Chapter 16.

1 week later.
Saturday, September 23rd.
The Forman's basement.

The sound of Jackie's moan filled Hyde's ears. They'd been hanging out watching the Price is Right and somewhere along the lines (it was all a blur to Hyde) he'd ended up on-top of her.

It had started off pretty innocent, like most of their make-out sessions had been, until she'd wrapped her legs around his waist and he'd effectively lost his mind.

He was kissing her neck now, sucking hard on the spot that he knew drove her crazy with desire and she had her fingers in his hair, holding him in place.

It was the middle of the day and he knew any one of their friends could walk into the basement at any second and catch them messing around and that sooner or later they would have to stop, but he couldn't bring himself to give a fuck in the moment.

And she didn't seem to care much either.

When he pulled away from her to supply his lungs with some much needed air, she whimpered in protest – getting his attention. He looked down at her and she flashed him one of her sexy smiles (the one she seemed to save just for him) before pulling him back down, crashing her lips against his once more.

Her lips were always so unbelievably soft and kissing her was like being high, except he never wanted to come down.

Just as he was relaxing into their kiss, he felt her stir, shifting excitedly from below him. In one quick motion she pulled away from him, lifting her shirt up and over her head, leaving her completely naked from the waist up.

She hardly ever wore bras, just one more way for her to drive him mad with lust but he wasn't complaining this time.

He took his time and stared down at her in awe. They had never gone beyond first base before, hadn't even discussed the option, yet here she was surprising him like this.

She definitely knew how to keep things interesting.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He asked her, as his eyes trailed back up to hers.

Her laughter filled the space between them. "Shut up and kiss me."

He didn't need to be told twice.

Her legs wrapped tighter around him, pushing his body flush against hers. Desperate to get closer, to feel more, Hyde began trailing kisses down her neck.

He continued down her body, peppering her perfectly smooth skin with kisses as he moved lower. When he pulled one of her nipples into his mouth, a breathy moan escaped her lips causing his dick to harden and strain uncomfortably against his denim jeans.

"Oh Steven," she moaned again, her nails scratching at his scalp.

She got him so hot every-time she moaned his name like that, he was convinced she only did it because she knew how crazy it made him.

"Oh, say can you see-"

Someone's voice resonated through the basement. Hyde quickly stopped his actions, making eye contact with a panicked looking Jackie as the singing voice got closer and closer.

"What the hell?"

"Oh, say can you see-"

"Fez!" Jackie exclaimed, working it out a little faster than him.

She pushed him off of her and he grabbed his shades off the coffee table, placing them over his eyes as she reclaimed her top from the floor and pulled it back over her head, covering herself up just in time before the basement door swung open to reveal their foreign friend.

Hyde crossed his legs, resting his elbow against the arm of the couch and creating as much space as possible between himself and Jackie. He could feel Fez's eyes lingering between the both of them but kept his eyes trained on the TV in front of him.

"Wait a second," Fez commented, gaining the attention of both Hyde and Jackie. "You two look sweaty and guilty… Have you been eating my candy?"

Hyde silently ran a hand over his beard as Jackie responded.

"What candy?"

"I didn't say candy," Fez replied. "And I certainly don't have any candy hidden in the garage," he let out a small nervous chuckle. "I will be in the garage," he added before turning and leaving the basement through the same door he'd walked into only a minute earlier.

Hyde's shoulders relaxed, and he turned his body around to face Jackie. "That was close," he pointed out, noticing the relieved expression on her face.

"Yeah… Fez almost saw my boobs," her face scrunched up in disgust and he couldn't lie, he was glad for the same reasons too.

Somehow, they'd managed to keep their secret for 2 whole weeks, despite the fact that this house was full of people 24/7. They could hardly catch a break, finding time alone was hard but they'd gotten better at sneaking around in the last week.

If it were up to Hyde, he'd come clean with everything but since the whole situation had been Jackie's idea, he was waiting for her to be ready. So far, she hadn't mentioned going public and he wasn't going to push her.

The secret keeping had its fair share of negatives, but he couldn't deny that sneaking around with her was hot. Except for the moments like now, where Fez almost caught an eye full of a half-naked Jackie.

"Guess we got a little carried away," he said as he scratched at an itch on his cheek.

Jackie bit her lip and moved across the couch so that they were right next to each-other again. "Guess so," she agreed, reaching her hand up to scratch the part of his cheek that he was itching, for him.

