Chapter Text
3 - Dating A Hippie
Jackie sat with her arms crossed in the back of the van next to Donna. Laurie sat up front with Michael. Steven sat with Eric and Fez on the other side of the van. Steven kept looking at her. They hadn’t had a chance to talk privately since he revealed Michael’s cheating.
She was a little mad at him. She didn't like that he had told everyone about the cheating at once. She also didn't like that he said something in front of Laurie, who apparently had known about her and Steven. And she really didn't like that he hadn't told her anything.
She was mad at Michael for cheating- she should be enough for him- but she knew that anger was pointless. He wasn't enough for her. She cheated too.
If one good thing could come out of this, she hoped she and Steven could start dating. But that wouldn't happen. Their agreement was purely physical. No feelings involved.
Michael pulled into her driveway. There were no other cars around, meaning her parents were away. "Do you need any help with your stuff?" Fez asked.
"No, I'm fine," Jackie said. She started collecting her bags. "This trip was stupid."
"It was fine until Hyde made it stupid," Laurie said.
Jackie frowned. "Shut up, bitch." She turned and walked up the driveway and went inside without looking back at Michael's stupid, cat-pee van.
~
Hyde sat bouncing his leg in his chair in the basement. Forman and Donna were on the couch, watching Wheel of Fortune and trying to guess the puzzles before the contestants. Laurie had gone home with Kelso after he dropped Fez at home.
Things had been really weird between Hyde and Jackie since he revealed Kelso's cheating. He needed to talk to her. He needed to explain himself. He didn't want to lose her over this.
He stood up. "What are you doing?" Forman asked.
"I gotta go do something. None of your business," Hyde said, making his way for the door.
"I bet he's gonna go see Jackie," Donna sang.
"Shut up. None of your business." Hyde left, closing the door behind him.
~
Jackie laid on her stomach on her bed, reading Tiger Beat. Everything was about Shaun Cassidy. She was starting to get sick of him.
She eyed her telephone. She could call Donna. She'd already talked Donna's ear off about the whole situation, but… She could always talk more.
She nearly jumped when she heard a tapping on her window. She got up and went to see what it was. Steven was crouched on the overhang roof outside her window. She opened the window. "What the hell are you doing here? And at ten o'clock at night? And at my window?"
"I wanted to talk, I couldn't wait 'til tomorrow, and I didn't want your folks to know I was here 'cause I've never met them and I don't know how to explain why I'm here."
Jackie sighed. "Fine." She opened the window enough for him to climb through.
He crawled in and looked around. "I've never been in here before. It's… pretty much exactly what I expected from you."
She rolled her eyes and sat on her bed. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Kelso and Laurie before. I just… I knew you'd be hurt and I didn't want that. I also wasn't ready for Laurie to tell everyone about us because I wanted to keep it going."
"How did she even find out? And how did you find out about her and Michael?"
He scratched the back of his neck. "She was doing laundry, and I saw her washing one of Kelso's shirts. And she saw a hickey you gave me with a smudge of your lipstick. She suggested we both break it off with you guys so we wouldn't have to keep any secrets, but… I didn't want to."
"Surely you have other options of people to fool around with," Jackie said, not understanding why he didn't want to break it off with her.
"Yeah. But none of them are you."
Her breath hitched. Did he care about her?
She fiddled with the bracelet he made her. "Okay, I know I'm good, but I'm not that good."
He gave her a look. "I like you, Jackie."
She smiled a little. "Really?"
"Yeah, man. I spilled the secret 'cause I couldn't take keeping it from you anymore. You deserved to know. I'm sorry it came out the way it did."
She stood up. "I'm a little mad it had to come out in front of everyone, but… they would have found out anyway. And besides, it gave me a good reason to break up with Michael. I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner."
"Yeah. And… you said you didn't break up with him because you like having a boyfriend." He smiled shyly. "I'm available if you want."
She giggled and clasped her hands behind his neck. "So I get to be the first person to break Steven Hyde's infamous no-dating rule?"
"Yep. My free love days are over."
"So are mine." She kissed him tenderly. "My dad is really not gonna like that I'm dating a hippie. Especially not a hippie that climbed up to my window in the middle of the night."
