…
It was almost dinner and still no sign of Jackie.
Eric's face heated up again as he visualized a half-naked Jackie cupping her boobs for the hundredth time that day.
How the hell was he supposed to face her after that?
He had excitedly returned home from school after receiving a ticket for a free game of bowling, and he had thought that it would be the perfect excuse to get Jackie out of the house. She had been holed up in their residence for so long that he figured she would be willing to leave if there was something fun to do. When he had heard movement in her room, he just assumed it was safe to open the door. Dumbass, Red's voice said, echoing through his head.
At least she wasn't naked, he thought, and then instantly regretted it when his brain by default tried to conjure up that image. His body reacted the way a man's body would, and he got frustrated, as dinnertime was not the time to… well, you know. Plus, this was Jackie Burkhart. Of course, she was beautiful, but she was never his type. He liked down-to-earth girls, although, the more he got to know Jackie, the more vulnerable and down-to-earth she was. Maybe if he and Jackie had met now instead of back in high school, things would be different.
But, no… they had a past, not to mention she was pregnant. She definitely couldn't be looking for anything, especially since she was pretty hung up on that Nate guy. He couldn't blame her, given the circumstances.
Half-naked Jackie flashed through his mind again.
Okay, so, yeah, she was definitely sexy. She had been wearing a lacy, pink bra with matching panties, a combination that seemed so… Jackie. Donna never wore matching undergarments; she usually just seemed to open a drawer and throw on whatever she grabbed first. However, Jackie wore a bra and panties that matched, even when she thought nobody would see them… how typically Jackie.
God, stop it. Eric felt the need to smack himself in the head, but he refrained for fear that his father would walk in the living room to witness it, and Eric was not in the mood to hear any snarky comments from Red.
But… Jackie. The image flew through his mind again. Damn it.
Pregnant-with-another-man's-baby Jackie.
He momentarily stopped feeling horny and instead began to feel sorry for the girl. Maybe the guy would never show up. Maybe Jackie would be stuck raising a kid on her own.
She had told him he'd make a good father.
Are we really doing this? Eric thought to himself. Did one glimpse of Jackie in her underwear suddenly turn into some ridiculous fantasy where I'm raising her baby with her?
Jackie must really have some sort of power over men, he figured. After all, Eric had witnessed what Jackie had done to every other guy in his group of friends. Now, suddenly, he was thinking of her. How did she manage to do that?
"Eric!" Kitty's voice rang from the kitchen. "Will you go get Jackie? I just brought dinner home."
Oh, God. He wasn't ready for this.
He cleared his throat. "Sure, Mom," he responded, and he could hear the nervousness in his voice.
Slowly, he ascended the staircase and stood behind Jackie's door for a few moments, trying to psych himself up to talk to her. Finally, he knocked.
"Yeah?" Jackie's voice asked. "You can open the door."
Eric opened the door at a leisurely pace, dreading the moment that she would be able to see that it was he who had knocked.
Once the door was opened, he stood in the doorway. Jackie was sitting cross-legged on her bed, flipping through a magazine. A bottle of blue nail polish sat on her nightstand, although Eric noticed her nails were still colored pink, as they were the last time he saw her. She glanced up, making eye contact with him.
"Oh, so you knock this time," Jackie commented, setting down the magazine.
Eric blushed. "Oh, yeah… sorry." Jackie stared at him, and he remembered why he was there. "Yeah, um… Mom just put dinner on the table."
"Okay," Jackie said, uncrossing her legs and standing up.
He remained standing in her doorway. "Um… you're probably wondering why I didn't knock."
An amused smile came to Jackie's face and Eric wondered if she had even felt the slightest bit embarrassed at the situation that had taken place just hours before.
"Some guy gave me a ticket for a free game of bowling," he uttered, and cleared his throat nervously. "I thought maybe you'd be interested."
"You barged into my room to tell me about bowling?" Jackie asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I guess I was excited," Eric admitted. "I thought maybe you'd have fun if you got out of the house." He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled the ticket out, gently setting it on her dresser.
