"Back from the store, Mrs. Forman," I smiled as Laurie and I sat our bags down on the table.

Laurie grinned devilishly and walked over to the punch bowl.

"No, that's for Eric's party," She insisted, shoving tonic in Laurie's hands. "Here why don't you take this out to the bar?" She turned to me. "Can you go with her and make sure that there's enough rum and vodka for tonight?"

I nodded and followed Laurie into the living room.

"You know the plan, right?" She asked as she put the tonic into the bar.

I grinned, "Do I know the plan? Of course I do."

I grabbed a nice fat bottle of rum and snuck into the now empty kitchen with Laurie.

"Merry Christmas," She cackled as I poured it into the punch bowl.

Oh, I was so excited to try it later. And to see the chaos that would ensue.

I got rid of the bottle as Mrs. Forman was walking back in. "Laurie, could you and Claire bring down the juice and cookies?"

"Of course, mom," Laurie smiled widely. I grabbed the cookie tray and ran down, Laurie following behind.

"Oh, no," Eric sighed. "I told her not to."

"Oh, come on, the least you could do is drink it!" Laurie insisted as we set our items down on the coffee table.

As soon as Kelso heard that it was just us, he emerged – running, might I add – from the back room. Nearly tripping over the sofa, he stared at both of us.

"Um, hello Laurie, Claire," He looked like a deer in headlights.

"Kelso," We both said at the same time.

"So, um, cool," He said.

Thankfully, he was interrupted by Fez who barged in, eyeing the cookies and juice.

"Ooh, punch," He smiled.

"Yeah, can I pour you some?" Laurie asked. She was going a little heavy; if they weren't idiots, I would assume they'd become suspicious. Only Donna raised an eyebrow from the corner, but refrained from saying anything

"No," Fez began. "But if you'd like you can bend over and put my gifts under the tree."

She shook her head and I laughed. Kelso looked confused, his eyes darting from Fez to Laurie. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hyde come out of the same back room that Kelso emerged from moments before.

"Gifts!" Kelso exclaimed. "I thought we said no gifts."

All I heard in that statement was that he was going to have a pissed off girlfriend who probably had something for him.

"No, you said no gifts," Eric grinned, wagging his finger in Kelso's direction.

"Yeah, what's Christmas without gifts?" Donna added.

"Yeah, man, where's your heart?" Hyde asked from atop the washer.

Kelso mumbled something about getting a gift for Jackie before leaving.

"You two were giving each other weird eyes, Laurie," I said quietly, hoping nobody would hear.

"Yeah, that's 'cause she's a slut," Hyde said.

"Hippie," Laurie sneered.

"Whore," Hyde said coolly.

"I'm going upstairs," Laurie announced. "Coming, Claire?"

"I'll be up in a few," I said, sitting on the couch.

Once Laurie left, Hyde hopped off the washer and sat in his chair next to the couch.

"So, are you going to be at the party upstairs, or the one down here?" He asked.

I shrugged, "I'll probably be upstairs for a bit – y'know, till Mrs. Forman gets tipsy, and then hightail it down here and get drunk off the punch." It took me a minute to realize what I said. "Oh shit, disregard that."

"What did you two spike the punch?" He snickered.

"Who is spiking?" Fez asked from across the room.

"Nothing, Fez," We both said too quickly.

I looked around; Eric and Donna were in the corner, ignoring us and Fez just looked confused before walking out the door.

"I wouldn't think of you as the rebellious type," He said.

I laughed.

"So, little rebel, I'm going to go have a cigarette if you want to join me," He stood up, walking out.

I weighed my options. I'd chickened out after the first one I had, so I still had most of a pack left. I could totally do it, couldn't I? I mean what was the worst that could happen? I scurried outside into the cold and joined him, pulling the pack out of my sweater's pocket and sticking one between my lips. I grabbed for my lighter before realizing I'd left it in Laurie's room – this time I was bunking with her, which was better for me and Eric's sake.

"Shit," I sighed.

"Don't worry, rebel," He chuckled as he held the lighter to light my cig.

"Cool, thanks," I said, trying to hold back a cough; the smoke was intense. "So, did you end up getting Donna something nice?"

"Actually, I talked to Fez and I realized I shouldn't go overboard since Eric really likes her, so I ended up getting her something sentimental," He shrugged. "Used the cash for someone else."

"Aww, I think she'll love something sentimental, Hyde," I said.

"Yeah, well, when I went home earlier, I found this picture of us from when we were kids and I bought a cheap frame to put it in," He said.

We smoked for a minute in quiet. When I heard steps approaching, I quickly put out my cigarette, and, before running back inside, said, "See you tonight."

.

I left Mrs. Forman's party to find three blondes huddled up on the couch, drinking punch and caressing Fez. It made me want to gag and laugh all at the same time. I went to sit on the dryer, nearby Hyde, Donna, and Eric. Jackie scurried over to Fez, entranced by the liquor as well.

"I'm so happy you spiked the punch," Hyde turned to me, smiling. "This is better than TV."

"Is that why they're acting so stupid?" Donna looked at me, surprised.

I shrugged.

Kelso barged into the basement, gift in hand, eyes searching for Jackie.

"Jackie, this is for you!"

She got way too excited over hot rollers. I didn't understand girls and curling their hair. I just let mine lay wavy. It seemed pointless to put that much time and pain into your hair.

.

I was forced to be witness to Eric trying to one up Hyde's gift by giving Donna her favorite perfume and it was cringey enough to make me want to leave the party, but before I could go upstairs, Hyde stopped me.

"Hey, um, I got you something," He said.

"What?" I was confused.

"In the back room, come on."

I followed him into a room that held a bookcase and a few boxes. It looked recently cleaned out; probably where the Forman's stored their Christmas décor. He presented me with a decent sized wrapped gift. As I opened it, he said:

"It's kind of stupid, but Fez told me that you really like candy and I found this big bag at the store and –"

"Steven, this is great," I smiled. "Thank you."

I gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. Before I could move my face away, he captured my lips in his. Shocked by this, I didn't move.

Once it was over, he said, "Um, sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"No, I mean, it's alright, but just, um," I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what I felt. I didn't really feel anything but at the same time, I wondered if I did. But, I didn't know him for long. It was all so odd it made me dizzy.

"Alright, party's over!" Mr. Forman yelled from afar.

I almost left the storage room, when Hyde grabbed my arm, "Don't. Let Eric take the fall, let the party clear out, then we can go help clean up."

I nodded.

After there was only silence, we walked into the basement to see Eric alone on the couch, holding an ID bracelet between his hands.

"Donna got you tube socks," He stated, upset.

"Look, Forman, we're here to help you clean, do you want the help or not?" Hyde asked.

"After you apologize for getting Donna a better gift than I got her," He grumbled, standing up.

"Look, man, all I did was give her a damn photo," He said, getting annoyed.

"It's not a big deal, Eric," I insisted. "Dude, Donna really likes you. I can tell; it's a girl thing."

"Uh huh, whatever, clean the basement yourself," He said, walking outside.

"What the hell this isn't even my house!" Hyde yelled out, although Eric couldn't hear him through the door.

I grabbed the wrapping paper off the ground, "Might as well not make Eric get in any worse trouble."

"True," He sighed, helping me clean up the trash.

"Dammit!"

"What?" Hyde looked alarmed.

"I forgot to try the punch." We both laughed.