"We'll just have to be more careful next time," she added with a smile as her long nails scratched at his beard.

Hyde grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his face. "Look man… We keep going the way we're going and this ain't gonna be a secret for much longer," he pointed out as he laced their fingers together.

Jackie nodded, her eyes drifting down to their intertwined fingers. "Would that be a bad thing?" She wondered.

Hyde raised his eyebrow up at her, this was the first time they'd even been close-to discussing the terms of their deal since they'd started messing around those few weeks ago and he was caught off guard.

"No," he told her the truth and watched as she avoided eye contact with him. He wished he knew what was going on in that pretty little head of hers sometimes but reading her was like cracking the Da Vinci Code and he had no hope.

"No?" She repeated, looking slightly shocked by his response. "So, you wouldn't care if everyone you knew, found out about us?"

Hyde shrugged. "I don't give a fuck Jackie. You're the one who wanted to keep this a secret, not me," he reminded her.

"I just want to know that this is real, before we tell everyone," she told him.

Hyde shook his head. She kept saying that to him, and he didn't know what more he could do to prove to her that he was in this for the long haul. He'd never felt like this about any other girl before and he thought he'd been pretty clear about that.

To him, this was as real as it got. He hadn't so much as looked at another girl since they'd started fooling around. There was no one else but her, why couldn't she see that?

If she was waiting for him to make some big declaration of love, she'd be waiting for a long ass time. He wasn't one of those guys, never had been good with words.

"Yeah, sure Jackie… Just let me know when you've worked it out." He pulled his hand away from hers and turned his body back around so that he was facing the tv once again.

"Uh, okay…" She said from beside him, tucking her legs up and under her body.

A silence filled the room as Hyde pretended to watch the Price is Right. Another old lady approached the wheel, but this time neither of them made a comment on her inability to play the game properly.

"I've decided I'm going to the dance next weekend," she spoke up a minute later as if their last conversation had never happened.

He frowned, what the hell did the dance have to do with anything?

"By yourself?" He questioned back, turning his head to look at her.

Jackie's eyes darted up to meet his gaze and he noticed a hint of sadness in them.

"Well I guess so," she bit back, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back into the couch. He could tell she was pissed about something, based off the dirty look she was now giving the Forman's TV set but he didn't have the energy to fight with her, so he pretended not to notice.

She continued to ignore him for the next couple of minutes, which was a game they played when she was pissed and he'd done something dumb, but she forgot he was much better at not talking then she was and would always win.

It was barely five minutes into their twisted little game when the basement door swung open and Donna appeared through the other side.

"Oh," she stopped when she noticed the two of them on the couch. "Well, well, well… I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she added with a grin on her face.

Hyde didn't bother responding and kept his eyes trained on the TV instead.

"You aren't interrupting anything Donna," Jackie told her coldly, standing up from the couch. "In fact, I was just leaving," she added.

"What?" Donna frowned.

"Yeah, I have to go to the mall because they're having this big Monday madness sale."

Hyde furrowed his brow and looked up at the tiny brunette who was inching her way closer to the back door. It was a miracle they'd managed to keep their relationship a secret for this long with her terrible lying skills.

"Jackie… It's Saturday," Donna pointed out and Hyde shook his head.

"See total madness!" Jackie exclaimed, before leaving through the back door.

Hyde sighed and returned his gaze back to in-front of him as Donna came over and sat down on the couch next to him. He could fell her gaze burning a hole in the side of his face as she continued to stare at him.

"What?" He snapped at her after a moment of silence.

"Monday madness?" She repeated Jackie's words, giving him a questioning look.

Out of all their friends, Donna was definitely the most switched on when it came to his and Jackie's secret, so he needed to tread carefully.

"What can I say? She's nuts," he stated simply.

He figured she probably knew everything already, the red head wasn't stupid, and she was aware of their feelings prior to this whole mess but instead of coming clean like they should have, the truth remained unspoken like a big fat elephant in the room.

"Yeah right Hyde," she scoffed. "You guys make it so obvious, I don't get how I'm the only one who notices it."

"Notice's what, Donna?"

She rolled her eyes. "That you and Jackie are going out!" She exclaimed, proving Hyde's theory right.

