Chapter 29 – I Think

T7S

Eric smiled when he saw the familiar Inter-Company mail envelope on his front seat for the fourth time that week. It was this new strange way that he and Jackie were keeping in touch with each other and he kind of liked it. Not that she wasn't tending to his mom every morning, but Jackie was usually sleeping when he left for work just as he was in bed when she came home.

Dear Eric

I love love LOVE the bird and so does your mom. At first she didn't to admit it, but this morning we drove to the drugstore to get some bird toys… just so you know.

Your dad is threatening to teach Marco how to open beer tabs so they can get drunk together but I don't think this is a good thing so you might want to check on it when you get home.

I talked to Donna last night. She heard I got the job with the city and called me on the "hotline". She talked about you guys. So you're really okay with just being friends? I mean I'm asking because there's somebody she kinda crushing on. I think she wants you to be okay with it and I told her that if you guys talked already that must mean something. Am I right?

Fez stopped by to bring me a picture of his new girlfriend. Oh, Eric…this poor girl has a uni-brow AND a mustache! He says she comes in for the eyebrow wax and he's in love. Why does this seem so familiar? I keep having these dreams that I'm still with Fleetwood Mac and we're taking a road trip in this tiny trailer. It seems so real.

Oh well, my break is over so maybe we'll catch up on the weekend. Have a great day at work!"

Eric did the silly thing and sniffed the stationery and he would swear to anyone that it smelled like Jackie Burkhart. Smiling, he folded the paper into thirds and tucked it in his back pocket with the other letters.

That Fleetwood Mac dream she was having. He was having a Stevie Nicks dream too, and she kept calling him Temper Tantrum or something like that. It was weird!

T7S

Jackie saved her morning envelope so she could open it at lunch break. She saw so few of the gang, except for mornings with Kitty and Red, this little communiqué with Eric was special. It wasn't something she had wanted to share with Fez when he asked how she was doing. It wasn't something she felt that Donna needed to know about. This was her private little moment.

Hey Jackie!

I was thinking about your recurring dream. When I go to sleep at night, I've got Stevie Nicks running all through my dreams! It's like she's hostessing a tea party with the Queen (who has a beard and it's creepy) and like I said I was invited. I can't explain this dream sharing thing we got going on but it's weird.

So I was wondering if you're not busy this weekend, maybe we could get Fez and Hyde and go see the new Star Trek movie at the walk in. Hyde won't really go for the science fiction part of the show but I think I can buy his way in with boxes of Mike & Ike's, popcorn, heavy on the butter and some endless soda. Plus this girl that used to work at Pricemart now works the concession stand and has a little crush on him. (I hope that doesn't bother you)

I like to think that we are all moving on and growing up and while I miss being a teenager, I kind of like the adult I'm becoming. I really have more respect for my folks than I did pre-Africa, and my dad is kicking my ass less so yeah, it's good all around.

Oh, and before I go, I want to add that you are becoming a great adult and friend. So….what about that movie?"

Eric

Jackie smiled and folded the letter before tucking in her purse with the others. A movie sounded great and it really didn't bother her that another girl was interested in Steven. If she could make him happy….well, isn't that what Jackie Burkhart always wanted for Steven J Hyde?

Jackie wanted to correct Eric about Steven and the candy but did it really matter? He was including her in what could have been a boy's night out. She was still part of the gang! It felt great.

xXx

"So I put this mirror in his cage and he whistled at himself! Marco called his reflection a pretty bird and I don't think the previous owner ever gave him toys." Marco stretched his head under Kitty's scratching finger. He rubbed his face against her fingernail and made a purring noise like a cat. "He is just the smartest bird!"

Eric smiled and was glad to see his mom was over her Ornithophobia. He recalled that one Halloween when the "crazy bird lady" incident had horrified his mom and Laurie, but still this didn't stop her from warming up to the parrot. Kitty Forman even made Marco a sling that matched his red and yellow wings.

"So what are you doing today?"

Eric looked up. "Excuse me?"

Kitty smiled, "Well, I heard Jackie talking about going to a movie tonight. Is it like a…date?"

"What? No! Fez and Hyde are coming along. It's just the group of us hanging out."

Kitty buzzed her lips against Marco's beak and the bird flapped his good wing happily. "It seems to me that you and Jackie are becoming good friends."

Eric nodded and poked his finger in between the iron slats of the cage and was promptly nipped by a sharp beak. "Uh, yeah…we're good friends." Actually he was better friends these days with her than the guys. "She's cool."

Kitty nodded knowingly, "And the fact that she's pretty doesn't bother you?"

Eric shook his head and tried another attempt at scratching the birds head. "Nope."

Kitty sat back against the sofa, "Eric…honey…are you blind? She's a wonderful young lady and much prettier than Donna…who I love as a neighbor and not as a daughter-in-law."

Eric smirked, "You'll never forgive me for wanting to get married."

His mother's eyes widened, "That's not true! I just thought you were too young to be thinking about getting married."

"Dumbass!" Marco chirped.

Eric laughed, "I think I was too. I think I might have been wanting to get married just to piss dad off."

It was Kitty's turn to laugh, "We already knew that son. You better hurry up and get ready for your movie, I just heard Steven's car pull up in the driveway."

Eric reached over and gave his mom a hug, "Thanks and I'll let you know how the movie goes."

Kitty patted his hand, "I'm sure I will hear all about it."