"Worth it." He kissed her again, deeper.
She wove her fingers in his hair. "Y'know… My parents aren't home. And if you're up for it, I'd like to go farther than what we've been doing."
He tapped his fingers on her hip. "What, like… all the way?"
"Yeah."
He smiled. "Sure. And just to be clear, this is no longer a purely sexual agreement. So you better not be planning to drop me after this."
She giggled. "Well, we'll have to see if you're as good as you say you are." She kissed him. "Of course I'm not gonna break up with you after this."
"Then I'm all yours."
She spun them around so his calves were pressed against the edge of her bed. Then she gently pushed him down and got on top of him. He smiled as she wove her hands into his hair and kissed him.
After a few minutes of kissing, he flipped them over so he was on top. "You gotta stop distracting me like that when I'm trying to show you what you've been missing."
She giggled. "You gotta start doing something about it."
"Maybe I will."
~
Hyde laid in Jackie's bed with Jackie's head on his chest. She was tracing small heart patterns onto his stomach with her finger. She looked up at him. "What I'm about to tell you can't leave this room," she said.
"My lips are sealed." He mimed zipping his lips shut.
"You're way better than Michael."
"I think I knew that already." He hooked his finger in her bracelet, which she hadn't taken off. "And I'll tell you this at the risk of inflating your already huge ego, but you're amazing."
She smiled and kissed his jaw. "There's something I've always wanted to ask you since we started this thing. Sometimes you taste kind of… herbal? What is that?"
"Pot. Kelso never told you we smoke?"
"No, he did not."
"You ever smoked?"
"Do you know me?"
He chuckled. "Right. Well, next time you come over you can try it if you want. It's fun."
~
Jackie had her leg hooked over Steven's. They were sitting together on the couch in the basement. He had a joint between his fingers and a lighter in his other hand. He flicked it on. "You sure about this? It's a gateway drug." He said the last part in a mocking way, as if it wasn't true.
"Yes, I'm sure."
He lit the joint and turned the lighter off. "Just inhale. You're gonna cough, but you'll get used to it." He inhaled and blew the smoke out in a long, thin stream toward the ceiling. He handed the joint to her.
She inhaled, then coughed the smoke up. "Oh my God!"
He rubbed her back gently. "There's another way we can do it."
"How?"
"Open your mouth and trust me." She opened her mouth. He inhaled from the joint, then brought his mouth to hers and blew the smoke into her mouth. Their lips grazed lightly. "Now you can exhale."
She blew the smoke out. "I like that way."
He chuckled and took another pull from the joint.
A little while later, the joint was nearly burnt out and Jackie felt buzzy and giggly. Steven took the last pull, blowing a smoke ring into the air. He pinched out the joint and leaned back on the couch next to her. She giggled and took his sunglasses off his face. She put them on. "I'm you now."
He chuckled. "You're cute."
She kissed him. Then she started laughing. "I like you. Isn't that funny?"
"Why is that funny?"
"I don't know. You're Steven! I didn't like you for a long time, but now I really like you. That's funny."
He chuckled. "Yeah, that is funny."
She stared at him for a moment. She could finally just appreciate his beauty without worrying about anyone else saying anything. She took his sunglasses off her face and put them on the table. Then she took his face in her hands and kissed him firmly.
He deepened the kiss, wrapping an arm around her. Between his touch and how high she was, this moment felt amazing. Her days of free love were truly over.
~
Laurie came down into the basement to see Hyde on the couch. Jackie was asleep next to him, her head on his shoulder. He was watching television with the sound off.
She sat in the chair near the couch. “She likes you too?”
“Yep,” he said with a small smile.
“Well, kudos to us for ruining a bad relationship. You got the better end of it.”
Hyde smirked. “What, Kelso’s not a good boyfriend?”
“All he’s been doing is whining over Jackie. He won’t even fool around with me. I’m dropping him.”
“Probably for the better.”
“Yeah.” Laurie stood up. “Good luck with her, I hear she’s a handful.”
“I can handle it. Thanks.”
Laurie nodded and went back upstairs, leaving Hyde alone with his new girlfriend. Who wouldn’t be his girlfriend without Laurie’s help, she liked to think.