Back to the 70s

Pairings: Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde (main), Donna Pinciotti/Erik Forman, Fez/Nina Bartell, Michael Kelso/Brooke Rockwell

Rating: M / X / NC-17 for future chapters for swearing, violence, blood and sexual content.

Disclaimer: I don't own 'That '70s Show' or any of its characters. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED!

A/N: Here's chapter ten. No episode rewrite this time. This chapter is going to be the official end of 1977 for this story. I know there wasn't a marker like this in the show but since the timeline there is impossible to adapt to in reality, I made my own timeline for this story. You can see that timeline in Chapter 7 if you want to know how I cut the Seasons to get some kind of timeline going here.

I had half of this chapter finished a week after the last one, but then my desk and my shelves in the living room cracked within a week and I had to buy new furniture. Of course they didn't have my old model anymore so I had to replace EVERY single furniture in the living room except for the couch, so the new stuff would fit in the room. Searching for everything and buying all of it, get it here and putting it together took FOREVER X_X. But now everything is finished and I had time to write again. I apologize for the long wait … again. _._

Notes and comment responses are at the end of the chapter.

Please leave a comment; even if it is criticism, I'm striving to get better after all. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: New Years Resolution

Point Place, Wisconsin

December 31, 1977

Location:

Burkhart mansion

Jackie sat in her room, stewing in her own anger. She couldn't believe her parents. Well actually that wasn't true. This was exactly the kind of behavior she was expecting from people like them, but she couldn't believe she didn't found a way out of it this time. Why did they have to turn into hard-asses now?!

What did they do now? Well, you would have thought that stealing her trust fund and other people's money to bribe higher ups, while leaving her alone at home to find their carnal pleasures elsewhere would be enough of them, but No. It wasn't. They couldn't even leave her alone in peace while they were systematically destroying all of their lives.

This New Years Eve was one of the rare occasions her parents were actually home, instead of partying elsewhere like they did on Christmas… or any other day for that matter. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, let them have fun with their stuck up friends. She planned to spend the evening with her friends after all.

The Pinciotti's and the Forman's were throwing a party together, so naturally Donna and Eric would be there. Fez's host parents had allowed him to stay with Eric and Michael had no problem to convince his parents to let him go there too. With six other children in the house, the Kelso's were glad to get rid off at least one. Bud was working at the bar and later the whole bar staff was celebrating together, for that the Hangout would close early. So Michael was spending the evening with his friends as well.

She had planned to work and celebrate with her colleagues at the Hangout until 11 p.m. and then she would visit her friends and her boyfriend to spend New Years with them. When she told her parents about that, all hell broke loose. Apparently this wasn't only a party with their rich friends, it was also a party with business people they wanted to impress, and for that they had to portray the perfect family, which included their pretty daughter of course.

Translation: She had to wear something pretty, smile and make polite conversation, behave herself and stay there for the whole party to entertain their guest with cute and naïve stories of her life. As if there were any. She was there to look like a pretty doll and to tell people how awesome her parents were. In conclusion she was there to lie.

When she tried to make it clear that she wasn't up to that, her father actually called her into his study to give her a serious talk! Like she was the one at fault, for not wanting to be part of this freak show. Unbelievable, but he made it pretty clear that if she didn't come to the party there would be severe consequences. She didn't care about money, she mad her own, even though her parents had yet to notice that she had a job, or that the allowance they gave her just bounced back to their own bank account since she closed her old one.

He didn't threaten her with money though, instead he told her that she would be grounded for the next 3 months and that even after that, she wouldn't be allowed to see her current group of friends anymore. Especially her new boyfriend. If she was throwing away their family values, they were obviously a bad influence.

Family values! What a joke. This was all for show, she would have to play along and fake a perfect family life in front of everyone. He wrote her displeased behavior with them off as some teenage rebellion, like she was influenced by her friends to behave badly, and she couldn't tell the truth without revealing that she knew everything about his dirty deeds.

She would have liked to blow him off, take a stand like Steven did with Bud. It wouldn't have worked though. She was sixteen and a girl, people always viewed that differently than boys and while she doubted that her parents would suddenly stay at home more to control her, they would just hire someone who watched her for them. Two full-time nannies for day and night probably. She couldn't risk that. She wouldn't be separated from Steven and the others because of this, she also had a job her parents still didn't know about.

So she backed down, acted like a spoiled princess again and said that it wasn't her friends fault. She lied her ass off saying that Steven actually told her to spend more time with her family. She was only pouting because there hadn't been a big fancy Christmas with a lot of presents. That mollified her parents instantly, it was something they could work with. They absolutely believed that this was reason enough for her to act out. It made her sad when she remembered that at one point in her life, she was starved enough for love, that this was actually the case.

She had to play along the whole day and since her parents only told her today about their party plans, she didn't have any time to prepare for this. She had to call the bar and get the day off on short notice. That was a fun conversation. Her boss had been so pissed, since they made a lot of money on a day like this and had a lot of costumers. It was too much for only one waitress to handle. His wife would have to jump in for her. She apologized profusely, but he only said that this was what he got from hiring a teenager: bar fights and no shows.

