Disclaimer: I own nothing. I do not own That '70s Show or any of it's characters. I do not own the song Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. I do not own any of the Christmas characters or movies or carols that may be mentioned in this story. I own nothing!
Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you're doing well and getting ready to bring in the New Year! Today I have for you a new oneshot, that's kinda late since it's Christmas themes but we're still in the holiday season right? I hope you all don't mind me posting it up now. I debated about it for awhile, I almost decided to not post it until next Christmas because it was getting so long and I've been sick while writing it—but hopefully it's not too bad. This story had various parings and various kisses, I hope you enjoy it! I'm gonna make this short because I'm starting to feel bad again, but thank you so very much for stopping by to read! I hope you like it! Please do review if you can, I would really love to hear your thoughts! Thanks once again for everything, I hope that you all have a very wonderful New Years Eve! :D Thanks for reading, I hope you like, and as always, please, Enjoy!
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
Christmas Eve 1980
The hammer hit the head of the nail one last time, securing it in its spot above the doorway that connected the Forman kitchen to the basement's staircase.
"Making a hole in a perfectly good wall to hang up a damn weed," Red Forman grumbled as he finished his hammering, "Dumbass Christmas spirit."
Standing beside Red was his wife as she shook her head at his words, "It is not a weed, it's a plant."
"You've already got a tree in the living room and now you're adding plants in here," said Red, still sounding grumpy and bothered. "It's Christmas time, Kitty, not time to turn the house into some nursery for plants. Isn't it bad enough that it's already a nursery for dumbasses the rest of the year?"
Kitty continued to shake her head, her smile still visible on her lips, "It's more than a plant, Red," she scolded slightly while handing him the small bundle of green leaves. "It's mistletoe! It's a symbol of Christmas and love! Doesn't it just make your heart swoon?"
"No," he dryly replied, scowl in place on his forehead.
"Well doesn't it fill you with love and happiness?"
Red gave an inward sigh, he knew his wife wouldn't be giving up anytime soon and this could go on for awhile, unless he did something. He took the mistletoe from his wife and hooked it onto the newly installed nail—however not before sharing more of his thoughts on the whole decoration.
"Kitty, the only thing I feel when I look at this thing is the urge to stick my foot up the ass of the guy who thought it would be a good idea to make holes in the walls of houses to hang up a damn plant that won't be up for more than a few days," he continued to gripe about the piece of mistletoe that now hung from the wall, "Even when I patch the thing up, it'll never be the same."
"It's a Christmas decoration, Red," Kitty reminded, staring up at the mistletoe, smiling at the fact that despite his grumbling her husband still hung up the decoration.
As Kitty spoke these words, Red joined her in looking at the ornament however there wasn't much of a trace of a smile on his face.
"I bet if I replaced it with some green leafy vegetable from fridge no one would know the difference," he commented causing Kitty to giggle.
Her laughter suddenly stopped though when she looked over at Red and noticed that he hadn't joined in on the laughter. He was still staring up at the mistletoe as if he were getting an idea…a wonderfully awful idea.
"Red Forman, don't you dare!" she warned in an alarmed tone.
He shrugged his shoulder, "I'm not," he assured. "All I'm saying is no one knows what the damn thing looks like so why bother hanging it up?"
"Well they may not know what mistletoe looks like but I'm sure they'll know what to do underneath it," she raised her eyebrows before breaking out into a fit of giggled.
"Great," muttered Red. "That's just what we need, the over-hormoned dumbasses going at it in front of us, all because of a damn weed hanging above them."
Though Kitty did not like Red calling the mistletoe a weed again, she ignored the comment and focused on the first part of what he'd said, "Oh Red, no one is going to be going at 'it.' The kids all know a thing or two about privacy…"she suddenly drifted off as she realized maybe not all of the kids had the sense of privacy; her tone of voice became much more apprehensive, "Well…except for Fez…oh I hope someone can explain things to him."
"Don't look at me," he said as soon as he saw her worried eyes landing on him, "I've already hung up the outside lights, I got the decorations down from the attic, I even got tricked into this whole thing but it's not happening again. I'm done with my Christmas obligations for the year."
Once again Kitty shook her head, but this time it appeared more solemn and defeated, she moved herself in front of her husband and lifted her open hands up in a 'I give up' type of fashion, "Okay, fine! If you are going to be such a Scrooge about this whole the mistletoe then…then we'll just forget the tradition all together!"
While Red hated seeing his wife so upset, especially when he was part of the reason for her unhappiness, there was a little something that made him smirk as he stared back at her. That little something being the same thing he'd been grumbling and complaining about. The damn weed that had turned into a green piece of mistletoe with white berries when Red saw his wife standing underneath it.
