Chapter Text
1 - Something Better
1978
Eric Forman's basement
Point Place, Wisconsin
The Byrds played in the basement as everyone except Michael played rummy. Well, Hyde wasn't playing. He was bobbing his head to the music, weaving a bracelet. He had a box of thread on the ground next to him. His wrist was adorned with several similar bracelets.
He scratched his neck, just under the choker-like necklace he was wearing. Then he pushed his long curls out of his face.
Jackie startled as Donna nudged her. "Your turn, Jackie."
"Right." Jackie went. She kept getting distracted by Hyde. She couldn't help it. He was so attractive, with his brownish blonde curls and sunglasses. He was so unlike Michael.
The basement door slammed open, and Michael rushed in. "Guys, come see this!"
They all got up and followed Michael out to the driveway, where a crappy old van was parked. "You brought a crappy van to my driveway?" Eric asked.
"No, it's my van!" Michael said with a grin. "My uncle gave it to me. I got wheels now!"
"Wow, Michael," Jackie said. This was an interesting development. On one hand, it gave Michael and Jackie more freedom to go places. On the other hand, it gave Michael more freedom to go places and find other women. Which Jackie didn't doubt he'd do.
He wrapped his arm around her tightly. Too tightly. “Jackie, this is great for us. We can go anywhere we want. And we can do it in the van!”
Jackie grimaced. “I’m not doing it in a van, Michael.”
Hyde smirked and shook his head. He walked over to the van and looked in, making his smirk drop. “Kelso, did your uncle have a cat?”
Jackie walked over, and the stench of cat pee assaulted her. She quickly backed away. “Ew!”
“I’m getting an air freshener for that,” Michael said.
“You better. Otherwise, I’m not going anywhere near this van.” Jackie folded her arms over her chest.
Laurie walked out of the house, causing Eric to groan. “Whose crappy van is this?”
“It’s mine,” Michael said proudly. “Yeah, I’m practically an adult now.”
Jackie rolled her eyes. He was so obviously into Laurie. It made her sick.
Laurie smirked. “If you’re an adult, why are you in high school?”
Michael frowned. Laurie rolled her eyes. “Can you leave now?” Eric asked.
“No, don’t make her leave,” Fez said. Laurie smiled, knowing she’d won over Eric.
“Well, what do you guys say we take her out for a spin?” Michael asked, gesturing to the van.
“I’m not riding in that until it doesn’t smell like cat pee,” Jackie said.
Hyde looked at the van. “I have other things to do that don't involve dying in your rickety van.”
“I’ll go with you, Kelso,” Fez said.
“Me too. I got nothing better to do,” Laurie said.
“Then I'm not going,” Eric said. “Donna, wanna take my much more stable and better smelling car to the Hub?”
“Sure.” They walked over to the Vista Cruiser. Everyone else piled into the van and drove off, leaving Jackie alone with Hyde.
“All right, then,” he said. “Peace, Jackie.” He turned away and walked toward the basement, flashing a peace sign over his shoulder.
She rushed after him. “Wait!”
He stopped at the top of the basement stairs. “What?”
“Why can’t we hang out?”
“We never hang out. Why start now?”
“Why not start now? I had fun at prom with you. We can figure out something to do together.”
He stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure. You’re not choosing the music, though.”
She grinned as they went into the basement. He took The Byrds off the record player and put on Steppenwolf The Second . They sat next to each other on the couch and he grabbed his box of thread. He continued the bracelet he’d been making before Michael had come with his van.
“Can you believe that Michael wanted to fool around in his van with me?”
“Of course I believe it. Van’s a great place to do it.” He glanced over at her. “Why don’t you want to do it in the van? Besides the cat piss thing.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could think about them. “Michael’s terrible in bed.”
He smiled. She’d just given him prime burn material. “How terrible? Like, never given you an orgasm terrible?”
She felt her face get hot. “None of your business.” She stared at his box of thread for a moment, then said, “He’s only given me four.”
Hyde raised his eyebrows. “Really? You’ve been missing out. Too bad you love Kelso, ‘cause you could be getting a lot better.”
“I could probably get something better without him even noticing.” She glanced over at him. “Just someone to fool around with. No commitment. No feelings. Just… someone to show me what I’ve been missing.”
He looked up from his bracelet. “Are you getting into free love now? I thought I was the only hippie here.”
Jackie shrugged with a small smile. “I just want to see what I’ve been missing.”
“And you don’t think Kelso will even notice?”
“Not if we’re sneaky about it.” She wasn’t sure exactly when the conversation had changed from Jackie finding another man to Jackie cheating on Michael with Hyde, but she wasn’t complaining. And neither was Hyde.
“We can be sneaky,” he said, his voice low.
They stared at each other, then both started leaning in. Their lips met in a soft and heated kiss. He deepened the kiss. He tasted vaguely of bubblegum and something herbal Jackie couldn’t identify. He pulled back after a minute to move the box of thread onto the table. He scooted closer and kissed her again.
He was a much better kisser than Michael. He made her feel warm all over, whereas Michael just made her annoyed. He even made her feel confident enough to push him back on the couch and climb on top of him. She felt him smile briefly against her lips. His hands trailed down her body, resting on her hips. This was the most immoral makeout she'd ever been a part of.
