Title: 'That Whole Sleeping-Over Thing'
Author: Kendra A (kendraangelusslayer @ yahoo.com )
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "Jackie wasn't letting Hyde pretend to fall asleep before she snuck over." Post-"The Acid Queen" fluff.
Dedication: To Len, of course, dearest site-partner! Thank you so much for the meticulous beta. And in your honor, this is also unofficially titled both "The Zen of Realignment" and "Frankfurt."
Feedback: This is my first T7S fic, so I'll ask that you be as honest as you can be without flaming. And also. . . Feedback for me is like candy for Fez. I will love you *forever* if you give me some.
*
Hyde had never been much good at relationships.
He could deal with friendships all right; it was the 'real' relationships that gave him trouble. The ones with girls, where they expected to be kissed all the time and fawned over and told repeatedly that they were special. Girls wanted to be told secrets. They wanted to be flattered, they wanted him to take them for rides in his car. They wanted to wear his coat or his leather watch or his shades as though they were brands. They wanted to sleep over and wear his shirts as pajamas. They wanted, they needed. They wouldn't leave him alone.
Hyde was really into doing as little as possible to get by. Call it low- maintenance; Hyde liked calling it zen, which took less time to say. Whatever it was, girls didn't much like it. They took it personally and generally left angry. They wanted 'more', and more wasn't something Hyde really felt like giving.
Hyde was comfortable with the friends he had, the losers in the basement, the people he generally "got," and who "got" him as much as anyone could. Hyde guessed it was probably just the unbelievable amount of time he spent with Eric and Donna and Jackie and Kelso and Fez that had got him to really care about them at all. To his own surprise, Hyde had found himself preparing for loneliness, just a little bit of it, in the weeks when Eric and Donna were getting ready to go to college. And he'd even felt bad, just a little, for being happy for what were probably kind of selfish reasons. Eric and Donna weren't leaving him here.
They were friends. Hyde cared whether they stayed or went. It would be the same if Kelso went somewhere, or Fez; and oddly enough, it would be much, much worse if it were Jackie who left. Without Hyde noticing, somewhere along the line Jackie had become someone he could stand, and then someone he sort of liked, and then someone he'd miss if she were gone, and then. . . Well.
Now Hyde loved her. And Jackie *knew* Hyde loved her, and for some reason Hyde didn't mind. He even knew Jackie loved him back, so put together the two of them had this whole mutual love-thing going on, which was exactly what Hyde normally put the greatest amount of not-zen into staying away from but just this once he sort of liked where he was.
Because they both knew Hyde was pretty much cool with the way things were, it had become even easier for Jackie to have him doing things he'd never thought he'd do. She had him caring about her and giving her presents and going with her to the mall and listening to her talk about getting her hair done. She called him ridiculous pet names and even when the rest of the gang found out, she wouldn't let it go. Worse, Jackie had Hyde coming up with pet names for *her*.
That wasn't to say Hyde didn't have his limits - the way he saw it, every man had to draw the line somewhere. This really just meant that Jackie had made it her goal to become damn good at dodging Hyde's automatic replies of "No way!" and "Not in this lifetime!" . . .That, or they were both finally learning the basic principles of 'Give and Take': Jackie seemed to know when she was pushing him a little *too* far. Sometimes she'd be a good sport and let Hyde pretend she was making him do stuff, pretend he didn't want to or pretend he just didn't care.
Like that whole sleeping-over thing.
The year before, when Jackie had been crashing with Hyde in the basement because she was all alone in her big house and they'd been found out, Hyde had actually been disappointed or something when Red and Kitty hadn't let it continue. Hyde had wanted Jackie to stay. They'd established a sort of routine, see. Hyde would get into his sweats and find his rarely-used undershirt. He'd put his shades on the shelf next to his cot, brush his teeth and splash water on his face. Then he'd get under the covers and turn out the light and pretend to fall asleep, and soon enough Jackie would sneak down to the basement. She'd change into her own pajamas out by the couch and hide her bag under the beat-up coffee table, and then she'd tiptoe into Hyde's makeshift bedroom and slip into bed with him.
It was just lucky that there had been space, that was all. Hyde didn't sleep in the middle of the cot anyway even when Jackie wasn't there, and sometimes it got hot down in the basement so he'd kick off the blankets or leave them loose. That way it just sort of happened that there was a Jackie- shaped space on one side of the bed, and it was more of an accident than anything else that there were blankets left over for her too. And when Hyde was pretending to go to sleep, he really *would* get tired, so if he threw an arm over Jackie's waist and pulled her close enough into him that he could curve his hand under the other side of her body, then, well, he wasn't really awake, that was all.
Hyde didn't like caring about people, especially not girls and especially not like this, so that was the sort of thing he'd tell himself, and he'd rehearsed it in his head just in case Jackie ever tried to get him to say he loved her or something. But Jackie had never needed his excuses, because she was smarter than she acted lots of the time and she saw right through him, and eventually Hyde had told Jackie that he loved her, anyway, so his dumbass backup excuses never mattered.
Now, though. Now that they were back together, and now that Jackie had heard Hyde say (just once) that he loved her and knew for a fact that Hyde was sorry and wanted to be with her, some of this pretending stuff wasn't working anymore. Jackie wasn't letting Hyde pretend to fall asleep before she snuck over. She was letting him pretend to mind, a little, that she was sleeping with him at all, but Hyde figured it was only a matter of time before that went down the can as well.