He wrapped his arm around her and smirked, "Never."
Not saying another word, Red leaned down and gently caught her lips with his in a soft loving kiss.
When they pulled away from each other, Kitty's grin had reappeared. Her eyes stayed locked with her husbands, his arms sill around her waist and her hands rubbing his upper arms and they shared a smile.
"You know Red, I'm glad that you've changed your feelings towards mistletoe," she told him as she began to untangle herself from his embrace. "Because there are a few more pieces that I want to hang up around the house."
Kitty then proceeded to lift up a small box tin box that wasn't every high but quite long, and appeared to be filled to the brim with pieces of mistletoe. The sight caused the smirk that had once been on Red's face to drop flat. Of course, Kitty noticed this and knew of something that might cheer her man up.
"And any extra pieces we have left I may just hang up in our bedroom."
Her little singing-songed words caused Red's smile to quickly reappear and she giggled happily as she quickly left the room with Red not far behind her.
0o0o0o
It was later that day and Kitty was in her cookie station, formerly known as the kitchen, working on the icing for her gingerbread people—the gingerbread men got little icing bowtie while the gingerbread women got some pretty white dresses—when Eric and Donna dragged themselves and a few of their shopping bags into the room. The couple had been out doing some very last minute shopping and were exhausted.
It took almost all of the energy that he had left for Eric to call out to his mother and let them know they were there, "Hi, Mom."
"Hi sweetie, how was shopping?" she asked, at last looking up from her cookies and being met with two expressions that looked both tired and almost in pain; Kitty gave them her own sympathetic look in reply, "That bad, huh?"
Donna flopped into an empty chair at the table while Eric looked at his mother with pleading eyes.
"Mom, why…why do people wait till the last minute to get their Christmas shopping done?"
Before Kitty could give her son the explanation he seemed to desperately need, Donna looked up at him with an exasperated look on her face.
"Um why do you wait till the last minute to get your Christmas shopping done?" she asked, reminding him in a subtle way of why exactly they had been out shopping in the first place on Christmas Eve.
While Eric may have been dog-tired but he was slowly starting to feel his energy build back up, he sat down beside his girlfriend, "Well Donna, I actually have several reasons," he said hoping to sound a convincing as he could; he lifted his index finger and continued, "One, it's only time I really had to do my shopping. Two, I got to spend time with you my little sugarplum. And three…well let's face it Donna, the best time to get the best gifts is on Christmas Eve. I mean your dad is gonna love the winter glove I got him."
Kitty frowned slightly, "Eric, honey, don't you mean gloves?"
"I wish I did, Mom," he replied, giving some insight to not only how bad the stores were but also to how some of the gifts he was giving were going to be; but at least he'd gotten them done, he just needed to wrap them.
Eric pushed himself out of his seat, giving a loud, tired groan that caught Donna's attention right away.
"Where're you going?" the redhead asked.
"I'm gonna go get the wrapping paper from the Vista Cruiser," he explained, already heading for the sliding glass doors that lead out to the patio.
Donna nodded her head before resting it on the table—she really needed a nap! Meanwhile Eric had just opened the door and was about to step out of the warm house when Kitty spotted something that she knew she had to bring to her son's attention right away!
"Oh Eric, honey, wait!" she called out, halting him in his steps and leading him to look at her, finding a big smile n her face, "I think someone is standing under the mistletoe!"
Following his mother's eyes, Eric found that she was right and right about where he stood in the doorway of the backdoor was a sprig of mistletoe. A playful grin crept onto his face.
"Huh? What would you look at that, you're right, Mom. I am standing under the mistletoe." He said, his words causing Donna to lift her head up enough to see the scene for herself, it soon had her smiling too. "I wonder what special lady will give me my mistletoe kiss?"
As Donna continued to grin and watch her boyfriend's little act, it was Kitty that seemed to jump into action.
"Oh don't you worry about that!" she said before hurrying over to her son and before Eric could try to stop her, she was at his side, pulling him down to her level so she could give him a kiss on the cheek, "Merry Christmas, my little snicklefritz."
It had not been the kiss that Eric was expecting, and though his smile had flattened, he tried to muster up a small kind of smile so as not to upset or hurt his mother—Donna meanwhile, was all smiles.
"Thanks, Mom," he told her.
Kitty smiled up at him before frowning at something she saw something on the area of her son's face that she had just kissed, "Oh, wait, wait wait. I got a little lipstick on you, come here…"
With one hand Kitty cupped his chin and grabber his face, pulling it closer to her and with the other hand she quickly licked her thumb before rubbing it on the pink spot on Eric's cheek. Eric groaned and tried to pull away but didn't escape until Kitty had cleaned his face. As soon as he was free he dropped into a seat at the table beside a laughing Donna.
