Work Text:
Eric Forman’s Basement
Point Place, WI
If somebody asked them, when did it start, they wouldn’t know exactly. Stuff happened, people went away for the summer and then, bam, Jackie and Hyde were a thing.
Nobody expected that to happen, not after that creepy crush she had on him, not after who knows how many times he rejected her, not after she took Michael Kelso back for the hundredth time.
They just came back to the basement one day to find them making out on the couch. And just like that, their whole world was torn upside down. It was hard to take.
Not even after a while, after Kelso found out, after consecutive weeks of Jackie sitting on Hyde’s lap, even with other seats available, after he constantly walked out of his room in the back of the basement smiling from ear to ear, followed by her.
They certainly did not expect it to last.
They were bound to fall apart, too different to stay together.
Except they weren’t, but their friends wouldn’t understand. Not for a long time.
Kelso was, against all odds, the first one to get it. And it wasn’t because of Jackie rejecting all of his advances, or Hyde’s violence towards him any time he got too close to her.
It was a beautiful sunny day, something rare in Point Place, which is why they all decided to go out together…
“We should do something, like normal teenagers. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m tired of watching reruns of Three's Company.” Jackie said, from her seat on Hyde’s lap.
While she and Hyde shared his chair, Eric, Donna, and Fez were on the couch. Kelso sat on the lawn chair, across from them.
“Jackie, it’s Point Place, what else is there to do?” Donna sighed, clearly sick of it as well.
“I don’t know, but we better find something, I’m pretty sure this is the third time we're watching this episode just this week.”
They all stared at the TV for a minute, then agreed. “You know what we should do?” Hyde asked.
“Not another circle, we’ve had two already.” Eric huffed.
“He was talking to me, dumbass.” Jackie retorted, then turned to face her boyfriend “But no, we’re not doing that again.”
“You don’t even know what I was gonna say.”
“Believe me, I do.”
As their argument progressed, Kelso stayed silent, staring at them. He had a good guess of what his friend was gonna say, but that was beside the point. He paid attention to Hyde’s easy smile while “arguing” with Jackie. And, also, how her tone changed when she noticed he was just teasing her.
“I’m just saying, doll. If you want to get out of here, I can keep you busy for hours.”
She laughed, “As if."
Hyde's smile fell from his face, "What do you mean, 'as if'?"
"I mean, baby, hours? Plural? Maybe one hour, I'll give you that."
They were whispering, with rushed tones and close faces. Intimacy, secrecy. Things Kelso missed. With her.
"You'll see…"
"Oh, don't be so grumpy. You know you're the best I ever had."
Now, that stung.
"Oh, yeah? Is that right?"
"Yeah," she pecked his lips briefly, "even if you can't last longer."
Her sudden laughter confused the other three occupants of the basement. Kelso was, ironically, the only one who understood.
"I got it, let's go to the reservoir!" He yelled.
He didn't want to go there, but he needed it to stop. He needed them to stop.
"The reservoir? Seriously?" Donna sighed.
"Anyone has a better idea?"
When nobody answered, he added, "That's right."
"How bad could it be?" Eric asked, shrugging.
"I say we go," Fez said.
Donna gave up, eager to leave the basement one way or another. With that, Jackie and Hyde had no other choice.
They all got up to go to the Vista Cruiser, but Kelso noticed them staying behind for a few minutes. He couldn't help but lean against the basement door to listen to what they were saying.
"Don't say I didn't warn you when things get nasty." Hyde's voice got cut off by weird noises. Kissing noises.
"Well, they won't be nasty for more than an hour anyway," Jackie giggled and, surprisingly, Hyde laughed as well. "I'm gonna stop, I promise. Come on now, my sex machine, our friends are waiting."
"How about we ditch them? We could do something together.."
Kelso didn't recognize Hyde. His friend would never act that way about a chick, he'd never turn down his friends for a girl. He'd never sound so insecure talking to a girl.
"Like what, a quickie?"
"Shut your pie hole!" He whined. Steven fucking Hyde just whined to his girlfriend.
