Disclaimer: All rights to That '70s Show and its characters belong to The Carsey-Werner company. I am only a fan.

A/N: Hello! This story explores a WHAT IF scenario from the T7S-verse - WHAT IF Eric and Donna continued to have casual sex after their hook-up in S4xE6 "The Relapse"? Note that the rating is explicit. I plan to post a new chapter each week - and eventually, some more "WHAT IF" T7S stories. I drew inspiration for this series from the talented MistyMountainHop, who has her own similar One Difference T7S series. I hope you check out her stories too if you have not already!

I love to read reviews and will try to respond to each of them - if you enjoy the chapter (or don't!), feel encouraged to drop a comment. It's fun to hear from readers.

And finally, my internet home for my T7S stuff is tumblr, you can find me there at thatseventiesbitch. Check it out for lots more T7S and T9S content.

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy!


What If: Eric and Donna Became Friends With Benefits?

Chapter 1: Friends… Who Touch Each Other's Fun Parts


"Okay," Eric burst through the Pinciotti's back door, his eyes wild and his tone livid to match. His whole body was tensed, ready for a shouting match with his ex-girlfriend.

His gaze fell on Donna, and he jabbed an accusatory finger in her direction.

"You need to tell me what the hell you think you're doing!" he demanded. All of the humiliation, shock, and desperation he felt after his conversation with Jackie was coursing through his veins. How dare she use him for sex? How dare she gossip to their friends about it! He'd flown here from the basement, to tell her that.

"What am I doing?" Donna fired back. Her tone was just as hard as his, not at all contrite. "Well my mom left us, so I'm boxing up her clothes because I can't look at them anymore." She gestured to the piles of clothing strewn across the kitchen table. Eric hadn't noticed them before. Crap.

"And I'm sorry for needing you," Donna continued, her voice swelling with vulnerability. "But I did, so if you have something to say to me then just say it."

Of course, Eric quickly deflated. This was about her mom. He should have realized that.

"Okay, thank you! I did have something to say, and it was good. But that was before you said your mom stuff, and your sad clothes stuff, and now my sex stuff sounds… sucky."

Donna's eyes flickered to his for a moment, and he detected something. Was she grateful? Apologetic? God, she must've felt like her world was turning upside down, with her mom gone. No wonder she'd reached for him for comfort. She'd needed him. He probably would've done the same thing.

"Look, I'm sorry if you thought that we - "

"No," he interrupted her with an apology of his own. "No. I'm sorry." He cleared his throat, and nodded to the clothes. "Let's just - what, d'you need some help or something?"

"Yeah," surprise flitted across Donna's face. "Thanks."

They folded in silence for several minutes. Eric picked up a silky, purple screen-print blouse and glanced at Donna. Her expression was unreadable to him but she was clearly lost in thought. Or maybe memories.

The solemn energy between them was uncharacteristic - and unwelcome. After just a few minutes, Eric found it unbearable. He had to do something to break the tension.

"Oh my God," he pulled a pink blouse from the pile, and held it to his chest. "This is mine. Midge borrowed it and she never gave it back."

Donna glanced at him from the corner of her eye and smiled, but it was fleeting. It wasn't good enough.

Eric scoffed and tossed the shirt back onto the pile of clothes. "I bet my bra is here, too."

His goal was a smile, but his dumb joke fetched a giggle from Donna and even better, some physical contact. She reached over to push his head away, playfully, and he returned the gesture. It was something they'd been doing since they were kids, and it made everything feel several shades more normal between them.

After that, they folded clothes in a (mostly) comfortable silence for close to half an hour. When they finished with the clothes on the kitchen table, Donna would bring out another pile from the living room. And another. And another. She piled the clothing neatly into cardboard boxes, and Eric stacked the boxes near the patio door. Bob would drop them off at the Goodwill tomorrow morning. When they were all finished, there were six boxes lined up, and Eric dusted his hands off after he deposited the last one atop the stack.