The routine was an official one. Really official, because Jackie had actually talked about it. Not just with Hyde, either, but with Eric and Donna, because that couple had sleepover routines too and they'd decided it wouldn't be fair to Kitty if she found out there were two pairs of besotted teenagers sharing beds in her house on the same nights.
So. Every other night, Jackie and Eric would agree to switch houses. Eric would go to Donna's house and they'd lock her bedroom door, and Jackie would come down to the basement.
This particular night was a good one, because Jackie had gotten mad at Hyde earlier and then gotten over it, and whenever Jackie was done being mad she was more affectionate than usual. She was all smiles tonight, and she was teasing and friendly and kept playing with Hyde's hair.
And she wasn't fully dressed.
This was one new aspect of the "official" sleepover that Hyde had never bothered to even pretend to have a problem with. Since it wasn't about comforting Jackie anymore - since neither of them was allowed to pretend it wasn't really happening - it had become a relationship thing. A boyfriend- girlfriend thing. A thing where people didn't have to have all of their clothing on.
As a teenaged boy, there was no way Hyde could possibly dispute this. This was something he embraced with open arms, although in the back of his mind there were undeniably reservations. He had a girl sleeping over in his bed, stealing his covers, taking up his limited shelf space with her pastel- colored stuffed animals. She wasn't wearing all her clothes, and neither was he, yet they weren't going at it like the last two rabbits on the planet. This wasn't some casual sex thing. This was a real relationship thing. This was one of the reasons for Hyde's zen: so he could *avoid* these situations.
However. That part of zen seemed pretty inconsequential when there was a partially naked Jackie to consider.
Perhaps, Hyde thought drowsily, he and Jackie didn't count as 'partially naked' while they made up a full set of clothing between the two of them.
Jackie was draped in the Led Zeppelin shirt she'd once said she'd never wear, and that was all, except for her panties. The panties were red with completely unnecessary but thoroughly enjoyable black lace, and Hyde knew this because Jackie'd flashed them at him accidentally when crawling down his cot towards the pillow. Or perhaps - more likely, and more pleasantly - that hadn't been accidental. Either way, the panties were red and lacy, Hyde was the only person in the world besides Jackie's dry-cleaners who got to see them at all and *really* the only person who got to see them *on* *Jackie*, and they were all Jackie was wearing besides Hyde's very own very favorite Led Zeppelin T-shirt.
Hyde was wearing his sweatpants, because a couple of weeks ago, he'd been holding his undershirt, about to lift his arms and pull the shirt on over his head, when Jackie had pranced out of his shower, hair damp and curling slightly, with nothing but a shirt and panties on.
Obviously it wouldn't be fair to make Jackie uncomfortable by being more dressed than she was. Or something. Either way, Hyde had quickly kicked his worn shirt into a corner before it could get any ideas and as far as he knew, it was still there.
That first night, Jackie had been wearing a long-sleeved plaid shirt she'd borrowed from Donna. It had come down to her knees. Soon enough, however, Hyde and Jackie had found that thumbing all those buttons out of their holes in the dark was a bitch of a task for two tired teenagers, so Jackie had downgraded to long-sleeved T-shirts stolen, with the help of Fez, from Kelso; and now she had started wearing Hyde's T-shirts, which had shorter sleeves, shorter hems, were slightly smaller on her petite frame and were therefore way more convenient for all concerned.
Perhaps eventually Hyde would have to find his undershirt and wash it so Jackie could wear it. Hyde's Undershirt didn't have *any* sleeves. At all.
"Steven," said Jackie.
"Mm," said Hyde.
"What are you smirking at?" She sounded suspicious, which was fine, she ought to be, but the problem was that Jackie had stopped twisting Hyde's hair in her fingers while she was talking. Which was also fine because Hyde didn't like dumb girly stuff like having his hair played with, but it was just kind of nice sometimes, that was all.
"Nothing," Hyde said, and sort of nudged Jackie's bare thigh with his shoulder so she'd know that if she wanted to start on his hair again, he wouldn't mind. He was in a prime position to do this because he had his head in Jackie's lap and his cheek against her leg.
"Nothing," Jackie repeated doubtfully, and scratched a little, gently, at Hyde's scalp with her fingernails. Good. Not that he liked it, or needed it, or something. Hyde relaxed.
They stayed that way for a little while, the only thing that changed being the way Jackie pulled at Hyde's hair, until Jackie laughed a little.
"What?" said Hyde.
"What?" said Jackie.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing," said Jackie, and turned a page in her magazine. It was the _Vogue_ that she'd sent Hyde scurrying out to get this afternoon.
"Enjoying your magazine?" Hyde asked dryly. It wasn't that he actually cared or anything. It was just that Hyde had gone all the way down to the store to get it. He'd left his mint chip ice cream behind. Jackie had finished it, but that hadn't been all bad, because he'd kissed Jackie when he'd returned with her _Vogue_, and she'd tasted cool and like mint and chocolate.
"It's all right," said Jackie, and chuckled again, a little. Hyde supposed it must be a funny article or something.
"I want ice cream," Hyde said, and went to get some.
When he came back, carton in one hand and spoon in the other, Jackie had slouched further down where she sat leaning against the wall, and Hyde's Zeppelin shirt had slid correspondingly further up her legs. Hyde tried to say something, but his voice got stuck in his throat and he ended up sort of coughing. Jackie looked up from her magazine and *smirked* at him.
"Hey." That - that right there - that was zen. Jackie was stealing his zen!
"Hey," was all Hyde actually managed to say in return.
"Steven," said Jackie, and patted the cot next to her. "Come lie back down."
