THE RIGHT WAY AROUND.
Chapter 5 – Funland.
A/N: Here we go again. This story is nearing its end because I don't want to go so far that it's just insane to think that Jackie and Hyde will work through their problems quickly. With such minimal interaction between the couple, I think they will have a lot less things to throw back in each others faces. The reviews for the last chapter were really encouraging because I was feeling really critical of it. I've got sooooooooo much work this weekend but I will try and get another chapter out by Sunday. Thanks for sticking with this. BTW, I apologise in advance to Bewitched fans but the opportunity was too good to pass up. You'll see what I mean…
Disclaimer: I own nothing and after the crap the show spilled out in Season 8, I'm relieved to have nothing to do with the show.
FORMAN PORCH
Jackie stood in front of the door, nervously awaiting someone to answer the erratic knock she had made only moments earlier. Just then, the door opened slowly to reveal Red who, upon seeing Jackie, gave a salute.
"It is a rare occasion when I have the honour to greet a true hero. I have fought with some of the bravest men to walk this Earth, but none of them would have had the balls to lay a hand on Steven."
Jackie laughed, still embarrassed by her behaviour. "That's actually why I'm here, Mr. Forman. I wanted to talk to Steven before he does something stupid like run off to Vegas again, but I don't think he wants to see me right now." She smiled, wistfully.
"That's crap." Red said, rolling his eyes. "The boy is a dumbass when it comes to you and that's not gonna stop anytime soon, so come on in before you let all the damn heat out." Still smiling at Red's typical sense of courtesy, Jackie stepped over the threshold and cautiously walked to the kitchen door, peeking in to see who was on the other side. Not seeing a certain curly haired boy, she sighed with relief when she only spotted Donna, Fez, and Kelso, who were engaged in another debate about whether Samantha or Jeanie was the more perfect woman.
"We are not getting into this again!" Donna said, exasperated. "Jeanie is a slave to Major Nelson's commands. And don't even get me started on that outfit. Sam has the right idea. She takes control of her own life, regardless of what her husband says." she smirked, feeling pride for her feminist beliefs.
"Oh please, Sam is a big, blonde whore and you only like her because with that hair, you could pass as one." Jackie sniped, including herself in the conversation. Instead of getting into another catfight with Donna, Jackie was instead greeted with the cheers of 3 voices.
"She's back!" her 3 friends shouted. Laughing, Jackie felt better than she had in over a month now that she was back with her friends and not dealing with any life-changing events. She already had an, up-until-recently, AWOL dad to contend with, as well as the love of her life. Things were so much easier when I was a rich bitch. Jackie thought, dreamily.
Kelso was the first to stand up, rushing over to Jackie and eagerly inviting her to sit with them claiming he needed someone to take off the pressure of being the only good looking person in the room.
"In a minute, Michael. I have to talk to Steven first."
"Oh, Hyde's gone. He flew out of here after our mighty Fez gave him something to think about." Kelso said, full of admiration for his friend. Jackie arched her eyebrow, amazed that Hyde had once again gotten trampled by a "softy" of the group.
"Uh uh," she muttered. "Well, in that case let me go down to the basement for a sec and then I'll join you guys. I just have to leave something in Steven's room." Jackie quickly went through the door leading to the steps down to the basement, and re-appeared a minute later. Grabbing a soda from Fez, Jackie sat down at the counter. "So where were we?"
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WILLIAM BARNETT'S OFFICE - MILWAUKEE
"Wait just a second so you can tell me if I have this right." W.B. said disbelievingly to his son. "I entrust you with looking after my store, then you run off to Vegas for a month and as soon as you come back you are looking for the weekend off?"
"Look, I know this isn't exactly great timing but I really need the next couple of days to myself or else things are going to get really messy, really fast. I've gotta find out where I stand with Jackie before I…"
"Jackie?" W.B. said, shocked. "You want me to give you this time off so that you can bring back the girl who once told a customer to get out of the store because they were too ugly to look at?"
"I swear I'll make her work on that." Hyde said, raising his right hand. "But first I kind of have to get her speaking to me again and I can't do that if I'm stuck in Grooves. Please, W.B." Hyde said in what his father could have sworn was a sincere tone.
Relenting, he said "I'll give you tonight and tomorrow off if, and only if, you can find someone to cover for you. We have a Guns 'N Roses shipment coming in tomorrow and it's sure to be crazy at the store."
"Thank you, W.B. I'll find someone, I promise." With that Hyde left and went to the elevator thinking to himself, Now all I need to do is figure out how the hell I am going to pull this one off...