The call ended very soon, much too soon considering that it ended with him firing her. She tried to convince him otherwise, that she would work more hours for the same pay as before to make up for it, but he just hang up on her. There went her job.

Another thing she lost because of her parents!

Now she sat on her bed and stared at the clock. Her hair was already styled in girlish ringlets and she had cute make up on. The pretty girl her father wanted her to play. She wore a dress her mother had picked out for her, like she couldn't be trusted to dress herself! It was a red chiffon and satin dress with a flowing, ankle-long skirt. It had a sheer high collar with white embroidery around her throat. The white, embroidered fabric also went down from her shoulders to her hips, where it concluded in a circle around her waist. It reminded her a little of her prom dress, only less princess-like and more like a summer dress. Which was a ridiculous choice for a party in December, but at this point she simply didn't care anymore.

She had bigger problems now. With all the time she wasted on her parents, preparing herself for the party and calling her boss— sorry, ex-boss— she still hadn't called Steven. By now he must have left the Fotohut and was most likely already at Eric's. She reached for the phone a dozen times already, however she didn't know how to explain all this. How could she tell him that she had to blow them all off for a fancy party at her parents? That she lost her job because of this? They probably had to be more careful now too, in case her parents would start watching her, which meant less sleepovers. It wouldn't last forever, they would go back to their old ways soon enough still … it was New Years … she wanted to spend it with Steven.

Taking a deep breath she resolutely grabbed the phone and dialed the Forman's number. It didn't matter what she said, it would suck anyway and she needed to tell him, tell all of them that she wasn't coming. Despite her effort to keep calm, she was nervously picking at her sheets while she waited for someone to pick up the phone. Thankfully it was Mr. Forman who answered the phone, she didn't think she could handle Mrs. Forman's cheery attitude right now.

"Mr. Forman? This is Jackie. Could you get Steven on the phone, please?" she asked, trying to sound normal.

"Jackie? What – oh just wait a second. STEVEN!" he shouted and she had to hold the phone away from her ear.

"TELEPHONE FOR YOU! AND ERIC! TELL YOUR FRIENDS I'M NOT YOUR MESSENGER!"

There was some noise in the background and she finally heard a: "Yeah?"

"Hi Steven, it's me."

"Jackie? Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" she could practically hear all the questions piling up in Steven's head.

"Yes, well … The good news is, I'll have a lot more free time from now on." And she would, with no job and no cheerleading, she practically had nothing to do after school except for her homework.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I got fired today." She said quietly.

"What? Why?"

"Because I had to take the day off last minute."

"Wha— Jackie! What's going on?" Steven finally asked, not impressed with her half answers.

"My parents are having this big party and they want me here as their perfect little show pony. When I told them I wouldn't be here, my father threatened me. He told me that I would be grounded for half a year and even after that I wouldn't be allowed to see you or the others again, because you were a bad influence. I wanted to blow him off, really, I did. But they are not like Bud. My parents would just hire someone to watch me until I'm 18. So I tried to make things right again and agreed to go to the party." She explained.

There was silence on the other side of the phone for a minute before she heard Steven sigh. "So you had to take the day off and got fired because of your parent's party. I guess they won't allow you to leave early to come here either, ain't that right?"

She swallowed hard, Steven's voice sounded lower and more pissed with every word. "Yes … that's about right … I'm so sorry Steven. Really. I'm angry about the job but I don't really care about that right now. What I care about is you and I wanted to spend the day with you and our friends …"

"Jackie…" it sounded like he wanted to say something specific, but instead he just stopped talking for a moment. "Looks like there's nothing you could have done differently. If they're resolved to be jerks and would have appointed you some kind of nanny-bodyguard combo to keep you away from us, its better like this but … Jackie I hate this. They're horrible egoistic people and they keep manipulating you as if you were a toy, instead of their only child."

She was both glad and sad about his words. She was glad that he wasn't angry with her, but it made her sad that she kept causing him so much grief with her family.

"I hate it too, Steven. It's just not fair and I … I would rather spend the day with the people who became my real family." She finally whispered. She knew Steven of all people would understand.

"Shit, Jackie…" she could hear him mutter more curses. "We'll … we'll just celebrate tomorrow, okay? I promise I'll safe you some sparklers." It was sweet, he must've been so angry at the moment, but he still tried to cheer her up.

"Yes …" she choked out a teary laugh. "Keep them away from Michael alright? And hey, maybe you can safe me some of Mrs. Forman's muffins? Just hide them from Fez, or there will be nothing left."

Steven chuckled, but it sounded pretty forced. "Yeah, they're a piece of work those two."

"That they are. Do me a favor please? Take some pictures of everyone and of the fireworks. Lots of pictures. I want to feel like I was there…" now her voice really broke. She had to take slow breaths to stop herself from crying. Didn't want to ruin the make up her parents wanted her to wear now, did she?

"Jackie? You okay, man?"