Hyde really only did what he was told for select people - Kitty and Jackie, and sometimes even Donna. The way he consoled himself over this was by deciding that he'd wanted to do what they'd told him anyway.
Yeah.
He was more of a sucker for women than he'd ever care to let any of the guys know.
Hyde sat down on the cot and then leaned back, swinging his legs up and settling his head comfortably in the dip between Jackie's thigh and stomach. He rested the carton of ice cream on his chest, pried open the lid and tried to navigate a spoonful of mint chocolate chip from the carton to his mouth without dropping it.
"Steven, you'll choke," said Jackie. She sounded amused.
"No I won't," Hyde said, and didn't. He had a few more spoonfuls before something occurred to him. "Hey, want some?"
"I've brushed my teeth already," Jackie said, affronted. "No."
"You sure?" Hyde lifted the spoon above his head, aiming for Jackie's mouth, but it tilted and the ice cream plopped wetly off the spoon and onto Jackie's leg right above her knee.
"Steven!"
"I got it, I got it," Hyde said, and sucked the ice cream off her leg.
"*Ste*-ven."
"I got it," Hyde said, laughing, and licked.
"*Ste*-e-*ve*-en," said Jackie, and laughed too. "Come on."
"You're *reading*," Hyde said. "I'm bored."
"*You* got the magazine for me," Jackie said primly, turning a page.
"Oh please," Hyde said. He put the carton of ice cream down on the floor under the cot and turned over to bury his face against Jackie's stomach, laying an arm across her legs. "Jackie." He exhaled and felt her suck her stomach in. "Heh."
"Be quiet," said Jackie. "I'm reading." She rested her elbow on Hyde's shoulder and pulled absentmindedly at his hair.
For a little while Hyde was content to lie there, feeling his head lift and fall with Jackie's breathing, shaking off an odd bout of shivers down his spine when Jackie's wandering fingers tickled the nape of his neck, shifting to insinuate his other arm between Jackie's back and the pillow against the wall. But after a few moments, thinking idly about the past day, something occurred to him.
"Hey Jackie."
"Next time," Jackie said, "I want a _Cosmo_ instead of a _Vogue_. Their sex articles are funnier."
"You know that when I said Brooke was hot I didn't mean that she was, like, hotter than you or something."
Jackie paused. After a minute she sighed heavily; Hyde's head, resting against her stomach, moved when she did. "Well, of *course*, Steven," Jackie said, all bravado, but there was an odd note in her voice. "It was the principle of the thing."
"I just wanted to, you know, make sure you knew," said Hyde.
"I'm the most beautiful person you know, Steven," said Jackie. "I just don't like my boyfriend looking at other girls."
It sounded like she was pouting. Hyde tilted his head away from the softness of the Zeppelin shirt and Jackie's fit stomach to look up. Yes. Jackie was pouting, her lower lip trembling a little bit, her eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, you're hot all right," Hyde said, and meant it.
Jackie lifted her chin a little, relaxing, taking the blunt compliment as her due, and rustled the pages of her magazine. "So. . ." she said. "If there *were* a Secret Hot Girls' Club, who would be President?"
"You," Hyde said, and mostly meant that one. Kelso had been on the right track when he'd named Donna President of his imaginary club; Donna was tall, redheaded, curvy - and she'd been known to wear Catholic school-girl uniforms. She was Hot Donna. It made sense.
But Jackie - absolutely *tiny* slender Jackie, who seemed to be made of completely different stuff than Donna - Jackie with her dark hair and huge eyes and lightly toned legs - Jackie was hot in her own way. Objectively, she would be Vice-President at the very least; but in Hyde's head, she was the hottest thing in the world because. . . Well.
Because she was his. And because she was here, with him, in his dim little basement bedroom with her fingers tangled in his hair and her bare skin hot against his cheek and her stomach moving with every breath she took. So.
"Aw, Steven," said Jackie, and petted him affectionately. Hyde grinned up at her, and Jackie beamed down.
After a moment Hyde reached up, sliding a hand along the nape of Jackie's neck, and pulled her to him for a kiss. Jackie's hair, loose and wavy because there were some things Hyde really did have to take a stand on and *no curlers in his room* was one of them, tumbled down off her shoulders and around her face, brushing Hyde's cheeks and forehead. Hyde nibbled on Jackie's upper lip, and she licked at him gently.
Hyde was considering trying out that tongue-roll thing he'd heard Jackie and Donna talking about once, but Jackie pulled away a little. "Steven. This is one of the most uncomfortable positions in, like, the universe."
*Steven*. Hyde thought that probably Jackie called him 'Steven' - the way she'd always called Kelso 'Michael' - because it was a way to mark him as her own. When he was Hyde everyone knew who he was. He'd been Hyde since he was seven. But Steven. . . Hyde was only Steven when he was with Jackie. When he could let her play with his hair and demand things of him and *sleep* in his *bed* with only a shirt and panties on.
When they were alone, Jackie said his name as often as she could - with every sentence almost. Hyde had to settle for leaving hickeys in interesting places, but Jackie had his name. That was strangely. . . big. It gave Hyde an odd feeling in his chest.
"Here," said Hyde. "Let's just get in bed."
"You're so straightforward, Steven," said Jackie. " 'Let's get in bed'? Where is the finesse?"
"I don't have any," said Hyde unworriedly, and sat up. His whole side was suddenly cold where he'd been pressed against Jackie's warm skin, and really - logically - the only thing to do about *that* was to press back against her as soon as possible.