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VISTA CRUISER
"Funland?" Jackie groaned. The 4 of them had agreed to get back in touch with their youth now that they were two members short, however Jackie and Donna couldn't remember them ever getting out of touch with their youth what with spending their first years as adults how they had spend their entire childhoods; getting high in the basement. "Couldn't we go somewhere where I didn't almost get pawed at by a guy in a doggie costume the last time we were here? It's really not as flattering as you might think."
"Well, I didn't get to go with you guys last time since me and Eric had just broken up." Donna said, solemnly. Realising that she had been a tiny bit more self-involved than usual, Jackie looked sadly at her friend next to her whispering,
"Are you OK being in this car without Eric?" Donna just looked at Jackie with tears felling her eyes. Shaking them away, Donna just nodded in an attempt to reassure her since it was clear to both of them what the real answer. Plus, Kelso and Fez would probably get turned on by the sight of Jackie consoling Donna. Taking the hint, Jackie turned to Kelso and told him that he had better not get lost this time or else he would have to walk the 11 miles back to Point Place without any underwear. Kelso being Kelso, took this to mean that she wanted him to strip for her and proceeded to put an arm around her suggestively, resulting in…
"OW, my eye!" he shrieked.
"You're turning into quite the little badass there." Donna joked.
"Ah, well spending two years of your life with a stoner will do that to a girl." she commented, trying to keep things light. Piling out of the car, the gang paid their admissions and while the boys were acting like it was Christmas, the girls couldn't help but shudder at Wisconsin's lame attempt at a theme park.
"On second thought, I think moping over Eric would be a much better alternative."
"Amen, sister." Donna looked oddly at her. "I watched a lot of Richard Pryor shows in Chicago." Jackie offered as an answer.
FUNLAND - A FEW HOURS LATER
Having just bought a stick of candy floss, the two friends sat on a bench picking at their food like it was some sort of forbidden fruit. Donna turned to her friend and decided to bring up the as yet unmentioned topic of Jackie's relationship with Hyde.
"What's going on with you two, Jackie? I mean you came back from Chicago to work things out with him and, granted he acted like a dick, but I've never seen you so defeated before." Jackie looked up at her, astonished that Donna wasn't as oblivious as she had originally thought. "Yeah, you're not that good of an actress." She smirked.
Sighing, Jackie shared a little bit of what had been going on in her mind for the last few days.
"I just hope something is going on with us, Donna." Sensing her friend's confusion, she elaborated. "I've never doubted that I wanted to be with Steven and it's not like I want to let everything go out of a wounded ego. I'm just so tired of working so hard just to have him tolerate being in the same room as me and I keep saying to myself, 'In all seriousness, why do I put up with him?' And everytime I ask myself, I come back to the same answer of 'It's because I love him.'
Jackie looked at her friend, desperately. "And I know I will let him back in if he wanted me just because I love him. I shouldn't trust Steven, but I do and I shouldn't rely on him, but I do and I'm just so tired of it! I hate myself for getting in this deep but I know I will never regret being with him and I hate myself for yelling at him since I know it hurt him, but I wouldn't take back a word of it even if I could. I just wish I understood him. Then I could stop fearing him." Wiping her eyes, Jackie admonished herself for letting go so much. "God, I'm pathetic. Here you are trying to deal with the fact that you're soulmate is on the other side of the world while I'm babbling about how I spent two years with a guy who I'm terrified of talking to, just because he doesn't trust words since they can mean anything given the context." She finished in her best Hyde impression.
Rubbing Jackie's back sympathetically, Donna said, "You know, hearing you talk so deeply makes me wish you had just stayed with Kelso and been a shallow bitch." Jackie burst out laughing at the absurdity of comment, remembering how she had been so infatuated with him and how she had planned every detail of her life with him, down to the purple plates with unicorns at their wedding. "At least with him you were guaranteed a smooth relationship."
"Oh yeah, just picture it Donna! While little Michael Jr. was coming out of me, I could have had his father pushing me off of the bed so he could use the stirrups for the hot new nurse he had picked up." With this, they both erupted into laugher just as Kelso and Fez were approaching. "Actually now that I think about it, Michael would have probably hooked up with Fez at some point." This set the pair off again and the boys stared at them, bewildered at what had Donna and Jackie in such high spirits.
"You better not have brought the stash with you and kept it for yourselves 'cos Fez and I should be getting some."
"Don't worry. If Jackie's dream comes true you two will be getting some from each other 3 times a week." Donna interjected, causing Jackie to grasp her arm to stop herself from collapsing with laughter.
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FORMAN DRIVEWAY – 2 HOURS LATER
The Cruiser pulled up to a stop and the four passengers jumped out, walking down to the basement. Upon seeing Hyde, who was looking intently at Jackie, Donna mumbled an excuse before leaving and then coming back in to drag out the two gawking idiots who were waiting for someone to throw the first punch. Now that Jackie and Hyde were alone, Kitty slowly crept down the outside steps and locked the door leading to the basement, and then went back to the kitchen where she locked the other door leading to the basement, sending Hyde a silent 'you're welcome.'
