Chapter 4: Crushes and Cologne
When Tina first met Steven Hyde, she thought that he was the most dirty, rude little boy that had ever wandered into her driveway.
"Well now!" Her mother laughed, clapping. This was the first time that Eric had come home with anyone other than the school bullies.
Mutely, Tina followed her parents out their sliding door and onto the patio that hugged their driveway. Dressed in a flannel, fluffy dress with frills and a bow in her auburn curls, she looked like the nicest girl on the block. Even Bob Pinciotti said that she was the cutest. And he had a daughter of his own. Tina crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing on the boy who was already taller than her twin brother even though they were only months apart in age.
"Who do we have here?"
"Mommy," Tina cut in before anyone could answer, drawing the attention of the four people. Frowning, she set her eyes on the boy who had unnaturally curly hair and flounced up to stand beside her brother. "He took money from Eric."
Tina's chubby fingers snapped out to the curly haired boy, her blue eyes murderous. "Give it back."
It was at that moment that Hyde knew that he was either going to marry this girl or make her cry. Maybe even both. They honestly meant the same thing in his mind.
"Your face is stupid," Hyde said without thinking, reaching out with grubby fingers to yank on Tina's hair.
"DADDY!" The auburn hair girl shrieked, her shiny, black shoes stomping against the pavement as Kitty gave an awkward laugh and Red leaned down with a smile to scoop up his youngest daughter. "Daddy, he pulled my hair!"
"I saw it, sweetie," Red said patiently as Eric made introductions and Kitty moved the conversations away from Tina's outbursts.
"Pull his hair back," Tina ordered quietly, staring into her father's eyes as he hoisted her higher in his arms.
His other daughter was nearly four years older than his youngest two and she had been more demanding than Tina would ever be able to muster up to. He had been through these types of demands more often than he would like to admit. Sighing, he glanced down at the small, curly haired boy and saw his eyes intently focused on Tina.
"That would make me a very bad adult, Tina. You're going to have to take him on on your own." And then with a peck on the cheek, he set her down.
For a moment, Tina was at a loss for words. It was her mom who usually told her no, not her father. What was happening today? A grubby, little boy showed up at her doorstep and all of a sudden her family was feeding and washing him? And then her dad told her no? This was utterly bewildering.
Tina's lip pushed out, her eyes narrowing as they focused on Hyde once more.
"Out of the way, shrimp." And then he pushed her, walking into her house with his stupid, dirty shoes and with her brothers quarter in his pocket.
Her little brain reeled. Steven Hyde had entered her life and all she could think in her frilly, flannel dress was one thing: This meant war.
"GIVE IT BACK, STUPID!" Tina shrieked, trying to reach the book as Hyde grinned down at her, laughing as she went up on her tip toes.
"In all the years that I've known you, you've never picked up a book willingly." Hyde's eyes grew lethal as his head tipped to the side, catching her gaze. Tina caught her breath, her fingers balling into the front of his winter jacket and her front pressed against hers. "Got something to tell me, bunny?"
"Bunny" had started talking with one David Milbank. She had refused to go out with him but he had continued to talk to her... Even she had to admit that the development was astonishing considering he had been a scrawny, little dweeb the last time she had seen him with scoliosis and asthma. Not to mention that her twin brother had totally kicked his ass when they were in elementary school together. The thought made her smirk, her mood suddenly lightening as she thought about David. He was interesting. He had nice hair and he had chiseled out. In all terms, he was a hunk. And in Point Place, it was real hard to find someone mildly intelligent with a nice set of biceps who happened to have a rich family as well.
"You know what, Hyde?" Steven's eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed on the small brunette. Tina's smile widened even more as she leaned into him, delight along with a feminine sense of pride and excitement lighting through her as his eyes darkened. "You can have the book."
With that, she pushed away from him, shoving him back into the lockers and flouncing out of the double doors that would lead to Point Place High School's parking lot. Disgruntled, he looked down at the book, frowning at the creepy, little girl on the cover, her face partially covered by The Exorcist. He should just throw it away. The long haired little sissy boy that Tina had been hanging around with had given it to her after dropping her off yesterday.
Hyde grunted, remembering the brief lapse of consciousness from his school day naps to see her laughing with that bozo.
"Dammit," he snarled, shoving the paperback into his bag and storming out to find both Kelso and Tina looking around with confused expressions on their faces.
"What's going on?" November was well upon them and already it felt like winter had decided to give them the middle finger. They had already had their first snow and the Old Man Barns the janitor had already started to lay out salt.