"You got kissed by your mom," she teased.
"Shut up," he said in the same playful tone.
0o0o0o
"Can we go now?"
"Not yet, Fez."
"Can we go now?" the impatient Fez asked again.
This time it was Jackie who tried to handle it, "Not yet, Fez."
"Can we…"
"No, Fez!" the group of four seated in the basement exclaimed together before their friend could finish his question.
Eric saw the sad, shocked face that Fez wore and felt bad for yelling at the guy, so this time he decided to take a different approach, "Fez, we're not going to see Santa until Kelso gets here with Brooke and Betsy."
Despite the explanation being said in a calm and gentle way, Fez did not take things very calm or gently. His shoulders slumped and his face fell into an even more upset expression before he looked up at the ceiling, looking like a toddler getting ready to throw a tantrum.
"But that is so far away!" he whined out, quite loudly.
"Hey Fez," Hyde called out, soon grabbing the foreigner's attention. "Santa doesn't like when you whine."
Fez's incoming tantrum was soon forgotten as he frowned when he heard his friend's warning, "No, he does not like it when you cry or pout. It is in the song…ehem…" he cleared his throat and began to sing a familiar tune. "Oh you better watch out! You better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town!"
"Fez, crying and whining are the pretty much the same thing," informed Jackie.
"It is?" he asked, his eyes filled with worry.
Sensing that this may be the only way that they get a break from the whining and constant bugging from Fez, the group exchanged looks before quickly nodding their heads in agreement.
"Yeah."
"Sure is."
"It's true."
"Yup."
"Aye no…" Fez spoke, sounding worried and sad as his lower lip began to hangout further than his top one, luckily his was quick to catch it. "Aye no! I pouted!" he exclaimed, sounding more worried than before stopping himself form pouting only to quickly start again, soon catching himself again, "Aye! I did it again!"
It was clear that Fez was really starting to panic. Eric, Donna, Hyde and Jackie found things much more amusing to watch than to try to help; besides it looked like Fez was doing fine on his own—pacing behind the couch and making sure he did not let his lips fall into a pout.
"I know! I know!" Fez suddenly exclaimed, his pouting and worry not as apparent anymore, although he still looked to be in panic mode a he rushed over to the basements door. "I will just sit here quietly and think non-crying, non-pouty things until Kelso gets here," he explained as she sat down on the step right in front of the door, clearly not realizing how dangerous that spot could be; he only had one worry on his mind. " I do not want to be on Santa's Naughty List."
The others then watched as Fez settled into his spot, zipping up his mouth with a pretend zipper and then shutting his eyes—probably to help him think of the non-crying, non-pouty thoughts.
"How long do you think he's gonna be able to stay like that?" asked Donna.
Hyde shrugged, "I give him three minutes."
It was an estimate that the other three seemed to agree with but before any more guesses could be made, a visitor from upstairs entered the old hangout.
"Aw look at this, it's Rudolph and all his misfit toy friends," the person commented, announcing their presence.
Eric rolled his eyes, "What do you want, Laurie?"
"Yeah, like I'd ever want anything from you people," the blonde scoffed with disgust. "Mom said there was another box of decorations down here."
"I think I saw it over by the shower," Jackie said, though she did not look up from the wrapped gift she was currently tying a ribbon on.
Without much of a thank you, Laurie followed the brunette's directions and headed over to the old basement shower. She began to look for the box her mother had sent her down for, ignoring the pair of eyes that were watching her with quite a bit of confusion and curiosity.
"Are you like actually helping decorate?" Donna asked, hoping she didn't sound as shocked as she felt.
After finding the box and lifting it up, Laurie stared back at Donna and mockingly replied, "Like actually, yeah."
"How do we know you're really not gonna go throw the stuff off the highest cliff?" Hyde asked this question with a teasing smirk that grew when Laurie snarled back at him.
"Hey, come on Hyde, it's Christmas," Eric said, surprising everyone by coming to his sister's defense. "Everyone loves Christmas, and it's really not that hard to believe that Laurie does too. I mean, you rearrange the letter's in Santa's name and you've got her real name. She practically owns the holiday!"
This time it wasn't only a annoyed, upset snarl that Laurie gave but a sharp smack on the back of Eric's head. He yelped in pain but it went ignored when Laurie noticed the only person in the room who hadn't said a words since she entered the place. In fact, she wasn't sure he had even seen her since he was sitting in front of the door with his eyes closed—foreigners were weird.
"What's with the Fez in the box?" Laurie asked, trying not to sound too interested.