"Wow," he said, furrowing his brow. "If you're getting rid of her clothes, your mom must really not be coming back, huh?"

Donna's head dipped down, and a strand of her long red hair fell in her eyes. "She's not coming back," she murmured.

"Donna - " Eric reached out to move the strand of hair from her face, and gently tucked it behind her ear. That simple touch sent sparks of chemistry flying between the estranged couple, and he jerked his hand back, unsurely. "God I'm - I'm so sorry."

He opened his arms to her in a hug and she stepped forward into his embrace, unthinkingly burying her face in the curve of his neck. Eric inhaled sharply, his senses overwhelmed by their proximity. In moments, he felt her lips beginning to nibble lightly against his skin and he groaned as his body started to react to the feeling.

"D-Donna - " he pressed a hand to the small of her back. He hadn't meant to stop her, but she jerked away from him.

"I'm sorry." She dropped her gaze to the floor and covered her mouth with one of her hands. "Fuck! I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Hey," Eric waved her off. "Nothing, okay? Your mom left. You're allowed to freak out." He watched her carefully. She looked like she was trying to shrink into herself, to disappear.

"I just want to feel better," she choked, and Eric felt his heart leap into his throat.

"Donna - "

"My dad's depressed. He hasn't been getting dressed, hasn't been going to work, hasn't been taking showers." Donna bit her lip. "That casserole your mom had you bring over? I ate it for dinner three nights in a row."

Eric's heart continued to thud. He wasn't sure why she was being so candid with him - she hadn't been in months. Not since their break-up. But he was grateful for it, and didn't want to break their connection - didn't want to break the spell. He just nodded, and hoped she'd continue. She did.

"I guess I was just looking for a way to forget about all of that for a while. To feel good again," she contemplated softly. Then her eyes shot to his again. "But Eric, I didn't consider your feelings and it was wr- "

"Eh, don't worry about it," he brushed her off, nonchalantly.

Donna frowned. "No. Eric I owe you an - "

"You don't owe me anything," he insisted, quickly. Her pain was palpable, and all he wanted to do was relieve it for her. "But if you're looking for a distraction, m'lady…" his heartbeat started to thud with the risk he knew he was taking. "I'm, you know. Offering."

On cue, Donna's eyes narrowed. "Offering what?"

Eric casually (and he hoped, suavely) swept his body. "My… services." He smirked. "I can say with confidence that you've been satisfied with them in the past."

A blush stole across Donna's cheeks. "Eric - "

"What?" he pressed. He was in it now. In for a penny, in for a pound.

"We shouldn't be talking about this," Donna insisted. Her cheeks were turning a bright red to match her hair, and she glanced at the swinging door to the living room uneasily, like she was worried about her father overhearing.

"Why not?"

"Because we're not dating anymore," she hissed.

He shrugged. "So? We don't have to be dating to -" he paused and grinned at her, knowingly. "Do what we did yesterday."

"What are you talking about?" Her eyes were still narrowed, and she crossed her arms across her chest.

"What if we had something casual?" he proposed, hoping Donna didn't notice the hitch in his breath, the facade he was putting up. "Just for fun, no commitment. You know," he couldn't keep the resentment out of his tone. "Just the way you like it."

Donna scoffed. "Right." Then she rolled her eyes. "Like you could ever do that."

"Try me." He set his jaw, hoping he looked confident.

Donna looked at him for a long moment, like she was sizing him up. Then she exhaled, deflated. "Eric. Be serious," she insisted.

"I am serious." He chuckled. "I don't know about you, but I've felt a lot more relaxed since we… you know," he stretched his arms above his head in an exaggerated yawn, and it pulled his t-shirt up. Donna was watching very intently, and he definitely noticed. Eric smirked.

"Yeah," she whispered reflexively, like she was in a trance. "Me too."

"I mean, c'mon, Donna. We already know we're good at it."

"Yeah - " she murmured. She'd moved forward, right into him, and grasped the front of his t-shirt assertively, like she was about to lean in for a kiss. Eric's eyes clouded over with lust and he leaned forward, anticipating her mouth against his.

