The heft of the ring in his pocket was threatening to set his hip on fire. He had to tell someone. Donna? Foreman? Well, better than Fez or Kelso...
He walked into Donna's room without knocking. "Gah! Foreman, get a tan!" he said loudly.
Eric quickly dove under the covers to retrieve his boxers, and Donna pulled a pillow over herself. "It's called 'knocking', Hyde!"
Hyde smirked. "Yeah, but I see Jacks forgot something when she dyed you blonde. You could still get 'outed' as a redhead."
From under the covers, Eric started laughing, and Donna started swatting at him.
"Ow, damnit, woman!"
Hyde went into the hallway, laughing. A few minutes later, he knocked on the door.
"Are you two deviants decent yet?" he asked loudly.
From inside, Donna rolled her eyes and opened the door.
"Seriously, though; if you wanted Jackie to dye the other, I'd watch that-"
"Hey! If anyone would be 'watching' it'd be me, man!" Eric said, giving him a shove. "And... can I?"
"No!" Donna glared at him, and he shrank back behind Hyde.
"Okay, okay, sorry. Lookit, I need to talk to you two about something important; I need help."
Donna crossed her arms over her chest. "Why should I?" she grumbled.
"Because Jackie is your best friend."
Donna raised her eyebrows, so Hyde pulled the ring out of his pocket.
"Holy crap, look at that rock!" Eric said, grabbing for it.
Hyde yanked it out of his reach, only to have it yanked from his hand by Donna. "It's so sparkly..." she said in a kind of an awestruck tone.
"Hyde... did you knock over a jewelry store?" Eric demanded.
"No!" Hyde huffed. "... W.B. gave it to me to give to her, okay? He had it in his safe."
"Awww... Hyde's getting along with his Daddy..." Eric grinned, speaking in a high-pitched, sing-songy tone as he pinched Hyde's cheeks.
Hyde, aggravated, swatted him away and reached for the ring in Donna's hand.
"Come on, Hyde; let me try it on?"
"Noooo... if Jackie found out you tried it on before her? She'd remove my man-parts with a her girl-scout knife."
"Jackie was a girl scout?" Eric asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yeah, and she still has the uniform. If she doesn't button the top four buttons, she can get it on..." he smirked.
"She's gained a little height since then, Hyde." Donna said.
"Yeah... the skirt's about to here." he said, indicating that it came mostly over her hips, but that the bottom of her panties hung out of it.
Eric got a goofy expression on his face, and both Hyde and Donna backhanded him- Donna in the gut, Hyde in the nuts. "Stop picturing it!" they said simultaneously.
Eric lay panting on the floor.
"Okay. So, see," Hyde continued, as if nothing had just happened, "I want to do something all romantic... she talks to you, tells you all that fantasy crap of hers..."
"Go buy her a penguior."
Hyde's eyes opened. "What?"
"A penguior. It's this sexy silk nightie with a matching robe like the women all wore in those movies back in the day?"
"Right..." Hyde nodded.
"That's one of her big things. She wanted that for her first time, but, obviously Kelso has the romance of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."
Hyde pulled a face.
"And, take her to a fancy hotel, order champagne. Put the ring in a glass; she thinks that's the classiest thing ever."
Hyde nodded again.
"Oh, and a banner!"
"A... banner?" Eric asked incredulously as he pulled himself painfully up.
"Yeah, 'Jackie and Hyde Forever'." she nodded. "She thinks Banners are super-awesome; must from all the ones she had to make being a cheerleader..."
"Right... you come help me." Hyde said, taking Donna by the wrist and dragging her out of the room...
Over an hour later, Donna was painting the banner in the hotel room Hyde had rented out, and Hyde walked into the lingerie store, where he had called Angie to meet him.
"Okay, we agreed to get along better, but, we're brother and sister, Steven- meeting at a lingerie store is weird." she said delicately.
Hyde rolled his eyes. "I need help finding a penguior for Jackie, okay? It's an important night."
"Oh..." Angie flushed. "Right..."
Hyde walked in, looking uncomfy.
"I just ask you to help because you're my sister, and Donna's busy with the other part."
Angie nodded. "Sure, Steven, I'd be glad to..." she said quickly. "It'd make me feel better for what I've done..." she thought to herself.