She shook her head, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see her. "Not really." She finally said. "But I have to be."

"Jackie! Honey the first guests are arriving." Her mother's voice suddenly called out. A moment later there was knocking on her door.

"Just a moment, I'll be down in a minute." She called back, refusing to open the door. Luckily it seemed to be enough for her mother and she left.

"I have to go now." She said to Steven. "I hope you'll have a happy new year, Steven."

"… would be better if you were here with us, instead of those vultures."

"Definitely." She sighed. "I really have to go. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Goodbye, Steven."

"Bye, Jackie."

A second later she hang up and after another look in the mirror to make sure she looked alright, she left her room and went downstairs. Putting a fake smile on her face she greeted their guests, exchanging false pleasantries.

She could do this. She had years of practice after all.

Hyde hung up the phone and punched the wall lightly with his fist. "Shit."

Thankfully he had been alone in the kitchen, which meant nobody listened to their conversation, but it also meant he had to tell everyone that Jackie wasn't coming. He would tell the truth about where she was but he couldn't even tell anyone what kind of methods her parents used to blackmail her because that was exactly what this was: pure blackmail. Of their own daughter. Disgusting.

He straightened up when the kitchen door opened and Mrs. Forman walked into the room.

"Oh Steven. How's your little girlfriend? Is she going to be late?" Mrs. Forman asked in her cheerful voice. She was always happy, albeit a little stressed, when all of the family was together for a holiday.

"Actually … Jackie's not coming Mrs. Forman. Her parents are giving a party and they want her to stay at home with them." He answered, glad for his aviators. He hated disappointing her and looking her straight in the eye made it even worse.

"Oh … well, it is New Years Eve after all, no wonder they want her to spend it with her family, right?" her words were understanding but her tone changed and her laugh sounded strained, like it always did when she was uncomfortable. Definitely disappointed.

"Yeah, right." He answered just as flatly. He knew he should downplay it for Jackie's sake, but he really didn't want to. The whole situation sucked and it wasn't like her parents wanted her at home because Jackie meant so much to them. It was all just a scam, like all that money they stole from other people. Now they were using Jackie as well, it made him sick.

The criminal activities were one thing, he hated what it nearly cost the families of his friends but ultimately it wasn't his problem, it was a case for the police. Then again it wasn't like the state wasn't even more corrupted than the Burkhart's. But what really pissed him off was how dismissive they were towards Jackie, She was only good as a prop in their perfect family picture but they didn't care about her at all. They stole her money, they emotionally abused her, and neglected her and now they blackmailed her. They were just using her for their own gain.

No wonder Jackie was always so superficial before she became part of their group. Where was she supposed to learn that money and looks weren't everything? From her parents or those cheerleaders? Please! What a joke. And while Kelso was a good guy, he was hardly equipped to the with issues and responsibilities like that. He was too caught up in his own little fantasy world where he was the greatest. Thinking about it, those two really brought out the worst in each other most of the time.

Mrs. Forman's voice disrupted his thoughts: "I'm sorry that she's not here Steven, but maybe … maybe you could go over there? I mean you probably want to spend the evening with your girlfriend."

It was doubtful they would even let him into their high class party and he didn't want to make things even harder for Jackie, so he just shrugged. "Nah, that's fine. I'm gonna stay here."

"Oh Steven … well, we're always happy to have you here." She smiled brightly and kissed his cheek. "Now, I have to bring these snacks outside, everyone is just ravenous."

He nodded and followed her outside. He was glad she was happy again, but now he had to tell the others. Then again they might not think too much of it. It's not like Jackie spent every holiday with them or something. It should make things easier … still the thought pissed him off somehow. How could they not notice that something was wrong in Jackie's life? He could see how Kelso didn't, but the others were normally much more observant!

Maybe … maybe he was just angry with himself because he never noticed either before they started dating. That Kelso had been her boyfriend then and not him, or that they weren't as close as Jackie and Donna, or Jackie and Fez, or the fact that he wasn't as sensitive as Forman sometimes … that didn't really count. It might have been the truth in the beginning, but he got to know her after her break ups with Kelso, in fact she always reached out to him.

The first times he totally blew it because he was having this thing for Donna, like when they went skiing and stayed in her parent's vacation house, after the first Pam Macey debacle. But later he began to help her, hell he went to the fucking prom with her! He sort of respected her decision to ditch Kelso back then, it must have been a scary time for her and the idiot didn't do anything to help her.

Looking back it probably wasn't his wisest decision to help them back together at prom. They were both sad back then, yes, but maybe he could have spared Jackie from the whole Laurie disaster that came later. Well, at least he was there for her then, but still … he didn't notice anything. She was a good actress but he should have noticed. He of all people knew what it was like to hide your own feelings and that the world just sucked sometimes. Nothing he could do about that, he could only try his best to help her now. Whatever she decided to do. He had no idea what she would do, he only knew that things couldn't go on like this.

Reaching his friends he grabbed two muffins from Fez' plate and took the sparklers out of Kelso's hand.