He looked at her with a blank expression as he contemplated his next move. He wasn't sure how to play this out but he was sure of one thing, he was sick of the secrets and the lies.

Jackie had said she was waiting to know that this thing between them was for real before they came clean and told their friends. But Hyde knew how he felt and to him this was as real as it got. If she still wasn't sure about him after all this time, then he couldn't see how this was going to end well.

"We aren't going out," he informed Donna after a moment's pause.

Donna waved a hand in his direction. "Going out, hooking up, it's the same thing."

He disagreed. Hooking up, or messing around was noncommittal, going out was public knowledge and normally included some sort of label.

Either way, he was done with hiding.

"Yeah well… I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna last."

Donna gasped at the sudden information. "Oh my God, I can't believe you just admitted it! I was right! I mean I knew I was right, but it feels so good hearing the words finally... Wait, what are you talking about it's not going to last? Are you guys breaking up already?"

"Can't break up if we're not really together man," he shrugged, trying to pretend like he wouldn't care either way. But in truth, calling it quits with Jackie was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Did you guys have a fight?" She questioned, flashing him a sympathetic look.

He fucking hated that look.

"No… I don't know," he sighed, taking his shades off and pressing his fingers to his eyes. "I think she wants me to take her to some dance next week." He admitted finally.

Donna laughed, but when he glared over at her she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry," she mumbled. "It's just… The image of you in a tux, with a corsage in hand, taking Jackie to the homecoming is kind of hilarious."

Hyde rolled his eyes and placed his shades back on. "Yeah well it's not happening man… I told her dances are where I draw the line."

He watched as Donna frowned back at him. "So, you're saying you won't care when she ends up going with someone else?"

He blinked over at her. "She said she's going on her own."

Donna laughed again, and Hyde felt his jaw twitch with annoyance.

Why was he even talking to her about this?

"There's no way a girl like Jackie Burkhart, is just going to go alone to the high school dance… Hyde if you don't take her, someone else will," she pointed out.

Hyde frowned. The idea of some other guy taking Jackie to the dance filled him with dread, but he'd meant it when he said he wasn't the type of guy who went to dances and he wasn't going to cave on this.

"She's not gonna go with anyone else," he told her, but he doubted his words the moment they came out of his mouth.

"Whatever you say… You would know better than me," Donna shrugged back.

Hyde sighed and felt a headache coming on. "I don't get chicks man… They say one thing and then do another."

One-minute Jackie wanted him to be her date to some stupid dance and the next minute she was telling him how they weren't ready to go public with their relationship yet. Well, she couldn't have both and he was getting tired of the games.

"Welcome to the dating world Hyde… It sucks, you're gonna love it."

Monday, September 25th.
Point Place High.

The bell rang signaling the end of the day while Jackie was already at her locker collecting her homework for the night. All day she'd been subjected to talk of the homecoming dance, it seemed like everyone but her was excited about the event.

There were banners and decorations going up all around the school, students were talking about their dates and their dresses and Jackie still hadn't made up her mind about attending or not. With less than a week to go, she didn't see how she could possibly attend without a date.

She'd brought the dance up around Steven the other day in the basement hoping he'd take pity and offer to escort her. She'd been looking for a sign that he was ready to commit to her and their relationship but he'd rather her go alone like a loser, than be her date.

He said he didn't care about going public with their relationship, but she was looking for a boyfriend not a fling and if he couldn't even take her to a stupid dance knowing that it would make her happy, then he wasn't the man she thought he was.

With him so adamantly against taking her to the dance, there was no way she could possibly attend. Julie would be thrilled by her absence but the only thing worse than not attending a dance is going to a dance solo and she wouldn't sink that low.

"Need a ride home?" Troye appeared by her side as Jackie closed her locker.

They both had the afternoon off. There was no practice tonight, most of the girls on her cheer-squad were going shopping together to look for dresses while she'd most likely spend her night in a stinky basement, surrounded by doofuses'.

"It's okay, Steven's picking me up," she told him. Whenever Steven had the afternoon off and she didn't have practice, he'd come to pick her up. It being one of the only times they got to spend alone together.

"I can't believe he's not taking you to the dance," Troye scoffed a little too loudly and Jackie shushed him. The halls were filled with students and rumors spread like wild-fire around here.

"He's not exactly the kind of guy who goes to dances…" She mumbled as the two began heading towards the exit.