"Eric's not here," Tina mumbled, pulling her jacket a bit tighter around her and glancing back at the Vista Cruiser which was parked behind her.
"Eric's always here," Kelso said, looking a bit lost.
Along with Red giving Eric the Vista Cruiser, he had also put a variety of stipulations upon it. The top one being that Tina would never ever be left out in the cold or on the side of the road while Eric still had the ability to drive her places. And that's exactly what she was right now - on the side of the road and shivering from the near freezing temperatures.
There was no way that Eric, her flesh and blood, the one that she had protected from the weggie bullies and the mathletes, would leave her out here to freeze.
"Do you think that he's okay?" Tina gnawed at her lower lip, sniffling as the wind whipped her eyes teary, her collar turned up against the harsh weather. Her eyes turned to stare up at Hyde who cussed softly and took off his scarf to wrap roughly around her neck.
Tina let out a breath, snuggling into the warm cocoon of cloth and breathing Hyde's familiar scent of some kind of harsh drink like whisky or rum and the woodsy burn of a bonfire. Her mind eased, her eyes fluttering shut.
"He'll be here," Hyde said roughly, buttoning up his jacket and pulling Tina gruffly into his side. She let out another happy breath. He was warm and she was freezing and she had to admit that he felt really good.
"I hope so," she heard Kelso say quietly.
Twenty minutes later they were huddled up together like penguins, shivering against the foil winter winds that were laced with ice. For the first time in her seventeen years of living, she thanked god that her brother had brought together this rag-tag group of people. Being squashed between these two boys was the only thing keeping her from getting frost bitten.
"Where the hell is Forman, man?" Hyde snarled over Tina's head, his hands rubbing roughly at her arm. By now, all that could be seen of her face was a tuft of auburn hair and closed eyes. "This isn't like him."
"I'm really starting to get worried," Kelso said, looking around anxiously. "What if something happened to him?"
"Nothin' happened to him," Hyde snapped, glancing down at the girl tucked into his side.
For a moment, no one said anything. By now, Tina's mind was somewhere far off, her focus centered on the warmth that was coming from Hyde's side. The rest of her mind had turned into a slushie.
"Wh - what if he's lost or - or hurt somewhere?" Kelso insisted, bumping against Tina as he shuddered against the wind, turning to look at Hyde.
Gritting his teeth, the curly haired boy sent him a glare. "Calm down, lassie. I'm sure Timmy's just fine."
"Ke-Kelso's right," Tina forced out through chattering teeth, a red nose peeking out from Hyde's scarf as her eyes flicked between the two men. "He - he's always on time. Remember that one - one time that he freaked because he was going to miss the spelling bee and then he - then he went to the school without any undies on?"
When the school bullies had got ahold of him and found out this particular fact it had been the end of the Forman reputation all the way up until high school. Well… Whatever rep was left.
"See?!" Kelso said, his eyes going wide. "Maybe we should check the school morgue."
Two pairs of blue eyes speared him. It was a good thing that the winter air had cooled Tina's usual retorts because he had just opened up a goldmine.
"Kelso, the school doesn't have a morgue."
"Then what do we pay all those taxes for?!" Kelso exclaimed.
Tina had had enough. She could feel most of her body and the parts that were still sending messages to her brain were mainly telling her that she was in pain. Her stomach grumbled. And that she was also hungry. Turning pleading eyes to Hyde, she hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder.
"We gotta go home." The curly haired boy bit his lip, staring at the sidewalk that would lead to the main road.
The walk was only about twenty minutes at the most but in this weather it would be awful. His eyes flicked to the car. Forman had to be here soon…
"Come on, Hyde," Tina pleaded, grabbing his hand and tugging him along until he had no other option but to move. Kelso followed behind, his eyes worried and wide as they flicked once more to the Vista Cruiser.
"You know what kills me?" Hyde suddenly snarled, his fingers tightening on Tina's even as he turned to stare at the slightly taller boy. "You do better in school than I do."
Kelso gave a goofy smile, laughing and tapping his skull. "Yeah. It's all up here."
There was no way to reply to that statement.
The walk to Tina's house was sullen and painful. Hyde's boots chafed against his ankles. Kelso's shoes were too thin to keep out even the smallest amounts of snow. Tina kept sneezing and her eyes kept watering from the wind so much that she could barely see. The only thing that kept the three of them going was a mixture of desperation, worry, and anger. She could feel the third nearly rolling off of Hyde as he walked behind her, grumbling, his hand tightening and loosening in intervals as he got angrier and then settled for brief moments.