"I'm sorry, that was the last one, I promise. It was just so easy." Kelso could hear the freaking smile in her voice. "Let's ditch them."
"Okay." More kissing noises. "Hey, uh, I just wanted to tell you that… you're mine too."
"Your what, puddin'?"
"The best I've ever had."
With that, Kelso left for the Vista Cruiser. He didn’t need to hear anything else. He got there, silent, and went to the back seat, next to Fez. "They're not coming." That was all he said.
His friends asked him why. He simply ignored them. It was clear now, set in stone. He lost her, forever. When the other three finally understood why the couple wasn't coming, Eric started the car towards the reservoir.
It was a very silent, awkward drive.
Unlike Kelso, Fez is a very simple person. It's not that he didn't understand their relationship, he simply thought there wasn't much there to understand.
They were a hot couple, horny for each other and willing to get freaky. Nothing much below the surface.
But then, sometime after they got together, it finally clicked.
It was a chilly Friday night. Donna and Eric were out on a date at the movies, and Kelso was making out with a girl he had just met in the back of his van, leaving Fez alone…
He came back to the basement, ready to wallow in self-pity and eat his secret candy stash, when he heard noises coming from Hyde's room.
They wouldn’t dare, he thought to himself. Mrs. Forman is upstairs, and Red was in the garage!
The music playing from the record player wasn’t loud enough to keep Jackie’s moans from his ears. It was like hearing his favorite song for the first time again. It gave him goosebumps, making him shiver just from imagining what was happening in there.
Now, Fez is a pervert. He’s accepted and embraced it, not seeing the point in denying it. But, as he approached Hyde’s door, witnessing this felt wrong. Like he was invading a space that wasn’t his, listening to something that wasn’t meant for his ears.
Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t get away from it, as if it was trapping him. So he stayed.
Peeking through a hole in between the wall and the door, Fez saw the sexiest sex scene he’s ever seen in his brief 17 years of existence, porn, and real life.
Jackie was, he assumed, completely naked with her legs spread over Hyde’s shoulders, her toes digging holes in his shirtless back. His mass of curls covered her most intimate spot, one of his hands grabbed her ass while the other pinned her against the bed. Her hands pulled at his hair, her head thrown back, her eyes slammed shut, bottom lip trapped between her teeth with such strength, it’d end up bleeding. All because of his mouth on her.
A beautiful sight.
“Steven!” Her voice sounded low and hoarse, out of breath. Needy. “Baby, I can’t take it anymore, I need you.”
She raised her upper body with her elbows, giving Fez a better view of her breasts, bouncing as she tried to control her breath.
Hyde finally raised his head, with a shit-eating smirk. “How long has it been?” He asked.
“It’s been over an hour, Steven! I fucking take it back, you’re the fucking best!” She, literally, growled. “I need you! Baby, please…” Her anger turned into a whiny pout.
“Your wish is my command, my queen.” He said, reaching over to the record player to turn the volume all the way up.
They went at it like starved animals after prey, Hyde didn’t even bother to take his pants all the way off. It was a miracle that the bed wasn’t broken yet.
When they finally stopped, Fez almost had a fever.
The record had ended at that point, nothing could be heard but their ragged breaths and whispers.
“I told you things would get nasty…” He whispered against her mouth, before kissing her soundly.
She giggled, “I like it when things get nasty, and I love you.” She kissed him again, soft and slow, caressing his face. Suddenly she stopped, her face no longer soft as it was seconds ago, “You don’t have to freeze every time I tell you that I love you, Steven. You don’t have to say it back, not if you don’t mean it. It’s ok.”
Fez was taken aback by the brunette’s maturity, she was never like this back when she dated Kelso. She’d never be so understanding if it wasn’t Hyde.
“That’s the thing, baby… words just seem pointless. This…”, he saw Hyde motioning to the two of them before continuing, “is something else. I don’t know how to put it in words.”
Wow.
Now that left the foreigner speechless.