"C'mere," Hyde said, and pulled the covers away. He got in first, because that was how they always did it, and scooted back to leave room for Jackie. She moved towards him - no, Jackie didn't move; she *crawled*, more like, and the collar of the Zeppelin shirt slid down her collarbone, exposing a hint of cleavage. She smirked at him, because she knew exactly what she was doing, and squirmed under the covers, snuggling her back against Hyde's chest and getting her hair in his face.
Her hair smelled nice - it always did. Hyde breathed in and reached up to kill the lights.
"Steven," said Jackie in her complaining voice. "You need to get another pillow down here." There was only the one, and it was getting ragged and flat. "I'll bring one from Donna's tomorrow."
"We don't need another pillow," Hyde said, and shifted down a little, moving one of his legs between Jackie's. He slid her hair closer to her neck with his nose, following afterward and nuzzling a little against her shoulder. "See? We fit fine."
No, they didn't, not really. The cot was tiny and cramped, and the pillow was flat and the blankets would end kicked off the bed in the morning, or otherwise wrapped completely around Jackie and leaving Hyde in the cold, but here -in the dark, just now - Hyde was warm and. . . satisfied, and he liked having to squeeze up against Jackie so the both of them could share a pillow.
"One of these days," Jackie said half-threateningly, and trailed off. That had probably been going to end in ". . .you'll see it my way" or maybe even ". . .I'll leave you for a man with a decent set of pillows," but it didn't matter. Hyde smiled into Jackie's hair. Jackie liked it too, this inexplicable togetherness thing they had.
Hyde threw an arm around Jackie's waist like he always did, tucking his hand between her ribs and the mattress, and pulling her to him even more tightly, her back against his chest and her behind against his stomach. Jackie wriggled, just a bit, where she lay and draped her own skinny arm on top of his.
This was nice. This was much better.
"Steven," said Jackie after a few more moments in the dark.
"Mm," said Hyde.
"You know, I think you're hot too." Jackie sounded surprised, which meant that she was telling the truth.
"Huh," said Hyde, a little surprised himself. With pretty boys like Kelso around, Hyde was used to relying on key things to get girls - acting like he didn't care was fairly important, as was wearing sunglasses and pretending he was more mysterious than he really was. He'd never had problems with, like, dry spells or anything, but he'd never been the hot one.
This was interesting.
"You think I'm hot?"
"Yeah," said Jackie, sounding even more surprised with herself. "I mean, when I was trying to decide between you and Michael this summer, I told Donna I liked you because you make me think and I liked Michael because he's hot. Or something." Hyde struggled not to roll his eyes, but then remembered that in the dark, with his face pressed against Jackie's neck, he was invisible, and gave in to the urge. "But, you know, you really are hot. I didn't mean it, before, when I was talking about other guys hotter than you. Like, there *are* hotter guys, but it's like they don't matter because they're not you, so who cares?"
Hyde chuckled. "Yeah."
"But even on your own you're hot. You would be even if you weren't, you know, mine." Jackie shifted a little and turned over, pillowing her head on Hyde's free arm and brushing Hyde's forehead with her lips when she was facing him. "You have all these unexpected muscles and stuff," she said, trailing her fingers along his bare chest. "Especially your pecs, and in your arms. And you have really nice hands, and you have a handsome face, and your eyes are gorgeous when you're not wearing those dumbass sunglasses."
This merited some token protest. "Hey!" said Hyde, and decided that was sufficient.
"And you have a cute smile," Jackie added as an afterthought, studying his face seriously.
Hyde scowled at her. "I am not *cute*."
"Sure you are," said Jackie. "Puddin' Pop."
Hyde started to say something, and then decided there was really no way to argue with pet names. "So, like, do I have to talk about how cute you are now?"
Jackie considered this, and shrugged. "Nah. I hear it every day from everyone else. It'd be boring to hear it from you."
"All right," said Hyde, relieved.
". . .So?" said Jackie.
"What?" said Hyde.
"*Ste*-ven! You're not going to talk about how cute I am anyway, just to be sensitive?"
"No," said Hyde. "And you know why? 'Cause I'm *not* sensitive."
Jackie did that thing where she smiled like she knew something Hyde didn't. "Of course you're not," she said.
Hyde frowned a little and shrugged. "Yeah."
"Yeah," said Jackie, still with the smile, and kissed him, closing her eyes.
Hyde moved the arm that Jackie was lying on so he could prop himself up on his elbow and lean over her, cupping her cheek in his free hand and prolonging the kiss.
"You know, you *are* a good kisser," said Jackie, several very long minutes later. She was satisfyingly out of breath.
"I know," said Hyde, and allowed himself a smug smile.
"One of these days, Steven," said Jackie, "you should find that old undershirt for me - it gets stuffy down here when the heater's on." She snuggled down into the uncomfortable cot and flat pillow and Hyde's arm and sighed. "See you in the morning, Puddin' Pop."
"Yeah," said Hyde, and whispered his name for her, so quietly he couldn't hear it himself.
"You're such a sweetie, Steven," said Jackie, sounding both affectionate and smug, and tucked her hands against Hyde's chest.
Hyde raised an eyebrow, but decided to leave it be and let Jackie get to sleeping. He closed his own eyes for a minute, just because he was tired because it was almost two in the morning, and relaxed further where he lay.
Wait. Something was missing, and it was getting dumb to pretend he didn't want it. He nudged Jackie's chin with his forehead. "Hey."
"Oh," said Jackie, and lifted an arm to wrap it around his shoulder and tangle her fingers in his hair. "Good night."
Hyde matched the rise-and-fall of his chest with hers until it became deliberate, and on the cramped cot in the stuffy basement in Jackie's arms, slowly slid into sleep.
