If I Can't Have You…
Chapter Two
Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews! They are greatly appreciated. I'm having so much fun writing this, so please please keep letting me know what you think. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I currently own nothing. But I've been a "good" girl, so maybe Santa will be so kind as to bring my Hyde this Christmas.
Steven Hyde stood a moment, taking in the large house in the darkening evening. He'd never really noticed how big the place was before. "No wonder she thinks she's a princess," he muttered as he took a deep breath and lifted his hand from his pocket. Muttering softly, he prepared himself, "This is all for Donna. Here we go," and tapped the brass knocker soundly against the heavy oak door.
It was a moment before it opened, allowing yellow light to flood the stoop and a plump older woman faced him, smiling widely.
"Uh, I'm here to see Jackie."
The smile grew. "Of course you are, Steven. Come on in." Hyde was taken aback at the use of his first name but he stayed quiet as his eyes helplessly began to take in the hall around him. Every where he looked there were rich shades of red and brown, and lush fabrics, and he was sure that was real crystal and gold on the very large and ornate chandelier hanging over his head.
The woman, who he presumed was the housekeeper, informed him that Jackie would be right down, that her name was Madeline if he needed anything at all, and that he was welcome to wait in the living room. He thanked her and stepped into the first room off the hall, feeling as if he was walking into another world.
It didn't take much to be more, or nicer, than what he had. He had felt out of place at first at Donna's and Eric's even, with their full refrigerators and the absence of that musty scent of whiskey and cigarette smoke. But this was so different, and he couldn't help but think of how very little he and Jackie had in common.
He walked to the fireplace where several frames placed upon the mantle held portraits of the Burkhart family. There was one when Jackie couldn't have been more than three years old. Dark curls tied back with ribbons, eyes wide as saucers, beaming with adoration at the father who held her in his arms. Her mother stood on the other side of Jack, beautiful, but the smile seemed empty and forced. But Hyde wasn't the type of guy to concern himself with such things, so he moved on quickly to the next photograph. It was of just Jackie and her father. She looked about nine. He was holding her carefully over a fence so she could pet a pony. Her eyes were full of both excitement and fear as the picture was taken with her hand frozen tentatively before the animal. A few more photos of Jackie, or of Jackie and her dad, filled the spaces until the edge. The last frame was of the whole family again, only recent. All three faces plastered with charming smiles, but the pose looked forced. Jack Burkhart looked preoccupied. Pam Burkhart look bored. And Jackie's eyes looked tired and sad. Hyde shook his head. The plight of rich people.
"Hyde?"
He stepped back from the mantle and turned at the sound of her voice. He was surprised to find her dressed down in a leotard and sweat pants, feet bare, with her hair tied messily up into a bun, and not a hint of make up on her face. He couldn't believe it.
She seemed to sense why he was looking at her so strangely and her eyes narrowed defensively.
"You say one word, to anyone, about having seen me without makeup, and I'll kick your shins so hard…"
Holding up his right hand he smirked, "I swear I'll take it to my grave."
She giggled in response as she motioned for him to follow her out of the living room. Passing through more decorative halls, and more fancy rooms, they finally emptied into the kitchen. Padding over to the fridge she asked, "Have you eaten yet?"
"No, but I ate at the Hub after school so I'm good."
She nodded and then moved over to reach in a cupboard and pull out some glasses. Filling them with water she handed him one before opening a door off to the side of the room. He followed her down some steps to what appeared to have been the Burkhart basement. Not that it was just a basement anymore.
One wall was completely covered with mirrors, from top to bottom, with a brass dancing bar running down it's center. The area directly in front of the mirror was polished hardwood. Off to the sides were some mats and a balance beam, a small trampoline, and a large record player.
"You have a dance studio. In your basement." His voice was slightly incredulous.
"Yeah, it was kind of a present."
He took off his coat and sunglasses as he muttered something about rich people once more. He hadn't meant for her to hear and was relieved when her response was only to slap him playfully.