"HEY! Hyde! Give them back, Mr. Forman won't let me handle anything bigger!" Kelso shouted, trying to reach for his sparklers.

"Just take some more from the table." He answered calmly, evading his friends grabby hands.

"There's only one left!"

"Then make do with one."

"Why are you stealing my precious sweets and Kelso's toys?" Fez asked affronted now.

"Sorry guys, told Jackie I would safe her some for tomorrow." He said, sitting down next to Forman.

"Tomorrow? I thought she would come here after work?" Donna asked confused.

"No job, she got fired." He answered, taking a sip from his soda, wishing it was a beer instead.

"What did she do? Nag at the patrons for their ratty clothes?" Forman joked.

"No. She had to take the night off because her parents want her to stay at home for their New Years Eve party. Her boss didn't like the short notice and fired her." He said in a clipped tone.

"Wait … so you take away my munchies AND my goddess won't be here? What a horrible evening." Fez wailed, right up until Mrs. Forman put another bowl of chips on the table, after that he was just stuffing his face, perfectly content.

"Great now I don't have anything to lit at midnight and Jackie gets to see fancy fireworks at home. I bet they have that really expensive stuff."

"I would let you lit a candle Kelso but frankly I'm afraid you would burn our house down and then my dad would kill us all." Forman quipped.

"So … Jackie's not going to be here at all today?" Donna asked carefully, ignoring the other idiots around them.

He sighed, but at least one person cared a little bit more about this. "No, they told her she had so stay home."

"Hm … I'm sorry she lost her job because of it, but if it's a family thing I guess there's nothing we can do."

"Yep." Right. He heard that one before somewhere.

"You're saving her some stuff?" the redhead kept probing.

"Yeah … gonna celebrate with her tomorrow. Tell her all about today."

Donna smiled hesitantly. "I'm sure the guys will do something stupid and get their asses kicked by Red, so you'll have a funny story to tell her."

He tried to grin back. "Oh I'm counting on it. Although I may have to help that along a little."

"Now that's better." Donna laughed. She had been worried about him for a second there.

"Let's go and find some fireworks we can hide for Kelso later." He finally decided.

"That's not only mean … that could be dangerous as well."

"The plan sounds better and better." He said, making her laugh again.

This was the worst party ever! Worse than Eric's 'surprise party' for his seventeenth birthday, worse than the party where Michael lit a fire in her house, even worse than the time she tried to give herself a graduation party and none of her friends came and it was definitely worse than any other party her parents had ever given. Or maybe it was just the first time she really notices how shallow, fake and boring all those people were. Boring!

Everyone here was rich or somewhat famous. Old family names, new money, politicians, business men, society women, people in the limelight of fame, they all mingled in her house right now, every single one them trying his best to be incredibly annoying. There were so many good-looking people who were only perceived as such because of cosmetic surgery, too much make up and expensive clothes. A lot of fake smiles and polite conversation that had absolutely no value. It was getting on her nerves.

Right now she was pretending to listen to one of her mother's friends who prattled on and on about how gorgeous Jackie looked and how lucky her parents were to have such a polite daughter, all the while talking about her own perfect daughter. Yeah right. She knew that girl had a horse face and that while Meredith was nice to her now, she was secretly angry that Pam had a much prettier daughter than her.

She was sure that when this woman met her other friends the next time her mother wasn't there, she would tell them how awful Jackie looked and stuff like that. People like her were nice to you face to face, but they would gossip about you behind your back. To think she thought that was entertaining at some point…

"Oh Pam I nearly forgot. We raised fifteen thousand dollars with that Christmas charity! Can you believe it? Holiday nostalgia and pictures of poor children really pay off. Of course we had to give the organization some of it to keep up the façade, but don't worry, I made it look like we only made five thousand! It's so brilliant! Us and the other girls have ten thousand dollars to spend on a nice vacations." Meredith said excited.

"Oh how wonderful! Maybe we can go to Costa Rica this time." Pam laughed, looking absolutely delighted at the prospect.

Jackie couldn't believe her ears. She had known this whole charity thing was a bogus thing at best. Another excuse for them to party away the holiday and spent money, but this? They openly laughed at exploiting people off their hard earned money and didn't even care that the children in question would only get a small amount of it, as long as they got to spent it on a nice vacation. They talked about it like it was the most amazing thing in the world. How sick could people get?

She felt sick herself. How could they do this? Even more important: Why didn't she ever pay attention to this kind of this kind of thing when she lived through this the first time? Did she really didn't notice it, or had she been willfully blind? Now she really felt like vomiting. She didn't have much time to overcome her loathing thoughts however, since her father called for her.

"Jackie! Ah there you are. Honey, come with me, I want you to meet somebody." He steered her away from her mother and her friends, taking her towards a young man instead.

Totally ignoring her still shaken expression he leaned down to whisper in her ear: "Be nice to him Jackie, and I mean very nice. He's the son of a very rich politician. A former lawyer colleague of mine, Mr. Thompson."