He almost missed when Hyde got up, once again leaving Jackie’s naked body in full view. Her long, raven hair covered her bare breasts now but, every now and then, he could see an outline of her nipples.
“Maybe Zeppelin can help me.” The burnout said as he laid back down on the cot, pulling her close to him.
If the sun refused to shine
I would still be loving you
When mountains crumble to the sea
There will still be you and me
Call Fez a hypocrite, but this was the moment that he knew he needed to go. This was the kind of intimate moment he wouldn’t ruin.
As he walked back to his house, he was sure he’d never forget about what he had witnessed. But he’d take it to his grave.
Especially because Hyde would kill him if he ever found out.
Donna is an observer.
Or, at least, she likes to think so.
At first, Jackie and Hyde were simply two separate people rather than a couple in her perception. Sure, they were all over each other most of the time. And, okay, maybe they looked cute together.
But that was it.
They weren’t gonna last because they wanted different things in life.
Jackie was ambitious, in her own way. She wanted the whole world, mansions, expensive clothes, and mountains of money. As for Hyde, he barely wanted anything. Maybe smoke a joint, listen to Zeppelin, and have sex.
Then, what was throwing her off was how Jackie seemed to be much more in love than Hyde was. She was always the one to go the extra mile for him, never the other way around.
Donna didn’t like that. She was concerned, Jackie was hurt so many times in the past, and she deserved someone who’d go the extra mile for her. Deep down, she believed Hyde wasn’t that someone.
Who would’ve guessed that something so simple would be what made her understand?
Donna was gonna be late for work, again. The station had her doing the worst shifts, but she refused to complain. This was the chance she had been looking for the whole time. Sooner or later, her boss would give her a better slot. She hoped it’d be sooner.
Well, that wasn’t gonna happen if she kept arriving late. But, with her father using the car and Eric nowhere to be found, Donna would be walking to the station.
As she was leaving the house, with no more than ten minutes to get to the other side of town, she saw Hyde parking his car and knew that was the only chance she had.
The redhead ran to get in the car before he could kill the engine. “You have to give me a ride to work Hyde, please.”
The burnout who had a plastic bag in hand frowned then replied, “Sorry Donna, no can do.”
“Come on Hyde, I never ask you anything.” She insisted and sighed, “I’ll get Eric to cover for you the next time you wanna spend the night at Jackie’s.”
“Looks like it’s your lucky day, Pinciotti. But let’s make that quick.” He started driving before even finishing that sentence.
They stayed in silence for a bit, enjoying the music playing on the radio.
She looked over at him, noticing how tense he seemed. His grip was tight on the steering wheel, the plastic bag safe on his lap.
"What's that?” She motioned to the bag with her head.
“Oh, I went shopping… for Jackie.”
"Oh, how cute!" She teased, with a baby voice. "Let me see…"
She got the bag before he could pull it back, and opened it to find…
"Pads and a glittery lip gloss? That's all she asked for? Huh." Donna said.
"Yeah, man. She didn't have any in her purse, so she asked me to go get her some while she waited back in the basement. That's why we need to be quick." Hyde retorted.
"I get it, why the lip gloss though?"
"That's Jackie we're talking about, Donna."
"Self-explanatory." She agreed, then smiled, "I think it's very sweet of you, Eric freaks out at the sight of tampons and pads."
"I'm not sweet." He spoke his head.
"Well, I still…"
"There you go, Donna. Have a good day at work." He interrupted her, stopping the car so she could get out.
She just rolled her eyes and said, "Thanks, dill hole."
For the next few hours, all the redhead did was focus on work. Jackie's lip gloss was the furthest thing from her mind.
But later that same day, when she arrived at the basement and only found the two of them there, she remembered.
"Hey guys, have you seen Eric?"
"He went to the Hub with Fez and Kelso," Hyde answered, shrugging.
"We didn't feel like going," Jackie added, smiling at Donna.
She could kind of see it now, how good they looked together.
"Oh, by the way, Jackie, if you ever need emergency tampons or pads, you can get them at my house." She smiled.
The brunette frowned, confused. "Thanks, I guess."