Still rubbing his injured area on his head, Eric looked over at his silent friend as he explained, "He's trying to stay off the naughty list."
"You've been on there for awhile, Laurie, for different reasons" Hyde said with a shrug of his shoulders, "but maybe you should go over and let him know it's not so bad."
Laurie paid the first half of what Hyde said very little attention, however, his advice of going over to Fez was not only considered but followed when she caught a glimpse of green and white hanging from the doorway that he sat under.
The blonde placed the box of decorations down on the green dryer before walking over to Fez with her hips swaying back and forth. His eyes remained closed so he never saw her coming, nor did he see her kneel down beside him. It wasn't until she grabbed his face in her hands that he realized she was there—his eyes were still closed though but that didn't matter to Laurie. She pulled her his face closer to hers and gave him a Christmas kiss that he would not soon forget.
It seemed to be one heck of a kiss too as Fez's eyes shot open during the kiss and he did anything but pull away.
Soon the kiss was brought to an end, Laurie pulled away and gave Fez a sultry smile before standing up and walking away being sure to give him a show as she did so.
"Later losers," she said before grabbing the box she'd come down for and heading upstairs.
The unexpected kiss came as quite a shock to some people…well mostly Fez. The rest of the group weren't as surprised, this was Laurie Forman, if anything surprised them it was that she'd been able to keep the kiss at a G rating.
Flabbergasted Fez touched his lips, "What…what happened?" he wanted to know but before anyone could give an answer he threw his hands in the air and announced his own theory, "It is a Christmas miracle!"
Jackie couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm, "Sorry Fez, I don't think it was a Christmas miracle. More like Christmas mistletoe."
"Mistletoe?" Fez repeated, following Jackie's finger that was pointing at the spring of mistletoe hanging above him.
"Yeah," Donna nodded, she was sure that they had explained the tradition to him before but just in case decided to give Fez a quick recap. "Anyone who's found under the mistletoe has to be kissed. It's bad luck if you don't."
"Anyone?" Fez asked again, an idea already forming in his head.
In the next moment Fez leapt onto his feet and yanked the piece of mistletoe off its hook. His friends watched with frowns indented onto their foreheads as he clutched the plant in his hands and rushed off to the small back hallway in the basement.
"Am I the only one who's terrified of what he's probably doing back there?" Eric asked, sounding quite serious.
Donna only laughed at the question before shifting the subject, "Your mom really went all out with the mistletoe this year. It's like there's some hanging at every entrance into the house."
"Every entrance, Donna?" Eric repeated n question form. "Try every doorway! It's so bad that now every time I see Red leave into a room I don't go into that room until five minutes later. Because getting caught under the mistletoe with Red…there's just no coming back from that."
Hyde smirked in agreement, "Yeah, knowing Red instead of a mistletoe kiss, he'd give you a mistletoe foot in the ass."
Eric nodded his head and pointed at Hyde as if saying 'Yes, exactly.' It made Donna laugh but Jackie's mind was on something else.
Jackie had noticed the extra pieces of mistletoe hanging in the Forman home. Any other year she may have found it romantic, but when you were single at Christmas time the sight of a brick of icky fruitcake was more welcomed than the sight of hanging mistletoe. Jackie wasn't the type of person to take advice either, she gave it, especially when the advice was coming from Eric Forman. But it sounded like he might actually have some good strategies for keeping himself out from under the mistletoe and the last thing Jackie wanted was to find herself under the mistletoe with anyone this year; but especially not wit a certain sunglass wearing someone. It would be too awkward and forced and even painful if they kissed under the mistletoe; it would be like getting a taste of something she could never have again.
"So you're avoiding the mistletoe, completely?" Jackie asked, slowly setting the stage and hoping he could give her some advice and tips without her having to actually ask him.
"Well I wouldn't say completely," came Eric's smug reply, "I mean I have already gotten caught under it once and got a very nice mistletoe kiss out of it."
Donna smiled, holding in a laugh, "Yeah, from his mom."
A few laughs erupted following this shared piece of information while Eric's smirk vanished and he nodded his head in a not so appreciative manner.
"Thanks, Donna, thanks."
All of a sudden Fez reappeared from the back part of the basement, not paying his friends any attention as he ran past them and up the wooden staircase. The group could barely make out the small piece of mistletoe that hung from the front of his shirt's collar but they could hear him clearly exclaim as he ran out of sight, "Oh Laurie, I found someone else who is under the mistletoe!"
0o0o0o
"But I never use the front door," pointed out Michael Kelso.