"What the hell is that?" Hyde muttered as he came to a stop in front of the Forman driveway, his eyes on the sleek, red car in the driveway.
Tina's brows furrowed and unfurrow as she stared at the car, her mind reeling.
"That's Buddy's car," she finally whispered and Kelso gave an awed gasp. "Buddy Morgan."
Buddy was not only one of the richest kids in school, he was also one of the most popular. Which begged the big question of why such a person's car would be in her driveway.
"Woopty doo," Hyde snarled, storming past the car and incidentally dragging Tina along behind him as he made his way down the back steps to the basement door and flung it open.
Tina gasped. There sat the whole gang, all cozy gathered around the TV watching Gilligan's Island. And her brother - her twin brother was right there with them. He had forgotten all about her and Hyde and Kelso. What a jerk. Her eyes caught on the new guy sitting in Hyde's usual spot, his big, brown, doe eyes going wide as he stared across the room. God. He even looked rich as hell.
"There you guys are," Eric said like nothing in the world was wrong. "Where have you been?"
Hyde walked slowly towards Eric, his hand still holding Tina's in a murder grip as he neared her twin, incidentally dragging her along after him.
"Where have we - Where have you been?!" Kelso snapped and Tina shifted so that she could see what was going on around Hyde's shoulder as Kelso jabbed a finger at the Eric. "We've been worried sick about you!"
"Lies!" Tina declared, jumping up and down so that she could get a solid ten seconds of eye contact with her stupid brother. Hyde had become an immovable rock, steaming over with rage and she sure as hell, wouldn't be able to move him or make him let go of her hand. "I may have been worried before but now I just want to kick your scrawny ass!"
"We had to walk all the way here, man," Hyde was finally able to snarl out. "My feet are killin' me!"
"You dumbass!" Tina piped up. "Do you know how cold it is out there?!"
"Are your fingers broken?" Kelso demanded, picking up Eric's fingers to examine them quickly before shoving them away again. "You can't use a phone?!"
"I am your sister, you heathen!" Tina snarled, wiggling her way under Hyde's arm so that she could jab a finger at her brother. "We are twins. You left your twin out in the ice and wind - I could have died!"
"It's freezing outside," Hyde snapped, his eyes murderous. "And I'm wearin' my uncle's boots so now I have blisters."
"I'm telling daddy on you," Tina snarled, getting an immense amount of pleasure from how pale Eric's face went. "And then he's going to shove his foot so far up your ass-"
"Woah! Velma, Shaggy, Scooby we got company," Donna cut in and three sets of eyes turned on the lanky teen.
Tina honestly wouldn't have cared at this point if God himself had driven Eric home in that stupid, fancy red car.
Her feet tripped over each other as Hyde stalked around Eric to his seat, glad that she had gotten a comfortable hold on Hyde's hand. Buddy's eyes went wide.
"Buddy Morgan," Hyde said calmly like a panther about to eat an ostrich. "Yeah. I know you."
Hyde had never liked rich kids. It had even taken a great deal of time for him to like the Forman's and they were middle class at best. Tina bumped into Hyde's back as he came to a halt besides Buddy, glaring down at the unwelcome guest.
"I-I-" Buddy tried to collect his thoughts. "Yeah. Um, I guess it's my fault - I gave him a ride home so uh-"
"Get out of my chair!" Hyde roared and even Tina had to jump as Buddy sprang away, stumbling towards the door
"Yeah!" the rich kid stuttered, trying to laugh it off. "I - um… Really had to be going anyway… Oh hey. Your car's still at school isn't it-"
"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT IS!" Kelso screamed, crossing his arms like a petulant child.
"I could drop you off," Buddy said and Tina rolled her eyes.
"Of course you will," she said acidically, trying to cross her arms but belatedly realizing that Hyde still had her hand, his eyes on the TV as she stood awkwardly by his chair.
"Oh hey. Yeah. Sure." Eric said, getting off the couch and Tina looked away, gritting her teeth. "And hey, guys - I'm real sorry I forgot about you."
"Hey do you want to drive-" Eric was already sprinting up the stairs, yelling, "Hell yes!" with Fez close on his heel.
"MONEY CAN'T BUY YOU EVERYTHING!" Tina shrieked spitefully after him.
Jackie coughed. "It can buy you a car. Which is what you guys got stood up for."
Touche. Tina's lips pressed together. The brown haired, rich girl was right about that. Kelso sat down heavily on the couch. "He just ditched us again."