Author: Kendra A (kendraangelusslayer @ yahoo.com )
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "Jackie wasn't letting Hyde pretend to fall asleep before she snuck over." Post-"The Acid Queen" fluff.
Dedication: To Len, of course, dearest site-partner! Thank you so much for the meticulous beta. And in your honor, this is also unofficially titled both "The Zen of Realignment" and "Frankfurt."
Feedback: This is my first T7S fic, so I'll ask that you be as honest as you can be without flaming. And also. . . Feedback for me is like candy for Fez. I will love you *forever* if you give me some.
*
Hyde had never been much good at relationships.
He could deal with friendships all right; it was the 'real' relationships that gave him trouble. The ones with girls, where they expected to be kissed all the time and fawned over and told repeatedly that they were special. Girls wanted to be told secrets. They wanted to be flattered, they wanted him to take them for rides in his car. They wanted to wear his coat or his leather watch or his shades as though they were brands. They wanted to sleep over and wear his shirts as pajamas. They wanted, they needed. They wouldn't leave him alone.
Hyde was really into doing as little as possible to get by. Call it low- maintenance; Hyde liked calling it zen, which took less time to say. Whatever it was, girls didn't much like it. They took it personally and generally left angry. They wanted 'more', and more wasn't something Hyde really felt like giving.
Hyde was comfortable with the friends he had, the losers in the basement, the people he generally "got," and who "got" him as much as anyone could. Hyde guessed it was probably just the unbelievable amount of time he spent with Eric and Donna and Jackie and Kelso and Fez that had got him to really care about them at all. To his own surprise, Hyde had found himself preparing for loneliness, just a little bit of it, in the weeks when Eric and Donna were getting ready to go to college. And he'd even felt bad, just a little, for being happy for what were probably kind of selfish reasons. Eric and Donna weren't leaving him here.
They were friends. Hyde cared whether they stayed or went. It would be the same if Kelso went somewhere, or Fez; and oddly enough, it would be much, much worse if it were Jackie who left. Without Hyde noticing, somewhere along the line Jackie had become someone he could stand, and then someone he sort of liked, and then someone he'd miss if she were gone, and then. . . Well.
Now Hyde loved her. And Jackie *knew* Hyde loved her, and for some reason Hyde didn't mind. He even knew Jackie loved him back, so put together the two of them had this whole mutual love-thing going on, which was exactly what Hyde normally put the greatest amount of not-zen into staying away from but just this once he sort of liked where he was.
Because they both knew Hyde was pretty much cool with the way things were, it had become even easier for Jackie to have him doing things he'd never thought he'd do. She had him caring about her and giving her presents and going with her to the mall and listening to her talk about getting her hair done. She called him ridiculous pet names and even when the rest of the gang found out, she wouldn't let it go. Worse, Jackie had Hyde coming up with pet names for *her*.
That wasn't to say Hyde didn't have his limits - the way he saw it, every man had to draw the line somewhere. This really just meant that Jackie had made it her goal to become damn good at dodging Hyde's automatic replies of "No way!" and "Not in this lifetime!" . . .That, or they were both finally learning the basic principles of 'Give and Take': Jackie seemed to know when she was pushing him a little *too* far. Sometimes she'd be a good sport and let Hyde pretend she was making him do stuff, pretend he didn't want to or pretend he just didn't care.
Like that whole sleeping-over thing.
The year before, when Jackie had been crashing with Hyde in the basement because she was all alone in her big house and they'd been found out, Hyde had actually been disappointed or something when Red and Kitty hadn't let it continue. Hyde had wanted Jackie to stay. They'd established a sort of routine, see. Hyde would get into his sweats and find his rarely-used undershirt. He'd put his shades on the shelf next to his cot, brush his teeth and splash water on his face. Then he'd get under the covers and turn out the light and pretend to fall asleep, and soon enough Jackie would sneak down to the basement. She'd change into her own pajamas out by the couch and hide her bag under the beat-up coffee table, and then she'd tiptoe into Hyde's makeshift bedroom and slip into bed with him.
It was just lucky that there had been space, that was all. Hyde didn't sleep in the middle of the cot anyway even when Jackie wasn't there, and sometimes it got hot down in the basement so he'd kick off the blankets or leave them loose. That way it just sort of happened that there was a Jackie- shaped space on one side of the bed, and it was more of an accident than anything else that there were blankets left over for her too. And when Hyde was pretending to go to sleep, he really *would* get tired, so if he threw an arm over Jackie's waist and pulled her close enough into him that he could curve his hand under the other side of her body, then, well, he wasn't really awake, that was all.
Hyde didn't like caring about people, especially not girls and especially not like this, so that was the sort of thing he'd tell himself, and he'd rehearsed it in his head just in case Jackie ever tried to get him to say he loved her or something. But Jackie had never needed his excuses, because she was smarter than she acted lots of the time and she saw right through him, and eventually Hyde had told Jackie that he loved her, anyway, so his dumbass backup excuses never mattered.
Now, though. Now that they were back together, and now that Jackie had heard Hyde say (just once) that he loved her and knew for a fact that Hyde was sorry and wanted to be with her, some of this pretending stuff wasn't working anymore. Jackie wasn't letting Hyde pretend to fall asleep before she snuck over. She was letting him pretend to mind, a little, that she was sleeping with him at all, but Hyde figured it was only a matter of time before that went down the can as well.
The routine was an official one. Really official, because Jackie had actually talked about it. Not just with Hyde, either, but with Eric and Donna, because that couple had sleepover routines too and they'd decided it wouldn't be fair to Kitty if she found out there were two pairs of besotted teenagers sharing beds in her house on the same nights.