~When I need you
I just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so wanna give you
It's only a heartbeat away
When I need love
I hold out my hands and I touch love
I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day~
When Hyde led Jackie into their hotel room, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and she made this happy little gaspy noise.
"Oh, Steven, a banner!" she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck.
Hyde smiled, patting her butt gently.
"Look on the bed; got a present for you."
Jackie's eyes popped as she raced away from him towards the bed, to the large box with a bow, haphazardly ripping the paper off. Hyde grinned. Jackie pulled the penguior out and her eyes welled up with tears.
Hyde frowned worriedly. "You don't like it?"
"What? Oh, no! Steven, I do! This is the most beautiful thing anyone's ever given me- done for me!" she said, pulling him into a frantic kiss.
Hyde grunted slightly as he collided with her small body on the bed, but willed himself to pull back- even though his body didn't want him to.
"Jackie..." he gasped out, "go put that on, so I can take it offa you?" he said with a grin.
Jackie nodded, bouncing happily to the bathroom, and Hyde rushed to the phone, dialing up room service...
~Miles and miles of empty space in between us
The telephone can't take the place of your smile
But you know I won't be travelin' forever
It's cold out but hold out and do I like I do
When I need you
I just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so wanna give you babe
It's only a heartbeat away~
Hyde's heart leapt up in his chest as he looked at her; she was so beautiful, and all his... the first person in his life who had ever belonged to him, and he needed her to know that he belonged to her, too...
He walked over, placing his hands gently on her hips. "You are so gorgeous..." he said huskily, and she grinned up at him, her arms twining around his neck. Instinctively, he lifted her up into his arms, carrying her towards the bed.
"I feel just like Scarlett O'Hara..." she whispered in his ear.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and he lay her down gently. "Wait there; don't move." he ordered, and opened the door.
Jackie looked perplexed, but it was room service, with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. Jackie's eyes popped as Hyde gave the guy a tip and walked the tray over towards the bed.
"Ohhhh, Steven... champagne..."
Hyde nodded, turning his back to her so that the tray was effectively blocked as he popped the cork and poured the first two glasses, slipping the large ring into one of them. He handed her a glass, and she tipped it up, pounding it back faster than he'd seen any of the boys pound a beer. His eyes popped wide.
"Jackie, wait-"
And, she started gasping and choking.
~It's not easy when the road is your driver
Honey that's a heavy load that we bear
But you know I won't be traveling a lifetime
It's cold out but hold out and do like I do
Oh, I need you~
"Shit, shit, shit..." Hyde muttered, walking up behind her to help her get the large ring out of her throat.
She coughed, sputtered, and spit it out onto the bed, finally. Red faced and teary eyed, she dove for it.
"Oh, Steven... it's huge!" she exclaimed in a croaky wheeze.
"Yes..." Hyde nodded, stroking her hair gently, looking at her with worry deep in his blue-green eyes. "Are you all right?"
"Put it on me!" she demanded, sticking her hand out.
Hyde smiled, picking it up delicately and wiping it on the bottom of his shirt before putting it on her finger.
Jackie held her hand up to the light. "This is what I think it is, right? You're asking me to marry you?"
"Yes... but I was only hoping to propose, not make an attempt on your life. I forgot you chug like a dude sometimes."
Jackie gave him the evil-eye. "I'm delicate and ladylike." she warned.
Hyde laughed. "Yes, dear."
"And, by the way: Yes, I want to be Mrs. Steven Hyde."
~When I need love
I hold out my hands and I touch love
I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day
When I need you
Just close my eyes
And you're right here by my side
Keeping me warm night and day~
Later that night, Jackie woke up to Hyde's gentle snoring, his strong arm around her. She was thirsty and slightly headachey, and wasn't going to drink "bathroom water" from a dixie cup. She pulled the robe of her new sexy peach-colored penguior back on and cinched it tightly around her, grabbing some quarters off the dresser as she left the room, and walked towards the soda machine she'd seen in the hallway.
She looked critically over the choices, finally settling on a cream soda, and bent down to get it, when she felt a hand on her back...
~I just hold out my hands
I just hold out my hand
And I'm with you darlin'
Yes, I'm with you darlin'
All I wanna give you
It's only a heartbeat away
Oh I need you darling...~