Sighing, Tina glanced down at her predicament. Hyde still had a hold of her hand. And it kind of seemed like he knew that he did because his thumb was running slow circles along the back of her hands.
"Um, could you…?" Tina motioned to her hand, trying to keep the exchange as low key as possible as Kelso and Jackie had their little...thing. For a moment, he stared up at her before a flicker of mischief warmed his eyes and he grinned.
"You're more than welcome to, bunny," he said, patting his lap.
Tina sent him a glare, going to slap him upside the head when Donna's voice cut through the room along with the sound of both Kelso and Jackie leaving.
"Okay," she said, her eyes curious and shrewd all at once as she turned to stare at Hyde and me. "What's your problem with Buddy anyway?"
"I just don't like him because he made me walk home in a skirt," Tina grumbled, finally giving up and sinking into Hyde's lap. She was too tired to fight it at the moment and the basement was a lot more chilly in the winter than when they came here in the summer.
Hyde smirked, his arms instantly wrapping around her waist and adjusting her more comfortably on his lap. Donna rolled her eyes.
"What about you, Hyde? Why the hate?"
Hyde's eyes snapped suddenly, his grip on Tina tightening as she settled against his chest. "I mean, he's got the money, the car, the family. The teachers like him, the councillors like him - Everybody likes him! I hate him."
He said the last part so vehemently that even Tina had to laugh in astonishment, her arm wrapping around Hyde's neck.
"That sounds…" Tina shrugged as Hyde's eyes flashed up at her. "That sounds a lot like jealousy."
"I hate him," Hyde mumbled again after a moment of silence, turning his face away from Tina and frowning.
"Hyde…" Donna started in tentatively. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?"
Tina winced, sensing the oncoming storm in the tightening of Hyde's shoulders under her arm.
"Donna…" he started slowly. "Let me tell you something, okay? When high school's over, Buddy Morgan's going to a great college. You know where I'm gonna be? Right here in my uncle's boots."
He said it with such certainty that even Tina had to look away, her fingers going absently to curl in the strands of hair that feathers Hyde's nape. It was a comforting motion that she had learned from having to soothe Eric whenever they were little and Red and Kitty had to work overtime.
"Well," Donna struggled on. "At least you got great friends."
Her smile turn secretive as she got up, her eyes moving to Tina. "Some friends better than others."
"Oh get out of here," Tina griped, grabbing up a pillow and hurling it at Donna's back as she reached the door.
"And um-" The redhead sighed, the next words clearly painful. "I'll always be here."
"Yeah. Yeah." Hyde grumbled, his eyes already back on the TV as Donna gave a laugh and left.
For a moment, neither Tina nor Hyde said anything. Suddenly, Tina felt like a knot was slowly loosening and tightening in her chest, her face flaming as she realized that one of Hyde's hands had moved from her waist to her thigh and was make soft trails from her knee all the way up to her hip. Did he realize that he was doing that? She gulped.
"Um, Hyde-" Her voice came out a lot more cracked than she had wanted it to.
"Does that include you?" Tina blinked, her eyes snapping to Hyde's as his hand stilled on her thigh. He was looking at her - The way that he was looking at her was really weird. It made her head go light. It made - Her eyes cut down to his lips.
"Wh-what?" She stuttered out, a shiver running up her spine as the hand around her waist drew a lazy line up her back.
"Will you always be here with me?" Her brows furrowed, her heart beating faster than she had ever felt it beat as his eyes grew heavy lidded. Was he staring at her lips?
"Yeah," she whispered, swaying forward as she felt his calloused fingers graze the back of her neck and draw her towards him. Her hand splayed across his worn shirt, under his winter jacket and over his heart. He was so warm. And he smelt like a bonfire and whiskey. "I'll always be here."
"Good," he whispered and he was so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. Her eyes fluttered shut-
"TINA!"
Tina flew backwards, sprawling on the floor as her heart jumped into her throat and her legs tangled beneath her. Her mom's voice was just at the top of the stairs. She gulped, looking like a ruffled deer in the middle of the road with a big mack truck speeding towards her.
If the situation wasn't so achingly disastrous, it would have been funny.
"Tina, do you and Steven want some cocoa and cookies?" She blinked, staring up at the boy who was still sitting in his chair, eyes pained.
"I - um -" She floundered, straightening her skirt when she realized that she was flashing Hyde. All that left her mouth before she was sprinting up the stairs was a squeak, her face as red as a Christmas ribbon.
Thank you for all the favorites/follows. Please, please, please review and do the following and stuff. Thank you to XXArmageddonXX for reviewing last chapter. So yeah... Review?