Jackie vaguely remembered Mr. Thompson, he often visited her father for a drink when they were both still at the same law firm, but she didn't remember ever meeting his son. Just another thing that changed this time around. When they stopped before the young man she had to look twice before she realized who this overly styled and slick guy before her was.

"Timmy Thompson?!" she exclaimed. She nearly didn't recognize him without his wild hair and washed-up clothes.

"It's Tim Thompson the Fifth, actually. Nice to see you again, Jackie. You look absolutely brilliant."

Tim Thompson the Fifth? Brilliant? Since when did Timmy have a title? And new how to dress … and talk?! He was Mr. Thompsons son? What the hell was going on?

"Oh you already know each other. How nice. Well I'll leave you two to talk." Her father smiled smarmy and walked over to her mother, obviously telling her about his grand scheme.

Jackie couldn't believe this crap. As soon as everyone else was out of earshot she couldn't help herself anymore. "Tim Thompson the Fifth?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, of course." Timmy answered, grabbing himself a drink and reaching for another one that he gave Jackie.

"What the- you're favorite sentence is 'Heeeeeeeey, I'm taking my pants off.' In fact, you actually lost your pants in this house once." She said disbelieving.

"Shh! Look. My father doesn't know how I act at school or at parties and if I want my inheritance he never can find out, okay?"

"Fine." Jackie said. This wasn't her problem and at least she knew she wasn't crazy. Timmy was the same idiot she knew, he just knew how to hide it if he had to.

She sipped at her drink, trying to find a way to excuse herself without alarming her father, when her mother appeared next to them. "You two have a nice little chat? Wonderful! Leaning into her she told Jackie: "Play your cards right. Your father told me he's a great match." Loud enough that Timmy could hear it of course.

"Not to mention it would be a very good possibility for Mr. Thompson and me to seal some deals and contracts with a marriage between you two. I know your father would agree." Her own father said, clapping Timmy on his shoulder.

"Of course, he told me all about it." Timmy answered, waving at a man who was watching them. Obviously Mr. Thompson.

"Oh there he is. Excuse me children, I'm going to talk to your father, Tim." Her father said, walking over to Mr. Thompson to greet him with a hearty handshake.

"Look how happy they are. This sounds very promising, don't you think?" her mother asked in a happy tone. Jackie could practically see the dollar signs in her eyes. She couldn't believe what was going on right now!

"It certainly does." Timmy, oh sorry –Tim- said smiling. Fucking smiling like he meant it.

"Oh Jackie, wait a second." Her mother brushed her hair back a little and smiled. "Now I'll leave you two alone so you can get to know each other better." She giggled and went back to her friends.

Jackie didn't know if she should explode or cry. After what she heard about her mother and her friends stealing money from that charity for children, she didn't think it could get any worse. She had been wrong. Now her parents were practically pimping her out for deals and money. They were already dreaming of some kind of wedding between her and Timmy and they didn't care about her feelings at all. Despicable!

Since she couldn't talk to her matchmaking parents right now without attracting an audience, she turned back to Timmy. "'It certainly does?'" she hissed.

"Sure. Why not? If they want it, why fight it? It would get us even more money to enjoy ourselves when we're older. We wouldn't even have to work hard, Also you dated Kelso and Hyde, you don't seem to expect much from your men, which suits me just fine. I could still act like I want outside of business and since you already know about all my shenanigans, I wouldn't have to keep this charade up with you."

"Hey! Don't talk like that about my boyfriend. Steven is perfect and while Michael isn't, he's still a much nicer and better catch than you are." She was so pissed right now.

"Wow, you're even hotter when you're angry. I'd definitely enjoy nailing you for the rest of my life. Just keep your weight and looks like your mother and I won't even have a reason to cheat on you." He actually had the guts to smile at her like he just made the best point ever.

"Timmy … I kicked you out my house without your pants once, I'd do it again!" Jackie could barely contain her anger.

"… I have my pants on this time." Was the only answer Timmy had for that.

"Not after I'm through with you!"

"Oooooh dirty. Wanna go upstairs and fool around?"

For a second she could only stare back at him in shock. Was he for real? God she couldn't believe him! Or her parents … or everyone else here … actually this whole thing was fucked up. She had learned the hard way that there was something wrong with her family in her own time but this … now that she knew where to look and changed stuff, she saw even deeper in this sick charade her parents were playing … with terrible outcomes.

"I can't believe you! I have a boyfriend and even if I didn't, I would _never_ marry an asshole like you." She got closer to grab him by his stupid tie and throw him out of her house, but Timmy finally recognized she wasn't joking and took a step back.

"Careful now. Your parents are on my side and I doubt that they approve of your stoner boyfriend … or your other stupid friends." He cautioned her.

She gasped angrily: "What? You act much more idiotic than any of us!"

"Maybe, but neither my parents or yours know this and you can't prove anything. For that kind of money and security I could keep this act up for the rest of my life." Timmy answered coolly. She had to hand it to him, if he wanted something he could be pretty serious.