The young police officer had just arrived to the Forman home with his small family. He held in his arms, his almost two year old daughter, Betsy while Brooke, his girlfriend and daughter's mother stood at his side. Brooke had been the one to insist that they make a polite entrance into the home they had been politely invited to instead of barging in unannounced.
"I know, Michael, but that was before. Now you're a grown up, an adult," she reminded, in the past few month Kelso really had matured and done well in showing how responsible and grown up he could be for the sake of his daughter. Of course for Betsy's sake he could also act like a big kid for her too. "And what do adults do?"
His shoulders slumped and Kelso looked skywards with an annoyed expression written on his face, "They use the front door."
"That's right," nodded Brooke, though she couldn't help the smile that had broken onto her lips.
"Fine," Kelso agreed, getting rid of his annoyance and shifting his daughter in his arms then continuing with what he had to say. "But No one ever uses the front door. If we use it now, it could like shock the Formans to death or something and then it would all be on your hands."
Brooke shook her head, her grin still in place, "I think that's a risk I'm willing to take."
"Okay, come on."
Kelso then lead the way up the steps of the Forman's front porch with Brooke not far behind. They stopped when they reached the front door that had been decorated with a big green, Christmas wreath. Kelso stared at the wreath for a moment or two before looking over at Brooke who smiled and gave him an encouraging head nod. The sight made Kelso feel better and he returned the smile and nod as he lifted his free hand, stretched it out to the door, and grabbed a hold of the door knob!
"We're here!" he announced as he pushed open the door and found the decorated but empty of occupants, living room.
With wide, surprised eyes, Brooke remained on the porch, "Michael!"
"What?" he asked looking and sounding confused, "I used the front door!"
"I guess you did," Brooke had to admit with the smallest of sighs; that sigh however took the form of a smile when she noticed Kelso was still standing in the doorway where a special Christmas decoration was hanging. "And look at that, you're standing under the mistletoe."
The two brows on Kelso's forehead came together, "Huh?" he asked before looking up at finding that she was right; a large excited grin spread onto his face. "Does that mean I get a kiss?"
Brooke shrugged and gave a sly smile, "Well, it is tradition," she agreed and just as Kelso's grin grew even more Brooke looked over at her daughter, "Sweetie, you wanna give Daddy a kiss?"
When Kelso first heard the question, he had to admit he was a little disappointed. He loved his daughter but had been hoping to get a kiss from his girlfriend. However, when he caught the sight of his smiling daughter giggling and nodding her head eagerly, his heart was warmed and he knew this kiss under the mistletoe would be like no other kiss he'd had.
He was just about to turn his head to give his daughter a kiss when he felt a soft warm pair of lips on his left cheek and seconds later he felt a pair of soft small, wet lips on his other cheek. He was getting a kiss from both of his favorite girls and it made him give the grandest of smiles.
George Bailey may have been the richest man in town but at that moment. Michael Kelso felt like the richest man in the world!
0o0o0o
It had been about an hour since Kelso and Brooke had arrived at the Formans. Brooke and Betsy were in the kitchen visiting with Kitty and talking about girly, baby stuff while Kelso made himself comfortable down on the basement couch. He had a hot cup of cocoa, courtesy of Mrs. Forman, and the television tuned to the re-airing of The Year Without a Santa Year.
The Christmas special had just gone on commercial break when Fez came into the room from outside. He held a round green tin box in his hand, out in front of him, and walked over to Kelso—singing a familiar tune as did so.
"I brought this gift for you, pa rum pum pum pum," he sang his own spin on the song, holding out the gift to his dear friend, "I brought this gift for you pa rum pum pum pum."
Kelso frowned, "Fez, that's not how the song goes, buddy," he started to explain, after all, when it came to Christmas special, he was the expert. "See cuz it's all about the little drummer boy being too poor to buy Baby Jesus a present so he plays his drums…it's all the Christmas special!"
Not impressed, by Kelso's Christmas knowledge or correction of his error, Fez scowled down at Kelso, "Do you want the gift or not?"
"Yeah!" Kelso was quick to agree and took the tin into his own hands and pulled the top off only to reveal an empty container. He frowned at the insides and then up at Fez, "It's empty."
Fez nodded, suddenly looking less upset and more embarrassed, "Yes, it…it was supposed to have fudge but…but I ate it." he admitted with a shy smile.
"So you're giving me an empty tin?!"
"It's the thought that counts!" Fez was swift to argue.
Still looking at his gift, Kelso scoffed "Yeah, a sucky thought."
"I said the thought that counts!" repeated Fez, even louder than before.
The shouting appeared to have even started Kelso and he was quick to agree and start to show some form of appreciation, "Okay, okay, I like it!"
