabbed the doorknob of the back door.

He kept his gaze in front of him. "Something like that," he muttered before taking his exit from the basement.

He realized Jackie and him might be living on borrowed time, they could only keep this secret thing going for so long until their friends worked out what was really going on. But that was a problem for another day, tonight was about her.

He hooked his shades onto his shirt as he rounded the backyard and headed towards the side door at the kitchen, hoping that Jackie would be waiting for him inside. He didn't want to have to climb the stairs up to her bedroom, which was uncomfortably close to where Red and Mrs. Forman were sleeping. One wrong move could mean waking them up and getting caught somewhere he definitely shouldn't be.

As scary as the thought of Red busting him sneaking into Jackie's room was, he knew he'd take the risk anyway.

But as he rounded the corner of the backyard into the driveway, he ran directly into the girl who had been occupy his every thought.

Jackie had come looking for him.

"Steven," she breathed out, the cold air escaping her lungs.

He didn't want to waste any time.

Quickly he grabbed hold of her arms, pulling her into him and crashing his lips against hers. It had been a day or so since their last kiss, and even longer since they shared an embrace that lasted more than a few seconds, but the wait was worth it.

He forgot how fucking good this felt.

She was kissing him back with just as much force and heat as she wrapped her arms up and around his neck, pressing her body into his.

He forced her mouth to open wider, so that he could slide his tongue over hers. She tasted like cherries and bad decisions and he loved every fucking moment of it.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tighter as he began to walk her backwards. Her body hit gently against the Vista Cruiser and she let out a small moan.

"Wait," she spoke quietly, breaking their kiss.

Hyde moved his attention to her neck, peppering kisses across her soft skin.

"Steven… Oh God," she moaned as he began to suck on her sensitive spot.

Fuck. His pants tightened. He didn't think he'd ever get over the way she said his first name.

"We can't do this here," she pointed out through heavy breaths.

He lifted his head and noticed that she had her eyes closed. He knew she had a point, but he couldn't stop himself.

He leaned down and kissed her again. She sighed into the kiss and pulled him closer. She's digging her nails into the back of his neck, probably drawing blood but he's too busy to care.

"Let's go to my room?" She asked after a beat.

Hyde took a moment to catch his breath, knowing he needed to slow it down. It was hard to restrain himself around her, specially when she was so close. He desperately wanted to go to her room, but he knew it wasn't a good idea.

She wasn't ready yet and he respected that, but his dick was already hard, and he wasn't sure he had the willpower to hold back from her if he followed her up to her room like she wanted.

"Can't… Red catches me up there he'll kick my ass," he responded lamely.

She seemed to accept his reasoning and slumped back against the car. "This is harder than I thought it would be," she admitted with a pout. Her lips swollen for his kiss.

He knew exactly what she was talking about and was glad she'd been having as much trouble with this as he had. It proved that he had the same effect on her as she had on him.

"You're telling me," his gave briefly moved south to his erection, which was straining uncomfortably tight against his jeans.

Jackie rolled her eyes and used her hands, that were laying on his chest, to push him away from her.

"I'm being serious," she pointed out.

Hyde stepped forward and placed both his hands against the car on either side of her, boxing her in-between the Vista Cruiser and himself. "So am I," he told her.

He watched as she bit her lip before fisting her hands in his Aerosmith t-shirt and pulling him back towards her. She kissed him, slower this time around then the last. His neck strained awkwardly from constantly bending down to meet her halfway, but the pain was worth it.

"I wish we had more time together…" She sighed as she broke away from him a moment later.

"And I wish you'd stop talkin' so much," he glared back at her, mostly joking.

"Steven," she scolded him, furrowing her brow in a frown. There were a lot of different ways she said his name, but he'd decided that way was his least favorite.

He cleared his throat. "Alright, alright… What's on your mind doll?" he asked her, judging by the look on her face and how she was acting, he knew there was something she wanted to say to him.

"A lot of things…" She admitted, avoiding his eyes and choosing instead to focus on the floor between them. His stomach dropped, and he prepared himself for what was to come.

"You having second thoughts about this?" He questioned quietly, hoping he was reading her wrong.

Jackie's head instantly shot back up to meet his gaze. "No, not at all!" she exclaimed, shaking her head quickly.

His body relaxed in relief as he realized whatever was bugging her didn't have anything to do with him.

"So, what's going on?"

"It's just… This last week has been pretty tough. Not being able to see you was hard enough, but Julie's been breathing down my neck about the routine for next weeks game. She's put me on the top of the pyramid, I think she's hoping I'll fall and break my neck or something."

Hyde frowned. He didn't understand what this rivalry thing was about between her and the cheer-leading captain but obviously it was taking a toll on Jackie and he didn't like that.

"That chicks got problems," he stated the obvious.

"She told me that I'm on probation. If I stuff up next week she's going to try and kick me off the team… I know I can do it but I'm just really nervous."

He couldn't understand for the life of him why being on the cheer-leading team was so important to her. "Jackie, who cares what those girls think man… They aren't really your friends and popularity mean's shit all once you leave high school."

"It's not about that… I like being a cheerleader, it's just- It's important to me okay?"

"Okay," he shrugged.

She paused before smoothing her hands down his chest and around his waist. "Steven," she begun, her tone sweet and full of danger as she hugged his body to hers, pushing away from the Vista Cruiser.

"What?"

"I'd feel less nervous about the game next week if you were there cheering me on," she clued him in.

He'd said he wasn't going to go to the stupid football game with the rest of their friends and clearly it had been playing on her mind for days. At the time he hadn't thought it meant as much as it did to her but obviously he'd been wrong.

"Jackie," he sighed.

There were two reasons as to why he said he wasn't going to go.

The first was because Donna had been testing him when she'd asked if he would be attending the game or not and he had to throw her off for the sake of protecting Jackie's 'keeping their feelings a secret' plan.

The second was because he hated all school related events and wouldn't be caught dead at a football game on normal circumstances.

"Come on Steven," she interjected, obviously sensing his tone. He tried to create some space between them, but her arms tightened around his waist, making it clear that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Please?" she continued, pouting up at him.

Damn it. That fucking look worked every God damn time.

"Fine," he agreed, and she flashed him a triumphant smile, leaning up to peck him on the lips quickly. "But this is it for your high school shit okay? I'm drawing the line at football games."

"Sure, whatever you say," she said, a look on her face that made it clear she didn't believe him anyway. And why would she, he'd caved to her every request so far.

"You're a pain in the ass," he grumbled annoyed, but she only smiled back.

"You've said that before," she pointed out with a smirk.

He was annoyed but it had less to do with her and more to do with himself. He couldn't help himself when he was around her, he hated the fact that he was turning into some sap who caved at every little thing just cause' some chick said please and pouted a little.

But when the chick looked the way Jackie looked, who could really blame him?

"Shut your pie-hole Jackie," he told her as he cupped her face in his hands and leaned down to place his lips on hers.

He knew they couldn't stay out here all night, that eventually they'd have to stop, she'd go upstairs to her queen bed and he'd go downstairs to his army cot but until then he'd enjoy every single moment he got with her.

Cause no matter how bad she pissed him off, or how annoyed he was by the power she possessed over him, he still couldn't get enough of her.

Thanks for reading! xx