"I … you …argh." She didn't even know what to say. Timmy might be an asshole, that didn't mean he was wrong. Her parents would take his side and they could keep her away from Steven if they wanted. They couldn't actually force her to marry Timmy, but they sure as hell would try if they got a chance.

She felt like she couldn't breathe anymore. This had to be some kind of panic attack. Luckily for her, her parents were talking to their guests and Timmy was distracted by a busty waitress. She ran to the door as fast as she could. She tried to be secretive about it, after all she didn't want her parents or anyone else to follow her, but in her panic she couldn't be sure if anyone noticed or not. Frankly, she didn't really care. All she wanted to do was get out of this house with and the people in it.

Outside she could finally breathe again, even if it only were short gasps at the beginning. She didn't even grab a coat and it was freezing outside, especially in her flimsy dress, still she just kept running. She thought about taking her car for a second, but she didn't want anyone to hear the motor running and she would have to sneak back in to get her keys. Her whole body was shaking as well and not only from the cold. It took her a full minute to even realize she was crying. Hell no she wouldn't take the car, she had no plans of dying in a car accident again!

She just ran down the street and kept on running, shivers and sobs wrecking her body, her breath getting short with time, but it didn't stop her from running. She had no idea where she was running, her mind was totally blank, she only concentrated on staying on the sidewalk, she didn't want to get run over by a car either.

She had no idea where she was going or how long she was running but when she finally stopped, she stood in front of the Forman house. Even without her brain working, her feet exactly knew where to go. Her whole being knew what she needed: Steven.

She tried to calm her breathing and wiped away the tears that the wind hadn't already dried. Her eyes were still wet and her make up must be screwed up, her hair had to be a mess and now that she was standing still, she noticed that she was freezing so badly that her whole body hurt. She didn't exactly want anyone to see her like this, but the only person she could really trust with this was Steven.

She went around the house carefully, hiding behind the wall to see everyone in the backyard, eating, drinking and talking happily. The total opposite of her right now. But where was … there! There was her Steven, talking to Donna and laughing about something. At least his evening was better than hers. Suddenly this looked like a bad idea. Why should she ruin his New Years Party as well? He would hear about what happened soon enough, maybe she should just wait until tomorrow to tell him. He saw and heard way too much of her family drama in the last months already.

Just as she thought this, Steven turned in her direction and she quickly hid behind the side of the house again. She had no idea if he saw her, since he wore his sun glasses again, but she doubted it. It was dark in this corner and with his sun glasses … it also happened so fast. Wrapping her arms around herself she started walking again, trying to think of a place where she could stay until tomorrow. She really didn't want to go home, she would rather freeze to death out here!

Hyde was laughing his ass of with Donna. Kelso and Fez started arguing about fireworks and took down a table full with food. Red already ripped them a new one. Forman didn't exactly help when he tried to clean it up and broke his mothers favorite salad bowl made out of glass. After laughing with him about it, Donna tried to cheer Forman up and he turned towards the house to get another drink when he saw it. A glimpse of dark hair and red clothing vanished around the corner. What the … was somebody out there?

He walked around the house carefully but didn't see anybody at first. When he walked down to the road he finally saw the figure of a petite girl a few feet away. Her back was turned to him as she was walking away from the house, but he could see long brunette hair and an expensive looking red dress. No jacket whatsoever. No wonder he could see her shaking even from this distance. Wait a second … was that …

"Jackie?!" he called out, watching how the girl stopped at his voice and turned around hesitantly. Holy fuck! It was Jackie. What the hell was she doing here? Without a car and in this dress?

He ran up to since she made no move to come back, her body only shivering uncontrollably. When he reached her and touched her arm she felt as cold as ice. How long had she been out here?

"What the hell is wrong with? You're freezing like hell." He took of his jacket and made her put it on, glad that he wore a thick pullover himself. She was still shivering, but at least his jacket was already warm inside and would keep her from freezing to death.

Only after he was finished he really noticed that she didn't say a word to him, she only watched him with sad eyes and it looked like she had been crying. If her hair was any indication, she ran here. In the dark … alone and with nothing on her but her dress. She didn't even have a purse or anything else where she could store some money or something like that.

"Jackie? Come on what's wrong? Did something happen?" Of course it did, she had to spend the evening with her parents and their horrible friends. What the hell did they do to hurt her now? It appeared to be impossible that something could be worse than the secrets Jackie already discovered, but obviously it was possible. Were they trying to break her beyond repair? He always thought his own family was fucked up, but this … he had no idea what happened today but he had a bad feeling about it.

Jackie opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but nothing but a small unidentifiable noise came out. Shaking her head sadly, her mouth closed again and she took a step closer to him to wrap her arms around him. She was hiding her face in his shoulder and all he could do was hold her while she shivered. Fuck, he could feel something wet through his clothes. She was crying again.

Shaking his own head he steered her towards the house, his arms still around her, only to be stopped when she noticed what he was doing. She refused to move and shook her head again. This time more vehemently. "No …" her voice was barely a whisper. Weak and sad. "I don't want anyone to see me like this. I didn't even want you to see me …"

So that's why she was walking away from the house again when he found her. "Don't be stupid Jackie. You can't stay out here all night and I won't let you go home until I know what's going on either."