"Well, gee, Eric," Jackie began sarcastically, "Bowling by myself sounds lovely. I mean, first off, I'm wearing someone else's ugly shoes, and then—"
Eric cut her off. "No, I mean, I'd go with you."
Jackie gave him a quizzical look. "You'd go out in public with me?"
He smiled at how serious she sounded. "Well, yeah, as long as you'd go out in public with me. We're… friends, right?"
"I thought that was only limited to when we're under this roof," Jackie admitted. "I mean, you said—"
"That was a joke," Eric told her, and then grinned. "Come on, you're Jackie Burkhart. It'd be a total privilege to be seen with you. You're, like, one of the cool kids." Never in his life did he think he'd be trying to boost Jackie's ego, but here he was, feeling sympathetic and maybe even slightly more for the young woman.
A small smile appeared on Jackie's face and Eric felt pride bubble up inside of him, knowing he was the catalyst for that smile.
"Yeah… I know." The words she spoke sounded like the old Jackie, but her voice didn't sound nearly as confident now. She locked eyes with Eric, feeling grateful that she knew him. "Thank you. You've been so kind to me, Eric."
"You're welcome," Eric responded.
A moment of silence passed between them, and suddenly their tenderness toward each other became very apparent and they both felt a little uncomfortable, unsure what to do next.
"Well, um…" Jackie glanced at the open door behind Eric. "Guess we should go eat, huh?"
Eric nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
The pair headed downstairs to the kitchen to eat dinner.
Kitty had worked a long shift that day and, instead of opting to spend a solid hour or so cooking up a meal, she had brought home a bucket of fried chicken, which happened to be Red's favorite.
The family eagerly ate, and Eric was thankful that he no longer felt the embarrassment of what had happened earlier, despite the image still popping in his head every time he glanced at her, which made him blush.
"You're quiet," Red commented, scooping up some more coleslaw for his plate.
"Long day," Eric told him. "Lots of… information to take in during class today."
Red rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, Eric, you were there for, what, three hours?"
"Honey, he's taking accelerated courses," Kitty reminded her husband. "Get off his case."
"Thanks, Mom," Eric replied gratefully.
It was silent again for a minute, save for the sound of forks scraping on ceramic dinner plates.
"So, what do you two have planned tonight?" Kitty inquired, looking at Eric and Jackie.
"Why do you think we have plans?" Eric asked defensively, and Jackie cut him off.
"Actually, Eric is taking me bowling," she said, opening up her can of Diet Coke which gave a refreshing hiss.
"Oh, bowling, how nice of you Eric," Kitty commented.
"Yeah, well…" Eric side-glanced at Jackie and his eyes returned to his mother. "I figured she should get out of the house."
"He's right, you know," Kitty told the young woman. "I know things are a bit rough right now, but holing yourself up won't do you any good. You'll regret it when you're further along and don't even have the option of leaving."
Jackie bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I hadn't thought about that." She frowned at her plate. "I just don't want anyone to see me."
"Oh, honey, you don't even look pregnant," Kitty consoled. "Just… you two go out and have a good time, alright?"
"Sure," Jackie agreed, looking over at Eric to realize he was already staring at her. He quickly looked away and they each lightly blushed. Thankfully, neither the matriarch nor the patriarch of the Forman family noticed.
After dinner, Jackie made sure her makeup and hair were still in tact, and the pair went to Point Place's local bowling alley. She, thankfully, didn't see anybody she knew from high school during the time they spent there. Eric was being extra sweet to her, even opening her car door for her when they left.
"Wow, Michael never even did that for me," Jackie had commented, and then felt embarrassed.
"Well, Kelso, admittedly, is a man of many things, but I wouldn't exactly mark him down as a gentleman," Eric responded back.
When they returned home, Eric was hoping that they would have another session of watching television in the basement. However, Jackie was so exhausted that she had to go to bed the second they returned, which disappointed Eric. Before she went to her room for the night, though, she thanked Eric and gave him a small peck on the cheek.
He went to the basement by himself after that, cheeks burning as he wondered how the hell he was going to get over this stupid crush.