"Good," Fez grinned, "Now where is Fez's gift?"
"Oh I got it over here!" Kelso excitedly informed as the Christmas spirit suddenly filled him and he hurried over the back little section of the basement where he'd put a bag of presents. Fez eagerly followed him and looked over Kelso's shoulder as he dug through the bag. "You're gonna love it!"
"Aye no…"
Kelso continued to rummage for Fez's gift, not paying much attention to what Fez had already found, "Yeah, I know, it's gonna make you super bad for giving me that dumb empty tin."
Fez just shook his head and once again cried, "Aye no."
This time Kelso did look up from the bag of gifts, he frowned at his friend before asking, "Why are you I knowing."
"Not I know, aye no," corrected Fez as he pointed his index finger up at the ceiling.
His scowl in place, Kelso's eyes trailed up at what Fez's finger was pointing at and found another piece of mistletoe—this time handing from one of the wire pipe things that were found in the underground room.
"Aye no," Kelso cried in a similar fashion.
Nodding Fez agreed with his friend until he realized what was being said, "Wait, why did you say 'aye no?'"
"Cuz I don't wanna kiss you!" he replied as if it were obvious.
The foreigner glared daggers as he shot out, "Well I do not want to kiss you either, you sonofabitch!"
Now it was Kelso's turn to be the one who was upset. "Well someone's gotta be the kiss-y and want the kiss and someone's gotta be the non-kiss-y and not want the kiss," he was quick to point out. "And I'm the pretty one so it only makes sense that you're the kiss-y and I'm the non-kiss-y."
Fez nodded in agreement, he could see that it was a good point but did have to wonder about something else, "And what would be so bad about kissing me?"
"Fez, I'm not having this fight again!" Kelso raised his voice with frustration, "Alright, look, you don't wanna kiss me and I don't wanna kiss you. No one's here, so we'll just ignore it and pretend like we never even saw the mistletoe."
"But we did," reminded Fez as he nervously played with his fingers, before giving another important reminder, "And…and isn't it bad luck if we do not kiss?"
Kelso face fell as his plan crumbled to pieces as well. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. And bad luck always hits us good looking people the worst. I mean, I could end up with a pimple or like a sty!" the thought alone scared Kelso into changing his plan, "Okay, okay we'll kiss! But it'll be quick!"
"And we will tell no one!" Fez added showing his agreement of the new plan.
"Right."
With that agreement set, the two men got ready for their kiss. They both shut their eyes tightly and puckered their lips together before slowly—very very slowly—and cautiously moved their faces close together. It seemed like it took over five minutes for their faces to be close enough for their lips to touch and when they did touch they didn't keep contact for more than one or two seconds before instantly pulling away and out of the kiss.
"Huh, that wasn't so bad," Kelso admitted.
Fez nodded, "Yes, you are a good kisser."
"Thanks," Kelso gave a not so modest shrug, "You're lips are really soft."
A shy embarrassed smile crawled onto Fez's lips as he informed, "Vanilla lipsmackers."
Impressed Kelso nodded his head and Fez did the same. The room was then filled with silence as the two men stared back at each other, smiling, and nodding their head up and down. It may have taken them a little while to realize how odd it was but as soon as they did they snapped right out of it.
"Uh, I think we should do some manly now," suggested Kelso.
"Yes, yes," Fez agreed and began to swing his arms as if he were getting ready for a fight. "Something manly, grr!"
An idea hit Kelso, "I'm gonna go watch some football!"
"Good idea," the younger man agreed.
Kelso then started to head up the basement steps to go watch football in the living room. He hadn't made it up the third step when he noticed Fez was following close behind.
"Uh Fez," he began, gently, "I think we should do separate manly things."
Surprisingly Fez understood, "Right, right, then I will go do another manly thing like…go kill something!"
"Sounds good!" Kelso agreed before the two set off in their separate ways.
0o0o0o
Donna Pinciotti entered her boyfriend's childhood bedroom, finding him sttign on the floor surround by a mess of wrapping paper, rolls of tape, ribbons and stick on bows.
"Hey, how's the gift wrapping going?" she asked curiously.
"Well…" Eric started to say until he figure that no words could really give a full understanding of what had been going on for the past half hour.
Instead he reached across from where he sat and grabbed the one wrapped gift he had been working on. He raised it up for Donna to see and she just about burst into a laugh but managed to contain her laughter through a large smile. The wrapped gift did not look like a wrapped gift. It looked like a crumble dup piece of wrapping paper with lots of extra tape.
"Oh my God," she said still grinning, reaching out for the gift. "How did you even do this?"
Tiredly, Eric shook his head back and forth, "Donna, I…I don't even know anymore. I swear I'm close to drawing my wrapping paper on all the gifts I bought this year."