Back in the basement, Jackie had since moved to sit down on the couch, feeling the need to avoid Hyde's piercing gaze.
No such luck.
Pulling his chair up to the far end of the couch where Jackie sat, Hyde looked imploringly at Jackie whose silence came to an abrupt end.
"Did you see it?" she asked, referring to the item she had left in his room that morning.
"Yeah, I did. Thanks for getting me them-"
"Well, it's only fair since I broke the last pair." She said, in her most aloof tone. Hyde chuckled, just content to be in her company again without exchanging heated words.
"Did you read the inscription?" she asked, again attempting to sound disinterested. Hyde nodded, thinking back to how it had felt to see for the first time his new sleek, brown shades with 'PP' etched along the right side.
"I sorta thought that you would think I'd make fun of it or something." He mumbled, ashamed.
"What? So you could start acting like I meant nothing to you? Like anyone would believe that." Hyde chuckled again at her pride but also at the fact that it sounded like something he would do.
Struggling to find the words to start off his plea to her, his situation quickly changed to having no words whatsoever after hearing the next words out of Jackie's mouth.
"I'm sorry, Steven. I shouldn't have yelled at you and said all those things, especially when I know how much it would have hurt for you to list all my insecurities and to have used them against me. So, I'm sorry." Stunned, Hyde decided to push her a little further.
"And the slap?"
"No, the slap you deserved." she said meeting his eyes for the first time and showing a hint of amusement. Hyde couldn't help but give her a goofy grin; the kind he knew melted her heart. But his goal wasn't to have her turn into a puddle at his feet and to be his willing sex slave, although that wouldn't be the worst outcome, come to think of it.
Jackie meanwhile, was growing more impatient by the second. Oh screw it she thought. I can be practical when I'm dead. And with that she pulled Hyde to her and kissed him with everything she had, getting lost in the sensations that simply being near him created in her.
But just as quickly as it had started, it had ended and Jackie pulled away making a very frustrated sound. Dazed and confused, Hyde put his fingers to his mouth, remembering how much he had missed the taste of her strawberry lips. Letting out another sound, Jackie stood up and went over to the door, feeling a sudden need to get away from her ex. Bewildered when it wouldn't open, she tried and tried to get it to move, but it wouldn't budge. Hyde was staring after her, trying to keep himself from smiling. Groaning, Jackie marched up the stairs and Hyde mentally counted down…
3, 2, 1 Now!
"Steven J. Hyde, what the hell are you up to?" she ordered from him while marching back down the stairs.
"What? Oh, you mean the locked doors? Yeah, funny story. You're not leaving until we get back together. Soda?" he asked in an innocent tone.
Jackie stared at him blankly.
"Ha-ha, so very not funny. Mr. Forman! Mrs. Forman!" she yelled as loud as she could, forcing Hyde to cover his ears from the sheer noise of her.
"Here's an even funnier story for you. They're the only ones with a key and they're going to be at a car show in Kenosha until tomorrow." Hyde was fully smirking by now. Jackie just cocked her head and smiled, as of just realising something.
"So, you basically dump me and I hit you. Then you're a smartass and I yell at you. Now you have locked yourself in a basement with me with nobody coming to let you out until tomorrow? Steven, whether or not I even consider getting back together with you remains to be seen but whether or not you leave here with all your body parts intact is something I can pretty much guarantee right now." Jackie said maliciously, taking a step towards Hyde. Knowing he couldn't exactly hit back, Hyde inched away from her in an attempt to calm her down.
"Now Jackie, you know you don't want to hurt me or anything. If you had wanted to then you wouldn't have kissed me like that right now, because I gotta say that was one hell of a kiss. I just want to explain to you what has been going on with me and why it is that I got so messed up that that things between us got screwed up. I swear I won't waste your time by shutting off and ignoring you."
Torn between her need to see his balls hanging from the ceiling and her need to hear what he had to say, Jackie just flopped down, signalling that if he was going to talk then he had better get started.
Crap. Now I have to actually say something. Hyde thought to himself. He had pretty much expected her to yell, hit, and scream until he told her that he actually had a key to the doors behind the record player but instead she was ready and waiting for him to justify his actions that had been tormenting her since Christmas. And to his surprise, Hyde found himself beginning to speak.
To be Continued.
A/N: So what did you think? I enjoyed writing this one and I think there are some good moments but I'll leave that up to you to decide, lol. Probably another two or three chapters to go, depending on how the talk goes. I'm just taking it one chapter at a time.
Please review and stay safe.