She just kept shaking her head, more desperately now. He sighed. "Look, nobody is inside the house right now, we're just going to sneak into the basement and go to my old room. The cot and some of my stuff are still there and it should be much warmer than out here. You don't have to see anybody." He finally said. It was the best option right now. No one would bother them there and even if the others searched for him and thought about looking there, he could lock the door. But with all the partying going on, he seriously doubted it would come to this.

Jackie wasn't shaking her head anymore but she wasn't agreeing with him either. Actually she looked ready to bolt. Man … tonight must have been bad to rattle her so much. This soft approach wasn't getting them anywhere and even with his jacket it was likely that she would get pneumonia if she stayed any longer out here. If she didn't catch something already.

"Whatever. Have it your way." He said, hoisting her over his shoulder to carry her inside.

He expected pounding fists on his back, kicking legs or at least screaming, but after a short noise of surprise, Jackie just gave up or something. She was totally still while he took her inside, just letting him do whatever he wanted. That unnerved him more than he cared to admit. Jackie was a fighter, bitchy even and now she let him dictate her actions and manhandle her? Something was definitely up. He hurried into the basement and finally put her back on her feet when they were inside his old room. He quickly locked the door behind them and steered her towards the cot.

Finally she moved on her own again, even if it was only to sit down on the cot. She also stopped crying, thank God! He never knew how to handle it. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her to warm her up faster. Sitting down next to her he threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She came willingly but didn't look up to him. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for the upcoming conversation, he tried again:

"Jackie? Come on, doll … talk to me. I need to know what happened." He talked quietly, as if not to spook her, but it appeared to be the right thing, since she sagged against him and sighed.

"It … it was horrible … my parents are … I don't even know this people anymore." She began haltingly.

"I-I already told you how my father basically blackmailed me into I going … to this stupid party. My mother actually dressed me in this..."

He had to hold back a snort, this was hard enough for Jackie already … but dressing her like a child? After everything he heard he shouldn't be surprised by this.

"At first … at first it was like always. Stupid small talk with rich people and faking a smile. I could handle that, I'm a pro at that…" She continued. "…but then … then I heard my mother and her friends talking about th-this charity thing they did on Christmas. They made fifteen thousand dollars, Steven! They happily talked about giving the children only five thousand of that money. The other ten thousand will be used … they … I mean … they'll go to Costa Rica with that, to party. God Steven, they're stealing money that was raised for homeless, starving or sick children…" her eyes were getting wet again.

Hyde had to stop himself from shouting. This … this was sick, just sick. Another proof that anyone in this country with some kind of power was corrupt and they weren't even persecuted! Worse, it was destroying Jackie and none of this was her fault. Even when she still acted like a spoiled child, Jackie made the other cheerleaders go with her to bring food and clothes to the less fortunate.

"And if that wasn't bad enough, my parents reached another personal low as well."

"What the … there's something else?" he asked but of course there was. Stupid question.

"They … after I heard that my father told me I had to meet the son of Mr. Thompson. He's a politician and a former lawyer colleague of my Dad's. Very rich of course."

"Naturally." Hyde muttered, he didn't like where this was going. Not in the least.

"It was Timmy Thompson Steven! That idiot Timmy but he … he was dressed in the best clothes, his hair styled and he acted like your typical trust fund kid. He told me himself that he liked to enjoy himself when he was on parties, but that he could act like a sophisticated guy in front of important people, after all he wants his inheritance. His parents have no idea how he act at school." She said, her voice still sounding disbelieving.

"Timmy Thompson? That guy who always takes of his pants is rich?" he couldn't believe it. No one could act this well … or could they?

"Yes. Tim Thompson the Fifth." Jackie answered, her tone changing to pissed off. It was nearly a relief, at least she wasn't so sad and hollow anymore.

"My parents and his father … they're practically planning our engagement so they can finalize contracts and exchange a lot of money through our marriage! My parents are treating me like cattle or something. Told me to behave myself and be veeeeeeery nice to him."

"You're parents are whoring you out to Timmy Thompson?" he blurted out, he couldn't help himself.

"Yes! And that idiot! I thought he must be pissed like me, but he just wants his father's money and with marriage he could get it even faster. Oh and he told me that he wouldn't mind marrying me, after all with an ex boyfriend like Michael I couldn't have high expectations of my husband. He also wouldn't mind 'nailing me'. His words not mine. I just have to take care of myself, you know? After all if I don't get fat, he wouldn't have to cheat on me!" now she was practically seething, she was still so pissed after was happened.

Now he had to let go of her and stand up, walking up and down in front of her, clenching his fists. Fuck, he wanted to punch someone, preferably Timmy or Jackie's parents. How could they use their daughter like this? Practically selling her for money and contacts and Timmy this asshole. Not only was he faking the sophisticated guy to get his family's money, no he was hitting at his chick! Trying to use her just like her parents. Nailing her, hm? He would nail Timmy's nuts into the ground with a stapler next time he saw him.