A light laugh found its way from Donna's lips before she settled herself onto the floor next to Eric, "Here, let me help you."
There was a comfortable silence that filled the room as Eric watched Donna grab one of his boxed gifts and start wrapping it up. She cut and folded the festive paper in such an effortless way, she made it look so easy! Eric was in awe as he watched her, he was also very appreciative of her helping him out in his hour of need. It meant a lot to him and he knew of the perfect way to thank her!
"Wow, Donna," he began to say, grabbing something from behind him and carefully scooting closer to the redhead. "I think one of your great, great grandparents must've worked at Santa's workshop because you are really good at wrapping presents."
As he finished his words, he stretched his arm up and above Donna. She may have kept her head down, focused on her gift wrapping, but she quickly sensed what he was up to.
"Don't even think about it, Eric," she warned, still not moving her eyes.
Eric tried to play it cool, never moving his arm, "Think about what?"
Giving a sigh Donna finally looked up from the now wrapped gift and up at the what Eric was holding was above her head. The familiar piece of green sprig. A not so welcomed sight for Donna.
"Mistletoe, Eric?" she asked unimpressed, "Really? You know it's a type of parasite right?"
"Yeah," Eric answered, not very convincingly.
Donna shook her head and even though Eric had moved his arm and the mistletoe away from her, she still felt compelled to share her knowledge on the Christmas decoration. "It lives on trees and practically kills them by stopping their growth. That's the kind of thing you want to share a kiss under?"
"Yeah, yeah it is," nodded Eric, surprising Donna by showing the 'taking a stand' side of him. "It's tradition and I'm a traditional guy. So yeah, I want to share a romantic kiss under the mistletoe with my girlfriend. If that's so bad, sue me!"
He finished his outburst by slamming a stick on bow to an unwrapped gift, his new form of wrapping, he never even noticed the smile that had started to form on Donna's lips. Nor had he noticed the way her arm rose up next to him.
"Eric, look up."
Doing what he was told, Eric slowly looked up above him and found that now it was Donna holding a piece of mistletoe above the two of them. His forehead furrowed with confusion when he saw this.
"Is that my mistletoe?" he asked but when he looked around he found he saw the piece he'd used on her lying on the floor.
That's when Eric realized it. Donna had brought her own piece of mistletoe to use on him. This made Eric smile which in turn had Donna grinning back at him.
"So," Donna said, sounding a bit impatient, "Are you gonna kiss me or not?"
Eric pretended to give the question some thought, "Hmm, you know I don't know. I mean I'm not sure how I feel about kissing under a fungus."
Donna laughed and shook her head at Eric's teasing smile before she leaned over and kissed that smirk right off his face.
0o0o0o
Later that night it was the Forman's Christmas Eve party, a little pre-Christmas party with just the family and the neighborhood kids who over the years had become part of The Forman Family in one way one another.
So far the night had been going quite well, Jackie thought. The food was good, the playlist of Christmas carols wasn't as annoying and kiddie like as she'd been expecting, and she had managed to keep away from being caught under the mistletoe with anyone. She had also been able to have a nice, civil, conversation with Steven—alone—something that had been very rare for a very long while now.
She had been leaning against the half wall that connected Red's den to the living room when Hyde approached her.
"Hey," he greeted casually.
Jackie offered him a small smile, "Hi."
"So, how's your Christmas going so far?"
Though it wasn't Christmas just yet, Jackie didn't want to point this out and risk starting a fight or worse risk him walking away from her. Besides, it was Christmas Eve the official start of Christmas, right?
"It's been good," she told him, smiling.
Hyde nodded his head, "That's good."
"Mm hmm," Jackie nodded back before asking him the same, "What about you? How's your Christmas been so far?"
"Pretty cool."
"That's cool," she nodded again, this time with less nervousness and more Zen which caused Hyde to smirk.
And that's when it happened.
"Oh look who's standing under the mistletoe!" came Kitty's cheerful voice in a singing kind of tone.
Hearing this Hyde and Jackie both looked around the living room at their friends but saw that no one of them was standing under or near any doorway, which could only mean one thing. Together, Hyde and Jackie both very slowly looked up at the ceiling and spotted the piece of sparkling mistletoe that hung above them at the entrance of the den.
Several seconds passed as the two stared up at the meddling little plant when they finally tore their gaze from it, their eyes met awkwardly before they each took a step back—as if it were a silent agreement that said they would pretend nothing had happened.
Their agreement had a void though, they had gathered an audience who were watching them very closely—waiting for a kiss.