So. Every other night, Jackie and Eric would agree to switch houses. Eric would go to Donna's house and they'd lock her bedroom door, and Jackie would come down to the basement.
This particular night was a good one, because Jackie had gotten mad at Hyde earlier and then gotten over it, and whenever Jackie was done being mad she was more affectionate than usual. She was all smiles tonight, and she was teasing and friendly and kept playing with Hyde's hair.
And she wasn't fully dressed.
This was one new aspect of the "official" sleepover that Hyde had never bothered to even pretend to have a problem with. Since it wasn't about comforting Jackie anymore - since neither of them was allowed to pretend it wasn't really happening - it had become a relationship thing. A boyfriend- girlfriend thing. A thing where people didn't have to have all of their clothing on.
As a teenaged boy, there was no way Hyde could possibly dispute this. This was something he embraced with open arms, although in the back of his mind there were undeniably reservations. He had a girl sleeping over in his bed, stealing his covers, taking up his limited shelf space with her pastel- colored stuffed animals. She wasn't wearing all her clothes, and neither was he, yet they weren't going at it like the last two rabbits on the planet. This wasn't some casual sex thing. This was a real relationship thing. This was one of the reasons for Hyde's zen: so he could *avoid* these situations.
However. That part of zen seemed pretty inconsequential when there was a partially naked Jackie to consider.
Perhaps, Hyde thought drowsily, he and Jackie didn't count as 'partially naked' while they made up a full set of clothing between the two of them.
Jackie was draped in the Led Zeppelin shirt she'd once said she'd never wear, and that was all, except for her panties. The panties were red with completely unnecessary but thoroughly enjoyable black lace, and Hyde knew this because Jackie'd flashed them at him accidentally when crawling down his cot towards the pillow. Or perhaps - more likely, and more pleasantly - that hadn't been accidental. Either way, the panties were red and lacy, Hyde was the only person in the world besides Jackie's dry-cleaners who got to see them at all and *really* the only person who got to see them *on* *Jackie*, and they were all Jackie was wearing besides Hyde's very own very favorite Led Zeppelin T-shirt.
Hyde was wearing his sweatpants, because a couple of weeks ago, he'd been holding his undershirt, about to lift his arms and pull the shirt on over his head, when Jackie had pranced out of his shower, hair damp and curling slightly, with nothing but a shirt and panties on.
Obviously it wouldn't be fair to make Jackie uncomfortable by being more dressed than she was. Or something. Either way, Hyde had quickly kicked his worn shirt into a corner before it could get any ideas and as far as he knew, it was still there.
That first night, Jackie had been wearing a long-sleeved plaid shirt she'd borrowed from Donna. It had come down to her knees. Soon enough, however, Hyde and Jackie had found that thumbing all those buttons out of their holes in the dark was a bitch of a task for two tired teenagers, so Jackie had downgraded to long-sleeved T-shirts stolen, with the help of Fez, from Kelso; and now she had started wearing Hyde's T-shirts, which had shorter sleeves, shorter hems, were slightly smaller on her petite frame and were therefore way more convenient for all concerned.
Perhaps eventually Hyde would have to find his undershirt and wash it so Jackie could wear it. Hyde's Undershirt didn't have *any* sleeves. At all.
"Steven," said Jackie.
"Mm," said Hyde.
"What are you smirking at?" She sounded suspicious, which was fine, she ought to be, but the problem was that Jackie had stopped twisting Hyde's hair in her fingers while she was talking. Which was also fine because Hyde didn't like dumb girly stuff like having his hair played with, but it was just kind of nice sometimes, that was all.
"Nothing," Hyde said, and sort of nudged Jackie's bare thigh with his shoulder so she'd know that if she wanted to start on his hair again, he wouldn't mind. He was in a prime position to do this because he had his head in Jackie's lap and his cheek against her leg.
"Nothing," Jackie repeated doubtfully, and scratched a little, gently, at Hyde's scalp with her fingernails. Good. Not that he liked it, or needed it, or something. Hyde relaxed.
They stayed that way for a little while, the only thing that changed being the way Jackie pulled at Hyde's hair, until Jackie laughed a little.
"What?" said Hyde.
"What?" said Jackie.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing," said Jackie, and turned a page in her magazine. It was the _Vogue_ that she'd sent Hyde scurrying out to get this afternoon.
"Enjoying your magazine?" Hyde asked dryly. It wasn't that he actually cared or anything. It was just that Hyde had gone all the way down to the store to get it. He'd left his mint chip ice cream behind. Jackie had finished it, but that hadn't been all bad, because he'd kissed Jackie when he'd returned with her _Vogue_, and she'd tasted cool and like mint and chocolate.
"It's all right," said Jackie, and chuckled again, a little. Hyde supposed it must be a funny article or something.
"I want ice cream," Hyde said, and went to get some.
When he came back, carton in one hand and spoon in the other, Jackie had slouched further down where she sat leaning against the wall, and Hyde's Zeppelin shirt had slid correspondingly further up her legs. Hyde tried to say something, but his voice got stuck in his throat and he ended up sort of coughing. Jackie looked up from her magazine and *smirked* at him.
"Hey." That - that right there - that was zen. Jackie was stealing his zen!
"Hey," was all Hyde actually managed to say in return.
"Steven," said Jackie, and patted the cot next to her. "Come lie back down."
Hyde really only did what he was told for select people - Kitty and Jackie, and sometimes even Donna. The way he consoled himself over this was by deciding that he'd wanted to do what they'd told him anyway.