"When I was little I took ballet and gymnastics at Miss Hart's Dance Academy for Little Girls. I loved it. Going to those classes a few nights a week was the most fun I have ever had. But then Daddy got really busy, and I guess my mom did too or whatever, and when I was eight, after several weeks of them being extremely late to pick me up, the school requested that they either become more punctual or I would have to take classes elsewhere. Well instead, Daddy withdrew me from the Academy and built this down here. He hired a teacher to come a few nights a week to work with me. At first I was really sad, because part of what I loved so much about dance was the other girls. But it was good for my discipline, and I got to advance pretty quickly. Plus it's one of the reasons I am the perfect cheerleader today, so it all worked out." She smiled at him.
Setting the glasses down on a small table in the corner she went over to the record player and picked out an album, sliding it on with great care.
Hyde braced himself for the assailing disco he was sure to hear at any second, and was beyond surprised when he heard a familiar guitar instead.
"Jackie? This is Zeppelin."
She giggled and nodded. "Yeah, I picked it up on my way home."
He looked at her suspiciously and tapped his foot, waiting for more of an explanation.
She rolled her eyes at him.
"To impress Donna, you can't just know how to do some steps. You're the guy, you have to know how to lead her. Which means you need to be able to get used to listening to the music for ideas, for instruction, so you can feel what to do. And that's harder than any step to learn. So I figured we'd start out with the basics set to music you liked and were familiar with. Once you've had some practice we'll move up to the music your more likely to actually dance to."
He nodded. That sorta made sense.
She laughed lightly to herself before adding, "Plus, I figured you'd whine less."
He chuckled, nodding his head that this was probably true, and finally, as he heard Robert Plant's voice croon familiar words, his first dance lesson began.
Jackie let out an exasperated groan. "Hyde, you need to loosen up. Do you even know where your hips are, 'cause you aren't using them?!" She went over with a huff to start the record over…again.
"Jackie, I don't move like that. Not because I can't, but because I won't. If you don't like it, then let's move on to a different dance."
"Why are you being such a baby?"
"I'm the baby? Every four seconds you are shrieking at me, 'Hy-de, don't move to soon.' 'Hy-de, don't you know how to count?' Hy-de, stop looking at me like you want to hit me.' 'Hy-de, stop stepping on my feet.' I mean, Damn, woman, my ears are gonna bleed."
"Well since my toes have been bleeding for the last 20minutes, you can just deal with it." She glared at him with her hands on her hips. He glared just as forcefully back.
After a moment of neither one looking to back down, Jackie shook her head in frustration.
"Ugh, fine. Let's just call it a night. It's," She looked down at her watch, "wow, it's 10 after 10 already."
Hyde too was surprised. He wouldn't have admitted it to her, but it certainly didn't seem like it had been that long Maybe this wasn't so bad.
She went over and grabbed the long-empty water glasses.
"Hey, you said you hadn't eaten, are you hungry now? I was gonna ask Madeline to warm up some dinner before I went to bed."
"Dinner?"
"Yeah, Daddy's away on Business and my mom's in Tuscany for the week. When they're away I keep pretty weird hours."
Hyde just nodded and followed her up into the kitchen. It wasn't like he'd have anything other than ketchup-crackers waiting for him at home anyway.
"So, where were you last night, man? You missed Charlie's Angels. You never miss the Angels." Eric asked his best friend as he passed the basketball back to Fez.
"Yeah, Hyde. Without you, no one was here to have my back in the Jacelyn Smith vs. Farrah Fawcett debate." Kelso complained and easily blocked the much shorter Fez's shot.
"Sorry, man. I was busy."
"Busy? Too busy for Angels? I know no such thing. For beautiful Angels, I am always free."
Hyde shook his head fondly at his newest friend, "God help you, Fez, when you finally get a real girl. She's gonna chew you up so fast."
Taking the bait, Eric and Kelso quickly turned to teasing Fez, completely forgetting Hyde's absence the night before.
Relieved, Hyde slapped the ball from Kelso with ease and sunk a smooth shot into the net, pretty thankful the he knew his friends so well.