After the awkward moment that had been shared between Jackie, Troye and Hyde at the football game the other week, Troye had asked her whether or not the two of them were dating. And since he'd shared his biggest secret with her, she felt guilty in lying to him, so she had to come clean.

"Well I guess we're both going to the dance alone," Troye stated with a sigh.

"I don't think I'm going… It's too pathetic to go alone."

Troye gasped. "You can't not go! Julie's been going around with those stupid homecoming queen ballots and if you don't go you can't beat her…"

Jackie had no intention on being crowned the homecoming queen, she hadn't even been at the school for a month yet, Julie could keep her title for now.

"Besides I need someone to hang out with, Justin's going with Cindy Lewis and I need a distraction," he added as they pushed through the doors that lead out into the quad.

Troye's huge crush on the quarter back Justin Roberts had only grown in strength over the past few weeks. Cindy Lewis was his new girlfriend, she was a pretty blonde who ran track and was widely known to be one of the easiest girls in the whole school.

"I'm sorry Troye," Jackie apologized.

The two were stopped at the top of the stairs by the school's entrance, the elevation made it easier for her to scan the parking lot for Steven's El Camino. Since his awkward encounter with Julie the other week - he'd been parking in the back of the lot, not wanting to run into the blonde tyrant again and she didn't blame him.

When she finally spotted the black Camino, Troye gasped loudly in her right ear, his hand shooting out to grab hold of her arm. "I just had the best idea ever," he exclaimed, and she looked at him with concern.

"You and I should go to the dance together!"

"I don't know Troye…" Jackie muttered, her gaze moving from her friend to where Steven was waiting for her, she could just see him leaning against the hood of his car and looking in her direction.

She remembered how he had acted towards Troye when he had caught them talking after the game, he'd seemed jealous then. With that on-top of the fake rumor Julie had told him, Jackie worried that agreeing to go to the dance with Troye could cause some serious problems between them. Especially since Steven had no idea about Troye's secret.

"Jackie come on, I need a beard and you need a hot date. It's perfect!"

Jackie scrunched up her nose. "Firstly, I resent being called a beard," she pointed a finger at him, and he shrugged back in response.

There was a part of her that knew this would be a bad idea, but there was also another part of her (a much larger part), that really wanted to go to the dance. Going with a friend sounded fun and Steven had made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to take her.

This way they would both get to go without looking like dateless losers. She just couldn't wait to see the look on Julie's face when she showed up after all.

"And secondly… We need to coordinate color schemes."

Troye smiled widely and pulled her into a hug. "Yes, this is going to be so much fun!" He exclaimed as he released her. "I'm thinking either midnight blue or lavender, but I'll keep you updated."

Jackie smiled at his enthusiasm. "Sounds perfect," she told him before moving her gaze back to the Camino in the parking lot, Steven had spotted her and was nodding his head towards the car, attempting to hurry her along.

"I've got to go, I'll call you later!" She waved goodbye to her friend before hurrying down the stairs and towards the parking lot. As she got closer to Steven, her nerves grew in size.

She'd tell him about her date to the dance and hope he would believe her when she said they were going only as friends, but she doubted the conversation would end in anything but a fight.

"Hey," she smiled a moment later as she approached him.

Hyde pushed off the hood of the car. "Hey doll," he greeted her, walking around the Camino and opening the door for her.

Jackie bit her lip and entered into the car first, she twisted her fingers nervously in her lap as she waited for him to sit down next to her.

Hyde closed the door behind him as he settled in behind the wheel. Before he started the engine, he turned to her and leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips hello, a new addition to their greetings that only made her feel more nervous.

"Were you waiting long?" She wondered.

"Not really… Who were you talking to?" He asked her as he turned the key in the ignition and the Camino's engine roared to life.

Jackie shifted uncomfortably in her seat as he slung one arm around her shoulders. "Oh um, that was just Troye," she told him.

"That guy again?" Hyde responded in a bitter tone as he reversed the car out of the parking space.

"He's my friend," Jackie pointed out.

"Right," Hyde nodded his head. "Like I'm your friend," he added suddenly, and Jackie sighed.

She wished that she could just tell him the real reason why he didn't need to be jealous of Troye, but he had made her swear not to tell a soul about his secret and she couldn't betray one of her closest friends trusts like that even if it meant causing problems between her and Steven.