Now they were both confused.
"I mean, Hyde had to go buy you some earlier…" Donna stopped when she saw her friend turning back, to look at her boyfriend.
"Why'd you buy me pads? I don't have my period…"
"Damn it, Donna." He muttered, glaring at his friend.
"Steven-"
"Listen," Hyde brought her closer to him on his lap, tightening his grip on her waist, "the last time you had your period, I had to drive you back to your place, all the way across town, 'cause you didn't have pads on your purse. So, to save me some gas if that ever happens again in the future, I bought you an emergency kit, to keep it in the Camino."
The moment her mouth opened and her hand went to her chest, he rolled his eyes behind the sunglasses.
"Don't." He warned, covering her big cheerleader mouth with his hand.
"Dear God, you're even sweeter than I thought." Donna snickered.
Jackie removed Hyde’s hand from her face, "Don't tease him, Donna. He just did it to save gas, it’s poor people thinking."
"Jackie, he also bought you a glittery lip gloss."
"Oh, you're the sweetest man alive!" She turned back again to kiss him.
When they didn't stop, and things started to get heated, Donna decided it was time to call The Hub to look for her own boyfriend. She'd just have to do it upstairs.
"What brand and shade?"
"Same one you're wearing right now."
He paused.
"I mean, the one I’m probably wearing now."
Eric’s problem with Hyde’s relationship with Jackie was Jackie herself.
Devil jokes aside, he just didn’t like her most of the time. At first, he thought his friend was only burning them, especially Kelso.
But, when they stayed together and they actually got serious, Eric realized it wasn’t a burn. Hyde never even used that as a burn.
She was breaking up the band, man.
He didn’t trust her to be the person Hyde deserved to be with, his friend had gone through so much already, and, even though he won’t ever say it in front of him, Eric thought of him like a brother.
She had baggage. A whole history with an ex-boyfriend they couldn’t avoid, no matter how hard they tried. In theory, she was completely wrong for him.
Except she wasn’t.
It was a nice and warm Sunday morning in Point Place, one that Eric Forman had to waste attending church with his mother.
He loved his mother dearly, but there was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to just go back to bed, only to wake up a few hours later and come back down to the basement.
“Oh, don’t look so grumpy, honey. We can do something fun after church!” Kitty said, serving him his breakfast.
The geek smiled, despite the urge to slam his head against the kitchen table and pray he’d wake up in time for lunch.
Before he could say something, he heard his mom say, “Steven. Sweetie, you don’t look like you’re getting any better…”
“Well, I really don’t feel better.” He responded, pouring himself a glass of water.
“Wow, man. You look like hell.”
“Thanks, Forman.”
“Have you eaten anything since last night, Steven?” Mrs. Forman asked, getting ready to fix him a plate.
“I haven’t, but I don’t think I can.”
Nodding in agreement, she added, “You should rest, dear. I’ll make you something to eat when we get back from church.”
“Thanks, Mrs. F.” Hyde agreed, finishing his water before going back to the basement.
Eric watched his friend disappear down the basement stairs, finished his breakfast, and, finally, got up to go to church. For the next couple of hours, all he could think about was how much he wanted to leave and go home.
He just never expected to find Jackie, standing in the kitchen, stirring something in a pan. It was weird.
It was still early in the morning for a Sunday, but there she was. Hair in a ponytail, wearing a blue polka dot dress and flats. He doesn’t remember what was the last time he saw her without heels.
“Hello, Devil.” He greets her.
“Geek. Hi, Mrs. Forman!” The brunette was a lot more enthusiastic when greeting his mother.
Just like him, Kitty seemed confused as to why the girl was cooking… in her kitchen, no less. Without any supervision. “Hello, dear. What are you cooking there?”
“Oh, I asked Martina to make some soup for Steven, I’m just heating it up. He really needs to eat something.” She answered, turning it off and serving a big plate of soup.
Yeah, that made more sense.
“Aren’t you an angel?” Kitty gushed, patting Jackie’s shoulder. “Well, I’ll clean this up, you go down there and make sure he eats everything.”