"Ah! It's too late," Kelso pointed out, "We all already saw you guys. You gotta kiss."
Hyde shot Kelso an angry frown, one that didn't go unnoticed by Jackie. She was a little hurt by what she saw, did the thought of kissing her really make Steven that angry? However, she tried to brush her feelings off and getting this over with.
"Look Steven," she said, getting Hyde attention, "let's just make this really quick."
He nodded, "Right."
The pair then leaned their heads close together at a rather quick speed and then moved them away at the same way. Their movement had been done in such a rush their onlookers barely saw their lips touch! It had been a very quick kiss that was given boos and disappointed 'aws.'
"Oh come on!"
"That's nothing!"
"I kissed Kelso better than that!" Fez declared, not noticing the wide eyes expression coming from Kelso or the confused looks he was getting from the others.
"Come on guys. Let's see a real kiss," urged Donna, her feelings towards mistletoe having obviously changed; maybe with the help of some eggnog even.
Jackie glared over at Donna, who didn't seem to care; while Hyde smirked and stepped closer to the tiny brunette. She hadn't noticed him moving closer to her so when she turned back around, she was a little startled to find him standing so close to her.
Hyde smirked and moved his arm her waist, "Gotta give the people what they want."
Then without another word Hyde bowed his head down and slowly moved his face close to hers, capturing her lips in a knee weakening kiss. At first Jackie was surprised but then she relaxed and welcomed the kiss, soon feeling like she never wanted this moment under the mistletoe to end.
The audience of family applauded but the cheers went unheard by the couple who remained in their lip lock that only seemed t be getting more and more passionate. Both of Hyde's arms had moved around Jackie's slim waist while Jackie had wrapped hers around his neck, pulling him even closer to her. Over a full minute had passed but the embrace remained strong, making the others feel a little uneasy.
It was Eric who broke the silence first, "Okay, things are feeling a little more awkward now."
"Dumbasses," Red grumbled as he led his wife away from the scene.
Laurie rolled her eyes, "Get a room, you two,' she said before following her own advice and sneaking off with Fez upstairs to her bedroom.
As the rest of the audience began to wander off and go on with their own party festivities, Jackie and Hyde finally pulled out of their long embrace. They still felt a little light headed as they pulled away—Jackie especially.
"Steven, I…" she touched her lips and slowly shook her head, "I have to go."
She then hurried off, avoiding the others in the living room by making her exit through the den. Hyde frowned as he watched he leave, his confusion keeping him from moving but something stronger gave him the push that he needed.
"Wait, Jackie," he called after her, following her path, "Jackie."
When he soon caught up with her, she was at the other end of the dining room, looking both scared and upset.
"Jackie…"
"You shouldn't have kissed me like that, Steven." She firmly told him, shaking her head; afraid this was all part of some burn he had planned for her.
Hyde stared at her, "Why not?"
"Because you didn't mean it!"
His eyes caught hers from behind his shades, "Who says I didn't mean it?"
Jackie felt her heart skip a beat, "You mean it?"
"Yeah," he said after a pause then asked a question he needed an answer to, "Did you mean it?"
She nodded before she was able to find her voice again, "Yes, Steven, I did."
The corners of Hyde's mouth twitched into a smirk, however the smirk didn't last very long because Jackie soon had her lips pressed against it in another loving kiss.
This kiss may not have lasted as long as the first one, but it did have a happier ending. They slowly pulled out of their kiss but stayed in each other's arms, sharing soft, happy smiles. Jackie almost felt bad for having to ruin the moment, but she needed to say something before they could go much further.
"But you know it's gonna take more than a couple of meaningful kisses for us to really fix things," Jackie said in a soft tone, hoping it would keep him from hating the idea too much. "I mean we have to talk."
Hyde nodded, "Yeah, I know."
His agreement surprised Jackie but in a good way; her smile soon reappeared and it made Hyde happy to see. It felt good to be able to make her smile again. And a new sight had his own smile forming again.
"There's no Christmas plant that forces you to talk to the person you're standing with underneath it," Hyde remarked, "So for now…"
As Hyde's words drifted off his eyes drifted upwards and Jackie did the same, soon finding that they were standing under another piece of Christmas mistletoe.
"For now…" she agreed with a growing smile before leaning in and meeting Hyde's lips in another sweet kiss.
The End
Author's Note: So what did you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Be sure to let me know in a review!
I really hope that you all enjoyed this story! Sorry it was so long, hopefully after reading it you don't feel too drained to write a review with your thoughts lol Oh and btw, my Jackie and Eric fans, please don't be too mad at the lack of JE in this story I have something very special planned for Stocking Stuffers in the next few days :D
See you all next year!
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!