"The worst was that nothing I said had any impact, nobody care. I couldn't even throw him out of the house, because he told me that my parents would be on his side … and he was right! They would punish me and apologize to him and his father. I just … I had to get out of there before he dragged me upstairs like he wanted to." She finished, sound more sad than angry again.

Upstairs?! Fuck, that guy was dead. "I'm going to kill him." He growled.

Jackie looked up at him in shock and smiled a little. "Thanks but … if you hurt him his father would just sue you. It's not worth it."

"I just have to get rid of him without anyone seeing me." He hissed.

Now she was standing up and walking towards him, taking his hand. "Steven … I know you want to protect me, but … it would just cause more trouble and I can't lose you …" she whispered, looking down.

It was hard to hold onto his anger when Jackie looked so distraught, even though her desperation scared him a little. He wasn't used to being the responsible one, someone people relied on. It scared him to death how important he was to Jackie, sometimes he didn't know how to handle it … he only knew that he couldn't abandon her. She was too important to him as well. Fuck … everything was so messed up.

"Whatever." He finally said, pulling her back on the cot and into his lap. "We'll just stay here tonight and think about what to do tomorrow." It was their best option right now.

Jackie looked at him for a moment before nodding. "I'm going to do it Steven." She said quietly.

"Do what?"

"I'm going to call the police and tell them about my parents … about where to find the proof and … just everything. Not because of how they treated me today, although the thing with Timmy really rattled me but … they could never force me to marry him or anyone else, nor matter how much they try to separate me form you or our friends. No, it's because of those children. My parents stole a lot of money again. They nearly destroyed so many lives already and they obviously have no plans to stop. I have no idea what will happen to me but … I have to risk it. It's not fair to anyone else if I keep silent and let them do what they want just too safe myself …" she stroked his cheek with her hand, looking sad but determined. She wouldn't change her mind again.

He knew it was the right thing, the Burkhart's had to be stopped but Jackie would have to pray a price to. She was only sixteen, would they take her away when her parents got arrested? His arms tightened around her at the thought. It wouldn't be the first time he lost something that was important to him. Shit, this wasn't about him! There was no other choice, things would only get harder for Jackie and who knows what her parents would do next?

"Yeah … that's cool. Just …" he stopped for a second before nodding to himself. "You do that, but Jackie … we'll have to plan for this. I think I have some ideas how turn this situation in your favor. It's your parents who deserve punishment, not you. We might as well safe you some trouble, there should be enough time for that before you call the cops." He decided.

There actually were some things they could do, hopefully they would work.

Her eyes were full of questions but before she could ask they heard shouting from upstairs. It was the others outside who were counting down the end of the year.

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN,"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, doll. Just enjoy New Years for now." He said.

"SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE,"

She actually smiled at him. "Our first New Years together … thank you Steven, for everything."

"TWO, ONE – HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Instead of an answer he kissed her, hoping that the next year would be better than the last weeks. It didn't matter if it started out hard, as long as it ended well … with her parents paying for their crimes and Jackie staying here. Somehow he knew that Jackie wished for the same.

Thank you for all the Favs and Follows! They're greatly appreciated.

LoveNLearn: Yeah I loved that episode too. I just wished Hyde would have been there too. I bet he would have made the most hilarious comments through the game. XD Thank you, I'm glad you liked my changes. Yes communication is definitely one of their problems, Jackie and Hyde are both emotionally stunted in their own ways and talking about that isn't exactly one of their strengths.

Pearls-locket: Thanks! Well he also tried to win Jackie back in the TV Show, after all he tried to bribe her with Jelly Beans and a pink sweater xD He's a lovable doofus … but still a doofus lol

LadyNorth76: Thank you! A longer wait again because I had to redo my whole living room and didn't have time to write, but at least this chapter brought Jackie to a decision, a pretty important one, I hope you'll like it!

Aqua395: Thank you so much. Yes they definitely deserve another chance and I wanted to give them one, I'm glad you liked it so far. :) I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter too, even if there's some drama in it again.

Msstock87: Thanks! Sorry for the longer wait again, real life sucks sometimes xD I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter.

Stordec23: Thank you! I'm so glad you like the story, I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter as well.

Hanselnext: Well he can be a pain in the ass sometimes. He'll do some stupid things in this story but he won't succeed in the end, I promise xD

Emily-star-92: OMG thank you so much! I'm glad that the first chapter made such an impact on you, it was sad but necessary for this story. I'm glad you enjoyed this story so far and I hope you'll like this new chapter too.

DaniNatureGirl313: Sorry to disappoint but no naughty stuff in this chapter xD Other things are more important right now and have to come first, but there will be more in the future. ;)

GatsbyParty: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! :D

Huangjj: Thank you so much! I can't tell you how happy I am that you liked it. :) Yes knowing things doesn't mean that decisions always become easier. Also Jackie is changing things with every new decision she makes, so she can't always rely on what she knows.

Mcsiderewicz: Thank you! Happy you liked it :)