The girl smiled in return and went to the basement.
He followed close behind, intending to sit there and watch something on TV, but he couldn’t tune them out. Eric, and everyone else to be honest, thought that Jackie did all the talking in their relationship but, apparently, she was rubbing off on Hyde.
It wasn’t like he got up to eavesdrop on them. No, not on purpose. It just happened.
“Thanks, babe. This is really good.” He heard his friend say.
“Anything for you, Puddin’.” She replied. “What else can I do for you?”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s not gonna cut it, come on. Can I stay?” Eric could almost hear her pout. “I know when I’m sick, I like having company. Even more when it’s you.”
“Jackie, you’re never sick…”
“That’s because I’m so perfect, even my immunity is out of this world. Now, will you stop being so difficult and let me take care of you?” She complained.
“Okay.” He gave up on trying to make her leave.
“Thank you.”
The younger Forman went back to the couch and wasn’t able to see or hear the scene that played out next. And that was good because Hyde would kill him if he saw him in such a state.
Steven Hyde, with his head on his girlfriend’s lap, slowly drifted off to sleep as she softly traced patterns on his forehead and cheeks with one of her hands, while the other one caressed his curls.
Steven Hyde, listening to Jackie’s voice telling him she’d be there when he woke up. Dreaming of it, of her.
But, that was enough for Eric.
Kitty and Red always understood them, way before there was something to understand. Red was there with Jackie on Career Day when Steven showed up. Kitty was the main reason why he asked her out last Veteran’s Day.
They noticed when it started, for real.
It was one of those lazy summer afternoons Red loved. Donna ran away to California and took the kettle head with her, the foreigner was nowhere to be found, and his son was sleeping his depression off.
The warm weather begged for a cold beer. If he was lucky enough, he’d find something good on TV and stay there all afternoon.
Just when he cracked the beer can open, Kitty burst into the living room.
“Oh, Red! You need to see this!”
He sighed, “Kitty, it’s all frosty.” He said, showing her the beer.
“I don’t care, bring it with you. I promise this is better than anything on TV.”
“Oh, crap!” He mumbled but followed her lead.
Red Forman loved his wife more than anything in the world, that she had him doing things he never imagined himself capable of. Spying on their surrogate son and the girl who’s been his favorite out of all the teenagers with no parental figures, that seemed to never leave his house, was one of them. He wasn’t exactly interested in teenage drama and gossip, but Kitty was.
He stood behind his wife, who was basically crouching on the basement’s staircase, and watched fondly a couple of dumbasses in love. He chuckled, which made Kitty glare at him.
When he turned his attention back to the scene, he saw Jackie and Steven sitting on the beat-up couch, side by side. Closer than normal. Way too close, if you ask him.
But he kept it to himself as Steven’s arm made its way around Jackie’s shoulders, subtly. The girl clearly hadn’t noticed, too focused on the TV.
But Red could see the boy’s hand shaking when he started to draw imaginary circles on her arm. Trying so hard to look unfazed, he almost laughed in pity.
“Hey,” Steven whispered in her ear, which gave her goosebumps. “Can I tell you a secret?”
She wore a bright smile when finally gave the boy the time of day, whispering back. “Please, tell me something interesting.”
“C’mere.” He signaled with his finger.
“What?” She asked, innocently, getting even closer to him.
The boy stared at the girl for a few seconds, watching as confusion danced on her semblance. Then, finally, kissed her softly.
“You smell great. Is it a French perfume?” He asked her when the kiss stopped.
She released her breath, smiling. “No, Italian.”
“Are you gonna let me kiss you again?”
Her smile got wider, “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Yes.”
“Had you waited just another minute, I’d have kissed you first.”
“Well, then let’s start over…” His words were interrupted by her lips crashing back onto his.
Unaware of the older couple, spying on them from the staircase, they kept the kiss going.
“Smooth, kid,” Red said, sharing a knowing look with Kitty.
“I told you this was better than anything on TV.”