T7S

Halfway through the movie, Jackie could feel a yawn coming on. Not a small one but the kind that made sounds come out of your mouth. Admiral Kirk was affable and the familiar crew was comforting but the special effects….they just seemed so cheesy! Hyde and Fez took off right after the Enterprise left the space dock and they never came back so Jackie was left to share Eric's bucket of popcorn.

Forman's eyes were glued to the screen as he watched Kirk try to save his crew and Planet Earth. She reached into the bucket and grabbed a handful of popcorn and watched the movie as best she could. Why couldn't this be a romantic film? After all there was a beautiful alien, maybe they could have put a wig on her bald head and find out who she was calling "veejer". Jackie pretty much dozed through the remaining movie only waking when the credits came on.

The dim cinema lights came up and Eric stretched and his elbow hit Jackie in the cheek. "Hey!" she groaned. Noticing that the audience was leaving she blinked, "I can't believe I missed the ending."

Shrugging his shoulders, Eric replied, "You work such late hours you might have been tired. Maybe we should have come to the matinee."

Jackie brushed the loose popcorn hulls from her checkered wool skirt. "Nah, I think this was just a boring rehash of the TV show."

Eric faked a gasp. "You mean you weren't impressed with the special effects?"

Jackie held up her hand and spread her fingers ala a Vulcan "hello" and replied, "Nope. Take me home please."

Looking around, Eric couldn't find his other friends. "I think we got dumped."

Jackie looked around the theatre and unearthed a pair of keys for the Vista Cruiser from her pocket. "Well, looks like they have a long walk home. I'm driving."

Eric felt his pants pockets, "Hey! How did you get my car keys?"

She smirked and with a twinkle in her eyes replied, "When you were arguing with Fez about beautiful Klingon women…gag me… I pulled them from the ignition. There was no way that Jackie Burkhart was walking home!"

Laughing, Eric reached out his palm, "Okay, hand them over and I won't make you walk…too far."

She dangled the ring in front of his face, "Sorry but you aren't getting these until I get in the car." Then she turned on her heel and headed for the carpeted aisle stairway.

Flummoxed, Eric threw his hands in the air and huffed, "Fine! Bossy and annoying at the same time."

Jackie giggled, "That's me!"

T7S

Eric slid open the kitchen doors and realized the house was quiet. He glanced at the clock on the wall and was semi-shocked to find it was after ten. His folks must have went to bed early. Holding a finger against his closed lips, he pointed towards the door to the basement. Jackie shrugged a "why not" and followed. After a short jaunt down the steps they landed to find that Hyde was not in the basement.

"You think he got lucky?" Eric asked.

"Well, he's got his own apartment so he probably went there. Why did you think he'd be here?"

Eric scratched his head. "Well, we all went to the show and in the old days, we'd have a circle and talk about it. I mean his El Camino is still in the driveway!"

Jackie patted Eric's shoulder. "This isn't the old days. Not even your mother comes down here anymore."

Eric fell onto the worn yellow loveseat and sighed. "I miss those days. Of all my time in Africa…I think I missed that the most. I mean I missed my folks and those silly recordings mom would mail me….Hyde and a stripper? What a mess I left behind." Jackie fell onto the cushion beside him.

Not wanting to dwell on the Sam situation, Jackie changed the subject. "Yeah, but because you left, Michael decided to focus on being a better father and well, you were the inspiration for the rest of us to do something with the rest of our lives."

"Like hooking up with Fez?" Eric teased.

Jackie shuffled her feet, shod in black and white pumps to match her grey skirt and positioned them side by side on the basement floor. She looked at the glossy toe and thought how nice it would feel to slam it into Eric's shin bone at the moment. Instead, she looked up and remarked, "Are you back to being a jerk?"

Eric blinked, "What? I was just kidding."

Jackie stood up and walked over to sit in the lawn chair. "That wasn't funny and you don't even know the events that led up to that potential nightmare so it's not amusing for you to even comment on it."

A fight with Jackie Burkhart was the last thing Eric needed right now. He inched closer to her on the sofa. "Hey, I apologize. I mean Fez is…Fez. And if you guys were having a romantic….relationship."

Jackie held up her hand, "Stop. I don't want to think about what might have been – ugh!" She bit her lip and looked at his face, "Haven't you ever done anything you regretted?"

Eric was immediately pulled back into a dream sequence of being in a Point Place classroom with Steve Nicks and Robin Gibbs in his disco suit standing beside a broken projector. He was talking to Stevie. "I regret not telling Donna sooner that I didn't want to get married."

Jackie frowned, "Excuse me?"

Eric still felt like he was in the classroom as Stevie said, "Does it help if I tell you that Donna regretted her affair with Casey Kelso?" This felt so real! He looked at Jackie who was gripping the arms of the camp chair. "She told me that I need to let the sun burn brightly and concentrate on the stars….and then I took a nap."

"Eric…you didn't smoke something when no one was looking…did you?"

"No! Why would you think that?"

Jackie shrugged, "Maybe it was the thing about the sun and the stars and taking a nap? Whatever - I'm tired and it's been a long week."

Eric sat there and wondered where all that word vomit of a confession came from. Sure he did regret not telling Donna sooner, but they had just talked about that..and Robin Gibbs? Man, he looked a lot like Leo!

"Hey Jackie?"

She turned from her spot at the base of the stairs, "What Eric."

"When was the last time you remember seeing Leo?"

T7S

. •*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*• •*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*• •*¨*•.¸¸