But just like that, the spell was broken. Donna blinked, and stepped away from him.

"Wait - no." She almost laughed, shaking her head now. "No."

"Why not?" Eric frowned.

"Because we broke up, Eric," Donna shook her head at him, her annoyance back. "We already know that we don't work as a couple."

"Not a couple," Eric agreed. "Just friends. Friends who… touch each other's fun parts," he smirked at her.

Donna continued to look at him skeptically.

"No rules, no relationship," he continued. His gaze was now focused on Donna's mouth. She seemed to notice. They moved closer to one another, like magnets. "Just… sex," he exhaled. They were so close now that his breath heated her bottom lip.

"Do you mean it?" Her words heated his lips.

"Will it make you feel better?"

She hesitated, but only for a moment before crushing her lips against his.


Eric and Donna collapsed next to each other on her bed, both sweaty, happy, and satisfied.

"Well. That was - " Eric didn't finish his sentence. He'd glanced at Donna, strewn across his chest, and they both started to giggle.

"Good work, friend," Donna held out her hand for a high-five, and Eric slapped it affectionately.

"Excellent work, pal." He grinned down at her, and brushed a few strands of wayward hair back from her eyes. "I still can't believe you went for this," he admitted, quietly.

Truthfully? She couldn't, either.

Her parents' highly experimental - and turbulent - relationship had given her a certain respect for sex, an appreciation for taking things slow and treating it as an opportunity to grow closer to a partner rather than an act for physical pleasure. This was the first time she'd ever considered a sexual relationship for pleasure's sake alone, and it was throwing her.

On one hand? Sex made her feel incredible. It was the only time she ever felt like she truly got out of her own head, which was an exhausting place to be usually, but even more so since her parents' split and her mom's abandonment. On the other hand? She worried she was cheapening herself by having sex outside of a relationship, or worse, becoming too much like her mother. A person she was suddenly terrified to become.

All of that was too heavy for pillow-talk, however. Even with Eric.

He surprised her when he gently extracted himself from her embrace, and withdrew from the bed.

"I better get going," he said, as he reached to the floor for his jeans.

"You're leaving already?" The words were out of her mouth before she had time to think them through.

He looked at her, surprised. He'd gathered his clothes into a bundle, and now stood at the end of her bed, redressing. "You want me to stay?"

"No." Donna carefully rearranged her expression into one of casual disinterest. "Of course not." Of course she didn't. Eric wasn't her boyfriend. She shook her head, shook him off.

"Maybe we should set some ground rules," he suggested. He'd slid into his jeans, and now sat on the edge of her bed as he worked his t-shirt from inside-out.

"Sure," she agreed, too quickly. "Rule one, no staying overnight."

He glanced at her, but she couldn't quite read his expression. "Sure," he exhaled. He'd righted his t-shirt, and now he slid it over his head. "How 'bout other dates? Other people. Are we exclusive?"

"No," Donna agreed, too quickly again, and she cringed. "Definitely not. Eric, we're not - "

"Boyfriend-and-Girlfriend," Eric cut her off. "Good."

She hated the way her heart sunk - fought it off. Did he want to date other girls? Is that why he'd really broken up with her?

"Good," she agreed, instead.

"Great."

"Rule number three," she proposed. "No feelings."

He hesitated for just a flicker of a moment, but Donna noticed it. "Done."

"And Eric, the most important rule of all," she bit her lip. "No one can know." She lowered her voice. "No one."

"It's no one's business," Eric agreed, nodding definitively.

"Sounds like we have an understanding."

"Sounds like we do."

They shook hands, and Eric said, "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Pinciotti." Donna giggled.

She wanted to be as confident as Eric sounded - hoped she seemed that way, to him. But somewhere deep in her stomach, a pit was forming. Her bravado was waning now that she was alone again.

A shiver ran through her, and she pulled her bedsheet tighter. She realized how cold it was, now that Eric was gone.