And she couldn't get enough of it.
~
Laurie was straddling Kelso’s lap, rolling her hips and making him whimper. She smiled to herself. He was so easy to control. It made her hot.
They'd dropped Fez off at his host parents' house, then Laurie had directed Kelso to a secret part of Mount Hump where she knew they'd have privacy. If she was gonna make out with a guy who had a girlfriend, she wasn't about to get caught.
“Wait, wait, what about Jackie?” he asked, putting his hands on her hips to stop her movements.
“Who cares?” Laurie asked. “Don’t you want to have some fun with me?”
A smile crept onto Kelso’s face. “Yeah.”
She rolled her hips again. “Then stop talking about Jackie.”
Laurie felt a little bad about how Jackie would feel, but she would get over it. Kelso was a terrible boyfriend. Jackie could find someone better.
~
Hyde couldn't believe how great his day had gotten. He had a hot girl on top of him, and they were making out to one of his favorite albums. He did feel bad that she was Kelso's girlfriend, but Kelso planned to break up with her constantly. Hyde was simply helping to speed up the process.
Besides, who would he be to turn down a hot girl looking for a meaningless fling?
She lifted herself up on her forearms, hovering over him. "This was fun. We can do more next time. I just know Michael's gonna be back eventually to drop off Laurie, and if we're gonna do this we're not gonna get caught."
"Agreed. We don't need anyone finding out about this." He lifted her off of him and sat up. "And while having you on top of me was far out, next time I'm actually gonna show you what you're missing from Kelso."
She blushed a little, but smiled. "Okay." She gave him one final, lingering kiss. "I'll see you soon."
"See you."
She flashed him a peace sign before grabbing her purse and heading out the side door of the basement. He sat alone in the basement, listening to Resurrection , his lips still buzzing with the feeling of hers.
~
The next day, everything was back to normal. Jackie was on Kelso’s lap. Hyde was in his chair, arms crossed and trying to ignore them. Donna and Forman were making goo-goo eyes at each other. It was like he and Jackie had never been together.
"Donna, you wanna go to the drive-in tonight? They're showing Jaws 2 ," Forman said.
"Yeah, sure. This time without Jackie and Kelso."
Jackie looked at Kelso. "Michael, what do you wanna do tonight?"
"Oh, uh, I can't hang out. I have to duct tape Casey's socks together."
Jackie frowned. "Fine." She glanced at Hyde. "What are you doing tonight, Hyde?"
He shrugged. "Watching MASH?"
"Boring," Forman remarked. "When are you gonna get a girlfriend?"
"Who are you, my mom?"
"If he were your mom, he'd be drinking way more," Kelso said.
Hyde got up and punched him on the arm, careful to avoid Jackie. "Dillhole."
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be about peace and non-violence?" Kelso whined.
"I don't support war, but I support me hitting you when you're stupid." Hyde sat back down in his chair. "And I'm fine without a girlfriend. I don't need to be with anyone." Especially if he was going to be fooling around with Jackie.
"Fine," Forman said. "I guess someone's gotta keep Fez company."
"Exactly," Hyde said. He turned back to the TV as Kelso wound his arms around Jackie's waist. It really was too bad that Jackie loved Kelso.
~
When Jackie entered the basement, Hyde was sitting on the couch watching MASH, just like he said he’d be. She sat next to him. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he replied. He made no moves for a few minutes. When the commercial break came, he turned to her slightly. “So, how far are you comfortable going with me? I know you and Kelso have gone all the way, but this is… different.”
“Yeah… How about we go to second, and I’ll see how good you are, then maybe we can move on from there?”
He smirked. “Sounds good.” He scooted closer to her on the couch, putting his arm up on the back of it. His hand gently cupped the back of her neck, and he drew her in for a slow kiss.
She brought her hand up and let her fingers slip through his curls. His hair was much thicker than Michael’s. And his lips were much softer, yet more skilled. After a few minutes of kissing, he asked, “Can I start?”
“Yeah,” she said. That was odd. Michael never really asked to do things.
Hyde’s hands went under her shirt, grazing her bare skin and making her heat up. She had worn a thin bra today, and he cupped her breasts over the fabric. His touch sent shocks of pleasure throughout her body. She wanted more.
It was dangerous. He was good, and she was scared of how fast she might let him go.
Well, whatever. It would feel great.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the Forman house…
Kelso whimpered as Laurie unzipped his fly and slipped her hand down his pants. Jackie flashed through his mind, but he pushed the thought of her away. He didn’t want to ruin this thing with Laurie because of Jackie.
“You know, I saw Jackie’s Lincoln in the driveway,” Laurie said.
“What?! Is she here?”
Laurie shrugged. “Probably. But who cares? Wouldn’t you rather be here with me?” She did something with her hand that Jackie had never done, and Kelso couldn’t respond for a minute.
“Yeah, I’d rather be here,” he said breathily when he recovered.
Laurie leaned close to him, her lips inches away from his. “That’s what I thought.” She kissed him deeply.