Yeah.
He was more of a sucker for women than he'd ever care to let any of the guys know.
Hyde sat down on the cot and then leaned back, swinging his legs up and settling his head comfortably in the dip between Jackie's thigh and stomach. He rested the carton of ice cream on his chest, pried open the lid and tried to navigate a spoonful of mint chocolate chip from the carton to his mouth without dropping it.
"Steven, you'll choke," said Jackie. She sounded amused.
"No I won't," Hyde said, and didn't. He had a few more spoonfuls before something occurred to him. "Hey, want some?"
"I've brushed my teeth already," Jackie said, affronted. "No."
"You sure?" Hyde lifted the spoon above his head, aiming for Jackie's mouth, but it tilted and the ice cream plopped wetly off the spoon and onto Jackie's leg right above her knee.
"Steven!"
"I got it, I got it," Hyde said, and sucked the ice cream off her leg.
"*Ste*-ven."
"I got it," Hyde said, laughing, and licked.
"*Ste*-e-*ve*-en," said Jackie, and laughed too. "Come on."
"You're *reading*," Hyde said. "I'm bored."
"*You* got the magazine for me," Jackie said primly, turning a page.
"Oh please," Hyde said. He put the carton of ice cream down on the floor under the cot and turned over to bury his face against Jackie's stomach, laying an arm across her legs. "Jackie." He exhaled and felt her suck her stomach in. "Heh."
"Be quiet," said Jackie. "I'm reading." She rested her elbow on Hyde's shoulder and pulled absentmindedly at his hair.
For a little while Hyde was content to lie there, feeling his head lift and fall with Jackie's breathing, shaking off an odd bout of shivers down his spine when Jackie's wandering fingers tickled the nape of his neck, shifting to insinuate his other arm between Jackie's back and the pillow against the wall. But after a few moments, thinking idly about the past day, something occurred to him.
"Hey Jackie."
"Next time," Jackie said, "I want a _Cosmo_ instead of a _Vogue_. Their sex articles are funnier."
"You know that when I said Brooke was hot I didn't mean that she was, like, hotter than you or something."
Jackie paused. After a minute she sighed heavily; Hyde's head, resting against her stomach, moved when she did. "Well, of *course*, Steven," Jackie said, all bravado, but there was an odd note in her voice. "It was the principle of the thing."
"I just wanted to, you know, make sure you knew," said Hyde.
"I'm the most beautiful person you know, Steven," said Jackie. "I just don't like my boyfriend looking at other girls."
It sounded like she was pouting. Hyde tilted his head away from the softness of the Zeppelin shirt and Jackie's fit stomach to look up. Yes. Jackie was pouting, her lower lip trembling a little bit, her eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, you're hot all right," Hyde said, and meant it.
Jackie lifted her chin a little, relaxing, taking the blunt compliment as her due, and rustled the pages of her magazine. "So. . ." she said. "If there *were* a Secret Hot Girls' Club, who would be President?"
"You," Hyde said, and mostly meant that one. Kelso had been on the right track when he'd named Donna President of his imaginary club; Donna was tall, redheaded, curvy - and she'd been known to wear Catholic school-girl uniforms. She was Hot Donna. It made sense.
But Jackie - absolutely *tiny* slender Jackie, who seemed to be made of completely different stuff than Donna - Jackie with her dark hair and huge eyes and lightly toned legs - Jackie was hot in her own way. Objectively, she would be Vice-President at the very least; but in Hyde's head, she was the hottest thing in the world because. . . Well.
Because she was his. And because she was here, with him, in his dim little basement bedroom with her fingers tangled in his hair and her bare skin hot against his cheek and her stomach moving with every breath she took. So.
"Aw, Steven," said Jackie, and petted him affectionately. Hyde grinned up at her, and Jackie beamed down.
After a moment Hyde reached up, sliding a hand along the nape of Jackie's neck, and pulled her to him for a kiss. Jackie's hair, loose and wavy because there were some things Hyde really did have to take a stand on and *no curlers in his room* was one of them, tumbled down off her shoulders and around her face, brushing Hyde's cheeks and forehead. Hyde nibbled on Jackie's upper lip, and she licked at him gently.
Hyde was considering trying out that tongue-roll thing he'd heard Jackie and Donna talking about once, but Jackie pulled away a little. "Steven. This is one of the most uncomfortable positions in, like, the universe."
*Steven*. Hyde thought that probably Jackie called him 'Steven' - the way she'd always called Kelso 'Michael' - because it was a way to mark him as her own. When he was Hyde everyone knew who he was. He'd been Hyde since he was seven. But Steven. . . Hyde was only Steven when he was with Jackie. When he could let her play with his hair and demand things of him and *sleep* in his *bed* with only a shirt and panties on.
When they were alone, Jackie said his name as often as she could - with every sentence almost. Hyde had to settle for leaving hickeys in interesting places, but Jackie had his name. That was strangely. . . big. It gave Hyde an odd feeling in his chest.
"Here," said Hyde. "Let's just get in bed."
"You're so straightforward, Steven," said Jackie. " 'Let's get in bed'? Where is the finesse?"
"I don't have any," said Hyde unworriedly, and sat up. His whole side was suddenly cold where he'd been pressed against Jackie's warm skin, and really - logically - the only thing to do about *that* was to press back against her as soon as possible.