Steven would just have to trust that he was the only one she wanted.

"I don't think of you as my friend," she assured him, studying her cuticles as she tried to work up the courage to tell him about her plans for the dance.

"Oh yeah? Then what do you think of me as?" He questioned back.

Jackie paused and thought about his question. The truth was, she'd been thinking about him like he was her boyfriend for the past few weeks, but they hadn't labeled anything yet and he'd never indicated to her that he wanted to be an official couple.

"Uh well… I'm not really sure," she admitted and felt herself blush.

She wished she had more balls when it came to things like this, but he made her nervous and she'd been raised by Pam to believe that men were supposed to be the ones who made the first moves when it came to relationships. It was a hard habit to break out of.

"What do you think of me as?" She asked him.

Hyde turned his head to look at her briefly. She wished he wasn't wearing his sunglasses right now, they always made it hard to read him and she needed to know what he was thinking.

"You're my chick, man," he shrugged as if the revelation was no big deal.

As if she should have known all along how he really felt.

"Oh," she couldn't help the smile spreading across her face. "That's cool," she tried to keep it zen, so as to not scare him off but the expression on her face was betraying her and one glance from him would prove just how un-zen she was feeling right now.

Suddenly, she felt guilty. Here he was being vulnerable and sweet with her when she was sitting on a bomb. She needed to tell him about Troye before it was too late, she just hoped he'd be okay with it and they wouldn't have to fight…

"Steven… I have to tell you something," she began as Hyde turned a corner towards the Forman's street.

She bit her lip as she watched him turn his head in her direction. "What's up baby?"

Baby… He'd never called her that before. God damn him for picking this to be the first time.

"Please don't be mad when I tell you this…" She started as nerves flooded her body and made it hard to concentrate. "Because you know I would have rathered to go with you, but you won't take me and that's okay I guess but I needed to go to the dance, and I couldn't go alone-"

"Jackie, what the hell are you going on about?" He cut her off, but there was a cold quality in his voice which proved to her that he already knew where she was heading.

"Troye and I both didn't have dates to the dance, so we agreed today that we'd go together… But just as friends!"

She felt sick and judging by the look on Steven's face he wasn't feeling great right now either.

"You're fucking kidding, right?" He wondered and turned to look at her as she shook her head. "Jesus Jackie what a fuckin' coincidence."

She frowned. "Steven… What do you mean?"

"I mean, whose idea was it to go together?"

"His…"

"Exactly man. The guys always lurking around you like some love-sick puppy. He's on the football team, he could have taken anyone, but he just so happened not to have a date a week before the dance? That's bullshit."

She could see where he was getting at, but Troye wasn't secretly in love with her.

"It's not like that," she told him, folding her arms across her chest and scooting down the bench seat further away from him.

"Well you can't go with him," he stated simply, and Jackie felt herself getting angry.

How dare he tell her what she can and can't do.

"Are you going to take me?" She spat back at him, knowing what his answer was going to be already.

"No," he scoffed.

"Well then you can't tell me what to do. I'm going with Troye to the dance, as friends and if you can't deal with that then that's too bad!" She was shouting now but she could feel tears threatening to spill down her face.

"Why would I take you to a dance man? You still don't want people knowing we're messing around, and I'm not gonna bend over backwards for someone who's embarrassed of being with me."

"I'm not embarrassed of being with you! That's not why we aren't telling people about us and you know it," she argued with him but as the words came out of her mouth, she felt like a phony.

They had agreed to keep things secret in order to work out their true feelings for one another, but Jackie had known how she felt about him for a while now… So why was she still pretending?

"Whatever Jackie," Hyde responded coldly as he pulled the Camino up to the Forman's house. "Go to the dance with him, I don't care anymore," he said and got out of the car without giving her another glance.

She felt a tear fall down her cheek as she watched him walk away.

Thanks for reading!

Little bit of smut in this chapter for you zennies that I hope you enjoyed. (I think i'm terrible at writing smut so don't expect too much throughout the fic but I had to throw a little bit in here and there!)

What do you think will go down at the homecoming dance? Will Jackie go with Troye? Will Hyde and Jackie make up? Will Donna spill the beans to the rest of the gang? Guess you'll have to wait till next week to find out ;)

Don't forget to leave a review and tell me your favorite parts of the chapter/what you're hoping to see in the next chapter!