"C'mere," Hyde said, and pulled the covers away. He got in first, because that was how they always did it, and scooted back to leave room for Jackie. She moved towards him - no, Jackie didn't move; she *crawled*, more like, and the collar of the Zeppelin shirt slid down her collarbone, exposing a hint of cleavage. She smirked at him, because she knew exactly what she was doing, and squirmed under the covers, snuggling her back against Hyde's chest and getting her hair in his face.
Her hair smelled nice - it always did. Hyde breathed in and reached up to kill the lights.
"Steven," said Jackie in her complaining voice. "You need to get another pillow down here." There was only the one, and it was getting ragged and flat. "I'll bring one from Donna's tomorrow."
"We don't need another pillow," Hyde said, and shifted down a little, moving one of his legs between Jackie's. He slid her hair closer to her neck with his nose, following afterward and nuzzling a little against her shoulder. "See? We fit fine."
No, they didn't, not really. The cot was tiny and cramped, and the pillow was flat and the blankets would end kicked off the bed in the morning, or otherwise wrapped completely around Jackie and leaving Hyde in the cold, but here -in the dark, just now - Hyde was warm and. . . satisfied, and he liked having to squeeze up against Jackie so the both of them could share a pillow.
"One of these days," Jackie said half-threateningly, and trailed off. That had probably been going to end in ". . .you'll see it my way" or maybe even ". . .I'll leave you for a man with a decent set of pillows," but it didn't matter. Hyde smiled into Jackie's hair. Jackie liked it too, this inexplicable togetherness thing they had.
Hyde threw an arm around Jackie's waist like he always did, tucking his hand between her ribs and the mattress, and pulling her to him even more tightly, her back against his chest and her behind against his stomach. Jackie wriggled, just a bit, where she lay and draped her own skinny arm on top of his.
This was nice. This was much better.
"Steven," said Jackie after a few more moments in the dark.
"Mm," said Hyde.
"You know, I think you're hot too." Jackie sounded surprised, which meant that she was telling the truth.
"Huh," said Hyde, a little surprised himself. With pretty boys like Kelso around, Hyde was used to relying on key things to get girls - acting like he didn't care was fairly important, as was wearing sunglasses and pretending he was more mysterious than he really was. He'd never had problems with, like, dry spells or anything, but he'd never been the hot one.
This was interesting.
"You think I'm hot?"
"Yeah," said Jackie, sounding even more surprised with herself. "I mean, when I was trying to decide between you and Michael this summer, I told Donna I liked you because you make me think and I liked Michael because he's hot. Or something." Hyde struggled not to roll his eyes, but then remembered that in the dark, with his face pressed against Jackie's neck, he was invisible, and gave in to the urge. "But, you know, you really are hot. I didn't mean it, before, when I was talking about other guys hotter than you. Like, there *are* hotter guys, but it's like they don't matter because they're not you, so who cares?"
Hyde chuckled. "Yeah."
"But even on your own you're hot. You would be even if you weren't, you know, mine." Jackie shifted a little and turned over, pillowing her head on Hyde's free arm and brushing Hyde's forehead with her lips when she was facing him. "You have all these unexpected muscles and stuff," she said, trailing her fingers along his bare chest. "Especially your pecs, and in your arms. And you have really nice hands, and you have a handsome face, and your eyes are gorgeous when you're not wearing those dumbass sunglasses."
This merited some token protest. "Hey!" said Hyde, and decided that was sufficient.
"And you have a cute smile," Jackie added as an afterthought, studying his face seriously.
Hyde scowled at her. "I am not *cute*."
"Sure you are," said Jackie. "Puddin' Pop."
Hyde started to say something, and then decided there was really no way to argue with pet names. "So, like, do I have to talk about how cute you are now?"
Jackie considered this, and shrugged. "Nah. I hear it every day from everyone else. It'd be boring to hear it from you."
"All right," said Hyde, relieved.
". . .So?" said Jackie.
"What?" said Hyde.
"*Ste*-ven! You're not going to talk about how cute I am anyway, just to be sensitive?"
"No," said Hyde. "And you know why? 'Cause I'm *not* sensitive."
Jackie did that thing where she smiled like she knew something Hyde didn't. "Of course you're not," she said.
Hyde frowned a little and shrugged. "Yeah."
"Yeah," said Jackie, still with the smile, and kissed him, closing her eyes.
Hyde moved the arm that Jackie was lying on so he could prop himself up on his elbow and lean over her, cupping her cheek in his free hand and prolonging the kiss.
"You know, you *are* a good kisser," said Jackie, several very long minutes later. She was satisfyingly out of breath.
"I know," said Hyde, and allowed himself a smug smile.
"One of these days, Steven," said Jackie, "you should find that old undershirt for me - it gets stuffy down here when the heater's on." She snuggled down into the uncomfortable cot and flat pillow and Hyde's arm and sighed. "See you in the morning, Puddin' Pop."
"Yeah," said Hyde, and whispered his name for her, so quietly he couldn't hear it himself.
"You're such a sweetie, Steven," said Jackie, sounding both affectionate and smug, and tucked her hands against Hyde's chest.
Hyde raised an eyebrow, but decided to leave it be and let Jackie get to sleeping. He closed his own eyes for a minute, just because he was tired because it was almost two in the morning, and relaxed further where he lay.
Wait. Something was missing, and it was getting dumb to pretend he didn't want it. He nudged Jackie's chin with his forehead. "Hey."
"Oh," said Jackie, and lifted an arm to wrap it around his shoulder and tangle her fingers in his hair. "Good night."
Hyde matched the rise-and-fall of his chest with hers until it became deliberate, and on the cramped cot in the stuffy basement in Jackie's arms, slowly slid into sleep.